GZ Expat, Part II

A Re-Shuffled Look

I've been feeling the need to alter the blog a little, hoping it would spur a bit more creativity in myself to build content on the site.  I've got plenty to say, but want to try and stir it up a little.  So, a walk through a few of the changes...

• A new banner.  A bit more colorful. 
• Photo albums on the side bar.  I want to try and get this site a bit more photographic in nature...I shortly had a Shutterchance site in which I uploaded photos on a daily basis.  The quality of the upload was pretty good, but the free account I signed up for was only good for 30 pictures...so I ran out of space fairly quickly.  I'll try and keep up to date with the most recent photo albums I upload and you'll see them on the side bar.
• Reduced the clutter.  I nuked some of the eye candy from the side bar and simplified a bit.
• Blogroll.  I updated my blogroll to reflect what I am pretty much looking at today...be sure to to check out whats there and if I have missed something, let me know.
• Networking.  I've got a short list of the other web accounts I have...I don't have a bunch of them, but there are a few that I use sparingly.
• Headlines.  I've added some headlines from a couple of sources that I read everyday; Danwei for all you China related news/interest stories and The Hockey News for...what else?! 

There ya go...as usual, every blog is a work in process.

links for 2008-06-01

• globesports.com: Canucks fans honour Bourdon with donations
  Less than two days after Bourdon's accident, Canuck Place, which provides specialized palliative care for children living with a life-threatening illness, had received almost 200 donations totalling more than $7,000
  (tags: canucks hockey nhl)

links for 2008-05-31

• CANUCKS HOCKEY BLOG: RIP Luc Bourdon
  It's unfair that someone so young with such a great future ahead of him should be taken away.
  (tags: canucks hockey nhl)
• Channelnewsasia.com: Chee Soon Juan fined S$5,000 for speaking in public without permit
  He had been found guilty earlier this month for addressing a crowd in Woodlands illegally in April 2006 in the run-up to the General Election. (GZE2 - Ahhh, the freedom of speech, eh?)
  (tags: asia politics)
• globesports.com: Letang: 'I still can't believe it' [Anonymoused]
  "It is so tough for me to lose my best friend. I don't know why, but this morning I have no energy. I couldn't skate. I lost so much energy since it happened [Thursday]."
  (tags: hockey canucks nhl)
• The Hockey News: Headlines: Moment of silence to be observed before Game 4 after Bourdon death
  (tags: hockey nhl canucks)
• US probes whether laptop copied on China trip - Yahoo! News
  Surreptitious copying is believed to have occurred when a laptop was left unattended during Gutierrez's trip to Beijing for trade talks in December, people familiar with the incident told the AP.
  (tags: china usa)
• Knight's Nike stock sales add up - Breaking News Updates from Portland and Oregon - The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
  Following the State of Oregon's quarterly forecast of the economy and state tax revenues this week, Nike founder Phil Knight's sales of Nike stock are being credited with giving a boost to the state government's budget. (GZE2 - Sad they rely on one man)
  (tags: oregon taxes)

RIP, Harvey Korman

Harvey Korman, aka, Hedley Lamarr has passed away at 81. 

Through the entire obit on Fox News about Korman and his career, they don't even give mention to one of his biggest roles, that of the Great Gazoo on the Flintstones.  They give mention to his role in the Flintstone movie...but not the series.  Korman was a great cartoon voice in the early years of Hanna Barbera and his voice can be found on countless cartoons from the early 60's.

links for 2008-05-30

• FOXNews.com - Dunkin' Donuts Pulls Rachael Ray Ad Over 'Terror' Symbolism - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment
  Dunkin' Donuts said Wednesday it stopped running an online advertisement featuring Rachael Ray after complaints that a fringed black-and-white scarf that the celebrity chef wore in the ad offers symbolic support for Muslim extremism and terrorism.
  (tags: waronterror politics food)
• NBA broadcasting suspended in China
  However, according to the newspaper, on May 28, people in Guangzhou waiting to watch a game on a local channel were disappointed to find the program wasn't going to be broadcast. (GZE2 - I've been waiting for 4 years for an NHL game broadcast!)
  (tags: china television basketball hockey)
• Channelnewsasia.com: Japanese woman found hanged on Korean Air flight
  When the passenger failed to return to her seat, a flight attendant checked the toilet where she found the woman hanging from the wall with a scarf around her neck. (GZE2 - Ewww)
  (tags: travel asia)
• KuklasKorner : Canucks and Beyond : Report: Luc Bourdon has Died
  (tags: canucks nhl hockey)
• The Hockey News: Headlines: A look at the career of Vancouver Canucks defenceman Luc Bourdon
  (tags: canucks nhl hockey)
• The Hockey News: Headlines: Report: Blackhawks and Red Wings to play at Wrigley Field for '09 outdoor game
  (tags: hockey nhl)
• KuklasKorner : Canucks and Beyond : Perspective on a Nice Kid
  He smiled at her and put his glove on the glass so that she could put her tiny hand out and they could connect between the glass.
  (tags: canucks hockey nhl)
• Waiting For Stanley: Bourdon aftermath / Canucks Place Donation
  I am going to donate $50. I challenge all of you as well to do the same and maybe more. Donations to Canucks Place can be made here. (GZE2 - Me too...$100)
  (tags: canucks hockey nhl)
• globesports.com: Bourdon killed in motorcyle crash
  A source in the hockey community said Bourdon's girlfriend was travelling in a car behind his motorcycle when the crash occurred.
  (tags: hockey canucks nhl)

RIP, Luc

I wake up every morning and check the news on the internet.  Often times, I am checking the news with the cobwebs of sleep still in my head.  It took a bit of shaking of the head before this news really, really sank in.

