Do you know who Derek Redmond is?

August 24, 2008 at 14:15 · Filed under Sports

You may not recognize Derek Redmond’s name or face, but perhaps you know his story. He is featured briefly near the end of Nike’s inspirational “Courage” commercial.

Derek was a 26-year-old sprinter representing the UK at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. After a number of serious injuries, five operations and subsequent recoveries, he had been widely favored to win the gold medal in the 400-meter sprint, and it was on this high note that he intended to end his career.

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3G no likey my PB

August 21, 2008 at 17:46 · Filed under Personal, Phones, Vodafone

The wireless 3G connection we purchased, when OTE failed to complete the work order of our phone line and ADSL in six months, has developed a love-hate relationship with my Powerbook (PB).

It wasn’t the fastest thing in the world, but it was stable, reliable and absolutely better than what we had previously, which was zero. After two weeks of seamless service, it stopped working. No updates to my OS or brower, no settings were changed, no viruses. Just one day I plugged it in as normal, the 3G software froze and never worked again. I tried restarting, rebooting, deinstalling, reinstalling, etc. Nothing.

I saw on the provider’s website that the version of OSX on my laptop was actually higher than recommended, so I did a “clean and reinstall.” For anyone not knowing what that is, it means I erased my whole laptop and reinstalled everything from the beginning; it’s time consuming, inconvenient and rather stupid, all to accommodate a 3G connection.

Well, this worked, but (again) only for two weeks. When nothing else worked, I went ahead and did yet another clean and reinstall since I didn’t bother putting everything back in case the 3G bombed again. You guessed it: Worked for two weeks…bombed.

My fiancé went to the provider’s website and downloaded a new update for me, and I gave it a try. It worked for two weeks (woo hoo!) and then kaput (boo hoo!). Again, no changes, no updates, just didn’t work anymore. I tried everything I did before, blah, blah, blah. Nothing.

Customer service gave me predictable answers:
- “You need to restart.” Uh der, already did that. (Duh)
- “You should update the 3G software.” Already did that.
- “You have made some changes and that’s why it doesn’t work.” Is that a question or an accusation? Anyway, it’s not true. In fact, I keep my whole laptop dumbed down to accommodate this 3G stick.
- “You need to de-install and reinstall.” Already did that.

When I told them I erased my entire laptop and reinstalled all the software to get it working again, they told me it wasn’t necessary. Well, maybe so, but that was the only method that worked because none of their suggestions did.

So what did they suggest? That’s right. Instead of giving this to the troubleshooting team, they pushed it back onto me and told me to erase my laptop again and start from scratch. Uh hello? Why should I do that, when it’s incredibly time consuming AND only works for two weeks before I’ve got to do it all over again! No thanks. And didn’t they just get done telling me that “it wasn’t necessary?”

It was suggested I wait until the next 3G software update and see what happens, since I was “uncooperative” in not wanting to erase my entire laptop. Yeah, what a demanding b!tch I am. Well, the update came out two weeks ago, didn’t work, and the customer service guy helping me is on diakopes (vacation). Other people keep giving me the same tired suggestions and no solution.

Since the 3G no likey my PB, I use my fiancé’s PC in the back office because the 3G likey PC. While it’s certainly better than nothing, this workaround is synonymous with full-on traffic noise and full sun without AC until I’ve soaked my clothes with sweat and need to retreat to the living room or take a shower. To minimize exposure, I run between the PC and my PB in the living room with a flash drive, taking docs and text from here to there and back again. It’s annoying and a lot less productive.

To add insult to injury, the PC had an incident the other day when trojans attacked the hard drive and also had to be cleaned and reinstalled from nothing. And now for unknown reasons, the signal is ‘poor’ instead of ’strong,’ though both are in the same location as before.

Maybe it’s only a matter of time before 3G no likey PC too.

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Gold medal of Olympic fashion

August 9, 2008 at 21:27 · Filed under Sports

Living in a former Olympic city and the birthplace of the Games, it’s inevitable that comparisons are made between what Beijing presented Friday night and Athens 2004. Everyone has an opinion, so I won’t open or enter a cliché debate because it’s apples and oranges, really — two very different countries, two very different cultures and two very different visions. Forget about it! What about the clothes?

Olympic fashion has gotten serious in recent years. It’s not just tracksuits and tennis shoes anymore, and it’s not always about traditional dress and national colors. It’s branding, endorsements and, for the first time this year, close-ups on footwear. It’s name brand designers called upon to dress the national team from head to toe and make a statement, hopefully good.

The announcement of a nation in the stadium is a lot like a model’s first appearance on the runway. Everyone wants to see what they’re wearing.

Gold medal fashion

Most stylish male: The Netherlands

From head to toe, the men looked jaunty and modern with a splash of color. Loved the shoes too! From a distance it looked like they were wearing spats.

Most stylish female: France

Everything from the wide leather belts, navy berets and smart matching purses. Impressive.

Best dressed team: New Zealand

The stark contrast of dark colors with a traditional leaf worn by both male and female team members made the Kiwis stand out in a sea of white and presented a united front…and the cape was a nice touch.

Best dressed male: United Kingdom

UK newspapers blasted their countrymen for looking like outdated boaters, but they looked sharp and comfortable.

Best dressed female: Sweden

Paying homage to their hosts in qipao frocks in national colors, it was tasteful and fun without being insulting.

Best pants: Italy

Can cargo pants be tailored? If anyone can do it, it’s the Italians.

Best skateboarder imitation: Switzerland

Hats (err, pants) off to them for showing some leg, though poor Roger had to wear that ugly polo shirt.

Most likely to end up on a hamburger: China

No disrespect to the host nation, but the first thing that comes to mind is mustard and ketchup.

Most likely to burn your retinas: Spain

My eyes, my eyes!

WTF award: Australia

Officials defended the non-national colored frumpy tracksuits as “hip” and what the young kids want these days, even going so far as to criticize the Americans for “putting 18-year-olds in blazers and Great Gatsby hats.” But as James from Beijing said in his comments here, anyone using the word “hip” to describe fashion today is obviously out of touch. Take a look at the bottom photo to see what the original opening ceremony outfit looked like before it was changed.

The original design

Don’t love it, don’t hate it: USA

Crowds are historically split on what the Americans wear — some love it, some hate it. Whatever anyone thinks this year, it was undeniably classic Ralph Lauren style.

Sleek, casual wear

Beyond the clothes, I noticed that different nations had different ways of taking the ceremonious walk around the stadium. Some segregated men and women, some had orderly rows, some looked like ants scattering in a panic.

The Americans hugged the outer ring but stayed within the lines as the contingency snaked around; Italians went everywhere and anywhere they pleased, including into the nation’s lineup behind them as each member tried to get on TV. The Germans were the only ones carrying teammates on their shoulders and doing the wave. Great fun!

Gold medal emotion

The best part of any Olympic Games is raw emotion. Germany had tons of it last night, and so did Spain.

There’s a certain pride you feel when athletes from your country enter the stadium, and the more jubilant they are, the prouder you feel. As they look up to greet the prime minister, president or king/queen and wave flags at each other, there’s a love and a desire for them to succeed because they are young and full of hopes and dreams; they represent you and your nation and everything good it could be. And no matter what conflicts exist, the world comes together in friendship if only for a minute and peace somehow seems possible.

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All photos from Getty Images, except original Australian uniform from China Daily and casual wear from Ralph Lauren

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