Merry Christmas!
I will increase my post frequency soon once my parents go back to Michigan.
I will increase my post frequency soon once my parents go back to Michigan.
Dec 25, 2003
Dec 23, 2003
Why is it that I had never heard of the terms "bollywood" or "steam punk", yet I've seen both a handful of times just this week?
Disclaimer: For no real reason, I have always disliked Walmart. Maybe it was because, for the longest time, there were no Walmarts nearby either my hometown of Livonia, MI or my college town of Ann Arbor, MI. That has since changed, with stores in or near both cities. Maybe it was because Walmart always had a southern, poor slant to it. Maybe it was because we had a similar store, Meijer's, in our area and I was pledging a local allegiance. For whatever reason, I never liked Walmart.
I've always heard that Walmart was an "evil" company. From details like hiring illegal aliens for stock and cleaning work to treating "regular" employees poorly to pushing around suppliers, the comments swirled around and painted a dirty portrait. When I was back working at the Daily with Scott as my manager, he spoke of Walmart as being worse than an other company he knew of. He had facts from reputible sources, and though being an activist, used them properly. Now having read this article from fastcompany.com, I'm starting to see the details about how Walmart interacts with suppliers. From first glance, it does seem evil, overbearing and monopolistic. At the same time, isn't that what capitalism is all about? A mostly-free market for companies to do as they please? Walmart doesn't force smaller suppliers to cut costs, Walmart is just such a large and successful company that the small suppliers need to be up to Walmart standards.
I won't go so far as to condone their practices and I do agree that Walmart needs to improve their human rights issues, but don't fault a company for being successful.
I've always heard that Walmart was an "evil" company. From details like hiring illegal aliens for stock and cleaning work to treating "regular" employees poorly to pushing around suppliers, the comments swirled around and painted a dirty portrait. When I was back working at the Daily with Scott as my manager, he spoke of Walmart as being worse than an other company he knew of. He had facts from reputible sources, and though being an activist, used them properly. Now having read this article from fastcompany.com, I'm starting to see the details about how Walmart interacts with suppliers. From first glance, it does seem evil, overbearing and monopolistic. At the same time, isn't that what capitalism is all about? A mostly-free market for companies to do as they please? Walmart doesn't force smaller suppliers to cut costs, Walmart is just such a large and successful company that the small suppliers need to be up to Walmart standards.
I won't go so far as to condone their practices and I do agree that Walmart needs to improve their human rights issues, but don't fault a company for being successful.
Dec 19, 2003
So, Walmart has decided to open their own online music service. My first thought was, Walmart with an online service, up against a formidable opponent like iTunes Music Store? Then again, people thought the same thing about Microsoft coming out with the XBox to go against Sony and the PS2. Anyway, this serivce, much like the new Napster, uses WMA 9. Because of this, no one with a Mac can use this service and this is even mentioned in their FAQ. Oddly enough,
this page has a screen shot from a Mac! Observed first by a Slashdot member.
this page has a screen shot from a Mac! Observed first by a Slashdot member.
Dec 18, 2003
Sorry that I disappeared for a few days there; I have a good reason. On Monday while playing racquetball, I severely injured my knee again.
Here is how I did it. Instead of wearing my normal cross-trainer shoes to play rball, I was wearing my turf shoes. Turf shoes have amazing traction on almost any surface, including the hardwood floor of the rball court. Whenever I land from a jump, I keep my foot perpendicular to my shoulders until I land, when I rotate my foot away from my body for added balance. that is how you are supposed to land. Well, when I landed this time, I went to rotate my foot but my shoe decided to have super traction and not move. All of the rotational force went straight to the inner portion of my left knee.
It was 10 PM by the time I got home, so I couldn't see a doctor on Monday. The next morning, I waited until I heard from Kat to make an appointment since I figured her dad (a doctor) would be able to make a good recommendation. When I called to make an appointment at 11 AM, they were booked for the day and I had to wait until Wednesday. The x-ray shows that I definitely did some serious damage and that I also have a bone shard taken off the medial portion of my left knee. Because of the amount of swelling, the doc recommended that I get an MRI. That was done the same day but I will not get the results until at least Friday afternoon. The current prognosis is a torn MCL, stretched ACL, torn meniscus and the bone shard. Lovely.
