Saturday, December 24, 2005
Billings, MT
Billings doesn't seem to be much of a city. It may be big for Montana, but compared to any major city, it's tiny and a bit run-down.
I got in at 3 am thismorning (on my way to Greybull, Wyoming for Christmas). Thomas is supposed to pick me up on his way through - he's driving to Greybull from Tacoma. But he got a late start and won't be here until later in the afternoon.
So I decided that, since I'm not broke for a change, I'd get a hotel room for the remainder of the night rather than sleeping at the airport (it's not fun, I've done it a few times before) . Even though the city is small, the airport is small, and it's Christmas Eve, the hotel will send a shuttle at 3 am. I got the room for $50 with a late checkout time of 1 pm.
So I slept until about noon, got up, showered, studied the map of Billings (mapping software on my laptop), and checked out. On the map, I was looking for a place to get some lunch and somewhere to hang out while I wait for Thomas.
I looked up a few restaurants, and wanting to try something local rather than fastfood or a major chain like Perkins. There are several Mexican restaurants and being in the mood for such fare, I decided on a place called Rocket Burritos (it's called this on the map - the store front proclaims "Rockets Gourmet Wraps & Sodas"). As for a place to chill while waiting for Tom, I found a place called "Your Place or Mine Cybercafe". The burrito place is on the way to the cybercafe which is about 2 miles from the hotel. There's no need to waste money on a taxi for such a short distance, so I asked the hotel clerk if I could leave my bags there and set out on foot (even though I only have some lazy slip-on shoes which are lousy for any serious walking - I got some pretty bad blisters this way once).
On my way to Rockets, my expectations began to drop as it became appartent that I was passing through the slums. I passed a women's prison, a correctional probation and parole center, a homeless shelter, many run-down and possibly abandoned residences, another mexican restaurant that looked like it'd give you severe food poisoning just by walking in the door (that's when I decided that I may have to abandon my plans for the Rocket Burrito, but I was going to check it out anyway), and a railroad track where I had to wait a minute or two for the train to move as it was at a dead stop when I arrived at the intersection.
As I got closer to Rockets, the scenery began to loose the appearance of the slums - this gave me some hope. I got there and the sign informed me that this was Rockets Gourmet Wraps and Sodas - that's cool, burritos are a kind of wrap. Now some of you may be familiar with Chipotle Mexican Grill and possibly Moe's southwest Grill (don't go to Moe's webpage, it has the annoying background audio) - these places are good and all, I mean they have pretty good burritos, but I knew that Rockets had a certain unique something when, after choosing a steak burrito, the server asked me what kind of tortilla I wanted it on. "Oh," I said in surprise, thinking "they offer a choice of tortillas, sweet." I chose the Garlic and Herb. They have a nice selection of coffee and such, so I ordered a chai tea as well.
The burrito was good, the chai was good, the employees know their stuff, and the place has the atmosphere of a hip coffee shop. I'd recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in Billings and looking for a place to eat lunch. It's a bit off the beaten path on Business 90 (1st Ave N) between N 28th and N 29th streets at Latitude N45° 46.92', Longitude W108° 30.357' - or somewhere near there, the location in my map software may be a bit off (I could get an exact location if I went there and fired up my GPS, but I didn't and I won't).
The cybercafe was another matter entirely. It may be hip, but I wouldn't know because it was closed, but by the appearance of the building, it isn't so hip anyway (keep in mind, though, that external appearance is a poor indication of internal hipness). I can't blame them for being closed on Christmas Eve. So I decided to hoof it back to the hotel and see about connecting to the internet in the lobby.
On the way back to the hotel, I found a little used book store and decided to see what I could find - well, I got nothing better to do. I found about 7 books of varying subjects all for about $50 (one book was $20 by itself). It was a nice little book shop, nice atmosphere and all. It's called "A Few Books More" and is at 520 N 32nd St. They have a nice selection and some pretty old stuff that might be nice in a collection, but I don't know much about such things.
