An open letter to television broadcasters

I'm so sick of having to change the volume to adjust for each station. It's so annoying when you're flipping back and forth between 2 shows and the volume on one is a bunch lower than the other. So you get watching one at a normal volume, and when you flip you can barely hear the other, so you have to turn up the volume. Then when you flip back, the volume is rediculously loud. I typically set the volume to around 17-20 on my tv, and today I was watching a movie and had to turn it up to 30 to hear it, and then the commercials were obnoxiously loud and I had to keep switching back and forth. It really took away from my studying time having to keep changing the volume. So if I fail my exam tomorrow, it's the Space Network's fault.

And on a side note, the movie I was watching was one of the older Star Trek ones, which I've seen a couple times, but I always miss the first part and have no idea why they have to travel back in time to save humpback whales. Hell, I don't even know which movie it was.

Hearing music without a speaker?

I know, you think I must be on an acid trip, but check this out:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2005/apr/21/042104146.html

This guy invented what I'll call a "Direct to ear" sound system. He points the antenna at you and you hear it, but no one else does because there's no speaker.

This guy will be a very rich man.

So Stupid

Okay, I'm watching the Amazing Race, and the challenge for the teams was to push this 700 pound elephant on wheels through this town. So while everyone else uses both team members to push the thing, the old couple decides that one of them should ride on top. After all, what's easier than pushing a 700 pound object? Pushing a 700 pound object with a 150 pound woman on top...who's yelling at the local children to help push the thing. Here's a thought:

GET OFF THE DAMN ELEPHANT AND HELP PUSH THE BLASTED THING. I know they aren't the most athletic, but at the very least get off so the thing your husband is pushing is significantly lighter.

I don't know what's worse, her stupidity or watching her order around small Indian children.

Badger, badger, badger, badger...

you know, I saw this thing like a year ago. I knew what it was, and knew that the second I clicked the link it'd be in my head for the next week and a half. And yet, I couldn't help but click it. I think I enjoy punishing myselft.

Badger badger badger badger badger.....It's still playing in the background.

Thanks for bringing this menace back into my life Sara.

Anyway, on the topic of punishment, I had a staff meeting this morning, and on the ride home from work it hit me: I left for work at 8am, and got home at 5:45 pm, and I was paid for four of those hours. Now granted the staff meeting lasted for 1 and a half of those hours, and we don't get paid for our staff meetings, but still. Oh well, at least I've only got a few months left before graduation and probably grad school. And one of the best things about grad school? No spending almost 4 hours of my weekend travelling on and waiting for busses.

Badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger

Oh my god, I should have done my climate change presentation on the effect of the climate on badger populations, I could have had this thing playing in the background the whole time. Why must I always have the greatest ideas when it's too late. It's like George Costanza's "jerk store" incident.

That's Right Bitch!

I'm pumped, today has been a good day. Today's one of those days when you want to walk up to people and just tell them "I Own You!". What am I talking about? Well, my day started by getting a letter that confirmed my acceptance for a presentation at a conference in August about the software I'm writing. Then, while programming that software during the day I overcame a few hurdles that have been slowing me up. Then I just checked a test mark in my databases class and after getting a 14% on the first test and a 66% on the midterm, I rocked the second test with a 100%. I'm so happy.

And on top of that, it's now April 7th, which means just one month till vacation!

I'm off to go do a happy dance.

Brain Chip

"He can think his TV on and off, change channels and alter the volume thanks to the technology and software linked to devices in his home."

"Mr Nagle has also been able to use thought to move a prosthetic hand and robotic arm to grab sweets from one person's hand and place them into another."

This is pretty fascinating, it shows real hope for people with paralysis.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4396387.stm

Decisions Decisions Decisions

So it's the first day of Spring, and it's bitter cold. Why must Windsor have such wierd weather? Stupid great lakes!

Otherwise, right now I'm stuck making decisions about what to do with the next couple years of my life. Grad school? Maybe. Work? Maybe. Who knows. On one hand grad school is guaranteed money, but working is not guaranteed but more money. And to commit two years of my life to grad school to do research isn't a simple decision. It's a lifestyle choice.

But enough seriousness. I watched "The Iron Chef" for the first time, and that might be the stupidest thing on TV that I've ever seen. Actually, stupid may not be the right word because it is entertaining. It's just so...over the top.

"TODAY'S SECRET INGREDIENT IS.............................................TURNIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Dude, it's turnips. Relax fella, you need a rest. I just don't get it. A memo just went up at work for our company's Iron Chef competition. I think I'll spice up my mac & cheese with a delicate blend of MSG and heroin. I may not win, but a week later I'll have the most popular mac & cheese on the planet.

Okay...could they not be more innovative than "Kitchen Stadium". I wonder what the translation actually is. Oh, we're about to find out about todays challenger. I love how the host shouts out a string of Asian language and throws in english. "Toi cha nee no baa IRON CHEFS!"

Okay. Okay, here comes todays secret ingredient. Oh no they didn't. It can' be. That's insane. It's CABBAGE. OK, who had cabbage in the pool? My money's on the iron chef. What the hell, how they're telling a story about cabbage. This is getting stupid. I'm done.

This is...odd

It was the racist chicken wing that made me a violent alcoholic

This guy found a half eaten chicken wing in his potroast at denny's, and took it as a racial comment and thought he had cought a disease from the food. Here are some excerpts:

"...white workers put the chicken wing on his plate as a joke and that he feared he'd contracted AIDS from eating someone else's food"

Which white worker would that be, the "Indian waitress" or the "Latino cook".

"But the stress he felt from the incident was strong enough, he said, it caused him to regularly fight with his wife, lose sleep and drink half a pint of liquor a day."

It just gets stupider. You can read the rest for yourself.

I'm Rich!

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I'm loaded. It's official. I'm the 826,752,911 richest person on earth! How rich are you? >>

What would we do...

if computers ceased to exist.

You may be thinking "What a strange question". But the reason I ask is due to an experience I had at work today. For those that don't know I work in a restaurant, and all the orders are punched in on computers and are automatically printed up for the cooks. Today, the computers went down. Now, notwithstanding the fact that the only way to fix them was to call someone from head office in London, the kitchen became completely frantic.

The servers had to write the orders down by hand and give them to the cooks, they had to calculate bills and prices by themselves on a calculator, and it just seemed like a madhouse even though it was only slightly busier than your average Sunday day shift.

My point is that we've come to rely and depend on computers, and all in all it's a good thing, but it's still kinda funny to see what happens when people are forced to think for themselves.