GAMP Musings

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - review of a steampunk novel

2011-01-27T09:02:00.004-07:00

This book had a couple of technical errors that really irritated me but other than that it was a pretty good read.
The technical things, probably minor for most, but that really irritated me dealt with the air pumps a some other random issues. For I quite a while the main character was caught in an air pump inlet and somehow she was being blown back and forth. That must be some really inefficient pump! She should only be getting sucked in not blown out. Then there's other random things like a 200 foot wall around all of Seattle that was built in less than a year? To get away from a heavy soupy gas they go underground? Nobody notices dirigibles flying into Seattle, a city surrounded by hills, just because of a 200 foot wall? Sneaking up behind someone and shooting the in the head causes their brain to fly backwards towards the gun? Questionable facts here.

Otherwise though it was entertaining but the zombies were rather boring, the reviewed "suspense" was non-existent, and the characters were quite unbelievable.
The main character has been working in a plant that boils muck and water for 16 years yet suddenly she's a crack shot action hero better than people that have been living with the zombies for 16 years. A 15 year old boy is a complete moron and afraid to shoot a gun? An ordinary lowlife is able to pretend to be a mad scientist for 16 years?

It would have been much better if they just killed on the damn rotter zombies. It didn't appear to be too difficult to do. Flamethrowers anyone?

On second thought I'm lowering my review.
2/5

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

Sprint Epic 4G Review / Comments (Samsung Galaxy S Pro)

2010-10-23T13:38:00.000-06:00

Here I'll make some observations of different aspects of this Android device with somewhat detailed analysis of its performance.

Battery Life / Charging

Well, battery life isn't very good. The Galaxy S phones ship with a 1500mA battery, and that just isn't going to last very long if you use it heavily. In standby with most things shut off (4g, wifi, gps) it will last a few days though.

Charing with this phone is the interesting thing. Connected to the little USB charger that comes with it the phone charges at a rate of about .4% a minute. So it takes about 2 hours to charge fully. Connected to any other USB device that I have to test with (computer, AC to USB adapter, car to USB adapter) it charges at a rate of about .2% an hour, taking about 4 hours to fully charge. If you use the android application "Battery Status" you can see that the phone detects the Samsung USB adapter as "AC" but every other USB adapter as "USB." Because of what it detects the phone apparently charges at different rates. This does not have any correlation with the amount of power supplied by the actual adapter (well it probably has to have enough) as I've used 1A adapters and they charger slower than the .7A Samsung adapter. I will continue testing with generic and the official Sprint adapter when I acquire them (hopefully in the next week.

GPS Accuracy

I received my phone after at least one GPS accuracy patch has been released but there are still issues that have been apparent and that I'm noticing. The patch allows for quicker satellite acquisition and accuracy fixes. However, using the Android application "GPS Status" it shows that the error margin (accuracy reported) never gets below 98 feet. In testing though the accuracy is closer to 3-4 feet with 8 satellites connected. I'm not sure what is up with that abut it is almost dead on even though it says it isn't. Anyway, it works just fine for geocaching.

GPS is sitting on top of a geocache with accurate coordinates, showing it is within 4 feet, but the error range is way off.

Google buzz for mobile maps

2010-02-10T14:10:00.002-07:00

Buzzzzzzz! You might have heard or tried this new google application. It integrates fully with gmail to provide a new and rapidly expanding layer of social networking to the popular web based email client. But, have you heard about its geolocation features? When you post publicly with a location enabled device your little status updates can show up on google maps. Right now this is only available on android powerd devices and the iphone through the google maps application.

Is this a privacy issue or will it enable a new level of sharing and worldwide interaction? Probably both. Within my first few minutes of using this feature I had replied to buzzes from 4 continents and some islands that I will probably never visit. True, you can do that with twitter but it feels much more interactive and fun here. Its also potentially more invasive as you're somewhat linking your email accounts together, a much more personal interaction than a twitter profile. We'll just have to see how this plays out, but its very interesting and I predict incredibly explosive growth unlike anything we've seen before.

Best of the Decade

2010-02-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

Who is your favorite actor, athlete, musician from the 2000s? What about your favorite television show or movie? There is now an application on facebook where you can let your choices be known and see the results of your votes. You can compare what you think with everyone else.

Get over to Best of the Decade now and make your voice heard by voting for your favorites from the last 10 years.

Best of the Decade - a facebook app where you can vote on your favorite movie stars, music, sports, and more

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness; or is it Property, Liberty, and the pursuit of...

2010-01-21T19:31:00.004-07:00

Our Declaration of Independence asserted that our inalienable rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet, many argue that we don't have a right to healthcare, because that's socialist.

Thomas Jefferson borrowed that line from John Locke who mentioned the rights of life, liberty, and property. Jefferson didn't think we really deserved the right to property so he changed it. Yet, what rights do we really have in America?

If your property catches on fire the fire department will come and put it out, paid for by your taxes. Isn't that a socialist service? What happens if someone trespasses on or damages your property? Well the police, another socialist service, come and attempt to help with that. So you may not have the right to property outright, but if you own it you apparently have a right to have it protected.

So what rights do you have to your life? That is the right that is actually listed, but do you have a right to have your life protected if it is in danger? Surely if someone injures you or if your house is on fire government run services will come and protect you. They may not charge for those socialist services, but what happens afterwards? What happens if the threat is from within you, such as an illness? You can in fact get treatment at a healthcare facility if your life is truly in danger, but you'll also get a huge bill if you don't have health insurance or if the health insurance decides not to cover it. So is life a right? Why are we fine with paying for the protection of fire and police to respond to our neighbors but not for their health treatment?

Another interesting point is that the government requires us to pay for car insurance if we drive a car. We certainly don't want uninsured vehicles and drivers on the road, they are a liability. Yet, we're ok with uninsured health? Do we really want people that can't afford to pay for their health coverage. If a person is in need of care an ambulance can pick them up, take them to a hospital, and they will receive treatment. But if they can't pay for it then who does? You're already paying for it aren't you? It's just that they have to declare bankruptcy and you have to pay higher health costs and other hidden fees.

We have socialist fire, police, military and other services, admit it. We are socialist in that regard. But where it counts, with our unalienable rights that our government says we have, we don't get that service. Don't we deserve it?

Essential Steampunk Literature

2008-12-28T22:05:00.002-07:00

Here I will attempt to assemble a list of essential steampunk novels and where you can pick up a copy.

The Difference Engine (Spectra Special Editions)
by William Gibson - essential steampunk

Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology
- steampunk short stories

Jules Verne's Moon Book - From Earth to the Moon & Round the Moon - Two Complete Books by Jules Verne - all about the moon. Of course there is also 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (Scholastic Classics)

The The Steampunk Trilogy
- 3 related Victorian stories

For further perusal here is an extensive list http://etheremporium.pbwiki.com/Steampunk%20Essentials

Steampunk Pathfinder

2008-08-12T23:54:00.004-06:00

The concept of steampunk may originate from many different things from Jules Verne's writings to the question, "what if computers existed in the early 1800's and ran on steam?" It is best summed up by calling it a past that never was. Steampunk can be shown in many areas now including fashion, music, architecture, design, and as a lifestyle. This guide is inclusive as possible to show where to find steampunk information.

