31 may 2005
Tomorrow (or 1 hour and 35 minutes) marks the start of a new month. And with that new month will come a new challenge I've set for myself. But more about that tomorrow.
28 may 2005 Hero TV
Back in the day, I remember that Cartoon Network launched Boomerang ("It's All Coming Back to You"), which they used exclusively to show vintage cartoons. On that note, it could be interesting for them to launch another new network, on which they'd exclusively show superhero shows. I bring this up because I'm in the middle of Justice League Unlimited after watching The Batman and Teen Titans. I like superheroes.
OH YEAH! Saw Revenge of the Sith. Wicked Awesome.
26 may 2005 Critiquing criticism
I spend a vast majority of my online time reading. Mostly blogs, the occasional long article that catches my interest, that kind of thing. I think this is generally a good use of my time, but occasionally I make the mistake of reading the comments that follow the article, usually looking to see if anyone else holds the same opinion I do, or if if anyone has interesting points to make. What absolutely floors me is how readily people will either directly criticize the article itself, or the subject of the article, or another person's comment, or any combination of those three.
I don't know why this amazes me so much, and at the same time it bothers me. It's not the fact that the readers have differing opinions - that's a given. But the mean-spiritedness on so many message boards is really depressing to me. Because I've been really watching coverage of them lately, I'm going to bring forward the example of the next-generation consoles launching. There are people who've already decided they don't like the PS3, or the X360, or the Revolution, but they don't know why. Apparently they're judging by appearance, and while that certainly plays a part, it's absolutely not the standard by which consoles should be judged. Honestly, you can't base most things on appearance, although as a deciding factor it varies in importance.
But it saddens me to see posts proclaiming the PS3 sucks and Sony sucks when they more than likely haven't even seen it in person, much less played it. If you like the Xbox, you're an MS fanboy. If you like the PS3, you're a Sony fanboy. What if you like both? Isn't that possible? Won't there be a ton of people (myself included, probably) who own at least two of the next-gen consoles? I don't have a problem with people who don't like certain companies. I don't like certain companies. But if you can offer a solid reason why as opposed to just saying the company sucks, chances are people will respect you a little more and you won't just be starting arguments for no reason.
Of course, I'm probably just on another one of my naive ramble. That's not generally how things seem to work on the internet. Creative / constructive criticism is rare - instead it's just people trying to make others feel that they're stupid and wrong for liking something (eg "I can't believe you like the iPod! You're just another Apple fanboy!1!!!")
Sometimes I think it would be fun to have some PHP and maybe comments on this page, but the problem is nobody reads it anyway, and they would all be like that one above.
17 may 2005 Gaming, Because There's Not Much Else
So, picked up a couple of games: Star Wars Battlefront, Alien Hominid. I've not played the latter, but I can happily say the former is a very enjoyable time-waster. I actually discovered it thanks to the demo disc Sony sent me back in December that I recently revisited (to replay the Prince of Persia 2 demo). But anyway, I like it. Speaking of Prince of Persia, I've finished POP: Sands of Time on both the PS2 and the mobile, and I really, really enjoyed them both. I love the acrobatics in Prince of Persia and I'm halfway debating picking up Warrior Within. But Prince of Persia 3 is coming out this winter too, so that'll be good. Also coming this winter is Sly 3 (yes!).
So yeah, I also took the leap and reserved an Xbox 360. I've not really had to debate much about it, since it's backwards compatible and that's what really matters to me. It's more worth it for me to wait and pick up one of those instead of buying an Xbox now. So that will be fun - I'm looking forward to Halo and Half-Life 2. The sad thing is that all the games I'm looking forward to are not next-gen games, but it will be nice to have the option to play them.
The big debate is not whether to get a PS3, so much as when. Unlike the Xbox, I don't feel the need to buy one at launch, and I may be able to hold off until Rockstar delivers a new GTA (which I am hoping will happen). Vision Gran Turismo is a great launch title, but not something that will make me need the system. Who even knows if the GTA franchise will continue to launch on the Playstation? I mean, I assume it will and now it makes even more sense because of the sheer power the PS3 vs the Xbox (it seems the tables are turned).
What I'm happy about is that now all the new consoles are actually fairly nice looking. The original Xbox was always an eyesore and the PS2 isn't that great either, but it's OK. With the new ones it seems like they are intent on removing the "toy" perception. The Revolution looks like a nice little package but I don't have much interest in it since most of the Nintendo franchises seem to have lost their luster for me. I'll take Sly Cooper over Mario any day, and I think it's because they don't attach his name to random games to sell more, and I hope it stays that way. That's kind of where Crash and Sonic got derailed also. Originally they were both these really cool and unique games, and once the companies saw they were getting name recognition, they started just slapping the name on everything.
I've realized that I haven't been paying much attention to the portable gaming hardware that's rapidly becoming more and more amazing. I think the PSP is an awesome little machine, and I'm toying with the idea of getting one. I really can't make myself spend that much money on it, though, and I know I won't use it very much because a) I really enjoy console gaming and b) I just don't have a lot of opportunities to play games when I'm not at home. Again, it's something I'm considering, but it's just not a definite like some things are.
