Political Friday...

I started off my day today by watching some C-span TV (The Washington Journal). One of this morning's guests was Doug Lederman who is the editor for Inside Higher Ed. Here's the description of the segment pulled from the cspan website:

Doug Lederman, Editor, Inside Higher Ed discusses federal funding of colleges and universities; including how much and how these institutions receive money through research grants, student aid and earmarks in legislation from Congress.

I really liked this interview, though I admit a lot of it went over my head (I only went to a 2 year school and that was for graphics)... but I did pick up on some key points... One that really struck me was a statisic that said that only 31% of college graduates tested as having proficient literacy skills. Another quote from the website:
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2005/12/college_illiter.html

The test measures how well adults comprehend basic instructions and tasks through reading -- such as computing costs per ounce of food items, comparing viewpoints on two editorials and reading prescription labels. Only 41 percent of graduate students tested in 2003 could be classified as "proficient" in prose -- reading and understanding information in short texts -- down 10 percentage points since 1992. Of college graduates, only 31 percent were classified as proficient -- compared with 40 percent in 1992.

That pretty much stunned me as I sat there eating my egg muffin. Then to listen to the HUGE amounts of money that the government is GIVING to these schools was also amazing. We're talking millions and BILLIONS! There was one "grant" that the gov gave to a college (I think somewhere in Manhattan) for $500,000 to help build a parking garage!

I know that there are many great benefits from these grants being given to these colleges, but I also think there is some really fishy dealings going on here. I encourage you to take about an hour and listen to some of this program. I'll post a link here to the cspan site, that will let you watch the clip of Doug Lederman, but it doesn't seem to be a "permalink" so in a few days this link may not work. I suggest you do a search for his name "doug lederman" to find the appropriate link... or search by the date: Washington Journal 12/30/05.
If you do watch... be sure to take notice of Mr. Lederman's Body language when the host (Brian Lamb) asked him some 'tricky' questions... It was obvious Mr. Lederman knew the answer but was back-peddling to try and avoid saying something he shouldn't. I wish he would have let loose and really expose what needed to be exposed.

On another political subject that I blogged about here...
The Justice Department will be doing a "probe" into who leaked the information to the NY Times about the President allegedly spying on his subjects, er, I mean American citizens.
It struck me funny, that they are not doing a "probe" into the actual spying, but rather who told on the President. I've heard a few debates about this topic and it is a complicated matter, but I look forward to listening (or reading) about the upcoming congressional hearings on the possible laws broken by the President.
Here's an article on the Associated Press website by Toni Locy.

I also wanted to blog a little more about the end of year 2005 comments, but I'm quickly running out of time... So here's a quick post from Wired Magazine about their top 10 list of the "biggest discoveries of 2005"...

I finally got to see the Chronicles of Narnia last night, and enjoyed it. I wanted to blog more about it so maybe later...

Cyen

google blog search - beta

A new search from my favorite company Google...
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch

It allows you to search blogs only for a certain subject.
I don't know what determines the page ranking on this yet... I suspect it may simply be based on "time posted" in that I just did a search for "nun bun" and my blog post (which I posted about an hour ago) came up on the first page of hits. (cool).
Google's usual page ranking is determined by how many people link to a certain website (in addition to other trade secret algorithms)... I'm sure my blog is not linked to by that many people to warrant a page 1 listing. But I'm not complaining :)
This could be a great tool to find out what other people are thinking about a subject and for getting alternative points of view. I think the whole blogging topic is just begining to take off, with many social consequences yet undiscovered... Once people realize the incredible freedom and creative outlet this is I think it will grow. The challenge will be to have your 'voice' be heard over others in a crowded cafeteria... Or in my case, I'd rather be sitting at the small table of nerds and geeks in the back of the cafeteria speaking quietly :)
cyen

One more today...

Just a funny photo off of neatorama.com...

nun bun

This story keeps popping up on the internet... about a cinnamon bun that looks like Mother Teresa that was recently stolen. The thing that gets me is that in the official police report, they valued the bun at $21... why? I'd love to know how they came up with that figure... obviously it's worth more than a "standard" bun, yet not worth a priceless piece of art or sculpture, and not easy replaced, so why $21? oh well... That's all the time I'll spend thinking about this one.

A silly post...

Ever wonder what 250 pounds of silly putty looks like? Read the short blog about the problems they had dividing this stuff up... Google Blog.
my Source: boing boing
Original source: neatorama.com
official silly putty site: http://www.sillyputty.com/
And one more...
I remember reading once that silly putty is not too difficult to make yourself... But it looks a bit too complicated for me...

Composition of Silly Putty
65% - Dimethyl Siloxane
17% - Silica
9% - Thixotrol ST
4% - Polydimethylsiloxane
1% - Decamethyl cyclopentasiloxane
1% - Glycerine
1% - Titanium Dioxid
They did say that basically it's silicone oil and boric acid that lead to the initial discovery...

WAY more than you wanted to know about silly putty!

Perspectives...

I've been dealing with the squirrels in my attic over the past couple days, and today called the apartment maintenance people to set a trap (when that will happen they didn't say), I was surfing the web during lunch and was reminded of an online petition that I had signed (my sis brought it to my attention) about the 4 members of a peacemaker group that were kidnapped in Iraq in late November. It struck me that I have not heard any more mentioned about them in the news (not a good sign.) I checked their official website for an update and according to their site the kidnappers gave a new deadline of Dec 10th, and as of today Dec 28th, there has been no further information. I hope these guys are doing ok, and my thoughts and prayers go out to them, their friends and families, and to the kidnappers. Check out their website for the full story:
http://www.cpt.org/
As I deal with annoyances and problems in my everyday life I'm reminded to try to keep things in perspective.

Back to the grind...

I don't know about you, but these past 4 days FLEW by. I decided to take off on Friday to have a nice 4 day weekend. Next thing I know it's Tuesday and I'm sitting here back at work (well on lunch break at the moment now). Now, I have 4 days of work until another 3 day weekend... do you think these next 4 days at work are going to go buy just as fast? (I doubt it).

Squirrels>
They are back in my apartment again. I heard him/her on Christmas day in the afternoon, and again this morning coming in around 8:30am. It's a strange one though, because I heard him come in this morning then scurry off and I didn't hear him again. Maybe he just went in and curled up and went to sleep. I'm going to try and call someone to see if they can fix the "hole" where he's getting in. I found a name and number online called "Bill's Racoon and Squirrel removal". I also looked up the phone number online and it said it was also Bill's Siding. I just tried calling but got a message machine. I'm willing to pay someone to fix this once and for all rather than dealing with the idiots at my apartment maintenance.

