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Treo 650 - Photo Comparison

If you aren't among those who have been glued to the discussion boards at TreoCentral over the past few months, salivating in anticipation, you may be surprised to hear that there is a new Treo coming down the pike. It's called the Treo 650. And while it won't be widely available for 2-3 more months, I currently hold a shiny new one in my hands thanks to the kind folks at PalmOne. While the Treo 650 looks like the Treo 600 in most respects, it's a whole new beast on the inside:

- A crisp-as-paper new color screen with 4 times the resolution and 20 times the color palette.
- Internal bluetooth so you can talk on a wireless headset and sync to your laptop cable-free.
- Software changes galore and tons of new bundled applications
- And a new camera. A real camera. Finally.

There are lots of beefy articles on the new Treo 650 all over the web. I won't duplicate their effort here. But what they are all lacking is a side by side photo comparison of two cameras. Until now.. Click here for a small gallery of comparison shots. I'll add more as the days go on. But let's just say that the differences are consistently dramatic--especially in low-light situations.

Too Much Travel

A lot of my friends have been asking me lately, "Why are you guys hanging out in Singapore for 2 whole months?" Well, it's partly because we've both got work to do, and this is a great place to get work done. It's partly because Jeanne's here (friends!), and her yoga studio, and we've got a sweet apartment, and we're enjoying modern city living. But it's also because we've come to the conclusion that you can only be a "tourist" for so long. After about 3 months of travel, in my opinion, your eyes start to glaze over and you think, "Another Madonna and child/fountain/temple/Buddha/beautiful beach?" And then you start looking for the nearest Hard Rock Cafe where you can get a big glass full of ice with your Pepsi.

So in essence, here in Singapore we're still being bomads. But we're taking a break from the whole tourism thing. Because at some point on these year-long type journeys, you need to hunker down and become a "resident."

And then Joanna dug up a fantastic article from the New York Times on exactly this topic (only discussed with far greater eloquence and aplomb): The Goldilocks Travel Plan. Read it here.

Cats Now Available for Pre-Order

I got that feeling today. You know the one. You read an article that sounds like a fake news story from some futuristic sci-fi movie. But it instead turns out to be true. Check this out:

" ALLERCA will produce the world's first hypoallergenic cats, and we expect the birth of these first special kittens in early 2007. The cat allergen is a potent protein secreted by the cat’s skin and salivary glands. Removal of the allergen will not harm the cats in any way. The resulting hypoallergenic cats will improve the health and quality of life for millions of cat-allergy sufferers.

While some breeds of cats have been promoted as having less allergen than others, scientists that have tested this hypothesis have shown that all cats, regardless of breed, produce allergen. Allerca will produce the first cats that will not affect human allergies.

The first breed of hypoallergenic cat produced will be the British Shorthair, known to be friendly, playful and affectionate. Other popular breeds will follow soon."

Yes, they're manufacturing cats. Real living cats. And for $3500, you can be the first on your block. Personally, I'm going to hold out for the growth-stunted dogs that remain puppies for life (BTW, if that one comes to pass, I get royalties. You heard it here first.).

Fun with sock puppets

For those of you with a predilection for biting news commentary, this is a hilarious piece from the Conan O'Brian show. They visited "Spin Alley" after one of the debates and conducted interviews in the guise of...well...just click the link from the iFilm Website (note: Mac users have to open this link in Explorer--iFilm is lamely incompatible with Safari).

[thanks to David Allen Rope]

"Infinite Life" Hits the Big Screen

I got an email today from my brother Derek, an astrophysicist at CalTech, and his wife Erica, an assistant professor of Chinese History and Asian Studies at USC. Apparently, they've stumbled across a movie called "I (Heart) Huckabees" that is a fascinating film adaptation of the book "Infinite Life." I served as freelance editor for this book on Tibetan Buddhism by Robert Thurman, PhD, a professor of Buddhism at Columbia University, former monk, and Uma's dad.

Check out Derek's excellent analysis of the film and its similarities to "Infinite Life." Perhaps it'll inspire you to read the book! ;-)

More signs

Where San Francisco Hippies go when they die...

The Low Carb Craze

It started with...
low carb bread
low carb pasta
low carb beer
(kinda makes sense)

But now...
low carb nutrition bars?
low carb cookies?
low carb candy bars?
low carb veggie burgers?
low carb milk??!!
low carb cranberry juice???!!!!

Another Reason to Love France

It has been proven definitively (by that oh-so-reliable source, the web survey):

France IS the world's sexiest nation!

Click here to read more

Thanks to Doc Berry for contributing this ammunition to our ongoing battle of France vs. The World.

Schoolhouse Rock Redux

This is for all of us who grew up on those fantastic Schoolhouse Rock cartoons on Saturday morning (perhaps the best educational television, ever). Someone has executed a political commentary in the same style. Click here for a Quicktime or Windows Media Player video of Pirates and Emperors.

On-demand TV

Many of you are probably not aware, but it is now possible to download almost any TV show--both current and previously aired shows--directly to your computer. MeiMei and I use it to keep up with all our favorite shows while on the road. Far from postage-stamp video clips, the quality is higher than what you'd see on the air or through your cable. In fact, much of the shows are in true HDTV resolution!

So how can you hop on this bleeding edge technology bandwagon? Read on.