January. Named by a dead Roman for Janus, their god of the doorway. His wife was not named Lintel as you'd expect but Camese. He got the gift of seeing the future and past which is why masks of Janus have a face in front and in back. You might have seen such masks at balls and I think there was one in Zardoz and Eyes Wide Shut.
The air in Utah is terrible due to our long-lasting temperature inversion that lets too little fresh air circulate into the system. Allergy and asthma sufferers are having a hard time so we're not enjoying it much and hope it snows soon.
My newest toy is the Witstech A81, aka Wirelession W1060. It's a mobile internet device, supposedly, with a 7" 800x480 screen. It's great for watching movies or tv shows, works good as an ebook reader and is very poor at surfing the web. Hopefully a firmware update will fix this and I bought it with the assurance they were going to add Android during December. Which still hasn't happened so it doesn't get much use beyond reading but I expect it will be handy on our cruise in February. I can play Bejewelled and it looks odd displayed on such a big screen and the stylus is required since the screen is neither transreflective or capacitive in the way the iPod Touch is. So reading in sunlight will be difficult. Ah well, it will do until Apple decides to offer the Touch with a bigger screen. It will at least play most codecs which is more than the Touch can do.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Sony Reader problems
My Sony Reader is the PRS-500 model, a couple of years old now. I was enticed by Sony into sending it in for a firmware upgrade so that it would read epub books as well as the other formats and since the Sony book store will soon only sell epub books, I didn't have much choice.
Big mistake. I got it back in under two weeks and had very high hopes since you'd expect an upgrade big enough to require you to physically send in the reader would be terrific. It was but in a bad way. Books that used to load in seconds now require up to 15 minutes and even changing the font size, which used to be very fast, now takes 10-15 minutes and often requires a reset. Some books that the Sony library software shows as 300-400k/bytes only show a single error page on the reader, even though they appear to transfer correctly. Without error messages at least.
This is obviously very disappointing and I'm left thinking that it may not be accidental. Do they want me to trade-in the 500 for a newer model so badly that they'd cripple an otherwise working model? I hate to think so but it's hard to believe anyone would put up with a reader that became so inefficient after a major upgrade to it's firmware. Maybe they did something wrong that can be corrected and I'll contact them to see what they'll do. All I know is this is my last Sony product, reader or otherwise, until I'm satisfied.
A search didn't show many people with this same problem but a lot have complaints about the screen breaking, either from pushing the reset button or from pushing the unit back into it's case after cleaning it or pushing the reset. That doesn't inspire much confidence and neither does the fact that nobody at their CS speaks English as a first language, according to many posts. I've dealt with companies that have "techs" read from a script that only covers a few points and then they either hang up on you or put you on hold indefinitely. I won't jump fully to any conclusions but I'm already very leery of Sony and it's alleged firmware upgrade. My reader used to work great and now it's too crippled to be used at all.
Big mistake. I got it back in under two weeks and had very high hopes since you'd expect an upgrade big enough to require you to physically send in the reader would be terrific. It was but in a bad way. Books that used to load in seconds now require up to 15 minutes and even changing the font size, which used to be very fast, now takes 10-15 minutes and often requires a reset. Some books that the Sony library software shows as 300-400k/bytes only show a single error page on the reader, even though they appear to transfer correctly. Without error messages at least.
This is obviously very disappointing and I'm left thinking that it may not be accidental. Do they want me to trade-in the 500 for a newer model so badly that they'd cripple an otherwise working model? I hate to think so but it's hard to believe anyone would put up with a reader that became so inefficient after a major upgrade to it's firmware. Maybe they did something wrong that can be corrected and I'll contact them to see what they'll do. All I know is this is my last Sony product, reader or otherwise, until I'm satisfied.
A search didn't show many people with this same problem but a lot have complaints about the screen breaking, either from pushing the reset button or from pushing the unit back into it's case after cleaning it or pushing the reset. That doesn't inspire much confidence and neither does the fact that nobody at their CS speaks English as a first language, according to many posts. I've dealt with companies that have "techs" read from a script that only covers a few points and then they either hang up on you or put you on hold indefinitely. I won't jump fully to any conclusions but I'm already very leery of Sony and it's alleged firmware upgrade. My reader used to work great and now it's too crippled to be used at all.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Ah September
September. From septimus or seventh. This would make September the seventh month only if you've been drinking enough fermented grape juice. Or if someone callously added months and changed it's position without changing it's name but that would be both stupid for all of us and cruel to September.
