Wysz's Thoughts v.Awesome

Last post.

Sun, 06 May 2007 18:27:58 -0700

This is my final post on Wysz's Thoughts v.Awesome. My new blog is Wyszdom.

That is all.

Office Space meets The Office at My Office

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:37:02 -0800

I have a reputation at work for being a fan of The Office. I also have a lot of Office Space memorabilia on my desk. One of my coworkers thought it would be funny to combine my two interests. Here's what I found on my desk this morning:

It was very nicely done, with the Initech logo proudly placed at the top:

To make things even better, I took off my jacket to reveal that I was wearing my Dunder-Mifflin shirt to celebrate the fact that it was Thursday:

My manager keeps telling me that I need to expand my interests beyond office humor and get a hobby. Perhaps this is proof.

Headphone$

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:58:29 -0800

One of my coworkers was carefully tracking a package all day. Finally, at the end of the day, his large box arrived. We figured maybe it was another amplifier for his pimped-out workstation. The guy even has a headphone amplifier.

Inside the large box was a smaller box. Inside the smaller box, a case. Inside the case, some very expensive headphones. I'll keep the exact price and the owner's identity a secret for his own safety.

Samsung Challenge: Type your phone number without typing anything

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 00:31:03 -0800

I got this error on Samsung's website after entering my phone number with hyphens, just like millions of people do every day. But according to the error message the hyphens aren't the only problem. Samsung wants me to have a phone number without any characters at all. A phone number with no numbers. Hmm.

In the end I didn't order anything... after shipping & taxes, the iPod cable I was thinking about would have cost over $50. I think I'll stick to my current $5 solution that does almost the same thing.

Quick Slideshows in OS X

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 16:00:03 -0800

I was recently asked to show a bunch of pictures that I had in a folder, and got to use one of the features of OS X that most regular users don't know about.

If you have a folder filled with pictures and want to look at all of them, right now, and even have a slideshow, it's really easy.

1. Open the folder containing the pictures you wish to view.
2. Select the pictures. ‚åò-a to select all if you want to look at all of them.
3. Right-click (or ctrl-click) on one of the images and select Slideshow.

Now your images will begin playing full-screen as a slideshow. Move the mouse, and a few icons will appear that allow you to access other special functions.

And if you're wondering how to type that symbol I used in Step 2:
1. Go to the Edit menu and select Special Characters.
2. View: All Characters
3. Symbols -> Technical Symbols.

There you go.

Headline

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 15:36:47 -0800

I saw this headline today: Harvard names first woman president

My first thought: What did they name her? Susan?

Super Bowl

Sat, 03 Feb 2007 16:56:01 -0800

Is it sad that the Super Bowl is tomorrow, and I didn't know who was playing until just a minute ago when I checked TV Guide to see which network it would be on?

On Lunch

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 21:19:32 -0800

A lot of times when I'm in a store out here, I hear about employees being "on lunch." The idea of a lunch break is not foreign to me, but I often hear this at night, when it is not even close to lunch time. So if it's just a break, why not call it being "on break," you Californian weirdos?

Physics

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:00:03 -0800

I looked up at the Moon tonight and thought, "Man, it would suck if that thing fell on us."

Best Buy

Sat, 20 Jan 2007 00:14:16 -0800

A couple of notes:

Q: What's the difference between a 6-ft 1/8" audio cable and a 6-ft 1/8" audio cable with the word "iPod" on the box?
A: $7.

I decided to go ahead and sign up for their bonus card thing, even though I am totally against that. When the cashier asked for my first name, he was relieved to hear that it is Michael, because "that's easy to spell." He typed in "Micheal," which I've come to know as Comcast's version of my name. I considered not even giving him my real last name.

Circuit City Rebates are a Scam

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 17:08:18 -0800

Yeah, I know, rebates are a really shady business scheme to begin with, but I wanted to save some money, I played by the rules, and I lost.

When I moved into my apartment and was looking for Internet access, I went with Comcast via Circuit City because they had the best deal going. I got a rebates on the modem and router, the promotional subscription price from Comcast, and a gift card from Circuit City. At least that's what I was supposed to get.

I believe the deal was something like this:
$20 rebate on modem
$40 (or was it $80?) rebate on router
$50 (I think) Circuit City gift card

It's hard to remember the details, because this was six months ago. I remember that I did have to send in several forms, sales receipts, and even copies of my Comcast bill. It was all done on paper (why???) and a big pain. What I ended up getting out of all of this was absolutely nothing. I entered my information for months on http://www.ccityrebates.com/ without even getting a confirmation that they received my forms until October, when I was told that the $20 rebate for the modem was on its way and should arrive within 30 days. It never arrived, and I never received any other updates on the rebates or gift cards. And now I feel like an idiot for shopping there.

