http://homepage.mac.com/sebimeyer/blog Sebastian Meyer is studying Environmental Science at the University of South Florida. He spends his days (or rather nights) as opinion editor for the newspaper The Oracle, where he also works as production assistant.He'd save the world but he is too busy listening to his iPod while hugging trees. sebi@sebimeyer.com © Sebastian "Sebi" Meyer Sat, 20 Sep 2003 02:07:17 -0400 Sat, 20 Sep 2003 02:08:42 US/Eastern iBlog 1.3 B6 I have started a new blog, using new software, on a different server... www.sebimeyer.com Please update your bookmarks, blog roll links, etc accordingly.
The rest stays the same, but better.

The main reason for me changing the underpinnings and host of my site was that I was constantly reminded of the limitations of both.

I have been using iBlog since the first version of it came out. It has been easy to use, fun, and most of all, reliable. (except that one time it shot down my site and changed all links) What has been becoming more and more obvious the longer I was using it was that I was finding the limitations of the software all the time.

Let me give you an example:

In iBlog you cannot have an entry on the main index page without having part of it appear on a separate page. This is all good and well if you post long entries, but as soon as you want to post only consisting of something like "I thought this was cool." you have a problem.

Another thing was that iBlog would have to render the pages out into html before you can even do a preview. It would however not only render the one page out you just changes, and maybe those that it also changes, like archives, no, it did all of them. This sometimes took minutes. Then you had to upload all of them, no matter how long the entry was you just changed. (something that seems to be fixed now, for the most part) This took around 20 minutes using a cable modem connection.

This is why I have decided to switch to Movable Type. If people like Howard Dean can use it to host pretty much their entire campaign on it , I have a feeling it should be powerful enough for me, as well. I don't care if you like the guy or not, the feat of raising $80,000 through the Web site on one day is pretty impressive.

The main difference to iBlog is also that it runs on a server where it generates all files. No uploading.

This also means that you can post from any computer that has web access and a browser.

And did I mention it was free?

I will however keep this site up the way it is (read: no more updates) in order to still get traffic from people who linked to me over the last six months. If you do have me in your blog roll though, please update the links.

Enough about that though. Head over to the new site, here.

]]> Wed, 10 Sep 2003 03:21:25 -0400 I've gotten some emails from readers of this page asking me what is going on and why I am not updating as of late. It has nothing to do with me losing interest, but has rather to do with some technical difficulties I am trying to resolve to make sebimeyer.com even better than before...

I don't want to give away too much, especially because I hate it to give promises that I don't know if I can keep (I still owe you some account of my Vegas trip, right?) them, but so far I have been pretty happy with the improvements as they shape up.

I hope to resolve the problems by the end of next week at the latest, but can't guarantee it. Until then you can look at this, or at pages on my portal to pass the time.

I know some of you are thinking "this had better be good!" I hope so too... ;-)

]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2003 03:40:08 -0400 dinner on main street

cruising, brother drunk after two Buds.

]]> Fri, 22 Aug 2003 22:07:10 -0700 We have found a place to sleep at night: A Holiday Inn Express in Fresno, Ca. This answers a long standing question I had...

Ever since a Holiday Inn Express opened a few blocks from where I live I have been cracking jokes about the name.

Why is it named Express? Do you go there to take naps? Do they charge by the hour?

But now I know: Express relates to the time it takes you from walking into your room to realizing it sucks.

The room has all the essential: beds, bathroom, fridge and even a micorwave.

Yet the place has a very depressing "bare bones" feel to it that is, well, depressing.

And then there are the two marks on the carpet that exactly match the shape and for of the iron. I guess somebody was too much in a hurry to use the ironing board?

I guess there is worse and I am tired, so I don't care anyway.

This is probably what they count on, dead tired business travelers that do not give a damn where they sleep, as long as they can put it on their expense account.

Anyways... sleepy time for now.

]]> Thu, 21 Aug 2003 23:40:42 -0700 I am dead tired. The promised account of my adventures in Vegas will have to wait till next week. This is how I feel right now...

I feel blurred.

We'll be leaving for California tomorrow morning. I'll have to get up at 10 at the latest, which combined with the tiny fact that it is 3 am right now means I will not be able to write the detailed account I had in mind.

Instead I will hold it off until probably early next week.

I doubt I will have Web access in the Sierras over the next couple of days (and frankly, that's a good thing. I need a break) so see you sometime next week with retroactive updates.

