yeah, I'm a nerd....
Mood:  chatty
Topic: random
Do you want to know why I'm a nerd? I'll tell you why! Because I'm excited that Fedora Core 3 has been released. That's an upgrade to the version of Linux that I use. I love upgrades, as I mentioned before when talking about Trillian. It's like getting something new, but still the same old thing. You get to have improvements on what you're using and these improvements are usually pretty exciting. You can use bit torrent to get it by going here -> http://torrent.dulug.duke.edu/. If you don't know what bit torrent is, you're missing out! Basically it's a form of peer to peer filesharing where the file you download is initiated by a link on a webpage instead of searching for it. It's pretty interesting stuff - also, to ensure that the file is always there, there are sometimes computers which are servers functioning as always connected peers. If you don't want to be technological, use the mirrors: http://fedora.redhat.com/download/mirrors.html
And navigate to Fedora Core 3 or FC3. It's supposed to introduce a LOT of new fixes and cool stuff. So go check it out!

I'm also excited because I just got an awesome Logitech Keyboard with a dozen or so programmable keys on the keyboard. I've been wanting one for quite some time so that I can control my volume, tracks, etc. I really like it a lot.

Also in my life: I'm finally done with my business plan and, although it got stressful near the end, it was a lot of fun. I wouldn't mind actually pursuing that business.

Tomorrow an exam and then 2 more projects to finish plus 2 more exams. On top of all that - a job interview on Friday that I have to fly out to on Thursday.

Four more hours until the download is done...good...I need to get some studying done.....

YAY!

(This is one reason why linux is more fun than Win - there are only Windows updates every 3 or more years and they cost $$$$)

misc
Mood:  chatty
Topic: random
I just realized that I forgot to publicly say how proud I am of my little brother, David. He has made it to black belt after years of dedication to Tai Kwon Do. He even had to register with the state as a deadly person. I'm very proud of him.

In other news - from tomorrow until my birthday it is going to be snowing. Hopefully this doesn't get too annoying because a lot of it is going to be PM snow, so the Cornell Snow Plows may not get to it until the next day.

Finally, things are crazy right now with a lot of work to do from now until 13 dec, but I'm happy that the semester is finally coming to an end. This one has really eroded me. Only five things have kept me going.
1) Meditation - meditation (TM, especially) helps to reverse the body's entropy.
2) Sleep - so the body can repair DNA errors and muscle tears that have occured during the day
3) Exercise - while over-exercise releases body-eroding acid, exercise at the right level helps to rejuvinate the body and remove some of the negative effects of stress
4) Green Drink - I haven't been drinking it every day, but I have noticed that the green drink, containing a good amount of the energy from the sun, have given me a bit of a boost. Additionally, the alkalinity of the green drink helps to neutralize the acid that comes from stress, certain foods, sugars, and other sources.
5) God - I feel that God has basically provided me with two benefits. First of all, peace of mind because I know that everything sorts itself out in the end. Second, all of the other benefits I listed in 1-4, I believe were made better by God, although I have no direct proof of this. I think that being connected to God, however, does help the increase the benefits of meditation, exercise, etc

squirrels
Mood:  chatty
Topic: random
While doing work today with the shades drawn I noticed a squirrel's tail flapping in the wind. I got curious about it so I took a closer look, the squirrel seemed to be periodically shaking. I grabbed my camera to see if I would be fortuitous enough to get a picture instead of it running away like it always does.

I was able to get around 20 pictures, but many of them were dark due to the fact the my window faces west or at least South-West so that the sun was in the way. Fortunately, photoshop now has an amazing filter for removing shadows. In my experience, 90% of the time it does this without making the photos look too grainy. The 10% of the time that it hasn't worked, I'm sure there's some combination of settings that I could use to get the best results. But it does indeed work very well.

I also learned why the squirrel had been convulsing. Apparently a certain sound I heard over the summer that I thought was originating from a bird was actually coming from the squirrel. It does a kinda of "click click click BAH!" or something like that. Maybe one day I'll be able to record it for your listening pleasure.

Boy, this has become somewhat of a photo-blog recently, hasn't it?

Taking a break from my morning hw bash
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" - Relient K
Topic: random
Did you guys vote? I hope so!

I bought the new Relient K a couple of days ago. I got it in CD format because it's still not clear if WMA or AAC will be the format that lasts, and if I'm going to pay for music I want to be able to listen to it from now until I die, not until 2 years from now when they switch audio formats. The chords are awesome - that's Relient K's big strength. This is their fourth full album (not counting the Christmas album) and they continue their trend of exponentially improving their lyrics. If you shyed away from them around the time of their first two albums, definitely check out this release. They are awesome - I'm talking secular radio quality stuff here. If you like Blink192, Boxcar Racer, or Bowling for Soup you'll love Relient K. Speaking of being on the radio, they are being released by EMI this time around even though their official label is still Gotee Records. This has two consequences. First of all, you'll most likely find Relient K in the regular rock section of your music destributor, not in the Christian section - that's how it was at Best Buy anyway. Second, this means you may soon hear Best Buy on your pop station. I really hope they do get on the radio and maybe even MTv. They deserve it because their music is awesome. I'll be posting lyrics over the next few days.

