The other day, I went running. It reminded me of several things, the first of which is how much I hate running. But running is one of the only physical activities that makes me feel like I actually worked out. Something about sweating or whatever.
Before, I used to take my iPod shuffle (the white USB stick one) and kind of stick it in the waistband of my shorts. That would work well enough for me, as I don't feel a $100 device deserves a $30 armband.
This time, I had a problem. The shuffle kept popping out the top of the waistband, or slip down my shorts. The reason? Somehow, I suddenly have these large protrusions of soft, rubbery flesh right above my waist. According to Google, they are called "love handles". I don't feel out of shape, but all of a sudden I have gained enough fat that my shuffle can't stay put in my waistband.
I think this means I should either:
a) Give up, get fat, eventually buy a scooter so I can get around.
b) Run more.
Damn. I think it's going to be choice "b" because I like being able to see my toes.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Death defying
I just moved down to North Carolina, a normally less than 8 hour drive that ended up being more than 9 hours due to traffic.
I'm not very good at these long drives, at least not by myself. The first time I drove any longer than an hour was when my mom took me up and down the East Coast to visit colleges. I started out ok, but by the time I crossed the New Jersey border into New York, I was ready to fall asleep.
You see, as a child, I had been conditioned to fall asleep in the car. Long trips were usually done at night or in the early morning, when I was tired. I was used to falling asleep and waking up just as we got home. The same conditioning is a great asset on long flights. I'm able to fall asleep just as the plane pushes back from the gate and wake up just as we touch down.
This "skill", however, nearly killed me twice. The first time I had done a long trip by myself was when I moved to Atlanta from Chicago the day after college graduation. If I remember correctly, it was more than 12 hours drive, and the last part was done in the evening. I recall calling some family and friends to keep awake, but I nearly ran off the road in the mountains of Tennessee. That would have been bad. I distinctly remember thinking that I wasn't going to make it to Atlanta. Somehow, I made it.
The next time I would make a journey like that was when I moved from Atlanta to New Jersey. This time, the drive was even longer, about 15-16 hours with traffic. Fortunately, my brother and sister had come down to help drive some of my stuff back, and so I had company, which helped... until my sister fell asleep. I drove on, forcing myself to stay awake. I did the usual things, turned up the radio, slapped myself (hard) and drank water. I found an old packet of Lifesavers candy under my seat that had been there so long, most of them had melted into multi-flavored chunks. The sugar gave me the jolt I needed to stay awake long enough to make it across the New Jersey border. Those Lifesavers lived up to their name.
Alas, even though I was less than 25 minutes from my house, I just couldn't stay awake any longer, and I exited the highway and pulled into some random person's driveway to take a nap. At about 3 AM, I finally reached my destination.
I was not looking forward to this move because my past experiences driving long distances were not good. I do fine if I have company, and while I'm holding a conversation. But by myself, the unending road and foliage whizzing by only encourages my mind to drift into unconsciousness.
But I made it. Next up, advances in garbage can technology and adventures at Super Target.
I'm not very good at these long drives, at least not by myself. The first time I drove any longer than an hour was when my mom took me up and down the East Coast to visit colleges. I started out ok, but by the time I crossed the New Jersey border into New York, I was ready to fall asleep.
You see, as a child, I had been conditioned to fall asleep in the car. Long trips were usually done at night or in the early morning, when I was tired. I was used to falling asleep and waking up just as we got home. The same conditioning is a great asset on long flights. I'm able to fall asleep just as the plane pushes back from the gate and wake up just as we touch down.
This "skill", however, nearly killed me twice. The first time I had done a long trip by myself was when I moved to Atlanta from Chicago the day after college graduation. If I remember correctly, it was more than 12 hours drive, and the last part was done in the evening. I recall calling some family and friends to keep awake, but I nearly ran off the road in the mountains of Tennessee. That would have been bad. I distinctly remember thinking that I wasn't going to make it to Atlanta. Somehow, I made it.
