(Note: Yes, I did get a haircut today.)
Showing posts with label new toys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new toys. Show all posts
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Saturday Is Fryday
First, off, no, I'm not going to subject anyone to anything Rebecca Black-related - though I have to admit that she and her horrible, horrible song have managed to bore a hole into my consciousness and have taken up residence there - as the title of this post relates to Philip J. Fry of Futurama.
(And if you don't know who/what Rebecca Black is, consider yourself fortunate...though really, it's only a matter of time. She is inevitable.)
I'm specifically thinking of the iPhone parody episode in which Fry, when having the limitations of the "eyephone" explained to him, tells the store employee, "Shut up and take my money!"
I've been feeling like saying that a lot lately, as it seems that most of the stores I go to have no interest in taking my money, in that they're unwilling to sell things that I want to buy.
Target, is of course, the worst, as they will initially sell something - specifically diabetic-friendly products - I'll buy it, like it, resolve to buy it again, and then go back only to find that they've discontinued it.
(It happens with a lot of things, but the sugar-free and otherwise diabetic-friendly products seem to be the most egregious examples, to the point that I actually kind of feel as though I'm being discriminated against. Not in a "The Universe is out to get me" sort of way, but as in, "Target has no interest in marketing products to diabetics.. Take your filthy, insulin-resistant money elsewhere.")
It's also been happening a lot at Best Buy, as I go there pretty regularly and walk out empty-handed because there's nothing there that I have any particular interest in buying. It's annoying, because there are a lot of things that they could be selling that I would buy, but they just don't.
For example, I've been kind of going back and forth about buying an Asus Eee Slate - a Windows-based tablet computer - to replace my current laptop. It's kind of a compelling product; thin and light, with all the functionality of a full-fledged laptop, with the added advantage that the touch screen is made by Wacom, the company that makes the Cintiq, so I would be able to enjoy the same functionality for drawing on the go - or at least in my living room - as I have at my desktop.
The problem is that most of the online retailers selling it don't seem to have it in stock, and very few brick-and-mortar retailers are selling it.
Best Buy, for example. At least, Best Buy in America; Best Buy Canada carries it.
While I've been going back and forth about placing an order from an online retailer - sometimes I think "I'm going to do it!" then decide "Well, maybe I'll wait and see." - and just waiting for it to, eventually, be restocked and shipped, if I could walk into a physical store and pick one up, I would do so without hesitation. Best Buy America: Y U No Want My Money?
Earlier today, while my main system was tied up doing something, I got online on Munin and, for the hell of it, decided to see if Micro Center was one of the retailers selling the Eee Slate.
Turns out that they are, and the one in Fairfax had it in stock.
So I got in the car, made the drive to Fairfax, found the display model, played around with it and was pleased to discover that it was even lighter and thinner than I'd expected - I've seen the specs, but that's not the same as actually handling the thing - and looked around for someone who was willing to take my money.
(It's a truism that the employees who are constantly harassing you with their offers of assistance when you're just looking are never around when you actually do need assistance.)
Finally, someone became available and I told him that I wanted him to take my money. He went to a computer to do a check to see if they had any in stock.
They didn't. In fact, they had only received the one that was on display, which wasn't actually for sale.
...
So, yeah. They got a single Eee Slate for display purposes only, just so that they could say, "Hey, look at this cool thing that we're not going to sell you!"
On the plus side, as I wandered around the store dejectedly after that, I did get a chance to see what my new computer is going to look like, as they sell the case that I selected - presumably they have more than one in stock - so it was kind of like a sneak preview. (Note: That thing is huge.)
On my way out of the store I saw this magazine that someone had apparently brought up to the register and then decided not to to buy. It was a magazine about digital art - specifically science fiction and fantasy art - and had a special focus on comic books. The cover story was a feature on Adam Hughes - the magazine caught my eye because it featured a picture of Catwoman done by AH! on the cover -engaging in a step-by-step demonstration of his artistic process.
Finally, something to spend money on!
(The magazine was an import, so it was surprisingly pricey.)
Of course, because they hadn't annoyed me enough by only having a display model Eee Slate in stock, causing me to (mostly) waste my time by driving there, they had to pull that Radio Shack nonsense of asking for my name (since I was paying with cash).