Then back through the slums and to the hotel to await my brother's arrival where I now sit writing this post. I took a different route on the way back to see a bit more of the city. Looking at the sky and surrounding mesas, it seems that the city exists only because those mesas allow it to exist - it seems as though it doesn't belong, but the land has decided to tolerate it.
Actually, the city grew rapidly after its founding, earning it the nickname the Magic City. It continues to grow steadily to this day while other Montana cities show a decline. It is the largest city in a 500 mile radius and is a major center of commerce for people of Montana and nearby Wyoming.
I got in at 3 am thismorning (on my way to Greybull, Wyoming for Christmas). Thomas is supposed to pick me up on his way through - he's driving to Greybull from Tacoma. But he got a late start and won't be here until later in the afternoon.
So I decided that, since I'm not broke for a change, I'd get a hotel room for the remainder of the night rather than sleeping at the airport (it's not fun, I've done it a few times before) . Even though the city is small, the airport is small, and it's Christmas Eve, the hotel will send a shuttle at 3 am. I got the room for $50 with a late checkout time of 1 pm.
So I slept until about noon, got up, showered, studied the map of Billings (mapping software on my laptop), and checked out. On the map, I was looking for a place to get some lunch and somewhere to hang out while I wait for Thomas.
I looked up a few restaurants, and wanting to try something local rather than fastfood or a major chain like Perkins. There are several Mexican restaurants and being in the mood for such fare, I decided on a place called Rocket Burritos (it's called this on the map - the store front proclaims "Rockets Gourmet Wraps & Sodas"). As for a place to chill while waiting for Tom, I found a place called "Your Place or Mine Cybercafe". The burrito place is on the way to the cybercafe which is about 2 miles from the hotel. There's no need to waste money on a taxi for such a short distance, so I asked the hotel clerk if I could leave my bags there and set out on foot (even though I only have some lazy slip-on shoes which are lousy for any serious walking - I got some pretty bad blisters this way once).
On my way to Rockets, my expectations began to drop as it became appartent that I was passing through the slums. I passed a women's prison, a correctional probation and parole center, a homeless shelter, many run-down and possibly abandoned residences, another mexican restaurant that looked like it'd give you severe food poisoning just by walking in the door (that's when I decided that I may have to abandon my plans for the Rocket Burrito, but I was going to check it out anyway), and a railroad track where I had to wait a minute or two for the train to move as it was at a dead stop when I arrived at the intersection.
As I got closer to Rockets, the scenery began to loose the appearance of the slums - this gave me some hope. I got there and the sign informed me that this was Rockets Gourmet Wraps and Sodas - that's cool, burritos are a kind of wrap. Now some of you may be familiar with Chipotle Mexican Grill and possibly Moe's southwest Grill (don't go to Moe's webpage, it has the annoying background audio) - these places are good and all, I mean they have pretty good burritos, but I knew that Rockets had a certain unique something when, after choosing a steak burrito, the server asked me what kind of tortilla I wanted it on. "Oh," I said in surprise, thinking "they offer a choice of tortillas, sweet." I chose the Garlic and Herb. They have a nice selection of coffee and such, so I ordered a chai tea as well.
The burrito was good, the chai was good, the employees know their stuff, and the place has the atmosphere of a hip coffee shop. I'd recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in Billings and looking for a place to eat lunch. It's a bit off the beaten path on Business 90 (1st Ave N) between N 28th and N 29th streets at Latitude N45° 46.92', Longitude W108° 30.357' - or somewhere near there, the location in my map software may be a bit off (I could get an exact location if I went there and fired up my GPS, but I didn't and I won't).
The cybercafe was another matter entirely. It may be hip, but I wouldn't know because it was closed, but by the appearance of the building, it isn't so hip anyway (keep in mind, though, that external appearance is a poor indication of internal hipness). I can't blame them for being closed on Christmas Eve. So I decided to hoof it back to the hotel and see about connecting to the internet in the lobby.
On the way back to the hotel, I found a little used book store and decided to see what I could find - well, I got nothing better to do. I found about 7 books of varying subjects all for about $50 (one book was $20 by itself). It was a nice little book shop, nice atmosphere and all. It's called "A Few Books More" and is at 520 N 32nd St. They have a nice selection and some pretty old stuff that might be nice in a collection, but I don't know much about such things.
