picture of the week

some pictures from earlier today...

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas break so far. I always celebrate it in Chicago, which is great becuase the city will get really quite, and it loses that chaotic feel. A couple days will go by, and then it's back to the normal hussle and bussle. I went out this afternoon and took some pictures around town. Here are some highlights. I've posted some of the other pictures on my website (click on the link for "architecture and more" to find then)

picture of the week

Zero Liability Season's Greetings

Here's something for all you lawyers out there. It's pretty fun.

Enjoy.

Steve

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Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

We wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee.

(By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.)

Photoshop CS3 Announced

Adobe just released a BETA version of Photoshop CS3. I plan to download the upgrade later this week. Here are some details from their site...

"For the first time ever, Adobe is delivering a widely available Photoshop CS3 beta to enable customers to more easily transition to the latest hardware platforms, particularly Apple's new Intel based systems. The beta is available as a Universal Binary for the Macintosh platform as well for Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista computers, with the final shipping release of Adobe Photoshop CS3 planned for spring 2007.

Adobe has a long-standing commitment to the Mac community and this release is Adobe's way of delivering native performance on Intel based systems many months earlier than we otherwise could have done. We have no doubt, however, that all of our customers will enjoy exploring the new Photoshop CS3 beta and seeing some of the new features we have in store. The full application is not yet complete; but, many of the additions to the product are fully implemented and ready for you to try and discuss.

image of the week

It's time for the picture of the day...

Slideshow from Thanksgiving

I know it's been over a week since I took these pictures, but I'm finally getting around to posting them. Here's a slideshow from my thanksgiving break down in Naples

|| CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW ||

Pinnacle Holiday Party

This past weekend we had our condo association's holiday party. I only took pictures for about 30 minutes, but here's a slideshow for the night. The event was held in our party room on the 43rd floor. The views are amazing up there, so it's always nice to party up there.

|| CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW ||

Le Meredian on Mauritius

As you know, Carolyn and I are going on a 2 week honeymoon after we get married in Grand Cayman. The last week of the honeymoon will be at Le Meridien on the island of Mauritius and our reservation is in one of their Nirvana Luxury rooms. Here's an overview of the room. After reading this description, it helps me get over all the cold weather we've been having in Chicago.


Built around the calm, heavenly lagoon of the hotel, the Nirvana rooms of Le Meridien Ile Maurice have been created to a whole new dimension of hospitality, combining luxurious living and contemporary freshness with the flora and fauna of the Mauritian panorama.

This is a place where life unfolds at a pace of your choosing. A midnight dip requires no contemplation - just step into your exclusive, heated swimming pool…

Bright, airy, and well appointed our Nirvana rooms overlook a private, infinity pool, and embody the best of indoor and outdoor living. Rooms are 46 square meters and are equipped with an open plan, marbled bathroom, luxury bathroom amenities, mini bar, tea & fresh coffee facilities, 42" wall-mounted plasmas with interactive television system, complimentary unlimited high-speed internet, and private outdoor balcony, terrace or garden.

La Faya, our speciality restaurant, is now open for breakfast, exclusively for our Nirvana room guests, and continues its usual elegance for lunch and dinner, presenting Mediterranean fine dining with a kiss of the local Creole flavours. The restaurant overlooks the vast Indian Ocean and offers an air-conditioned interior as well as an open terrace and beach area for a relaxed outdoor dining experience.

The value adds for the Nirvana rooms include private outdoor heated swimming pool, private beach area, complimentary welcome bottle of wine, complimentary daily fruit plate, complimentary in-room breakfast, complimentary all day tea/coffee/soft drinks and canapé service in the exclusive luxury lounge, and daily complimentary sunset cocktail.