The changes:

1. Google’s logo has been updated
2. Search button has been updated
3. Location; it now tells you where you are searching from and it allows you to modify your location and apply it to searches.
4. Results count and query execution time has been moved to the top right just above location.
5. The search options on the left have been, slightly, updated (UI wise)

This is the latest “entry” level Ferrari, it replaces the current Ferrari 430 which is IMO the best looking Ferrari of the current crop.  I’m actually surprised with how the 458 ended up looking, I feel that it has a little Japanese influence in its lines.  But I like the fact that they decided to streamline the design and made the car more compact (at least visually).  Well enough rambling just hit play and listen to that engine scream.

Lamborghini Reventón Roadster

All I have to say is: this car is plain ridiculous.  The Reventón looks crazy and I love it; I wonder if I’ll ever see one in Miami…

The film opens with a big sequence that sets up the story and the tone for the rest of the movie and it also kick starts the introduction of our main characters. In fact most of the characters are introduced by the half hour point where the movie suddenly shifts gears and takes us inside the U.S.S. Enterprise.

I feel that Abrams’ and his team did a great job casting all the characters, again I do not know anything about Star Trek, but the actors sure knew how to act. But I have to single out our two main characters James T. Kirk and Spock. Both characters back stories where well written and well acted on screen.

I specially liked how Zachary Quinto’s Spock portrays the conflict he is dealing with for being half human and half vulcan. There are scenes in which I really felt the pain and anger Spock was experiencing, yet he seemed calmed and logical as well. I found the portrayal very interesting and I think that Spock is a good opposite for Kirk’s character.

Kirk is played by Chris Pine, who I’ve never heard of before this movie, and he does an incredible job. I liked Kirk’s arrogance, wittiness and overall badassery. One can feel that Kirk knows he is the best of all of them and he sure demonstrates he is.

Not only did I find the cast good but the film’s cinematography is also outstanding, I loved the realistic feel the film had. Quite the opposite of the latest Star War movies where everything seems “too clean” and CGIish. The film goes by fast for a two hour long movie, an indicator that the film as a whole is entertaining and that there are no scenes that feel out of place or dull.

One of the things that I found really interesting is the way the movie kind of acknowledges the Star Trek that most people know and yet this movie clearly lets us know that this is a reboot to the franchise.

However there are some flaws. First and foremost the romantic scenes between two characters, which I thought where OK at first but where kind of annoying and over the top as the film went on. The second flaw is something I thought could have been better and that is the antagonist, captain Nero. Nero’s character does have a good story but Nero himself has little screen time and he didn’t really feel that threatening. Maybe with some more screen time Nero would have come across as more of a villain than he did.

I think that this movie will be a success worldwide and it will probably be the best if not one of the best movies this summer. I personally hope Terminator Salvation is as good if not better than this movie, but that might be tough, we will find out in a couple of weeks. Star Trek is definitely worth the price of admission and I think that it deserves a solid 4 out of 5 star rating.

However back then I didn’t realize the error of looking into jobs with long requirements. Originally I thought that the lists where more of an employer’s wish list, wishful thinking that a candidate with all the trades would show up on their front door. What I didn’t realize back then is that I could potentially be the only one at that position. In other words I would be the only person doing what I do at that particular company. Back then I didn’t think that was such a horrible scenario, but now I know that is a mistake.

The main problem with being the only one with your level of skills in the company, is that there is no one else to bounce ideas with, no one to give you a hand when you have a mental block or anyone that understands/appreciates the complexity/difficulty of the job at hand. Usually employer’s with wish lists want a person that can do it all, they want someone who can do for one salary what two or more should do.

So next time that you are on a job interview ask with how many co-workers you will be interacting with directly. Trust me on this one, you do not want to be the lone ranger at the park.

Hopefully I’ll make it back to number one in a few weeks or so.  I should put more content though… it seems as my blog is abandoned.

This project fits the bill perfectly, its small no stress, pressure or hard timeline. So what is the place called? Well its called Dick’s VW and they are an auto repair shop located in California, Beaumont to be more precise. I still don’t know the exact details. However I do understand that they provide services to any brand of vehicle out there European, American, Asian or any other.

