Send Your Name to the Moon!

A certain gum company (Bazooka) promised me that by the age of 21, I'll reach the moon (part of the product included a portion that "foretold your future"). Since 21 is sadly well behind me, I'm currently suing them for false advertisement (just kidding ).

But I just stumbled upon the following site, that will at least let me get my name to the moon. NASA is sending an LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) to the moon, and if you submit your name by 6/27/08, it will be included in a list that will be left there.

Go to this site to read more about the initiative, and here to add your name. You'll end up with this certificate:


Just don't come to me when aliens find your name on the moon and come looking for you by name .

The Matzliach Method

Rememebr my Avis post, about hidden and preposterous fuel charges?

Turns out Hertz doesn't want to be left behind in this game.

For several rentals now, fuel charges have been creeping into my final account (at $7.28/gallon - cool price that I'm sure OPEC would approve of), even when I returned the car full.

Too late to do anything about old bills now, but this Sunday, I returned a car with a full tank to Hertz at SFO, took my bill and made my merry way to the sky train. Luckily, I looked at the bill before boarding and rushed back.

The bill showed the car was returned with a full tank and a $30 charge for fuel service!

When I went back to the counter, the girl didn't even argue, she just took the charge off the bill and didn't even bother apologizing.

In Israel there's a term called "The Matzliach Method" (a play on the Hebrew word for "successful"). Simply put, it works like this: I'll try to screw you. If you didn't catch me, I'm successful; if you caught me, I'm not successful - but I haven't lost anything for trying.
In other words, under certain conditions it's always worth trying to screw the other guy. (And I invite the Game Theorists in the crowd to quote a theorem saying the same thing).

Seems like rental car companies are starting to incorporate shady management techniques... :)

Don't give in to these tactics - check your bills thoroughly and argue for every cent.

A Night at the Movies

I try to never recommend movies. They are too contemporary when compared to books. Not every summer blockbuster can be enjoyed several years later, and the contemporary jokes and culture references lose context and turn blank with time.

I don't really like going to the movies anymore. I have more control when watching a film on my home theater system, or my laptop; no one talks on the phone next to me; and I can stop and continue watching next week (just like books, I'm currently in the midst of at least 3 films).

But some films deserve/demand a wide screen and a good sound system
Also, my non-linear film habits tend to take the edge out of every film (you can't be scared if you just pause in the middle of the action). Plus, crowd responses can sometimes be fun (who are they clapping to at the end of the film?)

Yesterday, I've decided to watch Iron Man on its opening night. If I do go to see a movie, it's at the AMC Mercado in Santa Clara (near Yahoo, right by EMC - these guys can just watch one during their lunch break ).

I planned to take a late show (11:20pm on a Friday) to avoid the crowds, but completely forgot I live in Silicon Valley ( == geeksville). All shows - and it was showing on 5 screens at same time - were sold out. Still, by a stroke of luck, I got a parking spot right in the front, and a ticket.

The theater was full to the brim with the usual Valley sci-fi movie goers: programmers, Indians, Israelis, Chinese etc. All the preview trailers were for other sci-fi movies coming this summer (The Hulk, Indiana Jones, Narnia, The Spirit etc.). No mushy dramas or chick-flicks here.

And then, all of a sudden, the trailer to Mike Mayers' Love Guru. At first, I was afraid it would offend some of the crowd, but the Indian guys started laughing out loud. It was followed by the trailer to Adam Sandler's "You don't mess with the Zohan" - and now it was the Israelis' turn to bust a gut laughing.

I do recommend Iron Man as a good way to pass the time. It has the perfect mix of good adaptation, good acting (except for the done-before-tired bad guy) and great effects. As a comic-book-based movie, it's certainly one of the better ones. Here's a link to the trailers.

If (and only if) you are a comic book geek (like me), stick around. After all the end titles, there's a 30-seconds sequence bringing back a familiar character.