Marc's Journal
Jun. 29th, 2009
01:50 pm - Random baseball thought
so, one thing i was thinking about this weekend was that, i bet most (all?) big league teams knew who on their team was juicing. i mean seriously, from an owner's perspective a player is a multi-million dollar commodity. so, every year i'm sure they all get a physical to check for shit like blood pressure, cholesterol, whatever... to think that they wouldn't have also conducted a comprehensive drug test as well during the physical seems highly unlikely.
i mean, i guess it is possible that the union stipulated as part of every single contract ownership can't test for drugs... can anybody confirm?
so, i guess i don't really have a point, but something to think about anyways.
it might be interesting to look at guys who were good from like 1998-2006 or 2007; who haven't been good since and who had contracts come up at the end of 2005-2006. i guess the theory is that if ownership knew a guy was juicing and there was going to be a real MLB testing policy next year, and his contract was up... you get the picture.
May. 31st, 2009
04:02 pm - Camera Advice?
I've written a couple of dozen posts in my head over the past 6-8 months about:
-moving to France
-father-in-law suddenly passing away
-expecting to become a daddy in october
...and so on. But instead of anything substantive I've returned to the LJ for some practical advice...
I would like a new camera. I have a simple Casio Exilim now which is fine outdoors but is terrible in any relatively low light kind of situation (essentially anything indoors without a ton of natural light). And, the flash is terrible. And, I'm pretty much certain I am going to have the cutest kid in the world so I need to be ready for lots of indoor photography starting in October-ish.
So, I've spent a couple of hours reading reviews and I just have no clue. I can't even decide between another point and shoot or upgrading to an SLR. I have some experience (albeit many years ago) shooting with a 35mm camera, so I'm not scared of learning a SLR. But, I guess if I could buy another point and shoot and be guaranteed it would be way better indoors I would get that. But, at least one sales guy I talked to pretty much was like, any point and shoot is going to be just as crappy indoors as what I already have - buy an SLR. But I'm not sure that I believe him because my freakin' Sony Ericsson phone does a better job in low light than my Casio camera.
So anyways, this whole post is basically a veiled attempt at getting ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
stenz to read this and offer some brilliant advice.
For an SLR I'm considering a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi (on the basis of sales guy's recommendation). If I went this route I would definitely buy an external flash. If I go with a point and shoot the Leica D-LUX 4 seems pretty sweet and just about every review I've read raves about it. I would consider expanding the budget northwards if it was worth it.
Anyone?
Sep. 19th, 2008
10:43 am - EFTs
So to begin this week I was way too exposed (long) to financials. When the market bounced a little bit on Monday mid-morning, I got out of UYG (Ultra long financial) and purchased some SEF (regular short financial). Then the market tanked throughout the afternoon and I got back in to UYG at a much lower price and figured I'd keep my SEF as a hedge. So I'm long financials again and hoping for a rally. Which I got.
But, this morning SEF is showing as down nearly 80% while SKF (the ultra short version of the ETF) is only down 20%... does anybody know wtf is going on?
UPDATE: SEF now on the tape down about 8%... Just a little glitch in the matrix?
May. 21st, 2008
12:57 pm - Do my work for me?
So, in one of the great developments of my professional career we are chasing a lead to help a large, off-shore gambling site develop their new poker client.
Two questions:
1. What are some online poker features that already exist today that you find really valuable?
2. If you were building a new poker client from the ground up, what new features (if any) would you try to develop? I have some thoughts on this (voice/chat integration, voice activated commands, integrated statistics provision...), but if you have a second, I would really love to hear what you think...
May. 8th, 2008
05:34 pm - La Dolce Vita
Well, I'm back in Italy but this time for work. I flew into Bologna on Sunday morning and from Monday through Wednesday I criss-crossed between Bologna, Treviso and Brescia putting about 1000 kms on a rental car. Having spent 3 weeks in Italy last Sept-Oct Sharon and I began to sour on it. But, after four months back in Boston it sure is easy to appreciate all this country has to offer.
Mon-Wed was brutal, but now I have a couple of days to kill. After a final interview in Brescia on Wed afternoon, I picked nearby Ferrara (more or less randomly out of the guide book - Parma's hotels were full) to relax and get some work done. Today I sat in the piazza in front of my hotel. The castle dominated the view in front of me as I worked on my laptop off the hotel's wireless connection:
Ferrara seems to perfectly balance the cosmopolitan ways of Northern Italy with the stunning architecture, natural beauty and (relatively) down to earth folks we encountered during our time in Tuscany and Amalfi. For instance, while just about every resident is meticulously groomed, they still have the sense of practicality to choose bikes for transport around town, something we did not see in the hill towns:
I did a full double take when I saw the maid walk out of the hotel having fully transformed from her work outfit (complete with apron and hat) into just another fashionable local wearing designer jeans and Dolce & Gabana shades...
The weather was a pleasant 75 and sunny with a comfortable breeze all day. I had a pheonomenal dinner with a spectacular half-bottle of sangiovese... sigh, I could go on. It really is almost too perfect here.
Mar. 20th, 2008
01:38 pm - Planning a Vegas Trip
I'm planning a four night trip to Vegas for late June. My buddy and I are going to play in a $2K buy-in NLH tourney (Event #48) starting on a Friday, we will arrive on Thursday. My wife will come along as well.
