As you may have noticed, I didn’t write very much at all for the last several weeks. This was mainly due to added stress at work (read: inventory time, again!) and being engrossed in some things to take my mind off the other things that have been either depressing or bugging the heck out of me.

Where do I start? I guess we’ll start with our jobs. Aside from the added craziness at my work, things have gone well. During the big push for inventory readiness, I received a good annual review and a raise for my efforts. Actually, it was great with all high marks and maximum raise, which I’m used to getting. Still, I can’t shake the feeling sometimes that I’m not always taken seriously. One of my co-workers made a good point, though; we’re all not taken seriously, even when some of us have tons of experience. It’s just management mentality. That’s probably why I’m only comfortable being a supervisor at most. I can be an effective manager for a project, just don’t ask me to be one for a long-term basis! Still, I always have room to grow. Otherwise, like I said, things are going pretty smooth. On my wife’s side of things, she’s gotten some big-time recognition for her efforts at her job. In fact, she recently got a level promotion with a sizable raise. All in all, things are looking up for us on that subject and also financially as well.

Home life is not so exciting. The only thing that’s really kept us going here are our individual interests… and the birds, of course. Lately, things went into a decline with the health, and subsequent death, of our budgerigar Kiwi (see last post). However, a couple of friends came over last evening for a Doctor Who marathon and pizza night, and that did very well in dulling the pain from our loss. My camera is STILL in the shop! I brought it back in to Best Buy a day after pickup because it was exhibiting the same problems. They did call me today to let me know that it’s ready; I’m bringing batteries and a memory card so I can test it out right there in front of them. If it still doesn’t work, I’m demanding a refund and/or replacement. I’m getting short on patience for ineptitude. Other than those things, at least our health overall is doing fine, so we really can’t complain.

On the hobby front, I’ve been waiting on two puzzles that I ordered from different companies. One is the V-Cube 7 from Verdes Innovations. That one actually came for me on July 3rd, and I made an unboxing and demonstration video of it that day. Here’s the video:

I’ve done about ten or so solves with it and I’m very impressed and satisfied. It’s a little more challenging that a Rubik’s Professor cube, but that’s mainly talking about time consumption. The real challenge for me is to bring my time down to 20 minutes, then 15 and then eventually to ten minutes. I’ll be happy with 15 minutes, really, since I’m not much of a “speedcuber”. I really should try, though! Oh, and the other puzzle that I’m waiting on is the Pyraminx Crystal from Mefferts.com. It should be arriving later this month. I can’t wait; it should present a bigger challenge than the V-Cube, due to the design and function. I’m already planning the next puzzles for my collection later this year. I’d like to get the V-Cube 6; even though it’s a lower order than the 7×7 cube, even-number cubes are inherently harder to solve due to mathematical parity issues. Also, I wouldn’t mind an Eastsheen 2×2 cube, to replace the Rubik’s Ice Cube that’s in a state of shaky repair.

Well, I’ve just expended a lot of thought into this entry. Thanks for reading and being patient with my absence. Cheers!

This is a response to Friday5.org’s recent blog post, in where it has questions regarding our individual tastes. I don’t participate in these often but, when I do, it usually pertains to my interests in some way. Sometimes I just think they’re good questions. This time around, the questions not only apply to my tastes but, in some cases, apply to my health as well. I figured this would make a good blog post here, so let’s just dive in right now!

1. What’s too spicy for your tastes?

As some of you know, I love spicy food. I usually make my blow-your-nose-off chili, complete with jalapenos, habaneros, chili powder and a extra ingredient that I’ll mention in a bit. However, it needs to have some flavor; it can’t be hot for hot’s sake. That being said, the extra ingredient I put in a pot of chili is a couple of drops of Dave’s Ultimate Insanity hot pepper sauce. It’s very close to qualifying as an extract, really. Many mortals have regretted putting a small drop of this stuff on their tongue, resulting in liberal chugging of water or milk. I won’t dare do it!

2. What’s too sweet for your tastes?

Anything that’s geared to give you high energy due to the sugar content. I’m hypoglycemic, so I have to watch the sugar intake and eat sensibly; snack often on complex carbs and protein to keep my blood sugar going. If I have too much sugar at once, my body crashes and I’ll be dragging myself on the ground for the rest of the day. Sooooo… unfortunately, most candy bars and energy bars are off limits for me. Energy drinks like Monster and Red Bull are dangerous for me to have. But I can have a dessert-type item when it’s getting close to bedtime. I just can’t go nuts with it. However, I’m a sucker for anything with dark chocolate in it!! Now I’ve gotten to the point where Diet Coke w/Splenda is as sweet as I’ll go. If someone accidentally hands me a fountain-dispensed Coke in a restaurant, I can (almost, if it’s mixed right) tell immediately, as it’s sickeningly sweet to me!