The next time I would make a journey like that was when I moved from Atlanta to New Jersey. This time, the drive was even longer, about 15-16 hours with traffic. Fortunately, my brother and sister had come down to help drive some of my stuff back, and so I had company, which helped... until my sister fell asleep. I drove on, forcing myself to stay awake. I did the usual things, turned up the radio, slapped myself (hard) and drank water. I found an old packet of Lifesavers candy under my seat that had been there so long, most of them had melted into multi-flavored chunks. The sugar gave me the jolt I needed to stay awake long enough to make it across the New Jersey border. Those Lifesavers lived up to their name.
Alas, even though I was less than 25 minutes from my house, I just couldn't stay awake any longer, and I exited the highway and pulled into some random person's driveway to take a nap. At about 3 AM, I finally reached my destination.
I was not looking forward to this move because my past experiences driving long distances were not good. I do fine if I have company, and while I'm holding a conversation. But by myself, the unending road and foliage whizzing by only encourages my mind to drift into unconsciousness.
But I made it. Next up, advances in garbage can technology and adventures at Super Target.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Gone phishing
How savvy are you at detecting scams?
Here's a test you can take courtesy McAfee.
I scored 10 out of 10, since I'm paranoid.
Here's a test you can take courtesy McAfee.
I scored 10 out of 10, since I'm paranoid.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The Navy Shower?
This reminded me of the dorms at Tsinghua University in China. For us international students, we were lucky enough to have our own bathrooms in relatively new buildings. The buildings were maybe 2 years old. The catch? We paid 8x the rent compared to local students. Also, since our building was built on a rushed schedule, and rather cheaply at that (everything in China is done this way), our hot water pumps would clog all the time, resulting in days, even weeks without hot water.
So I and a few of my friends took advantage of another perk of being an international student: all rooms were equipped with an electric hot water pitcher. When the hot water would go out, we'd boil water and mix with cold water, and take "showers" that way. I was able to make do with only one liter of boiled water! Nothing made me feel more connected to my heritage than pouring water over myself with a little cup while squatting.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Some things you'll never get
A followup to my previous post about getting an iPhone.
I didn't actually get an iPhone for me. I got one for my dad, who's been wanting to do email and web on the go for a while. Sure, there's Blackberry and Treos, Qs, HTCs, etc. But none of these are suitable for my dad. He needs something intuitive, something easy. Something that behaves the way you expect it to. Something you can use right away without reading a manual. And so far, it works for him.
Of course there are some annoyances that I hope will be fixed soon, such as:
No voice dialing
No integration with Exchange servers to get Outlook mail*
No way to use international SIM cards
No way to edit documents or serve presentations externally
No Flash support
Despite these and other features lacking, I still think the iPhone is a great device. Why? Because it's got my father using cutting edge technology to improve his life and because I know Apple will fix most of these issues in short order. Steve Jobs wouldn't allow his baby to be anything other than perfect.
But there are tons of people out there who keep complaining that they don't get what the fuss is about the iPhone, how it's lacking such and such feature, that this or that device did what the iPhone does and more three years ago.
These are also the same types of people that will never understand why people choose to use Macs instead of PCs, why VHS beat Betamax and why the Wii is a breakaway hit. It's about ease of use, about human-centered technology not machine-centered technology. I can't wait for the day that I don't have to do research just to operate these types of devices. The iPhone is getting there.
I didn't actually get an iPhone for me. I got one for my dad, who's been wanting to do email and web on the go for a while. Sure, there's Blackberry and Treos, Qs, HTCs, etc. But none of these are suitable for my dad. He needs something intuitive, something easy. Something that behaves the way you expect it to. Something you can use right away without reading a manual. And so far, it works for him.
Of course there are some annoyances that I hope will be fixed soon, such as:
Despite these and other features lacking, I still think the iPhone is a great device. Why? Because it's got my father using cutting edge technology to improve his life and because I know Apple will fix most of these issues in short order. Steve Jobs wouldn't allow his baby to be anything other than perfect.
But there are tons of people out there who keep complaining that they don't get what the fuss is about the iPhone, how it's lacking such and such feature, that this or that device did what the iPhone does and more three years ago.
These are also the same types of people that will never understand why people choose to use Macs instead of PCs, why VHS beat Betamax and why the Wii is a breakaway hit. It's about ease of use, about human-centered technology not machine-centered technology. I can't wait for the day that I don't have to do research just to operate these types of devices. The iPhone is getting there.
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