Egypt - Food: Part 1: Bread and Salad

I'm putting all the food posts on my food blog.

Part 1: Bread and Salad
Like a lot of cuisines, the Egyptians also bring out bread and salad before the meal.



more here...

Egypt - Part 12: I'm Back!!!

From my twitter post when the plane landed: "It's good to be back! Can't wait till they let us off this plane. I want to breath some fresh new york air!"



To sum up this trip: It was a once in a lifetime experience (read: I don't ever want to go back).

This has been THE most stressful and chaotic trip I have taken.
Don't get me wrong, the sites were amazing.
It was the atmosphere. The cities smell like exhaust fume, there seems to be dust everywhere and everything out in the open has a layer of grimy on it.
There's a small bunch of bad seeds that cast a bad reflection on the general population.
I've never been so looking-over-my-back jumpy, it almost feels like everyone's trying to sell you something and rip you off while doing it. The constant demand of "bakesh" (tips) gets tiring (example: the bathroom attendant wanted tips for toilet paper and stall unlocking / sunny side: at least there IS toilet paper and an empty stall). While the haggling is exhilarating at times, it gets annoying when all you want to do is take a taxi back to the hotel after a long day.
Last but not least (maybe), the number one cause of stress: the lack of traffic lights. The cities we visited are metropolitans, not rural areas. There are NO traffic lights - it's likes playing chicken non stop: switching lanes (if there's a remote chance of fitting, they'll go for it), crossing intersections (they just cross, even with traffic going through the intersection), letting pedestrians pass (still amazed at how we didn't see any accidents). It almost seem like there's a honking language.



Things I did enjoy...
The sites - you have to be there to see it, feel it. Pictures don't do it justice.
The juice stands - love the fresh sugar cane juice, fresh mango juice, fresh orange juice and the price - dirt cheap.
Smoking sheesha (Hooka or water pipe) - pretty relaxing, really feels like vacation for those 3 coals worth of time.
Alexandria - huge difference coming from Luxor, about 30 degrees of difference and an equal amount in the niceness of people.
As much as "bakesh" (tips) sucked, it came in handy at times: our guide paid the cops off so we could climb the pyramids, I bribed a "guardian" to get my camera back after taking videos in a tomb that had a no photo sign outside, another "guardian" let us take videos going into the pyramid in hopes of getting some bakesh.

more to come...

Egypt - Part 11: I'm Off

I'm off to Egypt!
It's going to go low tech from here...

Egypt - Part 10: Packing List

To Pack: 10 shirts 10 boxers 10 pairs of socks 3 pairs of pants 2 button downs (1 linen) 3 tank tops 1 light jacket 1 hat 1 pair of sunglasses 1 belt 1 swimming trunks 1 pair of shorts 1 flash light 1 leatherman tool 1 neck pillow 1 pair of flip flops 1 pair of sanuks 1 pair of sneakers Added: knee brace extra wallet deodorant face wash lotion headphones q tips student ID

Tech: Nintendo DS SLR (big camera) S750 (small camera) camera 1 charger camera 2 charger tripod phone phone charger Archos 404 Archos charger Power adapters ipod ipod charger usb cable memory cards Misc: bug spray journal pen lotion book (Caesar) medicine (thanks Amy!) vitamins nasal spray money passport

Egypt - Part 9: It's all about the... Sphinx

It's always good to have the local currency when the wheels hit the tarmac.
I was on a mission... to the local American Express to turn some bennys into sphinxys.
I gave the guy at the window $100 and he told me I'd get 450 LE (Egyptian Pounds) and some change at the rate of 1 to 4.6 plus $3 fee (AMEX member). OK, sure, whatever... I was on a mission.
I sent Gim one of those "mission accomplished" text message, with the details. He texts back that the LE is trading at 1 to 5.4.
We wuz robbed.

Anyway, it was either this or at the airport Travelex. I rather be safe than sorry. We'll exchange more when we land.