Then back through the slums and to the hotel to await my brother's arrival where I now sit writing this post. I took a different route on the way back to see a bit more of the city. Looking at the sky and surrounding mesas, it seems that the city exists only because those mesas allow it to exist - it seems as though it doesn't belong, but the land has decided to tolerate it.
Actually, the city grew rapidly after its founding, earning it the nickname the Magic City. It continues to grow steadily to this day while other Montana cities show a decline. It is the largest city in a 500 mile radius and is a major center of commerce for people of Montana and nearby Wyoming.
Airport post - over a month old
I wrote this on my way to Orlando for Thanksgiving, then forgot about it and never uploaded it. Well, here it is.
Airport Wireless
$6.95 for 24 hrs of access, but airport sites are free
The old way: Wander around the airport until you find a working arrivals/departures display. Then wait for your flight to scroll on by, unless you're too early and it isn't being displayed yet. And stand there looking like an idiot.
The new way: Fire up your laptop with its wireless 802.11x ethernet card, connect to the airports network, scoff at the $6.95 access fee (I'm not paying that!), load the free FlightArrivals.com webpage, enter your airline and flight number, and there you have it. All the information you ever wanted to know about the flight - where it's coming from (Denver), what time it left there, the temperature there, what type of aircraft it is, when it is expected to arrive (at MSP), its current speed and altitude, expected air traffic delays, the temperature at the destination, the expected departure time (from MSP), the scheduled arrival time at the next destination (MCO), the temperature there.
Now my only problem is the lack of power outlets here at MSP gate G22. My power hungry laptop is longing for a steady supply of electricity, but the only outlet in sight would require that I sit on the floor over by the pay phones. Come on now, I need to keep my battery charged up for the flight.
Airport Wireless
$6.95 for 24 hrs of access, but airport sites are free
The old way: Wander around the airport until you find a working arrivals/departures display. Then wait for your flight to scroll on by, unless you're too early and it isn't being displayed yet. And stand there looking like an idiot.
The new way: Fire up your laptop with its wireless 802.11x ethernet card, connect to the airports network, scoff at the $6.95 access fee (I'm not paying that!), load the free FlightArrivals.com webpage, enter your airline and flight number, and there you have it. All the information you ever wanted to know about the flight - where it's coming from (Denver), what time it left there, the temperature there, what type of aircraft it is, when it is expected to arrive (at MSP), its current speed and altitude, expected air traffic delays, the temperature at the destination, the expected departure time (from MSP), the scheduled arrival time at the next destination (MCO), the temperature there.
Now my only problem is the lack of power outlets here at MSP gate G22. My power hungry laptop is longing for a steady supply of electricity, but the only outlet in sight would require that I sit on the floor over by the pay phones. Come on now, I need to keep my battery charged up for the flight.
Monday, December 19, 2005
My Gum Fell Apart or I Took A Dive
Have you ever been chewing a piece of gum and had it disintegrate in your mouth? It happened to me today. It just falls apart, it won't stick together anymore.
The first time that this ever happened to me was in Junior High when I was sick and in the nurse's office. I don't remember where I got the gum, but it was a brand that I don't often chew. It fell apart (you can tell when it's about to fall apart because it gets really soft and gritty-like, then it falls apart). It was so gross. I spit it out in the garbage can. I figured it had something to do with being sick and anti-bodies or fever or something.
It's happened a few time since and hasn't always been when I was sick. I think that it might have something to do with how long you have been chewing and what you've been eating/drinking. I think that it may have something to do with enzymes. You get enzymes in your saliva while eating and I think that chewing gum will also trigger the release of enzymes in saliva. Also, I think that gum is designed to fall apart so that if you swallow it, it won't get stuck in your intestines for seven years like all the kids in grade school said - instead it breaks apart in your stomach and is digested like anything else.
The gum disintegration was today, yesterday I slipped and fell while climbing on the steel support arms for a waterslide.
