It’s one thing to look at static displays of airplanes, and it doesn’t suck to do this.  But there is no way to really feel the soul of an airplane, especially a beast from so long ago, unless you can feel the vibration of two or even four giant piston engines vibrating in your chest, see it lumber down the runway, and take off.  Even better, be in it.  The work that the CAF does in keeping this living history going is to be applauded.

As for this video, the Arizona Wing had this done to highlight their two prized birds; Sentimental Journey, a beautifully restored B-17 that has been the anchor of the wing for some time, and Maid in the Shade, a recently completed restoration of a B-25N “Mitchell”, the newest stable mate of the B-17.  It is beautifully done and shows off not only the airplanes but also the amazing Arizona desert terrain east of Phoenix.  The takeoff is from our local airport, Falcon Field (KFFZ), where the Arizona Wing has their home and their museum here in Mesa.  Also, if you’re interested, I did an interview with the chief pilot and the chief mechanic of Maid in the Shade recently for the Pilotcast, and we talk a bit about this near the end of episode 84, and even included some of that interview at the very end.  For the uninitiated, you can easily tell the difference between the two airplanes in this video because the B-17 has four engines, the B-25 has only two.  The only thing wrong with this video that I can see is that it isn’t long enough.

There’s not much else to say before you watch.  Except, perhaps, that if this doesn’t invoke some sort of emotion as you watch, then, I’m sorry, we just can’t be friends.  Enjoy.

In the meantime, here’s the homage from TC.  Notice the cat calls for the Manhattan hotties against the wall in the background.

I’ve included some pictures in an album here as well.  Click on the "View Full Album" link and hit "Slide show"  Enjoy.

View Full Album

We dove with Casey from Neptune Divers and it was fabulous.  No big animals on our two dives this time, but the terrain on the wall was amazing, and the life around the wreck and reef we did on the second dive was fantastic.  My sister, Brenda, shown here in this video a few times, was on her first dive as a certified scuba diver (see her using her arms? ). Her husband, David, is featured here too, along with Crystal and I.

I’ll also have a review/recap of our trip shortly.  For now, here is a quick view into the underwater world of Grand Cayman, featuring their world class wall that dives into the abyss just off shore.  Enjoy.

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If you haven’t heard, Project Natal is a development project in Microsoft’s gaming division (with research support, I’m sure, from Microsoft Research) that looks like it should be something coming out of academia and 10 years or more from the marketplace.  It’s the interface that machines have always needed, or rather, that we have always needed to interact with them, but have dismissed as impossible, or too far out there, or too sci-fi, or just too scary.  I’m talking about the next big leap in user experience (the term used to describe the experience that humans have interacting with machines).  Not just with gaming, either.

Think about Tom Cruise’s interaction with the machines in the movie Minority Report…then take it further.  It’s here, and it’s real.  We just can’t quite get it yet.

Project Natal was introduced to the world at E3 which is just finishing up.  It is not ready for market yet, and there is no release date announced, but it is unlikely to be in 2009.  2010 is a possibility, though…and I’m telling you, the waiting is going to be hard.  After the reports from the press who got to actually use the system, it seems to be working quite well already.

What is it?: Project Natal a gaming and social interface that doesn’t have a physical controller.  You become the controller.  Using a system of a couple of cameras+microphone array and some software/hardware magic, it can recognize individuals and even small movements from fists, arms, legs, faces, etc.  It recognizes depth, and voice input, and gestures that allow you to interact with the system with no wires, no controllers, no buttons…just you.  You can control media, social interactions with other gamers and friends, gaming input itself, and the possibilities go on and on.  I know…I’m a skeptic by nature, and this sounds too good to be true…but I’m hoping, and first reports are very, very promising.

Here are some of the reports: 

“Believe the Hype”—Stuff.tv

 “Microsoft’s Project Natal for the Xbox 360 has changed gaming for ever.”—T3

“The hands-on demos worked great”—Wired Magazine

Here is the official video to demonstrate the vision of the product that apparently really works today.

Xbox 360 – Project Natal

Here is another video from a Microsoft Game Studios subsidiary, Lionhead Studios, who have created a concept that will really get your mind racing.

This is not just for gaming, folks, but it’s probably appropriate that that is where it’s starting.  Think.  Within 18 months, I believe we’ll be tasting the future of machine interaction.  Scary?  A little. Amazing? Unquestionably.  “Open the pod bay doors, HAL”, Natal is coming.