]]> Wed, 20 Aug 2003 03:01:17 -0700 We just spend our first night in Las Vegas. So far so good. Or as the people on the roller coaster coming by our window would put it: "WhhhhhhhhAAAAAAAAAA!"

Every few minutes a roller coaster comes by my window.

I am staying at the New York, New York, on the 23rd floor. Right in front our window is the drop of the roller coaster that circles the hotel. (coaster goes by)



I am thankful that the window is well insulated, which not only is so well sound proofed that we hardly hear people scream in their plummet, is also helps to keep the heat out. Who would have thought Las Vegas would be 30ºC (85º F) at 1 at night? But it is in the middle of the desert after all. (coaster goes by)

So last night we checked into what is actually a pretty decent hotel. They tried to sell us a better room for an extra $25 but we opted for ethernet in the room instead. Hence the update, live from my room. (coaster goes by)

When we arrived we were pretty starved as they did not even feed us on our $300 flight. We went for a walk on the strip and ended up at the Flamingo of Casino fame. But no, we did not complain that there were not enough blueberries in the muffins. As far as I could tell, they did not even have any. (coaster goes by)

After that we stopped at Walgreens for some "keep in the room to munch on"-stuff, headed back to the hotel, and went to bed. (coaster goes by)

]]> Mon, 18 Aug 2003 14:09:43 -0700 My brother and are booked on a flight to Las Vegas tomorrow...

As if that wasn't cool enough:

We booked the flight yesterday but still needed a hotel. So we sat down outside on my porch, I opened my trusty PowerBook, picked up the AirPort signal from inside, logged onto Hotels.com and 5 minutes later we had a room reserved at the New New, New York.

I can only agree with my brother who said "if somebody had told me three years ago that I'd be doing this someday, that it was even possible, I would have said he's crazy. But back then I wasn't using a Mac."

So updates will be a bit random next week. We stay in Vegas till Wednesday and then want to (so the theory) rent a car and drive through Death Valley to the Sierras, stay there for a couple of nights and head back to Vegas. No idea if I will be able to update after Wednesday at all, until I get back on next Sunday.

We'll see.

One thing is for sure though. We'll skip her.

]]> Sat, 16 Aug 2003 22:49:04 -0400 I was at the mall a few minutes ago and saw an add for what I can only describe as ass-cleavage panties...

What will they think of next?



If for some inexplicable reason (hey, whatever floats your boat, man) you really want to know more about those, go here.

]]> Sat, 16 Aug 2003 20:02:49 -0400 A passage from a BBC World article reads "Software giant Microsoft says it is confident it has thwarted threatened massive disruption to the internet from the MSBlast worm" even though thousands of people DID have problems...

Am I the only one that finds this insulting?

There are thousands of people that are still trying to get their computer or server up and running again because they made the mistake of running Windows on them. Trying to keep Windows secure is like trying to avoid rain by hopping around trying to avoid the raindrops.

Even Microsoft itself cannot keep up with all the updates and patches.

I don't run Windows because of reasons like that, and never will again. Ever. But millions of people do and Microsoft has an obligation to those customers.

I'd say sue them, but we all know that's not going to work either. We could cry for help by our governments, but some of them even throw more money at them ($90-100 million) mere days before then turning around to issue warnings about Microsoft's security flaws. So I guess we are on our own.

What I simply don't get is that users still take their crap. There are alternatives, you know?

]]> Sat, 16 Aug 2003 09:46:55 -0400 This happened yesterday just a few blocks from where I live...

Read the story here. there is really not much to add to that, is there?

How brain dead can people be.

I mean, do they wake up one morning and go "Oh! I think I will rob a sports store today! And then I will steal some sport jerseys and shoes!"

Banks are overrated...

]]> Thu, 14 Aug 2003 16:54:36 -0400 An opinion column about my recent visit to Key West. I will be published in the Welcome Back edition of The Oracle in a week. You've read it here first! ;-)

Key West – Everybody living in Florida has probably heard the old joke, “if it’s called tourist season, why am I not allowed to shoot them?” In Key West the locals seem to have made their peace with tourists and accepted the fact that their island depends on the tourist’s money as income. But the same problems that are found everywhere else in Florida can be found here, albeit condensed into an island two by four miles in size.

Like many coastal towns, Key West has witnessed the construction of many expensive apartments and condo complexes tailored to tourists and priced out of the reach of local residents. Even though most tourists only frequent Key West for a few weeks, or even only days per year, such constructions inevitably change the very nature of the island community.

