Toyota Land Cruisers in Tibet

I have a lot of interests, one of them is the Toyota Land Cruiser. History Lesson. My 1st Land Cruiser was an FJ55, I drove it while I was in high school, and today I drive an 84 FJ60. So I thought I'd create yet another category here on palmit.com - landcruiser.commentary.

My 1st post is a series of pictures a friend of mine took while he was traveling in Tibet. He knew of my interest in Land Cruisers so he brought these back for me. Enjoy!

Eugene Oregon - eugene.oregon.commentary

I've been thinking a little (and I do mean a little ; ) about how I can make this blog more interesting for people other than myself. The thought process leading up to my idea looked something like this - I was mowing the lawn at the time.

>> it's starting to rain
>> I can't believe people are coming to my site looking for Andy Milonakis
>> how can I provide more value than that?
>> mowing this lawn every week is a drag - but I love my yard
>> I love Eugene ...
>> hey, maybe I should start posting some pictures of Eugene
>> yeah, pictures and insider information, tips and tricks
>> running out of gas, need to refill mower
>> stupid blog

Amazing - right? So that's it, I created a new commentary category called eugene.oregon.commentary. From time to time I'll post cool pictures of Eugene here and insider tips for people interested in Eugene.

1st picture. Historic! This is a picture I snapped of a building above the Caspian Cafe on 13th street near the U of O. We don't eat at Caspian, we prefer the Sienna Cafe next door - I took this picture because it was the 1st time I noticed the building above Caspian and I thought that made it cool.

Update 06/03/06 - changed category label from eugene.oregon.commentary to northwestliving.commentary

Andy? Why do I blog?

I sometimes (often in fact) wonder why I even bother posting to this thing I call my blog - palmit.commentary. Some 3,000 people end up here a month, most accidentally, and they quickly leave. I was further discouraged tonight to learn why most of them are visiting the site. Andy? Why do I blog?

Blogs are a good investment from a time or profit perspective for: people with some measureable quantity of fame, people that belong to some type of cult, subversive types, people with nothing better to do, and perhpaps politicians. Blogs are here to stay, these types of people have been here from the beginning.

HIGHGEAR Aerial - Watch/Altimeter/Barometer/Thermometer

Last week, I was browsing REI-Outlet for a watch to replace my aging and stinky Timex Expedition and I came across a cool looking watch made by a company called HIGHGEAR (never heard of it) that I just couldn't pass up for the money. For $59 I replaced my Timex with a HIGHGEAR Aerial that includes an: Altimeter, Barometer (weather center), Thermometer, and a top-notch Chronograph (the only feature I really need), and it looks cool on top of all of that. It's a little big for my thin wrist but somehow the yellow makes it look a little smaller than it actually is. Sadly, (for you) the yellow model was selling at a reduced price on my favorite website (REI-Outlet) - if you want something like this it will cost you $100+.

Google Personal Homepage & Star Wars!

Wow, this is my week - Star Wars Episode III and I get my very own personalized Google Homepage. Cool!

Seven Steps to Better Presentations by Jeffrey Veen

Good stuff here.

Seven Steps to Better Presentations by Jeffrey Veen

Star Wars Nerds

A friend at the office turned me on to this comedy - Triumph the Insulting Dog - Star Wars Nerds

OneCare

Came across and interesting post on Microsoft Monitor this morning. Looks like Microsoft is putting the final touches on a comprehensive security suite.
Microsoft Monitor: All the Care that You Need?

Microsoft Monitor - Yahoo! Music Service

Microsoft Monitor: Yahoo! Plays Janus

David Card gives an excellent take on the new Yahoo! music subscription service. It's a must-read post.

Garmin GPS V

So I mentioned in a previous post that I stumbled onto a sport called GeoCaching - I neglected however to talk at all about the GPS navigator I purchased and my fans are screaming! Actually, I don't have any fans, I made that up. With that said, here is short commentary on the GPS navigator I chose.

I did some research and settled on the trustworthy (although somewhat dated) Garmin V.

Why?

• I like having the option to use it in landscape or portrait mode. It sits on my dash so the landscape option is convenient. A lot of the other handhelds don't support this well.
• It was cheap! I paid about $225 Amazon dollars for this.
• It shipped with a 12-volt adapter for the car, as well as a slick locking-mount that sits nicely on my dash.
• This was an important one - it comes with a full-unlock for MapSource City Select. Most of the newer handhelds don't come with the software - you can pretty quickly spend more than $400 on a new handheld, the software, and the basic accessories.
• It's rugged and water-resistant to 5 meters - fits my multi-purpose mission.
• I live in Oregon - the 19 megabytes of storage and the slower processor can handle this state.

I've been using the Garmin V for a few weeks now and it's one of those great buys - you know, they're rare and far between, you end up feeling like you should send the manufacturer some more money. This unit cost about $500 a couple of years ago so it's a bargain today at $225. The automatic turn-by-turn route planning feature is great and I love the trip computer. I even take it running with me on occasion to confirm my distance. At night the thing even has a cool backlight feature that almost makes the screen look like it's color. I'm rambling now. You can look at the complete spec on the Garmin site or view this handly tour movie if you're interested in knowing more.

I highly recommend this unit to anybody interested in adding a GPS navigator to their arsenal of toys.