Egypt - Part 8: Lectures

When I was in Florida, Richard hooked me up with lectures from "The Teaching Company" on "History of Ancient Egypt".
I didn't want to be just another tourist snapping pictures and not knowing anything about the pictures I've taken.
Lectures... history lectures... yea, I thought it'd be boring too. But this guy is an excellent storyteller with a New York accent. I can dig that.
After 30 or so 30 minute lectures, I've definitely picked up a better appreciation for Egypt.



Taught by Bob Brier
Long Island University
Ph.D., The University of North Carolina

Egypt - Part 7: Random Not In The Books Questions

The guidebooks tell you a lot but I always have random questions that they never answer.
Once again, Sarah picked up the slacks:
Her replies in blue.

any pointers in haggling is also appreciated. i may have gotten rusty.

As I was saying, offer half of what they suggest. They'll make all kinds of sounds like what you said is so outrageously low that they can't even believe their ears. Act nonchalant, no matter how badly you want it, keep a straight poker face and say nothing. After approximately 10-15 seconds, the bartering will begin. They'll offer something close to what their original offer was, and you can say something like, "Yeah, well..I don't really like it anyway." Start to find problems with it. It's scratched. It looks too old. It's plastic. I saw one down the road for only ___ pounds. Things like that. You can come up on your price obviously, but take it slow. It's a cultural thing - they're not used to someone just walking in and buying something without haggling. There's a certain amount of respect that you gain by following the process. Not that that matters.

big OH! what should i be wearing?

Long pants and t-shirts are fine. Tank tops - NO. Shorts - NO. You'll see other people wearing them, but it's highly frowned upon. If you're traveling with a woman, make sure her legs are covered at all times. T-shirts are okay for her, but long sleeved shirts are better. No need to cover her head - they accept that Westerners don't do that.

Depending on where you're staying and what you're doing, you might actually get cold from time to time because of the A/C. Bring a light jacket or sweatshirt of some kind you can wear around your waist. (Sorry - if you're at the beach - especially El Gouna - then you'll be fine wearing shorts, tank tops, swim suits, etc.)

are sneakers ok to hike around these places or should i wear some kind of boots to keep the sand out? (i imagine it to be sand everywhere)

Sneakers are fine. Anything that's comfy. It will only be sandy by the pyramids and in the Valley of the Kings. And the beach.

are jeans too hot? khakis? linen?

Totally up to you. Any are fine, but jeans will be really hot. Taxis aren't air-conditioned, so you'll sweat your butt off. Literally. I think they have a new company that's operating there now that has nicer taxis, so maybe you'll luck out. But be prepared to lose some water weight!

thanks again!

No problem - let me know if you have more questions. I'll be more than happy to help if I can. We had a lot of visitors while we lived there, and each time it was a trying experience for them when they went out on their own. Just be prepared to be hassled quite a bit. It wasn't uncommon for children to follow us for BLOCKS AND BLOCKS or even grab my hair or attach themselves to my leg and not let go. The poverty there is high and rampant. Most people live on less than $25 a month. They see foreigners and they equate them with dollar signs.

If you don't hire a taxi for a full day and just try to brave it, then find out from the hotel personnel how much it should cost to get to your destination. The taxis are very strange there. People just know how much it costs to go from Point A to Point B. No one discusses price before getting in the car (despite what the travel guides might say), and you certainly don't discuss it when you get there. You just know how much it is, get out of the car and give the money to the driver THROUGH THE PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW once you're completely out of the car. I know it sounds weird, but if you do it that way, the driver will assume that you know what you're doing. That's the Egyptian way. It can be a real bitch, so it's probably easier to just hire someone to drive you around for the day, wait for you, answer your questions, etc.

Like I said, let me know if you've got any more questions!

Sarah

swag: Cheetah - South Florida

Sleeveless Muscle TShirt - XL from Cheetah.
girls, beer, shirt that doesn't fit and a hot buffet at 1AM... awesome!

Egypt - Part 6: Itinerary Feedback

I hustled to get my itinerary down so I can get some feedback from Sarah.
After flipping through the guidebook about 9000 times, I nailed down the wheres and whens.