Waste of time>
This little website I found is a complete waste of time, but it's relaxing so...
http://chir.ag/stuff/sand/
It was compared to a "zen rock garden" when I found the link. It's really just a matter of drawing lines to affect the flow of 4 elements... water, sand, salt, and oil... Then there are things you can add like water spouts, plant life, fire, and more... It's relaxing to try to make a unique design... (what's with the wierd blob thing at the bottom though!?) It's in english, but it's obviously from a foreign country...

New Year>
I'm getting ready for the end of 2005. Not a great year for me so I'll be glad to see this one go and welcome in 2006! I started on a new idea I had for my blog (and myself)... I'm thinking of random ideas of things to do once a week. 52 ideas. It's an interesting thought experiment really... Try and do it yourself (post any good ones here). The idea is simple... think of something random to do and generally with no point to it and something that's unique. Now try to think of 51 more! I came up with about 15-20 the other night... You'll have to wait until the new year to read my first one though :) I plan on posting the ideas on either monday or tuesdays.

well, cyen out...

Merry Christmas

Well, Christmas Eve is here... There's a certain quietness around my apartment complex today, perhaps people are settling in from the crazy shopping experiences. I managed to go out yesterday and it was crazy! I don't think I've ever seen that many cars (all with one person in them). There is a large shopping complex about 4 miles away from where I live, and it must have taken me 20-30 minutes to get to the store I wanted to go to. Then leaving was as crazy too. Luckily I was not in a hurry to do anything so I just went with the flow. I often wonder which is more crazy the day before christmas eve, or the day after christmas with people looking to get out of the house, returns and after christmas sales.
Well, I should have enough food in so that I won't have to venture out.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas - and don't forget to stop and slow down at times to enjoy the sights and sounds, family and friends around you.
Photo source: Stuffonmycat.com

Sushi

While checking out the Google video of the day blog, I found this link to a video about Sushi, and it's styles and traditions. It's a bit long coming in around 8 minutes, but stick with it... it does get "interesting" :)

I'm not sure if I'll be blogging any more before Christmas so if not, "Here's wishing you a Merry Christmas!"

Cyen

pointless observation

I was driving to work this morning, and approached the traffic light where I sit almost daily, and was just looking around the intersection when some movement caught my eye way above the intersection... There, high up on a telephone wire was a small bird shuffling sideways across the wire. It just struck me as both funny and odd that for whatever reason this bird was shuffling across the wire. Why? for a better view of something? Why not fly over, instead of shuffling?
Then the traffic light changed to green and it was off to the real world again. While driving on, I remembered the pixar short film called "For the Birds" and how funny it was. So for your viewing pleasure, I recommend that you take a few minutes and either look around your outdoor surroundings to see what the birds are doing, or watch this funny film short. Sadly, this is not the entire film... they want you to purchase it on itunes. Sorry for the teaser. Ah... but wait... Your in luck... as long as you can put up with the quality, here's a copy someone uploaded to google video (link removed). I just checked on this link and google has removed it... probably because it's copyrighted material. I believe this short from pixar originally appeared on the Monsters, Inc. Dvd... worth the rental just for this short movie in my opinion.
Cyen

corner bookmarks

I stumbled upon this link today via the MAKE website...
A neat little idea to make your own corner bookmarks.
Personally I keep a pad of the small post-it notes on my night-table, they stick well, don't damage the pages, and one small pad will last for hundreds of books.
But I like the idea behind this of creating custom bookmarks, and even more of a good idea is the small "notes" section. You can easily make your own, but if you want you can download Fabio's template from his website here.

Spy vs Spy...

I wasn't sure if I was going to blog about this topic or not, so as not to get on any sort of "list" but I supposed I may already be on one of those lists anyway so what the hey...
Domestic spying. Gee, I thought that it was illegal for a gov agency to spy on it's own citizens without 2 things... a good reason, and a judge saying it was "ok" to do so with certain limitations.
Well, not anymore since King bush is in charge now.
I also thought it was illegal for a president to declare war on another country or invade it (for whatever reason). But again, King bush changed that too (why Congress went along with that one I'll never know.)
I read this post yesterday on boing boing, and I very much agree. I will post a link to the original article referred to by Perry Metzger, but I should warn that this link goes to a website called "cryptome.org" and even they admit to activities of "security issues" (I interpret this to mean they may be posting items skating on the edge of "legal").
I happened to catch a bit last night on cspan where three senators were giving a press conference expressing thier dissapointment with this latest discovery. Here's the link to the video using RealPlayer (it's about 40 min long - you may need to paste this link into realplayer and not use your browser.)
They also had a link to yahoo talking about a possible Senate hearing. Good!
I'll sign off with this quote from Ben Franklin that I keep thinking of during all this...

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

It's funny though, when I went to the wiki quote page to look this up, it says that there is some debate as to wether Ben actually said this. Apparently he denied saying it, but that evidence still supports it that he did say it... He's probably like me, and didn't want to end up on some "list" :)
Cyen

Voice Of God...

Voice Of God Revealed To Be Cheney On Intercom...
Read the entire article here on The Onion.

Ricky Gervais

Last night was a lame night for TV. About 9pm I was bored of flipping through all the channels and did something I should do more often... I hit the off button.
I've been gathering a bunch of podcast's on my computer but can never seem to find the time to listen to them. Well, just the other day, I discovered that Ricky Gervais has produced a podcast. For those of you not familiar with Ricky, he's one of the co-creators of the British TV show called "The Office". I was lucky to have gotten this dvd set from "J.D.E." (Thanks!) and very much enjoyed it. (the second season wasn't as good though). Anyway, If you're a fan of british humor I recommend giving this a listen. Warning: there are some crude moments and some foul language, so it's not kid appropriate. If you are not familiar with podcasts (Wiki description), I think you can also just download mp3 files of the show, and listen to them via any mp3 player on your computer.
Just to give you a taste of the topics of the podcast... They have done two episodes only and both featured a segment called "Monkey News" :)

TGIF!!! Enjoy your weekend!

soda bottle

While at work today, I was looking up some information on types of bottle molding, and did a search on google for how to make a soda bottle. I found this link talking about the inventor of the plastic soda bottle...
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/wyeth.html
Simple read, but in a nutshell I was surprised to find out that the inventor "Nathaniel Wyeth" was the son to the famous painter N.C. Wyeth. What a talented family.
To see some of N.C. Wyeth's paintings click here for a google image link.
I'm also going to check out the mit link above to see who some of the other inventors are.

