Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in inajamaica's LiveJournal:

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Monday, October 23rd, 2006
8:24 pm	Douglas's Halloween Part 1 Douglas finishes typing a line of code, and proudly leans back in his office chair. As he claps his hands together and rubs them in preparation for his next effort at the keyboard, he's interrupted. "We built this city!" Douglas lifts his arms, one holding an imaginary mic and the other reaching out as if he is beginning to preach. "We built this city on Rock and Roll!" Marilyn throws a book and knocks Douglas's iWake alarm clock off of his desk. "God, that scared the crap out of me! If that thing goes off again tomorrow it's going out the window. And why the hell does it go off at 4:58, anyway?" "Jeez, can the hostility, huh? I guess deadbeats don't appreciate adding some taste to the daily grind." Douglas puts his lunch containers back in his bag and pats his pockets to confirm his keys are there. He stands up, and takes a quick glance out the window to check the weather. It's Sunny. He makes for the door, but not without having the last word with his office mate. "Oh yeah, and it goes off at 4:58 just to bother you." From floor 4 to 1 in the elevator, he's off to his car. He opens the driver side door of his black Neon, throws his bag in the back seat and sits down. After starting the car, Douglas works the radio, stick-shift, and seat-belt all in one motion, and he's out of that parking lot before I even finish writing this. Pulling along-side the curb next to his place of residence, he turns the key and removes it, while pulling up the handbrake and releasing his seat-belt. You'd swear he pushed a button and everything just happened automatically. He walks in through the garage and extends his right hand, sliding both the front and back of his hand over smooth and freshly-waxed metal, daydreaming of sledge-hammer like clutch engagements while accelerating on endless tarmacs. He walks into the house. "You know man, the front door is a much faster way to get in." Evan doesn't even make eye contact, as he's way too busy working his way through some video game. "Yeah man. Hell, if you parked that thing outside, maybe you wouldn't have to make an extra trip just to see it." Mike joins in on the Douglas-bashing. "Whatever - you guys eat yet?" "Nah, not yet - better be careful what you eat today," Evan says, attentioned focused on the game. "The hell's that supposed to mean?" Douglas asks, half expecting an answer, half not really caring. "I don't know, there's some kinda thing going around or something. You tell him, Mike." "Yeah, Jimmy Crack Corn had a batch of bad fries and everyone's getting sick," Mike explains. "It was on the news...so...I'm up for whatever, just as long as it's not there." "Let's just pickup some Chinese. I need to take the vette out for a spin. Mike, you wanna come? Evan, I assume you're busy?" Douglas looks at Evan for a response. "Pick me up an egg roll and some pork fried rice, man." Douglas and Mike head out to the Chinese place. They approach the counter and Mike greets the owner. "Whattup, Chan! We're looking for ..." Mike relays the order to the owner, who turns around and shouts commands at his employees in the kitchen. The owner bends down to pickup some to-go containers and reveals a gagging, sneezing, and sick-looking woman in the employee-only bathroom with the door open. She bends over the toilet and seems to be puking. "Hey Chan, what's wrong with her?" Mike asks. "She sick. Bad fry!" Douglas watches the woman as her hand, which was fiercely gripping the toilet bowl rim, slowly releases grip and slides down toward the floor. Her head begins to rotate to her right and Douglas begins leaning forward as he awaits a view of her face. "You want chopstick?" The owner stands up abrubtly and Douglas flinches. "Uh, sure, why not." The owner walks away to retrieve them and Douglas sends a glance back to the bathroom, whose door is now shut. In the car ride home, Mike takes an extra few minutes to open the vette up on a local, 45 MPH road. He gets back onto the main drag, and hits a red light. He turns the music down and glances at Mike, who's trying to carefully, and secretly, dig into his General Something's Chicken. "Mike, don't eat in this car! What the hell, man!? Put that shit away!" "Fine. Damn man, you're so anal about this freakin' car. I would've rather gone in your Neon anyway." The garage door rises, and Mike gets out of the car. This is routine - Douglas doesn't want anyone but himself opening the car doors inside the garage, because he doesn't trust anyone else to open the doors