Sunday, December 13, 2009

'Tis the season for new toys

So I bought the "new"* Jawbone Prime...

*Jawbone Prime, the third iteration of Aliph's Bluetooth headset with noise-canceling technology, was released seven months ago, while the second iteration was released last year, and the first a year prior to that, so at this point, Prime is likely to become the older version in five months, making its "new" status somewhat dubious.

There are several reasons why I decided to retire my Jawbone I.
  1. The ear loop kept on breaking. Now, because the original Jawbone I bought broke on the first day and Aliph sent me a replacement, I had twice as many sets of ear loops as one would normally have. But even those supplies are running low.
  2. The noise-canceling functions of the replacement doesn't seem to work as well as the original I bought. This was most likely a quality control issue, but based on my phone conversations with other people on both headsets, it seems most people still heard the noise in the background with the replacement unit, whereas with the original I bought, most background noise were not audible.
  3. The Bluetooth connection between JB1 and my phone has recently been dropping and reconnecting. Although infrequent, it has still happened enough times for me to take notice, and each time the phone was less than a quarter inch away from the headset.
  4. The price of the Jawbone Prime has been lowered enough online that it's within a range that I can accept. There's no way I would spend the full price of $130 (+possible shipping and/or tax) for a Bluetooth headset.
All of which contributed to my decision. As you can see, JB Prime is significantly smaller than JB1. That's not saying much, however, as JB1 was massive. Aesthetically, it's also a slight improvement, though I'm still of the apparently minority opinion that it's an ugly piece of hardware.

More importantly, Aliph has added the function of reducing wind noise to the unit, something sorely missing in the first two versions (though I hear that foam windscreens work much better). One also hopes that they've improved upon their noise-canceling technology, and reviews I've read suggest that while it wasn't true of JB2, it is with Prime.

Having learned their lesson regarding the charger being too tight and causing damage to many Jawbone units, the new proprietary charger uses magnets, and retains the ability to connect to an USB port for charging purposes. Still, many people suggest that a standard USB to mini-USB cable would have been much better and more convenient.

Prime now gives you many more ear gel options than JB1 (don't know how it compares to JB2), and the new ear gels are much softer, and thus more capable to providing a more comfortable fit. My ears are somewhat sensitive, and still itches slightly after prolonged wear, so your mileage may vary on this particular front.

Aliph claims to have an 8-day standby time battery life, and since I only just received the new unit in the mail on Thursday afternoon, I'll have to wait a few more days to see if it lives up to that claim.


Edit: Well, that was quick. I just noticed at around 1:00PM today that the battery indicator was now blinking red, and that was the first time I checked it after waking up. Who knows how long it had been doing that? At any rate, that means the standby time is actually less than 3 days... and I'm a very light phone user. I guess I shouldn't have expected much from a smaller headset when the much larger Jawbone could only be on standby for less than 5 days...

Edit 2: I did a bit of searching regarding Jawbone Prime's typical battery life, and found Aliph's tech saying that if it's using multipoint (meaning if it's paired to multiple devices--Jawbone Prime can be paired with up to 8 to switch between, and active on 2 simultaneously), and you accidentally press the "talk" button, you may cause it to look for other paired devices, which would drain the battery. I did try to pair it with other things (my laptop, the PS3), just to test out that function, so as per their recommendation, I performed a reset on the Jawbone Prime, and this time the battery lasted about 5 days, with some very light usage. Much better.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Jillian

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #270

Jillian had a urinary tract infection... again.

That sentence appeared in my head a few days ago, just as you see it above. I have no idea what it means, other than the obvious, and I don't know anyone named Jillian. Regardless, I thought it'd be interesting to begin a vanity card with it and just see where it goes.

Jillian had a urinary tract infection... again. Her doctor liked to abbreviate the condition to UTI. She liked to abbreviate it to TMH - Too Much Humping. Regardless, the road back to vaginal happiness was always the same: cranberry juice and abstinence. Thankfully, her boyfriend, Dudley, was always very understanding. He'd just smile, hold her in his arms and say, "Well, babe, when one door closes, another one opens up." She'd always giggle and blush when he'd say that, but deep down she wished she had the courage to cover his mouth and nose with a chloroform-soaked rag, and then, while he was unconscious, snip off his testicles with the little scissors she uses to groom her schnauzer.