I was only about 4 feet off the ground, so it wasn't life threatening or anything. I was trying to move from a lower to upper arm. The distance was a little too far to get my foot onto the upper arm while standing on the lower. I had a few good hand holds, so I tried to brace one foot against the vertical column (from which the arms radiate) and pull myself up to where I could get a foot on the upper arm. I use this trick a lot while climbing columns (which I do often - usually without a safety harness which would be nearly useless in such situations), but this time, my shoe was a bit muddy and the column had a bit of condensation on it.
So when I jumped to pull myself up to the upper arm, my foot immediately slipped down the column, I lost my handholds, and I fell. I caught the arm I had been standing on with my crotch (just like in the cartoons), spun around it (upside down), caught something with my hand to keep from falling head-first, turned myself rightside up, and landed feet first in the mud and water. I had been wearing my clean shoes for working inside the slide (and on the columns and anywhere else that we don't want to track mud).
Now my clean shoes are all muddy. It takes me a few minutes to recover - the pain to my crotch wasn't so bad, I've been hit worse there. I scraped the inside of my thigh and twisted my knee. The knee wasn't bothering me much yesterday, but when I woke up this morning, it was quite sore and stiff. It doesn't hurt to put weight on it, but it hurts to bend it.
It'll be alright though. I got these heavy-duty bull knees or something - they've taken plenty a beating and recovered just fine. I don't think it's ever taken more than a few days for a knee to recover from any injury. Someone threw a huge rock (twice the size of my fist) at me once - it hit me right on the kneecap from a side angle, taking my leg out from under me. And I landed on the knee that had been hit. It was sore for a day or two, then it was fine
The first time that this ever happened to me was in Junior High when I was sick and in the nurse's office. I don't remember where I got the gum, but it was a brand that I don't often chew. It fell apart (you can tell when it's about to fall apart because it gets really soft and gritty-like, then it falls apart). It was so gross. I spit it out in the garbage can. I figured it had something to do with being sick and anti-bodies or fever or something.
It's happened a few time since and hasn't always been when I was sick. I think that it might have something to do with how long you have been chewing and what you've been eating/drinking. I think that it may have something to do with enzymes. You get enzymes in your saliva while eating and I think that chewing gum will also trigger the release of enzymes in saliva. Also, I think that gum is designed to fall apart so that if you swallow it, it won't get stuck in your intestines for seven years like all the kids in grade school said - instead it breaks apart in your stomach and is digested like anything else.
The gum disintegration was today, yesterday I slipped and fell while climbing on the steel support arms for a waterslide.
I was only about 4 feet off the ground, so it wasn't life threatening or anything. I was trying to move from a lower to upper arm. The distance was a little too far to get my foot onto the upper arm while standing on the lower. I had a few good hand holds, so I tried to brace one foot against the vertical column (from which the arms radiate) and pull myself up to where I could get a foot on the upper arm. I use this trick a lot while climbing columns (which I do often - usually without a safety harness which would be nearly useless in such situations), but this time, my shoe was a bit muddy and the column had a bit of condensation on it.
So when I jumped to pull myself up to the upper arm, my foot immediately slipped down the column, I lost my handholds, and I fell. I caught the arm I had been standing on with my crotch (just like in the cartoons), spun around it (upside down), caught something with my hand to keep from falling head-first, turned myself rightside up, and landed feet first in the mud and water. I had been wearing my clean shoes for working inside the slide (and on the columns and anywhere else that we don't want to track mud).
Now my clean shoes are all muddy. It takes me a few minutes to recover - the pain to my crotch wasn't so bad, I've been hit worse there. I scraped the inside of my thigh and twisted my knee. The knee wasn't bothering me much yesterday, but when I woke up this morning, it was quite sore and stiff. It doesn't hurt to put weight on it, but it hurts to bend it.
