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Jun 11, 2008 • In Thursday Geek-isms

Hump Day Hook-Ups

Good afternoon, world! The heatwave has passed and it’s a gorgeous day here in NY!

The weather finally came to a showdown last night with spectacular thunderstorms and wind gusts up to 70mph. There was a moment when our electricity died for a split second…during game 3 of the NBA Finals! It took a few minutes for our receiver to restart and I nearly had a
nervous breakdown waiting for the television to come back on. Enough rambling. Here are my favorite stories of the past week:

First Look: Human Egg Emerging from Ovary, Popgadget. Wow! I, like the writer, always thought the egg bursts out of the ovary. Instead, it OOZES from a protrusion that grows during ovulation. Disgusting, but so fascinating at the same time.

Apple Introduces iPhone 3G Videoconferencing Kit, ZOMG! Gizmodo. Here’s a great parody ad for those who are still lamenting the lack of a front camera on the new iPhone.

iPhone SDK Agreement Forbids Real-Time Route Guidance, Dancing, Rock’n’Roll, Engadget GPS without real-time route guidance? What will happen to the TomTom iPhone application?

When Dogs and Robots Collide, Somebody Needs a Talking To, WSJ. I’ve written about how much I love my Roomba. I’m also an avid animal lover and I plan on getting a dog as soon as our schedule becomes less hectic. This article is pretty hilarious and is a must-read for any technology-savvy
pet owners.

9 Reasons Why Trains are Better Than Planes, Consumerist. I’ve been saying this ever since I took my first train trip more than a decade ago. I may not be able to afford some of the better accommodations, but yes, trains really are a lot more comfortable and less of a hassle than planes. (Planes also fail to offer hot dog and beer combos, like trains.)

Take a Stroll Down Computing Memory Lane, Neatorama. This made me smile, giggle, and reminisce. I had almost forgotten about Prodigy! And I love how they included CompUSA on the list…classic!

For English Studies, Koreans Say Goodbye to Dad, NYTimes. My parents know a lot of families in this situation. In fact, my uncle’s family was like this…my aunt lived in Toronto with their two kids until they both entered college. But New Zealand? I didn’t know there were even Asians in the land of Hobbits!

The Free Money Experiment: Most People Decline Free Money! Neatorama. A thought-provoking experiment. Anyone in sales, advertising, or marketing should read this…it really makes you question how the human psyche works.

Orphaned Baby Polar Bear “Talks” to His Zookeeper, Jezebel. This video is adorable. I love when Animal Planet features baby animals! It really does seem like the bear is talking. Oh great, now I want a baby polar bear.

Get Your Seat off the Met Steps, Gothamist. Noooooo! Sitting on the Met steps while having street vendor food is a classic NYC experience that can’t be missed! How many times have I sat there, people watching, sketching, writing, or eating? I saw Pierce Brosnan filming The Thomas Crown Affair while sitting on those steps. J and I shot our engagement pictures at the Met, and we ran into a shooting of Gossip Girl (yes, the picture in this article is from that day). How will I and the rest of NY survive for a full year without these steps?

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Jun 11, 2008 • In Geek, Toys

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My Clan at Work

A shot of my toys at the office:

From left to right: Spud Trooper, Artoo-Potatoo (with a hologram version Princess Tater by his side), and Darth Tater.

Notice the gray rock on the bottom left. This stress toy is one of the gifts my company gives out at conferences.

It is a rock that says “CS Rocks!” (Get it?)

It’s surprisingly one of our most popular items. I gave a bunch to J and supposedly they’re very popular at his office too.

Back to the Potatoheads.

I’m thinking of adding two more to my collection.

The first is Optimash Prime:

The second? Taters of the Lost Ark:

The latter one plays the theme from Indiana Jones when you press on his fedora.

What do you think? Would they make nice additions to my little collection?

Relationship Advice

I read this on Dooce today and I just had to share.

In a guest post by Sarah Brown (of Que Sera Sera) titled The Three Best Bits of Relationship Advice I’ve Ever Been Given, advice #2 states:

2. From Maggie Mason: “When I was single, I decided I wouldn’t marry a man unless I could be proud if we had a son who turned out exactly like him.”