I've never been to a WSOP event, but have read an awful lot over the past few years about how painful the logistics of playing in an event can be - so I wanted to see if anyone out there in LiveJournal land could help me avoid some pitfalls.
For accomodations, ideally we'd have a 2 bedroom suite that would give us a bit of privacy, but also have some living space to chillax and shoot the shit together. It seemed to me that the Rio would be a great match because we'd have the convenience of just stumbling downstairs for the start of the tourney on Friday. But, both wife and friend want to avoid the Rio because they think it is going to be really crowded and crazy there. Is this sound thinking or does the convenience of staying at the Rio outweigh the headaches?
For other options, where else should we consider staying that won't be too much of a pain the ass getting to and from the Rio? It appears that the Bellagio and Caesar's are both options. But, 2 bedroom suites at the Bellagio or Caesar's are really expensive (Bellagio.com quotes $1200 for one night). So a second question is, do any of these suites become available at discounted rates? If so, where should I be looking? I don't even see suites for Bellagio or Caesar's listed at Kayak, Orbitz, etc.
Those are the key questions I have for now, but if you have anything else to add about maximizing our WSOP experience in general, I'm all ears. Thanks!
Aug. 27th, 2007
04:39 pm - Life is good
One week from today Sharon and I will fly to Paris to begin a four month round the world trip. I have been planning and saving for this trip for about five years. The fact that we are so close to our departure date overwhelms me with joy and anticipation. I have an amazing partner to share this experience with and a job that supports the plan. In fact, both of us will be returning to our current jobs when we return in January.
One of the many inspiring aspects of the seminar conducted by Dr. Hegde that I attended in Bangalore (written about in this journal in the past) was his urging to take life moment by moment, to not fixate on the future and what is to come. It has been very hard for me to do this for the past six months as (other than work priorities) my entire life has been dedicated to finalizing the planning and preparation for a trip that was still months off. So, even though I've failed Dr. Hegde's advice for the past six months, starting today this will be my mantra. I am going to savor the last few days of work with colleagues I am proud to call my friends. I will enjoy my wait in line tonight at CVS picking up a prescription, the walk home, my wife's anxieties... I am going to absorb and appreciate all of it. Because every aspect of life truly is a gift and my life has been particularly lucky and blessed.
Speaking of life being good, I aspire to write up a "State of the (Red) Sox" post in this journal before leaving. But if I fail to, you can follow our adventures here...
http://marcandsharontravels.blogspot.co
Jul. 13th, 2007
03:48 pm - WSOP
Should be interesting to watch the rest of this play out. I've actually logged a fair amount of hands on Stars against both Dario Minieri and RainKhaN. Although most of my hands against Dario were a year or so back when he was playing a lot lower, he is loose and agressive and it seems like LAG play combined with a good run of cards goes a long way in these deep stack events. I have seen some HHs posted of Dario's from 100/200 limit that were funny in a "wow, people play that poorly at that level" kind of way.
I've played a bunch of hands against RainKhaN in the $109 turbos on Stars. He is TAG and unimaginative and played pretty poorly shorthanded, imo. Of course, he is sitting on over a million chips heading into Day 4 of the WSOP and my Stars bankroll right now allows me to play no higher than 1/2 NL... so... well, there's that.
03:25 pm - I guess that is why we do internal reviews
So yesterday I finished a draft of the sixth freakin' case study I've written on an end-user of a certain technology product. By #3 or #4 it was getting pretty old. By #6 I was ready to hurl myself out a window. So, in my boredom while writing it I decided to insert, "Product X is the schnitzel!!!" into the spot on the template reserved for the customer quote.
I finished off the damned case study and circulated to my boss and another colleague. Got a response back today, open up the document, first comment from my boss, "While this quote is a real zinger, I'm not sure it is appropriate for a business case study."
I guess he has a point.
Jun. 5th, 2007
07:33 am - Suki desu
-When the translator told the group of folks I'm working with I'm vegetarian one of them asked him "what flavor vegetarian is he?" I've eaten a lot of edamame so far :)
-The citizens of Tokyo (Tokyoians?) have evolved past talking on their cell phones. No one talks. On the train, everyone has their phone out and they are typing away. It is considered rude to talk on your phone on the bus or train and no one does.
-It is not law, but there is some government guideline that because of global warming companies should not over use A/C. The guideline is that you should not air condition below 28 or 29 celsius. So I'm working at a really old, big, electronics company that is following the guideline and they've revised their dress code accordingly. After June 1, no suit, no tie. I guess I could have left the suits and 10 ties at home...
-Everyone talks about the Japanese toilets and all of the controls on them - but who actually reports back on what they do? I do, baby. So my hotel toilet has the following controls: spray, seat warmer and bidet. I can also increase the water pressure up or down and there is a stand by button (?!). So far I've only experimented with "spray" and seat warmer. All I can say about spray is that it's aim is pretty impressive. I guess I should really research the difference between "spray" and "bidet" and report back.
-It is apparently in-style for Japanese women to strut around in either shorts or a skirt with dark knee or thigh high stockings. I wish I was making this up. I really do.
-"Marc-san" has a nice ring to it. And the business card exchange thing is practically a ceremony. I love it. I'm also bowing like a pro.
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