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This is my new LJ handle: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) kneecarrot. I'm just going to let this account fade away by itself. |
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I contacted the local Corvette club and asked if they could put me in touch with someone who knew about C3s. The C3 is the third generation Vette that was produced between 1968 and 1982. It's a work of art in my mind. Anyways, I just get this email:
"If the weather stays decent for the next week or so, maybe we can get together for a coffee, I'll bring my own C3 (1981)......it's not perfect, but as close to original as you will find....I've only had it for four years, it had 59K Kms on the clock and believe me I looked at a lot of junk in my search for the right one......where do you live.......hope to hear from you soon....dbj"
This is pretty much the best case scenario. |
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Working in an office environment can provide much more than a sore mouse arm and pasty white skin. My ability to sense the approach of someone near my cubicle has become almost ninja-like. I need to know this so that I can quickly alt-tab away from whatever work-unrelated web site I'm on.
I can tell by swishes of air and the sound of feet on carpet who is coming and from what direction. The DBA is a shuffler. The project manager is a heavy breather. Only the 4 foot 9 business analyst and her damn soft-soled shoes sometimes foil me. She caught me reading an article about ebola the other day... damn it! |
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I picked up a white 4gig iPod Nano the other day and now that I've had a few days to play with it, I thought I'd share my thoughts.
First of all, the whole setup experience so far has been pretty much what I expected from an Apple product. Very slick in all respects. Even the packaging was well designed. Setting up iTunes and importing my music was almost automatic and I had the player in my hands playing music in minutes (while still charging, of course).
The size of the Nano is ridiculously small. I can not only put it in my pocket, I can easily put it in the mini-pocket inside the regular pocket of my jeans. This is a huge plus given that I couldn't really do this with my old player.
Usability-wise, there is no comparison to my previous player. The iPod is responsive, intuitive, and predictable. Navigation is a joy with the clickwheel.
The iTunes music store is also a plus. I didn't really see myself making any purchases but after seeing how convenient it is, I have spent $20 or $30 there happily. It's nice to not have to struggle to download a song that may or may not be good quality/have the right id3 tags/be flawed/etc. Time is money and $0.99 isn't much money.
I have 2 complaints:
1) The click-wheel on the iPod Nano is flush with the rest of the body. For this reason, you can't tell from touch alone that your finger is on it. So, you can't adjust the volume or navigate while the device is in a pocket... you need to take it out and look at it. Probably doesn't seem like a huge deal to you but I rarely listen to songs completely. I like to jump around.
2) I'm still not sold on organizing music based on id3 tags. With file/folder based organization, what you see is what you get. With id3 tags, you really don't know there is a problem with a tag until it's on your player or in iTunes.
Overall, I love it. Even with a fifth of the capacity of my previous player and with the lack of radio, I am still convinced it is a massive improvement. |
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Might be interesting for those of you with little ones:
Adult Height Predictor
According to this, it is accurate to within 2.1 inches 95% of the time in boys and to within 2.68 inches 95% of the time in girls. |
| » The iRiver is Dead |
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Bah!!! My iPod-like device just died. It doesn't even emit a murmur when I try to switch it on. Replacing it with an actual iPod seems like a no-brainer, but it's not. iPods don't have a built in radio and don't store data like my iRiver. They also don't have all the fancy-shmancy recording and encoding functionality (even though I rarely record).
Then again, the Nano is DEAD sexy.
Oct. 17th, 2005 @ 03:54 pm
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| » Letting Down Doris |
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Well, it's official. I can't wear contact lenses.
Imagine, if you will, the following scenario. You want to put on your glasses. So you hand them to someone who climbs a 15 foot high ladder. They repeatedly drop them and you try to position your head so that the glasses fall onto your face. You repeat this until you are sweating, angry, and not really even much interested in wearing your glasses.
That's what putting in contacts is like for me. I have been able to get it down to about 15 minutes per eye. But by then I'm feeling pretty belligerent. It's just not worth the aggravation.
Doris Lu and her dedicated staff spent HOURS (literally) trying to help me learn. I had become somewhat of a pet project around the office.
I initially wanted them for 2 reasons. First, I was sick of always seeing my glasses out of the corner of my eye. The lack of peripheral vision bothers me and I'm just not comfortable getting glasses like these. Second, I want to be able to see better while playing sports. Squash, especially, requires sharp vision. Vanity actually wasn't one of the reasons... I like the way I look in glasses.
Guess it's time to book a weekend in Tijuana for a really really cheap deal on some laser eye surgery.
