Category Archives: Cool Stuff

Looks like I’ll be getting Lasik

Janny has bee considering it for a while and wanted me to think about it too. After making an appointment to the Eye Doctor, we’ve decided to do it.

The initial appointment is very comprehensive. The staff at the eye doctor’s office takes various measurements using different tools. It took a while, but when it was all over, we met with a counselor to discuss our options and any questions that we had.  Janny and I had a big list of questions that they answered without any issue.

Wikipedia has a very good write up about the procedure. To be honest, I’m a little nervous as it basically involves using a sharp blade in my eyes.  If I didn’t know so many people who had the procedure, I’ve be even more hesitant.  I’ve been wearing glasses since the third grade and it will be very odd not having a pair of glasses on my face. I’m sure I won’t miss them.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
Let it Rock” by Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne from the “In The City” Album. You can see the video on VH1.

Sony Noise Canceling headphones

Sony MDR-NC7

Recently I purchased a pair of Sony Noise Canceling headphones (Model MDR-NC7) so I could listen to my Ipod on the subway. I got  my pair at the Sony store in Tanger outlet.

It’s not the best pair, but  for the money, I’m quite pleased with it. It allows me to listen to music on the subway without blasting the volume on my Ipod. Since it covers 87% of the background noise, I can still hear things around me. I’ve noticed that on the sidewalk, the randomness of the street noise gets the best of the Noise Canceling circuit. It’s not really a problem as even without the Noise Canceling turned on it’s a good pair of headphones that fold up and come with a fabric bag to store them in. I also like that the single AAA battery used for the Noise Canceling circuit is in the left side. Other models such as MDR-NC40 put the battery inline to the headset connector.

I think it was a good buy and have recommended them to my co-workers.

They come in Black or White, I got a black pair.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment

And America starts a new day

As I write this,  Sen. Barack Obama is starting his speech in Chicago. This is a historic occasion that I’m proud to have witnessed. Now is the time for our country to come together and undo the damage done over the last eight years. Now that the election is done, I feel as if a weight of uncertainty has been lifted and hope that things will get better over the next four years. I think Sen. Obama will be a centrist and be able to work with both parties.

Of course, at this time CNN projects that the Democratic party now has at least 56 seats in the Senate. That helps.

Every time I hear him give a speech, I can’t help but think that President elect Obama is a great speaker. I don’t know if he writes his own speeches, but there good. His acceptance speech is very inspiring and the right thing to say to the public. He’s NOT the “Socialist” the McCain campaign painted him out to be and he’s addressing the public to thank his supporters and assure his detractors.

After the last two presidential elections, I wondered if the nation would ever change direction. This election, with such a clear victory, give me renewed hope.

Say that reminds me, Will Stephen Baldwin leave America? I hope not, but will wave Bye-Bye if he does.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

Starbucks has marketing genius

Been a little busy with Work and other stuff but I saw this on Huffington Post. It’s very clever advertising and makes a very good point.

Besides, who doesn’t want a free cup of coffee for doing the right thing?

It’s been really busy at work doing upgrades and helping to roll new projects out. To make life fun, My 3rd Gen Ipod would not hold a charge for longer than a day. So, I ordered a new one and, like clockwork, the old one completely fails.

The timing makes me wonder if Apple somehow communicated to my old 15gb ipod that I ordered a new 120 GB ipod classic. Maybe the Old Ipod knew it was on the way out and just self destructed.

In any case, I’ll continue to try to get the old one working before throwing it into the recycle bin, but the new one is working nicely.

Besides the Ipod classic, I also got a remote to listen to radio when I’m on the buss.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

Visit to the Empire State Building


Empire State Building
Originally uploaded by S.D.

Lots of fun, with an added bonus: Janny works in the building. That means that we don’t have to stand on line. Instead of taking 30 to 60 minutes to get to the top, we just go right to the head of all lines.

I think that got some people annoyed at us (we heard “Hey! There’s a Line!!!” a few times) but it was worth it.  Unfortunately, it was cloudy and hazy but we could always go back. Since the sun is setting earlier as winter approaches, I think we’ll go after work one night and get some great night shots.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing, I’m watching Mythbusters.

Ipod Nano 4g and Ipod tough 2G disected

Well, that didn’t take long. I saw this on Google News:

New iPods dissected, iPod touch 2G has Bluetooth. Sorta

Which will ultimately lead to ifixit.com’s web site where they actually do the dissecting of the new ipod Touch. They also dissect the new Nano.  Both are a pretty interesting read with good photographs of the two Ipods.