Definition, History, and General Information

Google Custom Search - Steampunk
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=003261294807282304073:tnyykwdvlg4
or try this tinyurl: http://preview.tinyurl.com/steampunk
A custom google search of many of these sites. This search allows searching to be restricted to websites that deal with steampunk.

Wikipedia - Steampunk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk
Discusses the origins and history of steampunk. It's descriptions are thorough and this article provides plenty of examples of steampunk works and resources.

SteamPunk Magazine
http://www.steampunkmagazine.com/
A printable magazine with articles relating to steampunk. There is also a blog. As of this writing there are 4 published issues.

Brass Goggles
http://www.brassgoggles.co.uk/
The definitive steampunk blog. Brass Goggles links to and annotates what interesting things are going on with steampunk wherever they are going on. Projects and events are featured.

The Clockworkers Guild Journal
http://community.livejournal.com/anachrotech/
A blog that chronicles steampunk events and also announces meet-ups, especially in the Bay Area. The blog is collaborative with contributions from other steampunk blogs.

Honky-Tonk Dragon
http://honkytonkdragon.blogspot.com/
A blog with general steampunk information among other things. It has covered steampunk music.

Steampunk:
http://steampunk.wildwinter.net/
A site and database with steampunk projects, stories, and anecdotes. It also has an archive of The Lemniscate Club.

Gothic Steam Phantastic
http://www.xs4all.nl/~vanip/gsp/gspindex.htm
This site deals more with the gothic side of steampunk. There is a forum. There is also a detailed section on the sound of steampunk.

DIY and Watch Others Do It Guides

The Steampunk Workshop
http://steampunkworkshop.com/
A blog of the creations of Hieronymus Isambard "Jake" Von Slatt. He has created custom keyboards, work for burning man (including a beating heart for the man), and he showcases others art such as a steampunk scooter.

Datamancer.net - Technical Art and Steampunk Contraptions
http://www.datamancer.net/
A blog of the creations of Richard R. Nagy. Some of the most known works include computer modifications including a steampunk notebook computer.

Steam punk goggles tutorial
http://singularphotography.com/Goggles/
A tutorial on how to make brass goggles from some door lock hardware and leather.

Exploring, Steampunk, goggles DIY and How To Projects
http://www.instructables.com/id/Goggles/
or try this tinyurl: http://preview.tinyurl.com/66v8e5
A number of tutorials on different steampunk goggle projects including ones made from cheap welding goggles and other hardware.

The Steampunk Home
http://thesteampunkhome.blogspot.com/
A blog about how to live in a steampunk styled home with modifications and items that would fit a steampunk lifestyle.

Steampunk Pirate Gun Mod
http://www.instructables.com/id/Steampunk-Pirate-Gun-Mod/
A tutorial on how to turn a toy pirate gun into a steampunk pirate gun.

How To Make A Kick Ass Steampunk Nerf Gun
http://weeklygeekshow.com/2007/09/how_to_make_a_kick_ass_steampu.php
A simple how-to dealing with Nerf toys and their steampunk possibilities.

wicked anomie: sociology run amok: Novice Steampunk Gun Mod
http://wickedanomie.blogspot.com/2007/12/novice-steampunk-gun-mod.html
Another steampunk gun mod, this one involves little pirate toy guns.

Art and Sculpture

Neverwas Haul Times
http://www.xlounge.com/neverwas/neverwas_proposal.html
A web page dedicated the the proposals involved in revaming of the Neverwas Haul, a self-propelled 3-story Victorian house. The moving sculpture has made appearances at Burning Man and the Makers Faire.

The Telectroscope
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/telectroscope/
This was a scultpure that visually connected New York with London through a mysterious steampunk tunnel. It allowed people in these cities to see each other in real time.

Steampunk Treehouse
http://www.steamtreehouse.com/
This site displays information about the Steampunk Treehouse, a large installation that has made appearances at Burning Man and the Coachella festival. There is a media gallery, philosophy section, and construction information.

Fashion

The Steampunk Style Test

http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-steampunk-style-test

A fun little quiz to give you your steampunk style results.

Originals: Rayguns: Weta Collectibles, Exclusive Polystone Collectibles
http://www.wetanz.com/rayguns/
Purchase finely crafted ray guns for your steampunk outfit. It's also a great place to get ideas about steampunk crafting possibilities.

Steampunk Fashion
http://community.livejournal.com/steamfashion/
A steampunk fashion blog. Different articles of steampunk and Victorian clothing and other articles are discussed. There are also some event announcements.

Flickr: Steampunk Gear
http://www.flickr.com/groups/steampunkgear/
A forum for posting images and discussions regarding steampunk wear and gadgetry.

Music

The Clockwork Cabaret
http://www.clockworkcabaret.com/
The online presence of a steampunk devoted radio show. The episodes can be downloaded or subscribed via a podcast player.

GAMP Musings: Steampunk Music
http://dgamp.blogspot.com/2008/06/steampunk-music.html
A evaluative summary of steampunk music with links to the artists and albums.

Abney Park
http://www.abneypark.com/
The website for the popular steampunk group Abney Park. The site has some tracks you can listen to, tour information, and other media.

Forums

Tribe.net Steampunk Forum
http://tribes.tribe.net/289351f7-caa2-4c33-b02a-ddf0a99a77c8
or try this tinyurl: http://preview.tinyurl.com/5dt7uz
The forum on tribe.net for steampunk discussion. This allows social networking environment with steampunk peers.

Flickr: Steampunk
http://www.flickr.com/groups/steampunk/
A forum for the posting of images and discussions relating to steampunk.

Flickr: Second Life®Group - Steampunk
http://www.flickr.com/groups/sl-steampunk/
A place to share screnshots and images from the steampunk city in the Second Life, New Babbage, and discuss related topics about the Second Life universe.

Comics, Anime, Film, and Television

The Big Database of Comic Books - Steampunk
http://www.comics-db.com/DC_Comics/S/Steampunk/
A searchable database for the comic Steampunk as well as other DC comics. As of this writing it consists of information about the number, date, and some publication information for each issue but the synopsis and other content is missing.

Legend
http://x.webring.com/hub?ring=legendsteampunk
A webring dedicated to the television show Legend and other steampunk films and television series.

last exile
http://halo-productions.com/LastExile/
A site with media and information about the steampunk anime Last Exile.There are character summaries, an episode guide, and galleries.