I hope you enjoy SPC Video #4, Flying Over Hana.  Let me know what you think.

I’m including the video here, but for the original post on the podcast site, you can go here.

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I did the tri with my friend, Matt, and my brother, Cory.  Matt lives here in Mesa and Cory lives in Park City, UT.  Matt and I had planned on having me fly us up to St. George, UT, where the event was.  That would turn an 8 or so hour drive into a 2 hour flight.  Then my brother asked if I could come pick him up near Park City…so of course, I agreed.  After dropping Matt and our gear off at St. George Airport (KSGU), I got back in the plane and flew up to Provo, UT (KPVU) and picked up my brother.  Then we both flew back to Hurricane, UT (1L8) where our rental home was as well as the actual triathlon (Hurricane is about a 20 minute drive from St. George).  Matt and I got to fly over the western edge of the Grand Canyon both ways.  Here are a couple of pics from that.

We stayed in a great house that was only a couple of miles from the start of the race, so we were able to ride our bikes in on the morning of the tri…no parking or waiting in long car lines necessary.  It was great!  My friend, Jen, from high school and her husband, Marcello, drove up from their home in Las Vegas to cheer us on and take some great photos.

We had a great time.  I wasn’t happy with my performance, but that just gives me some additional motivations in my training…I’ll improve for next time.  Even so, I got to hang out with a lot of great people, got to race in a triathlon, and got to do a lot of flying!  A great weekend, indeed, despite Sandy Hill.

I dedicated a daily flip video to the experience.  It’s a little long for a daily flip, but I hope you enjoy it.

I’m flying Matt and I up to the event on Friday and flying home on Sunday in the Skylane.  We were lucky enough to be able to rent a home very close to the Tri venue and not too far from the small GA airport that we will be flying into in Hurricane, UT.  Should be pretty convenient.

Enjoy today’s daily flip of Matt and I goofing around on the bikes, enjoying the outdoors, and generally having a fun ride with very little pain.  That’s a first for a while.  Some of it is jumpy when I was doing a point of view charging down a hill in the wind…but that’s what it feels like on the bike sometimes…so I left it in.

We got some Gyro’s from George’s before the game, and Todd and Rachel broke out donuts afterwards for Todd’s birthday.  Also, a lot of fun softball under the lights in between.  I hope you enjoy today’s flip video.

In other Flip news, the Flip UltraHD was released today (thanks, Tim, for tweeting about it).  Might need to upgrade at some point.

Tonight’s Daily Flip is about my oldest son.  He has a project to do tonight at school, almost a performance art meets history project.  Each student had to impersonate a wax sculpture of an assigned historical figure, and then recite a memorized spiel on that person when their “button” was pushed.  Interesting.  Meanwhile, Crystal, my slightly agoraphobic wife, was about to go crazy because of the packed hallways at the school.  You, on the other hand, get to enjoy it from the comfort of wherever you are.

Stay tuned…I’ll keep posting updates as I progress.  It should be a good one this year.  Thanks for your patience.  In the meantime, here is a little pic from Hawaii this past January…a couple of whale tails to tide you over for the FNF08 video.

Feel free to watch it here if you’re pressed for time, but if not, do yourself a favor and watch (or download) a higher quality version at Brian’s site.  Enjoy.

As E3 continues, we got some updates yesterday from Microsoft on the future of the Xbox 360.  It turns out the with the Fall release, a lot of changes are coming.  First, for the first time in history (according to the release), a major consumer device will get a complete makeover for free through the power of software.  Essentially, every Xbox 360 that’s out in the wild right now will get a free upgrade this fall that will essentially change the experience without having to buy a new console.  This is the beauty of software. 

Over the last several years, Microsoft has released new versions of the console, integrating new hardware such as larger disk drives and HDMI connectivity, all the while, the underlying platform has stayed the same.  This fall, Microsoft will release a free software update that is in some ways akin to releasing a new console…but nobody will have to purchase anything new.  The update is not just glitz and frosting, either, as far as I can tell right now.  One of the things that will change is the culmination of an exclusive partnership just announced at E3 between Xbox and Netflix, wherein if you are an Xbox Live subscriber (who isn’t…I’ll get to that in a second) and a Netflix subscriber, you will have an online queue in Netflix that you can add movies and TV shows to.  Then, from a TV connected to an Xbox 360, you can choose to watch these movies, and they will begin to stream…starting in as little as 30 seconds.  This isn’t a new idea…I know.  Heck, even Microsoft has been enabling this scenario through Media Center for years, but this partnership and integrated experience, along with a lot of new content available through the Live Marketplace, is a giant step toward true Living Room Integration (LRI) and Home Theater Integration (HTI).  Alright…I just made those terms up…but it works, right?

