Scary Stuff! aka Bush is trying to get into your pants

I saw this blog today on Gizmodo (the best tech blog on the planet). It says that Hitachi has developed RFID chips that that call "powder" because they are so damn small! This makes the future of any type of personal privacy seem bleak! Remember: Nobody has more motivation to lie than your government. That's my favorite quote that I invented.

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Eben Ice Caves

Me, Mel, Sven, Missie, and Dewitt went to the ice caves in Eben this weekend. It was a great day for it! It was all of our first time going except for Sven. The walk was pretty easy. We brought snowshoes but didn't need them as the trail was packed down and more like a road. I brought my new Garmin Forerunner 305 sans heart rate monitor. It worked great and didn't lose reception once even being in my jacket pocket for the most part. I hope me and Mel get out and do some more fun stuff outside this winter. I'm looking forward to the Porkies in a couple weeks.

RIAA tries (pitifully) to spin Steve Jobs' blast at DRM

It seems that the RIAA can not read very well. Maybe they should either turn down their corrupted music or get lawyers that read more than just Latin legal jargon. Steve Jobs unequivocally announced yesterday that he wants to see the END of DRM. Not a swtich to everybody relying on the same corrupted music format; the END! The RIAA ASSumed that he meant that everybody should switch to Fairplay which the RIAA would welcome with open arms. If Apple got together with all the tech companies out their couldn't they just crush the RIAA.



In related news, I've heard rumors that a bunch of idie artists and labels are going to join forces to take on the RIAA. Back in the 20's there was a broadcast radio monopoly which required smaller companies joining together to end the monopoly. I really hope this works because many indie artists want their music shared freely without being laden with DRM.

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CFL's: Taking Too Many People to Change a Lightbulb

I don't understand why it is taking so long for people to switch over to Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs in their homes. I know it took me long enough, mostly because I'm lazy. Now that I have made the switch I am not only excited to see the energy savings but I actually feel better about myself a a person. Switching to CFLs is THE easiest way for the average American to make a difference in our energy consumption. Here really why I don't understand why people are not swarming to the stores to buy CFL's: THEY SAVE YOU MONEY!!!!!!!!! I read somewhere that Adobe spent $11,000 outfitting their headquarters with CFL's and they calculated a savings of $100,000 per year!!!! I think the problem is that Americans are obsessed with instant gratification. They want their savings RIGHT NOW! We don't want to spend an extra $3 on a light bulb unless it saves us at least $3 immediately. I think we need more aggressive marketing to 'edumacate' people on the NUMEROUS benefits to switching over "from the dark side."

UPDATE: I just realized that the picture comparing CFL's and incandescents is quite outdated CFL's cost much less nowadays (I paid $7 for a three pack of GE CFL's in Dec. of 2006). I'll look for a new one and post it when found.

Great Deal?? Not if Home Depot has their way!!!! ONE MONTH FOR SHIPPING IS RIDICULOUS!!! = NO PRESENT FOR TIMMY!!!

I ordered what I think is a steal of a deal from Home Depot! When did this occur? you might ask. Well on cyber Monday, Nov. 27th, of course. By the time I found out about the great deals most of them were gone. I did find a $50 Ryobi Laser Level Kit (see picture) for $10 though so I snagged me three of them. One for me and two for gifts. Well today, Dec. 12th, I checked the status on the order for the umpteenth time and it still stated "processing." Finally, with much hesitation I called Home Depot's customer service number I got with the conformation email. After an excruciating ten minutes of horrible Christmas Hold Music, I talked to a very nice woman that played extremely stupid with me, saying she couldn't do anything for me except send the warehouse an email asking 'what's up' and that would take 72 hours. When I told her I ordered the product on the 27th of November and I needed my package by Christmas she said there was nothing she could do. She refused to expedite the shipping, or the "contacting" of the warehouse. So after 72 hours (which in online shopping equals next Monday) and then 5 - 7 Business Days "after your item leaves the warehouse" I will receive my order. This will most likely be after Christmas and will give my order a total order to delivery time of ONE FULL MONTH!!!!!!!!! Deal or no deal this has been another horrible experience and has once again affirmed my hatred for Big Box stores.

UPDATE: 1/4/07: Just found out from Seth Godin's Blog that Bob Nardelli, Home Depot's CEO, got fired. HA! Here's the kicker, according to Seth Mr. Nardelli got $210,000,000.00 in severance. Yes, count those zero's!!

Amazon Officially Sucks

Amazon has invented this awful system to get their amazing deals for the holidays. First you have to be registered and logged in to your account. Next you have to vote on the deal you want. In my case I wanted the 30GB Microsoft Zune that retailed for $260 but amazon was selling 1000 of them for $90! Great deal right??? Well hold you horses. Next Amazon has to "randomly" select you to be eligible to buy one. I did not win and now I, along with I assume tens of thousands of amazon users will hold a grudge against them and possibly never shop with them again!!! Does losing make ANYBODY want to shop at amazon *more*??
Yes, I am a sore loser and amazon should realize that most people are sore losers and they are creating thousands of them each week. What kind of idiot came up with that kind of marketing strategy!

Visa checkcards and tracking

I was just thinking yesterday morning about what our world would be like if there were no longer any Greenbacks. This would definitely make GW a happy man. The government would be able to track our day from our first cup of joe at Starbucks to our late night iTunes purchase. Mind you I'm currently reading 1984. Well last night during Heroes I saw a Visa commercial about a made-up fast food restaurant where everyone was going throuh the routine with utmost efficient. They were all using their Visa cards and dancing to choreographed music while. Suddenly a guy pulls some cash out of his wallet and the whole production screeched to a halt. Trays fall, people collide; it became chaotic all because a guy paid for his meal with cash. I am definitely addicted to my VISA check card and it scares the hell out of me knowing that Big Brother knows my every move.

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NPR : Wide-Open Spaces and Large-Scale Sounds

NPR : Wide-Open Spaces and Large-Scale Sounds

Nice sound! From NPR's Song of the Day

I love my Google reader!

I was never really into RSS feeds. I figured I would just go to the websites I wanted to read, right? Wrong! I started out by trying NewsGator but didn't find it to appealing so I decided to give Google Reader a try. Surprise Surprise Surprise! It is. Another wonderful web 2.0 application from Google. Everything I want from the Internet now comes to me! From videos and news to education and technology. It uses tagging, folders and stars just like Gmail.

I WIN!!!!!!!

I was the Blog of the Day at blogoftheday.org on August 23rd. Pretty sweet! I'm practically famous now.