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I recently upgraded to a
Blackberry 8700g.
Email, cellphone, web
access, and PDA all-in-one.
I love Canon digicams.
I had an S330, then an S230,
now an SD400. They're solidly
made, they take great pictures,
and they're ultra-portable.
I've gone back to the dark
side. I once again have an iPod.
This time it's a 60gb iPod Photo.
The Dell Latitude D620
is my current work laptop.
It's a cleanly designed
Centrino Duo machine with
amazing battery
life and a nice screen.
My home laptop is a
15" Apple MacBook Pro
dual-booting both Mac OS X
and Windows XP. Hooray for
Boot Camp!
I recently upgraded to a 20"
Dell 2001fp LCD. It has great
image quality, and convenient
USB ports on the side.
My current PC is
a P4 system based on an Intel
D915GAG motherboard in an Antec
Sonata II case. 200gb Seagate
SATA hard drive, nVidia GeForce
6600GT video card, SB Live 5.1,
and NEC DVD-RW drive.
Just like with digicams,
I like Canon inkjet printers. My
i860 is quiet, fast, and produces
first-class color prints.
Not much to say here.
If you're an aviation enthusiast
and you have a fast PC,
go buy FS2004 now.
If you get hooked on
flight sims like I did, you'll want
a good flight controller. The
CH Products Flight Sim Yoke USB
is probably the best all-around
flight controller out there.
It ain't cheap, though....
My Current Reading List
Eastward to Tartary:
Travels in the Balkans,
the Middle East, and
the Caucasus
by Robert D. Kaplan
Falling Off the Map
by Pico Iyer
Great Bridge: The Epic
Story of the Building of
the Brooklyn Bridge
by David McCullough
The Polish Way: A Thousand
Year History of the Poles and
Their Culture
by Adam Zamoyski
Best of Europe 2006
by Rick Steves
2008
October (2 entries)August (1 entry)
June (1 entry)
May (2 entries)
February (2 entries)
2007
July (1 entry)June (7 entries)
April (5 entries)
February (4 entries)
January (11 entries)
2006
December (5 entries)November (3 entries)
October (10 entries)
September (6 entries)
August (4 entries)
July (7 entries)
June (5 entries)
May (7 entries)
April (15 entries)
March (9 entries)
February (7 entries)
January (15 entries)
2005
December (4 entries)November (6 entries)
October (15 entries)
September (4 entries)
August (9 entries)
July (18 entries)
June (10 entries)
May (12 entries)
April (19 entries)
March (18 entries)
February (10 entries)
January (20 entries)
2004
December (9 entries)November (21 entries)
October (9 entries)
September (15 entries)
August (7 entries)
July (7 entries)
June (8 entries)
May (10 entries)
April (5 entries)
March (12 entries)
February (18 entries)
January (9 entries)
| 01/29/2006 17:54 |
| The Inspiron 6000 is moving through production very quickly. After just 24 hours, here's the latest update:
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| 01/28/2006 22:35 |
| I've wanted a "personal" laptop for a while now--something that I can use for games, watching downloaded TV episodes on, and just generally futzing around with. I can't really do that with my Latitude D600 from work, so I really, truly "need" two laptops. (I have a theory about why I "need" three laptops, but I'll save that until the 12" MacBookPros come out.) Anyway, after much deliberation and consternation, I ordered a Dell Inspiron 6000. It's the same laptop I helped my mother, cousin, 2 co-workers, and various other people order. It's a really sweet configuration, with: Intel® Pentium® M Processor 735 (1.70GHz/2MB Cache/400MHz FSB) 15.4 inch WXGA LCD Panel 1GB DDR SDRAM ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X300 64MB 80GB 5400rpm Hard Drive Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps) 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr) (the extended one) 3Yr Ltd Warranty, At-Home Service,and HW Warranty Support plus Nights and Weekends There was a big fat Employee Purchase Plan discount, a $100 rebate, and free Next Day Air shipping. Frankly, how could I not order one? Really.
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| 01/21/2006 23:26 |
| The Project for Public Spaces came out with a list of the World's 10 Best Squares. They are: 1) Rynek Glowny, Krakow, Poland 2) Plaza Hidalgo, Mexico City, Mexico 3) Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy 4) Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy 5) Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Covent Gardens and Leicester Square, London, UK 6) Hotel de Ville, Paris, France 7) Old Town Square, Prague, Czech Republic 8) Plaza de la Constitucion, Oaxaca City, Mexico 9) Plaza Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain 10) Plaza de Armas, Cuzco, Peru Let's see, I've been to 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Not too shabby. Good pick for #1, too. Hmm.... They've added 6 more, 2 of which I've visited....