Wind Robots

I've heard of this guy before - Theo Jansen, and have seen the videos on his website some time ago, but just stumbled upon a link today where someone interviewed him on a podcast (mp3 audio file) so I thought I'd blog about him today.
I don't know how he does it, but this guy designed these amazing wind powered "robots" that walk across a beach. They're pretty large too!
Here's the link to his website.
Here's the link to the podcast interview.
I had difficulty in viewing the film files on his website (using a macintosh with quicktime). If you also have problems I can recommend this... Download a copy of VLC (a free opensource video player). When you get to the link on his website for the film files, "Control click" and download the files to your desktop, then drag and drop onto the VLC player.
Link to the VLC website.

King Kong

Just a quick story to share...
The other weekend, I had the opportunity to see the new Harry Potter movie. While sitting through what seemed like 30 movie previews there was one for the upcoming King Kong movie. Don't forget the Harry Potter is mainly a children's movie (though it did get a PG-13 rating). While watching the King Kong trailer they had these incredible images of the giant ape running through the jungle, smashing things left and right, fighting dinosaurs, loud roaring, etc... then there happened to be a quiet moment in the trailer, and a few rows behind me I heard the voice of a little girl say, "Look mommy! a giant monkey!"
I almost laughed outloud at this, to hear the big scary "monster" of this fantastic big budget hollywood movie summed up in the eyes of a little girl.

google video not working

Regarding my previous post about the supercooling water... It seems the link has been broken and the video removed from google (inspite of the upload page telling me it's "live"). I've emailed google to report the problem (it is a beta version afterall). I'm curious what sort of response (if any) I get back from google. In the meantime I'll look for another video service...
Sorry for any problems.
Cyen

Update: Lol. I no sooner published this post, and clicked on my link one additional time, and what-do-ya-know... it worked. I guess the word Beta sums it up best. If you have a problem with the link, try it a couple times, or come back later. Again, sorry for any problems.

Supercooling water

Finally... The post I blogged about a few days ago is finally "live" via google video. It was the first I used the google video service and all went well. Only downside was that it was not clear about how long the approval process would take. I thought a few minutes, but instead it took a day or two. Then, when it finally did say it was "approved" and that I could search for it, it came up with nothing! So I was just patient, and checked again tonight, and finally it is searchable.
Thanks to Matt for responding to my email, and letting me post his video on google.
Enough gibber-jabber... check out this video it's amazing.
To read about the experiment go to Matt's blog here.
Cyen

Celebrate

Just announcing the celebration of my friends new baby.
Congrats L and G!!!
7lbs 6oz.
21.5"
Happy Birthday!

Supercooling water

I wasn't going to blog anything today, but I found this really neat link about supercooling water.
This guy had some bottled water in his garage overnight and apparently lives somewhere cold as it got down to 1 degree Far. He went out to get a bottle expecting it to be frozen and it wasn't. When he opened the bottle, it imediately turned to ice. The next day he tried to repeat the process and he filmed it. Really cool to see. On the downside, you may not be able to view the video clips. He used a strange video format that you need to install a special viewer. I was able to translate it to a quicktime (mov) format so that all of you can watch it easily, but then I realized I may be breaking copyright laws here. So I'll see if I can get his permission to post my converted file of his movie. In the meantime here's his blog where you can read about it.
Cyen

Avatar

Ok... I goofed on this one. I previously posted how I couldn't find an "avatar" fan site... I googled it again, and if I had only used that NEW computer thingy on the side of the window... I think it's called a "scroll bar" or something... Turns out there was a good fansite at the bottom of the first page. So if anyone else is searching here's a link... http://www.musogato.com/avatar/
- Cyen the web-bender.

Eat a Frog day...

I had a better day today. Didn't start off too well as I had to deal with the maintenance people this morning to try to get my front door fixed. They were about an hour late, but the guy came and did the job (sort of... he left it unpainted, and exposed wood, but at least it's up.) But, after he finished the job, I was able to pull some information out of him about how they schedule appointments. It took some doing at first, because he was making up excuses as to why he was late (which was not what I was asking him), but in a nutshell they make appointments, but they make appointments for everyone who requests the same time slot. In other words, If I request an 8am appointment the guy at the desk will say "ok". Then if someone else calls and asks for 8am, he'll also say "ok". Then the actual worker will get a handful (he said sometimes more than 5) and it's up to him to decided which one he wants to do first. This explains a lot.
I hate getting upset at these type things, but it really bothers me when someone say's they'll be there for an appointment, then don't show. I also hate these things because I get angry at myself for getting angry in the first place over such a small inconvenience of no weather-stripping. There are people with MUCH more serious problems, and here I am angry because I'm being inconvienenced. Oh well... life goes on.
When I told someone about my woes this morning she said, "well you ate your frog this morning..."
"huh?"
It's a saying that means you had to have something bad happen in the morning so that the rest of the day should go better. I never heard this saying before, but like it.
On a GREAT note... no squirrels this morning! Wouldn't that be great if I scared him off on the first day (not likely, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed).

How does one find a good apartment? Is there such a thing?
What's better... an apartment complex, or a single landlord who is renting one or two apartments in a building? I need to start looking.

switching thoughts now...
This morning the President was to give another speech to try and defend his position on the war. A woman on CNN said something to the effect of... The public is losing it's support for the war, and the president is trying to make a speech to regain some of that support. (She worded it much better than I). It struck me as odd... If the approval rating is around 30% (according to some polls), and basically the President is supposed to "represent" the people... what has to happen for the people's will to be carried out? Does it always have to lead to something ugly (protests, fights, arrests, etc...)? I guess time will tell, but I predict things won't change until the next President is elected.

Changing gears again...
Why are there no fan sites for the Nick cartoon "The last avatar"? I got hooked on this cartoon over thanksgiving weekend, and just watched the season finale last friday night. I went online to try and find some images, or fan sites for this cartoon, and there was very little. Even the official site on Nickleodeon was somewhat lame. I guess I have to keep digging, or make my own :)

Enjoy the rest of your day (or night) stay healthy (Get better D and E),
Cyen out.

Not a good day...

The dreaded "S" word...
I awoke early this morning (around 5:30am) and had trouble falling back to sleep. I am a light sleeper now due to a problem I've had in the past of having squirrels in the attic of my apartment. I went through a nightmare of dealing with not only the squirrels in my attic waking me at dawn in the morning, but also dealing with the idiotic maintenance people and the property manager. Eventually after many sleepless nights and mornings they caught the little buggers (what they did with them I don't know). Well, last year the squirrels came at the first real cold snap in late october (i think). Here it is December, and I thought I was going to have a good winter... until this morning. Sure enough, I walked into my kitchen and was folding a grocery bag, when i heard the distinct sound of a squirrel in the attic. My heart dropped. I honestly do not know which is worse, to have the squirrel problem, or dealing with the humans at my apartment complex. On a good note, as soon as the squirrel heard me moving around he left. I can only "HOPE" that i scared him off (but I seriously doubt it). I will probably be blogging about this experience as time goes on. ugh.