Things we look forward to in September? New tv shows on the idiot box, some of them worth a view, most too stupid to bother with. More dumbing down to the LCD (lowest common denominator, not liquid crystal display for you YWS - young whipper snappers). Kathy is most excited about The Amazing Race of course, as far as tv goes. But it's safe to say she's more excited that Skyler and Clarisa will be moving in for awhile as Skyler goes thru police academy. A good movie so a good career choice. I'm looking forward to cooler weather even though it was a mild summer thanks to global warming. Did you know I have a separate blog about global warming? It's true - the blog that is, not global warming which is demonstrably not true.
Things we look forward to in September? New tv shows on the idiot box, some of them worth a view, most too stupid to bother with. More dumbing down to the LCD (lowest common denominator, not liquid crystal display for you YWS - young whipper snappers). Kathy is most excited about The Amazing Race of course, as far as tv goes. But it's safe to say she's more excited that Skyler and Clarisa will be moving in for awhile as Skyler goes thru police academy. A good movie so a good career choice. I'm looking forward to cooler weather even though it was a mild summer thanks to global warming. Did you know I have a separate blog about global warming? It's true - the blog that is, not global warming which is demonstrably not true.
Monday, August 24, 2009
All about August
August, named for Caesar Augustus. Supposedly when the month was re-named for him they stole a day from February to make August longer. Untrue if you believe Wikipedia, but amusing. Don't you just love useless trivia? And I question everything on Wikipedia so I'm still open to the idea of a dead Roman stealing days to feed his own ego. After all he was a politician.
Ben is married. There, I said it. It was very fun to meet all of Natalie's family in situ, and it was quite a party. And the drive is so interesting with it's changing vistas of endless sage and scrub. I'm tired after 10 hours of sleep and still only semi-coherent (some would say it's hard to tell). I hope he and Natalie are having a nice* honeymoon *(I discarded several other adjectives before deciding on nice).
I'm still over Warcraft and the pending expansion doesn't thrill or tempt me. I'm back to my old tried and true games, Age of Empires 2 + expansion, Age of Mythology + expansion, and Master of Orion 2. Even though some are well over 10 years old they're still funner than most of the current stuff and they have the added advantage of my having mastered them back when I was smart. I just don't have the brain cells to learn a complex new game and probably never will. If you haven't played them and like real-time strategy games you should try them. MOO2 isn't an RTS but a fun turn-based space strategy game.
Gun show next month. I might trade/sell my sweet little Bersa .380 for something in a 9mm, since ammo is still impossible to find in .380. Maybe a nice Kel-Tec PF9, smaller than my Bersa and lighter, too, but quite a bit more formidable. I'm also looking at shotguns, probably a Mossberg 500 in 20 gauge, something Kathy can use without hurting her shoulder. With the right ammo it's as effective as a 12 gauge but less likely to over-penetrate and exit the house. It will be a home defense weapon but I'd like to shoot clays with it and maybe some birds eventually. Any practice is good.
Ben is married. There, I said it. It was very fun to meet all of Natalie's family in situ, and it was quite a party. And the drive is so interesting with it's changing vistas of endless sage and scrub. I'm tired after 10 hours of sleep and still only semi-coherent (some would say it's hard to tell). I hope he and Natalie are having a nice* honeymoon *(I discarded several other adjectives before deciding on nice).
I'm still over Warcraft and the pending expansion doesn't thrill or tempt me. I'm back to my old tried and true games, Age of Empires 2 + expansion, Age of Mythology + expansion, and Master of Orion 2. Even though some are well over 10 years old they're still funner than most of the current stuff and they have the added advantage of my having mastered them back when I was smart. I just don't have the brain cells to learn a complex new game and probably never will. If you haven't played them and like real-time strategy games you should try them. MOO2 isn't an RTS but a fun turn-based space strategy game.
Gun show next month. I might trade/sell my sweet little Bersa .380 for something in a 9mm, since ammo is still impossible to find in .380. Maybe a nice Kel-Tec PF9, smaller than my Bersa and lighter, too, but quite a bit more formidable. I'm also looking at shotguns, probably a Mossberg 500 in 20 gauge, something Kathy can use without hurting her shoulder. With the right ammo it's as effective as a 12 gauge but less likely to over-penetrate and exit the house. It will be a home defense weapon but I'd like to shoot clays with it and maybe some birds eventually. Any practice is good.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Things and stuff for June & July
June was named for Juno, a Roman goddess stolen borrowed from the Greek's Hera. July was named for Julius Caesar. Did you know that already?