Games

The Passively Multiplayer Online Game, PMOG
http://pmog.com/
A steampunk themed game that is played while browsing the web via a browser plugin. Players create pathfinders, lay mines, and create and follow hyperlinks to websites. Playing the game is currently free.

Neo Steam
http://ns.clubhanbit.jp/
A massively multiplayer online game for Korean and Japanese players. The game has a steampunk theme. If you can read either of those languages you may be able to play or determine more about it.

Media

New Babbage - A Steampunk City in Second Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlu5QmMWkpY
A video showing a fly through of the the city called New Babbage in the Second Life universe.

Steampunk Wallpaper
http://steampunkwallpaper.com/
A blog with daily wallpaper images created by the blog author using creative commons licensed works and images along with their own graphics design skills.

Some Books for Ghost Town and Mining Hunting

2008-07-29T10:27:00.006-06:00

This is a summary of books that I've found to be helpful in searching for ghost towns or abandoned mines, mostly in Colorado. Some of these may just be on my wish list.

The Mining Camps Speak by Bill and Beth Sagstetter A great and easy to read book with details of what you'll actually find at a mining site and what it is. Oddly they seem to have found it hard to find lots of things that are easy to find, like old Imperial Rand air compressors.

Rust to Riches by Eric Twitty Although a bit of a dry read it is very informative and has great details on mining equipment

Walking Into Colorado's Past: 50 Front Range History Hikes by Ben Fogelberg This is a great book with some excellent hikes. It features a lot a long the front range but also has some amazing hikes near La Junta and other areas. It details some mining info, streams, Native American petroglyphs, and other interesting features.

Ghost Towns of Colorado by Philip Varney A good ghost town book, about 10 years out of date

Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps by Sandra Dallas Another good ghost town book, but 20 years out of date

Colorado Ghost Towns Past and Present by Robert Leaman This was a good ghost town book, if you want to reasearch things that aren't there anymore.

Colorado Ghost Town Stories by Sally Jennings This on my wish list as it looks like it might be more recent.

Ghost Towns, Colorado Style: Central Region by Kenneth Jessen Another book on my wish list, this one is less than 10 years out of date so some of the things that are mentioned might still be there.

Steampunk Wallpaper

2008-07-14T20:18:00.004-06:00

My friend and associate the autowitch has had one of his photos of a local sugar mill turned into steampunk wallpaper through creative commons usage.

This one by Chinese photographer sonyasonya is also pretty cool, but it reminds me of prison slave labor.

In other news here's some more steampunk music notes:

The Vernian Process has released another song titled "Crime of the Century." It's currently playable and downloadable from their myspace page. The song is a collaboration with Malcolm Schreeck. It's rather gothic and brooding, and maybe overly repetitive.

Fayettville, Arkansas had some kind of steampunk music festival called the Ravenwood Festival. Abney Park, The Ghosts Project, The Vernian Process, and Voltaire were there.

The Clockwork Cabaret took a trip to Tarboro, North Carolina where a steampunk ball was held. It also apparently had boat races and walking tours. I'm hoping it will be on the Clockwork Cabaret podcast soon.

What's new with steampunk this week

2008-07-01T10:29:00.002-06:00

Neo-Steam is a new Korea based MMORPG that is gaining popularity in Japan and China. It takes place in a steampunk environment. The game is starting open beta later this month.

http://radioriel.blogspot.com/2008/06/music-of-caledon-renaissance-fayre.html
describes a Renaissance / Classical music station (that also has pirate shows) that is taking part in some kind of steampunk exhibition in Second Life. I suppose it's considered Victorian.
You can listen to the music here http://music.radioriel.org/ or visit the location in Second Life here http://slurl.com/secondlife/Second%20Life%20Birthday

http://dj-fact50.livejournal.com/227419.html Describes a new collaboration between Allison Curval of "The Clockwork Dolls" and DJ Fact.50. It sounds rather like a synthesized 90s video game to me, but download the theme for "Shades of Violet" and see for yourself.

Campfire Mocha

2008-06-13T09:51:00.003-06:00

I just recently went camping, where I did some work to settle my craving for s'mores. The next day though I ventured into Caribou Coffee and found something that reinvigorated that craving, The Campfire Mocha.

This delicious coffee concoction has chocolate, marshmallow, coffee, and whipped cream. It was just a wonderful experience. Unfortunately though it didn't look as wonderful as the website photo, I guess because I got it to go. I don't even know if it had whipped cream and chocolate shavings or not.

Also on the down side the large apparently has 670 calories, and while drinking this I happened to be in a pharmacy with a blood pressure and pulse monitor where I believe I managed to set a new personal record high.

Still though, I'd like another soon!

Steampunk Music

2008-06-01T10:53:00.010-06:00

I've been researching the interwebs for links to what might be called "Steampunk Music". Some of this I've found on myspace music that you can listen to or even download for free. There are amazon links for most everything.

Also check out http://www.sepiachord.com where there is a jukebox!

A steampunk music label: http://www.gildedagerecords.com/

Johnny Hollow - Dirty Hands Gothic steampunk

Rasputina - Oh Perilous World Ominous Cello , some tracks very steampunk, some not as much

Zoe Keating - One Cello X 16: Natoma etherial cello with looping ( I believe it is one very cute girl with her cello 16 times) - very cool.

Life Toward Twilight - I swear by all the flowers sounds as if recorded on a wax cylinder - something about death - you can download some of their songs (not on the album) here http://www.artistserver.com/LifeTowardTwilight and here's the myspace page http://www.myspace.com/lifetowardtwilight (has some album tracks)

Attrition - All Mine Enemys Whispers: The Story of Mary Ann Cotton album apparently contains Victorian poison bottle labels, some tracks a bit heavy

Abney Park - Lost Horizons - the quintessential steampunk album, very popular in the steampunk community but doesn't have as many steam related sounds as one might expect. Maybe they could use a steam engine at some point. I'd call it steampunk alternative.

Unextraordinary Gentleman - 5 Tales From God-Only-Knows Victorian synth-punk

Rube Waddell - Hobo Train a San Francisco quartet

Rosin Coven - Penumbra violin, cellos, bass, guitar, harp, vibraphone, trombone, drums, and vocal harmonies - myspace page http://www.myspace.com/rosincoven

Vagabond Opera - Get on the train vaudeville and cabaret - and trains - http://www.myspace.com/vagabondopera - from Portland

Voltaire - Ooky Spooky A more comedic album with violins and jig worthy tunes. Also has stuff about vampires and zombies. Maybe it's Halloween steampunk.
- http://www.myspace.com/voltairenyc

The Ghosts Poject Electronic steampunk with some sounds of strings and drums.