without hitting the garage walls. As the garage door falls back down, Douglas notices a few drops falling and a darker sky. "Just in time," he says to himself. Back inside, Evan's already paused his game and put on Wheel Of Fortune. Mike and Evan are enjoying their Chinese, and Douglas makes his way to the to-go bag to find his food. He digs out his spring roll and sweet and sour pork, and a pair of chopsticks falls out onto the floor as he pulls his food out of the bag. Douglas stares at the chopsticks confusedly, blankly. "Hey Douglas man, you gonna join us or what?" Evan asks. "Douglas. Hey Doug, man!" *ClAnK cLaNk* - the sound of their door knocker. "Who the hell is that?" wonders Mike. Douglas turns his gaze to the front door and proceeds to answer it. By now the rain has picked up and the sky has fallen quite dark. Mike looks through the peep hole, but can't make out more than an adult figure. As he opens the door, he slowly reveals their visitor - a door-to-door preacher with a Bible in hand. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 19th, 2006
6:54 am	Uncool, Cool, Very Cool Uncool Our office manager @ work brings in a copy of USA Today every morning (on his own dime) for the rest of the employees to read. Much appreciated! Unfortunately, after months of glancing through the publication, I've learned that it's ridden with poorly written headlines, horrible grammar mistakes, and typos gallore. I don't even have to look hard to locate these faults - this does not bode well for professional writing... "I'll talk to that later." "Since he's been working on it, he can talk to that." I hear people speak this way at meetings all the time @ my work. And it's begun to make it's way into informal speak as well. The fact that it makes its way anywhere is pitiful. You don't talk "to" an idea; you don't talk "to" progress; you don't talk "to" the status of something. You talk about intangible objects. Let's grow up and sound like we graduated from high school, huh? Cool allofmp3.com is still alive and breathing, and as I'm sure you would guess, the RIAA isn't too happy about it. After this article, previous experience, and some further thought, I've decided that it will be my vendor of choice for online music purchases. They let you choose the format of your product, without adding DRM. You just can't lose. Very Cool The height of video gaming hype for the last 4-5 years is about to hit!!! In Mid-November, we'll have the PS3 arriving in stores Friday the 17th, and Nintendo's Wii the following Sunday (19th). I can't wait to drive around to the local stores to see lines of people in sleeping bags, camping out the night before to pick up one of the 500,000 or so Playstations that make their way to our Land of the Free. And of course, I can't wait to hang out in my own line the following Sunday to snag one of the more plentiful Wii. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 1st, 2006
8:16 pm	La vie de moi Current obsession: Not one to deny my infatuations and desperate attempts to be different, an e-mail chain with the subject DS Mods reveals my latest effort to stray. While not the 1st to do it, I'm still documenting my progress like a frontiersman mapping uncharted land. I know my experience is far from revolutionary, but in my little, well-defined world, it will probably deserve a holiday when all is said & done. I actually plan to immortalize the project by other means... Most Fun Paul came out to the Chant on Tuesday, so we made a little getaway to Willard's for some pulled pork. Our method of transportation? You guessed it! On the way back Paul was telling me a story, and I was totally listening, but when we got to my favorite left turn off of Conference Center Drive, I put it in 3rd and shared some of the tires' sidewalls with the pavement. Paul stops telling his story mid sentence: "...YEAH!" Definitely the biggest smile I'm gonna be sporting this week : ) Song The song of the week is, of course, a They Might Be Giants tune. John Linnell's voice serves the lyrics this time in Certain People I Could Name. The piano-centered music and the cleverly-written lyrics seem really unique and addicting. I totally recommend a listen on this one; like most of their songs, it just doesn't really sound like any of their others. A cold is frustrating me, though I'm trying to keep it @ bay while I wimp out of home repair projects and crash early. It's only Wednesday... Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 11th, 2006
10:23 am	BRVVPHTvvvvvvRRRRRUPT If I have to listen to the startling sound storm of a cell phone vibrating while resting on a hard-surface one more time, I will toss the little thorn in whatever direction allows for the longest uninterrupted flight. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 29th, 2005