It'll be alright though. I got these heavy-duty bull knees or something - they've taken plenty a beating and recovered just fine. I don't think it's ever taken more than a few days for a knee to recover from any injury. Someone threw a huge rock (twice the size of my fist) at me once - it hit me right on the kneecap from a side angle, taking my leg out from under me. And I landed on the knee that had been hit. It was sore for a day or two, then it was fine
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Take the virtual tour of the Lifetime Fitness Center. Notice the waterslides. That's what I build. They're not exactly like the ones in the pictures though. I'm not sure where the pictures for the tour were taken, but it's a slightly different slide design from a different company.
When we're in there building the slides, the place doesn't look nearly as nice as it does in the tour. The concrete isn't poured outside and it's a big mud/snow/ice pit (yeah, we're building the outdoor slides in the winter).
When we're in there building the slides, the place doesn't look nearly as nice as it does in the tour. The concrete isn't poured outside and it's a big mud/snow/ice pit (yeah, we're building the outdoor slides in the winter).
Monday, December 12, 2005
My take on Ecclesiastes 1:3-11
The point, as I see it, is not that we should not try to better ourselves or enjoy our lives, but that we should not think too highly of ourselves or our accomplishments.
We should enjoy life and try to improve the world around us, but we should do so from a certain perspective and not get too upset over worldly matters.
We should enjoy life and try to improve the world around us, but we should do so from a certain perspective and not get too upset over worldly matters.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Return to the Technology Rant
Ok, I'm sorry about this, but I just have to clarify my sentiments in my earlier rant on technology and stuff.
Get a Bible and read Ecclesiastes 1:3-11 (It's in the Old Testament for those of you not too familiar with the Bible, so you won't find it in one of those little pocket New Testament's - it's right after Proverbs). This passage states, much better than I could, what I was trying to say about technology (and all human endeavor).
I may not post much for a while, I'm working a lot and I need to take some time for sleep.
Get a Bible and read Ecclesiastes 1:3-11 (It's in the Old Testament for those of you not too familiar with the Bible, so you won't find it in one of those little pocket New Testament's - it's right after Proverbs). This passage states, much better than I could, what I was trying to say about technology (and all human endeavor).
I may not post much for a while, I'm working a lot and I need to take some time for sleep.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
How my links work
Here's how the changing text in my links section work:
It's all HTML with CSS. I use an inline style section rather than a separate page. Go ahead and view the source of my blog to see what I'm talking about and do a google search for a CSS reference or tutorial.
I came up with the changing text thing on my own back when I was learning CSS (on my own). I haven't done any CSS or Web development since creating my current blog template (oh, maybe a few modifications to the template every now and then). So I had to take a look at it to remind myself how it works.
There's a built-in hover class for link tag (the a tag). This is some kind of virtual class or something, like a:visited for links that are in the recent browser history. hover works by treating any link that the mouse is over as a hover class. It's really easy to use this to change the color (or any other property) of the link text. Changing the text itself is a bit trickier, but not much.
I made two new classes (you can do this with CSS) called on and off they are classes of the span tag within the a tag. This is where the magic is.
a span.off {color: #000;display: none;}
a:hover span.off {display: inline;}
a span.on {display:inline;}
a:hover span.on {display:none;}
Normally, the on object is displayed and the off object is not displayed, but the mouse pointer reverses this. With this code in the style section of the page, all that is needed is to invoke the proper classes within the links. My links look something like this (it's hard to get the blogger editor to display html tags properly - it's always trying to interpret them as actual tags. I added spaces around the <'s and >'s to prevent this.)
< class="block" href="URL" >< class="on">some text< / span >< class="off">some other text< / span >< / a >
This is just a few simple tags, a link with some span's in it. Without the CSS code above, both spans would display normally. With it, only one or the other will be displayed depending on whether the mouse is over the link or not.
The link's block class changes the link from an inline object to a block object with a specified width. This ensures that the mouse will be within the off class if it is within the on class and I don't have to worry about the length of the text. Otherwise, it would be possible for the off link to be shorter, and so the mouse may not be over the link when it is off though it is over the link when it is on. This would cause the state to switch very rapidly if the mouse were in the right position. You can see that on my page, there is a wide area past the text which also causes the link to change - this area is part of the link and you should be able to click on it to follow the link (though I wouldn't guarantee this in IE) .
here's a link for you to play with that uses the css code. Try to use it in comments... I don't know if it will work.