This can apply to men as well – don’t marry a woman unless you could
be proud of you had a daughter who turned out just like her.

How true.

My Disappointment with WWDC 2008

New York is in the midst of a heat wave.

How did the temperature go from 60 to 90 overnight? Where was spring?

With record-breaking temperatures comes mass transportation delays, school closings, and the delightful eau-de-NYC-summer.

But my mind was on other things yesterday.

Actually, the minds of many geeks and Apple fanboys were all on one specific event from the hours of 10am-1pm PST: the WWDC keynote address.

The major announcements:

Mac OS X 10.6 is called “Snow Leopard” and will be more evolutionary than revolutionary, as predicted.
.Mac will switch over to .Me (again, as predicted) and will host mobileme, an “Exchange for the rest of us.”
The second generation of the iPhone will be released on July 11, with the iPhone 2.0 software available then as well. The new iPhone will be faster (3G) and much cheaper, at $199 for 8GB and $299 for 16GB (wonder how those who paid $600 for the thing are feeling now?)
More iPhone stuff.
Much more iPhone stuff.

To be completely honest, I was pretty disappointed. I had expected more, perhaps a “One more thing” item that makes so many of Steve Jobs’ keynotes so exhilarating.

I think my friend Brian put it best when he told me,

i remember apple used to be great because he would announce like a new ipod, a new laptop, a new desktop, a new piece of software, a new operating system, the cure for cancer

AND some new gadget we’d never heard of… all in one keynote

now it’s just like “oh hi here’s three hours of iphone”

The new features of the iPhone 2.0 aren’t even good enough for me to want to switch over. 3G? Go to Asia, where they’re already using 4G (and working on 5G). A bunch of new apps and games? Fun, but nothing special. GPS? Yeah, my current phone already has that…and it talks to me while giving directions.

Apple is also touting push email as a major new feature. However, it’s not purely push…it’s more like a workaround, with a server working as a middleman. What happens when that server goes down?

Then there’s the new design. I liked the boxy look of the original iPhone. I liked the aluminum back. Why did they decide to add those curves and change the back to plastic? (Supposedly the plastic back provides better call quality…eh.) The whole thing looks pretty girly and looks more like a toy than a high-tech gadget.

That being said…

You have to admit that Steve Jobs is a great speaker. That man always has his audience wrapped around his little finger. Michael Arrington at TechCrunch writes,

I’ve been to enough Steve Jobs keynotes now to know that the man is able to take a crowd and bend it to his will. Every time, I’ve been a willing subject – sometimes (but not every time) to find myself in a hangover-like state a day later when I try to remember exactly why I thought that whatever he was pitching would change my life forever.

You can watch yesterday’s keynote here. If you have time, you should search for past WWDC and Macworld keynotes as well – he truly is mesmerizing.

I may not love the iPhone, but I’m still a Machead (and a Steve Jobs fan).

Hump Day Hook-Ups

Between suffering from a cold (in June!), working on a new website (to be unveiled soon), and checking out Plurk (check me out here), yours truly has been tremendously busy in the past week. But here they are – my favorite web items of the week!

Battle of the best: Which prevails – Lakers’ offense or Celtics’ defense? ESPN. I called it three months ago – LA and Boston to the finals. Game 1 tomorrow night! Go Celts!!! According to this article, history slightly favors the defense….what do you think?

America’s Top 20 Time-Draining Airports, Consumerist. Numbers 2, 3, and 4 are the three major NY airports. And yes, whenever I fly into Chicago or have a layover there I run into delays. And you wonder why I hate flying. Where does your local airport rank?

Prom Night for the Privileged, Gothamist. The top 6 private high schools in NYC are having a joint prom at the Waldorf Starlight Room. The after party is so exclusive that half the seniors are on a waiting list. Oh, the pitfalls of being rich…

Five Secret Japanese Secrets to Make Life Better, Lifehacker. Pretty neat stuff, if I do say so myself. I need to try the salt-on-egg trick the next time I make a mess in the kitchen.