All of which explains why the next sentence popped into my head recently.

Nobody sang Bee Gees songs on karaoke night like Dudley.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

You just got slapped... across the face my friend


You just got slapped. Yes, that really just happened.
Everybody saw it. Everybody laughed and clapped.
'Cause it was awesome the way you just got slapped.


A fake commercial from the TV show How I Met Your Mother...

Saturday, November 07, 2009

V

ABC began airing their remake of "V" this week. I was just a little kid in Taiwan when the original aired, and I don't think I've ever watched its reruns after I came to the US, although I'm pretty sure I've watched some of it when they aired it in Taiwan.

I don't remember much of the original series, aside from the basics--Reptilian aliens arrive on earth, disguised to look like humans, with peaceful pretenses, but have sinister plans. Over time, there are some alien/human couples. I remember one scene where, after a kid spray-painted graffiti on a wall, an old man took his spray paint and made a "V," saying it's for "Victory."

I've downloaded the first two V miniseries, guess I'll be watching it over the weekends, for nostalgia's sake.

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Joey Yung??


So I tried this celebrity look-alike morph thing, and the closest they got for me is Joey Yung? Hmm.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Two Whedon references in one

On tonight's Halloween episode of Castle, there were at least two references to former Joss Whedon shows.

First, we see Nathan Fillion's title character dress up in full Captain Mal Reynolds browncoat wardrobe, declaring to his daughter that he's a "space cowboy," exactly what what people would have consider Mal to be. And his daughter replies, "Didn't you wear that, like, five years ago?" (After her comment about there being no cows in space, of course.)

A fun little ribbing at the last time he donned the getup for the filming of Serenity, the movie followup to canned TV series Firefly. (The Halloween theme was the perfect chance for Firefly fans to see Nathan Fillion as Mal Reynolds again, so why not?)

Then, with the episode having to deal with vampires... or at least people who like to dress up like vampires, it was the perfect opportunity to get in a Buffy reference, which Castle did upon seeing a man with a stake rammed through his heart.


...There might have been a reference to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, as well, what with Castle mock laughing as a mad scientist, but as I have not watched it, I cannot comment.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Who has ever used Windows 2?


So, Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 7, was officially released yesterday. And Apple was quick on its heels to release its latest Windows-bashing commercial.

In it, John Hodgman, portraying "PC," is seen claiming over and over again about a new iteration of Windows would be better than its previous version, starting, of course, with Windows 7, to Windows Vista, Windows XP, Window Me, Windows 98, Windows 95, and finally, Windows 2.

Windows 2?? WTF? Why didn't they just go with what everyone actually used, namely Windows 3.1? Nobody used Windows 2... at least, not the general public. I was using computers before Windows 3.0 was released, and I never used Windows 2--I was using DOS 4.0 at the time.

And it's almost a certainty that, of the few people who did use Windows 2, none of them would have upgraded their computers from Windows 2 to Windows 95--whatever hardware was running Windows 2 could never be powerful enough for Windows 95.


Please, someone tell me, why did Apple decide to use Windows 2 instead of Windows 3?

Thursday, August 20, 2009

I don't need you poking me

My cousin Rickie posted this song to Facebook about a week after an ex sent her a friend request. She didn't want to add him, but wanted to reconnect with some mutual friends. The singer's name is Kate Miller-Heidke.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Why won't you call me back?

So this video has been making the rounds for the past couple of days.

Cliffs Notes version: Guy tells girlfriend he's going on vacation for two weeks, keeps phone off to avoid roaming charges, girlfriend forgets/never listened, so doesn't know guy is gone. She then proceeds to leave various email messages as the days go by, escalating in level of insanity.

Original blog posting here (moved, new site here).

Some people are saying the story's fake, I think it's plausible.

It probably wasn't a very healthy relationship, anyway...
  • She never listened enough to him to know he's going to be gone.

  • He didn't even bothered to call her to let her know he landed safely.

  • At no point did she wonder about his safety, like maybe he couldn't respond to her because he was injured, hospitalized, etc.--That would have been my first thought, if I were in her position.

  • That she jumped to only one conclusion (that he dumped her) meant one of three possible things, in my estimation:
    1. She was too insecure.

    2. She was too self-centered.

    3. The relationship was in a bad enough place that she believed he would dump her at any time.
Ultimately, they are both better off that the relationship ended. Some people wonder, as do I, if she really slept with someone else, or if she only said that to spite him... but it doesn't really matter.