I’ll be posting more about this project as I start working on it. Eventually I’ll write a more detailed case study explaining what exactly he wanted and what I did to solve the issue. In all honesty I should do a case study for all the projects I’ve worked on the past and for any project I do in the future.

The Best

• Kathy Sierra’s presentation “Creating Passionate Users” and the slides that went with it. I specially enjoyed the slide that showed a confused user in front of a monitor with a cloud saying WTF?? that was priceless.
• I enjoyed Blaine Cook’s presentation and the pandemonium while he was speaking(Twitter went down and some where going nuts over that and his cellphone didn’t stop ringing while he was up in stage).
• Leah Culver’s presentation was good she came across as humble and very energetic speaker. She acknowledge some mistakes she made while developing Pownce. Acknowledging mistakes and trying to tell people to avoid it is not something a lot of people do.
• The Launch a Web App in 40 min. panel.
• Cal Henderson’s presentation was my favorite of the day, he talked about robots, kittens and stuff…
• Gary Vaynerchuk kicked some ass too with his presentation. Actually I think of it more of a motivational speech than a presentation. I didn’t know who he was or why was he relevant to the conference. But after seeing him on stage I think he really represents what he talks about. He is very charismatic and the only negative thing I could point out is that he is a Jets fan(Go Dolphins!).

The Rest

• Tantek Çelik and Brian Oberkirch where good hosts, although at times they seemed to lack some emotion while speaking.
• Matt Mullenweg’s presentation was good and insightful to me, however he spoke somewhat fast and was a little too technical for some of the people who went with me to the conference. Nonetheless his presentation was enjoyable.
• Kevin Marks’ and Emily Boyd’s presentations where interesting, but a little too long.

The Bad

• I thought Matt Marshall’s presentation was very dull and how many times did he mention google? a gazillion times during his presentation.
• Microsoft’s presentation was kind of pointless and it was more of a demo than a presentation. From the two demos presented the first one didn’t quite work and well it was basically MS version of Google maps. The second demo worked better but the accompanying explanation was not very clear.
• Bagels for lunch? Bagels are OK for breakfast and morning break, but for lunch? fortunately there was a Burger King three blocks north of the venue.
• I didn’t really get to meet new people, but thats just me.

Overall the event was very interesting, it was well organized and the experience as a whole was a first to me. I really wish I could have made some new friends at the event. I also wish I could have met some of the speakers and established some kind of connection/contact with them, but I guess them being some kind of celebrities it makes it hard to contact them. Thats all for now.

update: finally got myself to upload the 3 pictures I took at the event.  I should really really get a NEW Digital SLR, anyhow here is the link to my FOWA 2008 Flickr set.

The most important product released today was the MacBook Air, Apple’s ultra thin computer weighting in at 3.0 lbs and measuring, at its thickest point, just 0.76?. This product has been rumored for a few months already and was generating some excitement among Apple fanboys including myself. However after the initial excitement I realized that the product is disappointing.

On the outside my main concerns with the MacBook Air are the number of USB ports and the micro-dvi port. Only 1 USB port wont satisfy my needs at the moment, I know that wi-fi is the main idea behind the Air but not all the gadgets, the ones I use with a laptop, are wi-fi enabled. Secondly a micro-dvi port? why didnt they try to keep the mini-dvi port? that means that I will have to carry yet another adapter with me.

As far as hardware goes the Air’s standard specs seem good enough. However if we take a closer look at the specs we can see that the HDD speed is just 4200RPM, quite slow if you ask me. The same is true for the processor 1.6Ghz shouldn’t even be there it should have come with 1.8Ghz standard. The 5hr battery life for an ultra thin computer seems low; I remember two years ago while looking for a laptop that IBM had ultra thin laptops with a 7-9hr battery life. Heat is another issue I’m concern with, my MacBook runs HOT most of the time, how is the MacBook Air going to handle heat? The only things I really dig in the MacBook Air are the screen size and full keyboard.

I guess I will be waiting for the reviews from the early adopters. The product is not bad and I dont think the price is excessive as some people complain. Nonetheless I believe the Air is a product whose technical specs were not well thought out.

Watch Apple’s MacBook Air Official guided tour, picture gallery, specs and the Ad