1/27/2005
Opera Browser
I have been trying out Opera 8 beta for an hour or so. It's real neato. It has some cool features. It may even surf faster than IE. Oddly enough, though, I couldn't compose a post on Blogger with it, it wouldn't let me type in the text box. Well, it is a beta version. It costs $39 or is free if you can put up with a small advertising banner. Banners usually bug me, but since it is so easy to switch to full sceen mode it doesn't bother me with Opera. There are also some virus resistance advantages to non-EI browsers.
I'm usually slow to warm up to new things but I already like Opera and I've barely gotten started with it.
I'm usually slow to warm up to new things but I already like Opera and I've barely gotten started with it.
1/19/2005
Thrift Store Run
After I took the kids to school I came home and semi-dozed off for a while. 'Round about two I got up the energy to go out. I cruised by Naval Avenue. I noticed, going up 6th, that the Les Schwab tire store that I had gone to before had gone out of business.
Carefully, I drove up Wheaton Way. It was wonderfully warm today. Balmy, for around here. Went to the Goodwill thrift store. Immediately found a set of Philips noise canceling headphones for $9.99 and put them in my cart. I was worried about someone grabbing them from my cart, they were new in the original box! Went over to look at computer stuff walked away from my cart, got back and they were gone, of course. I was a little cross about that and circled around the store looking for the culprit, although I had already decided that I wouldn't challenge the guilty person even if I were to see him, which I didn't. I found another pair of new Philips headphones, also new, not noise canceling but for only $3.99. I felt mollified, I don't need noise canceling, it's very quiet where I live. The $3.99 headphones are the small type, lighter, more comfortable and a good quality. Then I found a 6 Ft. USB extension cord for cheap that will be handy for my webcam, and a got a pair of Levis for $7.99 that I can wear to work. I bought a powered computer speaker subwoofer made Altec Lansing that I thought might work because I plugged it in and it made a womp sound when I disconnected the plug. I wasn't going to get it when I had the noise canceling headphones, but after they were stolen from me I felt I deserved something as compensation for my infringed upon rights. It turns out that the subwoofer amplifier section didn't work when I got it home, of course, but the speaker and enclosure were good and I was able to use an external amp to power it and so the $10 not a total loss.
At home, after messing about with the computer speakers for an hour or two, I settled down to watch Dan Rather, eat a salvaged Philly Cheese steak, concoct a couple Rum Fixes, and watch my VHS of last night's "Amazing Race."
Carefully, I drove up Wheaton Way. It was wonderfully warm today. Balmy, for around here. Went to the Goodwill thrift store. Immediately found a set of Philips noise canceling headphones for $9.99 and put them in my cart. I was worried about someone grabbing them from my cart, they were new in the original box! Went over to look at computer stuff walked away from my cart, got back and they were gone, of course. I was a little cross about that and circled around the store looking for the culprit, although I had already decided that I wouldn't challenge the guilty person even if I were to see him, which I didn't. I found another pair of new Philips headphones, also new, not noise canceling but for only $3.99. I felt mollified, I don't need noise canceling, it's very quiet where I live. The $3.99 headphones are the small type, lighter, more comfortable and a good quality. Then I found a 6 Ft. USB extension cord for cheap that will be handy for my webcam, and a got a pair of Levis for $7.99 that I can wear to work. I bought a powered computer speaker subwoofer made Altec Lansing that I thought might work because I plugged it in and it made a womp sound when I disconnected the plug. I wasn't going to get it when I had the noise canceling headphones, but after they were stolen from me I felt I deserved something as compensation for my infringed upon rights. It turns out that the subwoofer amplifier section didn't work when I got it home, of course, but the speaker and enclosure were good and I was able to use an external amp to power it and so the $10 not a total loss.
At home, after messing about with the computer speakers for an hour or two, I settled down to watch Dan Rather, eat a salvaged Philly Cheese steak, concoct a couple Rum Fixes, and watch my VHS of last night's "Amazing Race."
1/10/2005
You Have The Right To Remain Silent
The "Powers That Be" like to pretend to listen and engage in a democratic process. It looks good. It looks like we are all willingly going along on the same ride and agree on the destination.
Of course the underdog must play the part. Must act "as though" he believes everybody's opinion counts. Follow the rules, don't rock the boat--you don't know who is going to get splashed. And so we march, lockstep, through Vietnam and Iraq into the totalitarian future.
Of course the underdog must play the part. Must act "as though" he believes everybody's opinion counts. Follow the rules, don't rock the boat--you don't know who is going to get splashed. And so we march, lockstep, through Vietnam and Iraq into the totalitarian future.
1/07/2005
1/03/2005
New Yorker Short Story
I'm want to find this short story I read in the New Yorker a couple years ago. It was about a sickly horse in India (Calcutta?), a man that tries to help it , and he then goes home to L.A. The horse had a funny compound word name. The story was published sometime from 1995 to no later than 2003.