Me, I have a 3G Ipod that has 15 Gb of disk. It works for me, but lately the battery is not holding a charge for longer than two hours of play. That covers my commute back home, but it is annoying having to charge it every day. At this time, the 16Gb Ipod Nano is $199 while the 120 gb Ipod Classic is $249.

The Ipod Classic has up to 36 hours of music play time of music on a full charge, while the Ipod Nano has up to 24 hours. Either would be a great improvement over my current Ipod.

When my current Ipod dies, I think I’ll end up getting the Ipod Classic. The Ipos Nano is tempting, but for the extra $50, I figure I should just get the 120Gb model.
The Ipod Classic.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
Geek in the Pink” by Jason Mraz from the “Mr. A-Z” album. You can see the video here on vh1.

Sen. McCain: Reformed Maverick

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Saw this on “The Daily Show“. Jon Stewart uses Video Clips to show us Sen. McCain’s Evolution. As usual, It’s very good…

Music I’m listening to know:
Nothing at the moment.

It’s all about the timing…

The last few days, I’ve been working at home while my heating system is being converted from an old Oil Burner (from 1952!) to a Natural Gas solution.

Since I’m stuck at home and I’ve also been having spotty performance on our Cable TV for at least 2 weeks, I scheduled an appointment with Time Warner Cable of NYC. They were supposed to come around between 12:00pm and 4:00pm and if they need to call me, call my home or my work number.

After they missed the appointment, I called TWC and asked what was going on. Basically, the Cable Repair technician called and apparently No one picked up at my home number, my work number or My cell.

All of these phone work fine, with voice mail on all of them and yet I didn’t get a call on a single one. No voice mail either. How Odd…

When I call a company for a problem, I try to be polite and professional. Getting mad does not help and the guy on the other end of the phone did NOT miss that appointment. He rescheduled for today (Hope they don’t miss that one too!) between the hours of 12:00pm and 4:00pmand with any luck, my cable will be fine.

Which leads me to the “Timing” part. My Door bell rings and it’s NOT TWC, but rather Verizon. They want to go to the backyard and wire FIOS to the telephone cable. Apparently, my neighborhood is the next one to get Fiber Optic FIOS.

In other words: If Time Warner Cable screws this up, I now have more options.

UPDATE 1: It’s 4:20pm do you know where your Time Warner Technician is?
Called Time Warner, they said the appointment is still open and to wait another half hour.

UPDATE 2: Now 5:10pm and no call. I called TWC again, got a fast Busy and redialed until I got thru. After listening to classical piano (Chopin?) music for a few minutes, my call was picked up by Yolanda and she offered to call the Technician and see what the delay was. Put on hold for over 5 minute with very good piano music.

UPDATE 3: Yolanda called the dispatcher who will be calling me back. Not thrilled at the occasional video issues, but everyone I’ve spoken to at TWC has been very friendly and professional. I await the dispatcher’s call.

Update 4: 6:30pm, No Call from the TWC dispatcher. Calling the number got a busy signal, but after 6 redials I got in and heard the nice piano music again. End Result: Dispatcher will call back.

Update 5: 7:00pm (sigh) Dispatcher called back: Today is canceled. TWC gets to try again on Wednesday.

Verizon is looking GREAT and I have NO idea what they offer.

Music I’m listening to now:
Pocketful Of Sunshine“, by Natasha Bedingfield from the Pocketful of Sunshine album. You can see the video here.

HONG KONG DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL IN NEW YORK – 2008

Dragon Boat in TorontoI wanted to check out the 2008 Dragon Boat Festival today, but it’s raining *AND* there is lightning, so I bailed. I know people on at least three different teams, specifically, Team Xtreme, DCH, and Women in Canoe. Knowing some of the team members, I was hoping to get them while they were racing or just on the boat.

Hope tomorrow is better, I’m hoping to get some good photos.

UPDATE: Went on Sunday, saw several friends and took over 500 photos. Unfortunately, we got there late and the light was not too good, but it was fun and I think I got some good photos. I’ll post to flickr later.

Music I’m listening to now:
Hero/Heroine“, by Boys Like Girls from the Boys Like Girls album. You can see the video here.

Moo makes Business cards

I’ve been ordering Moo Mini cards for a while now and just about ran out. So, I go to Moo.com and see that they now have business cards too. Like the mini cards, you can select your own photos to print on them. The main difference is that a set is 50 cards, unlike the Mini cards that come in sets of 100.

I’ve just ordered a set and can’t wait to get them. Moo’s print quality is quite good and I’ve never been disappointed with the results. I’m betting I’ll like the business as much as I like the mini cards.

Music I’m listening to now:
Dream Catch Me“, by Newton Faulkner from the Hand Built by Robots album. It’s a good song and great video. You can see the video here.