« 2006 November | Main | 2006 September »
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Webapps vs. Desktop Applications (plus an iPod idea)
Fireworks are Sweet.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Crowns
Friday, October 20, 2006
We went at 2:00 FM
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Best Joke Delivery EVER
Wysz on YouTube
Ummm
Quickest Blog Reference EVER
Saturday, October 14, 2006
New Feature of Google Video
Friends Touch Hands
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Long Flight
What I'm doing this weekend
Must run in the family
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Rain?
Public Shaming
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Oh, great. Another blogger.
You kids and your gum
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Resisdential
Webapps vs. Desktop Applications (plus an iPod idea)
A coworker and I were discussing the differences
between web applications and desktop clients on Friday. The conversation started
with the question of which model is better, but we then agreed that the best
solution was to have both work
together.
As a Mac user, user interfaces are very important to me. While Ajax is great, it still can't do everything a desktop application can. Alex Lindsay often claims that the iTunes Store would never have succeeded as a website because the interface would have been too clunky. However, I like to have access to my data even when I'm not at my personal computer, and I don't like the idea of trusting backups to only my own hard drives (but I DO like to have a local copy for myself and not just trust a business either). In short, I look for a great user experience without being tied to a single device.
The good news is that a lot of this already exists in some form. When I'm at my computer, Mail.app is always running in the background, and it's my preferred interface for composing, sorting, and viewing email. It's also nice that all of my many email accounts can be accessed in one place, so no matter which account something is sent to, I can see it in the same interface. When I'm away from my computer, I still have the convenience of checking all of my accounts via a web browser. Unfortunately, due to server storage limitations I am in the habit of using POP accounts and removing messages from the server after downloading. Gmail handles this pretty well though, since it offers a generous amount of space and archives downloaded messages instead of deleting them. An IMAP option would be nice though for better synchronization. I like .Mac's mail service as well, especially with their new Mail-like web interface, but since I share storage space with my website, there's still not enough room for me to host all of my 10,000+ (11,364 to be exact, not including junk mail, dating back to Sept. 2002) messages online.
As for chatting, I like that I can now chat away from my personal computer within a web browser using Gmail, but when I'm at my own computer I use iChat, which lets me chat with AIM and Jabber contacts at the same time. Adium is cool too, but I use the video feature in iChat almost every day, and I don't use text IMs enough for iChat's minor limitations to bother me.
Ever since Tony got me hooked on RSS, it's become one of the things that I miss the most when I'm without my computer. NetNewsWire is always open in the background, and I can be notified of and browse new headlines right from the dock icon without even having to open a new window and interrupt my workflow. (I really wish Apple would do the same and allow me to view message subjects from Mail's Dock icon.) I've recently started playing with Google Reader after exporting an OPML file of my feeds from NNW. I still prefer the NNW interface, but at least now I have an alternative for when I'm without my Mac. I'd like to see some way to synchronize "Read" and "Unread" data between feed readers.
Even if I'm on my own computer, I'll sometimes use a web interface instead of a separate application if I just need to do something quickly and I'm already in Safari, which I usually am. If I want to quickly find one of my photos, either for my own use or to share with a friend, I tend to just search my Flickr account instead of launching iPhoto. However, if I am going to be doing more than that, such as watching a slideshow, I prefer the more powerful specialized application. But tying this into the whole web synchronization theme, wouldn't it be great if iPhoto could actually sync with Flickr, so I could update something on either end (a photo title, for example) and have it automatically change everywhere else? And wouldn't it be great if the different web services would take advantage of each other's APIs and allow me to switch between Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, Webshots, Facebook, and others seamlessly?
A similar comparison can be made with Google Maps and Google Earth. If I find an address online and want to quickly get some driving directions, I'll just use the website. But, if I'm really exploring an area, such as this summer when I was new to California and searching for a mountaintop view of a meteor shower, it was much easier to move around in Google Earth, which also provided a nice 3D view of the terrain with a roadmap overlay.
Enough examples for you? Me too. I like the UI of my Mac and the portability of the web. We're moving toward the point where I can almost always enjoy both.
Now, let's move onto a tip, using a method developed by the same coworker mentioned at the beginning. This will let you synchronize Apple's iCal with Google Calendar. This will be accomplished by subscribing to your Google Calendar in iCal, and your iCal calendar in Google Calendar. It's a little roundabout, but it works, and since both interfaces are good at meshing the different sources together, once it's set up you won't know the difference. I tried to document the process as well as I could, but let me know if I made any mistakes or could make the process simpler.