Sarah's replies in blue, to my first itinerary*...

day 1 - cairo: arrive around 11 - museum, night market, walk around

This is a good plan. Will he have a car waiting for him at the airport? It's INSANE if he doesn't, and it's enough to make a visitor want to turn right around and get back on the plane. Also, when he comes through customs, he will need to go to one of the little booths and get TWO STAMPS before his passport can be processed. No one will tell him - it's as if they want to torture tourists. But you have to go pay for these stamps (try to use Egyptian Pounds if he's got them), and then you go wait in the line. It was normal for us to spend an hour to an hour and a half just to get to baggage claim. Cairo is the epitome of disorganization.

day 2 - cairo: pyramids, camels (i plan to smoke a cuban while riding a camel)

Definitely do the camel ride and definitely smoke the cuban! You can get them all over, but any nice hotel is a sure bet. Beware at the pyramids that he should try to get there as early as possible. I think they open up around 7:15 or 7:30am? Something like that. The lines get long, and often times there's a guy at the front of each pyramid trying to charge money. The only fee you have to pay is when you go through the main gate. Enjoy the view of Pizza Hut and McDonalds at the bottom of the Sphynx.

day 3 - cairo: (not sure what), night train to luxor

This would be the day to do whatever you haven't managed to do yet. Traffic can be bad, so things take a little longer. There are lots of lines, and the exhaustion level can be really high. Don't feel bad if you just want to head to the Four Seasons and down a few martinis.

As far as the train goes, buy First Class tickets, but don't be surprised when it's less than what you hoped for. You should be able to get tickets for less than $15 a piece, and the ride takes about 9 hours.

day 4 - luxor: valley of the kings

Get up early. There are boats that leave regularly, and once you get to the other side of the river you'll need to hire a car/driver to drive you to the actually valley. They'll be all over harrassing you to no end. Act as if you know what you're doing, even if you don't. People will seriously try to charge you massive amounts of money for next to nothing. There are other sites around there as well (The Valley of the Queens, Hatshepsut (sp??)). When you're in the Valley of the Kings, pay the extra money to go down into the different chambers. They have package deals for this (you'll see what I mean when you get there). It's definitely worth it. There are some really cool ones.

day 5 - luxor: (not sure what)

Karnak Temple is what you want to do on this day. Or night. I only went there at night and did this huge light show tour. It was really cool - not just looking, but in temperature as well. It's a short taxi ride down the road from Luxor. There are also lots of restaurants and little bars in this city.

day 6 - hurghada: early bus to hurghada or other beach city along red sea coast, do water stuff?

The bus to Hurghada is crowded and dirty and smelly - I took it actually the opposite way (Hurghada to Luxor). But it's cheap and gets you there, as long as you don't mind the random Egyptian falling asleep and drooling on your shoulder. Hurghada itself is a crappy little seaside town that's full of nasty, sweaty Germans and tons of Russians on vacation package getaways. That's the downside. The upside is that there's some decent snorkeling, tons of bars with cheap beer and a lot more English spoken. Hotels are pretty cheap, but nothing to write home about. If you're looking for something a bit more remote, there are a ton of other spots on the coast to visit. Let me know if you are interested, and I'll give you some names. These places won't have anywhere to go out to - maybe a restaurant or two, but you'll have a beach to yourself and lots of privacy.

Just north of Hurghada about 45 minutes (I think) is El Gouna. It's a cute little town with some nicer, more western places to eat and hang out. It's where our mom worked, and I would definitely recommend it for a day or two. You can hang out on relatively uncrowded beaches, but there's still a bit of life going on - a nice compromise. There are boats that you can take out for the day or 1/2 day for snorkeling or diving. We did a day long snorkeling trip for about $75 per person, and it was incredible.

day 7 - hurghada: relax then afternoon bus to cairo or alexendria

These bus trips generally take around 6-7 hours, depending on which one you're on. They're nicer than the other kind. You'll have more room and maybe even be lucky enough to watch a ridiculously long Egyptian movie. If you're thinking of doing the Alex segment, then try to take a bus straight there.

day 8 - alexendria: day trip

Alex is a neat town - it's pretty-ish and definitely the most modern. The library there is worth seeing - it's new and modern, but it's on the same site and the original, famous one that was destroyed. There's some good seafood joints right along the boardwalk area, and there are some decent bars around. It's fun for about a day, so if you arrive the night before, that should be good. Take the afternoon train/bus back to Cairo, treat yourself to a night out on the town

day 9 - fly out of cairo (11am)

is this a good itinerary? nothing is solid except the flight in and out of cairo.
im totally open to suggestions.