6:31 pm	ISPs still don't get it! God dammit, I F*cking H@te ISP idiocity...ya know, I thought I was finally done with this moronic shizzast, but un-freakin'-fortunately, I need to fight the unstoppable flow of stress, anger, and resentment of my own species once again. So here's the deal... I had Verizon online DSL when we 1st got into this apt. We serve a webpage, because it's fun and because a friend of ours uses it, in addition to us (www.covielloracing.com). Because of the nature of Verizon's DSL service, our IP address would change very often each day. Between a scheduled task running on our old windows box, which was a strung-together hack that consisted of a batch file and wget, I was able to keep the downtime caused by an IP address change to about 15 minutes. Thanks to ZoneEdit (www.zoneedit.com), otherwise it would've been hopeless. Oh yeah, and don't forget that I had to serve on port 3980, because the paranoid Verizon a$$holes think that only businesses are allowed to do something like serve a web site on a standard port. Who the hell pays for an internet connection that denies you the use of the very product they offer? Cheezus. The savior... So I see a link to Speakeasy.net when I'm browsing...probably an advertisement. I say, "Huh, I thought only the phone company could offer DSL, and Speakeasy is not Verizon, so they can't be a phone company (sarcasm intended...)." So I happen along to their site, and long story short, they offer DSL and deny you NOthing...that's right! You can serve on any port any time. Well where the hell do I sign, giver of orgasmic news?! Amazing customer service, technically knowledgeable support staff @ the 1st tier of customer support, so a happy customer I've been since that day...until now... Damn new house... In addition to other unforeseen headaches caused by the new house comes this: Speakeasy's not available @ that location...NO DSL is available @ the new address. DAMMIT! I finally find a service product that I actually LIKE paying for, and it's taken away. Worse than that, I lose what I've loved to do...serve on freakin' port 80 so that people can just type in our site's domain name & be on their way. This is my right, god dammit, as I'm a paying customer. Who the hell does Cox think they are? They offer me higher speeds @ the same price I'm paying now, but included are the god-awful, mother fucking caveats that are so unnecessary, so indefensible, and so someone-help-me-I'm-gonna-fucking-swing-a-fist rude. Bastards. ...Update... The new address can't get DSL because the telephone line goes through fiber optic cable somewhere between the telco's CO and our house. ADSL can't be carried through fiber, so bam, I can't get Speakeasy. An informed, and very friendly salesman @ Speakeasy named Jeff gave me the lowdown last night, and said that they were looking into newer technologies that would hopefully go through fiber. He said that *hopefully* they'd be able to offer me service by the summer. So there's hope...until then I hafta play with Cox and brawls. Current Mood: angry (Comment on this)
Monday, October 17th, 2005
8:00 pm	allofmp3.com I decided I wanted this one song I heard in Nordstrom the other day..."Goodnight, goodnight, you're embarassing me, you're embarassing you..." That was all I had to go on. Thanks to Google and the net, it took me next to no time to find out that it's the song "Goodnight Goodnight" by Hot Hot Heat (on their "Elevator" album). So here I am, a modern, relatively tech-savvy punk that wants a song he can buy and listen to on his Palm Zire 31. 1st thought...iTunes! Wait, wait...I can't go there, their tunes only work on those white pillow-in-your-pocket (and everone else's) mp3 players. Oh, I know! Yahoo...they sell music now, right? So I swing on over there, find the song, & click on it to hear the preview. A window pops up that says the song can't be played (I guess it was JavaScript talking to me). Bottomline? I have no time for poorly-developed web sites, let alone stores that are supposedly making an effort to sell me something. Back to the drawing board. Sigh...Walmart! Yeah, the trusty Mom & Pop eaters, they must be able to sell me my song! I parouse the store and quickly find my song. I listen to the preview...perfect! Score! Okay, time to buy. Hold up. It's too good to be true. So I browse their faq and learn that there's some kinda Windows Media sheist going on (not to mention the DRM). Winblows meemeeya? I don't want that shit. Double sigh. In all my despair, I remember the rants and raves about