GraphicLeftovers Monetizes Unwanted Designs, Mashable. I have a confession to make. Sometimes, if I’m too lazy to start an illustration from scratch, I buy a simple design from iStockPhoto and start from there. GraphicLeftovers seems more specific to my needs, and I may even participate as a designer later down the road!

Japanese Game Show “Hole in the Wall” Coming to America, Neatorama. Have you seen clips of this show on YouTube? (If you haven’t, search for “Japanese Human Tetris”) It’s hilarious! Now, the US version will most likely be nowhere as funny as the original, but I’m still forward to its release.

Me.com Could Be Apple’s Rebranded .Mac Site, Gizmodo. I personally don’t use .Mac myself but I’m intrigued to how the improved version will work.

Richer than Rockefeller: Putting Wealth in Perspective, Getting Rich Slowly. I loved reading this – you will too.

Problems at the Gates? RFID-Enabled Tix to Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies to Include Passport Data, Wired Gadget Lab. Big Brother’s watching you!

Geek Gang Signs, Neatorama. Giggle, giggle, snort snort! Love it!

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Jun 4, 2008 • In Geek

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Mac OS X 10.6 on the Way?

Every Apple fan has two events to look forward to every year: Macworld in January, and WWDC in June.

Very often at these conferences, the keynote will be delivered by none other than Steve Jobs himself, announcing drool-worthy products and upgrades. Even those who are not in the industry travel from across the world to attend these events, just for a chance to be present at the world release of the next “it” product, to mingle with fellow MacHeads, and revel in the presence of some of the greatest minds in the world of Apple.

Yes, attending a Macworld (and sitting in on a Steve Jobs keynote) is on my list of things to do before I die.

This Joy of Tech from 2001 illustrates the fervor magnificently:

With this year’s WWDC coming up just next week, there has obviously been a lot of speculation about what Steve will reveal during his keynote. Will it be the 3G iPhone? An update to the MacBook/MacBook Pro lines?

The latest rumor is that Apple will debut the latest build of its operating system, Mac OS X 10.6. TUAW predicts that “10.6 will not include any new significant features from 10.5; instead, Apple is focusing solely on ‘stability and security’.”

If this report holds true, I welcome the news with open arms.

I personally think it’s a great strategy.

My first Mac, a PowerBook G4, ran 10.3 (nicknamed “Panther”) and I actually waited in line at the local Apple store for the release of 10.4 Tiger. I’ve since gotten two new Macs – an iMac and a MacBook Pro – and faithfully upgraded to 10.5 Leopard in the process.

As much as I love my Macs, I have to say that the latest versions of Mac OS X haven’t been as stable as my original 10.3 Panther. Was it the transition from PowerPC to Intel? Was it the addition of new features such as Dashboard, Stacks, and Spaces?

Mac OS X is still far superior to Windows XP or Vista. However, the occasional bugs make me long for the days of my PowerPC 10.3 which stayed true and loyal and STABLE.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed until next week…

How I Met Him

I have been married for a a month and a half now, and realized I’ve never written about how I met my husband.

J and I attended the same university. He was quite the ladies’ man in his college years, so he had already established a reputation by the time I entered school. In fact, I had heard about him before ever meeting him in person.

Our first time meeting face to face was at a party during my freshmen year (he was a senior). He tried to hit on me, and I ran away.

Of course, he swears he doesn’t recall this incident at all.

Fast forward a few years. I had taken a couple of years off and just returned to school. J had decided to stick around in Baltimore after school, and so still hung out with a lot of undergraduates. Since we had many mutual friends, we began to run into each other more and more.

He admits that he was always attracted to me, and in hindsight I should’ve seen it. He would stalk me online, and always nag me to come and hang out.

He even proposed to me (jokingly) multiple times during the course of our friendship.

At first I was a bit annoyed and put off by his forward nature, but soon I discovered that we actually had a lot in common and we became good friends.

Months into our friendship, J started seeing a girl who was considered by many to be one of the most attractive people in our wide group of friends. “What does she see in you? You’re such a dork,” I chided him.

