beer planet

Simon, this one is for you.

Jason Bourne Roommate Conflict Resolution - Watch more free videos

Finally, the snowstorms in Tahoe are raging! CNN posted this video of a reporter Kevin "Coop" Cooper in Kirkwood, CA resort, who talks about current weather conditions and gives some snow stats. Who's up for some snowboarding?!

Christmas Tree in Kharkov, Ukraine 2007-2008


I've never seen a tree this cool, even in US. Makes me kind of proud of the city where I grew up. Check it out.

Today Google announced the release of 29 translating robots that you can just add to your friends list in Google Talk. Then you can talk to them, getting instant translation in return. You can also enter a group chat and use the bots as translators between other people and yourself.

The only downside is that the Google Talk client doesn't seem to support group chats just yet, so you have to use the Gmail in-page one.

I think it's a brilliant idea if you ever deal with foreign languages. How many times have I forgotten a word while translating a paper or trying to talk to my mom back in Ukraine? A quick IM to the en2ru Google bot and problem solved.

On the other hand, if anyone understands Russian, check out this nonsense en2ru gave me:

For those who don't, it said something like "It's delaying Chzhechzhu" (which makes no sense at all). Granted, I did misspell 'is'.

Original announcement: http://googletalk.blogspot.com/2007/12/merry-christmas-god-jul-and.html

I was looking through some old papers while cleaning out the closet and found this list that Milla made for my mom when she was visiting. I quickly jotted it down for future reference. Here it is in no particular order:

In San Francisco

• Golden Gate Bridge
• Golden Gate Park
• Twin Peaks
• Legion of Honor (beautiful place!)
• Embarcadero
• Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf
• Ghirardelli Square
• Palace Of Fine Arts
• Lombard Street (the curvy one)
• Alcatraz
• Treasure Island
• Chinatown
• MOMA (Museum Of Modern Art)
• Broadway
• North Beach
• Coit Tower
• City Hall
• The Marina
• Union Square, Downtown

Outside San Francisco

• Sausalito
• Hearst Castle
• Reno
• Winchester Mystery House
• Napa, Sonoma (wine tasting, beautiful nature)
• Stinson Beach
• Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea
• Berkeley, Telegraph St
• Sacramento

A lot of these places of interest are covered by the 49 mile drive.