Knitting is Science
28 Apr 2009 Leave a Comment
in Miscellaneous Craftery, Ole for Crochet, Tech News
Well ok… more like crochet is mathematics.
Thanks to a former colleague for the heads up!
The department store that ate my life.
12 Dec 2008 1 Comment
I’m still here, and I’m still surviving. It’s just been a rough week (few weeks?!?!). I’ve been working pretty much every day at the new gig since last week. Some days it’s just for a few hours, some days it’s for full days. Some days it’s at the crack of dawn (did you know we open at 7AM?) and some days it’s closing (does anyone really shop Sunday nights at 10pm?). I’ve had my fair share of customer issues, store issues, a few co-worker issues. I’ve sized and racked and re-sized and re-racked, and re-re-sized and re-re-racked clothes. You get the idea. I also find an unhealthy amount of pleasure in ringing people up at the register. (Don’t worry Mom and Dad – it’s not gonna be my next career move!)
In the mean time, the world has gone on. I’ve managed to craft a few things, but they’re getting gifted at swaps in the next few days so photos will have to wait. Mostly I’ve been pretty tired, sometimes too tired to knit. (I know – OMG WTF?!?)
I have however acquired a few new toys. The best so far is an early Christmas present from Wes – a Chumby. I have named my Chumby Bob, or as we like to call him Bluebob. Basically Bluebob is a neat little device that operates on Wi-Fi and can pull my rss feeds, Facebook and Twitter updates. It can also be used to play games – everything from Daily Sudoku to arcade games to puzzle games. Bluebob has a touch screen and is sensitive to changes in direction so sometimes you play a game by moving the Chumby around. Overall it’s a superfun toy and has provided both of us with hours of amusement! (PS If you get one I’ll be your Chum!)
The second toy I acquired is a new phone. I was all ready for my “New in Two” phone with Verizon. In fact I was ready MONTHS ago. This time I got an LG enV. The big feature that I wanted was a QWERTY keyboard and a flip screen. The enV is not touch sensitive and it doesn’t promise me everything plus a bag of chips, but it can access the internet, text, hold some information for me, and make phone calls. And it’s RED!
Oversubscribed.
11 Jul 2008 1 Comment
in Channeling my Inner Geek, Tech News
In the beginning (at least what I term the beginning of my consciousness of the internet – circa 1996) there were only a few ways to “chat” online. I remember my friends in high school talking about AOL Chat Rooms, but we didn’t have AOL. Although my dad was an early adopter of technology, I really didn’t discover the internet until I went to college.
So in the beginning, I discovered Talk. Then I found ICQ and then AOL Instant Messenger which I still use today. Then I discovered the wide world of html and coded my first web page (Hello World!).
Then I have trouble remembering what came next. All of a sudden I was reading blogs…lots of blogs. Then I had a blog. Then I had multiple blogs. Then I was using an aggregator for all my chat services – first Trillian and then Adium (gotta love the green duck). Then GMail arrived. Then came social networking. I joined MySpace. In grad school we all joined LinkedIn. Recently I joined Facebook. Then yesterday I jumped in whole hog and joined both Twitter and Plurk. (Let’s not forget that Flickr, YouTube, and Ravelry happened in there….)
And THEN I needed something to manage all of this crazy content. And I took the recommendation of one of my tech gurus and signed up for Netvibes and spent some time configuring it.
And frankly? I feel oversubscribed. Excused me while I go bury myself in updates.
Digital R/evolution
18 Oct 2007 Leave a Comment
in Tech News
I was pointed to Michael Wesch’s Digital R/evolution video through a variety of connections (my mom’s friend recognized K-state and passed it along to my mom since her future son-in-law [read:Wes] will be graduating from there in a few weeks). It is an interesting look at information: what we think it is and what its future is. Given how much of the world rests on digital information these days, the obvious question (or not so obvious) is what happens to traditional libraries? Enjoy.
Official Business and Stuff
03 Oct 2007 2 Comments
in Tech News
According to Schmutzie today is the official “Great Mofo Delurk” day. So you know what to do – leave a comment and let me know you’re reading. Tell me something interesting – what’s your favorite site? color? embarrassing moment? Something… anything! I’ll repay the visit!