the site www.allofmp3.com. You know, the site with ridiculously cheap prices for digital, downloadable music? I payed them a visit, and found my tune instantly. I listen to the preview...yep, that's the song! Now time to purchase...I setup an account, wasn't so hard. I confirmed my e-mail addy by clicking on the link they sent me, and I got $0.20 of credit free! What? Only 20 cents you say? Well, that buys you about 2 songs ripped @ 320kbps in mp3, DRM-free! So I purchase my song, and I, the customer mind you, am asked (I'm getting all giggly inside)...ready? I'm asked (tee hee) what format I'd like my song to be in. Yeah, that's god damn right, I lie to you not! They asked me how I'd like my digital song just like a waitress/waitor au restau asks how you'd like your burger cooked. Do you believe that shit? Oh, oh, it gets better, my deprived-by-DRM friend! The next question is (giggly again)...what bitrate would you like it ripped at! IT'S A MEEERACLE!!! The consumer is placed on a pedastool once again in our oh-so-gone-wrong music marketplace! They even e-mail you when the song is finished ripping and ready to go! Oh gosh, lemme take a break here. Phew! Man, I'm outta breath just sitting here typing this. In, out...in...okay. Wow, it's like I woke up and the maintanance man in my apartment complex asked me if I needed help working on my car. I mean it's just, holy shit, way out there, you know what I'm saying? Bottomline? I'm satisfied, I got what I wanted, and I would've payed my motherfucking dollar for it too, if someone was offering. But here I am, an honest man, being denied the convenience technology is SO prepared to offer (allofmp3.com aside), because some paranoid ignorant schmuck (sp?) thinks that I'm gonna rip him off. Well I just did you son of a bitch, and here, let me rub it in your face. Current Mood: crazy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 5th, 2005
12:59 pm	Even I can be compromised by marketing... ...Yep! I know I hike on those sell-outs that buy iPods & cell phones, but alas...I'm guilty as well. The object of my newly-found impractical passion? Nintendo's Game Boy Micro. It's so sexy and small and you can really take it with you where ever you go! Access to some decent video gameage at any point in time. Hell, I don't have a cell phone, so there's a void about that size waiting to be filled, right? Sure Joey...see, I have the original GBA (in pink, before that color was released in the US!) with the After Burner kit self-installed (thanks for the help Willy D!). I also have the ever so untapped Nintendo DS; so playing GBA games is already something I can do with multiple pieces of portable hardware that I already own. Clearly my desire for this new, hottest-of-the-hot portable video game system is indefensible. I hate that I've even been overcome by this embarassing emotion...the plague of love for a personal electronic device. But it is so, and who better to support with illegit expenditures than the revolutionary big N? Current Mood: anxious (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 20th, 2005
10:40 pm	Listening to music in my rocking chair... Listening to music in my rocking chair, I escape the world as I stare, Aimlessly, letting sound take care, Of all that causes my despair, 'Cause music always did its share, Of bringing hope, showing there, Is inspiration everywhere, So come on, try it, if you dare, And listen to music in your rocking chair. Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 18th, 2005
5:32 pm	My interpretation of a song... "Man It's So Loud In Here" by They Might Be Giants: They fixed up the corner store like it was a night club, It's permanently disco. Clearchannel, now on a rampage to usurp the retail market as well, has purchased the corner store. Everyone is dressed so oddly I can't recognize them, I can't tell the staff from the customers. "Popular" band members and singers are employees and point-of-sale clerks. Mindless groupies shop at the corner store now... Baby check this out, I've got something to say, Holy shit. Man, it's so loud in here. This really sucks. When they stop the drum machine and I can think again, I'll remember what it was. I hate Clearchannel... You have to carry all your things, You can't misplace them, There's nowhere to place anything. You need to bring your own personal music player if you want to hear anything other than Britney. Baby check this out, I've got someting to say, Man, it's so loud in here. When they stop the drum machine and I can think again, I'll remember what it was. God help me, my milk's label has a picture of a Backstreet Boy... They're all shouting something at us, waving and