Month: June 2009

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News Sentinel tries hard sell for old ways in Walgreens

I ran into Walgreens hoping for the world’s quickest pickup of a product that I now know you have to buy at Target and was accosted at the door.

Sales guy, holding out Walgreens printed circular (the bait): "Would you like this week’s ads?"
Me, no I don’t because I came in for a single product but being a dumb human (the nibble): "Sure."
Sales guy (the hook): "Would you like a Walgreens gift card?"
Me, quickly noting the stack of News Sentinel papers (the denial): "No thank you. I don’t need a paper."
Sales guy (the switch): "Are you sure you don’t want a News Sentinel?"
Me (attempted escape): "I read it online."
Sales guy (the lie): "At only 38 cents a day, there’s value in the print edition you can’t get online."
Me (the truth): "Honestly, I’m never going to read a paper ever again." (and I won’t pay for it online either)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
End Times
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Political Humor Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview

You know who would love this? My grandma! [Source, The Daily Show’s Jason Jones, End Times 2:41-2:46]

Thanks to Cathy for pointing to the video!

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When should you buy a new computer?

Occasionally somebody will ask me for my expert advice and question, "when should I buy a new computer?" My answer is often to discuss the benefits of a new machine, and how in many cases it is cheaper to replace rather than repair and upgrade, but ultimately my answer is a question, "is the machine doing what you need it to do?" If the answer is yes, then don’t buy a new computer.

I just turned on my Windows 98 machine. Yes. Windows 98…first edition not second edition. Why? Because GIMP frustrates me and my copy of Adobe Photoshop 5.5 still produces great imagery for much of my work. See, this machine still does what I need it to do. So, I have no need to upgrade this 11 year old box.

Update: I’ve been introduced to GIMPshop. Feels like a crutch but I may have to try it anyway.

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It’s hard being an adult

I just yelled at the 4 year old because he was ignoring my pleas to go upstairs and leave me alone. To him, it’s just a beautiful Saturday and he’d like me to be playing Mouse Trap with him. I sure wish I could. I’d like nothing more than to be spending time with my children. My wife wants progress made on the house and yard. I’d love to be cleaning out the garage, landscaping, plumbing, and getting the ants and the squirrels out of the house.

But I can’t. Today is terribly important. Programming must take priority above all else. It’s a beautiful, sunny Saturday. The birds are chirping. And I’m locked in the basement with heavy guilt.

A child arrived just the other day.. Came to the world in the usual way..

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Drowning Out the Decibels with Noise

My house is noisier than yours. I know this because I think OSHA would require hearing protection in this place.

Our house it has a crowd
There’s always something happening
And it’s usually quite loud
[Source]

I have some wonderful noise canceling headphones but they don’t completely isolate me from the noise. That is, until I decided to pump some white noise through them! http://simplynoise.com/ has some downloadable white noise clips. You can down 30 seconds of white, pink and brown noise that you play in a continuous loop. You can also download a one hour thunderstorm! This works so well I thought I was home alone!