Here we go:
As a Mac user, user interfaces are very important to me. While Ajax is great, it still can't do everything a desktop application can. Alex Lindsay often claims that the iTunes Store would never have succeeded as a website because the interface would have been too clunky. However, I like to have access to my data even when I'm not at my personal computer, and I don't like the idea of trusting backups to only my own hard drives (but I DO like to have a local copy for myself and not just trust a business either). In short, I look for a great user experience without being tied to a single device.
The good news is that a lot of this already exists in some form. When I'm at my computer, Mail.app is always running in the background, and it's my preferred interface for composing, sorting, and viewing email. It's also nice that all of my many email accounts can be accessed in one place, so no matter which account something is sent to, I can see it in the same interface. When I'm away from my computer, I still have the convenience of checking all of my accounts via a web browser. Unfortunately, due to server storage limitations I am in the habit of using POP accounts and removing messages from the server after downloading. Gmail handles this pretty well though, since it offers a generous amount of space and archives downloaded messages instead of deleting them. An IMAP option would be nice though for better synchronization. I like .Mac's mail service as well, especially with their new Mail-like web interface, but since I share storage space with my website, there's still not enough room for me to host all of my 10,000+ (11,364 to be exact, not including junk mail, dating back to Sept. 2002) messages online.
As for chatting, I like that I can now chat away from my personal computer within a web browser using Gmail, but when I'm at my own computer I use iChat, which lets me chat with AIM and Jabber contacts at the same time. Adium is cool too, but I use the video feature in iChat almost every day, and I don't use text IMs enough for iChat's minor limitations to bother me.
Ever since Tony got me hooked on RSS, it's become one of the things that I miss the most when I'm without my computer. NetNewsWire is always open in the background, and I can be notified of and browse new headlines right from the dock icon without even having to open a new window and interrupt my workflow. (I really wish Apple would do the same and allow me to view message subjects from Mail's Dock icon.) I've recently started playing with Google Reader after exporting an OPML file of my feeds from NNW. I still prefer the NNW interface, but at least now I have an alternative for when I'm without my Mac. I'd like to see some way to synchronize "Read" and "Unread" data between feed readers.
Even if I'm on my own computer, I'll sometimes use a web interface instead of a separate application if I just need to do something quickly and I'm already in Safari, which I usually am. If I want to quickly find one of my photos, either for my own use or to share with a friend, I tend to just search my Flickr account instead of launching iPhoto. However, if I am going to be doing more than that, such as watching a slideshow, I prefer the more powerful specialized application. But tying this into the whole web synchronization theme, wouldn't it be great if iPhoto could actually sync with Flickr, so I could update something on either end (a photo title, for example) and have it automatically change everywhere else? And wouldn't it be great if the different web services would take advantage of each other's APIs and allow me to switch between Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, Webshots, Facebook, and others seamlessly?
A similar comparison can be made with Google Maps and Google Earth. If I find an address online and want to quickly get some driving directions, I'll just use the website. But, if I'm really exploring an area, such as this summer when I was new to California and searching for a mountaintop view of a meteor shower, it was much easier to move around in Google Earth, which also provided a nice 3D view of the terrain with a roadmap overlay.
Enough examples for you? Me too. I like the UI of my Mac and the portability of the web. We're moving toward the point where I can almost always enjoy both.
Now, let's move onto a tip, using a method developed by the same coworker mentioned at the beginning. This will let you synchronize Apple's iCal with Google Calendar. This will be accomplished by subscribing to your Google Calendar in iCal, and your iCal calendar in Google Calendar. It's a little roundabout, but it works, and since both interfaces are good at meshing the different sources together, once it's set up you won't know the difference. I tried to document the process as well as I could, but let me know if I made any mistakes or could make the process simpler.
Here we go:
1. Open iCal.
2. Select a calendar from your Calendars list
that you wish to share with Google Calendar.
3. From the
Calendar
menu, choose
Publish...
4. If you have a .Mac account, choose
.Mac
in the Publish
on menu. If not, you will need an account on a
WebDAV server. I haven't tried it, but it looks like you can use WebDAV with
Box.net, a free file hosting
service.