pointing. The groupies are actually Clearchannel reps...they're coming after us with contracts!!! NOOOO!!!!! They revamped the airport completely now it looks just like a night club, Clearchannel got to the airline carriers too... Everyone's excited and confused Unfortunately, the majority of the public doesn't get what's going on, and so they do not oppose it... Baby check this out, I've got someting to say, Man, it's so loud in here. When they start the love machine and I can love again, I'll remember what it was. I don't know how to change the world when people don't give a damn, so I have begun to repeat myself. Baby check this out, Ive got someting to say, Man, it's so loud in here. Man, it's so loud in here. Man, it's so loud in here. Man, it's so loud in here. (Comment on this)
Monday, August 15th, 2005
8:36 pm	Tied the knot Yep! I'm now OfFiCiAlLy associated with my girlfriend...we're husband and wife, @ least as far as the Commonwealth is concerned. The ceremony was quick and painless (thanks to vows we wrote ourselves, ensuring minimal participation on our part, and minimal bullshit on the celebrant's part). My Uncle, the goldsmith, made us beautiful rings and most of the invited came! It's really priceless to see so many people from your different little worlds meet. My local friends, my *wife*'s family (Mom & Dad's side), and my family (Mom & Dad's side). They all met, laughed, hugged, joked, talked, drank, shot pictures, & danced! Even my 92 year-old grandmother did the Twist! And no, Jake, I'm not an F'in liar! Almost everyone was charter-bussed to & from the event @ Mama's Italian Restaurant, thanks to my kick-a** sister. I learned that even a simple, non-traditional wedding can go a long way, and people aren't as judgemental as you think. The anxiety, planning stress, and attempts to accommodate everyone are the things that contributed least to the celebration, believe it or not...good people have a good time regardless of the situation. So "How 'bout another first kiss, she said..." Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2005
8:45 pm	So I'm finally reacting to what she said... ...Yesterday I joined DoubleA and D for lunch. It was a good time, but on our way back D asked, "So Joey, are you registered anywhere?" Of course my reply was no, and D said, "...yeah, I didn't think you would be." Is my subtle message really that clear? Are my unorthodox ways really that obvious? Are my tendencies, or rather my deliberate and conscious efforts to NOT parallel the majority at any cost, really so apparent that she had me pegged even before asking? Damn I love it! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
7:58 am	My heart goes out to Rockstar Porn, video-taped hate crimes, executions by terrorist organizations, movies with bad messages, songs with explicit lyrics and horrible ideas put into language...what do all these things have in common? 1. Easily obtainable for free over the internet. 2. Have been around for a long time. 3. Are in existence without any major force or organization against them. But Rockstar, whose video games include only the least horrible items mentioned above, are getting reamed by moronic politicians, news reporters, and ignorant parent-teacher organizations. Fair? No. I'm sorry people try cash in on your success, Rockstar. I'm sorry that my species gives you & I a bad name by taking away your free speech and giving you a hard time for being creative and innovative. Your load times for San Andreas sucked, & I really don't like all of your work, but you don't deserve this...to hell with the Hillaries of this world!!!!!! (Comment on this)
Friday, July 22nd, 2005
7:43 am	Damn the Patriot Act... ...you heard me. Damn it to hell. & damn the idea of security officers carrying readied rifles at the Metro. Shall we increase the potential for danger? I guess we shall... Current Mood: angry (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 16th, 2005
8:49 pm	Angry, the chip is supposed to make it easier, DAMMIT! It goes like this: I like to shoot with film. High quality 35mm cameras are affordable (even brand new) today, and their results are nothing short of awesome. Of course, it's who's behind the camera that makes a shot awesome, but these affordable photographic tools have unbeatable potential for capturing images that can leave you breathless. A large part of the fun in photography comes with sharing your work with others...I was recently introduced to Flickr, which is an wonderful tool for sharing photos w/anyone that has access to the intarweb. This is where my dilemma surfaces: How do I obtain a digital version of my physical photos? Option 1: flatbed scanner