So I bought my first digital text book, which I thought was cool.  Last semester one of my textbooks had a PDF of the text on CD that I loved, it was easy to search for information and convenient to bring to class (since I bring my lappy anyway)

 I was excited about the ebook, but a little annoyed, while it was a PDF of the text they made me download a special reader (dont’ get me started on Adobe) called Adobe Digital Editions which looks like it is just a Flash app–whatever. 

Digital versions of text books are great because you can search for text, but the search is buggy and there is no overlap on the page shifts (so if you skip to the next page, you might only get half of the transition line) Which is a novice kind of mistake.  You can’t copy and paste, which I understand for copyright stuff, but it’s annoying that you can’t highlight the text you want to search for.

The support I received was terrible.  My textbook did not have the figures referenced in the book.  I’m not talking about the pictures that they throw in to make the page look good, I mean the figures “Figure 4-14 shows the components of half adder and full adder circuits.”  So the book was hard to follow.  I asked what happened to the images, and I was told that it was “probably” a copyright problem (which is stupid, the publisher should have all the rights to the images as much as the text)

I complained that I needed the images, and they didn’t respond.  I waited for a week and a half before writing back, and then they told me that I was ineligible for a refund because I had downloaded the book and it had been more than two weeks since my purchase.  I was furious, because I didn’t know about the problems until I downloaded it, and the two weeks thing really got me mad since they took that long to answer me.

I wrote back an angry email and asked that they just get me a copy of the full book (I knew it existed, my teacher had showed me his version) Eventually they just told me that they were going to refund me.  Which they didn’t until almost a month and two more emails later.  Absolutely ridiculous

So… what’s the phrase… caveat emptor

You know how when you get a new cell phone, you seem to see the phone everywhere or when you buy some new shoes, you notice everyone who has the same shoes.  Recently I started driving an old Honda Civic and I noticed that they are everywhere.  Everywhere.

The other thing I noticed was that there are civics, and there are civics.  Boring, stock, rusted and busted, or chromed, tricked, pimped and primped.  It’s kind of amazing that they are all the same car. 

 I forget the exact thought process that brought it up, but I decided that I know what the perfect getaway car is.  A black Honda Civic, stock.  Then some of the stick on window tint, magnetic sign style racing stripes or flames or something, spinner hubcaps, and probably some sort of fake license plate.

 While making your getaway, a quick stop anywhere, pull of the tint, the magnetic flames and the fake plate, and no-one would think it was the same car.

(course some people running around their car with nylons on their head might be suspicious too)

Electric car salesperson:  “It’s always nice to see someone who is interested in the environment”

Homer:  “What kind of mint?”

It seems like every year this time gets… not really bad… just no good. It is the middle of the boring school semester. Everyone is sick of winter, but spring hasn’t really made an appearance, and there isn’t a “good” holliday untill fireworks season. I tend to get grumpy and stressed, for no real reason other than the fact that there isn’t much to look forward to.

I’m tired, depressed unimpressed and ready for a change. I can feel my scalp tugging on my ears and eyebrows, and I don’t sleep well.

I guess I need a video game.

I just realized while adding that link, I wrote this a year to the day that I wrote my old video game post–weird.

Posted by mobile phone:

I’m trying to stay alert in class, so I thought I’d see how it works to write a post from my phone.

So which is worse, dozing in class, or playing with your phone?

So while you are constructing an edifice, it makes sense that we call that building.  But once it’s done, shouldn’t we call it a “built?”

We talked briefly at work about hypocrisy, and I got thinking.  I am a hypocrite.  I don’t want to be, I don’t like being a hypocrite but I am.  I’ve been thinking, trying to figure out maybe why I am.

Some things in my life flip-flop in importance.  Speeding for example.   I’ve never been a speed demon, but at times I think “a few over” is a marginal, dismissible problem.  Other times I judiciously monitor the position of that needle.  (funny how just because today I drive the speed limit, I become that much more judgemental of the people who don’t)

Other things as well.  What I consider acceptable language, acceptable media, fair treatment and social etiquette depend on the day more than on abiding principles. 

The image that comes to mind is a little … cartoony.  We’ve all seen the little devil and angel sitting on opposite shoulders.  Silly, but I think that is an accurate depiction of how we can feel.  We all have demons in the closet,  and we all have guardian angels.  I think its ok for us to be a little hypocritical, because we are dynamic beings.

Sometimes we listen to the angels trying to keep us from harm and heartache, sometimes we can’t ignore the demons scratching at our door.  Sometimes we are more sensitive to a different stimulus than other times.  Sometimes we are more accepting of others or more aware of their standards.