I am impressed by the packaging of the Game Boy Micro in the same way I was impressed by the iPod shuffle and the Mac mini. It is cool because it is so small and remains totally functional. I see it doing well if they hit the magical and mythical $49.99 price point, and with the hardware involved, that doesn't seem unreasonable. At that point it becomes an impulse buy / stocking stuffer type thing, and I think that's great. At the same time, I don't see myself replacing my GBASP with it, but then again, I didn't forsee buying an iPod shuffle either. One word, I'll repeat it: IMPULSE.
So that was some kind of ramble, I guess, but that's really the stuff that's been grabbing my attention lately. I'm excited to see what then next generation of consoles brings us (wireless, for one - that's pretty cool), and excited to finally have an Xbox , even if it is 6 months away.
Oh yes - shoes.
10 may 2005
I like Apple. I like Honda. Both of these companies are similar in the fact that their customers have a general tendency to be very loyal to them. That's fine. They are both, I think, deserving of this loyalty as thanks for putting out a good product that works well. That's why I'll buy another Honda and I'll buy another Mac, more than likely without considering their competition.
So, Apple and Honda are both big companies. They both have a lot of customers. That means they both have a lot of products out there, and that means, inevitably, things are not always going to work right. This isn't a concept that's limited to Apple and Honda. Every company has this problem; some more than others.
What bothers me is that when something does go wrong, people go out of their way to be as loud as they can about it, proclaiming that the company that wronged them is the worst company ever and they'll NEVER buy from them again and you should never buy from them or you'll be SORRY.
Right. Because you had a problem with your minivan, it means every Honda ever made is inevitably defective and you should get rid of yours and never buy another Honda as long as you live or terrible things will happen. That's not how it works. Your computer is defective. Fine. The store gave you problems with fixing it. Fine. Sorry it happened. If you feel the need to vent on a message board, fine, but don't expect every person who is a loyal owner of the product you had problems with to suddenly agree with you.
How bout this? Hey, Apple made an mp3 player without a screen! They're idiots! I hate Apple! They're all a bunch of hype and lemming zealots! Wait, why do I hate them? Because I don't own one? Because they're making technology popular?
What? Honda made a pickup truck? It's not a real pickup truck because it's not real 4WD with a full-size bed! They're idiots! The product is going to flop! It's ugly. No, wait. Honda made a pickup truck/car kind of combination with the off-road capabilities of a Pilot and an open bed with a built-in locking trunk? How does that not make sense? Is it because Honda felt the need to expand into markets where they saw potential for a profit? Maybe. What about that business move is upsetting?
People are idiots sometimes. And I guess I'm just a Mac-zealot domestic-hating lemming.
08 may 2005
Of all things, saw a Jaguar XKE yesterday.
I've now called on 10 or so cars and all but two have been sold.
Drove a manual today. Not pretty. Not buying it either.
Still working on that one site.
Finished with the random comments, although I regret missing cinco cinco cinco.
03 may 2005 upside-down face
I really, really like Family Guy. Paul and I keep talking about it at work and I cannot get over how funny it is. Sunday's episode was awesome, like they never left.
I have to wonder about American Dad. Is it not as good because it's basically a copy of Family Guy? If Family Guy didn't exist would we like American Dad better?
If Family Guy didn't exist? The horror.
01 may 2005
I bought some more hot traxx.
Anyway, good cartoons tonight, I suppose. Family Guy, anyone?
I picked up Songs For Silverman the other day. Big surprise, I really like it. I can't believe I would like an album by my favorite artist; it just blows me away.
Anyway, it's on DualDisc. This is the first I've seen this and I'm impressed with the features they can cram into a $12 CD. There was a real nice making of/behind the scenes video included, so I'd highly recommend the physical album over the iTMS version.
01 may 2005
Rebooted...
So welcome to this new(ish) site. Look is majorly different but structure is the same as it ever was. I achieved my goal of not changing the code, so really the whole thing was a big update of CSS and images.
My friend Jodi left our department at work a few weeks ago to move over to marketing. Which means that her position (senior) became available. Which means that I applied for it. Which means that I am now a senior graphic designer. Good, good news.
Did I mention Abe got a new car? I think so.
I picked up THUG 2. It's OK I suppose.
If I were smart I would've written something really witty and clever for today, since people will probably come here, read my 1-line paragraphs, and then be all like "what? No way I'm reading that again..."
But maybe oversimplication is a good thing?
Also, check out Jim's site. And Abe's. Big thanks to Paul for his help in making them not broken.
Or, go (back) to the Reboot sites. The CSS one, or Flashland.
21 apr 2005
Yeah, so the Reboot happens in a week, and I'm at the same place now as I was a month ago. Prehaps I should do some work. Maybe this weekend.
The Element is gone but not forgotten, and in its place is a shiny white Accord. I wish I had one but I don't and blah blah...
Some other stuff happened this week but I think I'll hold off on mentioning it until it's public and completely official.