Gmail The best webmail available
In the blogger composer preview, this code does not work because it is not displayed with my template, so the CSS code isn't there. This reveals a flaw with my current setup. If, for some reason, the CSS isn't used, both spans will be displayed. I need to add a third class that is never displayed (in my system) which will act as a seperator if they are both displayed(without the CSS).
It's all HTML with CSS. I use an inline style section rather than a separate page. Go ahead and view the source of my blog to see what I'm talking about and do a google search for a CSS reference or tutorial.
I came up with the changing text thing on my own back when I was learning CSS (on my own). I haven't done any CSS or Web development since creating my current blog template (oh, maybe a few modifications to the template every now and then). So I had to take a look at it to remind myself how it works.
There's a built-in hover class for link tag (the a tag). This is some kind of virtual class or something, like a:visited for links that are in the recent browser history. hover works by treating any link that the mouse is over as a hover class. It's really easy to use this to change the color (or any other property) of the link text. Changing the text itself is a bit trickier, but not much.
I made two new classes (you can do this with CSS) called on and off they are classes of the span tag within the a tag. This is where the magic is.
a span.off {color: #000;display: none;}
a:hover span.off {display: inline;}
a span.on {display:inline;}
a:hover span.on {display:none;}
Normally, the on object is displayed and the off object is not displayed, but the mouse pointer reverses this. With this code in the style section of the page, all that is needed is to invoke the proper classes within the links. My links look something like this (it's hard to get the blogger editor to display html tags properly - it's always trying to interpret them as actual tags. I added spaces around the <'s and >'s to prevent this.)
< class="block" href="URL" >< class="on">some text< / span >< class="off">some other text< / span >< / a >
This is just a few simple tags, a link with some span's in it. Without the CSS code above, both spans would display normally. With it, only one or the other will be displayed depending on whether the mouse is over the link or not.
The link's block class changes the link from an inline object to a block object with a specified width. This ensures that the mouse will be within the off class if it is within the on class and I don't have to worry about the length of the text. Otherwise, it would be possible for the off link to be shorter, and so the mouse may not be over the link when it is off though it is over the link when it is on. This would cause the state to switch very rapidly if the mouse were in the right position. You can see that on my page, there is a wide area past the text which also causes the link to change - this area is part of the link and you should be able to click on it to follow the link (though I wouldn't guarantee this in IE) .
here's a link for you to play with that uses the css code. Try to use it in comments... I don't know if it will work.
Gmail The best webmail available
In the blogger composer preview, this code does not work because it is not displayed with my template, so the CSS code isn't there. This reveals a flaw with my current setup. If, for some reason, the CSS isn't used, both spans will be displayed. I need to add a third class that is never displayed (in my system) which will act as a seperator if they are both displayed(without the CSS).
Thursday, December 08, 2005
I'll never go back
All this talk about web applications and software as a service - with a monthly fee, all data stored online in a virtual drive accessible from anywhere. This all seems like some crazy Micro$oft-is-trying-to-get-all-my-money thing.
But one such application (if you can force it into this category) is gmail. gmail is awesome. I've never really liked the other online email programs, always preferring to have a real POP3 account from which I download and store all my email on my computer. But, probably, the main reason for this sentiment was all the ads on those email websites. And they kept getting more intrusive and annoying. It started with the flashing, and then the video and the hit the turkey to win a free laptop computer. And then, the most annoying of all, the advertisements started playing sounds. (A note to all web page/advertisement designers: unrequested sound from a web page is very, very annoying. You must not assume that your page will be the only page a user is viewing at any given time, or that they are devoting their entire attention to the web browser. They may be trying to listen to some music, watch a movie, write a paper for school, or any number of things while your page is loading in the background. And when you page starts to make noise, while in the background, the response is not "Ooh, where is that awesome sound coming from", but rather, "where is that annoying racket coming from". And then they find the webpage that is causing the disturbance and promptly get rid of it. No more sound, no more page. They may not have paid any attention to your ad anyway, but now they will definitely not patronize it. That's one definite "not a sale". Or if it wasn't from an ad, one false hit for your hit counter. So don't put any automatic sounds on your page because people close pages for that junk). So I didn't like the web based email. Gmail changed all that. They have ads, but they're not invasive like all the others. And they give you a ton of storage. And they have some really cool search features that email browsing applications don't have. And the thread view is very cool. It may confuse my dad when I send him and email of which the entire message body is composed of one word ("Probably"), but when I email my brother (who uses gmail), with simply the word "Yeah", or something like that, he knows exactly what I'm talking about - because of the thread view. And I don't ever quote the original message in a reply because it's already there in the thread view. It's so cool.