Dr. Steel looks very steampunk on the website - sounds like, umm - well cool website anyway - many tracks are very heavy and some are just weird or perhaps comical? http://worlddominationtoys.com/drsteel/enter.html

Boxcar Saints - Last Things A discussion on tribe says this is steampunk, I think its more western alternative something, but maybe

The Peculiar Pretzelmen - Uncanny Eyes http://www.myspace.com/pretzelmen - a vaudeville lounge sort of thing - pretty cool. I particularly like "pass the kerosene."

St34mpunk - some kids in Louisville, Colorado, electronic techno steampunk - not too refined yet but interesting - as of now you can download everything from the myspace page

Default Dot Exe - futuristic steampunk techno - can't find anything to buy or download though. It looks like they are now Man and Machines - http://www.myspace.com/manandmachines which does not sound as steampunk but is still more industrial goth techno something

The Vernian Process A collaborative project that's popping up in the news lately, or at least in blogs. Some of it sounds like video game music.

Opheliac
Emilie Autumn - Great violin and femail vocals, at least until she starts screaming.

Finally - here's a radio show http://www.clickcaster.com/clockworkcabaret Some of the stuff is very good, very steampunk, and on this list already. Some of it, well there is no real genre of steampunk yet, and what they think is steampunk, I think is.... not.

And here's a blog post with some good steampunk music selections: http://www.matrix-online.net/bsfa/website/matrixonline/Matrix_Features_4.aspx

Cool Links of the week.

2008-05-05T15:28:00.003-06:00

Steampunk Web Game Sort of Thing - PMOG

The Passiveley Multiplayer Online Game seems to have a steampunk theme.

http://pmog.com/

I've been playing it a bit today, and haven't quite figured out what the game of it is.

I did find this nice site with scary pictures using it though. It's called childhood fears.

http://www.soothbrush.com/children-fear-photography/

BEST PAGE ON WIKIPEDIA!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Unusual_articles

Including the story of a man that built a palace out of rocks that he found while walking around town. hmm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Cheval#Gallery

Titan I - extensive tour of a Colorado site
This site has an extensive tour of a Colorado Titan I that apparently not very many people have gotten into. Site 724-C

http://www.chromehooves.net/missile_silos.htm

I believe this is the location of the silo.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&t=k&ll=39.66511195217172,-104.49225425720215&z=15

On an unrelated note, here is the "badlands guardian", a natural erosion formation that looks like a Native American with a headdress.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=medicine%2Bhat,%2Balberta&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1_%2F&ll=50.010442,-110.112791&spn=0.006523,0.020084&z=16&iwloc=addr

And Finally, Raps about tea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eELH0ivexKA&eurl=http://b3ta.com/links/Elemental_Cup_Of_Brown_Joy_Dir_Moog

british

Cup Of Brown Joy - Elemental

When I say Earl Gray, You say yes please.

Here's another tea rap - american style and nsfw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNMdUAyHxuU&feature=related

"one sexy muthaf**ker with a finger in the air"

"f**k your coffee, we just drink tea"

"b*tch I'm gunna kill you if you f**k with my tea"

Toothless Residents

2008-04-18T10:03:00.002-06:00

As I may have mentioned before I'm currently checking trivia for geeks who drink. Well in the process of fact checking I've come across a state statistics web page that I just had to mention. They have numerous tables of state rankings you can look at, but this is the funniest. Guess which state has the most toothless residents? Just ask statemaster.com

http://www.statemaster.com/graph/hea_ora_hea_los_of_nat_tee-health-oral-loss-natural-teeth

My life with alchohol

2008-03-30T19:38:00.002-06:00

I've heard that if you're life depends on alcohol you're an alcoholic. Well I don't consider myself and alcoholic, since I rarely drink myself and haven't been what I consider truly inebriated in a long time, but I do seem to be involved with alcohol quite frequently, and even cyclicly (is that a word?).

During college I mostly only had access to cheap beer, and a Heineken or something Canadian was considered premium. Then I moved to Seattle and ended up surrounded by beer snobs. That's where I got my "sophisticated" taste that I still enjoy today, as I knew the owner of Bottleworks, Matt Vandenberg through some friends. At one point two of my housemates worked at the store, and we enjoyed and indulged in the finest Belgian brews and the hoppiest and strongest beers that this country can produce. My snobbiest favorite was Oude Kriek, which most people I offered it too found unpalatable, but anyway.

For the past few years I've been in Denver. I wasn't here long before I ended up working for NightRiders, the designated driver service that got lots of publicity for their flashy image and catchy scooter gimmick. That job lasted a year before the company went out of business after a last ditch effort to keep things going with a trip across the country to end drunk driving. Incidentally that trip also ended my plans to be a documentary film maker, but that's another story. I had a short stint with NoDUI Denver, which I refer to as noduiden (no dwee den) (it's their phone number), and then went on to the corporate world of customer service and glorified telemarketing. Still though, that was round 2 of my life depending on alcohol.

Now I'm in grad school to be a librarian (actually knowledge management) and have picked up a side job for a company called Geeks Who Drink. They run a great trivia game in about 30 pubs in Colorado and New Mexico. Luckily, I'm not dealing with drunks directly anymore, as I did as a designated driver, but instead I check trivia facts. Still though, that's 3 dependencies on alcohol. Am I an alcoholic?

Flickr being used for free advertising

2008-02-05T14:31:00.001-07:00

Sahara Cyclone Hookah
Originally uploaded by Sahara Smoke Company

So I have one photo in my thousands of flickr photos that has a hookah in it, and thus has the keyword hookah. Today I get a friend invite from this company, err flickr contact. All of their photos are hookah's that they are selling. I can't say I'm upset, in fact I'm surprised it took this long. I've actually been doing a similar thing volunteering for an art gallery and I've gone through to everyone who has tagged our local area as an interest and added them as a contact.

I expect more companies to realize how much exposure they can get by creating a flickr account and showcasing there wares. Who can blame them? Will flickr try to stop it?

trying something out - google stuff

2008-01-27T15:14:00.001-07:00

Blogged with Flock

Globe Spanning Rube Goldberg

2008-01-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

I had an idea today to make a rube goldberg device that spanned the globe, via various portals to the interwebs. The only new idea is that devices could interact and continue their kinetic path from the end of one set of machines to another by having some machine type into a computer that sends text or a command to another elsewhere, calls a voicemail that delivers to a computer and starts a device, or uses a webcam or audio stream to trigger a device in another location. Basically there would be many smaller rube goldberg machines doing things in various locations, and the process would continue around the world, one machine triggering another, until the final machine completes the task, which could be something like opening a can of dog food.

If this has already been done please let me know, my quick search returned no relevant results to something like this.

Cheese Theory of Human Behaviour

2007-12-24T13:03:00.001-07:00

You can tell a lot about a person by their cheese preference. That's my theory of the week, so let me explain it.

The basis is very simple really. If you like to do certain things you will likely also do other things. There are probably other preferences a person can have that would also correlate, but I'm failing to find one that is more widespread. Certainly food in general works, or places someone would go, but it all gets too complicated. Cheese is simple, and great.