In June we went to Park City which was fun. Days lounging by the pool (or in it), reading five new books (from the Repairman Jack series), and visiting. Other things happened that month I'm sure, but I don't remember what they were. Probably less fun than Park City.
In July we came home from Park City and spent Independence Day lighting fireworks at Bob & Marilyn's and seeing whether Skyler lost any fingers. We saw Ice Age 3D and it was good, maybe not as good as the first two but still better than average which is enough. Scrat was only so-so and he's usually the best part of the movie. We've also recently seen Up!, The Proposal, and Night at the Museum 2. What I'd like to see are The Stoning of Soraya M and The Hurt Locker, both look great but they're in limited release.
No movies this weekend since we're going to the Mayberry family party. Not for tubing but just to hang out and visit. Next weekend will be Harry Potter #6 and seeing Dumbledore die gives me reason to go on.
Still no ammo so I still haven't even tried out my cute little Bersa .380 semi-auto handgun. I may buy a shotgun for home defense instead since it seems there are plenty of shotgun shells in the stores and they're fairly simple to reload. I found a nice little machete at Wal-Mart that should be handy during the Zombie Apocalypse, it even has a case with a safety feature. Into the 72-hour kit and I just hope I can reach it before they over-run the house. Kathy says I have zombies on the brain but I think that's kind of redundant, don't you?
Miss C, your cat and Gus really got into it tonight and when I tried to break it up before Smokey killed Gus I was rewarded with two major bites on my leg. From Gus, still in time-out and high on my bad list.
Well, that's it for the blogosphere for today. Closing thoughts: There is no global warming. You can't spend more money than you receive for very long. This internet thing might last longer than I first thought. You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people for only some of the time, so our Prez will soon prove that I hope.
**7-15-09 Update** Cabela's called today and my .380 rounds are in. As soon as I get them I'll try out my Bersa and see how it fires. Side note: my stun pen needs warranty service so I'm buying another one (or two, or three). I got a good price so if anyone is in the market I can give you the website. I got a basic stun gun, 900,000 volts; a flashlight/stun gun with 1 million volts, a cell phone shaped stun gun that I think has 1 million volts - all three are rechargable. I also got some pepper spray for Kathy and Clarisa , it has invisible UV dye so the bad guy can be identified later. That and some toys for under $85, which is the usual price of just a cell phone shaped stun gun. I just hope they'll work against zombies.
In June we went to Park City which was fun. Days lounging by the pool (or in it), reading five new books (from the Repairman Jack series), and visiting. Other things happened that month I'm sure, but I don't remember what they were. Probably less fun than Park City.
In July we came home from Park City and spent Independence Day lighting fireworks at Bob & Marilyn's and seeing whether Skyler lost any fingers. We saw Ice Age 3D and it was good, maybe not as good as the first two but still better than average which is enough. Scrat was only so-so and he's usually the best part of the movie. We've also recently seen Up!, The Proposal, and Night at the Museum 2. What I'd like to see are The Stoning of Soraya M and The Hurt Locker, both look great but they're in limited release.
No movies this weekend since we're going to the Mayberry family party. Not for tubing but just to hang out and visit. Next weekend will be Harry Potter #6 and seeing Dumbledore die gives me reason to go on.
Still no ammo so I still haven't even tried out my cute little Bersa .380 semi-auto handgun. I may buy a shotgun for home defense instead since it seems there are plenty of shotgun shells in the stores and they're fairly simple to reload. I found a nice little machete at Wal-Mart that should be handy during the Zombie Apocalypse, it even has a case with a safety feature. Into the 72-hour kit and I just hope I can reach it before they over-run the house. Kathy says I have zombies on the brain but I think that's kind of redundant, don't you?
Miss C, your cat and Gus really got into it tonight and when I tried to break it up before Smokey killed Gus I was rewarded with two major bites on my leg. From Gus, still in time-out and high on my bad list.
Well, that's it for the blogosphere for today. Closing thoughts: There is no global warming. You can't spend more money than you receive for very long. This internet thing might last longer than I first thought. You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people for only some of the time, so our Prez will soon prove that I hope.
