Video Goodies

Christmas in England

I'm spending Christmas in England this year. Here is some information on the town where my parents are living. I'll hopefully have some pictures soon. My first impressions are that it's very cold and gray here, but the countryside is very hilly and beautiful. Despite being winter, there is still a lot of green. It also gets dark here at about 4:00 pm, which is not much fun.

Pack Rat Omnibus

Here is a series of items that I'm not sure why I still have:

High School Graduation Announcement [front]

High School Graduation Announcement [inside]


I have a box with about twenty unsent announcements!

Lego M-Tron Model box (empty)


Super Nintendo Entertainment System original box (empty)


Game Boy System original box (empty) with SuperMarioLand game original box (empty)



Please, please, tell me why I still have these.

Universal Truth

There is a truth that cannot be debated, argued, or denied. And that is there is only one correct way for toilet paper to be dispensed. From the top of the roll so that the roll rotates from top to bottom.

You Know You've Been in Front of a Computer Too Long When...

At the end of The Simpsons Movie, when the credits are rolling by, you look to the right of the screen at the scroll bar to see how much text is left. Of course, there is no scroll bar because it's a movie and not a computer.

Death by Auto Audio Omission

Every time I rent a car and it doesn't have an aux audio input, a part of me dies.

Not dying is considered a matter of 'comfort'

Anyone who has flown on a plane lately may have heard the following line uttered by one of the flight attendants before takeoff:

"The cabin is pressurized for your comfort."

I'm sorry, but the cabin is pressurized so we won't die at 35,000 feet! I guess they call it 'comfort' so people won't freak out. Still, I wish they would state the real reason:

"The cabin is pressurized so that when we reach an altitude where the atmosphere is too sparse to permit normal respiration, you won't die of asphyxiation. Enjoy your flight!"

Familial Displacement, Part Deux

My family is moving... again. And it figures that they would be moving because I moved to Texas specifically to be closer to them.

Ten years ago, when I was a month into my freshman year at Lehigh my parents and sister moved from metro Baltimore, Md. to San Antonio, Texas. The reason? My dad sought and was granted a job relocation. (He works for the Dept. of Defense.) My first job after graduating from Lehigh in 2001 happened to be back in Maryland, so I spent about 3.5 years there after college. During that time I decided to look into getting a job in Texas, to be closer to the family. I was able to find a job in Austin and moved here in February 2005.

Living in Austin, I found, was very conducive to being able to see the family regularly. San Antonio is only 1.5 hours down I-35. So I go on my way, back and forth between Austin and San Antonio every couple weekends or so, thinking that all was right with the world. Little did I know that Dad had another adventure planned.

Not long after I was finally moved down here, Dad informs that he's considering doing an assignment in England. Nothing permanent, but just a minimum three-year stay over there before returning to Texas. So as of now, they are all moved out of their house and ready to fly over there tomorrow. I will definitely miss having them close by, but will enjoy the opportunity to visit them in England and be able to see more of Europe while over there. And knowing that they will be back here is reassuring because I won't have to entertain thoughts of moving again. I'm glad to be living in a place like Austin and can handle being apart from the family for a while, knowing that they'll be back before too long.

Dramatic Groundhog

This might be the best five seconds you spend today.

Travelogue 1

I just figured out how to use Picasa to post pictures online. So here are some from my Oregon-Washington trip last summer. These are from Multnomah Falls.

The Need for Personal Protection

February 12, 2007 - Salt Lake City. A Bosnian immigrant kills five at a shopping mall before before being shot down by an off-duty police officer.

April 2, 2007 - Seattle. A distraught ex-boyfriend kills a University of Washington researcher before killing himself.

April 4, 2007 - Atlanta. A woman is shot and killed at point-blank range inside the CNN Center. The attacker is then shot and wounded by a security guard.

April 9, 2007 - Troy, Mich. A recently fired employee of an accounting firm shoots three people, killing one, at his former workplace. He is later apprehended.

April 16, 2007 - Blacksburg, Va. A student murders 32 people at Virginia Tech before turning the gun on himself.

April 20, 2007 - Houston. A NASA employee who received a poor performance review kills his supervisor and takes another employee hostage before killing himself.

Never as far as I can remember have there been so many public shootings in such a short span of time. People question whether such acts are preventable. They question whether they saw warning signs of the murderer's intent prior to the shooting and could have raised the alarm. Much second-guessing goes on, but the fault is clearly the murderer's and his alone. If one is determined to harm people, he will find a way. That is why it is so important that law-abiding citizens exercise their right to arm themselves for personal protection. If even 10% of people carried handguns, do you think criminals would think more carefully about brandishing a gun, not knowing who around them may too be armed?

Consider the Salt Lake City incident, in which the actions of the officer likely saved many lives. How many other lives could be saved in the other incidents if a few of the employees or students were armed? In order for this to happen, workplace and campus rules must be updated to allow for the concealed carrying of handguns. Is this controversial? No doubt. But as long as weapons for personal protection are banned from workplaces and campuses, innocent people will be at the mercy of another would-be murderer.

I am using these incidents as motivation to pursue obtaining a handgun as well as a concealed carry license. I would encourage anyone living in states that allow CCW to do likewise.

Remember Biff?

Remember Biff from Back to the Future? Watch this.

King of the Hypermilers

I read an interesting article about a guy who takes fuel economy to the extreme. And as it turns out there are competitions for this sort of thing.

I like March

March used to be my least favorite month. When I lived in more northern climates, March always represented the last gasp of winter, and more often than not March would be a miserable, cold month. I was so desperate for warmer weather by mid-February, but lousy March stood in the way. If I could just survive March then warm April days would be all mine.

But now I live in Austin and it's 75 every day in March. So I like March now. ^_^

One of life's finer pleasures

I know the warning on the Q-Tips box says, "Do not insert into ear canal," but how can something that feels so good be wrong?

The End of DRM?

What do you think of Steve Jobs' pronouncement that the world would be better off without DRM? (Click here to read it.) Is this the beginning of the end for DRM? What struck me as most interesting is his claim that less than 10% of all songs bought worldwide are from digital music stores. That means 90% of songs still come from CDs. If that's true, it seems pretty hard to believe.

Vocabulary Lesson #4

whelm (v.) - to neither impress nor disappoint. What happens when you're neither overwhelmed nor underwhelmed. Saying "I was whelmed" is pretty much like saying, "this occurrence may as well not have taken place and left no lasting impression."

Exchange that may amuse only me

Google talk exchange between my sister and I while watching the season premiere of American Idol:

Kelsey [in reference to the commonly-heard excuse of those whose auditions went poorly, "But I have a degree in vocal performance!"]: "I bet it wasn't from a good university."

Me [in reference to the audition location of Minneapolis and thinking of the funniest-named town in Minnesota]: "Yeah, probably Bemidji State University."

Well, it turns out there actually is a Bemidji State University. Who knew?

Fun with Geography, Euro-style

I found the follow-up to the 50 States game. If you'd hated placing U.S. states on a blank map, you'll hate placing European countries on a map even more! Good luck locating Luxembourg!!

Click here. (Apologies in advance for the annoying music.)