Then I discovered that many girls, in fact, liked him. I again racked my brains. I thought to myself that he was a charmer and a natural flirt – could that be the reason?

More time passed. Then, one night, we were watching a movie together at my place when he made the first move.

Perhaps the other girls had planted a “what if?” seed in my mind. Perhaps it was the sake we had drank with dinner that night. Whatever the reason, I found myself not pulling away. In fact, it felt very…natural.

Three and a half years later, he proposed (again). This time, he was serious.

My Home…It’s Getting There

After having lived off cheap Ikea furniture for the majority of my twenty-something years, I vowed to furnish my new condo with good-quality, “adult” furniture.

Yeah, that didn’t happen.

Because after the damn wedding, we really couldn’t afford anything other than Ikea furniture.

We (well, it’s mostly me doing all the work while J stays hooked on the XBox) are still working on the two bedrooms, but I’m happy to say that the living room, kitchen, and the master closet are finally done!

What you see as soon as you walk through the door:

I’m not thrilled with the curtains…I just bought whatever I could find that was on sale, because we needed window coverings. I’ll probably end up making my own with my mother (the amazing seamstress) out of the fabric when I have more time.

More of the living room:

The sides of the coffee table pull out to reveal hidden drawers (I *heart* hidden drawers!). Next project: adding some colorful cushions to the couch.

Our big splurge: the 52″ LCD television. At first I was worried it was too big (that’s what she said) but it’s starting to grow on me (that’s what she said!). The tall cabinet to the left of the TV houses half of my DVD collection (I had 300+ the last time I counted…and that was in 2003). And there’s my darling Rooma on the right!

The HUGE bookcase, complete with sliding doors! Yes, I need the little stepping stool on the left to reach the top shelves because I’m so short. And yes, I know I have a lot of books…but these aren’t even half of my collection – there’s more in my parents’ house! What can I say? I’m a total bookworm.

Right next to the living room is the kitchen (the sixth chair is currently residing in the bedroom as a makeshift desk chair). I’m still not in love with the cabinets or the granite, so we’ll probably gut and redo the whole thing next year. The doors are, from left to right, the boiler room, laundry nook, and pantry.

With the lack of counter and cabinet space, we bought a sideboard to keep extra dishes and kitchen appliances. I like how the video intercom matches in with the small appliances!

Did you notice this little beauty in the last picture? It’s my rice storage cabinet! As soon as I finished setting it up (and poured a large bag of rice into it) I declared, “Now it feels like home!”

The pantry! This was just a regular closet with a clothes rail and shelf on top. We trekked down to Home Depot this past weekend and proceeded to build the shelves. I’m soooo happy we have an organized kitchen now…

The master closet. If we had the money, I would’ve went with the California Closet Company (can you tell I’m an organization nazi?). We didn’t, so we made do with the closet system from Ikea. Let me tell you, these were a MAJOR pain in the arse to build – it was very heavy and the almost-9′ height made for a lot of sweating and swearing. But I’m happy with the end result. I have an L-shaped space for my clothes, and we have drawers aplenty for the both of us.

That’s it for now. I feel so…domesticated.

My Wedding, In Retrospect

I first starting blogging in 2001 and have had several blogs since then. (Although Geek in Heels is only 3 months old I’ve transferred some of my favorite posts from those blogs to the archives.) When I got engaged I naturally started a wedding planning blog and was delighted to be accepted as a blogger on one of the largest and best-known wedding blogs in the U.S. – Weddingbee.

Due to its immense popularity, I sometimes get recognized on the streets. Once in a while, I meet new people and they exclaim, “I know you – you’re on Weddingbee!”

Thus, I think it would be safe to say that my internet identity is mostly tied in with my wedding, which occurred 1.5 months ago.

I personally find this pretty amusing, especially since the wedding did not wholly represent my tastes and personality.

When I mentioned this topic to a friend, she protested, “But why? Your wedding was so beautiful and everyone had such a great time. It was a fairtytale wedding!”

I do not dispute this statement – it really did seem like a fairytale wedding, complete with a tiara on my head.

However, I have to admit that in real life I’m a lot more, for a lack of a better word, ghetto.