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| 01/21/2006 23:19 |
| From a review of "Don't Let the World Pass You By: 52 Reasons to Have a Passport": The U.S has the most violent crimes of any developed nation. The U.S reportedly houses more than 75% of the world's serial killers. Feeling a little better about travelling now? The fact is, travelling the world is safer than traveling in the U.S. That's worth remembering the next time you hear "I don't know about going to ______ right now with things the way they are...." Shut yer piehole, Chester, and go.
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| 01/19/2006 00:11 |
| Our last day in Tokyo wasn't very ambitious. After our lunch at the organic cafe in Roppongi, we went back to the ryokan to take a nap and watch episodes of nip/tuck that I have on my laptop. This morning, we made a final pilgrimage to Yodobashi Camera, despite knowing that the store jingle that they play continuously over the P.A. system would be stuck in our heads for another couple of days. At Ueno Station, where we were catching the train out to the airport, we were befriended by a scruffy but good-natured old man (homeless? deranged? fashion challenged?) who wanted to converse with us in English. We talked about baseball, and he was impressed that I knew about Kenji Jojima coming to the Mariners. His assessment of the Japanese players with the M's: "Ichiro, he is very good.... Jojima, maybe, I don't know, he maybe good..." Take that, Bill Bavasi..... Happy Japanese Homeless Man led us to the ticket machines, made sure we bought the right tickets, then escorted us to the ticket barriers and told us which platform we needed for our train. It wasn't clear if he was after something, but once we went through the barrier successfully, he disappeared..... Right now we're at the United Red Carpet Lounge, which has wi-fi Internet access. Unfortunately, there seems to only be about 2400bps on the other side of the access point, and the connection dies every few minutes.... Oh well, at least the drinks are free..... |
| 01/18/2006 00:41 |
| I thought I would do a better job of blogging this trip, but we've been too occupied with other stuff to take care of it. We arrived Friday night, and rode the train in from Narita Airport. My first thoughts were how densely packed the buildings, signs, people, cars, and trains were. The rail line cuts so closely between buildings all the way in from the airport, that it creates the illusion that the buildings close up again where they rise above the tracks. Sort of an urban canyon, with lights and signs. Anyway, we got to our ryokan, and we loved it. We were asleep in no time, and woke up bright and happy on Saturday morning. We had a nice breakfast here at the ryokan, and then went to Akihabara to check out gadgetry and electronics. Our whole strategy for seeing Tokyo has been based on picking neighborhoods and exploring them. In Akihabara, we wandered through the alleys of weird electronics parts under the railway overpasses, and spent hours at Yodobashi Camera, the big discount electronics retailer. I bought weird cords and cables, and some other nerdy gadgets. We had a fun lunch in a restaurant on the top floor, where you buy tickets from a machine, corresponding to what dishes you want, then trade in the tickets for the food. It was all very good, and very entertaining. That afternoon it was somewhat drizzly, so we wandered in and out of shops in the Ginza area. The next day we went to the temple in Akakusa, and wandered around that neighborhood for a while. In the afternoon, we went to Shibuya and Shinjuku, where we had a very good Indian meal that also required a ticket machine. God bless superfluous technology! We walked through Yoyogi Park to get to the Meiji Shrine, and also saw some melting ice sculptures along the way. A few general things we've noticed... Tokyo is a disturbingly quiet city. On the subway, walking down the streets, standing on busy corners, there just isn't any noise. People aren't talking loudly, cars aren't honking their horns, and things are just generally peaceful. It's almost creepy. Also, everything people have said about vending machines is true. They are everywhere. Probably about every 10 meters as you walk down the street. Some are tucked into alleyways, some are recessed into buildings, but you're never far from a can of coffee or a bottle of juice.... Our third full day, we took a day trip up to the temples and shrines at Nikko, in the mountains north of Tokyo. It was fascinating, and very picturesque. There weren't many people there, either. The next day, we went to the Tokyo National Museum, the top floor observatory of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, and visited the Imperial Palace Gardens. It was a lot of walking, and I was coming down with something so we hurried back to our ryokan by 4 in the afternoon. I definitely had a fever, and ended up bedridden until about 10:00 this morning. We had a leisurely day today, just venturing out for lunch, at an interesting organic coffee shop in Roppongi. We've decided that there's a certain smell to traditional Japanese restaurants, and we're not too fond of it. We're not sure what it is, but we've had enough Japanese food for one trip..... Tonight we're going back to Yodobashi Camera for one last look around, and to have sushi at one of the top floor restaurants there. Every big department store has a group of restaurants (sort of like a mall food court) either in the basement or on a top floor. They seem to be pretty decent on the whole..... We're also pretty happy that we've only "needed" one McDonald's meal up to this point. Seriously, it was a delicious Big Mac with very little fat..... mmmm....... Sayonara for now....