But if tourists are willing to leave their money here, why not accept it and make a good living off of it? Let’s just say it is a natural progression from the early 1800s, when some of the islanders were prone to shipwrecking trade ships in order to loot their cargo. Taking money from tourists is less exacting and also, not to be underestimated, is on the lawyer-free side of legal.

I was actually surprised how tastefully major attractions are handled down here. It would have been very easy to turn Ernest Hemingway’s home, undoubtedly one of the “must-see” sites down here, into a theme park-like tourist trap. Instead, the house has been kept in its original state, filled with manuscripts and personal items of one of America’s best-known authors. I actually learned quite a few things about Hemingway while visiting his residence of about 30 years. Even though the admission price of $10 per adult is steep, I did not regret going.

Don’t get me wrong, there are tacky things there, such as post cards, posters, etc., featuring the cats that now reside at the house rather than the Nobel Prize-winning author. But it is all done in good fun, such as the cat-nip that the bookstore on the premises sell. So even if your literary appreciation is less A Farewell to Arms and more The Cat in the Hat, there is still something there for you.

Regretfully, not all areas of Key West are free of tourist traps. Duval Street, the main road in Key West for clubs and bars, is seeping with cheap knick-knacks and outright stupid souvenirs.

There are t-shirts with semi-witted slogans such as “it’s not a beer belly, it’s a gas tank for a sex machine” that you could as easily find anywhere else. But who in their right mind would buy a pair of boxer shorts reading, “I love to fart,” let alone such things as plastic figurines that (I am not making this up, I swear) blow bubbles out of their naked behind?

I can only guess that they are probably the same people that go to Sloppy Joe’s bar because they want to be able to tell their friends back home they went to the bar Hemingway used to hang out. Every guidebook on Key West would tell them that the original location of Sloppy Joe’s is actually now called Capt. Tony's Saloon and is across the street from the current one. They are probably also the ones that listen to horrible one-man bands at Mallory Dock while taking flash photos of the sunset.

Strangely enough, the small island seems big enough for such obnoxious stereotypical tourists that want to get as drunk as they can and people like me, that just want to get away and relax for a few days, to co-exist.

But what Ernest would make of it all, I have no idea.

]]> Thu, 14 Aug 2003 12:40:47 -0400 Microsoft has just let it known that their new WiFi (AirPort) access points will be based on 802.11g, which is definitely good news for Apple users...

802.11g, also known as AirPort Extreme, has the advantage that it is backward compatible with 802.11b, which we all learned to love as AirPort.

When Apple released AirPort Extreme Steve Jobs was quick to point out that others were betting on 802.11a instead, which has the same speeds but is not backward compatible with existing hardware.

The good news is that Microsoft has in their infinite wisdom decided that a standard Apple has adopted over half a year ago is indeed sound. This of course means our trusty Apple laptops will be able to pick up wireless AirPort signals in future network setting, even those that come from Microsoft base stations.

You might want to wash your hands afterward though.

]]> Tue, 12 Aug 2003 14:08:53 -0400 I don't know if I should find this funny, plain sad or disgusting...

"This incredibly detailed figure is a fitting addition to the collection of those interested in U.S. history, military memorabilia and toy action figures." I'd say it would probably fit in the toy group nicely.



Check it out, here.

]]> Mon, 11 Aug 2003 14:09:25 -0400 We went to Key West and had a blast, but also learned a lesson...

Because we decided last minute to go to Key West we relied on Orbitz.com to get us a hotel, namely the Best Western "Hibiscus." It had good reviews online so we placed the order for three rooms on my credit card, received a confirmation email and though that was that.

Two hours later I received a phone call. Best Western was on the other end telling me that there was a problem but they did not know what it was. All they wanted to do was confirm that I was who I said I was and get me the room. I gave them all my information again and they told me everything would be fine.

I asked the lady on the phone three times if everything was going to be ok. She said yes. I told her that I did not want to drive 500 miles and find out I did not have a room to sleep in. She told me everything is fine.

I received another confirmation email. All systems were go.

We got in the car three days later, drove close to 500 miles, and things weren't ok when we got there: We did not have a room.

The people at the Best Western "Hibiscus" did not have a room for us and could not explain why. Mumbling something about credit cards not being cleared, not listening to me esplaining that I had received confirmations about 5 times, they did however offer us a room in their sister hotel across the street, which was the last one they had. Because it was Thursday night, around ten already and we were dead tired, we took it.

The lesson I learned out of this is two fold: Never trust hotel reservations. Call the hotel itself and make sure that they know who you are, when you're coming and how long you're staying.