RIP, Luc

Update:  Just got to thinking that I recently wrote of another hockey player dying in a motorcycle related accident.  Taiwan Hockey Mourns   Updated

Update II:  Sean at Waiting for Stanley is passing along the idea of donating to Canuck Place in memory of Luc Bourdon.  That was an easy decision.

You Tube Gem...

While bouncing around You Tube the other day, I ran across this gem of highlights from Portland's two Memorial Cup victories. 

1983:  Cam Neely scores the hat trick...Ray Ferraro scores the icing...Mike Vernon backstops the 'Hawks to victory.  The second goal they show in the series of highlights is one of the prettiest goals I have ever seen in hockey.  That's me in the front row behind the net in the white pants...

1998:  Very different story.  Overtime.  Brendan Morrow on the ice...Marion Hossa in the locker room with a blown out knee suffered with 5 mins to go in regulation.  Me?  Huddled around my dial up connection at home in Guangzhou, China...I won't forget that call from Dean Vrooman

links for 2008-05-29

• FT.com / Asia-Pacific / China - Beijing in activist clampdown ahead of talks
  Several Chinese activists have been placed under house arrest or under heavy police supervision over the last three days at the same time as officials from China and the US met to hold a dialogue on human rights. (GZE2 - Biz as usual...)
  (tags: china protests news)
• lgf: Obama's Auschwitz Tale: Not the First Time
  My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. (GZE2-hmmmm)
  (tags: politics election)
• NASA - Phoenix Landing Site, Labeled
  GZE2 - Geeking out again...this photo is really cool
  (tags: space nasa)
• Michael J. Totten: Home Again
  I’ve returned home with quite a lot of fresh material, mainly from Kosovo, but also from Serbia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Albania.
  (tags: blogs)
• Channelnewsasia.com Chinese woman admits to helping Pentagon-linked spying
  Kang, a Chinese citizen and US permanent resident, also faces up to a decade in prison when she is sentenced on August 1.
  (tags: military news china usa)
• baldilocks: Which Uncle Was at Buchenwald?
  As it turns out he has only two great-uncles old enough to have served in WWII,* one on each side--Ralph E. Dunham Jr. and Charles Payne, brothers of his grandfather and grandmother, respectively.
  (tags: politics election)
• The Hockey News: Headlines: Ovechkin collects Art Ross, Richard trophies, Lecavalier, Linden honoured
  "I'm sitting back and taking it all in right now," Linden said Wednesday after accepting the NHL's Foundation Award along with Tampa's Vincent Lecavalier. "I'm just making sure that everything is right and I make the right decision.
  (tags: canucks hockey nhl)

links for 2008-05-28

• Gates recommends Ubuntu on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  Heh...
  (tags: tech microsoft)
• Asia Times Online :: China News, China Business News, Taiwan and Hong Kong News and Business.
  ... the Chinese weekly Southern Weekend carried a full-page expose of the misery of Burmese people affected by Cyclone Nargis, providing first-hand accounts from some of the most ravaged areas in the Irrawaddy Delta.
  (tags: china media earthquake asia)
• Military Photos: New Chinese Naval Base on Hainan
  Google Sat Photo
  (tags: china military)
• lgf: Obama: My Uncle Helped Liberate Auschwitz (Bzzt! Wrong!) - Update: Video Added
  Is there a point which the media will start calling Obama out for his absolutely stunning lack of historical knowledge, Unless Obama’s uncle was fighting for the Soviet Army in Jan 1945, I seriously doubt that he was in a brigade that liberated Auschwit
  (tags: politics election)
• Chili’s restaurants closing across the region
  GZE2- Figures...I just picked up a $25 gift card for Brinker Restaurants this week.
  (tags: oregon food)
• Gasoline theft in Hawaii on the rise - Autoblog
  With nothing more than a straight edge blade, a piece of garden hose, and a bucket, the lawless make easy work of the plastic fuel lines under cars as they cut them to gain simple access to the tank and its flammable yet valuable liquid contents.
  (tags: cars news)
• Attacks in Iraq Reach 4-Year Low, Military Says - WSJ.com
  But Adm. Driscoll cautioned that al Qaeda was still a threat and said it was too early to "pop the champagne bottle."
  (tags: iraq waronterror)

Life Without Windows - Paused

My foray into Ubuntu 8.04 has been put on temporary hold.  I ran into a snafu with running Azureus and locking in a static ip address.  You see...I cannot live without my bit torrent access.

While attempting to find a replacement for MS Money in Ubuntu this weekend (which, BTW, I have determined cannot be done, despite what people say about this program), I was booting back and forth between Ubuntu and Windows.  After I was finished with what I was doing, I went back into Ubuntu and found that Azureus was no longer working properly.  So, I started checking into ports and IP addresses.  After searching around, I found that Ubuntu uses dhcp addresses exclusively and every time I booted up, it would change my ip address, rendering any port and static ip I had set on the router useless. 

I did a fair bit of poking around and found that I can change the ip address in Ubuntu, its just a bit more involved than I really ever become in my operating systems.  Up to this point, Ubuntu had been surprisingly easy to use and learn...but this one item really threw me for a loop for a bit. 

I booted back to Windows, because I know how to set the static ip up in there.  Once I got it reset in Windows and my router all squared away with an open port, I left the desktop on Windows for the time being.  With the Stanley Cup finals underway, I just don't want to run into any problems that could preclude me from hooking up with my next fix for a game.  So, for now, I am back to Win XP...but, I miss my Ubuntu.