joseaguilar.org

Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard

Ok, so this is not a technical post. Today, however, my love for Microsoft increased so much I just had to write about it. Microsoft released an application called the Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard. It keeps track of all the scores and news during the coming Soccer World Cup. It is basically an RSS reader customized for World Cup feeds. The interface is really nice - we’ll see how it measures up in a couple of weeks, when the Cup is in full swing. If you’re a soccer fan like I am, this is a killer app.

Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard

Cool music recommendations site

A quick post to let you all know about a site called Pandora, that gives you recommendations based on the type of music you like. You can check it out here.

Pretty cool, I already got a couple of nice recommendations for Trip hop music based on me telling them that I like Massive Attack and Portishead.

A need for this product

Sometimes you really wonder who writes the product descriptions on web stores. REALLY wonder.
The other day I was checking out an aluminum briefcase over at Geeks.com. The case looks kinda nice, but what really caught my attention was the “Additional Information” section:

Additional Information:

* Product requirements:
* A need for this product

A need for this product????? Come on, you can do better than that. That has to be either the template’s placeholder, or a SEVERE lack of imagination from the writers. Anyway, it made me laugh.

Wine weekend

I’m now on the airport, heading back to Costa Rica after a week here in Sillicon Valley.
The trip overall was pretty good, and, even though the attendance to the event we were doing wasn’t as high as we hoped, I had a good time.

Lately, because of work reasons, I’ve been to France several times. I’ve had a blast every single time, and as I’m sure my coworker Christian would agree, they have the best wine in the world. I had tried some California wines in the past, and I can tell you, they weren’t the best. Far from it, as a matter of fact. At least that was my idea. Until this weekend.

I got some time off on Friday, so I decided to go to the world-famous Napa Valley to try out some wines and see if they lived up to their reputation. (That’s a pretty bold statement from someone who doesn’t know much about wines, BTW :)) Boy, was I in for a surprise. I tasted some incredibly good wines this weekend, all of them made right there in the valley.

First, I went to the Silver Oak cellars. I normally drink lighter wines, like Merlot or Pinot Noir, but these Cabernets are incredible. They are expensive (the one I really liked was over $100/bottle), but worth every penny IMHO if you can afford it (I can’t… yet!).
The site is just beautiful, with a water tower and the vines stretching out from an old building. The tour guide was great, and gave a pretty good explanation of the wine-making philosophy behind this Cabernet.
What really impressed me is that they age their wines between 20 to 30 months in the barrel, plus an additional ~20 months in the bottle before releasing it to the public. That’s a huge amount of time - it takes them around 4.5 years to release their Alexander Valley Cabernet, and more than 5 years from harvest to release their Napa Valley. The good thing is, their wine lives up to the expectations. I had a blast at the place, and the wine was just great.

After that, I went to the Franciscan Oakville Estate. If you look at the pictures I took at the Silver Oak winery, you’ll see that the vines right next to the building are from the Franciscan estate. Well, that’s another thing I learnt - Napa Valley is pretty much a patchwork of vineyards, wineries, and parcels that change hands every few years. In the case of Silver Oak, they actually sold those vineyards to drive up the price of the wine - smart move, and one that seems to have worked.
Back on the Franciscan estate, I tried several wines there. I normally drink red wines, but at the server’s suggestion, I tried one of their whites… and fell in love with it. I’m actuall carrying two bottles of their Sauvage Cuvee with me back to Costa Rica. It’s that good.

When I left the Franciscan place, my head was a bit dizzy from the wine… so I headed to a restaurant (BTW, why are there so few restaurants in Napa? And if there are more, WHY are they HIDDEN??) to get a bite and a cup of coffee before driving down to San Jose. Overall it was a beautiful day, learnt a lot about wine, and had a great time. Next time I’m in the area I’ll visit some other wineries. It is definitely worth it.

U.S. Cars

You’ve read the news: U.S. car manufacturers are losing their market share to Japanese, Korean, and European cars. Ever wondered why?

Ok, so maybe the summary of this post was a bit pretentious. I have NO idea why U.S. car manufacters are losing market share. But this week, I rented a Buick something-something. And it is a car that I would never, never buy. And I will outline the reasons why.