What i think might be the takeaway thought is that first, we should allow people to explore their hypocrisy.  Rarely will it be pleasant, but give others the freedom to determine where their values lie.

The other point I’ve thought of is the difference between exploratory hypocrisy and habitual hypocrisy–that deep, continual inability to ‘practice what you preach.’  The scary thing is I don’t know that most days you can see your own habitual hypocrisies.  So, almost contradictorily you need to allow and  welcome others to show you your own failings.

A local news station recently did a piece on how much power new TVs use. I don’t know if you’ve heard this one or not, but apparently inefficient plasma TVs can consume more power when turned off, then a refrigerator running all day. While I can believe that… I think that it is the exception. New TVs are much more energy efficient than their early iterations, and Plasma TVs require significantly more power than other HDTVs like LCD or projection.

The part that seems incredulous is that they pull any power when they are turned off. But really a lot of electronics now don’t really turn off. You have probably seen a DVD player or something that has a “Standby” light when you press the power button. At the very least, enough circuitry is kept active so that the remote can turn the TV back on . As devices become more complex, more stays active even when the device is not being used.*

I recently had an idea that would make it simple to save that extra juice when you know you won’t be needing it. Most of us have a power strip connected to all of our gadgets in the entertainment center. If you place the power strip so it is easily accessible, then you can just flip the switch on the power strip and turn all of your gadgets “off off”. Maybe every night when you head off to bed, or at least when you will be gone for a few days, you can pull all the power, without having to literally pull the plugs. And when you get back, its a simple switch to get everything back up and running.

In some cases, manufacturers are making some efforts to improve the situation. For example I have a Magnavox TV that has two “off” modes. If you turn the TV off with a remote, the power button stays lit, and the remote can turn it back on. If you get up and press the button, there is no LED at all, and the remote can’t turn the TV back on. I have to drag my lazy bucket to the TV and physically press the power button. Now there’s a waste of energy

* for example newer AV  sources like cable boxes, DVD players and recievers send information back and forth between the displays so that the signal doesn’t need to be reconfigured each time you switch inputs.  Xbox 360s keep an active 2.4 GHz signal up to detect controller iniatated power-ups.  DVRs and VCRs can schedule recordings when the box is “off”

So I recently decided, it’s not so much that I want HDDVD to win, but I want Sony to lose.  Sony consistently insists on releasing proprietary technology and it is frustrating.  Rather than contributing to the overall progress of the industries, they dig in their heels and bray long and loud hoping that someone will listen. 

I’m amazed also at the seemingly bottomless fund they keep dipping into to supply their marketing efforts with ammunition.  They must be throwing an unbelievable amount of money at the movie studios to ensure exclusivity, and they are still piling ads on thicker and deeper for blu-ray movies and the PS3.  All of course at the expense of the consumer.  Their players are still, I think, prohibitively priced and the media is expensive.

I was really dissapointed when Netflix turned this week.

I really enjoyed getting HDDVDs from them.  It might be enough to get me to switch over to Blockbuster online.   The more I think about it though, the more I realize that if the price was equal, or comparable, I would be much more indifferent.  HDDVD was reaching really hard for the under $100 player.  Blu-ray is still in the $400 range which is way out there.   The actual format superiority I still think is arguable,  Blu-ray does have about 10 more gigs per layer, but HDDVD’s more powerful menus etc I think still gave it a fighting chance.  And since they actually are making some dual format readers, it would be nice if they could have eventually converged and let the producers/consumers decide disc by disc.  Maybe release the directors cut on HD with lots of features, and the extended cut on Blu-Ray with the rootkit extra capacity.   Ah well.  Sadly it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

I once knew a man who was paralyzed form the neck down.  Bedridden, emaciated, and a burden to his wife and family.  Yet he was always positive, amicable and happy.  Once his wife said incredulously that he didn’t want to die.  He yelled at the top of his frail, high-pitched voice “Amo a Vida” (I love life!)

Every once in a while I think of him… I complain too much.  I couldn’t as for much more out of my life.  I have an amazing wife (she’ll argue–don’t listen), beautiful kids, I work at a great job with excellent coworkers.  I’m proud of the way I was raised, and everything I want I eventually get.

I wonder why we feel such a need to vent our frustrations.  ..the first response to come to mind is that it’s better than bottling them up.  But why do we hang on to them at all?  We either swallow the canker, or we spread it around.  I want to come home from work and say, “Today was a rough day.  But guess what!  I finally got my inbox cleaned out, we made a really big sale, and our meeting went well”

Our days are as bright as we make them.