Entries Tagged 'Life News' ↓

So, I recently bought a Nokia N800, partly because of all the N810 news I’ve seen recently and partly because I wanted a cool new toy. My roommate recently bought an iPhone, which for all of the hype, is kind of lame. Don’t get me wrong, the interface is really slick and using the ‘net anywhere is kind of cool, but it’s a closed system that people keep hacking to add functionality. It also has a really low resolution and doesn’t support Flash, which is pretty lame.

The N800 on the other hand is based on Maemo Linux, is totally open, already has full VoIP functionality, fully supports Flash (meaning YouTube and all-Flash sites work just fine), has about twice the resolution of the iPhone (so I don’t have to keep zooming and scrolling websites) and has a ton of really cool apps. GPS? Check! USB OTG? Check! Expandable memory? Check! True multitasking? Check! Mozilla browser? Check! VNC, SSH and VPN access? Check! Video chat? Check! It even has Skype and Gizmo clients and a port of Pidgin, the greatest chat client ever. Sure I don’t have Internet access anywhere my phone works, but WiFi is so easy to come by that it’s hardly a factor for me. If I really need to I can pair it with a Bluetooth phone and use it that way.
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No, I still haven’t read up much on the Zend framework yet. All in due time….. I have more important things to worry about right now.

After seeing people I went to high school with at a wedding I recently attended and seeing them looking all trim and fit and seeing pictures of my fat ass from the same wedding, I’ve decided enough is enough. I officially weigh in at 195 pounds on a good day. Back in high school, i weighed 160, and while that wasn’t “thin” by any stretch of the imagination, it was a hell of a lot better than 195! Ultimately, I don’t have the desire or drive to get all ripped or anything, I just want to not be disgusting anymore and I think 160 is a good goal.
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I went paintballing for the first time this last weekend. I never had much interest in doing it before because I’m not partial to pain, but I have to say, getting shot doesn’t hurt THAT much. Most of the time I got hit in my forearms, with the exception of getting hit on the hand once (which is starting to bruise now). But, the pain goes away quickly, and nobody I went with (19 other people) really got hurt.

We went to Paintball Sam’s for the Bachelor party of a friend of mine. I new a lot of the people there, but there were also plenty that I didn’t know. More than anything, I was really impressed with the equipment they rent; semi-auto air-fed guns that almost nobody had any problems with. Mine shot exceptionally well and was even faster than the other’s I was with (288 feet per second when I tested it). Continue reading →

I fell behind again, but only by a few days. I’m still trying my best to post on a regular basis though.

First we’ll start off with work and my commute to connect with the last post. I’ve gotten used to the commute and waking up early to make it now. I get tired earlier at night, but I guess that’s expected. I have once again avoided a ticket punching last week, so that makes 3 free rides on the train; not too bad.

I’ve been occupying my time on the train by listening to podcasts and playing a little bit of games, Planet Puzzle League exclusively I guess. The podcast I’ve been trying to catch back up on is the Dopecast which is all about drug news and the counter culture. I’m not one for their use personally but I think many of the illegal drugs out there should be legalized and it’s cool to hear what’s going on in that regard. Soon I will be reading on the train too, having purchased Sun Tzu’s The Art of War (since it’s been references often in my daily living for some reason) and Just for Fun, the story of Linus Torvalds (since it was inexpensive and I expect it’s an interesting read). I’ll let you know how those go.
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Ever since I started my new job, there has been talk of getting a new office. The company had already been occupying two office spaces, having knocked down a wall that separated the two. We had so outgrown our old space that the development department (where I work) had been relocated to a third space on the first floor of the building; we weren’t even connected to the original office.

How fitting it was then that roughly a week before my one year anniversary (that’s right, I’m a senior developer as of today) we are finally occupying a new office. It was a year in the making, and this was the third space they had looked at and made moves on (after the first two fell through), but we made it. And since most of the office lives in the city, that’s where we moved to. Sadly, I live in the northern suburbs, meaning I nearly doubled my commute….