A Man I Never Knew
22 Sep 2007 Leave a Comment
in Tech News
For the past week around the office, much talk has been centered around a man who I have never met. He is a professor and a world class expert in the industry of games technology and education. Working at USC for the past 5 years, I have heard his name in passing as an author and expert. I have also heard of people who loved him, and people who didn’t like him so much. About a year ago, I heard something else. A colleague of mine, who had worked with Dr. Pausch (at Carnegie Mellon University) told me that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was not expected to live. As tragedy does, it intrigued me. I followed news of his progress with his disease and was disheartened to hear that he wasn’t doing well. I knew he was much too young and that he would leave behind many students and colleagues, and a young family.
On Tuesday afternoon Professor Randy Pausch gave his final lecture entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” to a full lecture hall, and reached many more via teleconference and simulcast. The lecture is recorded here on YouTube. More information can also be found in this piece from the Pittsburgh Tribune. The lecture is long (a little over an hour) but it is alternately touching, funny, and a testament to his brilliance, his work as a humanitarian and his refusal to give up the fight. It is a fitting remembrance to a great man and one that will remain for his young children. It’s not an easy watch, but it is definitely worth the time.
Popping Pills Leads to Gambling Problems?
26 Aug 2007 Leave a Comment
I was half paying attention to the television tonight when a commercial came on for Mirapex, a drug for Restless Leg Syndrome. What caught my attention was the potential side effects list at the end of the commercial, which seemed to include compulsive gambling. HUH?
Sure enough I checked the website.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION ABOUT MIRAPEX: MIRAPEX may cause you to fall asleep without any warning, even while doing normal daily activities such as driving. When taking MIRAPEX hallucinations may occur and sometimes you may feel dizzy, sweaty or nauseated upon standing up. The most common side effects in clinical trials for RLS were nausea, headache, and tiredness. You should talk with your doctor if you experience these problems.
Patients and caregivers should be informed that impulse control disorders/compulsive behaviors may occur while taking medicines.
Further the FAQ indicates:
There have been reports of patients taking certain medications to treat Parkinson’s disease or RLS, including MIRAPEX, that have reported problems with gambling, compulsive eating, and increased sex drive.
So apparently medicines used to treat muscle impulses and spasms result in behavioral impulses and spasms. Hey, I bet there are lawsuits out there about this.
And another one bites the dust.
PayPerPost.Com
14 Aug 2007 Leave a Comment
in Tech News
Since I started blogging 3 years ago I have been interested in potentially making my blog a source of some income. It’s not that I want to quit my day job (well I guess I do… doesn’t everyone?), but it would be nice to earn a little something from something I find enjoyable. I read many blogs (Dooce as one example) that manage to earn some income, and still not feel like I’m only reading marketing content.
Recently I was checking out opportunities and stumbled upon PayPerPost.Com. This innovative company has developed a forum where advertising companies can go and post opportunities. As a blogger, you select something that interests you, review it and get paid for your opinion.
Now I’m pretty skeptical about these things, so I’ve been checking the company out a little bit. Aside from the ethical debate on whether or not people should be paid for reviews or posting, I haven’t found too many negative things about the company. More so, I am impressed that they choose to have a Code of Ethics that asks readers to express their reviews honestly, and fully disclose their association with the company.
So far I have found the site easy to use, and friendly to newcomers. PayPerPost.com is still relatively new but it seems to be functioning well. I don’t know how many opportunities I will avail myself of, but if the right ones come along, I’m interested to participate!
New Marriage Woes?
13 Aug 2007 Leave a Comment
in Tech News
From Slashdot:
Til Tech Do Us Part
WSJdpatton writes “Marriage often requires coping with the loss of some individuality, whether it’s adopting a spouse’s last name or setting up a joint bank account. Now, some couples say it can be equally tricky to navigate intimacy in the digital sides of their lives. They are running into thorny questions regarding how much to share and how much to keep separate in areas ranging from email addresses to online calendars. For some young newlyweds, this means a debate over whether to combine their blogs. Longtime spouses, meanwhile, say perennial arguments about who has more closet space are now joined by bickering over which TV shows get deleted to make room on the TiVo.”
Gadgets making us stupid? or lazy?
14 Jul 2007 Leave a Comment
in Tech News
Gadgets Have Taken Over For Our Brains
skotte writes “According to a Trinity College survey released Friday, the boom in mobiles and portable devices that store reams of personal information has created a generation incapable of memorizing simple things. In effect, the study argues, these devices have replaced our long-term memory capabilities. ‘As many as a third of those surveyed under the age of 30 were unable to recall their home telephone number without resorting to their mobile phones or to notes. When it came to remembering important dates such as the birthdays of close family relatives, 87 per cent of those over the age of 50 could remember the details, compared with 40 per cent of those under the age of 30.’”