My system postulates that the level of excitement and interestingness you go for in your cheese will correspond with the rest of your life. As an example, if you only like American cheese you're pretty boring. You also have bad taste in cheese. If you like cheddar, provolone, swiss - you like to get out a bit and maybe you live in the suburbs, but you're not likely to be seen wearing a funny hat outside of your circle of friends. If you'll try any cheese, you may end up running around the desert naked at an event like burning man.

As for the other extremes: if you only eat fancy goat cheese then you have very high taste but can't really hang out with the simpler cheese types. And if you don't eat any cheese than you're too picky and can't make logical decisions, which I think is true for most vegans. Feel free to argue this with me.

So this is my cheese theory as it stands. Are there some arguments for or against it? Do you have a better theory. Is there really any point to figuring out your cheese type?

Here's some "what cheese are you" quiz but it doesn't have many possible results. http://quibblo.com/quiz/2OBTrG/What-kind-of-cheese-are-you

photo from ulterior epicure

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Soy milk cheaper than whole milk

2007-12-02T16:28:00.001-07:00

On a recent shopping trip, to of all places, walmart, I discovered a surprising thing. A half gallon of soy milk was about 2.40 and a half gallon of whole milk was about 2.60. The brand in question was the "Great Value" generic, but still this is a troubling symptom of something. How can a cow cost more to make this tasty beverage than an intensive factory process with soy plant grinding and filtration. Maybe it really should cost more, but of course there is more demand and supply of cow milk to keep the prices down, yet a gallon of cow milk is over $4 in many places. See the USDA for a price chart. What does this all mean? Is it a sign of the apocalypse? I'm not sure, but I'm drinking some chocolate soy milk right now and it's pretty tasty.

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Toshiba A215-7437 and how to get stuff cheap on black friday without the lines

2007-12-02T16:17:00.001-07:00

The Toshiba A215-7437 was a recent black friday deal at circuit city. It is $399 after rebates. Of course, these deals are meant to get you in the store. Now there are some interesting things about circuit city, one is that they have a 30 day price matching guarantee, if they or someone else has a sale within 30 days of purchase they'll price match it. Of course in the store they put up signs saying no returns and no price matching on black friday. What I did was go buy the laptop on Wednesday before it went on sale, went back to the store on the afternoon of black friday, and returned and bought it again. I didn't have any lines and got a receipt for a new purchase. The important thing to do here is that you can't open up the box until you've made the purchase successfully at the sale price. Their return policy charges a restocking fee for opened items.

This notebook computer is pretty decent, especially for the price. On the negative the battery life doesn't appear very good, and it lacks infrared and bluetooth. Also, the AMD Athlon X2 64 TK-53 processor is only about as fast as an Athlon XP 2700+ in benchmarks at 32 bits. Although it would be faster with a 64 bit operating system it ships with Vista Home Premium's 32 bit version, and drivers are not readily available in 64 bits. Hopefully they will be available at some point. The 1GB of memory isn't enough for Vista, especially since the memory is shared with the integrated ATI Xpress video.

Still though, this machine is a dual core machine, and while one thing is about as fast as an XP 2700+ it can do two at once. I run boinc and it runs two processes at the same time at that speed. You can also download applications from AMD that show you how your cpu's are doing.

I'm quite happy with this purchase, but it doesn't quite compete with much more expensive intel core 2 duo machines.

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nokia xpressmusic 5300 - Free Applications and Games Available on Nokia Site

2007-12-02T15:57:00.001-07:00

I discovered today that there are some pretty cool applications available for nokia phones, and in particular the phone I'm using. If you go to nokia's european site, you can download some free apps. I found "sensor" a bluetooth mobile social networking program, a 3D snakes game, a decent snowboarding game, and a unit conversion tool. When looking on the US nokia site these apps are not to be found. The apps installed using nokia's pc suite program without difficulty. I do have my phone set to think it's a british phone though to get around t-mobile's blocking of java programs from their cheaper internet service, so this might have helped.

Why does Europe get cooler stuff that the US does without additional cost? I'm not sure. I recommend using NSS and setting your phone up this way if the programs don't work for you.

The program I was really looking for was the nokia sensor app. It allows you to see other phones with the application running and thus see if friends are nearby or meet people. It's probably something like the helios buddy beacon. Of course, if nobody else around is able to run the application then it's worthless.

As for a review of this phone, I haven't found the music buttons to be very useful so if I hadn't enabled these extra features and applications (I also have installed msn's search program that can show live traffic and google maps and mail) then this phone would be a complete piece of junk.

As it is I'm rather happy with it, although I can't wait for a google phone.

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TV on your computer

2007-10-06T09:07:00.000-06:00

Why get satellite or cable anymore if you have hi-speed? I don't know. Two new services are running now, joost and graboid.

Joost just came out in beta and is awesome with a great interface and lots of things to watch. You can find all the shows you'd have a hard time finding on cable and would need a dvr to record if you have, like, a work or play life. You can also chat with others watching the channel, although nobody was when I was there, which is fine with me. There are some options for news too but they are quite limited and dated now, don't expect news flashes as of yet. The video quality is pretty good too. The best part is that it's free! This does mean that it has advertisements in between the shows, but it seems much better than normal tv.

Get Joost

Graboid has some subscription options for different download quotas.
Graboid will also let you save videos, but it's really just a newsgroup aggregator. I'm not sure how long it will be around since it let's you get movies that are in theaters, and I don't think it's paying the studios for that privilege.

Get Graboid

A way to make money, hooray

2007-09-23T11:03:00.000-06:00

My friend Garth started doing this thing a while back where he loans out money and earns interest (around 12-25% a year). No, he's not a loan shark, he's "buying loans" at prosper.com. You can also get a loan at lower than bank rates apparently to pay off credit cards or whatever. I'm starting off small, hoping to bid $50 on someone's loan this week. You bid in $50 increments, so if someone is loaning $1000 it can come from up to 20 people. Prosper actually takes care of the loan details, you're just purchasing that part of it, taking the risk and the interest earned. They also have deals with collection agencies if your lender defaults on you. It's not foolproof, but it seems to work, and people have a sense of community with who they are borrowing from.

They have a deal right now where you get $25 after making your first loan (as a lender). That's a 50% return right there. Follow this link to do that. http://www.prosper.com/join/gamp

more free gadgets - nintendo wii

2007-09-22T13:23:00.001-06:00

Ok, here's another deal to sign up for and get something free. I've done this before to get a free ipod with a different deal. This time I'm going for a free nintendo wii.

Here's the link
http://www.xpango.com?ref=90804070

Sign up, get something fun for yourself or give it as a gift.

Audiovox PPC 6600 Review

2007-01-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

brokenphone
Originally uploaded by marcymakesaparty.

Here's a picture of someone's broken ppc 6600, luckily mine isn't this broken.