**7-15-09 Update** Cabela's called today and my .380 rounds are in. As soon as I get them I'll try out my Bersa and see how it fires. Side note: my stun pen needs warranty service so I'm buying another one (or two, or three). I got a good price so if anyone is in the market I can give you the website. I got a basic stun gun, 900,000 volts; a flashlight/stun gun with 1 million volts, a cell phone shaped stun gun that I think has 1 million volts - all three are rechargable. I also got some pepper spray for Kathy and Clarisa , it has invisible UV dye so the bad guy can be identified later. That and some toys for under $85, which is the usual price of just a cell phone shaped stun gun. I just hope they'll work against zombies.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
New and improved blog for May
Well, I bought a gun. It's a shiny new Bersa .380 concealed carry with the satin nickel finish. So far it's unfired since ammo is impossible to find but Cabela's assures me my order for 2 boxes will be filled by the 10th. Those boxes won't last long as I want to put the gun thru it's paces. I took the concealed carry class and now just need to pay the state to get a permit. The Bersa has great safety features, an integral trigger lock, a trigger blocking device, a safety, and a magazine safety so without a magazine it becomes an ineffective club. When carried with a round in the chamber it can still be fired with a single long trigger pull but it's very unlikely to do that by accident.
Skyler got the Bersa Thunder .380 which is only slightly longer and thicker, a bit heavier and is otherwise exactly the same. It's not quite as eye-catching as mine since it lacks the satin nickel finish but that's not important for something that will remain hidden most of the time. His would be a bit harder to pocket carry but I'm not sure how feasible that will prove to be with my Bersa CC either. My nephew Terry's wife has the same gun as Skyler's and he claims she loves it.
We saw Wicked in SLC last week: it was very entertaining. Funny, a perverse twist on the Wizard of Oz with former heroes becoming villains or dolts and the villainous Wicked Witch becoming a very sympathetic character. I'm not into musical theater as much as I used to be but it was worth the effort.
Saturday is Star Trek day. The new movie might revive a franchise that has withered away and I've always preferred the Star Trek universe to the Star Wars or other universes. As if that matters with a fantasy universe. When I mentioned I wanted to see it in Imax, Kathy pointed out we'd have to go to Salt Lake to do so, which I interpreted as 'we need to go to SLC to see it in Imax'. She disputes that's what she meant but I think we have a legally binding oral agreement. I'll have to ask Whitney for her opinion.
Kathy got a new PC, a Dell laptop to replace her broken Toshiba. It's also shiny and new and much better than mine in nearly every way. No it's not, it requires Vista whereas mine has been successfully upgraded to good old XP. I won't go back no matter how much Gates offers me, I've yet to see a laptop that can run better on Vista than XP. But it is faster and newer than mine.
Skyler got the Bersa Thunder .380 which is only slightly longer and thicker, a bit heavier and is otherwise exactly the same. It's not quite as eye-catching as mine since it lacks the satin nickel finish but that's not important for something that will remain hidden most of the time. His would be a bit harder to pocket carry but I'm not sure how feasible that will prove to be with my Bersa CC either. My nephew Terry's wife has the same gun as Skyler's and he claims she loves it.
We saw Wicked in SLC last week: it was very entertaining. Funny, a perverse twist on the Wizard of Oz with former heroes becoming villains or dolts and the villainous Wicked Witch becoming a very sympathetic character. I'm not into musical theater as much as I used to be but it was worth the effort.
Saturday is Star Trek day. The new movie might revive a franchise that has withered away and I've always preferred the Star Trek universe to the Star Wars or other universes. As if that matters with a fantasy universe. When I mentioned I wanted to see it in Imax, Kathy pointed out we'd have to go to Salt Lake to do so, which I interpreted as 'we need to go to SLC to see it in Imax'. She disputes that's what she meant but I think we have a legally binding oral agreement. I'll have to ask Whitney for her opinion.
Kathy got a new PC, a Dell laptop to replace her broken Toshiba. It's also shiny and new and much better than mine in nearly every way. No it's not, it requires Vista whereas mine has been successfully upgraded to good old XP. I won't go back no matter how much Gates offers me, I've yet to see a laptop that can run better on Vista than XP. But it is faster and newer than mine.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement
Can you believe some people hate themselves so much they want us all to just go away? To become extinct? They probably oppose the loss of any other species but humans are irredeemably evil in their view. Go to http://www.vhemt.org/ only if you can stand the utmost in human idiocy and self-hatred, it sounds like a parody until you read the site itself which seems to be genuinely in favor of people slowing their reproduction until the human race vanishes. I suspect the authors of the site are among those who claim humans are the only species to make war, which only proves some people never go outside. For rodents every second is a challenge to survive with many predators keen to now only 'make war' on them, but to devour the loser in the war. Jungles are evidently peaceful places where the crocs lie down with the gazelles instead of eating them, right? Like most idiocy, I fully support these cretins leading the way, if they don't want to eat meat, they should also respect vegetable rights and simply stop eating. If they think humans need to become extinct - lead by example. Once you're gone we'll carefully consider your position, while we divide up your assets.
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