5. Name your calendar in the
Publish calendar
as field, which will determine its URL. I
don't know how to make your personal calendar really secure, but if you're just
out to thwart a casual stalker, give it a name that nobody would guess by having
your cat or small child walk on the keyboard. Since neither are in my apartment,
I used the password generator in Keychain. Open Keychain, and from the
File
menu choose New Password
Item... and click on the key icon next to the
Password
field. The Password Assistant will open. Select
Letters &
Numbers in
Type
and drag the length out to 31. Copy the password and paste it into the
Name
field in iCal. It may help you find things later if you put the calendar name
before the jibberish, i.e.
Homekajhs2d7gf3oQu99eu5vbHxcb.
6. Go ahead and just check all the boxes, then
click
Publish.
7. A dialog box will appear confirming that your
calendar has been published and will provide a subscription URL beginning with
webcal://.
8. Select this URL and copy it, then click
OK.
9. Open Google calendar.
10. Click the + button next to
Other
Calandars in the left column of the page, then
select the Public Calendar
Address tab.
11. Paste the URL from iCal into the
Public Calendar
Address field and click
Add.
I had better luck when I replaced the webcal:// bit with http://, but it might
have just been because I hadn't given .Mac enough time to publish, so this may
or may not do anything.
12. Repeat this for other calendars in iCal if
you have multiple.
13. You can rename the calendars in Google
Calendar to make things prettier. Click on
Manage
calendars in the left column of the page,
click on the subscription URL, and then edit the
Calendar
Name field and click
Save.
14. Now Google Calendar will see anything you put
in iCal. But at this point, your iCal calendar is just read-only from the web,
so you can't add events when you're using Google Calendar. What you need to do
is get iCal to subscribe to your Google Calendar.
15. In the left column of Google Calendar, under
My
Calendars click the triangle pointing down
next to your name. Select Calendar
Settings from the pop-up menu.
16. Click on the green
ICAL
button next to Private
Address if you have chosen not to share your
calendar with the public. This does is the same thing we did in iCal and
generates a random URL. As long as you don't share the address with anyone, it
should remain private.
Copy the
link that appears (do not just click on it.) If you click on the link, iCal will
simply import it as a one-time deal, and not update to reflect new changes you
make in Google Calendar.
17. In iCal, go to the
Calendar
menu, choose
Subscribe...,
and paste the URL. Click the
Subscribe
button.
18. Give the calendar a name ("Google Calendar"
works). Check the
Refresh
box and set an interval. I set mine to 15 minutes. I also unchecked
Remove
alarms and
Remove To Do
items so those should sync as well. Click
OK.
Now, every time you add something to your calendar using either interface, it will be sent to the other one automatically. I'm sure there are many limitations, but the two most obvious ones that I can think of are that you can't edit or delete an event that was created on the other interface, and changes aren't instantly updated unless you manually refresh the subscriptions. The delay shouldn't be an issue during normal use however, as there is probably always some travel time between when you use your personal computer and when you access your calendar on the web.
Wow, I'm tired, but let's take advantage of the extra hour and get to the iPod idea, suggested by Chris.
Lots of us don't know what we want to listen to, and just use the shuffle feature. But what if a song comes on that matches your mood, and you want to hear more like it? It would be useful if you could just let the iPod know with a button press or two that you enjoy the song, and it will then adjust the playlist to contain similar songs, based on things like genre, artist, album, BPM (beats per minute), or even whether the song has vocals or not. With subsequent songs, you can let the iPod know whether it is one the right track or not, training it to create a more appropriate playlist. It would be really cool if the training could happen based on whether or not you skip a track. Of course, this feature could be enabled or disabled by the user. In the short term, it would be convenient to be able to tell the iPod to play songs from specific categories such as genre, artist, or album right from the Now Playing screen, instead of having to navigate through multiple menus and interrupt the current song.
This idea makes me think of Tangerine, a new application from Potion Factory that creates playlists based on the BPM and beat intensity of the songs. I haven't tried it yet, and at this point it doesn't work with music purchased from the iTunes Store, but it sounds pretty cool.
That's it for my long tech rant. It's pretty late, so I hope it was coherent.