Oh and don't get me started on the cashier who rang up an HDTV on my bill (which I wanted) and then was surprised when I asked where to pick it up. She pointed to the antenna that I was holding (which cost about 25 times less than the TV) and said that I was holding it in my hand. And yes, the antenna was also on the receipt. I actually thought she was joking until she called the manager over.

Wouldn't it be cool if...

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 21:58:02 -0800

Another thought from Jesse, who came up with the calendar syncing method:

Wouldn't it be great if there was an easy way to sync your bookmarks, live, across browsers? No importing, no having to close the app, no toolbars. I guess there'd have to be a standard. So please, browser folks, play nice.

Also, wouldn't it be cool if Apple made a phone? Well, turns out it's awesome. I'm saving up to get one on launch.

Actual Quote

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 21:14:31 -0800

After taking off from London, flying around for 2 hours, landing in London due to computer problems, taking off again and landing in London again, and having to go back through customs upon exiting the plane, which was still in London:

Customs Officer: Where are you coming from?
My Sister: The runway.

Get it?

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 18:54:28 -0800

Me: You reading a book?
My Sister: Yeah, isn't that a novel idea?

Spelling

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 19:09:24 -0800

Did the Internet have a meeting that I was not invited to in which it was decided that the word tomorrow will now be known as tomarrow? That's not cool, guys.

The Cartscalator

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 16:27:25 -0800

I went to the Sunnyvale Target earlier this week to pick up some photos. It was my first time in a two-story Target. This doesn't sound amazing at first, as there are many multi-story stores in this country. Just go to a department store in any mall. But, when you're at Target, you are usually accompanied by a cart. So how do you get upstairs? Well, you take the escalator, but right beside you, the cart takes the cartscalator. It's simply amazing.

And yes, I am also fascinated by the incredible cart dispenser at IKEA. It makes that cool pstchssshhhhh sound.

On Target...

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:28:02 -0800

I went to Target tonight to pick up a $10 gift for a holiday party gift exchange thing. Ten bucks gets you pretty far at Target, so I walked out with penguin-themed salt and pepper shakers as well as a penguin mug for $9.71. I guess I could throw 29¬¢ in the mug to make it fair, but I can always right that difference off as "shipping and handling."

But anyway, the reason this is blog-worthy (can you tell I have strict criteria?) is that when I got to the checkout station, the cashier exclaimed, "Oh I love those penguins!" and started talking to another cashier about how cute they were and how she was going to take them home as decorations, but not put salt and pepper in them. Now there is nothing wrong with it, as I must admit I have great taste when it comes to cute penguins, but all I could think about was that SNL sketch (sorry for the MySpace link) where the cashier wants to purchase products that she sees her customers buying. I'm easily amused, so I was having a hard time preventing myself from laughing as the penguins were being wrapped up.

Moving Day

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 01:06:03 -0800

Good, it worked. Tonight I finally moved my iBlog data over to my Macbook Pro. As I'm sure the Internet is pleased to hear, this should almost certainly mean the start of more frequent blog entries by yours truly. The reason for this is that my laptop, unlike my desktop, which used to be the controller of my blog, can be easily operated from my couch. My couch is the center of my apartment. I can see the TV from there. I can surf the Internet. There's a coffee table so I can eat. And, if I'm feeling especially lazy, I can even sleep there. My desktop, on the other hand, is at my desk, which is far away from the couch. And by far away, I mean beyond arm's length. Since it is so far away, I've been neglecting any work that requires applications or data hosted on the desktop, including blogging, podcasting, and video production. Now blogging can be taken off the list, but Podcast Maker, Photoshop, and Final Cut Studio still reside on the desktop, which is why those YouTube videos I've promised only receive about 10 minutes of attention each week. Maybe I'll finish them next weekend... but I've been saying that for over a month.

Blog Check

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 00:40:49 -0800

Check. Check one. Check.

Quick Tip - USB Audio

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 23:53:20 -0800

I have a USB headset that I use with iChat, Skype, and iMovie, and sometimes I have trouble getting the audio output to come through the headphones when I first plug it in. A simple solution if you have trouble with your USB audio device is to plug it in, go to the Sound control panel in System Preferences, and then simply check and then uncheck the Output volume's Mute checkbox.