I like this phone. It is a pocket PC, which allows it to all kinds of crazy things. I use a freeware VNC called .NET VNC viewer to view my ubuntu machine. I also use logmein.com to see my PC desktop. Both are free, and both work pretty sort of ok. I've found it's actually much faster to do some kind of remote desktop thing and open a complicated webpage remotely and view it over a cellphone connection than to try to open it directly with the phones browser. When I so open web pages directly, I use the opera browser.

There are also lots of instant messenger apps that you can get, but they cost way too much money and don't work that well. I've tried im+, agile messenger, and some others. They usually cause lockups and cause me to miss calls. This could be more the phone than the software, but I don't' have any way to tell.

The last part of the puzzle with this phone is the sprint service. It's CDMA service, which is pretty widespread. I've had some trouble in the mountains, but you can roam and use Verizon. Of course when you roam data service doesn't work. The good thing about sprint is the internet service is unlimited, and you can easily talk a sprint representative into giving you the vision service for $10 a month. The bad thing is this phone can't do data and get calls at the same time very well. It's also not as fast as the new services I suppose.

This phone can also use Bluetooth to work with a Bluetooth GPS and you can load tomtom on it. That is cool, but it does weird things to the phone, like load up whenever it feels like it. It takes a LONG time to load up too.

One real headache is to try this phone as a dial up networking device. You're pretty much limited to using Bluetooth, especially if you use a Mac or Linux as the phone isn't recognized on those devices. If you use a PC you have to disable activesync, but I haven't bothered to try it since my PC is connected to a much faster internet route and isn't portable. On the Mac using OS X you can setup a Bluetooth wireless DUN connection, but I couldn't find any way to make it reliable, and have had to recreate the connection each time I wanted to use it. I also had to make the phone less secure so I could easily pair it, but I'm not too worried about Bluetooth attacks due to its limited range. I haven't been able to get ubuntu to work with it, but I have read of some success from others. I might also be experiencing issues due to my cheap USB Bluetooth dongle, in addition to any quirks the phone has. So to sum it up, DUN on this phone is way more difficult than a normal phone but it is possible. It seems even slower than my old TMobile phone that worked fine with a USB cable, but that's what you get I guess.

This phone is capable of so many many things, but this may also be a weakness. The camera is crap, although can shoot crappy video. The keyboard is tiny and is on the wrong side, although the sliding is cool. For some reason my phone won't "turn off" when pressing the off button anymore, the case is separating, and it got some snow in it in the recent Denver blizzard. It still does work though. Oh, it also has a habit of losing all its data so you have to restore it from a SD card or a computer. Backing up to an SD card takes hours for some reason too. But it was cheap, and it works often.

LCD Topgun lightgun review

2007-01-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

So I like light gun games, a lot. Even if I suck at them. So I heard about this new lightgun thing, I like. Of course by the time I found out about it it can't be found through the previously reported means. This is because the company violated some law and Sony or some game company the manufacturer shut down. Anywho, I found the gun for sale at Play-Asia.com and ordered it.

The neat thing about this gun is that it doesn't work the same way earlier lightguns did. Instead of getting a signal from the tv screen, it has infrared lightbars that go on the sides of the screen to figure out where it's pointing. This allows it to work with projectors, LCD screens, etc. Theoretically this should also make it more accurate. It also means it has to be calibrated if anything moves. Since I have the 100 inch screen this seems like a good idea.

Unfortunately the 100 inch screen is too much for the included lightbars. So I ordered the "blaze stands" to accommodate the larger screen. I haven't received these yet, but perhaps I'll update this review when I get them.

As it is I've been able to use the gun with my much much smaller computer monitor. It did work, although I had to stand as far away from my desk as possible to make it work, which is about 4 1/2 feet (I have a small apartment). It did work pretty well, and it was configurable with included computer software. The gun comes with two USB plugs, one of which is purely to make the recoil function work. It doesn't seem to work well with a 15 foot USB extension chord, probably loses signal, so I'm not sure how to use it with the 100 inch screen anyway.

It also has a laser, which is cool. All in all, its the only gun I know of that works with PC's, ps2's, xboxes and projection screens. I'm not sure if you can use two guns with a PC. It has lots of chords hanging around for all the lightbars. It looks cool. That's about it.

Student Loan Consolidation

2007-01-06T17:10:00.000-07:00

After the many years I've spent in college, and the many years I have yet to come, I've certainly racked up my share of student loans. There are a few companies out there to help consolidate them, and I've looked into many. Then of course after you do choose one, it will probably be bought out by another company, so maybe they are all the same one. I'm not sure, but remind me that I have to consolidate once again, as I seem to have two companies asking me for money now. Yuck.

Cheap Auto Insurance

2007-01-06T16:57:00.000-07:00

It's time once again for me to search for cheap car insurance. I've done progressive, geico, and now state farm. I even switched back and forth between geico and progressive as they gave me better offers.

Having never had to claim anything against my own auto insurance company, its more of a nuisance than anything else, but at least I can be comfortable having coverage. Mostly I'm worried about getting hit by some uninsured person who sends me to the hospital. This is why I go for the 100k/300k uninsured motor vehicle coverage, even on my motorcycle. This almost came in handly when I was rear ended by a mexican national a few months back, but the damage was superficial on my car, which already has more than 200k miles, so I didn't bother doing anything about it.

So back to the search; I've been seeing these cool commercials from esurance.com with animated motorcycle and car drivers, and it propogates itself as the insurance for the hip set. I'm not sure if I'm hip, but at least I can use a more computerized internet friendly company. I just filled out the quote info and they would indeed save me a few bucks. Then they also have a comparison search, which is something progressive likes to advertise, and it showed a far cheaper price. So off I go to some other website, and after giving away all my sensitive personal information, the new website, travellers, tells me the quote is even higher than what I'm paying now. So much for comparison searches.

After all is said and done, I decided to just stick with state farm. In this technological age it seems nice to just have some guy to call up and complain to, if anything did happen. I think my agent wasn't able to conceptualize my views about the fate of the stock market and retirement plans, but that is for another post.

Mesothelioma

2007-01-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

L'uomo e la Vita
Originally uploaded by MoMaStalker.

I found this great photo while perusing flickr. One thing you have to watch out for when urban exploring is asbestos. This is why urban explorers often wear P100 respirators. The dangers of asbestos inhalation are mesothelioma, asbestosis, interstitial fibrosis, pneumoconiosis and lung cancer. These diseases can take years to develop, so you wouldn't know you had them for some time.

When exploring abandoned buildings, look out for crocidolite and amosite asbestos, known as amphibole asbestos, as they are the most dangerous forms. Of course, since we aren't experts on this stuff, we'll just protect ourselves as we can. Many urbexers choose to wear P100 respirators for protection. 3M makes a decent respirator that can be found on ebay for about $20, medium size seems to work for most people. The filters are pink though.