Now, every time you add something to your calendar using either interface, it will be sent to the other one automatically. I'm sure there are many limitations, but the two most obvious ones that I can think of are that you can't edit or delete an event that was created on the other interface, and changes aren't instantly updated unless you manually refresh the subscriptions. The delay shouldn't be an issue during normal use however, as there is probably always some travel time between when you use your personal computer and when you access your calendar on the web.
Wow, I'm tired, but let's take advantage of the extra hour and get to the iPod idea, suggested by Chris.
Lots of us don't know what we want to listen to, and just use the shuffle feature. But what if a song comes on that matches your mood, and you want to hear more like it? It would be useful if you could just let the iPod know with a button press or two that you enjoy the song, and it will then adjust the playlist to contain similar songs, based on things like genre, artist, album, BPM (beats per minute), or even whether the song has vocals or not. With subsequent songs, you can let the iPod know whether it is one the right track or not, training it to create a more appropriate playlist. It would be really cool if the training could happen based on whether or not you skip a track. Of course, this feature could be enabled or disabled by the user. In the short term, it would be convenient to be able to tell the iPod to play songs from specific categories such as genre, artist, or album right from the Now Playing screen, instead of having to navigate through multiple menus and interrupt the current song.
This idea makes me think of Tangerine, a new application from Potion Factory that creates playlists based on the BPM and beat intensity of the songs. I haven't tried it yet, and at this point it doesn't work with music purchased from the iTunes Store, but it sounds pretty cool.
That's it for my long tech rant. It's pretty late, so I hope it was coherent.
Fireworks are Sweet.
I am now really in the mood to see some fireworks. So, if
anyone knows of an upcoming fireworks display in the Bay Area, please let me know.
Thanks!
After I get my fireworks fix I'll probably be looking for crazy Christmas decorations. That's how I roll.
After I get my fireworks fix I'll probably be looking for crazy Christmas decorations. That's how I roll.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Crowns
Yeah, what
is
the deal with people calling crayons "crowns?"
Oh and guess what? I'm going to be posting some really awesome videos to YouTube in the near to distant future. I'll let you know when I do. It's gonna be sweet.
Oh and guess what? I'm going to be posting some really awesome videos to YouTube in the near to distant future. I'll let you know when I do. It's gonna be sweet.
Friday, October 20, 2006
We went at 2:00 FM
I think it's cool when I remember something that
I said a really long time ago, and only now realize how funny it was. These are
three incidents, and I can even remember where they
occurred:
1. Our neighbor called and I answered the phone. She was inviting us over for an Easter egg hunt, and said that we should come at 2:00. I asked, "AM or PM?" I was smart enough to know there was a difference, but not smart enough to know how ridiculous the question was.
2. I asked my mom when it was going to be 1988 again, because I liked 1988.
3. I asked my parents when was going to be "tomorrow." The answer? Sunday.
1. Our neighbor called and I answered the phone. She was inviting us over for an Easter egg hunt, and said that we should come at 2:00. I asked, "AM or PM?" I was smart enough to know there was a difference, but not smart enough to know how ridiculous the question was.
2. I asked my mom when it was going to be 1988 again, because I liked 1988.
3. I asked my parents when was going to be "tomorrow." The answer? Sunday.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Best Joke Delivery EVER
I've found that saying, "Get it? It's a joke!"
after delivering a punchline dramatically increases the chances of getting a
positive reaction from the audience. Try
it.
Wait, no, don't try it. It's my thing.
Wait, no, don't try it. It's my thing.
Wysz on YouTube
I'm still getting the hang of this YouTube thing,
but since it's now at the point where it's too popular to be ignored, I decided
to add all of my podcast
episodes that are shorter than 10 minutes to the service. So if you haven't been
watching them in iTunes, head on over to youtube.com/wysz and check them
out. I'm using the "Vlog" feature, which I'm assuming has (or will have) some
sort of subscription feature, so if you're a YouTube guru who can figure that
out, have fun and enjoy the full podcast
experience.
The nice features for me are that I can see how many people view the podcast (in the past my only indicator was bandwidth warnings from Apple), and you can add comments!
The nice features for me are that I can see how many people view the podcast (in the past my only indicator was bandwidth warnings from Apple), and you can add comments!
Ummm
I forgot what I was going to say. Did I have
something to say? I think I had something to say.