I'm currently wearing a huge brace but the pain is not so bad. It comes and goes and luckily I can walk fairly well. I missed a day and a half of work, so I'm a bit behind now.
Here is how I did it. Instead of wearing my normal cross-trainer shoes to play rball, I was wearing my turf shoes. Turf shoes have amazing traction on almost any surface, including the hardwood floor of the rball court. Whenever I land from a jump, I keep my foot perpendicular to my shoulders until I land, when I rotate my foot away from my body for added balance. that is how you are supposed to land. Well, when I landed this time, I went to rotate my foot but my shoe decided to have super traction and not move. All of the rotational force went straight to the inner portion of my left knee.
It was 10 PM by the time I got home, so I couldn't see a doctor on Monday. The next morning, I waited until I heard from Kat to make an appointment since I figured her dad (a doctor) would be able to make a good recommendation. When I called to make an appointment at 11 AM, they were booked for the day and I had to wait until Wednesday. The x-ray shows that I definitely did some serious damage and that I also have a bone shard taken off the medial portion of my left knee. Because of the amount of swelling, the doc recommended that I get an MRI. That was done the same day but I will not get the results until at least Friday afternoon. The current prognosis is a torn MCL, stretched ACL, torn meniscus and the bone shard. Lovely.
I'm currently wearing a huge brace but the pain is not so bad. It comes and goes and luckily I can walk fairly well. I missed a day and a half of work, so I'm a bit behind now.
Dec 14, 2003
Whoa, Saddam captured? I guess being up at 5 AM has the advantage of knowing the breaking news.
4:15 AM and I've been trying to sleep since 11:30 PM. The only explanation is that the decaf coffee I ordered during dessert wasn't quite decaf.
Dec 11, 2003
I'm sure my WRX-loving friends (Jeff, Joe, Jenn, Eric, etc) will get a kick out of the Saabaru!
Only in Redmond, Washington are you going to find an Acura NSX:
in the mall parking lot and a Ferrari 360 Modena:
in your office garage. I apologize about the quality of that second picture; I had to use the "Dim" mode on my camera phone and that cuts quality in half. The NSX also had the license plate "SLOW V6", but my picture of that didn't come out.
in the mall parking lot and a Ferrari 360 Modena:
in your office garage. I apologize about the quality of that second picture; I had to use the "Dim" mode on my camera phone and that cuts quality in half. The NSX also had the license plate "SLOW V6", but my picture of that didn't come out.
Yesterday, I was talking to the person on my team that is setting up our holiday party. We were talking about trying to get a small group of the younger members of the team together for the division-wide holiday party. I told her that the menu seemed fairly extravagant, so I was definitely going. She hadn't seen that email and she couldn't find it in her inbox, so she asked me who sent it so she could search for it. Oddly enough, the first thing that came to mind was "Merlot reduction", since I believe one of the meat dishes featured that. Her quote "Have you ever heard of the word... what is it... metrosexual?"
Everyone thinks of me when they hear that word and now people think of the word when they think of me. When I told Russ this story, he said he thinks of me every time he hears that word.
Everyone thinks of me when they hear that word and now people think of the word when they think of me. When I told Russ this story, he said he thinks of me every time he hears that word.
Ok, about AX: This Saturday, I decided that since flag football season was over and Katherine was getting ready to go to Dallas on a business trip, I might as well get started on my holiday shopping. I spent quite a few hours at Bellevue Square and hit at least 20 stores. One of the last stores I went to, mostly out of curiosity, was Armani Exchange. Personally, I hate their clothing. It's either label-saturated or a misguided attempt at being trendy. While I was there, I had not one, not two, not three, but four different sales people try to help me. Normally I walk into a store like that and I'm lucky to get any help. The last sales person, male, got my attention by staring directly into my eyes for a second. I turned away, then noticed he was still watching me. I made eye contact again and he started up conversation. Most of it was "how is shopping going", "who are you buying for" and basic salesperson chat. When he said "What are you doing afterward?", that was when I figured out I was being hit on. My response "Probably just some more shopping." with a condescending smirk ended that discussion.