If they do come out on the radio it'll be like Switchfoot. Some of you may not know, but they've been around forever. I have one of their first albums from ~4-6 years ago. Only now everyone's talking about them as if they were a new group because they finally got on the radio and Mtv. It's pretty funny - I wonder if that will happen to Relient K. I guess it's the Grateful Dead Effect because they had a huge following and a bunch of albums before that one pop song that EVERYONE knows.

Ithaca is getting VERY cold! My hands look like a boxer's hands because they've gotten so dry they are bleeding all over the place. In fact, according to the forecast, it's supposed to snow @ 4pm today. Who knows because the Ithaca forecast is always so far off, but if it does it will be the first snowfall of the year. It would also mean that I am officially an Ithacan after four years here because I accurately predicted that it would snow this week. I was talking to my grandmother and I said, based on how the weather has gotten recently and just on how the trees lost all of their leaves over a 2 day period as well as some things that I just can't put into words, I know it's going to snow by the end of next week. And here it is...maybe...well, it'll be snow AND rain, so it may be hard to tell if I'm right or not. And it definitely isn't going to stick because it's going to be too warm for that. Well, I'm certainly in no hurry for the snow to permanently arrive. It gets slippery, biting cold, and pretty darned depressing. I'm not THAT affected by SAD (seasonal affective disorder), but just like Superman (in one of his incarnations) life without the sun has some kind of weakening affect on me.

Well, I have to get back to stuff. At least this is a third "real" post in a row. q:o) I still can't believe it's been a year! Just to make it easy for you guys, here's the link to my first post ever in case you want to relive things. My first post - the beginning of It's A Binary World

Voting and Anniversary
Mood:  chatty
Topic: random
First of all, every single last one of you who's over 17 better have voted or better vote today! Otherwise I don't want to hear any complaints from you when this president or that one instates some silly policy. I don't care if you want Bush, Kerry, or Nader in office. Although, seriously, Nader's not going to be winning any time soon. So go vote....or die! Ok, so maybe you won't die, but that's what happens when a rapper makes the slogan. Just go vote!

On another note, this is the first anniversary of "It's A Binary World"! One whole year! I can't believe it! It seems like only a little while ago that I took up blogging - a few years behind the initial group, but before the media started talking about it so much that pretty soon my parents may end up with one. Well, unfortunately I can't do the 1 year bash post because I have an interview, exam, and tons of homework for tonight. Perhaps tomorrow I can do it, but it may have to wait for next year. See how it all started by navigating back to 2 Nov 2003.

Wegman's - Where Shopping for Drugs is a Pleasure
Mood:  chatty
Topic: random

Yesterday Danielle was reviewing her receipt from that afternoon's grocery shopping. After staring at it for a few minutes she came up to to me, "What's Premium Pot?" I was perplexed at her question especially juxtaposed with the fact that she was handing me the receipt. Premium Pot? WTF is that? What was purchased that could be called a pot? I started to think that maybe it was some kind of prank that they pull on people since there are a lot of hippies around here.

"What were the groceries?" We kept asking while both cracking up at the crude joke that belonged in a Cheech and Chong Movie, while at the same time getting a little peeved over not being able to figure it out. "Ok, list it!" I said.

"Carrots, chicken, ground beef, and celery." she answered.

"Chicked pot pie maybe?" We hadn't bought any potted plants...what was going on here?

Finally, out of the corner of her eye Danielle spots a bag of potatoes. "OH!" she exclaims, "Premium Potatoes!" We had a bit more of a laught and it was over.

Personally, I think that they should think of a better receipt abbreviation for potatoes than pot. That's just a little unnerving.

edit: I just noticed they spelled spaghetti wrong. Wow....
also...I reduced the receipt size, because a whole page is a little drastic.

Wow
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: random
A lot of people just have gone home for Fall Break or something because, for the first time since school started, I can see from the top of my buddy list to the bottom. That includes all of the group titles - because I have people very oragnized on my list. Real topics to come soon...q;o)

Updates...
Mood:  chatty
Topic: random
A quick little post before I go off to bed.

This weekend I got hockey tickets. That means that I spent the weekend like a Yugoslavian refugee. As you can see in the pictures, we were forced to camp out for the third year now. This time there were all kinds of extra caveats, like spending Wed-Thurs locked up from 10-3am.