Well, I'm never switching back - I can tell you that. I'm sorry if this sounded like an infomercial. I just think that it's so cool.
But one such application (if you can force it into this category) is gmail. gmail is awesome. I've never really liked the other online email programs, always preferring to have a real POP3 account from which I download and store all my email on my computer. But, probably, the main reason for this sentiment was all the ads on those email websites. And they kept getting more intrusive and annoying. It started with the flashing, and then the video and the hit the turkey to win a free laptop computer. And then, the most annoying of all, the advertisements started playing sounds. (A note to all web page/advertisement designers: unrequested sound from a web page is very, very annoying. You must not assume that your page will be the only page a user is viewing at any given time, or that they are devoting their entire attention to the web browser. They may be trying to listen to some music, watch a movie, write a paper for school, or any number of things while your page is loading in the background. And when you page starts to make noise, while in the background, the response is not "Ooh, where is that awesome sound coming from", but rather, "where is that annoying racket coming from". And then they find the webpage that is causing the disturbance and promptly get rid of it. No more sound, no more page. They may not have paid any attention to your ad anyway, but now they will definitely not patronize it. That's one definite "not a sale". Or if it wasn't from an ad, one false hit for your hit counter. So don't put any automatic sounds on your page because people close pages for that junk). So I didn't like the web based email. Gmail changed all that. They have ads, but they're not invasive like all the others. And they give you a ton of storage. And they have some really cool search features that email browsing applications don't have. And the thread view is very cool. It may confuse my dad when I send him and email of which the entire message body is composed of one word ("Probably"), but when I email my brother (who uses gmail), with simply the word "Yeah", or something like that, he knows exactly what I'm talking about - because of the thread view. And I don't ever quote the original message in a reply because it's already there in the thread view. It's so cool.
Well, I'm never switching back - I can tell you that. I'm sorry if this sounded like an infomercial. I just think that it's so cool.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
A Wizard of Earthsea
When I was a kid, in junior high or so, I read a book entitled A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. To this day, I regard it as one of the best books I have ever read (along with the others in the Earthsea series). It is certainly my favorite book in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. I've read it two or three times over the years.
Unfortunately, the Sci-Fi channel has produced an Earthsea movie based on the Le Guin book(s?). I have not seen the movie yet, but from what I have seen of it, it looks like total garbage. I am going to watch it - against my better judgment - just so that I know exactly how badly they messed up this great story.
I suggest that, if you haven't seen it, you avoid it at all costs. And whether you've seen the movie or not, I suggest that you read the book, even if you're not really into fantasy. There's a new printing available - because of the movie I guess - it's got some artwork from the movie on the cover (just ignore that junk).
I'm going to see if I can get it on audio book for traveling.
Unfortunately, the Sci-Fi channel has produced an Earthsea movie based on the Le Guin book(s?). I have not seen the movie yet, but from what I have seen of it, it looks like total garbage. I am going to watch it - against my better judgment - just so that I know exactly how badly they messed up this great story.
I suggest that, if you haven't seen it, you avoid it at all costs. And whether you've seen the movie or not, I suggest that you read the book, even if you're not really into fantasy. There's a new printing available - because of the movie I guess - it's got some artwork from the movie on the cover (just ignore that junk).
I'm going to see if I can get it on audio book for traveling.