If I weren’t so hell-bent on trying to please the ‘rents, if I had the time (and money), if I could do it all over again…it would’ve been completely different.

A NY loft. No or very little flowers – I don’t care for them much anyway. I would’ve found creative ways to incorporate all the little things that I treasure in life: computers, gadgets, art, food, and beer. Maybe a Wii station in one corner. Karaoke in another? BBQ – a must. And I would’ve worn a dress comfortable enough to bust out my amazing DDR moves.

It doesn’t sound like a wedding much, does it? Well, it would’ve been one heck of a party nonetheless.

But the day has come and gone, and although it didn’t represent the true Geek in Heels, I was happy about it. I was happier still to see that our guests had fun, which, I believe, is essential to any sort of celebration.

Why the sudden wedding-related post? Because tonight, I will be reliving the memories. J and I are being interviewed for a new (small) television show which showcases weddings and wedding-planning tips.

I’ve never been on TV before, and I’m pretty camera shy. However, I think this will be a memorable experience so I’m pretty excited.

If you want to see me on TV and live in the NY/NJ area (and have cable) let me know and I’ll tell you when it will air.

Wish me luck tonight!

Hump Day Hook-Ups

I’m sorry about the lack of updates. This past weekend I took a trip to the unknown wilderness known as the Pennsylvania Poconos (with…*gasp* no internet access!) for a mini-reunion with some old friends. I returned Monday feeling absolutely shiesty…and I’ve been bed-ridden ever since. But alas, here they are, my favorite articles for the past week:

Guitar Hero World Tour Debuted, Engadget. The full-band version of Guitar Hero looks a lot like Rock Star, but I’m crossing my fingers that Activision put a bit more finesse to it. The best part of this intro video has to be the people involved: Paul Abdul judges, while Tony Hawk and Brody Jenner play the two guitar parts.

Discovery Channel Slideshow of a Young Gates, Jobs, Woz, End User. Pretty cool if you’re into computing history like me (and actually liked the TNT movie Pirates of Silicon Valley).

Mashed Frontier Airline Safety Rules, Boing Boing. I actually LOLed while going through this list.

Nokia E71 Review, Boy Genius Report. I still have a fondness for Nokia phones…after all, who can forget the 3200 and 6100 series, the first cellular phone for many people of my generation? BGR declares the E71 “the best phone Nokia has made to date.” Go read the review and drool over the pictures and specs as I have.

Starting Salaries but New York Tastes, NYTimes. An homage to the young generation of New Yorkers whose salaries are below the six-figure mark. Yep, I too can be living the high life if I didn’t live in the NYC region.

The Original Indiana Jones, Neatorama. Have you seen the new Indy flick yet? It’s entertaining, but not too great. Now read about the inspiration for the character – a Nazi archaeologist!

Apple Receives 188 Mysterious Cargo Containers: 3G iPhones, New MacBooks or the Finest Colombian Snow? Gizmodo. I’m pretty sure they’re the new iPhones, to be debuted at WWDC. What do you think?

MacHEADS: The Movie Interview, Gizmodo. I’m definitely going to watch this movie. It reminds me of my favorite coffee table book, The Cult of Mac, which I purchased shortly after buying my first Apple computer.
The Secret History of Star Wars, Slashdot. I actually downloaded this book in PDF format and started reading it. Some of it was not surprising; after all, I had written a 20-page paper on Star Wars and the impact it had on American culture. Nonetheless, it’s a must-read for any Star Wars fans.

He Took a Polaroid Every Day, Until the Day He Died, Mental Floss Blog. I was reminded of Project 365, which I started a few years ago and eventually stopped. Some of the photos are a bit eerie and creepy, but still interesting and captivating.

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Hump Day Hook-Ups

My Clan at Work

You may also like:

Relationship Advice

You may also like:

My Disappointment with WWDC 2008

You may also like:

Hump Day Hook-Ups

Mac OS X 10.6 on the Way?

You may also like:

How I Met Him

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My Home…It’s Getting There

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My Wedding, In Retrospect

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Hump Day Hook-Ups

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