Quickest Blog Reference EVER
televisionarie:
how was the grocery
store
Michael Wyszomierski: it was sweet, i love self-checkout
televisionarie: i'm surprised you haven't blogged about self-checkout
Michael Wyszomierski: http://homepage.mac.com/wysz/iblog/C47259402/E779858530/index.html
Michael Wyszomierski: wow, that was almost 2 years ago
televisionarie: how do you reference these things so fast?
Michael Wyszomierski: google
Michael Wyszomierski: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ahomepage.mac.com%2Fwysz+self-checkout
Michael Wyszomierski: it was sweet, i love self-checkout
televisionarie: i'm surprised you haven't blogged about self-checkout
Michael Wyszomierski: http://homepage.mac.com/wysz/iblog/C47259402/E779858530/index.html
Michael Wyszomierski: wow, that was almost 2 years ago
televisionarie: how do you reference these things so fast?
Michael Wyszomierski: google
Michael Wyszomierski: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ahomepage.mac.com%2Fwysz+self-checkout
Saturday, October 14, 2006
New Feature of Google Video
I was sending someone a link to my film
Foolproof
tonight when I saw a new feature has been added to Google Video. Well, at least
it's new to me. Looks like it's been around since
September. There is now a button in the lower-right corner to turn on
closed-captioning. So, if you're hearing-impaired and have been waiting for the
day that you can fully experience my cinematic masterpiece, you should be
pleased to know that the time has finally come. Enjoy.
Friends Touch Hands
Today I went to a BBQ at a co-worker's house. I
predicted
that it would be pretty sweet, and of course I was right. Even walking
down the driveway was an adventure; I'm just glad we did it before nightfall. So
what made this BBQ so cool?
First, there was there was the Crazy Rope Swing Game. There are two players, and they stand on two tall platforms facing each other. From there, they time their launches and attempt to touch hands while swinging. One member of the team named it "Friends Touch Hands." How did I do? Let's just say I didn't make any new friends today.
I've always wanted to go on a zipline, and today I finally got to do it. I'm thinking about getting one for the apartment.
After the zipline, we tried out the Crazy Ball Thing. It looked like a combination of that cage of death that motorcycles ride around in, and one of those playground structures that looks like a model of a molecule or some other sciencey thing. The metal sphere was held in place by a single chain hanging from a rope, so the ball could not roll away but could still spin. The basic idea was that you climb on the outside, get high enough so you're beyond the crush zone, and then climb around until you and your fellow participants are in a position that makes physics do its thing and sends you spinning. I once saw something on TV about a guy who was holding onto the railing of an airplane door that had opened mid-flight, and when they landed the firefighters had to pry his hands off of it. My hands felt kind of like that, but it was awesome.
Another unique feature of the backyard/amusement park was a castle. Yes, a real castle (at least that's what I was told.) We climbed up to the top and overlooked the kingdom, and I learned that the castle even used to have a dragon. I asked if one needed a permit to own a dragon. The answer? "No, just a fire extinguisher."
But climbing up the ladder inside the castle wasn't the coolest way to get up. Behind the castle was a climbing wall. I haven't tried one of those in a long time, but fortunately I was able to make it to the top.
The climbing theme continued with the rope ladder. It looks like it should be incredibly easy, but when you get on it, you realize that a free-hanging rope ladder makes you climb at a sharp angle for the bottom portion. Once I got going, however, I was able to make it to the top by doing most of the work with my legs.
The BBQ also featured more familiar activities such as a trampoline and badminton. I don't know. Maybe there is a good minton. So, yeah, I think I'll be inviting myself over again next weekend.