The other part to it is that I am sick and tired of paying a premium for something that sucks just because it bears a franchise name as backing. Next time I will do as I used to and book a non-chain hotel. Even if it sucks at least I did not throw money down the throat of a big corporation.

At least smaller hotels care about their customers and want them to come back, which usually makes their service better anyway.

And besides, what is they point in going to a different place if the place your staying at looks just like a motel that you could have had a mile down the road in you're home city?

]]> Mon, 11 Aug 2003 13:31:46 -0400 Writing post cards is a chore nobody in their right mind likes. My brother just wrote two cards to friends in Germany that took the art of writing lame cards to new levels...

He wrote them to two friends but send them to their parent's home address. The main joke is that both of them are straight but these cards could have their parents question that a bit.

Here the cards in their original German form, followed by the English translation.



Lieber Jens,
Hier auf Key West ist es wunderschöhn. Alle Leute haben sich ganz doll lieb. Man sieht sie sich ständig umarmen – sogar Männer. An jedem zweiten Haus hängt eine Regenboogenflagge. Das Wetter ist auch sehr schön: 35ºC und 90% Luftfeuchtigkeit. Ich wuenschte Du koenntest auch hier sein, dann könnten wir zusammen in den vielen tollen Bars abhängen.
M.F.G, Dein Martin

Dear Jens,
It is very lovely here on Key West. All people like each other a whole lot. You can see them hug each other very often - even men. Every other house has a rainbow flag hanging outside. The weather is also very nice: 95º F and 90% humidity. I wish you were here, then we could hang around the bars together.




Lieber Manuel,
Hier auf Key West würde es Dir bestimmt auch gefallen. Hier giebt es eine ganz lange Strasse mit ganz vielen Bars. Die sind zwar alle etwas teuer, aber ansonsten seht nett; vor allem die an denen draussen Regenbogenflaggen hängen. Von denen giebt es hier seht viele. Dort sind auch die Leute besonders nett. Das Wetter ist mit 35ºC und 90% Luftfeuchtigkeit auch sehr schön und angenehm. Ich hoffe dir gefällt das schöne Motiv welches ich fuer dich ausgesucht habe. Tschö, Ma-Guut, Dein Martin.

PS: Im Haus von Hemingway waren wir auch.

Dear Manuel,
I bet you would like it here on Key West as well. Here they have a very long street with lots of bars. They are all a bit pricey but otherwise quite nice; especially those with rainbow flags outside. There are a lot of those. In those the people are especially nice.
The weather of 95º F and 90% humidity is also very nice and pleasant. I hope you like the nice motive I picked for you. See you, your Martin.

PS: We also went to Hemingway's home.

]]> Fri, 08 Aug 2003 13:42:21 -0400 I am going to Key West and will probably not be able to update this site until Sunday. I'll probably do it like last time and write things on the road but upload them all at once when I get back...

As always: Check out the links in my portal while I am gone and keep an eye on these guys.

]]> Thu, 07 Aug 2003 10:27:47 -0400 This is hilarious, in a "thank good we do not have to live in this kinda world anymore"-way...

It's hard to believe this is only about 50 years old. Even though we are not totally living in an equal opportunity society yet, we have come a long way already.

Check out this ad from 1951:


More details are at this site.
(Thanks to SEA for pointing this out!)

On a personal note: I own one tie. The last time I wore it was two years ago at my wedding. Guess I am just not a tie kinda guy.

]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2003 11:12:11 -0400 My brother just brought home a spanking new 12 inch PowerBook. When he was about to unwrap it I did something pretty cruel...

He bought the PowerBook for his girlfriend in Germany. Even though it was not his own, he of course looked forward to unwrapping it and playing around with it for a few weeks. So he placed the unopened into the living room and went outside for a smoke in anticipation of the celebratory box-opening ceremony that comes along with the purchase of any Apple product.

While he was outside I swapped the box against an empty one that I had.

He came back in, opened the box and stared into it in horror.

"They gave me an empty box! Damn... by now the store is closed."

I couldn't bear it for too long and handed him the actual box. Relieve, along with box opening followed.

]]> Tue, 05 Aug 2003 00:03:15 -0400 I am off to Islands of Adventure with my brother for the day (a fact I just reminded him of, he had forgotten) but I could not leave without posting something. So for you personal amusement I hand you over to the Awesome Brothers Chap...