09 apr 2005 After San Andreas
I've been playing more GTA lately as just a nice way to cool down, and I am enjoying it as much as ever. Everytime I play, though, I start to think about improvements that could be made and things I'd love to see in the next big GTA game. I'm not talking about the PSP version or the PC/XBox releases. I'm thinking the next GTA will be a PS3 release first, following shortly to the next-gen XBox and PC's. I don't really know anything about the PS3, except that it will presumably be much better than the PS2, which means that the next GTA will be presumably much better than all others before it.
One of the biggest things I think needs to be addressed is scale. I am thrilled with SA's massive map, but it still doesn't seem quite right. Part of this deals with the clock in GTA - each realtime minute = one hour of game time. That works out fine for now, but it doesn't take me half an hour to walk across a parking lot, does it? I'd like to see more of a shift toward realtime in this area - not always running time like Animal Crossing has, but you pick up where you left off, just like you do now. Maybe there could be some sort of time shift mode so you don't have to actually wait for hours to do a mission, but I don't know, because of the speed of the current clock things always feel pretty rushed.
The other part of scaling is actual size. I'd like to see whatever environments they develop be much, much more expansive. I want literal miles in the game, something where it actually *could* take you an hour to get from one city to another by car, which would really justify driving to the airport and getting a plane instead. With this there also needs to be a more definite feeling of different speeds for different cars. It's very fun right now, but feels like I can hop in any car and pretty much get the same result.
Speaking of cars, let's talk about traffic: calm it the hell down! Everything is so herky-jerky right now. Cars don't move like that in real life - everything is more gradual. I think this deals with scale again, to make you feel like you're moving faster than you are, but with a bigger and more realistic map, and different timing, the cars could finally move at a normal pace. Which is not "as fast as they possibly can" on the highway.
Those are the biggest concerns and you can see they all stem from one thing. Everything else I am hoping for (better character models, better car models with non-generic damage, etc) are things that I will not be surprised to see debut on the next-gen GTA. I am just hoping that R* can work on the scale issue because the franchise will become an even more immersive experience.
08 apr 2005
Suffice it to say this week has been a fairly busy one for me. I've had a lot going on at work, not that that's a bad thing. I called about two cars this week but both were sold by the time I'd called.
Speaking of cars and the people who buy them, ABE has aquired a van. It's a Ford E250, nothing fancy. Solid white with no windows, and he'll use it to transport sound things. I'm thinking we'll be talking to a friend of ours who does vinyl stuff for perhaps some graphics to put on it.
That leaves you wondering what will become of the Element, probably. Well, it's getting ebay'ed. Soon. Which means he'll be needing another car, which at this point is looking like an Accord. Yes, because we need another one. That will be an Accord for each of us, although my current used dream car is an early to mid 90's Prelude Si or VTEC, in white, black, or perhaps red. For cheap.
Lessee. I watched Con Air because it was on TV. Same goes for Van Wilder. Ryan Reynolds is hot.
Ah yes, Paul has some things on his site now. He is also not moving away, so yay for that.
03 apr 2005 Oh Carp
I guess I should be posting since you know, it's April and all. We were in the Twin Cities briefly and then we came back but with a third iPod (mini, 4GB, green). Fun times.
I almost came home with another camera but now I didn't . I'd love to find a camera with all camera controls given their own, um, controls. I'm kind of bored with contextual menus.
Things are happening but what are they?
24 mar 2005 The Full Monty
We saw that.
Not much else to say.
(space).
22 mar 2005 Oatmeal
There was this one time I was making oatmeal (the instant kind) and I put it in the microwave. Then I took it out and realized that I forgot to add water to it. So really putting it in the microwave didn't do much good.
20 mar 2005
We're back from the Rhinelander where I spent 10% of my time preaching the Honda gospel and the rest just having a generally nice time. The kid is mobile now which is quite impressive. We clocked him and I think he's capable of 50 mph easy. We also got to be in his presence when he had his first-ever Home Depot experience.
I forgot to mention that I saw the new Jetta in person on the Thursday and I'm generally happy with it, the only downside being the price. On the subject of finally seeing new cars in person, the Honda dealership in Rhinelander had a Ridgeline as well, which I'm pleased to say is way, way nicer than I imagined. I really genuinely like it, and Abe did too, so I wouldn't be overly surprised if that was his next car.
19 mar 2005 Movin' Out
Actually, it's not anything close to how it sounds. Well, kind of it is, maybe. We are off to Rhinelander this morning to visit Abe's brother. I can just hear you now: "Rhinelander?!?!?!? I thought he lived in Minocqua?" Well it's true. He did. Now he doesn't--they don't. So they're in the process of moving and we are going to help since they extended us the courtesy last year. It will be a fun-ass time.
Abe was working last night so I went and rented Hellboy and The Punisher. I think I liked The Punisher more but that could just be because it was the first one I watched. They were both well-done and that's pretty much the same thing I say about every movie, only because I pretty much only watch movies I like.
Speaking of Abe, if one was to look here they might see his name, and then that one, if they were smart, could figure out one of the other two sites I'm working on for the aforementioned here . Coherency is for fools.