Bees>
On another nature related note: No longer can we use the old saying about how science doesn't understand how a bee flys (is it flys or flies?)... Some scientists have studdied it and think they have come up with an answer. It's an interesting read here, but in a nutshell, bee's use their wings differently than any other insect... instead of increaseing the rate at which they flap their wings to gain altitude (or to carry nectar), they change the tilt of their wings, and maintain a steady beat (around 230 beats per second!). At the end of the article they say how this information may help the robitics engineers trying to create small flying robots. Cool!

Well, early to bed tonight, so I'll be well rested when the squirrels arrive tomorrow morning.
Cyen

PS> I have been struggling with maintenance reagarding a different problem (the weather stripping around my door). It's like pulling teeth trying to talk to the guy in charge. I figure one problem at a time.

Sunday

Movie>
I just saw the latest Harry Potter movie last night. I don't think I can pass a good judegment on the movie itself due to the location that I saw the movie. I wanted to see it, but the best time available was at a theater that I loathe... Lowes. It's been a very long time since last I visited lowes (at least a year or more) so I thought, 'well maybe things have changed.' No.
I got there maybe 20 minutes before showtime. There was a long line. I didn't stop for popcorn (as it cost way too much), and yet I had to sit in the third row. Ok, I guess that's my fault for not getting there sooner, but I didn't think it would have been that crowded after 3 weeks since the release date. (wrong again as it's the number one ranked movie for the 3rd week in a row). I sat through what seemed like 10-15 previews, one was for a movie that will be released in November of 2006! Really, should you be doing previews 11 months ahead of time? The film was too dark (until about 7/8ths when it seemed like someone flipped a switch on the projector and it became noticably brigther) not to mention scratch lines and dark shadows on the edges of the screen. So... It was hard for me to enjoy the movie with all these distractions. In spite of all that, I did like the movie overall. I think it was probably about 20 minutes too long (cut a lot of stuff at the beginning). I enjoyed the charaters, and the effects, and for short periods of time I was transported to Hogwarts.

Books>
I'm actually reading Harry Potter as well. Enjoying it so far.
I'm also (finally) reading a small book i picked up at a small bookstore in Berkeley, CA... called the "Stolen Sharpie Revolution". Interesting book about a subculture who independently makes there own "zines". Usually small budget magazines done on a photocopier. I will probably never make my own zine, but reading about the process was/is interesting. It's also interesting to me because the zine community were almost like the first "bloggers". I would imagine that with the ease of blogging it probably has diminished the zines.

Politics>
I just finished watching a debate with Alan Dershowitz and Noam Chomsky on C-span's Book TV. I'm not sure if I consider myself a "fan" of Chomsky, but I like a lot of things that he says and stands for. I will admit though that much of what he says goes over my head. Even the subject of this debate was beyond me, but at the same time I found the exchange of ideas interesting. The topic of the debate was "Israel and Palestine After Disengagement". One thing that I was rather shocked and very dissapointed with, was that this was a debate sponsored by Harvard, and was between two highly educated men, and yet neither one could speak to one another in a civil manor. Each one was taking "cheap shots" at the other, interrupting one another, and at times even over-shouting the moderator who was trying to keep things in line (and failing). These two men of such high esteem, education, political backgrounds, etc... can't manage to have a civil debate about peace in the middle east... It was very sad. If you are the slightest bit interested in this, you can watch it online on C-span's website here. (The opening comments of each speaker are tedius to listen to, but once the questions from the audience start things heat up quickly.) You'll need "realplayer" to view this.

Table>
I was inspired by sister's blog to finally fix a small rickety end table that I've had. The glue of the legs had long since dried up, and there was only one screw holding each leg on. So I took the legs off, sanded them down (by hand at first, but then I used my dremel and saved a lot of time). Then put some new glue on, and reattached the legs. One leg may still give me problems as it didn't sit too well, but the other three snugged up nicely. I've got it clamped now, and will let the glue dry overnight. Thanks to my sister who finally gave me the motivation to fix this little table.

Well, this is turning into a small book, so I'll sign off now.
Cyen

Life on my computer...

I had this idea a few days ago, and just came upon a website that reminded me of my idea. The website is called happypalace and is a blog of various images. I don't get it really, as it seems to be a hodge podge of images, but some neat vintage images. The first image that popped up when I loaded the page, was a line drawing of a floppy disk with the label of "My Entire Life". This led me to the reminder that I just came up with this idea about a week ago...

About a week ago, I had bought a new TV. In throwing out my old TV (which I hated to do), I was curious how old it was, and how long I had had it. Must have been close to 11 or 12 years. I thought I should know this sort of info. So I created a simple text file on my computer, that I will now log all the semi-important things that happen in my life. For example, I put the purchase date of my new TV. I recently had to call my apartment complex to get them to come out and fix my dishwasher, which they then had to replace. So I noted this as well. There are only a few entires at this point, but I think it will be neat in 10-20 years to open this file and look back and see what was "important" that I felt I needed to keep track of. (And it will be searchable, so I hope once I have a bunch of entries it will be possible to find what I'm looking for.)

Music> I happened to watch the Daily Show last night, and they had a first... They had a musical guest of "The White Stripes" (which I like - not all of the songs, but most of the songs). It was neat to see them perform, and although I enjoyed it on the Daily Show, I hope this doesn't become a regular feature on the Daily Show... I think if it did, it would be more of a "late night" or "the tonight show" or "Jimmy Kimmel" and not a Fake News Show. I guess time will tell. On a related note: I saw a link a couple days ago for a Live recording via NPR radio of the White Stripes. I thought "cool, I can stream it and record it on my computer (for personal use)" - But when it started... OH MY... it was horrible! Just a bunch of screaming, and poor audio quality. The live performance on the Daily Show was ten times better though.

Politics> I passed a house this morning on my way to work (I pass it everyday), and this morning was a sign out front that said "Impeach Bush Cheney". I remember this house had signs out front during the election for Kerry. I admire someone who puts a sign outside of their house stating an extreme political point of view. I don't know if I'd ever do it for fear of some sort of retaliation (a rock through a window, paint, etc...). I guess i can do it in a different way... on my blog :) Impeach Bush.

23 Days until Christmas...

Cyen

Testing colors

Thanks Sis, for teaching me about the color options. As it turns out, it wasn't so much a difference between Mac vs PC, but rather the particular web browser that you use to edit your blog. I was using the Mac Safari version, after a little digging I found out that the new version of Mozilla's Firefox supports all the buttons (color, type, quotes, links, etc) all work.
I know most people reading this are like "huh?" but for us geeks this is exciting news! ok, well maybe not exciting like having a new baby, or getting a new car, but exciting like taking your winter coat out for the first time and finding a $5 bill in the pocket.