Some people have also been wondering about the songs used in the video. I recognize two of them from the soundtrack of the movie Snatch. Anyway, I'll embed them below:


By the way, if you haven't seen Snatch, you totally should.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

25 Random Things

If you're on Facebook, then you've probably been tagged by one or more of your friends with one of these... If you haven't, the concept is this: You write a "Note" about yourself, which has "25 random facts" about yourself. You then "tag" a bunch of your friends, and ask them to also write 25 random things about themselves, tag you (along with their own friends) in their notes, and so on.

It's kind of like chain-mail, except instead of trying to spread some false information for "good luck" or whatever, you get to know more about your friends.

So the song above is about that, as well as a parody of the Miley Cyrus song, "7 Things." They also do some things to mimic Miley's video, which you can watch below, if you haven't seen it.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

X-Mouse in Windows Vista

This is really just for my own records, in case I need to do the same thing again at some point in the future, I probably won't remember all the details by then, and the resources I found with the information may no longer be around.

So I've been using Windows Vista for a while, and have gotten used to most of its functions. One of the things I missed the most from the previous version was the Power Toys/TweakUI. More specifically, an X-Mouse feature which made it possible for you to "switch" your "active window" from one to the other by simply moving your mouse cursor over to the window you want, without having to click on that other window.

Why is this useful, you ask?

Well, sometimes I might need to copy information from one window to another, and for whatever reason, copy & paste might not be an option. That means I need both windows visible to me, and I might not need to see the full window to which I'm copying the info...

Every once in a while, I would search for TweakUI and Vista, hoping that they've finally released a version for it. Today I realized that the only thing I really want from it was the X-Mouse function, so I searched for that specifically, and found my solution.

It turns out, Vista already has a version of it built-in. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't the exact version I wanted...

There are two different possible behaviors in X-Mouse:
  1. Follow the mouse cursor to set the active window, and bring the active window to the front.
  2. Follow the mouse cursor to set the active window, and leave the active window where it is (be it in the foreground, the background, or somewhere in between).
In Windows Vista, if you go to the Control Panel > Ease of Access Center > Make the mouse easier to use, you'll find a checkbox for "Activate a window by hovering over it with the mouse"; checking the box will get you the first behavior--Move your mouse over to a window in the background, and (500 milliseconds later) that background window will be in the foreground.

Me, I want the second kind of behavior. But there's no setting to get that behavior. No graphical setting, anyway. Nope, to get that behavior, we'll have to edit the Windows registry.


So, fire up regedit, and get yourself to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]; but first, make sure that checkbox mentioned above is not checked--it makes what we're about to do easier.

Look for the REG_BINARY key of "UserPreferencesMask," and make note of its data values (Mine was "9e 3e 07 80 12 00 00 00").

To make Windows follow your mouse cursor, but not bring the window to the front, add 1(hex) to the first hexadecimal number (which in my case makes it "9f 3e 07 80 12 00 00 00"); to bring the active window to the foreground, on the other hand, requires that you add 41(hex) to the first hex number--for the curious, you can confirm this by using the setting in your Control Panel, then refreshing the display in the registry editor, and making the calculations for yourself.

Next, see if the REG_DWORD key of "ActiveWndTrkTimeout" exists. The value here is for "how long should windows wait before changing focus, in milliseconds." If it exists, the default value is probably "1f4" in Hex, or "500" milliseconds in the decimal system. You can edit this to be whatever value you want. If it doesn't exist, create it, and set it to the value you want.

That's it! Log off your current Windows user, then log back in, and it will take effect.



Oh, and the reason I said not checking the box would make it easier? Well, if the box was checked, then you'd have to subtract 40(hex) from the first hex number, instead of just adding 1(hex). I can add 1(hex) in my head, but subtracting by 40(hex)? I'd either need a piece of paper to work out the math, or a scientific calculator.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Path to Destruction


So NBC is airing their two-part mini-series called Meteor: Path to Destruction, which is about a large meteor that's on a collision course towards the earth, which, if unstopped, could cause global destruction...

Didn't we already see this movie... twice?!

Friday, July 17, 2009

In the Year 3000


On his new role as host of The Tonight Show, Conan has brought back one of his old bits, with an updated name.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Speaking of Super Mario...


