Discover Buenos Aires

• Went to the opening of Cocina Sunae last night in Buenos Aires. An amazing pan-asian closed door restaurant. Info at http://bit.ly/CnAwl #
• http://www.whatthetrend.com shows you what topics are trending higher on Twitter & actually explains why. Very useful! #
• Just joined a twibe. Visit http://twibes.com/buenosaires to join #
• Made another trip to Green Bamboo restaurant last night & had amazing Indian at Tandoor on Saturday. Finding some great new places in BsAs! #
• Interesting article on why text messages are limited to 160 characters from the Los Angeles Times. http://bit.ly/m2xSG #
• Really liking the new album “Approaching Normal” from Blue October. I have to go download their other album now. #fb #
• Cool! dotMobi WordPress Mobile Pack displays a mobile-friendly version of your blog when it detects a mobile browser. http://bit.ly/gQixG #
• http://pic.gd/bc8b3b IMG00110.jpg #
• Gonna have to head to Tandoor for some great Indian food again tonight. The only spicy food in Buenos Aires! #fb #
• Conocé la historia del @tachero honesto. Entrá, dejale tu apoyo y doná algo para recompensarlo. http://www.devolvelelaguitaaltaxista.com #

I previously wrote about how to work around content restrictions on viewing television shows from outside of the US using anonymous proxies and VPN services. Unfortunately, those measures no longer work for Hulu, the largest free online site for viewing TV shows.

TechCrunch reported yesterday that Hulu is now blocking VPN services and anonymous proxies in addition to their other blocks on non-US based IP addresses. If you try to access the service using a VPN like Hotspot Shield, you now get the message:

Based on your IP address, we noticed you are trying to access Hulu through an anonymous proxy tool. Hulu is not currently available outside the U.S. If you’re in the U.S., you’ll need to disable your anonymizer to access videos on Hulu.

If you’e lucky enough to have a private or corporate VPN in the US, that should still work, but this move effectively shuts out most of the major public VPN providers.

In a bit of positive news, the Financial Times reports that Hulu has been signing international deals for content. This could lead to an global roll-out of its services, though there is no estimated time frame for this.  Looks like we’ll go back to using Miro and BitTorrent until someone realizes that content cannot really be controlled anymore.

Here’s a great tip for those of you looking to get US dollars in Buenos Aires with no fee or exchange rate issues:

American Express allows Platinum Card and Centurion Card holders (personal or business) to cash a personal check from your US bank at their customer service center at Arenales 707, Buenos Aires. You’ll need to bring the following with you:

• Your American Express card
• Your US passport
• A personal check from a US bank

At their offce, simply head downstairs and get into the shorter line for Platinum card holders. At the window, present your American Express card and passport.  You then make out a personal check payable to “American Express” and you’ll receive dollars or pesos in return. There is no fee for this service, so it’s the cheapest way to get cash here.  The only restriction is that they have a $5000 per calendar month limit. You must also sign a form stating that you do not intend to stay in Argentina for more than 12 months from the current date.

Thanks to @emrba for the tip!

• Wacky site: http://isthisyourluggage.com - Guy buys lost airline luggage at auction, takes out contents & photographs it for this site. #
• 9 Free MP3 Audiobook Downloads from B&N: Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, Jonathan Lethem & more. http://bit.ly/PhHsa #
• Weirdest band collaboration: Tinted Windows. Guy from Hanson, Smashing Pumpkins, Fountains of Wayne & Cheap Trick. Still deciding about it. #
• Sunday, a good day for new music downloads. Checking out new albums from Camera Obscura, Empire of the Sun, It Hugs Back, & Bat for Lashes. #
• Looking forward to this movie! James Cameron’s new 3D file Avatar has fans going crazy & may revolutionize film making. http://bit.ly/uWU0q #
• Evernote is an amazing tool. Shared notebooks across Mac, PC, mobile, Twitter, etc. Easy web clipping & more.http://bit.ly/yRx77 #
• RT @Twitter_Tips Is there anything NOT on Twitter? @DivineMK is a UK Brothel: http://cli.gs/VHu9pJ Offering coupons on Twitter too! LOL. #
• Testing out http://tweetface.net - a better way to update your Facebook status from Twitter. Ignores @ replies, converts usernames & more. #
• Why is Facebook in Spanish today even though my language preference is English? Seems like they have some problem. #facebook #
• Had an amazing meal at Francesco (Cocina Peruana) in Buenos Aires last night. Amazing black risotto w/ grilled squid. http://bit.ly/yT9YQ #
• I could handle @oprah on Twitter, but now @akgovsarahpalin? That might be too much, but maybe it will provide some humor. #
• RT @buenosaireslife Depeche Mode in Buenos Aires, Oct 10. Tickets on sale May 19. Check out @depechemode. http://bit.ly/3jwO0 #buenosaires #
• Managed to get tickets to The Kooks in Buenos Aires before they sold out 2 shows in a day! Maybe that means more alt rock concerts here! #