Definitely a good itinerary! It can get stressful finding things out. Most signs are only in Arabic, and you end up acting out or miming a lot of things. The people there speak very aggressively to one another (or so it seems). It's just their way. They're very non-violent actually, but it looks like things are about to erupt all the time. They're just loud/close-talkers. The prices for most in stores are not set in stone. Usually the shop-keeper will ask you what you want to pay for it. I always hated that because I never really knew what the going price was. Don't answer them. Let them dictate a price, and then cut it in half NO MATTER HOW LOW IT MIGHT SEEM TO YOU.


*After reading this, gim was quick to let me know that I added an extra day. We're not leaving on a Friday night like I had hope to because there simply weren't any flights out. Revision to come.

Egypt - Part 5: Vaccination Shots

Read the guide book, checked the CDC website on Egypt, asked our doctors - got vaccinated for:
Hepatitis A
Typhoid
Tetanus

My doctor gave me a prescription for Cipro (antibiotic) in case of diarrhea.
Gim's doctor gave him some anti-malaria pills in case of mosquitoes, but we're not going anywhere that's going to need it.

Egypt Part 4 - Advice From Annie's Mom

More solid advice...

“This one is from my mom. She lived there for a few months, but has visited many times. She's very spiritual and into the temples and gods - if you want more info on that let me know, I can ask.... but I don't know where to start. "Many suggestions to make, but wonder if he has plans to cruise the Nile, or wants to explore the country stem to stern? I highly recommend taking the overnight trip from Cairo to Luxor with a sleeping car. Luxor is a MUST, and going by train gives you a wonderful experience, getting you there safely and in a town where you can walk or take a calish (horse drawn buggy) everywhere you want to go. Shopping wise it's the only Egyptian town that sells those wonderful, beautiful woven blankets. So don't search for them in Cairo, they all come from Luxor. I also encourage him to get out his bargaining skills. We must know how to negotiate with an Arab. If he needs help in that area I'll be happy to tell him my technique. Alexandria is also a must, being just a 2 hour bus ride from Cairo. The city doubles in volume in the summer, and really comes alive. When is he going? If it's prior to summer, many specials exist, but the town and harbour are truly worth the day trip. The museum there is also great." My sister obviously knows quite a bit more about the nightlife and ins-and-outs of it. She lived there for 3 years, and like I said, didn't enjoy the people very much. If you have any questions though, let me know. My mom and sis have been all over the world and know the value of getting inside info - they are happy to answer any questions! Hope this helps!

Luxor and Alexandria - check!

Shameful Shit: Lonely Planet Writer Admits To Fabricating Guide Book

"Shameful shit fellas...Shameful Shit." - Clay Davis, The Wire

Lonely Planet Writer Admits To Fabricating Guide Book Based On Info From Girlfriend

From Consumerist.com: "Who needs to actually travel in order to write guide books? Not Thomas Kohnstamm.

From Reuters:

The Sunday Telegraph said Kohnstamm also claims in his new book "Do Travel Writers Go To Hell?" that he accepted free travel, contravening company policy.

He said in one case he had not even visited the country he wrote about.

"They didn't pay me enough to go to Colombia. I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating — an intern at the Colombian consulate," the newspaper quoted Kohnstamm as saying."

(via consumerist.com)

- Always a good idea to get info from more than 1 source.

Egypt - Part 3: Advice from Sarah (Annie's Sister)

It turns out my friend Annie's sister, Sarah, spent 3 years working in Cairo.
No guidebook can beat solid advice from someone who's lived there (especially because of stuff like this).

“Oh Jesus - tell him to get his money back!! hahaha

Do you know where he'll be?