I keep trying to remember to write about something and then I forget what it is so then I'm just screwed, I guess.
PS. From now on I will not be linking to the free Tuesday song in iTunes because I am lazy. Just assume I have it. Also, you are more than capable of finding it if you use iTMS, and if you don't, then it really doesn't matter anyway.
12 mar 2005
I am sitting here, staring at the 1GB iPod shuffle in front of me and all this tells me is that I am an absolute Apple whore.
Anyways, SNL, David Spade, Jack Johnson, the Nunis.
Also, three websites simultaneously for the reboot. Top that.
07 mar 2005
Yes, I nearly forgot. You'll remember I mentioned the May 1st Reboot and why I wouldn't be participating, but thanks to the CSS Reboot, my interest has been revitalized. We'll see what I come up with.
07 mar 2005 I wear my sunglasses during the day
Actually, I pretty much almost never wear them; they are confined to the glove compartment of my car. It was bright outside today, so I actually put them on. I had nearly forgotten how gorgeous things look through amber tinting.
I've also realized that despite the fact that we have two cats, I don't say much about them. On both occasions, I was too busy to say much more than "we got a cat" and so it was left at that.
So let's start with Maynard. He's three point five years old and is 15 pounds of pure pretty-kittiness. He doesn't purr much but he always looks content until you rile him up and he bites you. Then after that he is content again. He's not into table scraps unless it's tuna, and he yells at you when you take a shower. Then when that doesn't work he splashes his paw in the water dish and gets it all over the floor. He's also beneficial in that instead of owning a paper shredder, we can just throw a piece in front of him and it will be shredded in no time.
Bender is a different story. He's much more into attention than Maynard and that could be because he was a stray where as Maynard was a surrender. He only has a stub of a tail but this doesn't seem to affect him - he just keeps himself happy by attacking Maynard's. He is particularly interesting in that he will pretty much lay down where ever. You could pick him up so he's laying on your hands, and then put him on the bed, and he will not move. He sleeps in the bathroom sink. He's also much more vocal than Maynard; not only with purring - he'll randomly make noise to let you know that he's still there and could you come find him please?
Together they are the best pair I've ever seen, as good as any pair from the same litter than I'm aware of. They can change from licking eachother to wrestling in a split second and the ruckus they create when chasing eachother down the stairs is tremendous. I think Maynard is especially happy to have a companion since we were gone daily for work and he had nothing else to do, and I'm glad we were able to adopt Bender because he is such a wonderful cat.
06 mar 2005
Funkmaster Paul has a new site. It's got some words on it, but not very many.
We watched a coupla movies Friday and yesterday. Saw was good, kind of a cross between se7en and Silence of the Lambs, I guess. Exorcist: The Beginning was actually decent. I think I would've liked more it as an independent title and not a "prequel." Finally, we watched Saved! which I was hoping to like and I'm happy to say that I did.
Gran Turismo 4 doesn't suck.
01 mar 2005 March. Madness.
A mish-mash of things, if I can remember them:
New iPods. Lower prices are good. The gold iPod mini was ugly. I miss firewire, but more importantly, I miss docks. At the same time, I am much more comfortable with the idea of a $450 iPod Photo than a $600 iPod Photo. If I wasn't holding out for the 5g, one would already be on the way.
I seem to be getting my mitts into more and more side projects. More on that, if any of them happen.
That new Porsche Cayman. Mmmmmm. The "new" Porsche Panarama. Ick.
Oh yes. The May 1 Reboot is coming up. I was thinking about just throwing up a new style sheet and calling it a day, but now I don't think I'll be doing it at all. If I was just launching this site at that time, perhaps, but for now I'm sticking with this and feeling good about it, and I'm not too into the thought of taking my site down for two or however many weeks.
That's it. Most of the initial writing was to force myself to remember the previous paragraph.
27 feb 2005 Resistance is futile, I suppose
Well, it was a whole four days before I broke down and bought Gran Turismo 4, but from what I had heard from certain people it is supposed to be nothing less than automotive ecstasy. I'm thinking that's true, so far, and while I wasn't into the 3rd installment in the series, I really liked the concept as a whole. The reintroduction of used cars as well as more niche vehicles (like the original Beetle or the M-B 300 SL Gullwing) will make this much more enjoyable, provided money flows more freely than it did in GT3.
The other reason I didn't spend a lot of time with GT3 was the certain core issues that I just couldn't get past. I wrote about those in May of last year ("GT3: I don't hate it, I just don't like it"):
...it has less camera angles than the previous game. Whereas before you had two third-person views, there is now only one, plus the requisite first-person, in-car view. Problem is, this view is completely inadequate. The camera sits too low and too close behind the car - to the point where the road ahead is sometimes obstructed by your vehicle, usually when a turn is immediately ahead.
They've now added a third camera angle between the two - one that is kind of mounted on top of your car. I think they've remedied the issue with the third-person view as well. I've not had camera problems so far, but I am still spoiled by GTA:SA's clever resolution for this issue: pressing up on the left analog stick pans the camera above your car to see what the car itself might have been obstructing.