Dec 10, 2003
Remind me to post about being hit on at AX and my coworker calling me a metrosexual.
iDuck: "Akuma, no one is buying our USB drives! We need to carve out a niche market and I believe the main problem is that no one wants to carry around something that looks like a dorky pack of gum. What do kids like nowadays? My 2 year old daughter loves her toys... hmm... I'm getting an idea! USB drive toys!"
Once again, learning something not from Slashdot, but because of links found there. Starting with this discussion about a nuclear-powered mission to the moons of Jupiter, there was a link to this article, stating that crash landing a nuclear-powered probe into Jupiter could cause it to turn into a star. Basically, this article is full of facts and a gross misuse of these facts. They have correct information about the Galileo craft and some fairly factual discussion about fission, fusion and bombs. While it is true that the materials on the craft could be used for a fission bomb, they completely ignored the concept of critical mass. I couldn't think of the right term while reading the incorrect article, but the question of just how much plutonium was necessary came to mind.
Bad Astronomy saves the day and debunks the possiblity of a small nuclear-powered probe turning Jupiter into a star with this article. The critical (pun intended) points here are:
I love science.
Bad Astronomy saves the day and debunks the possiblity of a small nuclear-powered probe turning Jupiter into a star with this article. The critical (pun intended) points here are:
- The plutonium onboard Galileo was kept in small pellets, none of which were near critical mass.
- The hydrogen on Jupiter is of the most abundant isotope and lacks deuterium and tritium needed for a fusion reaction.
- Jupiter is about 1/80th the size needed to be a self-sustaining star.
I love science.
Dec 9, 2003
The most difficult thing in the world is to know how to do a thing and to watch someone else doing it wrong, without commenting.
-- T.H. White
-- T.H. White
Ford strives to give SVT models upscale image: Ok, so we already knew that Ford was going to drop the SVT Focus. Now we find out that the Focus ST will not have the 170 HP engine from he UK but will be roughly 150 HP. Not good. To make up for that power gap, Ford will release a turbocharged Focus in 2005 or 2006. The estimate is around 200 HP, so this will probably not be the 215 HP Focus RS, unfortunately.
Dec 8, 2003
Not All Americans Are Stupid Quiz: If you take the quiz and say you are not American and get 20/20: "You are clearly an intellectual giant. Or possibly you found a way to cheat. Either way, congratulations."
Gizmodo : Motorola's MPx220 Smartphone coming in February: Finally, a Smartphone available in the US that uses WM 2003 and has bluetooth and a camera. I, as well, didn't know that it would be on the new EDGE network.
Not All Americans Are Stupid Quiz: "You answered 20 questions correctly out of 20. If you are American, the only way you got this score is by doing the quiz 50 times, and memorizing the correct answers. You need to approach the world in a less aggressively competitive way and learn to live with your inadequacies, rather than seeking to feel through bigotry and false national pride." Well, it took me five times.
I just had a pretty crazy dream. I don't remember all the details, but I know it involved trying to go to a play, or a conference or something. To me, it seemed like we were in East Lansing, or some other college town that I've visited but didn't know too well. The overall theme of the dream seemed to concern men versus women, and more specifically, women standing up to men treating them poorly. Some of the people that were in my dream: Jenn, Laura, Angie, Steve Jackson from the Daily and some girl that I just barely remember being a friend of Rob and Gareth.
