Archive for News Events
February 29, 2008 at 11:22 pm · Filed under Finance, News Events
I’ve been listening to a lot of the new Mars Volta: The Bedlam in Goliath
As you know, I’m a pretty frugal individual. So, I was pleased to find this website dedicated to smart living. They post a lot of new articles per day, one of them is always a good read. Wisebread
The HD War between HD DVD and Blue-Ray is over. I’m so glad that I’m not an early adopter who jumped into this mix and could have got burned with an HD DVD player or discs.
Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags Some places in Korea have a similar tax on bags in general. So, it’s good that I keep my backpack with me.
I like Google. But, as a whole, I’m liking free/open projects more. I think Wikia is an interesting project with some potential in the future. It also has ability to be a social website like facebook or myspace.
There are a pair of shoes online that I’d like to buy. But, I hate buying clothes online. No matter who makes the shoes or t-shirts, the conventional chart size varies from the next. A 10.5 from brand X always fits different than a 10.5 from brand Y.
Lastly, I’ve received a couple offers to return to Korea after my contract. I’m still weighing my options and opportunities. I, now, have 3 months left and a few reasons to return. But, who knows how it will go.
November 9, 2007 at 7:42 pm · Filed under Lifestyle, News Events, Techy
This year, I’ve decided that its time that I give back to the software, the websites, and the artists that are making a difference.
So, I’ve got $20 in my paypal account that I’m going to divide amongst four services, which I use most. No, $5 isn’t much, but “A journey of ten thousand miles begins with a single step.” And, this is a first for me.
- Wikipedia – Not a day goes by that I dont check facts or read articles on Wikipedia. The site doesn’t take ads or commercial sponsors. Therefore, they need donations. Supposedly, $40 will deliver 100 million page views. $5 should cover myself and a 1000 others.
- Ubuntu – 4 years ago, I learned that Ubuntu would ship CDs of their software to anyone FOR FREE! Of course, I was all over that. I tried the software, but never took it seriously. Now, I use it as my main operating system. They still give away their software and pledge to always do so.
- Saul Williams – I’ve never purchased digital music online. My major issue is with the quality. I dont want lossy mp3s. If I buy music online, it should be the same lossless quality which you get on a CD. Saul is selling his new album for $5 at his website, and you can receive it in a lossless format. Saul takes a vocal stance against the music industry and purchasing his album eliminates the middleman.
- Fourth? – Well, I haven’t picked a fourth yet. There are many worthy causes. I feel like I should make a contribution to the Pirate Party or I should give the money to the EFF, these groups fight “legally” for online rights. I could also give the money to a smaller Linux group or lone programmer. And, there is also NPR. I dont know yet.
Can you recommend anything else?
April 12, 2007 at 8:08 am · Filed under Books, News Events
Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark comic talent and urgent moral vision in novels like “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Cat’s Cradle” and “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater” caught the temper of his times and the imagination of a generation, died Wednesday night in Manhattan. He was 84 and had homes in Manhattan and in Sagaponack on Long Island.
Mr. Vonnegut wrote plays, essays and short fiction. But it was his novels that became classics of the American counterculture, making him a literary idol, particularly to students in the 1960s and ’70s. Dog-eared paperback copies of his books could be found in the back pockets of blue jeans and in dorm rooms on campuses throughout the United States.
~NY Times
~Chicagoist
March 20, 2007 at 7:13 pm · Filed under News Events, Techy
I’ve been using Google personalized homepage since it first rolled out, and now I’m loving the new themes feature. I got off work today, logged into my gmail account, and noticed some new text on the personalized homepage. Hello, “Select theme!” How long have you been there? Not long, I see.
I like Google. They’ve been my only search engine since my early college days. I’ve always had them as my default homepage. So, it made sense to use the personalized page and add my own customizations. It’s now my web portal with the awesomeness of google search. (Though I usually type search into the Firefox bar. Maybe there is some web psychology behind that). Anyhoo, eventually, I did get tired of the white background. Firefox has a couple plugins called Greasemonkey and Stylish. They add some ways to change the look of the personalized page, but they were never that great. They usually changed a few text or background colors. On certain holidays, you’d see a new Google logo replace the original, but it was still the plain white google page.
The new themes add a lot more liveliness to the basic google page we’ve grown up on. There are currently 6 themes, but more have been proposed. They add a spiffy dynamic graphic to the top background and it will blend the colors to the rest of the page. The dynamic graphics will change accordingly to the conditions of your area code: day, night, cold, hot, season. Personally, I like the Tea House theme. Green is so calming and the Asian fox dude is cool.
I think the old guy is checking if he’s “Sure” or not. Apparently he isn’t, because no one wants to be around him. =P
EDIT:
After the first 24 hours of using the new themes feature, I was sure that I had seen all of the backgrounds for the “Tea house”. I thought it might be an neat idea if there was a special picture that would only load on a specific time and disappear the next second. Well, apparently there is: Themes Easter Egg. You need to reload the page at 3:14AM. (Pi Day!)
There is also a css edit to make the image appear without being on the 3:14AM time. It shouldn’t be long before people make their own backgrounds. (if they aren’t already)
February 26, 2007 at 8:45 pm · Filed under News Events, Techy
Sometime this month, Google started to include Metra and CTA (the public transportation) locations on their Maps service of Chicago. This makes me super happy! You dont know how many times I had to find a particular restaurant or location, then head to the CTA website and find the nearest ‘L’ stop in relationship to it. It was an unnecessary hassle going from website to website.
But, of course, the service isn’t perfect. A couple locations are off by a block or two. All the CTA stops are denoted by a blue ‘M’. That could be confusing to tourists because the CTA color codes the ‘L’ trains by the Red line, Blue line, Pink, etc. And what does the ‘M’ stand for? I suppose it’s just an indicator used from another city. Oh well. For the most part, I’m savvy enough to get around.
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