Oct. 17th, 2005 @ 11:19 am
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| » Good links |
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Top Ten Science Pictures of the Year found via this (excellent) site.
I love the first picture. It almost looks too sharp and clear to be real. Picture 7 of the cancer cell is spooky.
Sep. 29th, 2005 @ 10:12 am
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| » Taking some time off |
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Lately my friends have been all about "keeping me busy". I appreciate the gesture, but this past weekend I just ran out of steam. I turned off the phone and pulled down the blind and hibernated for all of Saturday and Sunday.
And it was good. Just me, a few good books, a big bottle of grape juice, and quiet.
Sep. 29th, 2005 @ 09:33 am
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| » There's always room for humour |
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I tried to not focus on the spelling mistake. I really did.
Sep. 7th, 2005 @ 10:32 am
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| » Sweet sweet wifi |
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Cost of sitting at Starbucks and connecting to Starbuck's wifi service: $7.50 plus tax per hour.
Cost of sitting at Starbucks connecting to shmuck's unprotected router sitting somewhere in the vicinity of Starbuck's: $0.00 per hour.
Sep. 2nd, 2005 @ 04:04 pm
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| » Today |
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Today feels like the longest day of my life.
And it's only 4:35pm.
Aug. 22nd, 2005 @ 04:34 pm
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| » Gas Prices |
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Everyone is talking about gas prices, so hey, I'll take a stab too. After all, this is the Internet.
It makes sense that people will use their vehicles less if the gas prices stay at their current level or rise slightly. Less trips to the mall, fewer movies, etc.
But what if the trend continues? What if gas prices climb to 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 times what they are now, so they are at levels already found in other places?
What would happen to suburbia?
I like to think that we would start to see the return to self-sufficient communities. Communities where you could walk or take a 2 minute drive to a local grocer, pharmacy, or doctor. This would also mean that big box stores like Walmart or Futureshop would have a tough time staying in business since the customer base for eash store would be below the volume necessary. Prices in these smaller stores would rise but service would be more personalized. People would get to know their neighbours because these would be the people they would be interacting with on a daily basis. Better mass transit and working from home would replace the single commuter driving to the office.
Of course, it would also mean the end of the road trip out east or cheap flights to London.
Aug. 12th, 2005 @ 10:33 am
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| » Doris Lu |
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I just went to see an optometrist cuz I was way overdue. While there I figured I might as well look into some contacts since my glasses drive me crazy sometimes. Turns out they want $155 for a "contact lense fitting". That doesn't include any actual lenses. It just includes some insertion/removal instruction and a couple follow up visits to "make sure everything is ok". Am I getting scammed here?
Aug. 10th, 2005 @ 04:02 pm
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| » Tagging Your Kids |
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I wonder how long it will take before parents are deemed irresponsible by society for not using one of these. My guess is 10 years.
Jul. 19th, 2005 @ 12:21 pm
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| » CNN Article |
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Lightning Strikes Family Reunion
Quote:
"A lot of us were on our knees, praying ...God was showing his strength."
See, I don't think that's it at all. Instead, I believe that God was demonstrating the electrical discharge resolving the forcible separation of positive and negative charges within a cloud or air.
Jul. 18th, 2005 @ 12:02 pm
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| » Harry's Potter |
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There were about 6 people reading the new Harry's Potter book on the bus this morning. Lemme tell you... that J.R. Rowlings (or whatever he calls himself this week) is sure swimming in the cash.
Must be nice to be able to blatantly rip off C.S. Lewis and still make tonnes of green.
God save the queen, eh J.R.?
Jul. 18th, 2005 @ 09:32 am
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| » Slowly snapping |
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I just got bit by a mosquitoe while sitting here at my desk. I'd just like to thank all mosquitoes for their contribution to the world.
Jul. 12th, 2005 @ 01:14 pm
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| » What are the odds? |
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As I wrote here, I once ran into the Million Dollar Man at Disney World. His real name is Ted Debiase and he was a wrestler with the WWE back when it was the WWF.
So yesterday I was playing poker online and I glance around at the names of the other players at the table. Guess who I see? Ted Debiase. Now, anyone can choose any screen name that they want (I am xxxflirtee19 for example), so it may be just an old WWF fan.
But, I went ahead and typed in "Million Dollar Man?" into the chat area and guess what happened? He folded his cards and left the table immediately.
Is this the second time I've happened upon this guy in my life?
Jul. 12th, 2005 @ 10:16 am
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| » The Weather and Me |
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I have to stop taking the weather so personally. Mother Nature is not out to specifically get me regardless of how much it feels like that is the case.
Jul. 12th, 2005 @ 09:47 am
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