Well, while in theory this would be a wonderful sol'n, it's not. Why? Because every scanner of this type that I've had the displeasure of using (including my own), is useless. Why? Because every picture I've ever scanned is just the absolute slightest bit out of focus...either the imaging hardware (or software) sucks, or the tolerances on the physical parts are not tight enough, & it results in a very imprecise imaging device. Option 2: digital camera I've gone this route with all my photos on Flickr thus far...snapping digi pix of my photos. While this results in an art all its own, it also is very difficult to do well. You need to be close to the photo to get a decent shot of it, but doing so blocks the ambient light that hits the photo, & it becomes too dark to shoot. You can try to back off & take a digi snap @ an angle, but then your original photo is not at the same depth in all locations (relative to the digi cam). Finally, because the photo paper is usually somewhat glossy, you need to make sure it isn't reflecting the room lamp, or reflecting you taking the digi snap. I'm not sure where this leaves me...I know there are insane film scanners & such, but I shouldn't have to go so wild & spend so much money just to share my pictures, should I? Cheese & rice... Current Mood: frustrated (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 16th, 2005
9:14 pm	RaGe! So we're in the car, driving to meet friends at a restaurant for dinner. Megan's driving, and I'm hangin' out in the passenger seat. We approach the traffic light...we want to make a left here into the shopping center that houses our destination restaurant. Our light is green, but cars are cruisin' by in the opposing lane. We wait patiently. A moment of silence arrives, and I silently question why Megan has not yet made her left turn. A quick glance at the traffic light shows that we have a green light, so I swing my focus over to Megan to see what's goin' on. She's pushing down on the steering wheel, making an effort to see beyond something. This strain of hers seems quite unnatural. Confused, I finally look to see if any oncoming cars are coming. My view is obstructed...I refocus my eyes to examine the culprit. Suddenly it all becomes clear, and along with the clarity comes an unexplainable rush of anger. "Jesus Christ!" I exclaim, as I throw the passenger door open. "Joey! JOEY!" Megan yells. I march in rage through the intersection, directly towards the hell-bound, obstructive nuisance planted in the median across from our car. When I reach the 4-ft high son of a bitch, I go ape-shit on the mother-fucking, wretched piece of political propoganda. By-standers will not forget what happens to stupid shit that infringes upon drivers' safety. Current Mood: angry (Comment on this)
12:24 am	Dvorak & Flickr BandW_1_summary Originally uploaded by inajamaica. This won't be much of a post because I'm learning the Dvorak keyboard layout & every keystroke is so expensive... I opened a flickr account (finally), & supposedly I'm making this post through flickr along w/a reference to my first photo. We'll see how this works... (Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 8th, 2005
10:14 pm	Alright, so here's the deal Yeah, about a half a bottle of wine later, I'm over the initial reaction. But I mean, come on, what's the dilly, huh? I mean, it's like an empty can of soda..who the hell wants an empty can of soda? It's not really good for anything, is it? Nope, not really. I mean, I guess you could tap it...listen to the ring it produces...yeah, you can here it: "bing." "BING!" Don't tap it too hard though, 'cause it'll dent. Anyway, my point is...if a container loses all substance, then what the hell good is it, huh? It's NO good. It just means that, if you're the last drop left in the can, and all your fellow molecules have be swallowed up by some thirsty SOB that doens't realize carbonated liquids don't hydrate, then you better get your a** the hell out or you're gonna get drunk by that fat bastard. And as far as the whole wearing boxers during softball thing goes? These aren't boxers, dammit. These are freakin' sweat shorts with pockets. YES, that's right, POCKETS!!! Boxers don't have pockets...not side pockets anyway. When's the last time you saw someone put their wallet in their boxers, huh? Yeah, that's what I thought. All I hafta say is, surf's up, punk-a**. Current Mood: bitchy (Comment on this)
Monday, May 23rd, 2005