BONUS FEATURE:
While I'm talking about today, I guess I'll go ahead and throw in my latest Apple Store experience here. My MacBook Pro's optical drive has been acting up; rejecting CDs about 50% of the times that I try to use them, often forcing me to restart the computer while holding the mouse button in order to eject the disc. Since I've been going to the Stanford Shopping Center location recently, I decided to change it up and go to the Palo Alto store. Since parking on University Ave. is a ridiculous idea on a Saturday night, I pulled into the nearest garage and found parking on the fourth floor. I thought it would be faster to take the elevator down, so I got in and pushed the "1" button. It lit up and had a star next to it and everything. It looked like such a good button. I started adjusting my shoelaces that had come undone, and noticed that the ride seemed to be unusually long. In fact, I was pretty sure the elevator wasn't moving at all. Not wanting to have to deal with being stuck in an elevator, I decided to ignore the the problem and go with the "I'll deal with this as soon as I finish tying my shoelaces" strategy. After my footwear was in order, I looked up and saw that I was still on the 4th floor. I pressed "1" again, and nothing happened. I tried the "Door Open" button. No luck. "Door Close" worked I guess, because the doors remained closed. "4" didn't do anything. At that point, I knew that I at least had reached the point where it would at least be something to blog about. While this was a comforting thought, I still knew that I had a reservation at the Genius Bar, and I didn't want to miss it. (Well, being a Genius Bar reservation, by "miss it," I mean "show up more than 40 minutes late for it.") I saw that the stop/run button was a push/pull deal, and I pushed it to make sure it was fully in the "RUN" position, and it was. Finally, I decided to go with the "try turning it off and on again" approach. I pulled the button into the "STOP" position, which activated a bell, and then pushed it back to "RUN." The doors opened and I used the stairs.
When I got to the Apple Store, I only had to wait a few minutes since I had arrived 10 minutes late. Of course my MBP behaved perfectly in front of the Genius (even though his MBP's drive was acting up), even though I had brought in three CDs that had been giving me trouble just an hour earlier. At least I was able to sit at the Genius Bar and import Sensational '70s. I seem to have the single-disc edition of the album, which is the second CD of the boxed set, in case you care. The only thing that bothers me about it is that the album is actually titled Sensational 70's. I go the other way with apostrophes. Oh, and also at the bar I saw a fellow G.A. alum who recognized me.
First, there was there was the Crazy Rope Swing Game. There are two players, and they stand on two tall platforms facing each other. From there, they time their launches and attempt to touch hands while swinging. One member of the team named it "Friends Touch Hands." How did I do? Let's just say I didn't make any new friends today.
I've always wanted to go on a zipline, and today I finally got to do it. I'm thinking about getting one for the apartment.
After the zipline, we tried out the Crazy Ball Thing. It looked like a combination of that cage of death that motorcycles ride around in, and one of those playground structures that looks like a model of a molecule or some other sciencey thing. The metal sphere was held in place by a single chain hanging from a rope, so the ball could not roll away but could still spin. The basic idea was that you climb on the outside, get high enough so you're beyond the crush zone, and then climb around until you and your fellow participants are in a position that makes physics do its thing and sends you spinning. I once saw something on TV about a guy who was holding onto the railing of an airplane door that had opened mid-flight, and when they landed the firefighters had to pry his hands off of it. My hands felt kind of like that, but it was awesome.
Another unique feature of the backyard/amusement park was a castle. Yes, a real castle (at least that's what I was told.) We climbed up to the top and overlooked the kingdom, and I learned that the castle even used to have a dragon. I asked if one needed a permit to own a dragon. The answer? "No, just a fire extinguisher."
But climbing up the ladder inside the castle wasn't the coolest way to get up. Behind the castle was a climbing wall. I haven't tried one of those in a long time, but fortunately I was able to make it to the top.
The climbing theme continued with the rope ladder. It looks like it should be incredibly easy, but when you get on it, you realize that a free-hanging rope ladder makes you climb at a sharp angle for the bottom portion. Once I got going, however, I was able to make it to the top by doing most of the work with my legs.
The BBQ also featured more familiar activities such as a trampoline and badminton. I don't know. Maybe there is a good minton. So, yeah, I think I'll be inviting myself over again next weekend.