If he's in Cairo, here are some spots:

• Khan el Khalili - supposedly the world's oldest souk (shopping bazaar). Prepare to be hassled and ripped off, although there are tons of cool things to buy. HAGGLE HARD.
• City of the Dead - mind-blowingly huge area of graveyards
• the Citadel - this area is really beautiful, and it overlooks the city. On a good day he might have about 20 feet of visibility.
• Falucca ride on the Nile - these are sailboats that take people out on the Nile. Pack some beers, food, whatever and prepare to pay about $5 a person. Again, haggle. The boats are generally rented on an hourly basis, and they hold up to about 20 people comfortably.
• Sequoia - restaurant/bar in Zamalek (area I used to live in). It's on the northern-most tip of the island and has bar-none the best shisha anywhere I've ever tasted in the world. As of two years ago it was quite the Egyptian trendy spot - dress a little nicer.
• Egyptian Museum - this place has some of the coolest crap ever, and it's hard to believe that it's housed in such a shitty manner. King Tut is in here. Totally worth it. I think it costs about $10 to get in.
• the Pyramids (of course) - they're about a 20-25 minute drive south of Cairo. Your friend will have a better time if he hires a driver for a day (or more, depending on how many days he's planning on being in Cairo). Otherwise he'll be harrassed to no end. Taxis there don't have meters, no one speaks English and it can get really intimidating for someone who doesn' t know how much it actually costs to get around. Definitely have the hotel hook him up with a car service or a taxi driver that will work for him and only him for the duration. Prepare to pay about $30-40 a day (although he can no doubt get it for cheaper if he wants to haggle).
• At the pyramids, expect to be mobbed by Egyptians trying to put things in your hand and then refuse to take them back (unless you give them money for them). They will pull on you, follow you around incessantly, constantly asking for 'bakshish" - a tip, trying to give you directions, act as if they want to pose for a picture with you and then NEVER leave you alone (until you pay them).
• Drinking - there are some bars here and there, and there are a few late-night prostitution places that taxi drivers will know about. Basically it's a very strict Muslim country, and alcohol is forbidden for Muslims. So..that being said, bars are for either the wealthy Christian Egyptians or the foreigners. Big hotels are stocked full, and Zamalek (the island in the middle of the Nile) has several bars:
• Bars/restaurants in Zamalek: La Bodega - this is a nicer, upscale restaurant in an old building. I loved going here. It's not for the backpacker type - definitely a little nicer, but it's a great getaway from Cairo. Good service, outstanding food (not Egyptian). There's also a good bar that's just about a block away from here called Deals. Anyone at the restaurant will know where it is. About five or six blocks from there is another pub called Pub 28. It's loud and smokey, but a great place to get wasted. There's also a place called the Sand Bar (might be harder to find, and it might not be open anymore) as well as the place I mentioned before - Sequoia.

BEST ADVICE - ignore the people. There are some great Egyptians out there, but the ones that he is most likely to encounter will by trying their hardest to rip him off in some way or another. I know it sounds extreme, but believe me....I have been all over the world, and I've never seen anything as bad as this. It's a real shame because there are some absolutely incredible things to see in this country. The people certainly take a lot away from that.

If he goes down south to Luxor and the surrounding areas, then he should be prepared for all of the above, but at a higher price. It's hotter down south, so try to do any tours either early in the morning or in the late afternoon/evening. There are lots of night-tours and stuff like that. It's just too damn hot during the day. I was fine because I was climatized, but Keri get heat stroke. hahaha.

If I think of any more cool stuff I'll let you know. Depending on how long he's going to be there, there are even more side trips he can do: the White Dessert, going to the coast, up north to Alexandria, etc. Forward this on to him, and if he's got any questions let me know. Honestly, there are so many fucked up things about visiting there that the more information he's got, the better off he'll be. It's definitely high-stress travel.

Later!

S

Food: My To Go place in Delray

Doc’s All American
10 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach, FL 33444


It's a ritual for me to come here for a patty melt every time I'm in Delray Beach, Florida.

more:
http://www.hoodman.tv/2008/04/10/docs-all-american/

Food: Fresh Mozzarella Ruined!