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| 01/12/2006 22:13 |
| We're at Sea-Tac, about to leave for Tokyo. Krw is a United Premier Exec card holder, so we get to hang out in the Red Carpet Club. It's pretty disappointing, actually. It looks like they haven't remodelled in 15 years. Their bathrooms don't have auto-flushing toilets, and there's just a stack of paper towels for drying your hands. The refreshments are just little cups of jiuce, coffee, etc. I guess I shouldn't complain because it's free, but it's not that impressive. Oh, there is a full-service bar.... Woo..... I'm ready to get on the plane.... Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 01/08/2006 22:24 |
| Looks like people are using Ikea as more than just a source for cheap furnishings.... Check out this story from Der Spiegel
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| 01/08/2006 21:21 |
| Allah be praised, we have finally found, reserved, and confirmed a place to stay in Tokyo. It's Ryokan Andon, and it looks amazing. Take a close look at the "Design" section of their site, as well as the photos on the page describing the rooms. We're really looking forward to our stay, and we don't think there's any way that Expedia can cancel this reservation. (Since we didn't book it through them....)
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| 01/08/2006 15:24 |
| krw and I were out for dinner with some friends from work, and we were talking about TV. I realized that we don't watch much network TV anymore (my theory is that network TV died when Seinfeld went off the air), but that there are several shows we watch regularly. Having ReplayTV for a few years, and now the Comcast HiDef DVR, we've become thoroughly spoiled, and just expect to watch what we want when we want. What do I like? Here's a list: 1) Top Gear - car show from the BBC. Satire, wit, and fast cars. 2) The Office - preferably the British one, but the US version isn't bad either. I've gotten all the episodes of both via the Internet. 3) Curb Your Enthusiasm - Like Seinfeld on the West Coast. 4) Family Guy - Like a much bawdier Simpsons 5) Smart Travels/Globetrekker/Rick Steves - I'll just lump them all together for convenience. |
| 01/07/2006 17:38 |
| Those clever boys and girls at Google have really outdone themselves this time. They've released what they call the Google Pack, which is a bundled distribution of Google Earth, Google Desktop, the Google Toolbar, Firefox, Ad Aware, Adobe Reader, Picasa, Norton Antivirus, and a few other things. It's all free, and it's all good stuff. I beseech you, download it all now. Here's a link.
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| 01/07/2006 17:31 |
| I think I'm done.... I kept checking on my Hilton reservation over the last few weeks, and at one point I asked about Internet acess at the hotel. The Hilton Reservations desk forwarded my question to the hotel itself for a response, which they provided promptly. Then I received a second email saying that they showed my reservation had been cancelled on Nov. 11. Sensing trouble, I called Hilton Reservations. The polite woman on the phone found my reservation, and initially thought it looked fine, but then noted that something "didn't look right" and put me on hold. After about 5-10 minutes, she came back and said that it had been cancelled, and that I would have to contact Expedia to try and "fix" the reservation. Well, I was never reconfirmed by Expedia, only Hilton, so I think I'm S.O.L. at this point. I'm going on the trip anyway, and I'll either use Priceline and aim for the Crowne Plaza, or just get a ryokan somewhere. It was fun while it lasted, though, and congrats to everyone who got in! To add insult to injury, I just received an automated email from Hilton HHonors, reminding me of my "upcoming stay." Talk about kicking a guy when he's down.... |
| 01/06/2006 23:25 |
| Tee hee....
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| 01/01/2006 21:22 |
| "A woman's dress should be like a barbed-wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view." By: Sophia Loren |
| 01/01/2006 13:23 |
| I feel like I should post something important as the first journal entry of the new year, but I really can't think of anything at the moment. |