Another feature that this game is noticeably lacking is some kind of brightness adjustment. Shaded areas of the track tend to wash out to the point where, again, you can barely tell what's happening, if at all. I am very pleased with the current settings of our WEGA, and I don't think it should be necessary to adjust the brightness just for this game. The game I'm comparing this to which shall remain nameless does have brightness options. Thankfully, GT3 does at least have an aspect ratio option.
From what I've seen in the menus, it now has brightness, contrast, and saturation as well. Way to go!
What GT has yet to nail down is their segues between races. GT2 had the unavoidable automatic replay. So far in GT3, all I've done is the licensing tests, but that's enough to drive me insane. If you fail one of these, the most awful music ever begins playing, and the game just sits for 5 or 10 seconds before relinquishing control to you. This means that you'll probably want to pause and restart instead, which is instantaneous. I'd like to see Gran Turismo take note of the not-quite-so-popular Vanishing Point.
See, Vanishing Point has similar tests, but if you run into something that would cause you to fail, the action immediately stops. Two or three options pop up (I think quit, retry, and replay) and the camera begins to pan around the car, so you can see what hit where. You can watch this if you want or you can immediately try again. There's a bit of ambient music and noise, but it doesn't sound as though the game is celebrating your defeat.
Again, this has been fixed! I really like how they've handled the failed tests now (believe me, I've seen my share). As soon as you fail, the screen goes black and white and shrinks down to the left side - on the right side, it tells you the test number, gives you the "failed" message, and you immediately have the option to restart or exit. As an added bonus, the music that they use is from Ferris Bueller's Day Off so even failing isn't so bad anymore. I wonder, did someone on the development team see my complaints or was I not the only one who had them? Even the sound effects (on the menus) have (finally) been updated; one of my more petty issues.
I went to see a local production of Les Miserables last night. Abe was doing sound for it and the cast was a mixture of high-schoolers from the Wausau area. It was a really amazing show. Granted it was not quite to the scale of the professional production, but the fact that this was put on entirely by a school-aged cast is uncanny. I was very impressed overall, and it doesn't surprise me that they've had to turn people away nightly.
25 feb 2005 An Epic Tale
Once upon a time, a young man was sitting happily in his apartment, typing away on iChat. All was well, for he had not so much to do at the moment. He realized he needed to get something from a different room, and when he stood, his bare foot felt wetness in the carpet.
"The skylight is condensing," he thought, before realizing that he wasn't under the skylight. He turned, slowly, to see a growing pool of water under the washing machine. Terrified and in a panic, he called his roommate, who was not at home at the time. As his roommate rushed home, he went downstairs, a knot in his stomach. As he had feared, water was raining into the kitchen.
Towel after towel was thrown at the flood, but nothing seemed to be working. After countless towels, many borrowed from neighbors, they started to see a dent. The roommate had to leave for work, leaving the young man alone and depressed about the situation.
The roommate's parents rushed to help, thankfully, with the magical wet-dry vac, and with their help, the kitchen was once again dry, leaving only a very wet carpet upstairs.
Monday came, and the workday came and went. The young man came home to find five industrial fans and a dehumidifier upstairs, but at least the washer was fixed.
Tuesday brought a dry carpet, but the fans remained to dry the under layers and ensure that everything was dried out completely. Wednesday brought much the same.
On Thursday, the young man snapped, and could not handle the fans anymore. He wanted his office back to normal. Alas, it was not to be. Much unplugging and turning off ensued, and gave way to a fanless night.
Friday came, and upon returning from work, the young man was gratified to see the fans gone and the carpet cleaned. It didn't take him long to return everything to its rightful place. Everything was once again well, leaving the young man to carry on as he had the week before, feeling fortunate that none of his stuff got wrecked.
And that young man was me.
20 feb 2005 I have restraint.
We went to Best Buy earlier and were fortunate enough to run into a friend of ours, who revealed that they had the iPod shuffles in stock. We actually got to take one out of the package and play with it, and I was very impressed. All the reports on the internerd had me believing that it would be smaller, but the size is manageable - small, but not so small you could lose it easily. I think -- well, I know -- that Apple has another winner with this. The numbers pretty much speak for themselves, I think. We were told that out of the 40 they got in last week they only had 2 1gb models left. And this, as far as I can tell, is only because they are not advertised in the store at all. I did not buy an iPod shuffle. Amazingly.
I gave Ted an iTMS gift certificate for his birthday, and then found one from him in my inbox later last night. What a guy.
19 feb 2005
I was playing Driv3r until I realized that playing that game for any extended period of time results in a state that's not unlike being a complete and total zombie. There's a quality about it that just slowly shuts down parts of your brain as you play and it takes real determination to escape from its grasp.
I installed the 10.3.8 update a few days ago, and lo and behold, my fan has mysteriously been acting up. I spent the morning downloading and reinstalling the update from the site instead of Software Update, repairing permissions, resetting the PRAM, and running MacJanitor. I just turned it on again after being away for a couple hours and it's been silent so far, so we'll see if all that had a positive effect on the Mac's juju. I also downloaded Temperature Monitor which is kind of a nice little app, and re-realized that Applications/ Utilities/ Activity Monitor is where I can see what processes my computer is handling at the moment.