So…first a quick note about Xbox Live.  Also announced at E3 was that Xbox Live Membership has doubled both of the last two years.  Last year from 3 Million to 6 Million, and this year again to 12 Million.  It’s becoming sort of the de facto TV/gaming-based community…and even now encompasses PC gamers (released last year).  I think with the momentum behind Live, great things are to come.  Now, back to this upgrade.

Also, as part of the upgrade, the whole 360 interface will change from the innovative, but aging crisscross interface to something more carousel-like.  This type of interface is something that Microsoft has been working on for years an years…I remember seeing prototypes of carousel interfaces aimed at Windows (way before Vista) over 5 or 6 years ago.  It looks like an incarnation of that has made it to the Xbox in what looks to be a pretty effective and cool looking UI.

Microsoft is calling this the “New Xbox Experience”, and you can read about what has been announced so far here.  But the highlights are:

• Tons of new games, including some sequels to established or up-and coming franchises, including
  • Rock Band 2
  • Guitar Hero World Tour
  • Gears of War 2
  • Fable II
  • Resident Evil 5
  • A new Scene It
  • etc.
• A new “interactive game show” system through Xbox Live produced by the makers of “Deal or No Deal”
• Live Parties
• Create customized avatars (a la the Nintendo Wii, but better looking)
• Tons of new media content (TV shows and Movies) through both Netflix and the Live Marketplace
• Of course, the new User Interface

Here is a video showing a trailer for the update…

Video: Xbox 360 New Experience Trailer XboxFront

Writing on Todd's Face from Bill Williams on Vimeo.

Sorry for the video quality…it was dark!

I realize there is a problem with the video when the prop is in the shot (I cover this in the video itself).  They’re getting better, though.  Stay tuned.

SPC Video #002-On My Own from Bill Williams on Vimeo.

This just might be the best use I’ve seen yet of a video blog.  Unfortunately, you have to watch these online (not a podcast for downloading automatically from the RSS).  Worth it though.  This is the latest episode.

“Davey Dance-BLOG. A project started while traveling Europe during Spring 2007. Armed only with an ipod and a Canon PowerShot, Davey picks a location and a pop song. Then Davey records an improvised dance.”

Davey Dance Blog -47- DUBLIN – Talking Heads “Houses in Motion” from Pheasant Plucker on Vimeo.

Dance on.

You can hear the ATIS for Chandler (CHD) about halfway through the clip, if you are interested.  This is the first time Trent had ever been in a small plane before…let alone fly one.  Good job, Trent.

What Created The Subprime Mess – Watch more free videos

My friends Melissa and Reed entered a commercial contest for some Dove product.  This is the result.  I guess I’m acting publicist.

Funniest Dancing Bird Ever!!! – Funny video clips are a click away

I think this may be the original blog post.

I’m interested because of my own bird, Cosmo, who is a wild and crazy guy in his own way.  Cosmo is a caique, a species well known for its antics and athleticism.  Here is an old workout video from Cosmo to go along with the bird theme.

Video: Goliath Grouper in Ft. Lauderdale



Video: Housing Tests in Pool

And, for good measure, here is a fan-produced video for “Wind it Up”.



This is a great representation of what its like to drive a Mini.  Don’t leave anything loose in the car…

Mini: Carbonated

Posted Mar 22, 2007A Mini motors through the streets of San Francisco violently shaking a can of soda along the way.



Video: Who Wants to be a Millionaire

While I’m at it, here is a funny video of two of my kids and their cousin getting tossed off of a horse under the care of their grandfather (my dad).  Don’t worry, they’re all fine, and it’s not the horse’s fault…what are you supposed to do if you are a horse and someone’s feet are hitting your flanks? 

Video: The Fall

And here’s proof that they’re ok…this picture was taken several months after the fall…all three boys in tact.

You’ve probably guessed by now that the whole post was an excuse to try out the latest version.  I’m not ashamed…

Anyway, I digress.  If you use a blog, you owe it to yourself to check out Live Writer.



Here is the first webisode, but you gotta hit the site to hear the stand-up on the front page.