Beginning in June, Conan took over for Jay Leno as the host of The Tonight Show on NBC. A few days later, the blog Serious Lunch posted about the resemblance between a backdrop of the set and the designs of Super Mario Bros., complete with edited background from the game (actually, it looks more like the design from Super Mario World). By the end of the week, the above clip aired.

Poor Mario

Thursday, June 04, 2009

The Wounds of History

20 years ago, college students in Beijing held a protest, which ended in Tiananmen Square when the Chinese government sent troops and tanks to literally squash the protest, referred to at the time on the news at the Tiananmen Square massacre. The protests were broadcast in news reports all over the world.

Famous singers in Taiwan at the time got together, and produced this song, in memorandum to those who lost their lives.


Below is an interpretation of the lyrics to this song:

With something over your eyes, they think you won't be able to see
With your ears covered, they think you won't be able to hear
But the truth is your heart, the anguish is on your chest
How much longer must we abide? How much longer must we remain silent?

If warm tears can wash clean the dust
If hot blood can be traded for freedom
Let tomorrow remember the angry roars of today
Let all the world see the wounds of history

Always remember, always remember
The wounds of history

Friday, May 22, 2009

Transforminators

"Why are you trashing my scene? You are trashing my scene!"

It's not lupus!

I've watched this four times already, and I can't stop laughing...

Monday, May 18, 2009

Bold claims... Bold, stupid claims


One of the recent Mac commercials (above) have a woman searching for a computer "that works without crashing, or viruses, or a ton of headaches." PC then leaves, leaving the woman to Mac. It's Apple's response to the recent "laptop hunters" commercials by Microsoft.

As if the Mac never crashes... Anyone rushing out to buy a Mac thinking that they'll never had to deal with crashes or headaches are in for a rude awakening. And even though they are rare, Macs also have viruses. So Apple marketing, you're 0 for 3. WTF were you thinking?


I guess for those who hail Apple as the second coming would simply ignore the fact that the Mac crashes just like every other OS, because in their eyes, the might Steve Jobs would never steer them wrong. And iPhones have absolutely no glitches or problems at all.


The sad fact is that... every computer crashes, 'cause every OS sucks.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

The Book of Love

On the (possibly series) finale of Scrubs, this song was used near the end, as J.D. fantasizes about what may happen in the future. Both the song and the montage of possible future outcome of these characters are very sweet and touching. I bet most fans got teary-eyed. I know J.D. would have.

As it is, since Zach Braff is leaving the show, and most of the show was told through his character's perspective, there's no way it would remain the same. If the show does get renewed, it will certainly be interesting to see what direction the show takes.

...and here's the clip from the show itself.

Friday, May 01, 2009

Pepsi Throwback

You may have noticed the recent Pepsi commercials where they're now selling the "Throwback" version, made with "natural sugar," and with the older (original?) Pepsi formula.

So, what's the big deal? Well, for years now, Pepsi (along with many other major soft drink brands) have been sweetening their drinks with high fructose corn syrup, instead of regular sugar. It is the belief of many that drinks made with sugar, instead of high fructose corn syrup, taste better.

As you can see, the current version of Pepsi is made with:
  • Carbonated water
  • High fructose corn syrup
  • Caramel Color
  • Sugar
  • Phosphoric acid
  • Caffeine
  • Citric acid
  • Natural flavor
It actually does still have regular sugar in it, but obviously not as much as high fructose corn syrup.

Since it's been ages since I've had Pepsi that's not made with high fructose corn syrup, I don't remember what the "original" Pepsi tastes like, and I'm certainly curious to see if I'd like the "original" better.

Pepsi Throwback is made with:
  • Carbonated water
  • Sugar
  • Caramel color
  • Phosphoric acid
  • Caffeine
  • Natural flavor
Now, when they say "natural sugar" in the commercial, they mean beet and cane sugar. So aside from using all sugar instead of any high fructose corn syrup, Pepsi Throwback is also missing citric acid.


So, how is it? Well, it has a "cleaner" taste... there's no after taste. I sort of miss the subtle lemony flavor of the citric acid, but the other subtle taste that's there in its place is not bad, either. Overall, I like it, although it doesn't seem to be definitively better. I'll continue to buy Pepsi Throwback instead of regular Pepsi while it's available.