Cyen

Scary Bill O'Reilly comment

I came across this info a while ago, and saved the link to my computer, but thought maybe the link should be made more public.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200511100008

O'Reilly to San Francisco: "[I]f Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. ...You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead"

Ugh... O'reilly is really scary sometimes. I happened to watch a few seconds of him yesterday interviewing a woman, and it was a joke, becaues the two of them were just shouting overtop one another. Neither one was listening to what the other was saying. As someone who gets paid to interview people, I would have thought that was common sense... Ask a question, then stop and listen to the response.

On an unrelated note and a change of temperment... Today is December 1st! 24 days until Christmas... I'm starting to feel a little bit of holiday cheer today.

Cyen

Free Bible

Today has been a "broken" day... My dishwasher broke (Should get a new one tomorrow from the apartment people - so that's good). My Internet connection at home went down (I hope it's back up when I go home tonight). So I'm kinda in a funky mood today... what better time than to post a rant that has always bothered me.
Of all things that should be free in this world... The Bible. I don't mean the books themselves, but rather the text. One of today's most popular translation is the NIV translation (New International Version). Get ready for some acronyms... The NIV version was translated by a group called the CBT (Committee on Bible Translation), and this part gets a little fuzzy... The company that is doing all this is called IBS (International Bible Society). Here's a link that might explain all this a little better than I did as I was trying to simplify this.
Now to add one more level of who owns what... Zondervan is a company that is connected here somehow. My bible shows that both Zondervan and IBS hold the copyright (which I didn't know two different companies can hold the same copyright). Which brings me to my main point... Of all the books in the world that should be made freely available, I think the Bible is one of them. Yet due to copyright laws it is illegal to make copies (of more than 500 verses). There is a new movement called "creative commons" and I would hope someday a plain english translation makes it's way to a Creative Commons license. It's an interesting copyright twist that a translation can be copyrighted. There's no way to re-translate a text without it ending up similar to the NIV version, which would then be a violation. Yes, I understand a lot of work/time/money went into this new translation, but it seems like there could have been a better way to make the text freely available to the world, and still have them get paid.
I guess, the free version will have to remain the King James Version.
Ok, I'm done my rant now - stepping off my soapbox now.

Cyen

PS> I'm by no means a biblical scholar, so if I've made a mistake in this rant (or you know the connection of Zondervan to IBS) please let me know. Post in the Comment area - please dont use the comments area to debate religion, any post that doesn't pertain to this I will delete.

Movies

A few mini-reviews...
Last week I saw the movie "Jarhead". A story about one man's experience in the Marines during Desert Storm. I'm actually not sure if I liked this movie or not. The acting was great. I've been a fan of Jake Gyllenhaal since Donnie Darko. The movie was based the real life experiences of Anthony Swofford, and seemed to give a glimpse into the Marines, but I'm sure every story has two sides. I expected to come away from the movie with a feeling of a message, and I suppose the movie did not paint the war in the best of light, but a lot of the movie seemed like all the other war movies. Boot camp is tough, some guys are jerks, some guys are crazy and some guys are good buddies.

This weekend I saw "The Ice Harvest" with John Cusak and Billy Bob Thorton. The movie just really lacked something for me. Those two actors had a good chemistry in Pushing Tin, but in this movie it felt forced. Oliver Platt did a good job playing the drunk guy, and had some funny bits, but the movie just seemed to try to be a remake of Fargo. I also don't like how the movie is sort of being marketed as a holiday movie... yes, it takes place on Christmas eve, but it's about murder, strip joints, mobsters, and dysfunctional families... not exactly a "holiday movie".

Just thought I needed to mention this for some reason... The passing of Pat Morita (Nov 25) or as most people know him "Mr. Miyagi". I always did like his character, and some of his lines will live on as classics in movie trivia. He seemed to be the kind of actor that if you met him in real life I would imagine him to be a nice person.

Looking forward to:
Harry Potter
Syriana
Narnia (maybe - I'll wait for some reviews first)

Cyen

Thanksgiving a success

Well, Thanksgiving is just about over now as I head to bed. It was a good one... I cooked a 7lb Turkey Breast (way too much for just me! Tons of leftovers), Mashed Potatoes, Corn (Shupeg whatever that means - and yes I spelled it wrong probably), Gravy (powderd mix), Stove Top Stuffing, and I even made my own cranberry sauce with a few modifications (I cut back on some of the sugar, and added a little apple cider, and a very small amount of fresh ginger (didn't taste it really). I had one small injury trying to open a spice container, bent my thumbnail back trying to pry the lid off, it somehow drew blood!? Which now it hurts like a paper cut - I'll live. Turkey cooked up well, but I was still concerned with undercooking it... I used a thermometer, looked up the temperature on the internet and found a range of 161-180, and the thermometer said 190 for poultry. I took an average and went to 175. But... When I cut into it, there was a pinkness around the outside of the turkey of all places. Just under the skin really. I ate it anyway, as I cooked it for almost 2.5 hours! for only a 7lb breast - it had to be cooked. I think next year, I'm going to try something different and either slice it off the bones and stir-fry it, or maybe cut it into pieces and cook it in a baking dish (I did that one year and cooked it on top of my own homemade stuffing, and that really turned out good!
I watched a lot of TV today too... a lot of flipping of channels, but I watched mostly Nickelodeon's "Avatar - the last airbender". I really like the animation/art for this cartoon. Today's marathon also brought me up to speed on the story, as I never really watched a full episode. But it is a good show. I'm going to have to watch this more often.
I've started to get back into drawing a little, and plan on starting my own "parts factory" I started by drawing eyes today (in the computer - adobe illustrator). I plan on drawing my own pieces so that I can create some characters that use similar parts (eyes, noses, mouth, etc...) I've decided I need to persue a creative outlet with my art/doodles more.
And finally, ended up playing a new videogame - Starwars Battlefront 2 for the PS2. So far it's a pretty good game.
Well, heading to bed now with a full belly, and thankful for all that I have in my life... Family, friends, work, and all the opportunities I've had to make this a thankful day. AND I took tomorrow off too, so it's going to be a nice long weekend.

Cyen

PS> On an unrelated note... I'm reading buzz on the internet how the brand new xbox 360 is having overheating issues. Only 2 days after the big release and the trouble is brewing already for Micro$oft. I had a very small urge to get an xbox, not now, I'll probably just wait until the new PS3 comes out.

video link test

I found this blog today: http://gvod.blogspot.com/
It's a blog where Michael sorts through the various google videos and picks one of the best ones to post. I enjoyed several of his picks today, especially this one called "redneck rollercoaster" - which just the name itself cracks me up. He was also kind enough to post how he links to the videos directly, so I'm giving it a try on my blog here. If you click the picture, it should open a link for the google video page. (unless i did something wrong).
Enjoy and thanks to Michael Martine.