Tramonti Italian Restaurant
Delray Beach, FL


best I've ever had, it's all down hill from here.

more: http://fooddotout.blogspot.com/2008/04/fresh-mozzarella-ruined.html

Egypt - Part 2: Where else?

Part 2: Where else?

It's a 12 hour plane ride to Egypt. It's not often we go to another continent. We should go somewhere else! Right? What's around Egypt? Out comes the trusty Google Map.




Possible locations:
Morocco - Monique just came back from Marrakesh and said it was fun. That's close to Egypt right? No.. not really. It's on the other side of Africa. Go New York education system Geography!!!

Dubai - Way too expensive.

Jerusalem - This was doable. It's close, there's a bunch of stuff to see there... the holy sites, the dead sea (I really wanted to float in it - heavy salt content in water makes people float). Unfortunately, Israel is really hard to get to from Egypt. Sure we can fly there, but Egypt Air and El Al only fly there twice a week (Mondays, Fridays) and it costs about $400 for a ONE way. Bus rides are about 15 hours - you have to get off at the border, go through custom and go on another bus on the other side.

Conclusion:
Let's just stick with Egypt. We'll go to the other cities mentioned in the guide books:
Cairo, Luxor, Alexandria and maybe a city along the Red Sea coast.

Google App Engine

4/8/2008 - 11:58PM
With my thumb on the command/apple key (apple's version of the ctrl key) and my index finger on the r key, I unleashed a fury of refreshes on the Google App Engine sign up page. They announced it tonight with only 10,000 spaces available for the first wave of eager developers.
Who cares if it's only works with Python (right now). I can learn!
I went to the site 5 minutes prior, opened up 5 windows and unleashed the command r's.
No dice - I am wait listed.

4/8/2008 - 12:41AM
Update - Wayne just got an Email saying he got in!

4/8/2008 - 12:52AM
Update - I just got the invite to try Google App Engine! woohoo!

Google Custom Search Engine - Part 2: What's What is

Part 2: What's What is

Back in part 1, I ended with Wayne mentioning "mad bugs". Since it was only a text message and not a phone call, I still had time to jump on the bus and head down to the office.
I need to get into the nature of our site and our search strategy before I can get into the bugs. You'll understand why after the explanation.
Tickerhound.com is a Question and Answer site based on finance questions. We launched with a couple of thousands of questions AND answers from one of our partners, Investorwords.com (they're the questions asked and answered by StaffQuestion and StaffAnswer. The Answers also give credit to Investorwords.com ).
This way, the site will have a wealth of information and be more useful for the first wave of users at launch.

The bug: when users type in "what's" (apostrophe s) as part of the question, questions that start with "what is" doesn't show up in the results. As you can imagine, a lot of the questions start with "what is" - no good.

Getting there: After more testing and probing, Wayne the MasterBeta.... tester, found than using "what is" in the query will pick up questions with "what's".
We did more testing with "what is" as the baseline for good results.
I tried doing "what's OR what is" then the question as a query but got bad results.
The next one I tried was both the "what's" and "what is" version of the question, like "what's blah blah OR what is blah blah". It generated the same result as just using the "what is".

Solution: convert all questions that starts with "what's" to "what is" before sending the query to google.

Egypt - Prologue

Prologue: Whys and Wherefores*
more or less the actual order of the thought process spanned over about 2 weeks


Why a vacation?
I've been feeling a little burnt out from work, the city and everything around me in general. The 3.75 product launches last year took a nice toll on me - especially the last one: tickerhound.com, but that's for another post. Wayne insisted that I took a vacation before things get REALLY crazy in the summer - oh, you just wait and see what we got coming. Anyway, he's probably right - a vacation should be good for me, not being attached to a computer / interweb and all.
Besides, I haven't really taken a real vacation for 3 years, I need to get out! (the last one was Zurich, Prague and Amsterdam 2 years ago).
The weekend trips (Lake George - pictured, Ocean City) are nice but don't really count and I mostly worked during the day when I was in Seattle.


When?
Sometime in April, as mandated by the man with the shiny head.