BONUS FEATURE:
While I'm talking about today, I guess I'll go ahead and throw in my latest Apple Store experience here. My MacBook Pro's optical drive has been acting up; rejecting CDs about 50% of the times that I try to use them, often forcing me to restart the computer while holding the mouse button in order to eject the disc. Since I've been going to the Stanford Shopping Center location recently, I decided to change it up and go to the Palo Alto store. Since parking on University Ave. is a ridiculous idea on a Saturday night, I pulled into the nearest garage and found parking on the fourth floor. I thought it would be faster to take the elevator down, so I got in and pushed the "1" button. It lit up and had a star next to it and everything. It looked like such a good button. I started adjusting my shoelaces that had come undone, and noticed that the ride seemed to be unusually long. In fact, I was pretty sure the elevator wasn't moving at all. Not wanting to have to deal with being stuck in an elevator, I decided to ignore the the problem and go with the "I'll deal with this as soon as I finish tying my shoelaces" strategy. After my footwear was in order, I looked up and saw that I was still on the 4th floor. I pressed "1" again, and nothing happened. I tried the "Door Open" button. No luck. "Door Close" worked I guess, because the doors remained closed. "4" didn't do anything. At that point, I knew that I at least had reached the point where it would at least be something to blog about. While this was a comforting thought, I still knew that I had a reservation at the Genius Bar, and I didn't want to miss it. (Well, being a Genius Bar reservation, by "miss it," I mean "show up more than 40 minutes late for it.") I saw that the stop/run button was a push/pull deal, and I pushed it to make sure it was fully in the "RUN" position, and it was. Finally, I decided to go with the "try turning it off and on again" approach. I pulled the button into the "STOP" position, which activated a bell, and then pushed it back to "RUN." The doors opened and I used the stairs.
When I got to the Apple Store, I only had to wait a few minutes since I had arrived 10 minutes late. Of course my MBP behaved perfectly in front of the Genius (even though his MBP's drive was acting up), even though I had brought in three CDs that had been giving me trouble just an hour earlier. At least I was able to sit at the Genius Bar and import Sensational '70s. I seem to have the single-disc edition of the album, which is the second CD of the boxed set, in case you care. The only thing that bothers me about it is that the album is actually titled Sensational 70's. I go the other way with apostrophes. Oh, and also at the bar I saw a fellow G.A. alum who recognized me.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Long Flight
There's nothing wrong with marketing, but I am
increasingly annoyed by the amount of advertising thrown on me on commercial*
flights, especially since I am a member of a captive audience. On my flight from
Philly to SFO this past weekend, I cringed when the "Turn on your electronics"
video came on, because I knew that it is now followed by a few minutes of
airline commercials that play through the P.A. system, making them impossible to
avoid. But it got worse. One of the flight attendants then read through a sales
pitch, whilst holding a phone gangsta-style, about some new credit card, which
included some of the cheesiest "That's right, 3 billion bonus miles!" lines of
marketing copy I've ever heard. She then walked down the aisle with application
forms, repeating the pitch again as she walked past the passengers, 100% of whom
did not respond to the promotion.
After all of those aural interruptions, I wondered if they were all really part of the ad on my tray table for noise-cancelling headphones.
*Ah, I get it now.
After all of those aural interruptions, I wondered if they were all really part of the ad on my tray table for noise-cancelling headphones.
*Ah, I get it now.
What I'm doing this weekend
You know a BBQ is going to be pretty sweet if you
have to sign a waiver before you attend. The formality was a bit surprising at
first, but I understood the reasoning when one of the event's activities was
described as "a mashup of bungee-jumping and shark wrestling." I can't
wait.
Must run in the family
About a year ago, I accidently chose to complete
an ATM transaction in Spanish. Today, my mom told me that she made the
same mistake, but was fortunately also able to go through the process without
any problems. Yeah, we're cool like that.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Rain?
I walked out of work today (yesterday,
technically) and got wet. I've been here in Silicon Valley for over two months
now, and this is the first time it's rained! (Well, I was told that it rained on
Sunday, but I didn't see it.) I didn't even know how to turn on my windshield
wipers at first since I've never had to use them before on this
car.
Public Shaming
From:
John
Stowe
Subject: subjecting myself to public shaming
Date: October 5, 2006 1:06:20 PM PDT
To: Wysz
I just installed a new sound card on my pc at work, and the first way I thought of to play audio on the computer was to go to hamsterdance.com
Subject: subjecting myself to public shaming
Date: October 5, 2006 1:06:20 PM PDT
To: Wysz
I just installed a new sound card on my pc at work, and the first way I thought of to play audio on the computer was to go to hamsterdance.com
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Oh, great. Another blogger.
Leah now works for TV Guide and has started
blogging on their website. And what does she do immediately after her stuff
starts being published? She asks for a link on my blog. I sure hope TV Guide can
handle the traffic. Here you
go.
You kids and your gum
I don't really get gum. It loses its flavor after
about two minutes and then you have to find a place to put it.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Resisdential
Today, a Mountain View/Los Altos phone book was
left at my apartment door. It has a minor typo. It's only centered at the top of
208 pages in large bold print; I'm sure nobody will
notice.