I was pretty ticked that, due to the way the email system works, I didn't get the notice that the tickets were on sale until 1/2 an hour afterwards. This meant that in order to get tickets we had to buy them off people @ $50 per line number. Since each line number lets you buy two seats, it was $25 per seat. It hurt financially, but not too badly. If we don't go to all of the games, we can recover the losses through ticket sales.

There was one redeeming aspect to all of this and that was that we got to the building very early on Friday and so we were able to get a prime location. We used some equipment to erect a perimeter that wasn't really disturbed the entire time. This way we had room to sleep, stretch, study, and lounge about while waiting for the time to end. Here, below, you can see our area.

The test I was so happy about last Wednesday - I got an A. Just as I predicted so I was happy about that. Another quick prayer of thanks for that, because I can use all the A's I can get!

I really like making custom buddy icons for myself and others. I feel that the ones out there are either too cheesy or raunchy for my tastes. Plus, there's just nothing like a personalized item whether it's a tshirt, card, or buddy icon. They usually only take me a few minutes (10 minutes tops) and the people generally like them. The only annoying thing is that AOL's buddy icon file size limit keeps the animations from being more elaborate. Perhaps one day they will increase the limit a bit.

I really enjoyed SNL's coverage of the debates. All year my fiancee and I have been impatiently waiting for the debates so that we could watch SNL's take on them. I mean, if there's one SNL clip I can watch over and over it's Gore's "Lockbox" debate parody. Although Will Ferrell did a much better Bush, the current guy isn't too bad. Seth Meyers is great as Kerry. Overall, I was pleased although I didn't find it AS funny as the lockbox ones. But I think that there just wasn't as much to make fun of with the debates. Perhaps tomorrow's vice presidential debates will provide more fodder.

Speaking of the debates, the debate format wasn't as silly as I thought it would be due to all the rules. Although I would have preferred for the candidates to be able to address and question each other directly, it really wasn't that much more sterile than the previous election. Both candidates made pretty good points. Because of the hockey line stuff I didn't see the debate until about 30 minutes in. I also mostly listened to it instead of watching it because I had other things to do. So I thought that Kerry was the winner all along. I thought he made better points and was able to counter his criticisms better. I really didn't see the Bush grimaces and other facial expressions until the next day on the news. My favorite line from the debate was when Bush was talking about mixed messages and said, "It's not good to send mexed missages - I mean mixed messages." It was a good bit of irony. Any other slip of the tongue and I would have let it slide because even though I like to laugh at the Bushisms, at the same time I know how easy it is to slip up and say words the wrong way. It happens to me all the time. But to mess up while talking about mixed messages, it was priceless. Nah, it wasn't priceless, but it was silver quality.

Time for me to get to bed.

quickies!
Mood:  chatty
Topic: random
I have an exam in 26 minutes so no real long post. Just a couple of quickies.

1) I've been getting a lot of invterview requests for a post-graduation job. This makes me quite happy because I will be in serious need of cash flow when I graduate. Plus, it would stink to go to Cornell and then not have a job at the end.

2) Keep Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas in your prayers/thoughts/meditations. If you have supplies you can spare, please donate to the Red Cross. Four hurricanes nearly in a row have left Florida feeling like a boxer who lost his match. Please help out however you can.

3) Apparently there was an earthquack of 6.0 magnitude in Cali last night/this morning. At least that's what it said on the netscape page. No info on it on the news broadcast this morning. I hope that means that nothing bad happens. If something did happen and the news was just too busy with Bush and Kerry, please try to help them out too, even if it's just through meta-physical means.

4) According to a study my fiancee had to learn about for her Human Bonding class, Caucasians like skinnier girls and African Americans like thicker (fatter?) girls. It'd be interesting to see the details of this study to see how well it was performed so that no undue bias was introduced. (or as little bias as possible) So apparently the Sir Mixalot's "Baby Got Back" had some truth to it. Of course the preference is not for a fat person, but more fat in the hip and butt area. As Mixalot says, "little in the middle, but she got much back". I always find it strange when stereotypes get validated. On the one hand it means that it's not really a stereotype because it's a "proven fact". But on the other hand, I think that it unduely makes people think that all stereotypes are true.

Time to go finish studying.

why can't I remember?!?
Mood:  chatty
Topic: random
I was going to write about something. It wasn't going to be the best post in the world, but it was something. I can't remember what it was though. I know! I'll remember as soon as I have to leave to go to class. So I guess I'll give you my top 10 list of things I would buy if I had about 3 orders of magnitude more money:

10. A membership to the National Association of Photoshop Professionals
9. Everything on my Amazon.com wishlist
8. The parts to build myself 3 new computers
7. Repaint my car
6. Reupholster my card
5. A telephoto lens for my DSLR
4. A wide angle lens for my DSLR
3. Some 512 Mb cards for my DSLR
2. professional lighting kit
1. 10 new Disney DVDs for my fiancee because I love that smile on her face when I surprise her.