Fair and Balanced

Got an e-mail last night from Ned Hibbard over at the local Fox affiliate. They were doing a piece on the discovery of the Quicktime vulnerability that’s getting a little “buzz” as we kick of the Month of Apple Bugs.

He wanted to know if he could send a camera guy over to the radio station during my show. The idea was to record us on air in hopes of getting a sound bite to use in a story they were putting together for the evening news about the vulnerability.

Not being one who turns down a chance for free publicity, I agreed.

They did end up using several seconds of video they shot. It wasn’t an Emmy award winning performance by any means. Still, it’s good promo for the show. Especially since they got the name of the show right, unlike the previous story I did for the NBC affiliate last August.

A three hour tour

This should be interesting.

My department, as part of our ongoing team building efforts, is going bay fishing today.
That’s right, a group of nerds consisting of hardware techs and software developers are going out on a boat for a few hours to catch some fish.

Cynthia suggests that this might be a ploy by the HR department to thin out the IT department.

If you don’t hear from me please send a search party.

I guess if something were to happen like say, getting stranded on a deserted island, I would prefer this:

rather than this:

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times

When I got the call from Phil Archer and Channel 2 I was reluctant to be interviewed on such short notice. I was not feeling my prettiest yesterday and, believe it or not, I suffer from HUGE stage fright. I hide it well but you can see it in the beads of sweat that form on my head. I tried to duck out but he was very persistent. I was explaining to him that I didn’t feel camera ready and he asked me “Do you have any open wounds?” to which I replied “Well, no, not right now.” He said “Then we’re good to go!”

I gave him directions to the office and he and his cameraman were there in 15 minutes.

These guys are pros and they do put a person at ease when they are doing the interview so I relaxed very quickly.

As it turns out, I was able to get home in time for the broadcast so I could cringe in horror as appropriate. Turns out I looked fine and the sound bite was perfect. It could not have been a better on screen appearance….well, except for one tiny detail.

The name of the radio show is Technology Bytes, not Reality Bytes.

Yes, Technology Bytes and Reality Bites both strive to be funny.
We both were created in Houston, TX.

But from there the differences become more and more glaring.

Reality Bites was created in 1994
Technology Bytes was created in 1995

Reality Bites is a comedy about love in the ’90s
Technology Bytes is a comedy about computing with equipment from the 90’s

Reality Bites features a mediocre cast of washed up near nobodies
Technology Bytes features a … wait … this is not a difference.

For sure they have more women in the movie than we do on our show, but I bet Jennifer the Intern was never arrested for shoplifting.

Ah well, you know what they say about publicity.

Who you gonna call?

In this town I am one of the “go to” geeks. On occasion, when one of the network affiliates needs an “expert”, they turn to Houston’s Best Tech Geek for a sound bite or two.

This time it’s Phil Archer from NBC’s Channel 2 doing a story about the proposed changes with Time Warner Cable. Apparently they’re moving to Dallas and Comcast is coming here.

Phil wanted to discuss what Houston’s Internet users might expect during this transition.

It airs tonight at 5:00 pm. It should be good for a laugh.

As I always say, I have a face for radio.

Deadliest catch

We all have our guilty pleasures. Mine is coming home on a Wednesday night after the radio show and watching the DVR capture of Lost. Well, it was until the season ended. I bide my time now with Commander in Chief until my precious is returned to me, after the summer comes to a close. Yessssssssssssssss….

Cynthia is not much of a TV watcher and does not share my interest in these shows. That being said, she has her own serial vice in the form of The Deadliest Catch.

The Deadliest Catch is a television series / documentary that chronicles the events on-board six fishing ships in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and Opilio crab fishing seasons.

The show’s name is not derived from some type of fierce man-eating crabs as one might imagine (or hope), rather it is in reference to the very real possibility of meeting an untimely and frozen death while crewing one of these god-forsaken vessels. Death that may come in the form of a rogue wave or an errant piece of ice-laden gear crashing down on your head.

Personally, I find the program difficult to watch. It’s quite stark and doesn’t pull any punches. You will be watching and *snap* that guy’s leg is broken or *splash* he’s overboard and has seconds to live….oh, he didn’t make it. Really rather gruesome and yet, Cynthia loves it.

She cannot seem to get enough of the show and I asked her why she liked it so much. She told me, quite plainly, that when she watches those guys go through what they do to make a living it makes her job seem a little bit easier to deal with.

Can’t argue with logic like that. It’s all about perspective.