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An iPhone app for your Pup

Bailey — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:20:35 +0000

This morning I read about an iPhone app called Bowlingual that translates what your dog barks and posts it to twitter.

The way it works is that you need to let your dog bark into the iPhone mic first. The app then uses a special algorithm to analyze what your dog wants from you and displays it on the iPhone screen. On the picture above (left half), for example, the dog says “Let’s play together”.

What the Bowlingual device doesn’t offer is the “social networking feature” of the iPhone app. Press the bone-shaped button below your dog’s statement to post it to Twitter (see the Twitter conversation thread shown on the right half on the screenshot above), along with a profile picture of your dog. You can also add a comment before you tweet your dog’s message out, a feature that’s supposed to encourage dog owners to connect and communicate with each other on Twitter

Happy New Year – 2010!

Bailey — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:52:22 +0000

Happy New Year!

A sincere apology to all of my faithful readers (yes all 5 of you), for not writing much during 2009. I almost gave up on my blog last year, mostly due to unprecedented technical issues – some nasty Russian hackers installed a bit of malicious php and javascript code that was very painful to remove, my database was also badly corrupted – and sadly not taking the time to write.

In my defense I have been using facebook, twitter, and linkedin to feed my social media cravings… so check back for more posts and drop me a note to say hi.

http://www.facebook.com/baileycross
http://www.twitter.com/baileycross
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/bailey-cross/2/681/106

The Inauguration of President Barack Obama

Bailey — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 01:58:49 +0000

On January 20th, 2009, Barack H. Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. I stayed home from work to watch the inauguration and witness history. If only my grandma had lived to see it.

“With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”

Read the entire Presidental inauguration speech at CNN
Hope

Change has come to America

Bailey — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:17:23 +0000

“That’s the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we’ve already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.”

Read the entire acceptance speech

A Horned Turban Shell

Bailey — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 04:34:26 +0000

Would you eat this? This is a Horned Turban Shell caught and prepared on Enoshima, Japan. I’ve been told that the best way to prepare it is to have it sliced and marinated rather than cooked in the shell over an open flame as shown below. I have to admit that it was disturbingly fun, and a bit unsettling pulling the little guy out of his shell. Its body is nearly 4 inches in length. I tried to eat it in sections but the meat was a little bit too chewy to tear without making a fool of myself. The best approach was to eat the whole thing and chase with a suitable amount of the regional Enoshima micro-brew. A very fun experience that I will not soon forget.

More at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20070926at.html

Virginia Tech – Our future altered by Hate, Wickedness and $571

Bailey — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:39:47 +0000

The past two days have been the worst in the history of my collegeVirginia Tech. I never imaged that phrases such as “The deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history”, “Massacre at Virginia Tech” or “Campus Columbine” would ever be uttered.

The killer has been identified as Cho Seung-Hui, a 23 year of English Major. Apparently his essays for English class were so distributing a teacher taught him one-on-one and encouraged him to seek counseling. Many students felt threated at the violence used in his writings.

According to CNN.com, “Cho paid $571 for a 9 mm Glock 19 pistol just over a month ago, the owner of Roanoke Firearms told CNN Tuesday. He also used a .22-caliber Walther pistol in the attack, police said. The purchases was described as “low key” by the gunshop owner.

What motivates a person to take the lives of others? According to CNN.com, “Cho left a note in his dorm in which he railed against “rich kids,” “debauchery” and “deceitful charlatans” on the Virginia Tech campus”. Is it something other than hatefulness and complete wickedness?

I’m saddened that Tech, our friends, and families will be forever linked to these horrific events.

“We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on. We are embracing our mourning. We are Virginia Tech … ”

– Nikki Giovanni, University Distinguished Professor, poet, activist