Waste of Space

Unless you’ve seen the magnificent fireworks displayed every night at Disney World or EPCOT, you’ve never seen a “proper” display.

Happy Gregorian New Year!

###

My amazing wife, Miranda, decided that she wanted to decorate our apartment patio for a decorating contest that our complex was holding. With only three days to decorate and barely anything for a budget, she was able to throw all of this together…

My wife = teh awesome

###

So I see that the Dev-Team has unlocked/jailbroken the latest iPhone 3G model (engadget) and I’ve come to the realization that I don’t care.

I used to think “HOORAY! I can hack my iPhone/iPod Touch to be able to things that I want to do!!”, but after jailbreaking my iPod Touch, I don’t see the point. I mean… why do people buy these Apple devices? Just to hack them into something different or actually to use as the devices they are?

I played with the jailbroken iPod for a few weeks and didn’t find any type of benefit to it over the way it was. The only thing that I thought was useful…. “themes”. However, that is not nearly enough of a reason to risk “bricking” my device. (which is the reason I didn’t jailbreak my iPhone) So I’ve gone back to the Apple firmware and am completely satisfied with it.

I just think that “Jailbreaking” the iPhone was a benefit when it first came out, but now…. now it’s just not needed IMHO.

I almost reminds me of people that buy a car, then put all these modifications into it… performance chips, body kits, etc. If you are buying a car, why not get one that you’re satisfied with? …sheesh. You want to unlock your iPhone so that it’s something else? …then buy something else!

Whatever…. I’m over it.

###

ok… no secret, but I’m not a religious person. If it makes you happy… fine, but don’t expect me to feel the same.

What gets my goat are the ways people can be sooooo hypocritical when it comes to their religion and how they behave in person…. especially around Christmastime. I can’t blame the religions on this for the most part as the media has a large part to play in how people act. Why should people be nicer, buy presents, etc, etc, around the Christmas holiday? You should feel like that ALL YEAR LONG, not just for a month or a few days!

How can I be more of a role model to the “good” in your religion than you are? Isn’t that kind of sad? … the guy who couldn’t care less whether you live or die actually lives the life that you “pretend” to follow.

I’m tired of seeing so many people smiling and acting so different because of a simple holiday….. regardless of denomination. If you can be that all the time, then you are a better person for it. I have no time for you, your belief, or your “god” if you can’t simply be a good person.

What makes a good person? Follow the “rules”… don’t break any laws (especially traffic laws)… and do things for the benefit of helping others. If you can learn to like doing things for others, then you will truly be “blessed”.

I’m tired…. literally… so I’m going to bed.

Good night.
###

Here we are at the concert. More pics later.

I’ve started to decorate my cube at work.

You know… standard blood and giant spiders… same ol stuff.

posted via iPhone

So…. I recently posted about how out of shape I was and how I wanted to start the 100 Push Ups program.

Well, things are going well… but these push ups are KICKIN’ MAH BUTT!!!

It is a little neat to see how I am progressing, but daaaaayum…. my arms are sore! I started last Tuesday (because I forgot about it on Monday), so today will be Day 3 of Week 1 and Monday will start Week 2!

Hope my arms last until then…

###

I found this article on the web and didn’t want to lose it, so I’m reposting it…

… it may start off positive, but soon reveals the madness within.

============================

Amazing Letter From a Local Wasillian Who Knows Sarah Palin Well.

From: http://www.washingtonindependent.com/3671/the-reform-candidate

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won’t vote for her can’t quit smiling when talking about her because she is a “babe”.

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.

She is “pro-life”. She recently gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn’t take positions; she just “puts things out there” and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She’s smart.

… click HERE for more »

WTF you ask? On Friday (two days ago), I took the “Initial Test” from the 100 Push Ups program…. where you just simply do as many proper push ups as you can before collapsing into a heap on the floor. How many push ups was I able to do??? … a devastating 13!!!

Wait… whaa? 13?? Only 13 push ups? Holy cow, I wasn’t expecting THAT!

… and my arms are still sore from doing them 2 days ago! LOL

So on Monday, I begin my Week 1 training where I do 5 sets of varying numbers of push ups (with 60 second rest periods in between). I hope that I’m not still sore tomorrow… else this will turn into a REAL treat. \

Cheers!
###

UPDATE #2 (1/26/2009):

Not to leave this topic unattended, but it seems that a few months after I got the Dell 1535, someone found a way to “somewhat” fix the speaker issue themselves. Figures. (my wife is still 1000% satisfied with her MacBook though and wouldn’t trade it back)

The problem with the speakers appears to be with the Dell sound drivers… the key is to completely remove those drivers and let Vista replace them with its own.

Here is a link to the article I just found regarding this “fix”: LINK
Here is a link to the forum I found the above link on: FORUM

Some of the people say that while it drastically improves the sound, it still kinda sucks…. so if you are keeping this laptop, you may want to give it a try.

============ END OF UPDATE #2============

UPDATE (11/19):

Well, I worked with Dell to get a replacement laptop sent out to me and to return the “broken” one. The problem was that the NEW laptop sounded just as bad as the other one!

After a few days, my wife and I checked the local Best Buy and saw that they had the Studio 1535 model in stock. I played some music on the store model and it too sounded the same.

We ended up returning both laptops and Dell issued me a full credit so I didn’t have to pay a thing.

Rather than try another Dell or Windows-based laptop, I converted my wife to a Mac. I bought her the new Macbook…. and she is LOVING it! The speakers sound a LOT better than the Dell, but then again, it did cost more. However, having been using Mac’s for a few years now, I stand by them and say they are well worth the price for our purposes.

============ END OF UPDATE ============

Last month, as a graduation present, I bought my wife a new Dell Studio 1535 laptop computer. This was to replace an older Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop that I handed down to her. The old laptop was clunky, large, loud, and a bit on the heavy side.

I had good experiences with Dell systems in the past (when it comes to Windows), so I thought I give them more money.

Well, turns out that there is a problem with the speakers…. at least.. I think there is a problem. The rub is that we can’t find another Dell Studio 1535 to compare this with to see if we indeed have a problem.

Here are the steps I have taken and the problem I am having:

• Audio from the laptop speakers is very poor in quality. This problem has existed since first unpacking the laptop and starting it up for the first time in July. The audio from the main speakers sound as if there may be a short in the wiring somewhere inside the laptop… as they sound very “tinny” as if there was a poor or partial connection. When compared to a cell phone on speakerphone, the cell phone sounds MUCH better. I have updated both the BIOS to “A05″ and audio drivers with “6.10.0.6017, A05″, but still sounds bad. The sound from the headphones is fine.

• In addition to installing the latest drivers/BIOS, I have also run the Diagnostic CD that came with the laptop as suggested. As I suspected (since the speakers ³physically² work), there was no problem detected by the Diagnostic CD. I suspected that the speakers may be faulty or sub-standard.

I only wish a store around here carried the Dell Studio so that I can see if they are supposed to sound this way. I really doubt it though… I¹ve had many Dells in the past and not even my old Toshiba laptop from 1993 sounded this bad.
I’ve attached an MP3 to demonstrate to you the suxx0r factor of the speakers… hope it plays

Cheers!
Mark