Another dilemma. I too found some underwear in my current Michael Jackson memorabilia collection. Except, mine are not Calvin Klein’s, they’re from United Colors of Benetton. But that’s besides the point. The real question is, should I report this to the authorities or not ?
Got the RIAA and MPAA right on my heels. But the rebel that I am, I managed to slip another MP3 through their fingers. A high quality song, musically stunning, and the voice will knock you down. This is such a great song, your hard disk will wear down much faster because you have this mp3 on continuous repeat throughout the day ! Using various techniques like subtle echo, background mixing of crystal clear sound effects, several types of bridges, supported by a great team of backing vocals, it so catchy, it’s even used in a certain commercial I will not mention (this is an ad-free blog, remember ?). Well, here is it, Volslagen Mobiel ! Have fun !
The horror. You get up on a Sunday morning. Go to the bathroom. Pick up an empty tube of toothpaste. You squeeze like hell, but nothing comes out. The smart guy that I am, I always have a spare in the kitchen drawer, so you head to the kitchen. Open the drawer. Don’t see it. Look for it harder. THEN, you start shoving things aside with force, and a few second later, you’re a complete madman. No toothpaste to be found !
Ah well, it’s a Sunday and I don’t go to church. As for tomorrow, I fished the empty tube back from the recycle-bin, and will surgically remove the few milligrams of toothpaste that’s left, as I probably wouldn’t have enough chewing gum to last a whole day. So, the essence of this story.. can you imagine the shock ?
Self-reflection is a bitch. Here I’m sitting, after a whole day of freedom (from work, mostly). Only now I realise I haven’t thought about her, she who I have this free day to thank for. In the morning hoping for a sunny warm day (which we got only half). In the afternoon, stumbling through all the mess downtown I wonder how much garbage this must be (somewhere close to a hundred ton, I think), and why people are actually spending money on it ! In the train I saw a headline flash by revealing what she was up to, otherwise I wouldn’t even know where she’d have been hanging out this day. And deep in the night, I was worried about the continuing thunder and rain. So, here’s the belated thanks to my dear Queen.
I need money. Lots of it. And all that, just to make even more money. Here are a few ideas:
– Find a bunch of free (open source) software, throw them together, make a nice setup tool, use some YA.. abbreviation (Yet Another .. ..), throw in your logo in a few login and window managers, and pray it works. If it does, in just over 10 years, you’ll be rich !! First you distribute it for free, and when it starts to get good, you sell out on your trusty followers. (SUSE Linux (created somewhere in the early nineties) became Novell’s property for just $210 million)
– Developing a mega successful sit-com. In 10 years, it will blow up so big, a 30 sec ad will take in $2 million (currently for a spot during the series finale (after 10 seasons) of Friends).
– Finding an old genius schoolfriend, suck up to him, let him build a fast minimalistic search engine, give it a flashy name, and it less than 10 years, head to Wallstreet to earn a whopping $4 billion. (Google from 1995 on till its IPO announcement last year)
or…noodles.
Yupz, some 200,000 noodle (or ramen, as it’s originally called) shops in Japan are currently good for $6.36 billion annually. And it’s rising even higher, as the current trend actually makes it chic to eat noodle (from the plain 3 standard flavored shops for construction workers and broke students, to the special flavored kind made by celebrity cooks in stylishly decorated shops, where prices start from $8 a bowl, targeting the richer audience)
So all I need is enough cash to start some noodle shops here and head for a monopoly, and then some more cash to stay ahead so I can continue the monopoly. Anyone want to invest with me ?
So, here I am, deciding on a Saturday afternoon it’s time to update the firmware of my ADSL modem. Lord knows how stupid that is, especially with no backup in place, AND no replacement within reach for a few days.
*Beeeep* *beeeep* *beeep* *beep* *beepbeepbeep*
My name is Jack Bauer, this is the longest day of my life…
Naah, just kidding, I’m still alive (besides the vomiting, shaking hands and other minor withdrawal symptoms), had a few downloaded TV episodes and a few unwatched DVD’s lying around. So the lesson the be learned ? Always buy more DVD’s than you can watch.
UK researchers have completed another ground breaking research project. This time it’s about the annoyance of mobile phone conversations. Money well spent !