You're gonna love my nuts


Not that the original informercial wasn't funny enough already, with its ridiculous statements, such as:
  • "You're gonna be slapping your troubles away."
  • "Stop having a boring tuna. Stop having a boring life."
  • "We're gonna make America skinny again, one slap at a time."
  • "You're gonna love my nuts."
  • "You're gonna be slapping away everyday."
But anyway, enjoy.

Monday, April 27, 2009

"I know kung fu"

So, on the season finale of Chuck, everything was leading up to, and loyal viewers would have easily picked up on, Chuck's Neo/Matrix moment. And it was, in a word, awesome!

I mean, come on, how could anyone not? The "changes" made to the "Intersect," Chuck bravely re-uploading it to himself, then both Sarah and Casey are brought in, captured by agents of a yet unknown agency? I was just waiting for Chuck to say the infamous line of, "I know kung fu"--I literally said it out loud as I watched Sarah and Casey being led into the room.

And then, of course, I saw in Chuck's flash, there was text forming the Chinese characters of "功夫" (aka "kung fu"), which all but confirms it. I'm glad they had him say that line, because I'm sure everyone was thinking it.

Loved the season finale. I sure hope the network picks up the next season.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Short Skirt/Long Jacket

I want a girl with a mind like a diamond
I want a girl who knows what's best
I want a girl with shoes that cut
And eyes that burn like cigarettes
I want a girl with the right allocations
Who is fast and thorough, and sharp as a tack
She's playing with her jewelery
She's putting up her hair
She's touring the facility and picking up slack
I want a girl with a short skirt
And a loooooong jacket

I want a girl who gets up early
I want a girl who stays up late
I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity
Who uses the machete to cut through red tape
With fingernails that shine like justice
And a voice that is dark like tinted glass
She is fast, thorough, and sharp as a tack
She is touring the facility and picking up slack
I want a girl with a short skirt
And a looooong, long jacket

Na-na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na-na...

I want a girl with a smooth liquidation
I want a girl with good dividends
At Citibank we will meet accidentally
We'll start to talk when she borrows my pen
She wants a car with a cup holder armrest
She wants a car that will get her there
She's changing her name from Kitty to Karen
She's trading her MG for a white Chrysler LeBaron
I want a girl with a short skirt
And a loooooong jacket

Na-na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na-na...

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Muppet Scat


"By the way, if you Google search 'muppet' and 'scat,' that may not be what comes up. Try it, try it. You know what? Pause the TV right now. I'll wait."

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Do you like fishsticks?


So this week's episode of South Park made fun of Kanye West's infamously large ego, and Kanye has posted on his blog that he's working on curbing his ego. Later, he mentions that he was at a Cheesecake Factory, and the manager brought him a plate of fishsticks.

If a TV show makes fun of me with a joke about fishsticks, and then a restaurant manager brings me a plate of fishsticks, I'm gonna get some pictures of me with that manager, chomping down on those fishsticks.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Thursday, March 05, 2009

I'm gonna drive around to Oak St...

...because I can't spell "eucalyptus," the name of the street that I live on. Brilliant.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Friday the 13th... again...?

You might think that this blog entry is about the new remake of the original Friday the 13th movie. And you'd be wrong, although the title does seem fitting for it, as well.

Anyway, stuff happened last Friday, which happened to be the 13th. Mostly, I'd say they're all good news, depending on how you look at it. The very good news was that my sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy last Friday. That is all good news there.

The bad news for me, though, was that my car broke down while I was on the freeway last Friday. Although, in a way, it's also good news... because if it hadn't broke down on Friday (i.e. if I didn't drive it at all on Friday), it would have broke down on Saturday, when I'd be out to visit my sister at the hospital, and that would have been much more troublesome.

So I guess the only bad news for me is that I'll have to spent $1400+ on the repairs.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Two "and" movies in the same week

So today the DVD (and Blu-Ray) for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Zack and Miri Make a Porno was released. It's somewhat interesting that both movies share a similar naming scheme, and are released on the same day...

It was to me, anyway. And as I happen to be interested in both movies, I picked them up. I actually didn't plan on getting the Blu-Ray version of either movie, but the store I went to didn't get the standard DVD version of Zack and Miri in yet, while they did have the Blu-Ray version, so I picked that up, rather than drive elsewhere or wait.