Day Fire (2)

The Day Fire has been burning for the last three weeks. It already destroyed over 143,104 acres. 3,525 fire personnel are on the scene working in 12-hour shifts. 43% contained.

Update 09/28/06
Update 09/29/06 [ Cost up to $53 Mil. ] | Final Update 10/03/06 [ Day Fire fully contained ]

Nike Run Hit Remix

After we successfully completed Sunday morning's race without any disturbing factors or delays**, I think we all can proudly say we did a great job. A total of 7551 runners were participating in the Nike Run Hit Remix 2006 on Sunday @ 8.30 am.

This year we arrived early and had enough time for all the "pre-race-activities" one usually has to do... We went into the race relaxed and also prepared. Mara was the fastest of our group with 36:17 min on the five mile course. Peter made it in 43:12 min; and I ran the course in 40:50 min - personal minimum time. We all enjoyed the very nice atmosphere, the music bands along the course, and the time after the race [special guests: Carl Lewis, Jason Priestly]. Results [ then click on 5 miles ]

Mara
Overall: 291 out of 7551
Genderrank: 45 out of 4238
Classrank: 13 out of 1049
Pace: 00:07:15

Peter
Overall: 1231 out of 7551
Genderrank: 889 out of 3313
Classrank: 81 out of 242
Pace: 00:08:38

Antje
Overall: 818 out of 7551
Genderrank: 182 out of 4238
Classrank: 19 out of 535
Pace: 00:08:10

**Last year we had a quite exciting race day: we almost missed the race because of a traffic jam; and after the race somebody shot at us...

Becoming Picasso

Have you ever dreamt of becoming an artist? Or would you like to reach Picasso standard? ... This is the way to go: Jackson Pollock by Miltos Manetas

P.S. After opening the link, move your cursor... and every time you click on your mouse it changes color. Have fun!

A Routine Traffic Stop

North on The Old Road near Stevenson Ranch Parkway (CA), a routine traffic stop turned into a major arrest when California Highway Patrol officers discovered a nearly half-ton, multimillion-dollar load of cocaine in the vehicle they had pulled over ... >> more

Read entire article [ The Signal ]
Update [ Street Code ]

Skype News For Mac

September 13, the beta version of Skype 2.0.0.2 for Mac has been released. Great news: Finally video calls through skype are possible for Mac users.

I have already downloaded the new version of skype and have already successfully completed my first video call. Although it is still the beta version, I am so happy that the makers of skype have done this step. That is the feature I had been missing for so long.

System requirements:
- Mac computer with G4 800 Mhz processor or faster Mac OS X v10.3.9 Panther or newer
- 512 MB RAM
- 40 MB free disk space on your hard drive Microphone
- Suggested webcams include Apple iSight, Philips SPC900NC, or Logitech QuickCam Pro 400. Drivers for the Philips and Logitech webcams can be downloaded from http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net/.
- Internet connection (broadband is best, GPRS is not supported for voice calls, and results may vary on a satellite connection).

Download Skype

Day Fire (1)

It is the time of the year: The day fire - so named because it started on Labor Day - has started last week near Valencia/ Castaic. No homes have been threatened so far; however, yesterday the I5 freeway needed to be closed for a while, for the fire threatened to jump the freeway near Castaic.
Authorities Close Part of I-5 in Castaic in Bid to Contain Blaze
[ news article ]
Update 09/12/
Update 09/13/
Update 09/14/ [ 1,500 firefighters at work ]
Update 09/15/ [ Fire activity slowed ]
Update 09/16/ [ Costs estimated at $14.4 million so far ]
Update 09/18/ [ Fire Reaches 80,000 Acres ]
Update 09/20/ [ Day Fire still burning ]
Update 09/23/ [ Red Flag Is Up ]

I guess we have been lucky here in Valencia - up to now no smoke hasn't polluted this area although the winds keep shifting. Let's hope the fire will be contained soon. The forecasted dramatic temperature change will certainly support this so that a repetition of 2003's fire disaster will be averted.

Flashback: In October 2003 a fire threatened homes in the Santa Clarita area. The fire came as close as into the back yards of residential houses in Stevenson Ranch. Pollution caused school closures over several days. The annual marathon was cancelled due to poor air conditions in November...
Gallery: Local Fire 2003

Shift TV - German Television Online

Shift TV is a personal online video recorder and therefore a wonderful opportunity to watch German TV anytime and anywhere.

Via the online TV guide one picks his or her favorite show or movie. During the official broadcast the show gets recorded and prepared for download. Shortly after the actual broadcast one can download and watch the program on the computer. Also: view the recorded broadcasts directly through the internet - no need to download it first. Required programs on the computer are Windows Media Player or QuickTime.
Shift TV [ official website ]

After I have been living abroad for quite some time, I am very fond of watching "home" television. For some reason it gives me the feeling of catching up with what is going on in "my" country. It takes away the immense distance between here and Germany and even slightly decreases home sickness!

Tagesschau Podcast

I just learnt one can download a video podcast for the 8 pm German news - Tagesschau. I think that is wonderful so one doesn't have to waste time by watching only bits and pieces of it (Tagesschau.de website). Thus, if I do find the time, I prefer watching the entire broadcast of the daily news.

The following link gives you instructions how to subscribe to the Tagesschau podcast. In fact, I just searched for Tagesschau in iTunes' podcast section for it...

Instructions [ how to download the Tagesschau podcast ]
More podcasts [ German ]

Cool: Slo-Mo Home Depot Mission

I recently received an email which I had neglected for a few days... A friend sent me a link to a site stating in the subject line: "COOL" ... And the email reads: "This one'll cheer you up! This is REALLY COOL! http://...."

When I eventually (in fact just a few moments ago) found the time to click on the link, I found out about the great project that about 225 people accomplished on August 17, 2006 at the Home Depot on 23rd Street in Manhattan. Take the time and check it out yourself. It is worth it:
Slo-Mo Home Depot Mission

And if you like this mission and you are up for more, visit: ImproveEverywhere