So, to maximise the efficiency of that money, we might as well discuss this matter. The outcome is quite surprising I might add. Is it the volume ? Is it the accent ? Is it the subject ? No, probably it’s because we (human beings) are too damn curious. A variety of discussions performed in front of people (mixing volume, subject, between real people and mobile phones), whom later rated the conversation, revealed the mobile phone conversations were most noticable and annoying. Not the loud ones between two persons.
So the question is, are you annoyed by mobile phone conversation ?
I don’t have to answer that, because with my ear-in headphones plugged into my mp3 player, you’d have to be really YELLING 50+dB BEFORE I COULD BE DISTURBED OR ANNOYED.
Oh, one extra question for the females, honestly, are you the sole half of the human race causing this annoyance ? Honestly ?
Controversy galore. UK’s Channel 4 aired a documentary last night called My Foetus, about a woman having an abortion, including very graphic images and footage of the whole procedure.
The two sides are obvious. The contra side says don’t give people any ideas, leave it be, taboohoo. The pro side says better education to prevent it.
Me, as a (failed) scientist at heart, would lean more towards the latter option. What about you ? Or wouldn’t you have watched it in the first place ?
Anyone care to venture a guess how much money I would earn if I were to go public that I’ve had sex with David Beckham recently ? More or less than the 1.sumthing million Rebecca Loos earned ?
So, my ADSL modem is havin’ hickups. For today, that means almost a whole day where my server is not reachable from anywhere except home. More detailed it means:
– Webserver down. My weblog can’t be read, a lot of laughs are lost to, well, uhmm… paradox. Never mind.
– Sites I host for other people are down. They don’t pay anyways, I don’t really care.
– Statistics I keep for some people are not recorded.
– Terminal Server down, can’t play around on my own server. No such things as downloading stuff that will be ready when I get home. No irc, no logs.
– Mail server down. Serves as both backup for other email addresses, as well as direct incoming ones. Bandwidth friendly IMAP or webbased, straight to my work.
– Backup line, unfirewalled, as double check on internet matter like DNS and availibility, checking VPN’s and such. This is actually work related.
So, all day, I practically did nothing at work. Don’t you just love the times we live in ?
Watch out, it’s not just the RIAA hunting you down. It’s also the artists themselves. A guy was already selling the yet to be released new album (Wilderness) of Sophie B Hawkins on eBay. Best known for her hit Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover, Sophie sued the man, and won. The judge awarded her with, and hold your pants now … $346.
Lesson to be learned ? Don’t be stupid, don’t sell’m on eBay !
As per request the review of the two currently available (4 pack, 2 by 2) icecream cones from Ola.
Love Potion nr. 1 – Tiramisu flavored with a cinnamon twist
First obvious thing, besides the flavor, is the more fluffy creamy icecream, as opposes to the more usual frozen milk type icecream. Second is the strategically position of the flavors. This way you’ll get through each flavor phase by phase. The flavors aren’t really overpowering, subtly sneaking in and out, while the crispy cone leads you towards the end. If it weren’t for the special flavors, the quality alone would have warranted a high grade.7½.
Love Potion nr. 3 – Rummy and chocalaty with eggnog sugary chips
Like above, you will go through a few phases, as by design. This one is like the above but with flavors I like more.8.
Look at these:
Nothing special to them ? Well, they are the last pictures. For now. That’s because they’re back at my sister’s. They always were, but as I got my own humble abode, and she stayed back home at my parents for a while, I was appointed Godfather (as I am with my niece). So, now that my duty is over, let’s list the pros and cons:
Pros:
– They (well, only Abu and Raja) could meow on command…but only if they were hungry.
– Joepie jumps on me now and then (on my back or shoulders), purring on my neck…but only if he’s hungry.
– They would come to me in an instant with just a snap of the finger…but only if he’s hungry.
– I could send them out of the room with a clap in the hands. And sometimes it needed a harsh hissing “SSHHHH!!!” thrown behind that.
– They would give me a kiss on my mouth if I said “gimme a kiss” with the appropiate *smooch* sound. Then again, I shouldn’t have said that. They’re guyz. Ouch.
Cons:
– Weekly cleaning of the kitty litter box.
– Bi-weekly clipping of the nails. If you don’t, things WILL get ugly.