I read this book called The Deal and it was actually pretty good. It was on my bookshelf and I have no idea where it came from, but I could soundly recommend it.
18 feb 2005 I already told you, I have a compulsion
Do I really need a Wacom tablet? Weeeeelll...
Anyway, I again came across Daring Fireball. God knows why I didn't bookmark it before, since I enjoy it every time I read it. I (re)discovered it today through SpyMac, where there's a(nother) big debate about OS X and whether it's only security by obscurity. Short answer: no. Long answer.
Here is a good excuse to start another project.
16 feb 2005 Ha!
Napster sucks!
12 feb 2005
Remember this? Well, here's the deal. We went over to Best Buy to pick up a copy of Napoleon Dynamite, but they were flip'n out of them! Idiots! Anyway, we went to the next closest store, which was WalMart. They had it, but even better, they had these sweet Transformers. When I was a kid, Transformers were pretty much my favorite toy. Anyway, these had to be the best ones I've ever seen, and lo and behold, one of them was the RX-8 from that video. I am debating buying it, but it's $20.
I also bought Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and watched the making-of last night. I really, really liked that movie in a totally different way than I liked Napoleon.
As far as music goes, I downloaded three songs from The Last 5 Years, a show that I came across a while ago that I like quite a lot. I now have the whole album, which I'll just link to instead for simplicity's sake.
Finally, Blockland. I would give you the link but you can't play it cause you'll break the servers.
10 feb 2005 I'm Not As Irate As I Was 4 Hours Ago
So the iSight has arrived after being delayed by a day for some inane reason relating to FedEx. I could rant for paragraphs about this, but I won't because it's here now and that's what matters.
So instead, I'll basically say this: Apple has done it again with the iSight. I guess I'm not much of a reviewer because I don't provide much useful information and also don't get products until a year after they're released, but still, it's nice. Typical Apple, surprise surprise.
You'll perhaps notice that "contact" has been replaced with "et_c". The et_c page has all sorts of things to see, so go see them. If you are looking for contact for some reason, click the footer and that will get you there.
On the iPod front, I am now over the estimated number of songs for my iPod (3,750, given that it's 3/4 the size of a 20 GB, which is estimated for 5,000 songs). But my songs are shorter than average, I guess.
Also, now I like The Features.
06 feb 2005 Weekend Update
Watched the SNL last night. Watching the Super Bowl now. Paris Hilton was unexpectedly good on SNL, as was Paul McCartney on the halftime show (probably the best h/t show I've seen). Go Patriots!
We've got 13:30 left in Q4 and the best ad I've seen goes to FedEx - Burt Reynolds and a talking bear? Fantastic. Runners up include AmeriQuest and Pepsi/iTunes.
Speaking of FedEx, they'll be paying me a visit this week. Seems I am incapable of not ordering things.
Ted and his bro were in town yesterday and paid a visit. It was a fun time. His birthday is coming up and to celebrate he's going to an Apple Store for the first time (I think). Cool. He also paid me a compliment on his site. Check it.
01 feb 2005 {Filler}
February is the month that it is now what an exciting month February is.
I got a little bored (already!) with my current desk arrangement so I changed it to something that wasn't so boring. I like it more, I think. I felt bad not using the Powerbook to its full potential before.
I also heard that Jay-Z song (see "music" for today) on an SNL rerun last week. It uses a CAKE song (Arco Arena from Comfort Eagle) as the background and that just made me not only buy this song, but import all of my CAKE cd's into iTunes. 3,650 songs! I hope I can hold out for the next iPod and I don't have to start selectively removing music. I have about a gig and a half left on it so I think we're good there.
So Apple updated the Powerbooks again. I think there were some good changes, but nothing that made me jealous. I mean, sure, I could use another .5 Ghz in mine, and the trackpad thing is pretty clever. I like the motion sensor as well, and it makes sense to give the 15 and 17" versions support for the 30" display, since it seems like a lot of people use theirs for video editing. The only thing I didn't agree with was the extra RAM, since you're basically giving people one (in the 12") or two (in the 15/17") sticks they'll have to displace right away anyway. But all in all, it was a worthy update and welcome for those who had their hands on their wallets for Powerbooks already. I don't see myself in the market for another Powerbook for a long time - I foresee a G5 tower in my future, if anything.
30 jan 2005 We Watched Some Movies...
To be more specific, we watched Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Garden State, and I thought both were very good in their own ways. Sky Captain had the very classic 40's feel and a really neat look to it, and it didn't have any slow parts as some action movies do.
Garden State had the same low-key vibe that I picked up from Lost in Translation, except that things actually happened in Garden State and it wasn't just two hours of nothing. I am more impressed with Zach Braff now than ever, because this was a really good, interesting movie.
28 jan 2005 Good Stuff
Good Thing 1 : Thanks to the power that is archive.org, I am able to share with you the wonder that is drew.
Good Thing 2 : I am wireless.
