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July 26, 2006
Back in the USA
Well I am back in the USA to attend the OSCON2006 Conference.Observations/Trends
- Atkins is out. Glycemic Index (an Australian invention) is in
- Burger King now has a "BK Stacker". They go to 4. That is: four beef patties interleaved with four slices of cheese. Yours for USD9.
- At the cinema, a small drink is 600ml, a medium is 1litre. Wow!
- Saw a lot less large SUVs and trucks on the road. I saw a lot of them parked at people's houses. I saw plenty of Hummers sitting in car yards. Speculation: are people driving their smaller second car as their main car? On the other hand I am in Portland, which is known for being relatively green.
- I was here for record breaking temperatures. 11 of the highest temperature years have been in the last 14. The media seem not to be commenting on this.
- Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" is a hit. I saw the movie at the Lloyd Centre, Portland Oregon. It was almost sold out. The movie makes a great case that Global Warming is both real and bad thing. It covers the same material as Tim Flannery's "The Weather Makers". I think between them 2006 will be the turning/tipping point for Global Warming. Interestingly, the movie avoids mention of Diesel cars and Nuclear energy, neither of which are popular in the USA.
- The record heat meant that I was unable to get a room on the coast Saturday night and had to drive all the way back to Portland. It was 40c plus on the west coast.
- Omega 3 has been added to the plant sterol margarines. Also to a healthy peanut paste. I am looking forward to that coming to Australia.
- I checked out HDDVD and BluRay players. Neither was impressive. Perhaps we need to wait for new movies to be made. I thought it was in between DVD and broadcast HD. Interestingly, the HDDVD player kept crashing and had to be rebooted. Which one was M$ supporting again? :)
Posted by gluck at July 26, 2006 08:02 AM