If you want to read about the statistics of the silicon valley and alternate news , away from the traditional mass media , a few engineers have come up with this site where they claim
" "
I like a lot of their statistics and it helps me look at a view different then mass media .
You can read more about it @ http://www.viewfromsiliconvalley.com/index.html

posted at: 01:47 | category: /sfbayarea | permanent link to this entry

Every year during Nov-Dec the Cesar Chavez park in San Jose downtown , the park is decorated with lights and displays from local schools/businesses etc.There is live performances by local artists.
It is a cool place to spend a couple of hours with the kids as they love the lights and the various displays.
There is no entrance fee for this event.
You can read more about it @ http://www.christmasinthepark.com/

posted at: 16:44 | category: /sfbayarea | permanent link to this entry

Recently I needed to rip an audio CD which we had bought.Till now I had been using the lossy format Ogg for ripping CD's but I have now started using the FLAC lossless format for audio for ripping CD's.
I used the free/open source Encoder @ http://www.bonkenc.org/

posted at: 19:53 | category: /general | permanent link to this entry

No it is not Linux or a flavor of Unix.It aims to be an OS , which is binary equivalent to Windows.
I downloaded the live CD iso image and played with a little.
I booted with  it on my laptop but it did not boot.
Then I tried it in VirtualBox and was pretty impressed with how much progress has been made by these developers.
I played with for some time and unfortunately  it is not ready for prime-time as it is alpha software.Some of the main bottlenecks are limited or no network/wireless support at this point.
Also there is no support for USB/SATA.
But in future I will definitely look forward to using this especially in situations where in there are no viable alternatives to some software on Windows .
More details about ReactOS is @ http://www.reactos.org/

posted at: 05:13 | category: /cuttingedge | permanent link to this entry

Montessori,Sunnyvale My son is going to move to Kindergarten next year and so I was looking for some books which are used in Rainbow Montessori official site to buy books  @ http://www.ecampus.com/CourseFront.asp?intCourseID=761313&intSemesterID=42212
Unfortunately , for obvious reasons they don't give out the ISBN number or any other details.
So I compared the images of the books on amazon.com and other sites to find the ISBN number so that parents can have a choice of buying used books or from other vendor if they choose to.
Here are the details.

Book	Author	ISBN-13	Comments
Harcourt Brace Spelling	Thorsten Carlson	ISBN-13: 978-0153136535
California Math- Level 1	Houghton Mifflin	???	Could not find matching cover image.
Primary Phonics: Workbook 1	Makar, Barbara W.	ISBN-13 978-0838803608
Primary Phonics: Workbook 2	Makar, Barbara W.	ISBN-13 978-0838805503
Primary Phonics: Workbook 3	Makar, Barbara W.	ISBN-13 978-0838805619

Disclaimer : I cannot be held responsible for any information or mistakes.This is for informational  purposes only.Please double check with the school before acting on this information.

posted at: 03:18 | category: /rainbow | permanent link to this entry

On our recent trip we stayed for one night in the Sea Breeze Inn in San Simeon City.
The price for this Inn was fairly reasonable that is about $55 per night for a king size bed.
The beach is at a walkable distance from the Inn and some of the rooms(like ours) have a ocean view.
Please note that this property is not on the ocean front, it is near the ocean.
The rooms were decent for the price and free continental breakfast/wireless were an added bonus. The Inn is conveniently located near 2-3 restaurants and this is a major perk too considering that there are not many restaurants in San Simeon.
Hearst Castle is about 2-3 miles from this Inn.
Overall we were pleased with this place and definitely will stay again.
Visit Sea Breeze Inn @ http://seabreezeinnsansimeon.com/

posted at: 16:33 | category: /lodgingreview | permanent link to this entry

It is amazing how housing bublle has bursted and has brought down some of the mo st expensive/desirable locations including the silicon valley.
In my mind this is just the beginning because the current housing price impact i s due to general economy and yet has to see the full effect of more layoffs in t he valley.
Read the full article @ 1 in 7 homes in Santa Clara County is 'underwater'

posted at: 16:26 | category: /sfbayarea | permanent link to this entry

For those who live in the San Francisco bayarea , we live under the constant threat of an earthquake.
Here are some bone chilling video simulations by USGS in case the "big one" hits the bayarea.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/simulations/hayward/
I would request all folks in the SF bayarea to enroll in the USGS ,  Earthquake Notification Service @ https://sslearthquake.usgs.gov/ens/

posted at: 15:41 | category: /sfbayarea | permanent link to this entry

Now that we are in the downward spiral of recession , there is a website which tracks layoffs.
http://news.cnet.com/tech-layoffs/

posted at: 03:33 | category: /general | permanent link to this entry

I always felt that California laws are much better then rest of the country as far as work/life balance is concerned like for example California was the first state to have a law called Paid Family Leave(PFL).
I'm very dissappointed to see a law which prevents lawsuits being filed against corporations for overtime payments, gives a clear/unprecedented powers to Corporations to expect people to work weekends and long hours without any legal recourse for employees.
Read the full article @ http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/26/175252&from=rss

posted at: 00:34 | category: /worklifebalance | permanent link to this entry