Who with?
Of course, I'd hate to go on a vacation or travel by myself. I get paranoid and wouldn't mind someone watching my back (at least the illusion of it - not pointing fingers, really!). Naturally, I started recruiting.
John - since I traveled to Europe with him - twice. But he just got bumped up at a new job and can't leave.
Al - he was going to come and he also suggested going to Sweden/Finland but as soon as he finished mentioning it, his project got dumped on.
Gim - ah.. the childhood best friend. So what if I shanked him with a pilot pen back in 7th grade during class (he did start it with a Bic pen to my leg), we're still cool! I didn't think he had any vacations left... but he did!
Sarah - she just got back from Seattle. I mentioned that we're going and she said she's down to go if we didn't mind. In my mind - don't you want to find a job first? Her reply: since the trip is so soon, it'll be ok. As of this post, she's not 100% yet.


Why Egypt?
The original plan was to just take a week off and go somewhere that JetBlue flies to so I can use the free tickets. I couldn't really put a finger on a city that enticed me. Maybe San Francisco, but can I really spend a week there? I don't know - I've never been there before. Whatever.
I was on the 6 train and saw an ad that said something like "Delta Airlines, non stop to Cairo", with pyramaids in the backdrop. Lightbulb lit up! Why the hell not! I've seen enough Stargate (yup, all 10 seasons plus the 2 movies) to want to go. It'll be like one of those once in a lifetime deals.



* I took the title from "Y The Last Man" #55

Google Custom Search Engine (Business Edition)

Part 1: The Set Up
We decided to use google's custom search engine to do the search for our "similar questions" feature and for our regular search feature a while back. Fulltext search just wasn't cutting it. Who does better search than google right?

I finally got around implementing it last week.
It was a fairly painless process:

1. sign up and pay (Wayne took care of this part)
2. grab the URL from the admin panel page.
   the URL is only available to the admin or the person who paid.
   adding me as a contributor didn't work and you can't add any additional admins.
   
3. read the doc. this took me a while to find for some reason:
   http://www.google.com/coop/docs/cse/resultsxml.html
   it seems the doc for the google application is similar but NOT the same as there are more functions that can be used (like meta data filtering) in the application.
   
4. stick the URL in my existing search object, in a new function:
1. send queries to google
   
2. get xml back
3. parse and style xml
4. display results
   

It returns pretty good results, comparing to the old fulltext search.
There was a lag time of about 24-48 hours (this still needs more testing, but that's the general consensus on the interweb). New questions do not come up in the results. That's ok though because the older questions usually have more answers. Who wants to look at questions with no answers?

Everything was peachy then I get one text early next morning from Wayne telling me there are "mad bugs". uh oh.

to be continued...

swag: rackspace edition

look what came in the mail in one of those white plastic packaging today...


it was the shirt i requested from my.rackspace.com.
it feels pretty soft. hope it fits.

thanks!

Egypt - Part 1: Orders

Part 1: Orders

The plane tickets are booked!
Egypt Air happens to be the only airline that flies to Cairo nonstop. I think Delta will have a route later this year. The flight is going to be 12 hours. April 19 - April 26. I'll arrive at Cairo at 11:30AM on Sunday 4/26. Gim booked the tickets by calling the airline direct. Apparently their website was buggy (according to the sales guy on the phone). He called because I didn't have my passport number with me; it was required by the website. He had to fax his credit card, signature and id to them after ordering - no passport numbers needed.

The travel books are here!
After an afternoon of test driving travel books, we decided on "Lonely Planet Egypt". I have a bunch of books from Lonely Planet and find them pretty useful. Naturally, I ordered from amazon.com, since it was cheaper. What sucks is that the new edition is coming out in May 2008. So I'm stuck with the 2-3 year old edition.

I also picked up the "Lonely Planet Egyptian Arabic Phasebook".
Arabic doesn't sound like European languages which I'm semi familiar with from taking Spanish for 6 years (I'm horrible at it). I also read somewhere on the interweb that they didn't speak a lot of English there. Better be safe than sorry. I don't want to be caught pointing and motioning when the diarrhea hits.



Now starts the planning...