– Daily vacuuming. Sometimes twice or thrice a day. WHERE DOES ALL THAT HAIR COME FROM ? Even after hourlong brushing sessions where I gathered some few kilos of hair, it somehow grows back within 2 hours !
– Nightly play session. *thump* .. jump from kitchen table to floor. *kding kding kding* running through the hallway chasing each other. And for attention, sometimes some excessive meowing in the middle of the night.
– Hairballs. The ugly stomach emptying slimy ones. And not just one spot, neupz, they would throw them all over the place.
– They are damn smart. My house is full of special tricks to demotivate them from doin’ stuff. They can open doors, so most handles had rubber bands holding the handle in place. One door closes magnetically. I had to put TWO extra magnets to hold them off. Towels would have to be ductaped to the wall. The trashbin had to be taped (top to body), they would run it over and retrieve whatever they liked for food or toy. Just a few examples.
– They’re picky when it comes to food. Do NOT TRY to give them the same brand/flavor in a row, they will spit it back to ya. You have to give them a different brand AND a different flavor every day.
– Did I mention hair ? Lots of it…hair hair hair.
– Ow, and Raja needs more disciplining. He talks back when you say he’s been bad. “Hey YOU CAN’t DO THAT !” “MEOW !”
Icecream time ! Well, I eat them throughout the year, so uhmmm. Never mind.
Here’s my trip to the complaint section of the Ola website.
Als levensgenieter neem ik bijna ieder avond een toetje, meestal ijs. U kunt me gerust een kenner, wat zeg ik, een expert noemen.
Helaas moet ik constateren dat de vroeger zo heerlijke Magnum Caramel & Nuts niet meer van hetzelfde kwaliteit is. De krokante chocolade buitenkant bijvoorbeeld, is een slappe bedoening geworden.
Dat neem ik u niet kwalijk, het kan immers een fout zijn van de vervoerders, of door de supermarkt bewaard zijn op een temperatuur hoger dan dat er geadviseerd wordt. Net zo min neem ik het u kwalijk dat ik nog steeds geen vriendin heb na het inslaan van massa’s van de nieuwe Love Potion (zoals mij verzekerd wordt in de nieuwe reclame campagne). Het kan immers een inwerkingstijd hebben, die u nog niet heeft vrijgegeven, zoals altijd het geval met potions. Waarschijnlijk moet ik gewoon nog geduld hebben. Maar ik dwaal af.
Het gaat in dit geval om de individuele verpakking. Bij het sealen van de verpakking om de reep zit deze er vaak nog tussen ! Met substantie ertussen wordt het dus helemaal niet gesealed, en lekt het er vaak uit. Dit is al meerdere keren gebeurd, maar gisteren trof ik een practisch gehalveerde reep aan. De andere helft (dus zowel van de reep als de verpakking) was niet te vinden, en een ijs dat al een paar maanden aan de lucht heeft blootgesteld gestaan eet ik natuurlijk niet op. Dit gaat me toch te ver.
Helaas moet ik u dus meededelen dat u gezakt bent naar plaats nummer 2 van mijn lijstje favoriete soorten ijs. De eerste plaats is natuurlijk een gedeelde, bezet door Ben & Jerry’s, Haagen Daszch, Hertog en de AH.
U kunt er namelijk van uit gaan dat ik er geen een meer van aanraak totdat ik ervan verzekerd ben dat de kwaliteit weer op de hoogte is van mijn kennismaking zo’n jaar geleden.
Met nog steeds keuze genoeg, verblijf ik,
KaNam Ung.
As you might know by now, Google’s ill-timed announcement for its free GMail service which includes a whopping 1 GB mailbox, and advanced search techniques to sort the mail for you, is no joke. It’s very real, though still in beta testing. But now that the idea has sunk in, another matter pops up…privacy.
To generate the money to sustain the service, relevant advertisement is being used. As everybody knows, my most passionate subject is….golf. Therefore, most of my e-mails will reflect that and hence when I use GMail daily, I will come across ads for a new Tiger Woods PC game, or a new vendor selling high quality Iron 5’s through 9’s.
Is this privacy invasion or not ? Will you sign up when it becomes available or not ? Oh, and while you’re at it, guess if I will sign up or not, because I’ve already decided.