1:54 pm	Less exits... So I had the pleasure of a day completely to myself...took a vacation day because my Dad and Grammy were visiting, and this Monday was the day they were to leave. Time to myself, listening to tunes I haven't listened to in a long time (they were on CDs...so they survived many computer crashes & rebuilds)... Some of these were songs that I used to listen to on long car rides alone at 80+ mph singing louder than I even want to remember...long car rides from Rutgers to VA Tech; trips I took much to the surprise of friends, and trips that my mother probably wished I would've kept to a minimum... ...trips I took because I was obsessed (or in love, whatever you wanna call it)...trips I took solely by my own decision and trips completed solely by my own effort. You see, I'm far from a believer in fate. I believe every decision and action is an unwritten page until we make our move. But I digress (as Maddy would say); what I'm getting at is that these songs I've listened to today remind me of a time when I was making life-altering decisions. Decisions about a shaky relationship with a questionable future (now resulting in our engagement). Decisions about transferring colleges (which managed to actually happen...thanks Mom & Dad!). But here I am, about 4 years later...the corporate world found a pigeon hole to fit me in, and I'm typing for 40+ hours a week. I come home and figure out what to eat for dinner...I go to bed and wake up eating breakfast...and life repeats itself everyday. The biggest decision I make every day is whether to drive my motorcycle in or take the metro. So it's like cruising @ the speed limit on the highway of life with no exit in sight. Sure, those mile-markers are counting their way up to infinity, but days go by and I'm still watching a white, dashed line go by on my left. So 30 years from now, am I going to be listening to a fresh set of 4 year old songs that remind me my last life-changing decision? Or am I going to be playing these songs still, to remember when I made the few decisions that decided the rest of my life? Is there ever going to be another exit to take? That odometer keeps counting... Current Mood: contemplative (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 16th, 2005
8:27 pm	Never say never: a computer nerd learns "Macs are for losers...PCs are where the real fun is! Yeah, that's right...soupin' it up w/an AWE64 and loading everything into DOS's UMB to play Need For Speed over the modem? You have no control over that Apple crap..." Yep, I was one of those...partially from taught by my father, partially due to ignorance, and partially due to the fact that the only Macs I had access to were at my elementary/middle school (which didn't give Apple a good image...at least not by my view). But here I am ~10 years later, with an Apple Mac Mini running in my apartment. And what's even more unreal? I LOVE it. It's friendly, fun, easy, stable, responsive, pleasing to my eyes, and did everything I need right out of the box. I don't want to write a review of OSX Tiger, so I'll get to the point: why do I like the Mac? I've always been an anti-Mac person. I always hated the extra cutsie-tootsie animations of the mouse pointer and the wierd sounds and the fact that they tried to take a raw, bit-crunching tool (like a computer) and commodify it like a personal fashion accessory. I was always into devices you could easily take apart and modify. But this cigar box that is the Mac Mini is far from obvious to disassemble and is clearly not meant to be physically customized. So moving on to the answer (I don't like to waste time), the Mac Mini is simple. I like to hack and customize, but I guess my spare time is more precious with 40+ hour work weeks, and I'm looking to minimize the time I spend fixing and troubleshooting things. My MG? Sure, I'll put time into fixing that. Developing photos, reading about how to fix my development process? Yeah, I'll spend time on that. But figuring out why my computer keeps rebooting itself? Finding out why that window pops up everytime I try to open application X? No thanks...I've had 2 previous jobs doing that, and I've done it all my computing life. As I'm exposed to other OSs (BeOS/Zeta, MacOS, SOME Linuxes), I learn that there really are simpler, yet more functional ways to do my computing. The less complicated my computing is, the quicker I get things done, and the easier it is to solve the few problems that do come up. So I guess I have less patience, or maybe it's just that I want a product that works, no questions asked. Either way, I'm a satisfied user of Megan's Mac Mini. I still prefer the BeOS, however : ) Current Mood: content (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 13th, 2005
12:19 pm	Ask me... For every question asked of me, there is a short answer and a long answer. The long answer is the same for every question. (Comment on this)