3. What’s too salty for your tastes?

Dairy Queen has this bad habit of topping some of their sundaes with salted peanuts. I’m sorry, but salt and ice cream doesn’t go together for me. Yuck! I don’t really even add any extra salt to anything I cook, unless I really have to, which is rare.

4. What’s too bitter for your tastes?

I take a Ginko Biloba supplement every morning with my vitamins. I’m very careful not to let it hit my tongue, as the taste of that stuff almost made me vomit on a few occasions, even though I have a very strong stomach.

5. What’s too sour for your tastes?

This is one I have to think about. Straight lemon juice, which I still have to use on occasion to help unblock a problematic salivary gland.

Well, I hope all my readers learned more about me than what they wanted to know, heh-heh! I’ll come back and write another entry this week, hopefully really soon. As of this moment right now, I’m having too much fun hanging out with our birds and jamming to some Epic Rock Radio!

Cheers, and enjoy some good eats for me!!

Most of you have heard the announcement by now, unless you have been isolating yourself from the rest of the world this past week. Monday, Apple unveiled the next edition of their iPhone, the smartphone-on-steroids that they unleashed upon the world last year. They’ve christened their newest offering as the iPhone 3G, due to the added capability of operating on the faster 3G networks that AT&T is hastily installing throughout the US. Personally, I much prefer to call it the iPhone v1.5, since most of the actual hardware underwent minor revision besides the 3G chipset. Nevertheless, Apple had major success with their “trial run” of the first iPhone, and now they’re set to steamroll the competition with their new phone and the new, subsidized price, thanks to their AT&T partnership.

As most of you know, I love Apple’s products. We have their computers and their iPod media players, of course. (I absolutely loooooove my iPod!!) However, I’ve seldom ever been a first-adopter of any new device or technology. Call me the cautious cat, but I was justified in my reasoning for that when I bought my current computer, the first-edition of the iMac G5. It works great, but it did have some issues which led to a recall notice that I did put into use when it started smoking one fine day. Which leads me to the reasons why I didn’t buy the first iPhone: One, I wanted to be as patient as possible to see what problems people had with the device. Two, my contract with Sprint hadn’t run its course yet. Three, the onboard memory was paltry for my needs when it first came out. Finally, number Four… the price was hard to swallow, even when they lowered it by $200 to $399.

Now that the iPhone has been put through its paces, with rave reviews by so many people (some lovingly called it the iOhMyGodPhone!), and given a performance overhaul, I think… no, I KNOW I will be getting the iPhone on July 11th, or sometime after that. I’ve done lots of thinking and research in making the decision, especially since it involves a contract with AT&T. I don’t enter contracts lightly; before Sprint, we shopped at several carriers and asked many questions. This leads me to the reasons for getting the new iPhone…

Price and Service - The new subsidized price of $299 for the 16GB ($199 for the 8GB) is great. The only downside behind the subsidizing is the forcing of an AT&T contract. You simply can’t just buy an iPhone anywhere and hope to unlock it for use on another carrier. You can only buy it at a Apple store or an AT&T store, with the condition that it’s activated right then and there. That being said, I looked at their pricing plans and weighed my options. Even though I’ll most likely be paying $25 more a month compared to my current service (Edit: hooray for corporate discounts!!), to me this is justified by the added services I’ll be getting, such as visual voicemail and 3G data speeds (there is more, of course!). For me, the down versus the upsides are pretty much on an even keel. The 3G service even extends out past my home’s community, which is surprising considering the techno-backwards nature of the Avondale, AZ area.

The Device and OS - The new iPhone has all the neato things most of you have read about, plus some new features. The GPS ability just might clear the subscription cost by itself! There are times I’ve wanted to read or write email from my work or when I’m out and about. The improved email features, including “push” email, will definitely be an asset for me, not to mention the fact that you can now add appointments to the device’s iCal app directly (a feature that was added in their first iPhone OS overhaul). Believe me, checking email and adding calendar events to my current phone (LG PM-325) is a royal pain and I don’t like doing these things often because of that. Also, developers are now invited to write third-party applications for the iPhone, which will be made available through Apple’s App Store. 70% of these apps are confirmed to be free of charge! I know I’ll be looking out for some killer apps to enhance my use of the device¹. I could go on and on about the rest of its feature set; you’ll just have to check out the rest for yourself.