26 jan 2005 Uhhhh
Back in the day before weblogs were really known as such and were just built by people who didn't know how to use images, I read one by some person named drew. It started out pretty average, with him just recapping things that happened during the day. At some point though, I think he snapped and just started making things up instead of typing what really happened and his site suddently became a whole lot funnier. I can't really explain it, but it was good. Unfortunately those entries are no longer online, which is too bad.
I went grocery shopping yesterday, looked down in my shopping basket, and lo and behold it was full of chick food. I should clarify that chick food in this case is not so much food for chickens as it is Special K and yogurt. I was a little self conscious of my purchases until I noticed the guy in front of me had yogurt and Grape Nuts. Then I didn't feel so bad.
OK - I did something else??? Oh yeah, filed my taxes. Good for me.
25 jan 2005 Blue Teeth
When Abe ordered his iMac, he got the Bluetooth package with it and also ordered this mouse from MacMice. A perk of this situation was that I was able to use the Apple Wireless Mouse that came with his computer. While I've dug the wireless concept for sometime, I never moved on anything because I wasn't sure what I thought of Apple's offerings in that area. The keyboard wasn't much of an issue - I've really been a fan of their latest Pro Keyboards (the ones that started shipping with the G5) so a wireless version wouldn't be a huge departure.
Mice, however, are a different story. For some reason, I've always had issues picking out mice. Only recently did I start using the IBM optical mouse I bought last year, because until then I'd been using my old Microsoft Intellimouse. But the problem was, while I liked Apple's keyboard, I wasn't a fan of their one-button mice. I am traditionally inclined toward two-button scroll mice.
So it was strange to be back to a one-button mouse. Apparently, though, I must not mind it because when Abe said he was ditching the MacMice mouse (that just sounds dumb), my response was to whine like a bitch. So then I went and bought my own. I can't really blame Abe, though. MacMice states that it's not uncommon for people to have "cursor movement" issues. This is apparently caused by your environment because it could never be an issue with their engineering. Here's the thing - the "environments" where The Mouse falters are the same ones that the Apples (and the IBM, even the $10 Intellimice) were absolutely unaffected in.
And they don't rattle. Well, the Microsoft mice rattled, but we always wrote it off to cheapness.
23 jan 2005 Tedders
For your enjoyment, and also to make sure my drawing skills haven't crapped out, I present:
Tedders The Spoiled Moose
22 jan 2005 Bluetooth Keyboard Test
Abe has a Bluetooth keyboard. I want a Bluetooth keyboard. I took his Bluetooth keyboard to use on my computer. I like it. I need one now. What the hell am I going to do about a mouse?
22 jan 2005 Soft-Core Mac Pr0n
Yep, so I mentioned on the fly yesterday that Abe is now a Mac user. Here are some lovely pictures.
We are back from Green Bay, and Les Mis was good yet again. There were some sound issues, however and the cause of these ended up being a dysfunctional computer, which resulted in quite a few missed cues in the first act. I wanted to say that it wouldn't have happened on a Mac, but I was afraid he'd say that they were using a Mac. Plus that's kind of an annoying thing to say. I'll be the first to admit that Macs have their problems, but they more than compensate for them.
21 jan 2005 Weather or Not
Here we go, off to see Les Miserables in Green Bay. What a fun time. At least, if we get there before it snows.
And Abe decided he needed a new computer. So he bought one.
20 jan 2005 V8
Just marking the official launch of andylaub.com *** version 8.0
Bonus entries! Check below for some entries that were written exclusively in v8 while v7 was still live.
20 jan 2005 You Are F***ing Kidding Me.
According to this article, Microsoft is introducing a new downloadable Office component whose sole purpose is apparently to check your @hotmail or @msn accounts. They've decided this lovely feature, which is currently free for anyone who has Outlook Express or Entourage, is worth the bargain price of $59.95.
While I agree that it is indeed convenient to check your web-mail from an email client rather than online, I disagree that it is worth that amount of money. I am having a hard time even imagining people using MSN and Hotmail as their primary accounts, considering the sheer amount of spam they receive. If there are people like this (how sorry I am!), email me, and I'll give you a gmail account. That's how bad I feel for you.
So otherwise, things are pretty standard. I've come to realize that there are two fundamental problems with iTunes. The first is that it is too goddamn easy to spend money. The second is that you can see, at any given time, how many songs are in your purchased music playlist. That means I get a nice little shock every time I look at it.
Also, Ted has a blog now, so that is something to see.
13 jan 2005 The Apple Challenge
Play this game. Here's the deal. You have $10,000 that you can spend in the Apple Store. Spend it.
My result here.
13 jan 2005 MWSF
I would have to say that this year, MacWorld was infinitely more interesting to me than was NAIAS, but I'm not sure why. I suppose the excitement started with the dropped price of the cinema displays the week before. By the way, I bought one of those.
On to the keynote. In an effort to remind us of how boring last year's was, Steve Jobs I guess felt he needed to spend another hour talking about iApps. These are great programs because they require a minimum amount of thought to use. They are great because I don't have to think about them. For an hour. Before hearing the good stuff.
