Blog Archive for July 2005
A Milestone!
According to my WordPress blogging software, this is the 100th post since I started this in February.
Wait? Does mean I should say "blog" 100 times?
blog blog blog BLOG bLOG blog blog blog blog blog...
That would only be fun if I created a little program to randomize the capitalizatino of the letters. And I'm not going too. At least I'm celebrating this momentus occasion by spinning Andy Hunter's Exodus on my new iPod!
The Great Format War
Haha, now this is good. Here's somebody talking about the upcoming war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD:
"Now we are engaged in a great format war, testing whether the next generation of packaged entertainment ... can long endure. We acknowledge that the great battlefield of that war is not here, but across the Pacific. ... Yet, retailers call for the elevation of compromise over conflict and a future for all behind a unified format. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this."
Darn Minneapolis
I used to say St. Paul is much better than Minneapolis. But I can't say that much longer, I guess. I now work in Minneapolis. In a month I'm gonna be living in Minneapolis. Minneapolis has better public transportation than the west side of St. Paul. Oh well, goodbye St. Paul! I still love you!
Google Maps Update!
I went to Google Maps today and noticed something really cool. They added Satellite a while back, but nothing beats their latest, "Hybrid". Not only is it a satellite map, it includes the biggest labels on the map in a map. Check out my current location in full-style Hybrid.
Burning A Hole In My Pocket
For a while now, I've been thinking about getting a new iPod. Mine's over two years old and it's running better than ever now that I put a new battery in it. But, the 30GB of space is not enough for me now that I'm officially a music snob. For the last year or so I've been able to find boring music that I've gotten from my endeavors at cMusicWeb.com and make sure that's not on my iPod, but it's gotten to the point where my collection of purchased CDs that I'd like to have on my iPod is more than 30GB. Plus, I've been listening to tech podcasts a bit more, so having the extra space for those would be nice.
Also, I told my sister that she could have my old iPod, so it makes sense I should give it to her before she leaves for college. Sure, she's gonna have to live with my e-mail address and the quote from delirious? on it, but she'll be happy to have a place to store all her music. There's some raucous kid friends of mine that would take it and give me some money, but I'd much rather let my sister have it.
The question is now or later. I don't know. One of my friends said I should because I have the money, and they're probably right. In a month I'm moving to a place where they actually charge a decent amount for rent.
I went to the Apple store last night and found that my old cables and docks will work with my new iPod. That's a relief.
Optimus Keyboard
Who doesn't want one of these? Of course, all respectible geeks want a keyboard that lights up, but what about a keyboard where the buttons change depending on what program you're using? The
Optimus keyboard even has a left side bank of keys that can be customizable to load any program and it puts the icon right on the key! It's all through the power of beautiful LCDs.
A Smart Coaster
It's in a networking magazine, but it's even more proof that I want to go to Cedar Point in Ohio. Not only does the roller coaster top 400 feet, but it uses a large computer to figure out exactly the speed it should launch at so that you get the most enjoyable ride. Of course, that's not the only reason I want to go because it's The Roller Coaster Capital of the World.
Festvials and Stuff
So yeah, yesterday I got back from the Sonshine Festival. It was not the most exciting one I've been too, and me and my friends did too many social things for my taste. (For me, it's all about getting as much music in as possible, while for others, it's about hanging out with friends and some music.) But we caught the important shows.
As usual, Relient K had technical problems. I'm beginning to think their guitars and in-ears are made to not work in Minnesota. And as usual, the crowds during rK were insane. It was at least a thousand kids jammed up there so nobody could breathe.
Somewhat suprisingly, the crowd relaxed a bit to enjoy Switchfoot. The band played a couple new songs (their first single, "Stars," plus "Happy is a Yuppie Word") plus all the faves from The Beautiful Letdown. I'm still disappointed they never play some of their classic material anymore -- it still includes some of my favorites.
I also witnessed an amazing and terribly short performance by the amazing new Mute Math. They only played five tracks but every second was amazing. Their instrumental track, "Reset," is even more amazing live. They recreate the sounds perfectly, with Paul Meany jumping from keyboard to keyboard and then even the guitarist switching to a keyboard a bit too. Meany also had tons of fun playing the keytar (I dunno if that's a technical word, but it's the keyboard that is held like guitar). Half of it was new songs, so I hope they get the full-length out soon!
There were many other performances we caught, but not many were memorable beyond those three. I was hoping to check out Kids in the Way, but for some reason they could not make it. Plus, we got there late on Thursday, so we missed some amazing acts such as Skillet, 4th Avenue Jones, and a couple more. Too bad I had to work.
It's Overdue
Wow, it's been a long while since I've posted on my blog. But nothing amazing has happened yet. The decision to move is still pending although it's looking more and more definite. The couple days off of work to go to the Sonshine Festival was fun. And I'm finally doing stuff at work instead of just sitting around doing training. Ohh, and on the hottest day of the year so far, the air conditioning at the place I live decided to stop working. Good thing I'm at work where it's still cool.
Thinking of Moving
Now that I have this job, I'm thinking about moving to a place that's closer to work. Most places closer to work are much easier to get to work as well, and that's one main reason I'm thinking of moving.
Today I talked to a friend who is renting out space in a frat house in the University campus area. It'd be a lot closer to work, and about half the people that will be living in the house I already know. And the other half that I don't know is not at all the problem.
Well, the first problem is I want to see the place, but that's not hard to do. The second problem is the living options in there. Half of the people (and probably all the people I know) are going to be doing a missions type thing to the neighborhood. We want to create Christian life in the neighborhood, and these people are going to be spending a considerable amount of time to make sure this happens in the neighborhood.
If I had no other ambitions and aspirations of my own, this would be great. But I'm not sure how this idea fits with my own. Most importantly, it's a problem of free time. If you work for cMusicWeb.com, you've probably noticed I've gotten pretty busy and am not updating the site as much. (Oh wait, there's been less to update anyways.) Of course, I'd save at least an hour per day on commute, but I might have to give that up to a fitness program too.
I'm gonna have to do some thinking and praying about this situation. Can I give up more of my time to doing God's work in Minneapolis? Or should I let others do it and keep working on websites and such? I believe what I am doing is what God wants me to do, but what if I should be doing more?