The other thing to note is that the people who have cancer now often were handling it in close proximity for years. I wonder if just being in a building for a day is all that harmful.

You can read more about asbestos dangers and mesothelioma and other asbestos related cancers here Handyman asbestos page and here Mesothelioma site.

100 inch video screen

2006-02-27T15:51:00.002-07:00

I made myself a giant movie screen, which takes up a good quarter of my studio apartment. Right now its size over quality, but the experience is quite immersive.

To start out you need an LCD projection panel. This can be had buy the shrewd ebay buyer for around $50. You'll want to get one that can handle millions of colors and have a refresh rate fast enough to allow video images to move smoothly. There are charts available online that list the panel models and capabilites for your reference.

I went with a proxima panel. It works pretty well, but the power supply has some issues and occasionally the whole thing starts flickering crazily, but this hasn't happened after a movie has started yet. Also it came withe some dead pixels. When you're blowing a 640x480 image up to 100 inches, these can show as big light blotches, but I'm already used to them. The other problem with this panel is it seems to be quite dark, and offers no brightness control.

The next thing you need is an overhead projector. The brighter projector you can get, the better, as the panel requires lots of light. This may not be an option though. I'm thinking of rigging my projector to use two lamps at once, but this could be a fire hazzard.

My overhead projector also came from ebay, and ended up costing the same as the panel. Many people can find these used locally, but I had no such luck. I wish I had because shipping these things is expensive, and it came in all sorts of disarray. Some packing tape and jury rigger and, pow, it projects light clearly, sort of.

The last thing you need is a screen. Screens can be purchased commercially, or you can make one yourself. I went to the clearance section of my local fabric store and shined the various white fabrics with a flashlight. I chose the cheapest one that reflected back the most light. I planned on making a wooden frame for it, but ended up suspending it with string at the corners to my wall. It makes for much smaller storage and easy removal. This is good when something takes up so much space.

When all is said and done, it's quite an experience. I'm currently having lots of trouble getting the darker pictures clear, and whites aren't coming out pure white. Also text isn't sharp. Overall though, it's a good project. I may try a new projector or something to tighten things up a bit.

Camera Reviews

2006-02-24T08:43:00.000-07:00

As much as I'd like to post my own camera reviews, and I may, I only have a couple to work with presently. For some very detailed reviews check out http://www.steves-digicams.com/. This site not only posts detailed reviews, but basically has tutorials as well as sample and comparison photos. This is of course more than you can hope for from basic review sites like cnet.

I'd like to teach the world to sing!

2005-12-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

Or at least how to talk. On the phone

It has come to my attention, for somewhat obvious reasons, that many of the people of this country, and our friendly neighbors to the north, do not know how to properly communicate on the phone. Now who am I to say this, being that I've been chastised on numerous occasions for my phone etiquette? Well at my worst, I still seem to be above average, and I dare say, I've learned a few things along the way.

Now I don't really want to write about the topics of conversation people have with each other, as I really could care less. I also am not presently interested in how people initiate phone conversations, as they seem to do well enough to drive up our nations land and cellular phone bills to a more than adequate level. My topic for today is how to answer phones, especially with people you don't know. If you want to use your own private language with your closest friends and relatives, please do, but when you're dealing with the rest of us, perhaps we should have some guidelines

Let's start this little manual with the basics. First, you must pick up the phone. This is done by removing the handset from your phone and placing it on your head, preferably in a position where the earpiece is close to your ear and the microphone is at least pointed towards your mouth. In the case of cellular telephones, you'll probably have to press a button of some kind. Please, after pressing that button, don't press any more because the person on the other end may be presented with painful tones. You should also avoid fumbling with the phone after picking it up, because this can also generate loud noises rendering the opposing party deaf or auditorilly injured for some time.

The next, and crucial part of this procedure is the greeting. A number of greetings will do, but it is nice to have one. "Who dis" is not really the most friendly of ones available. Usually a "hello" or "hi" is best, but you may choose to use the less popular, "greetings." Also, please speak with sufficient volume to be heard. Yelling, however, is not necessary. If you hear silence on the other end of the line, this could indicate a couple of things. The most likely is that the person that is calling you is using an autodialer, and may not yet be aware that you have picked up the phone. Your choices at this juncture are to hang up, as it is likely someone that wants your money or information, or to remain on the line and find out who it is. If you choose to hang up, they'll probably just call back, so you may as well remain on the line if you can, and resolve this issue. It would probably be in your best interest to listen to at least the first line of their spiel so you'll know who they are. If they're not someone you want to talk with, you can then just tell them to "take me off your list." This, as provided by the fine laws governing our society, should ensure your removal within some small amount of time. Other variations may also work, but cursing and such are not likely to assist you in achieving your aim.

Now we'll move on to who should be answering your phone. It may be in your best interests to restrict phone answering to those that can actually respond to at least some spoken language, preferably English. You may think your children sound cute calling everyone that calls "mommy" or "daddy," but you are the only one. Also, if you could refrain from having your children make your answering machine messages, that would be great.

OK, now how do you respond to people that are asking for a particular person? Well you can say that you are that person, simply by stating "this is he" or "this is she" depending on your gender preference. Saying "Yes" doesn't necessarily provide the caller with the correct information, as far too many people say yes to everything, except maybe sex. Saying "yes" to every question asked inspires very low confidence in you and your comprehension.

If the person asked for is not there, you have a number of options. You could let them know they aren't there, and perhaps ask if you could take a message. If you do let the caller know the requested person isn't there, please don't then ask who it is before again saying that they aren't there. The caller probably remembers the first time you said that, and doesn't need the reiteration. It also makes them question the validity of your statement. If the caller said they were the president of your country, would the person be there then, or would they then be hiding behind the toilet?

There is one more point I must make. If you speak in quiet gasps or moans, don't expect to be understood. Please at least make some attempt to annunciate and be heard. I'm not a doctor and I'm not going to cure whatever illness exists in your body.

Well that's about enough of these. Go forth and sing, or at least speak!

Images courtesy of google image search, from blogs.warwick.ac.uk, www.overlordproject.com, www.shopping3000.com and www.telephoneart.com

Saitek P2600 Rumble PC Gamepad Review

2005-12-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

This force feedback gamepad has some interesting features. The most notable, and touted, is the FPS or first person shooter function. By pressing this button, it lights up, and sets up the buttons and sticks for use with the standard first person shooter titles. This means that the right stick becomes your mouse, for mouse look and the other buttons become things like reload, "F" for flashlight and the right forefinger becomes your left mouse click, or trigger. The D-Pad also might work to switch weapons.

Included with this gamepad is a bunch of configuration software, that lets you configure deferment buttons for each button, and even different buttons for how far you press the sticks a certain direction. This means you can make it sprint when you press the stick all the way up. Unfortunately this feature is a bit difficult to configure and doesn't seem to always work. Also you can't assign anything to the stick buttons, when you click them down. Why you can't do that, I can't imagine.