But it’s not all bad; the new office is really awesome, the location of it is amazing and the development department has finally been reunited with the rest of the company. I was personally looking forward to that later part the most and I’m happy we finally made the move.
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Yes, this jacket is great! How great you ask? You have to see ti to believe it, that’s how great it is!!

Before I go in to the jacket though, let me recap why I chose it. First, I didn’t want a traditional leather riding jacket (as seen here), I wanted one without a collar because I like the sporty look; not too old school, but not crotch rocket either, just simple. Second, I didn’t want anything TOO plain (see here), and I liked the look of the stripes, it made the jacket pop. Plus they are reflective, and safety first right…… ok, I don’t even care if they are reflective, but it’s a nice touch. Finally, if this one would have had a grey sripe instead of an orange one, I would have gotten it, but as it is it’s too Harley for me. So, there it is.

Now, why Fox Creek Leather? Well, quite simply, I could not find one bad review of any of their jackets! I mean, there are some on their site from random people who were not happy with one thing or another, but that was it. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that the general population is retarded. Multiply that by the fact that people are 10 times more likely to write up a bad review than a good one and their track record looks pretty awesome.
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Now that I have a nice, shiny new bike, it’s time to invest in some worthwhile riding gear. Back when I had my old bikes, I just wore whatever I had around. Hoodies, mechanics gloves, normal shoes….. anything I’d wear from day to day.

Before I even bought the new bike, I purchased a nice pair of black boots from Timberland. The main selling point was that they were 100% waterproof which I later confirmed. They are pretty comfortable now that I have broken them in, they are very durable and they look really good. Plain black boots, nice and simple. So, I’m all set there.

I have a leather jacket I got for Christmas a few years ago. The thing is pretty beat up now, which would be fine, but it has a good number of holes in it too. Huge holes, as a matter of fact, that I have stitched up so I can wear it before I get something new. It’s also not meant for riding, so it catches the wind like crazy and makes for a bad ride. It’s ready for the trash, and it’s time for a new jacket, preferably one made for riding.

In the last month, I’ve been going around to all the local shops here checking out what they have for jackets. They are generally all made for the kids on sport bikes, with the exception of a hand full of lame leather jackets. They all have some kind of logo on them, either from the company that makes the jacket or the manufacturer that licensed them to make it… or both. I just want a plan leather jacket with no collar and no writing; something clean and functional. Apparently I’m a minority….
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You know everyone keeps saying that identity theft and credit card fraud are on the rise? Well, I’ve known a lot of people that have fallen victim to both, but I always maintained a “that won’t happen to me” attitude about it. I guess it was bound to happen to me sooner or later, and it finally did.

Apparently someone was trying to cash a check against my Discover card and that got flagged for some reason. Then I was talking to the lady in the security department, she said that sometimes what happens is people steal the checks they send you and try to use them. This is most likely what happened in my case.
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Well, as mentioned in my original St. Pat’s post, I bought a motorcycle. Not just any motorcycle, but THE motorcycle….. or at least that’s my opinion of the bike. Since then, I’ve had the oil changed and there was some other service done too (which I’ll get in to in a second here). Yesterday I took some time to clean it up and today I took it in to work. People were freaking out all day asking who’s motorcycle was parked in the lot, and once they found out it was mine, I got all kinda of kudos on it. The thing is a beauty.

I’ll make this one quick. First, here’s some pictures!
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Well, it’s a few days late, but that’s how it goes….

If you took the time to check out Aaron’s gallery, you saw a bunch of pictures from the party after the pub crawl. Nobody was really taking any pictures AT the bars (except for the couple that Emily took which I don’t think are online yet), which was kind of a shame, but that’s how it goes. Really, there wasn’t much to see there anyway, just us drinking. I think you can imagine that on your own, and if not, check out some of the other galleries I have.

However, you might be asking yourself “hey, what’s the deal with the guy passed out in that chair with the bottle of beer on his head?” You’re right to ask about him, as it’s a pretty good story. However, since that was closer to the end of the night, we’ll save that for the end of this article Continue reading →