Cyen

image testing

this is a test,,, did you study?

Doc

Well, as much as i dislike going to the doctors, I finally went today because of a cough I just can't seem to get rid of. From my previous post where I mentioned I was sick about 4 weeks ago, this cough has hung on. So, off to the doctors today. It was the first time I used my Health Insurance program - as a friend reminded me... you're paying for it, you might as well use it! It was a smooth visit, except for one thing... They trashed - er um, I mean they put my previous records in "storage" since I had not been there in about 2 years. I've been going to this doctor for about 20 years, and he walked in and asked "is this the first time here?" I guess since I didn't have a chart. I explained the chart, and he just said "oh". I had thought there may have been some recognition since he treated me for so many years, and each of our families sort of knows one another. Oh well, I didn't go into it all. I just wanted the prescription for the antibiotics and then I was outta there. I always fear I'm going to pick up even worse germs than what I have when I go to the docs (which knock on wood is RARE).
All of this longwinded post just to say that I used my health insruance for the first time... and it felt kinda good.
Now... I just need to get rid of this cough and then everything will be well again!

Cyen

43 Things...

I found a neat website the other day. 43 things. (actually, I had bookmarked it some time ago as something to check out, but it quickly got lost in the shuffle... I have a lot of links like this). I'm not a big "list" person (a phobia I developed thanks to my mother writing a chore list for me when I was a kid). But I like this idea of keeping a big, broad "someday" list of things I'd like to accomplish. As one example... to build my own log cabin in the woods... Something I'll probably NEVER do, but who knows, maybe someday. And, it's kinda neat to see what other people are aspiring to do.
http://www.43things.com/

Items on my mind lately...
I would like to pay off my vehicle loan early (a few months).
I would like to buy a new TV.
I would like to buy a new mattress and pillow.
I would like to buy a new video game (starwars battelfront 2)
I would like to STOP thinking about buying things!
I would like to make something small with my hands.

Enjoy your day
Cyen

Sickly

Sorry no updates lately, been trying to fight off a cold that just won't quit. It's been 10 days today since I first started feeling ill. It started with a sore throat, then moved to a cough that just wouldn't leave me alone, and then turned into a plain old head and chest cold. I'm still not better, but today is the first day I am feeling energized. (maybe it was the caffiene in the tea I had this mornings?) On one of the worst nights of my coughing, I did not have any cough medicine in, I thought I had a mall botttle in the fridge, but when I went to look, it wasn't there... probably expired, and I threw it oout. I mixed up a home remedy of honey and lemon juice (which tastes really good, and works well!) But I wanted to keep something by my nightstand instead of having to get up every hour to go to the fridge. I ended up grabbing a bottle of maple syrup! It actually worked well, in getting the cough to subside, but it only lasted for about an hour. So it made for a long night, but I can't imagine not having it at all.
Hopefully, I'm on the mend now, and it's just a matter of time until I stop coughing. I hope I don't have to go to the doctors for a cough that won't go away.

books> I did get a lot of reading done while sick, so that was a good thing. I finished the book "The Traveller". I was really dissapointed by the ending. I liked the subject, but there was no payoff. I also finished a book called "The Codex" which I really enjoyed. It was an adventure style book, involving mayans, jungles, treasure hunting, etc... a fun read. I am not finally starting to read the latest Harry Potter book. I still have about 3-4 other books lined up after that waiting to read.

Music> Just bought the latest Depeche Mode CD. It's good, but a little too mello. There are two or three songs that I really like though, so I don't regret buying the whole album.

Science> Maybe not exactly science, and more in the fun catagory, but I found a really cool website called... http://www.sodaplay.com . basically you can build a two dimensional object using springs and muscles, to create a shape that will move. There is some really neat physics behind a small java script application, and I have lost several hours trying to build a new object. I wish I had something like this when I was a kid! The program is simple (after learning how to work it which took some time), but now I wish it could do more. I would pay for a more advanced application like this.

ok, better run
Cyen

apple came through...

well, I got an email response today. Turns out they are going to refund the purchase. (not sure if they mean they are going to refund the entire album purchase, or just the value of the 2 songs, but either way it's a good thing. I would like to consider this a done deal, and I wish I could go back to using itunes without a care, knowing that in the end they will stand do the right thing, but it does not account for the several emails I've had to write, the 40 minutes on hold, and the frustration of trying to talk to a live human to straighten this out. I will use itunes now knowing that the store is not perfect. and that if ever I choose to buy an entire album, that I will seriously consider just going to the store to buy it. Sorry apple.
You know, on one hand I understand that itunes sells millions of songs (a day or a week) and that they perhaps can not afford to staff a live tech support - but I also have to question that with all of the sales of ipods, songs, and now videos, that all these millions of dollars can't be put back into creating a friendly customer service experience. Ok, fine, perhaps the first line of customer service should be via email, as I'm sure some/most issues can be resolved this way, but still an option should be available for speaking to a human. Oh well, I guess this would cut into their profits.

onto other topics...
It's a beautiful fall day today. I might be getting out of work early today, and if so, I will try to go to the park to enjoy this nice weather!

books> Still enjoying the book "the traveller" though I've hit that stage where I'm realizing that I'm approaching the end of the book, and am not looking forward to finsihing. Oh well, at least I already have my next book ready and waiting for me... Harry Potter. And after tha, I want to go to the library (probably will have to renew my card - or find it) and read the book 1984 by George Orwell.

Music> Looking forward to the Depeche Mode new album.

Science> Found a cool link yesterday about a genetically modified vegetable in switzerland...
http://www.fourmilab.ch/images/Romanesco/

Religion> Trying to figure out what the meaning of "disciple" is.

Cyen

Psst... Hey buddy wanna buy a song?