I don't really remember the play/conference/whatever, but I know that we went out to eat afterwards. The place was called BD's, but instead of it being like BD's Mongolian BBQ, it was more like Dixie's BBQ and was fast food. The restaurant was so darkly lit that I couldn't even read the menu and was about to just order a "Number 1 Combo" just to be safe when an altercation occured. Some guy brushed up too close to the girl that I just barely remember and so she yelled at him and shoved him. A couple of other guys were just loitering around that area and started to make fun of her. That's when I stepped in, put one of the guys in an arm lock and said "Do you like having the use of this arm?" He was quiet after that.
I don't really remember the play/conference/whatever, but I know that we went out to eat afterwards. The place was called BD's, but instead of it being like BD's Mongolian BBQ, it was more like Dixie's BBQ and was fast food. The restaurant was so darkly lit that I couldn't even read the menu and was about to just order a "Number 1 Combo" just to be safe when an altercation occured. Some guy brushed up too close to the girl that I just barely remember and so she yelled at him and shoved him. A couple of other guys were just loitering around that area and started to make fun of her. That's when I stepped in, put one of the guys in an arm lock and said "Do you like having the use of this arm?" He was quiet after that.
Dec 7, 2003
Weekend update:
Friday turned out a bit differently than I originally expected. I knew that Kat was leaving for a business trip on Sunday morning and that she would be pretty busy getting ready on Saturday night, so I planned on seeing her. Around 7:30 PM, Mark called and said that he was going out to some bars downtown with Dan and some friends. I figured that Kat, Jeff, Russ and I hadn't been out drinking in awhile so I thought we could all get together. Well, all the stress of trying to close on a new townhome, stress of work and stress of trying to get ready for a week-long business trip caught up to Kat. She decided that I should just go out with the guys and have fun. No way! If this was probably the last night I would get to see her for a week, of course I was going to try to see her. I basically had to convince her to let me come over and that I would go out with the guys afterward. We had a fairly quiet night at her place and I tried my damnest to wash away some of her stress. By the time I got back to my apartment, Russ was sound asleep and Mark never called me to say where he would be downtown. That ended that night.
Saturday was a bit more productive. I figured that I wouldn't be able to see Kat at all, so I was going to tackle some Christmas shopping. Before I got started with that, Jeff and I grabbed lunch at King and I, a Thai restaurant near his apartment. Not too bad, but their take on "3 star" spicy was definitely including White Man Penalty and was thus fairly mild. I then headed over to the local mall and spent a good three hours shopping. I was looking mostly for gifts for my parents but I seemed to find more gifts for myself. Not surprising.
Kat called me soon after that saying that she was mostly ready for her trip and that we should hang out for a bit. We originally decided to grab coffee some place, but by the time we actually got around to leaving her place, it was dinner time. She felt like Mexican, so we started off toward Fremont since she knew of a fairly authentic restaurant out that way. Traffic over the bridge to Seattle was horrendous, so we turned back to Bellevue. We hit Spazzo, which recently changed from Mediterranean to Italian. and had a fairly nice meal. The wine was better than the entrees and the goat cheese appetizer was served with bread that was impossibly hard and terribly over-soaked in olive oil. All in all, a nice evening, as most are with her!
Today was completely lazy... I didn't do anything productive until 3 PM, unless you count making eggs for breakfast and playing an hour of Grand Theft Auto III as productive. Russ and I visited Caffe Ladro so I could read more of The Brothers Karamazov and he could study for accounting. It was good going out with him since we spend so much time in the apartment.
Friday turned out a bit differently than I originally expected. I knew that Kat was leaving for a business trip on Sunday morning and that she would be pretty busy getting ready on Saturday night, so I planned on seeing her. Around 7:30 PM, Mark called and said that he was going out to some bars downtown with Dan and some friends. I figured that Kat, Jeff, Russ and I hadn't been out drinking in awhile so I thought we could all get together. Well, all the stress of trying to close on a new townhome, stress of work and stress of trying to get ready for a week-long business trip caught up to Kat. She decided that I should just go out with the guys and have fun. No way! If this was probably the last night I would get to see her for a week, of course I was going to try to see her. I basically had to convince her to let me come over and that I would go out with the guys afterward. We had a fairly quiet night at her place and I tried my damnest to wash away some of her stress. By the time I got back to my apartment, Russ was sound asleep and Mark never called me to say where he would be downtown. That ended that night.