But it finally came. Apple's hardware theme this year seemed to be that smaller is better. I like both the new additions to the Mac and iPod line. I wan't both a Mac mini and an iPod shuffle, even though I have no practical use for either one. I've been following a couple threads on them and there are a lot of people who like them and a few who don't seem to get it.
The main criticisms I've seen of the Mm are it's lack of RAM, price, no audio in, low-end video card, etc etc. I can understand the issues, but they don't seem valid because these people seem to be forgetting this is a sub-$500 Apple-made computer. The other thing these critics are missing is that this is a piece of hardware that's aimed below them. If you are capable enough to write about a computer on a website your comfort level with computers is far above what this is aimed at. But it's cool. It'll do well. Macheads dig it already because it's a new thing to have and doesn't constitute a heavy investment as far as Macs go.
The iPod shuffle is the same. It's not a replacement for the upper-end iPods, it's a companion. People who want an iPod for not $300 will like it. People who have an iPod or 3 already will like it. I want one, and I don't know why. It's a toy, it's cool, and that's that.
13 jan 2005 NAIAS
I'm writing but nobody's reading. Maybe that's because v7 was on top-secret hiatus and this is being written on version 8.
Anyway, I couldn't really wait much longer to write about the two major events of January. We'll start with the North American International Auto Show. In all honesty I'd have to say some of the best and most in-depth, straightforward coverage of the event belonged to Autoblog, so check it out there. Otherwise, let's break it down by geography.
America: Not a bad showing. GM was forgettable, but that could be because I didn't look at it in the first place. Now that I think about it, they showed those Saturns which were ridiculously good. The inherent problem with me even considering a Saturn is that it's a Saturn, and no matter how good they get, I still can't see myself in one. Chrysler had that Jeep thing, and that was pretty cool. There was the Dodge Charger. Chrysler has possibly figured out the concept of brand-management? I mean, the Charger and 300C definitely share some blood but are different enough to be treated as their own separate entities. There was also the new Viper Coupe, which looks exactly like the old Viper GTS. Maybe they should've given it new taillights. Heck, it's only an $80,000 car. Ford had the new Mustang ragtop which was overshadowed by the rehashed GR Shelby something which was in turn overshadowed by the ugliest car they could possibly think of. Great.
Europe: VW showed the new Jetta and Porsche showed the 911 Cabriolet and nobody was excited because we've seen both of them before (not that they're bad cars). Audi had the Quattro "concept" in spite of there being nothing vaguely conceptual about it. BMW flaunted the M5 since it's the only decent new car they have because its power overshadows its looks. Volkswagen also had the Ragster which I wanted to like but I just couldn't get the roof proportions. It was said that the creased up body of the Ragster will find its way to the New Beetle line (can we just call it the Beetle now?) which is not at all a bad thing. I like the taillights. The Viper should have had those. M-B had the new M-Class and that was wholly uninspired (not a bad thing, I'm just saying) which apparently was to make up for the hot hot hot CLS55 AMG, a car for those who think the E55 is "boring." Volvo is building a coupe. I hope it doesn't resemble any of their prototypes, because those are horrible.
Asia: Honda showed the new Ridgeline which is almost tolerable outside but looks like a late-90's Chevrolet pickup inside (this is NOT a good thing). I guess there was also an announcement of the new 06 Civic but there was no car to go with it. Suburu had the Tribeca which is interesting and a car that I look forward to seeing in real life. Mitsubishi had some ugly new cars. Toyota had a boring new car. Mazda had a Mazda Mazdaspeed Mazda6 which I'm sure was great once you stopped saying the name.
01 jan 2005
And here we are in the new year. You'll notice little baby changes, in the fact that everything is now CSS. I figured now would be a better time than any to begin a transition. I don't have an approximated end time for the switch, because there isn't one. I have to really figure out what I want here, but we'll see what happens. Nothing much has changed as far as navigation, but guess what - now it works on mobile phones.
So yeah, there it is. We saw some really good movies over the past week. Collateral was a really good movie, but I wasn't really thrilled with the ending. Then we saw Changing Lanes and I, Robot, both of which I thought were really, really good. We also watched two really funny movies in Napoleon Dynomite and Anchorman, which, again, were really, really funny and good. The Manchurian Candidate was interesting and I liked it quite alot, as was Open Water. Last night we went to see Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Abe and I both thought it was a good adaptation of the books, but the two we were with weren't so pleased because they were not familiar with the books.
Other than that and long periods of playing Burnout 3, which I got Abe for Christmas, it's been a fairly uneventful break. I go back to work on Monday, and I'm not sure that I'm looking forward to it. It will be good be doing stuff again, but I was so happy with not doing stuff that it may prove to be kind of a difficult transition.
We also went to check out some new apartments a block away from ours. They are pretty cool, but not nearly as big as ours, and a couple hundred dollars a month more expensive. I also paid my final CellOne bill.
Here is the biggest news: we have another cat. His name is Bender, and he's a year old. He has no tail, but we think he was born that way. Anyway, there's the news.