Well, another gripe about one of my favorite companies... Apple. I hate to post yet another gripe, but as a fan, and as someone who spends their hard earned cash on apple products, I figure that gives me the right.
I've been a big fan of itunes. I buy all my music via itunes now rather than steal. Apple made it easy and cheap and convenient for me to do this, so I can't justify downloading via the peer to peer sites. But something recently happened that changed my view of itunes. I bought a comedy album that had 22 tracks on it. (Kevin Meaney - That's not right). I was watching the songs download, and noticed that they were taking a long time, and they were downloading out of order. Then all of a sudden it jumped from "downloading 6 of 22" to "downloading 7 of 20". huh? what happened to the other two? Sure enough after it downloaded the 20th song, it came up with an error 502. and told me that there was a problem and that I should go to the advanced menu and select "check for purchased musci..." I did this and again got a strange error. I restarted itunes, and did this again, and was told that all songs have been downloaded. Now what do I do? There was obviously a glitch, but how do i straighten this out? I went to the apple website hoping to find a phone number. NO! All itunes support is done through email. And takes 72 hours for them to respond. ok - what choice do I have? I sent a detailed email explaining the problem, and asked how do I go about getting the other 2 songs. two days later, I got a response... it was obviously automated response and clear that no one had read my email. In a nutshell they told me to install itunes. (huh!?) So I had to resubmit another email telling them that they did not read nor respond to my original email. Then yesterday I decided to try and talk to a human at apple. I can go on describing this fiasco, but I'll give you the short version... 1 hour on the phone (about 40 minutes spent on hold). Spoke to one tech support person who had no idea what error 502 was, and finally talked to a customer service person who basically resubmitted an email for me to the itunes support website. Argh. So I'm still waiting for a response, I've spent hours trying to figure out how to get my two songs, and all to no avail. I then realized that buying music via itunes is no different than buying something from a guy in an alley. If something goes wrong you are screwed. I have one final option of course, to go through my credit card company and dispute the purchase, but I hate to go through all that over $1.98 - but I hate it more when someone rips me off.
I'll post back if/when apple responds to me again "hopefully" crediting me for the two missing songs.
In addition to all this, I now have lost all trust in my itunes purchase. What happens if this happens again!?
I may go back to buying physical disks now.
Apple - tsk tsk. Shame on you for not offering proper support.
Cyen

words of wisdom...

Just thought I'd pass this life experience on to you all. Take it for what it's worth (if anything at all).
I live in an apartment. The maintenace people are a REAL PAIN to deal with (not to mention shoddy work, when they do "repair" something.) I've had a leaky sink faucet for about 10 years (since I've lived in the apartment). Every few months (it seems like every week!) I take the faucet apart and replace the "O" ring with a new one that i buy at the local home depot from a generic plumbing washer kit. Maybe it's because it's a generic kit, or just cheap o-rings, but they work great for a while, then they start to leak and drip again. This past weekend, I took a gamble... I saw that they had replacement "faucets" meaning the internal device itself. But there were a ton of them, all marked with special codes that didn't mean a thing to me. So, from doing the o-ring I knew roughly what it looked like. For $4.97, I took a gamble and bought the one that looked right. I usually get burned whenever I do this. But this time it WORKED! So I got a whole new faucet assembly (including o-rings and washers) and it works like a charm.
I'm not sure what the words of wisdom are exactly other than, sometimes it pays to take a gamble based on an educated guess.

Cyen

PS> I small plumbing disclaimer incase you want to attempt this on your own. There is actually a special tool to remove the actual "knob" of the faucet. It's quite complicated looking but basically it works like a corkscrew. Without this little $10 tool it would make removing the knob very difficult.

The Traveler: A Novel

It's been a hectic past few weeks so I've not been in the mood to blog anythng, but today is a good day and so I thought I'd post something small.
I wanted to tell you all about a book I'm enjoying very much called "The Traveler: A Novel" by "John Twelve Hawks".
It started off a bit confusing, but I stuck with it in the hopes that things would be made clearer and luckliy they have. I am only about half way through the book now but am enjoying it a lot.
In a nutshell... Corporate conspiracy, science, religion, chase, action, living off the "grid"... All things I enjoy.
I could easily see this turned into a movie. (though not as good as the book I'm sure).

If you are looking for a good read, check it out (available on amazon).
Cyen

not so evil apple

Well, after getting riled up by what I thought were some pretty devious itunes policies it turns out it is not quite as bad as I thought... It turns out much of this policy was not new, just that I had never run into it before. It also appears that the reason they charge you for the entire album for only wanting one song has to do with the length of the song. Apparently anything over 7 minutes. But, I am still confused by this. I can't understand why a song that would be over 7 minutes warrants a $10 price tag. It can't be a technical issue can it? After all you can download an entire CD (approx 40-60 minutes worth for the same $10 price. Oh well. I still think that the soundtrack issue is much more devious though. (see my previous post).

unrelated posting...
Eagles won today! By a landslide! As I am a new Eagles fan, I am happy about this.
Phillies are doing well also... Apparently there is still a good chance that they will make the playoffs. Thanks to my bro for helping me to understand the playoff process.

Just finished a strange book by Cory Doctorow... Someone comes to town someone leaves town.
I can't say that this was a good book, but I stuck with it and finished it. It was very creative, which is the only reason it kept my interest. It also has a geek element to it, which I enjoyed. It was almost like 2 books combined into one. I'm glad I finished it and have moved on to a new one I bought called "The traveler". This is much more up my alley, though it too has a strange factor that is a little difficult to get beyond.

Music: Purchased the new album by NickleCreek about 2 weeks ago. And I'm looking forward to the new album by Depeche Mode! An 80's synth band that for some reason I never out grew and enjoy their music to this day.

News> not really following any stories at the moment. I watched some of the Roberts confirmation hearings, but it was pretty much just an excuse for the senators to spout off their beliefs. It was very scripted for a TV audience. Of course the Katrina coverage is still going strong, and it sounds like the clean up/rebuilding process is just now starting. It will be interesting to see how it will be rebuilt. I have no doubt that it will be rebuilt.

End of the weekend. Try to enjoy your work week. Ugh.
-Cyen

Evil Apple!?

A friend of mine just pointed this out to me yesterday (Thanks Steve), and after a little digging myself, I confirmed his suspicions! Apple is implementing a slow but "evil" plan... By using itunes to purchase music, which I do now for all my new music purchases, it used to be Apple would sell every song for only 99 cents. BUT apple is now making it impossible to buy that one favorite song unless you purchase the entire album for $10 (or more). I can not fathom this decision by Apple! They will alienate many faithful users by this policy! And there is another level of deviousness here... My friend is into movie soundtracks at the moment (which is how he discovered this trend). How many times have you watched a movie and then heard a particular song that you really liked? You sit through all the credits to get the name of the song and the artist. It used to be you could then go onto itunes, and purchase that one song. Not anymore... Now you must purchase the entire soundtrack! BUT if you look up that individual song and the artist, you CAN purchase it individually (in some cases). So, apple is charging a full $10 for those who may not be smart enough to look up the actual song versus purchasing the song via the soundtrack.
Here are two examples...
You know the song "American Pie" (bye, bye, miss American pie...) by Don McLean? Well if you try to purchase that classic hit for 99 cents, you can't! You must purchase the entire album.
And say you were watching the movie "Sahara" and really liked the song "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd... If you went to the soundtrack of Sahara, you would have to purchase the entire album! But if you did a search for just "Sweet Home Alabama" you find that you CAN purchase this song by itself.
I hope this new practice by Apple quickly makes the rounds on the internet and that people become as upset as I am.
This will probably force many people back to "sharing" music again, to eliminate corporate greed.
Apple... I'm ashamed of you!
Cyen