Saturday was a bit more productive. I figured that I wouldn't be able to see Kat at all, so I was going to tackle some Christmas shopping. Before I got started with that, Jeff and I grabbed lunch at King and I, a Thai restaurant near his apartment. Not too bad, but their take on "3 star" spicy was definitely including White Man Penalty and was thus fairly mild. I then headed over to the local mall and spent a good three hours shopping. I was looking mostly for gifts for my parents but I seemed to find more gifts for myself. Not surprising.
Kat called me soon after that saying that she was mostly ready for her trip and that we should hang out for a bit. We originally decided to grab coffee some place, but by the time we actually got around to leaving her place, it was dinner time. She felt like Mexican, so we started off toward Fremont since she knew of a fairly authentic restaurant out that way. Traffic over the bridge to Seattle was horrendous, so we turned back to Bellevue. We hit Spazzo, which recently changed from Mediterranean to Italian. and had a fairly nice meal. The wine was better than the entrees and the goat cheese appetizer was served with bread that was impossibly hard and terribly over-soaked in olive oil. All in all, a nice evening, as most are with her!
Today was completely lazy... I didn't do anything productive until 3 PM, unless you count making eggs for breakfast and playing an hour of Grand Theft Auto III as productive. Russ and I visited Caffe Ladro so I could read more of The Brothers Karamazov and he could study for accounting. It was good going out with him since we spend so much time in the apartment.
"As I get older, you know, I won't be a pretty object. The wenches won't come to me of their own accord, so I will need my money. So I am saving up more and more, simply for myself, my dear son. You may as well know. For I mean to go on in my sins to the end, let me tell you. For sin is sweet. All abuse it but all men live in it. The only difference is that others do it on the sly and I do it openly. And so all the other sinners fall upon me for being so simple. And your paradise, Alyosha, is not to my taste, let me tell you that. It's not the proper place for a gentleman, your paradise, even if it exists. I believe that I fall asleep and don't wake up again, and that's all. You can pray for my soul if you like. And if you don't want to, don't, damn you! That's my philosophy." F. Dostoyevsky
FARK.com: Comments Thingee (747269): "I'll root for LSU to smoke OU, an OU 'championship' would ring hollow after the K-State game. BTW, I think we need to refer to it as the 'Nokia Sugar Bowl', and not the Sugar Bowl. Nokia paid alot of money for this privilege, and they deserve the courtesy. assholes."
Since Nokia is my current corporate enemy, I just had to laugh.
Since Nokia is my current corporate enemy, I just had to laugh.
Remind me to quote Pg. 172, last paragraph of The Brothers Karamazov later.
Remind me to post later about my weekend, how Kat is gone for a week and about holiday parties. Oh, and White Ribbon Week as well.
Just yesterday, I was reading a discussion on Fark about labels and the common consensus was that people did not want to pay to advertise for a company. Someone joked that you don't see Armani suits with "ARMANI" written across the front in huge letters. Someone followed that up with a desire to see an Armani trucker hat. Well, I went shopping later that day and what did I see:
An Armani Exchange trucker hat! Perfect timing. I'm starting to enjoy the fact that my phone has a camera now.
An Armani Exchange trucker hat! Perfect timing. I'm starting to enjoy the fact that my phone has a camera now.