First of all, it is a gas guzzler. I am in San Jose, CA, this weekend. I rented the car here in San Jose. I went to Napa on Friday, and to the Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco on Saturday. I drove every day and back from close to SJ the airport to an office in Mountain View. Want to guess how much I spent on fuel? $120+!!!!!! And I still need to refuel it before returning it to the car rental company. Do I need to say more?
It is ironic that I’m listening to Bloc Party’s “Price of Gas” right now. Good record, BTW. Called “Silent Alarm”. Check it out if you can.

Another thing that really annoys me is that it handles like a whale. Maybe a baby whale, but a whale none-the-less. Taking a turn with it was a big challenge, even caused me to hit the brakes really hard a couple of times. When I compare it to the handling of my Honda Civic, there is no contest - on a curve that I would normally use the engine brake slightly and then hit the accelerator on my car, I really had to slam the brakes hard on this one. And don’t get me started on parking this 18-wheeler wannabe… I drove a ‘86 Toyota Hilux for a few years, and I remember it handled slightly better, WITHOUT power steering. Then again, maybe I’m just exaggerating. But it gets the point accross.

The dash is just a mess. Do these companies really think they are innovating when the big thing in the dash is that you can press a button to alternate between km/h and mph on the speedometer, instead of having both scales printed out on it? And having A DEDICATED BUTTON FOR IT?? And good luck opening the trunk without the key remote - why do they have to move the !@#$ button around form the “standard” design used everywhere else in the world??? (left of the driver’s seat). And the fuel mileage estimates you get are pretty laughable too.

In the first paragraph I mentioned that I rented a Buick something-something. Did I write that on purpose? Yes. But now I’m going to rant about the brand. And guess what - do i remember the car’s model? No, I dont. Wanna guess why? In my eyes, it is ’cause the branding is really, really weak. All the “full-size” cars I’ve rented in the last few years are pretty much interchangeable. By that I mean that they all look the same, handle the same, and, overall, are the same. They are big, dumb, with weird controls, and they don’t really have anything to differentiate them from one another. Maybe they need to consolidate their brands somehow. All the cars feel the same. And let me tell you something, they are boring. And dull. The Impala, the Lucerne, the Crown Victoria, the Grand Marquis (who thinks up these names, BTW??) and other are pretty much the same car in the customer’s eyes. (I do have to admit I like the 300 and the DTS… and the Town Car is still the limo by default)

And finally, let me rant about the looks. It is too ugly for my tastes. As in really ugly. As in so ugly that when it’s design was submitted to an ugly contest, they said “Sorry, no professionals.” Ok, that last one was a bad joke I heard from someone. But it doesn’t change the fact that I think it looks pretty bad.

Damn, I ran out of wine. And even mildly drunk, the car is still ugly. That oughta tell you something.

Overall, I think these guys should get rid of their thousand brands, and concentrate on creaing a few good cars. And make them fuel-efficient, instead of lobbying for softer fuel efficiency laws… that one bit them on the butt, didn’t it??

Ok, rant over. Or not. Watch this space.

The curse of the business traveller

Here I am, by myself, having a burger on the Hard Rock Cafe in San Francisco, CA. I’m used to it by now, but I always wonder if the other patrons think I’m weird ’cause I’m eating by myself on a very popular restaurant (that’s an understatement… this place is packed!!!) on a Saturday night. I had to be Friday and Saturday in San Jose, CA, so I thought it would be a good idea to spend some of that time here in SF. And it was.

I had forgotten how much I like this city. In my previous job, I used to come to this area pretty much at least once a month, but I haven’t been here in about three years. This place still rocks. The view of the bay is amazing today - the day is sunny, not too cold nor warm, and there’s enough people to make a crowd here at Pier 39, but not that many that it gets annoying. I managed to snap a few nice pictures I’ll be posting soon.

I spend the better part of an hour talking to a very nice store attendant girl in a wine shop here in Fisherman’s Wharf. I was looking for a wine that would go down easily on its own, to have a drink when I get back to the hotel. She recommended several wines. I ended up trying out most of them, and after several “tastings” (and ending up almost drunk), I ended up with a pretty good Merlot. It is a 2004 Sycamore Lane, and it is from a small vineyard here in California. The bummer is that it is not sold normally through supermarkets - and I guess there’s no chance of getting it back in Costa Rica. It is pretty good, a fruity wine… if you happen to come across it, get a bottle. And get one for me if you don’t mind.

Here is a picture I took of the label: Sycamore Lane 2004 Merlot.