The buttons all handle quite well and the front triggers are well placed. Also this gamepad has a comfortable but wide feel larger than a PS2 type controller, and even a bit wider than an xbox s-type. This may be comfortable to many, but it seems too wide for my manly but smaller hands.

The thumbsticks do respond well, but I've seen better, as on the Thrustmaster 2-in-1 dual trigger. I just can't quite get the sensitivity right to be able to aim with the mouse look stick. I'm almost always too far or not enough, and budging the stick a little bit more and back, well, somebody just got a headshot on me.

If you want a gamepad that you can just install, plug in and press FPS this one will do the trick. However, I haven't played any games that actually use the whole button map of that feature, and so I've had to make new profiles. If you're going to go ahead and make a new profile, you might as well run the free JoyToKey software, which is a bit more programmer like, but still not too hard to figure out with some trial and error. Then you can just use a more comfortable gamepad, and even setup a stick as a mouse, which it allows you to do.

Stanley IntelliMeasure 77-007 Laser Tape Review

2005-12-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

This laser tape measuring device, which is really an ultrasonic distance measuring device, can be found on ebay for about $20 at the time of this writing. It's an older model from the IntelliMeasure series of tools from Stanley.

This device features a rather large sized ultrasonic transmitter and receiver, similar to the old Polaroid cameras that is the actual workhorse of this tool. It's accuracy is stated as +/- 0.5% with a 2 - 50 foot range. Longer measurements can be achieved by taking smaller measurements and adding on by using the (+) button.

It also uses a handy laser pointer on the side so you know what you're pointing at. However, unlike significantly more expensive devices, this laser doesn't measure anything.

It has some neat features as far as calculating area and volume by simply telling it which measurements comprise the length, width and height and pressing the desired function.

It also can measure in feet or inches, from either the top or bottom of the unit. Although that allows you to take semi-accurate measurements from one wall to another, it's really just adding 5 inches to the top measurement. These changes are selected by depressing the mode button.

Now what can we do with a device like that. Well, you can't measure wood to cut it, that's for sure. You can get generally good areas of rooms, for example if you're looking at apartments or houses. I suppose if you want to be relatively sure where your dresser is in your room as opposed to your bed, you can figure that out.

Now what's wrong with this device? Well it can give you some quite crazy measurements at times. When pointed at a wall with a net of Christmas lights on it, it thought it was 20 feet farther away than it was. Fabric can absorb the ultrasonic waves and thus create inaccurate readings. Even ceiling tiles can cause problems. Also, readings must be taken perpendicular to the surface, or they'll just bounce around and give an error message, which prevents it being used if that dresser is at any angle.

Orbit PTDVD-768S Review

2005-11-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

I bought this portable DVD Divx and bunch of other stuff player on Ebay for my birthday. Now that I'm putting it back on ebay, why not review it so others might be more informed about its qualities.

This player has a number of intersting properties, among which, is the ability to play divx. I've tested it with v5 Divx and Xvid and it actually played most of what I threw at it. Some things were not playable, but I can't say for sure which versions those turned out to be, it just seemed be more hit than miss. Unfortunately it did have some audio sync issues, more so than you'll see playing the exact same files on your computer.

The biggest problem this device has is with the display. It has a 7" 16:9 ratio display. This would be quite nice if it could use it adaquetly. Unfortunately the display has two major problems. One, it shows everything from total black to light shadows in about two different shades of grey. That's really not cool. Sometimes you just have faces suspended in a grey blob that should be the colorful environment around them. The other problem is really just for aspect ratio purests like myself. If you can go to a bar and see a widescreen tv showing normal tv without cringing or crying, then you might not even notice, but this player likes to stretch images. By default the player shows everything in 16:9 format regardless of what it was originally made to play on. Using the remote, no button on the player, you can switch it to 4:3 which will letterbox the sides, or I guess the proper term would be to just side border them. This is fine for tv, except of course the 7" screen now becomes quite smaller. The real problem is if you watch something that is letterboxed in the 4:3 format, like a divx movie. Now if you put it to 4:3 you get black borders on all four sides, making your screen maybe 3 inches. Some more expensive players might have a letterbox mode, or zoom mode that will expand the screen to chop off the letterbox bars and thus use the widescreen, but this one does not. The only solution I found was to recompress the videos with a horizontally squished aspect ratio, from whatever it was to a 4:3 horizontal number, while leaving the vertical the same. This is just time consuming and annoying.

Additionally this player can actually read files off of a usb drive. The one one I had which worked was my little usb smart card reader, and yes you can play pictures and even videos off of it. So if the screen were only of better quality it would be a quick and portable way to preview photos and videos from your digital camera, but its not.

The last two notable features are the built in tv tuner and the game function. The tv tuner works when plugging in their rediculous tv antenna which is annoying. Also you have to program in the channels, also annoying. The game function is basically a nintendo emulator, NES. How this is legal I haven't figure out, and it probably isn't. It comes with like 300 games on a porely organized cd. It didn't seem useful to me, but the included game controller provided me with 45 seconds of entertainment.

As far as inputs and outputs, it does have quite a few, but they all go through 1/8" headphone style jacks, including the svideo cable. This makes me doubt it's really delivering s-video quality, and on my tv I couldn't tell for sure. It definately has some color glitches but I think it has more to do with the decoder in the device.

All in all I'd recommend avoiding this particular device. The only thing that makes this better than a laptop for dvd's and video is its size, and that it doesn't burn my legs. Also the battery actually sort of works.

silicone bracelets for "no cause"

2005-10-20T12:04:00.000-06:00

Fed up with recent fads? I found a bracelet on ebay that lets me express this and my otherwise morbid nature. It's a black bracelet that just says "DieHard" as opposed to
"LiveStrong." I wear it proudly showing my conviction to nothing. If you can't find it on ebay I found this link for you http://www.collectorsparadise.com/newdiblwrbri.html

Show that you don't care about anything. I don't.

Here's a whole set of I don't care bracelets from Archie McPhee's

Mental Health Bracelets

2005-10-16T15:28:00.000-06:00

My brother was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. It's a scary mental illness and it's very difficult to get through it, both for him and for the whole family. We are working through it though, and he is acting very normal more and more often. The only therapy I've found that really helps him is acupuncture. I take him to my friend, and former NightRider associate, Phranque Wright. You can see his website here: http://www.wrightacupuncture.com/

If you know somebody with a mental illness and would like to raise awareness of the possibilities of living a normal life and recovery, I found some bracelets you can wear also. The Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania is offering orange mental health awareness bracelets with the message "Embrace Recovery." http://www.mhasp.org/bracelet.html. They are silicone bracelets, like the ones for Lance Armstrong, Live Strong.