2004 WRC PHOTO LIBRARY. Even more photos of the new Lancer WRC04. Nope, still don't like it.
"Grushenka was twenty-two years old and her face looked exactly that age. She had very white skin with a pale pink tint on her cheeks. The modeling of her face might be said to be too broad, and the lower jaw was set a trifle forward. Her upper lip was thin, but the slightly prominent lower lip was at least twice as full and looked pouting. But her magnificent, abundant dark brown hair, her sable-colored eyebrows and charming grey-blue eyes with their long lashes woukd have made the most indifferent person, meeting her casually in a crowd in the street, stop at the sight of her face and remember it long after." F. Dostoyevsky
Dec 6, 2003
Mitsubishi announces Lancer WRC04: After taking a year off from rallying, Mitsubishi has returned with a radical new vehicle to enter the '04 WRC season. The overall body shape has remained similar to previous Mitsu WRC cars, but the underlying construction, components and technologies are radically different.
Personally, I am not a fan of the looks of the new car. I can definitely see how it would be more aerodynamic than the last model, but they needed to make a few sacrifices in the visual appeal area. There is another small picture of the design available on the official WRC site.
Personally, I am not a fan of the looks of the new car. I can definitely see how it would be more aerodynamic than the last model, but they needed to make a few sacrifices in the visual appeal area. There is another small picture of the design available on the official WRC site.
Dec 5, 2003
CBS 2: New Jersey Wire: Mmmm, quick thinking. My kind of man.
The Metrosexual Quiz: Haha, Jeff sent me this. Of course I scored high! "You're a metrosexual. The next girl you hook up with will be more masculine than you, full mustache and all. Is it time to buy new tweezers?"
Amazon.com: Cell Phones: Motorola MPx200 Smartphone - Next Generation (AT&T): How can you beat free? Go Amazon!
Samsung SCH-i600 - Smart phones - CNET Reviews: 8.3 is a respectable score.
Dec 4, 2003
Well I dragged Kat out to Greek food (Orexi) last night. I think that was our last time! Basically all of the food was overcooked. She normally likes spanokopeta but not when it's that well-done! My dolemades were fine but she didn't like those either.
Maybe we should stick to American and Italian.
Maybe we should stick to American and Italian.
Dec 3, 2003
I need to pay better attention to the various discounts that MS employees get. Kat and I have been to Andiamo twice in about the past month and now I find out I can get buy 1, get 1 free.
Dec 2, 2003
I cant use gallery to upload pictures through the web either!
What this needs is a way to do pictures from the built-in camera and it would be great!
trying out pocketblog... woo,success!
Dec 1, 2003
Well, it's official: I'm coming back to Detroit twice in the span of about two weeks! I will be flying into Detroit just so I can turn around and drive to Chicago (don't ask) for New Year's Eve. After the festivities, I will be driving back to Detroit to see family and friends for a few days before flying back to Seattle. A week later, I will be flying out to Detroit for a long weekend to attend the auto show. Here are the details:
Trip 1:
31/Dec/2003 @ 9:25 AM EST: Arrive in Detroit
31/Dec/2003 @ 2:00 PM EST: Drive to Chicago
01/Jan/2003 @ 5:00 PM EST: Drive to Detroit
04/Jan/2003 @ 5:00 PM EST: Fly to Seattle
Trip 2:
16/Jan/2003 @ 5:30 AM EST: Arrive in Detroit
19/Jan/2003 @ 7:30 PM EST: Fly to Seattle
So, everyone back in the SE MI area, if you want to see me, you better call dibs now!
Trip 1:
31/Dec/2003 @ 9:25 AM EST: Arrive in Detroit
31/Dec/2003 @ 2:00 PM EST: Drive to Chicago
01/Jan/2003 @ 5:00 PM EST: Drive to Detroit
04/Jan/2003 @ 5:00 PM EST: Fly to Seattle
Trip 2:
16/Jan/2003 @ 5:30 AM EST: Arrive in Detroit
19/Jan/2003 @ 7:30 PM EST: Fly to Seattle
So, everyone back in the SE MI area, if you want to see me, you better call dibs now!
Yahoo! News - Asian Pirates Sell Microsoft's Next Windows System: "Underscoring the scale of U.S. companies' copyright problems in Asia, CDs containing software Microsoft has code named "Longhorn" are on sale for six ringgit ($1.58) in southern Malaysia." Haha, he said ringgit.
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