Dishwasher

Another problem "fixed" today in my daily apartment life. Saturday, I had a knock on the door (a rare thing), and was greeted by my apartment maintenance. I was informed that water was leaking into my downstairs neighbor's apartment. He thought it was coming from a broken seal on the toilet, but I suspected it was my dishwasher. I had a small leak before, that I tried to fix myself by stuffing a papertowel into the seal. He said he would notify the office and have someone come out to fix it on Monday. I called Monday morning to confirm... And they had no idea who I was, or that there was a problem. Finally I set up an appointment for someone to come out Tuesday morning (today) to fix it between 8 and 9 am. Well, by 8:45 no one has come out. Again, I call to confirm... "Uh, sir, there is no one here right now, they are all out on the grounds picking up trash". Oh. Great... What should I do? Her reply in a nutshell was "uh..." She put me on hold, then came back on, and "miraculously" a worker had just walked in, and could come over right now. Great I said. So after about an hour or so, he everything back up and working, Including fixing another piece that wore out (and probably caused the leak). So... Fingers crossed he did a good job. When I get home tonight, I'll try it out, and see if I flood out my neighbor again. Ugh.

Lesson learned: Always call to confirm the appointment.

Cyen

New Fema and New nano

Two things of note:
Apple just released a new ipod called the "nano". I find this interesting that instead of introducing this as a new product in the ever expanding lineup of ipods, they chose to discontinue the "mini-ipod". I guess it just wasn't selling? I thought it was a cool design. Anyway, so is the new nano ipod... Check it out here on apple: NANO

And in the news just now as I checked yahoo, they have fired the fairly new FEMA director, after what appears to be in response to a news article all over the TV and internet this morning about how Michael Brown had "discrepancies" on his online resume. Apparently TIME magazine did a background check on him based upon his claims on his resume, and found that not all if his job experience was on the up and up. (also on the Daily Show the other night John Stewart was ridiculing Mr. Browns background also.)
From all that I've heard, it sounds like a good call to get someone in there with better experience.

Have a Great weekend!
Cyen

3 Movie round up

Finally got the the movies this weekend. We saw Four brothers. Not bad. A good gangster/revenge movie. The plot was a little thin, and it was a little long, but it had some good points too.
And with it being a holiday weekend I got around to a few dvds that I have rented... Bogeyman - lame, I ended up watching most of it in fast forward mode. I just now finished watching "City of God" - powerful movie. A bit long, and hard to believe this was based on a true story. Not that I don't believe it, but that it is difficult to believe there are places with conditions like that and children running around with weapons like that.

Katrina

I encourage everyone to donate to the charity of their choice. Be careful though as there are some charities who may be better than others. I chose redcross.org
As I checked and 91% of their donations go directly to projects.
Other new charities that have sprung up may have good intentions, but are inexperienced at getting the funds to the victims in a timely mannor. The Red Cross has experience.
With a credit card and a few clicks of the mouse, you can take 15 minutes to really help someone in need.

Cyen

There should be a rule...

I have been thinking of the hurricane Katrina victims and their families. So sad. My thoughts and prayers go out to these families.
I had a thought that might be helpful in times of catostophic events, that would help families to re-connect. (I don't want to go into details, as I may persue this). I signed on to check for domain name availablity, and all of the possible combinations that I could think of were taken. BUT... they were taken by companies who buy up domains in the hopes of reselling them. So these pages are not being used. I'm all for making money via the internet, but there seems like there should be a rule against this sort of practice. I know, there is no way to judge or enforce this at this time, but still. The price of domain names has dropped drastically, and i believe this encourages this sort of behavior.
anyway, I'll continue to think on this idea and see if I can't come up with another alternative.

cyen

Bugs

Frustrated today. I came home late last night to find a letter from my apartment landlord. I was notified that "tomorrow" there would be an exterminator coming to my apartment to spray toxic chemicals - and that I had to clear out all my kitchen cabinets. Upon further reading it said I had to empty all of my closets as well as under my bed. I live in a small apartment, and to be hit with this with less than 24 hours notice is just inconsiderate. Why couldn't they have called and at least given me a weeks notice? I tried calling this morning to reschedule and was given the run-around until eventually I spoke with someone who seemed to know what was going on. He said not to worry about it and that the exterminator would only be spraying along the baseboards.
I finally gave up fighting the ordeal. There was nothing I can do, so I just took out all my stuff from the bottom cabinets, and piled it on the floor and couch in the living room. I closed my bedroom door as to hopefully keep the guy out of my bedroom and from spraying all my clothes. Something tells me he wont.

Lesson learned? - If you are paying someone to live in their building or on their land, you have to do what they want.
Grrr

Cyen

California

Well, I suppose I'll start updating this blog on a semi regular basis.
I just got back from a much needed vacation to California.
I visited family in the Berkeley area, and loved every minute there.
I could go on and on about the differences of east coast vs west coast, but will just note a few major ones...
Food - the selection of restaurants is amazing in Berkeley. Here in my neighborhood, my choices are; McDonald, Taco Bell, Burger King, and a handful of Chinese places. In Berkeley there are about 5 different ethnic restaurants on each block. I had the best Burito ever there, and we drove to an area called Walnut Creek, where I had the best Pizza I've ever tasted. Not to mention Ethiopian food in Oakland. Fantastic.
People in their cars, actually stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk! Here in Jersey, it is "supposed" to be law, but very few people do it. It is amazing to see a car traveling at about 30mph come to a complete stop just to let you cross the street.
I could go on, but will stop with just those two.
Perhaps, I will use this topic to continue posting about some of the places I visited.

Cyen

PS> Welcome to those who found this blog via Film-Critiques.com!

More Dust

I'm thinking of starting up my blog again. If for no other reason than the fill up "Cyberspace" with even more useless information and ponderings.

I'm currently in search of "cool" websites that I can add to my daily list of websites to read. I'm looking for sites that either have something to say (daily) such as news, tech, etc... and/or sites that offer something creative such as photos, art, etc...
If you know of any send me an email... cyenobite (at) yahoo.com. I may not thank you via email, but I thank you now.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to my future VACATION to CA!!!

Cyen

(let's see if my next post is within 8 months from now! :)

Testing

Just blowing the dust off of this blog here.
Seeing the new changes and new features as it's been close to 3 years since my last post. I'm surprised the blog was still there actually.
Have a good day
Cyen