If you have not visited their site at Homestarrunner.com yet, it is highly recommended. (Make sure to type it right if you visit it, a misspelled version leads to a porn site.)

I had the honor of inteviewing the makers of this rather eclectic cartoon site last year for the paper.

The highlight of the site, among other things, is Strong Bad answering his emails every Monday.

And think of me while I spend my day alternately sweating in line and getting soaked.

]]> Mon, 04 Aug 2003 09:51:08 -0400 Every now and then I read something that makes me reconsider a major concept I thought I had grasped. This is one of those articles...

The Guardian has this very interesting article that talks about problems occurring due to the moon slowing down the Earth's rotations.

What happens is that modern clocks are all timed to atomic clocks, that are actually more accurate than the earth's rotation itself. They are trying to solve this problem by adding some seconds every now and then, but varying systems are still out of sync.

This causes off-sets in many time systems and could possibly lead to major problems in aviation, science missions, etc.

Good stuff.

]]> Sun, 03 Aug 2003 09:38:12 -0400 It took him two attempts but my brother has finally arrived from Germany last night. He missed his plane the day before because of security checks and slow check-in and was visibly shaken by the whole ordeal...

My brother is not someone that is easily intimidated. He is 21, has traveled all over the world, just like I did, and should be more than used to traveling, even to countries that take security to the next level, like Indonesia or Singapore. But when I picked him up at the Tampa airport last night he looked pretty worried.

He had originally booked a flight from Brussels, Belgium (it's about an hour drive from my parent's house in Germany) to Tampa via Newark, for Friday, August 1st. From what he told me he was at the airport 2 hours before the flight, as they suggest you do. But the people at the Continental Airlines check-in counter kept favoring other passengers, even though he was first in line, while giving him strange looks.

Then security checks took longer than expected (it is Europe, they know how to do that and take it serious, other than here) which made him miss his flight.

Theoretically it is possible that this was done on purpose because they did not like the way he looked. Of course it's near impossible to actually prove that, but it was the impression he seemed to be getting.

So he had to pay a fee of about $100 for something that was not really his fault and come back the next day to possibly get a standby flight.

He then came back to the airport early yesterday, which meant he hardly got any sleep and was nervous as it was because he was only on standby. (the next flight would have been Monday) Check-in went faster but the creepy part was the security guys knew who he was even before they checked his passport or ticket. To be greeted by name by security personal that has never met you before is kinda creepy, and understandably made him nervous.

He then got increasingly more nervous as he waited for the boarding to be over and get the word if he would even make the flight. He was the last to board.

Then of course he had to go through customs in Newark, NJ, where people probably have every right to be nervous on both sides of the counter, (you used to be able to see the World Trade Center from the customs hall) and officials took another close look at him again.

I am not so sure what to make of all this.

On one side it is understandable that they want to look closely at people nowadays, especially with the alert to airlines that was issued a mere days ago. But to make you miss the flight and scare the crap out of you should hardly be part of the system.

Do we really need to scare people to death like that? Do we really want the first perception of visitors coming to the United States, the self proclaimed "land of the free," be that it is more of a police state?

It might not be one, (yet) but that is the impression people will get if you make them jump through hoops that no other country in the world requires. As I said, not even Indonesia was such an ordeal and they have had terrorism for far longer than America. But maybe that is where the problem lies as America has yet to figure out how to live with terrorism.

It seems that the balance of necessary security (which is not there yet) and comfortable levels of security checks has yet to be reached.

I for once did not go home to Europe this summer in part because I did not want to deal with this crap. My brother has also said he will not come back to the U.S. before this changes.

]]> Sun, 03 Aug 2003 08:03:42 -0400 This weeks entry for Photofriday, on the topic "curves"

Small sand formations on the Dune du Pila, a roughly 100 meter high, 2,000 meter long and 500 meter wide sand dune near Arcachon in France. The formations themselves are only a couple of centimeters high, though.

I went there once on a camping trip and actually slept on top of the dune a couple of nights. The view of the night sky from up there is breathtaking. Because of the interesting wind currents on the dune it is also a good location to fly stunt kites.

This photo was taken in Summer 2002, when I went back with my wife and parents though.

If you got here through Photofriday, please check out the rest of my page as well.

]]> Fri, 01 Aug 2003 03:23:38 -0400 Glider, a pretty neat game in which you have to fly a paper airplane through a house, is now available for a free download...

It is actually a pretty neat addictive game, be it with some dated graphics.

You can download it here.

]]> Fri, 01 Aug 2003 01:52:38 -0400