Convenience Factor - Though I love my iPod, it will be nice to not have to carry two devices around anymore. Right now, I sometimes have three things on my belt: iPod, cell phone and a Leatherman multi-tool. I’m starting to look like a Batman-wannabe! I’m surprised that no one at my work has said as much. Even though I won’t carry my entire music library with me on the iPhone due to storage limits (I want to have at least a couple of vids or movies on it!), I only need my favorite and new albums with me and that will suffice. For lengthy trips, I’ll definitely pack the iPod for extended media play. I’ve wanted to have a phone that can also play music, but none of the other phones capable of doing so appealed to me. I guess the iPod’s ease-of-use spoiled me. One more thing that I almost forgot to mention is that the iPhone will be set to work with Apple’s newest service, MobileMe, which is replacing their .mac service. I looked at the new service and I’m seriously considering it as a replacement for my PowWeb subscription (more easier to use features for the same price I’m paying now).

Well, I think I’ve detailed my reasons enough for acquiring the iPhone. It was also good to put it down in writing here so I can justify my reasonings to myself. I’m glad I waited this long for the good stuff and I think the investment will be worth it in the long run.

Cheers!

¹ Notice I stopped calling the iPhone a “phone”, but rather a “device”. Many publications are actually calling the iPhone the first successful handheld computer with a desktop-class OS.

With my Dad’s birthday and Father’s Day both just around the corner in this part of the year, I wanted to take this time to thank him in advance with this blogpost.

I came across this little blast from the past recently: an article on the Timex/Sinclair 1000! This is what my Dad gave me waaaaay back in the day to get me interested in technology. I must have been 9 or 10 years old at the time, since it was manufactured back in 1981. As I sat there, after hooking up the little computer to the TV, holding the manual in my hands, he told me to read that manual and do everything it says, cover-to-cover. I certainly did just that, my young mind soaking it all in and spitting out code for the machine to use. This thing only had 2k of RAM, which back then was certainly do-able for the average kid-user.

I had a lot of fun learning how to program on that little Timex. Little did I know that my Dad had given me the tools to exceed my future high-school classmates when it came to programming and computer knowledge. Even though I didn’t stick with it for long after high school, I still dive into coding when it suits me, because I have the background. I’m also much more computer-literate than the average user because of what Dad helped to instill in me. Even more so, he taught me the value of, not just education in general, but self-learning and discovery.

Thanks, Dad, with love!

Hat’s off to Captain Picard’s Journal for posting this question!

Either from birth, or somehow genetically imprinted on all of humanity, people are inexorably driven to mindless consumerism. We just can’t seem to resist going into the latest or greatest shops, even if just to browse and graze like so many sheep. You can’t even say that one sex is more susceptible than the other; men and women are equally guilty, if only for different reasons and tastes.

With that in mind, I’ll give you fellow readers the lowdown on my favorite shops. I think the emphasis here is only on the brick-and-mortar kind and not the online kind. (Maybe I’ll talk about my favorite online shops in a separate post…)

First, I love any “gadget” stores. Electronic stores, like Best Buy and the now-defunct Comp USA (oh how I miss thee), are awesome for getting the latest and greatest grown-up toys. For other gadgets and accessorizing, I’ll take a trip to an Apple Store or some other Apple-authorized seller (like MacMedia in Peoria, AZ.). In the Apple Stores, it’s a bonus to play with the newest computers they have to offer! Like my wife when it comes to her love for Hot Topic stores, I’m content to spend a couple of hours just browsing. Especially if the store, like Best Buy, had a decent music selection! Also, gadget stores can include those specialty “edu-tainment” stores like Zany Brainey or similar stores. Those places sometimes have good puzzle selections!

Second, I enjoy going to bookstores. Barnes & Noble and Borders are two of the best ones that come to mind. (I think I overheard that they merged!) I don’t get to visit these as often; I usually go alone because Christine automatically falls asleep as soon as she puts one foot in a bookstore. One time, I almost got kicked out of one because I was reading for several hours without buying anything yet. I don’t read like I used to… Online reading is slowly taking the place of the printed word, but I loves me a good piece of sci-fi book, nonetheless.

Lastly, since I sometimes still play around with a guitar (and keyboards), I love to browse around an instrument shop. If only to keep up with some of the advancements in guitars and sound effects and other related gadgets. That reminds me… I’d like to save up next for a new keyboard. Time to start shopping around, eh? (With tech being what it is, I might just settle for something inexpensive like this thingie here!).

So, if any of you are interested in commenting, please do so and tell me what YOUR favorite shops are! C’mon, don’t be shy…

Cheers!