When asked for my name, I angrily responded, "What for? Why do you need my name in order to sell me a magazine and a Diet Pepsi?" but when the guy looked at me helplessly, I went with "John Smith."
However, I should have have said, "Last name Take My Money, first name Shut Up And."
****
Earlier in the day I managed to spend a little money at Staples. I've been looking to pick up this new 1080p webcam from Microsoft that I've been seeing around because...well, I'm not sure about the because. I don't have that much use for a webcam. I guess I've been looking to get it because it's shiny. Of course, the first time I saw it, and decided against buying it, it was $30 cheaper than what it was each subsequent time I looked at it.
On sale for $25 off at Staples? Check.
Jon decided to buy it? Check.
On sale for $30 off at Best Buy? Check.
Jon too lazy to return it to Staples/do a competitive price guarantee thing? Check.
*****
A Conversation With Myself
Me: We should do the laundry today when we get home rather than doing it tomorrow.
Also Me: Why?
Me: I don't know. Just to shake up the routine a little, I guess. Besides, it'll be one less thing we'll have to do tomorrow.
Also Me: Yes, but it will be one more thing we have to do today.
Me: Good point.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Cleaning (Virtual) House
So I've been trying to pay some attention to this blog, or rather, I've been meaning to try to pay some attention to this blog, but it just hasn't been happening.
Why?
Well, I could say it's because I've been so busy that I - but I can't even finish that sentence with a straight face, and you know the truth - or lack thereof - of such a statement as well as I do.
Mainly I haven't been paying much attention to this blog just because I haven't been paying much attention to this blog.
It's pretty much that simple.
Still, here a few updates to kind of "clean house" and tell myself that I've paid sufficient attention to this blog for the time being.
First up, I bought a new TV:
It's a 55" Samsung LED, and is only 1.2" thick.
The thing is awesome.
In addition to having an amazing picture, it's got all kinds of gee-whiz features, like Internet-enabled widgets that let me watch YouTube videos directly on it, and it has a USB port that I can use to connect a drive to it in order to play music, videos, and pictures, and I can even - in theory; haven't gotten it to work yet - stream them from one of the computers on my network.
I haven't used those features that much, though, as that's kind of the point of the home theater PC I just bought a few weeks ago.
*****
Besides major electronics, I've also been spending a lot of money on food lately, though I'm actually eating much less than what I used to eat. Eating healthy is expensive (and time-consuming). And of course I'm probably not eating enough, so my body is going into starvation mode and storing everything as fat and throwing my blood sugar out of whack - sometimes I'm convinced that my body has found a way to turn air into sugar - so I haven't been losing as much weight as I would like and my sugar levels are wildly inconsistent.
On the other hand, now that the snow is gone, I've been doing some walking and have found that it has a major positive (or negative, depending on how you look at it, since the numbers go down) impact on my sugar.
I've even started taking the stairs at work, which has been much more painful and exhausting than it really ought to be.
*****
Within the next couple of weeks I plan to introduce a newregular feature here at Threshold, one which I hope everyone will find entertaining and enlightening.
*****
And that's it for now.
Why?
Well, I could say it's because I've been so busy that I - but I can't even finish that sentence with a straight face, and you know the truth - or lack thereof - of such a statement as well as I do.
Mainly I haven't been paying much attention to this blog just because I haven't been paying much attention to this blog.
It's pretty much that simple.
Still, here a few updates to kind of "clean house" and tell myself that I've paid sufficient attention to this blog for the time being.
First up, I bought a new TV:
It's a 55" Samsung LED, and is only 1.2" thick.
The thing is awesome.
In addition to having an amazing picture, it's got all kinds of gee-whiz features, like Internet-enabled widgets that let me watch YouTube videos directly on it, and it has a USB port that I can use to connect a drive to it in order to play music, videos, and pictures, and I can even - in theory; haven't gotten it to work yet - stream them from one of the computers on my network.
I haven't used those features that much, though, as that's kind of the point of the home theater PC I just bought a few weeks ago.
*****
Besides major electronics, I've also been spending a lot of money on food lately, though I'm actually eating much less than what I used to eat. Eating healthy is expensive (and time-consuming). And of course I'm probably not eating enough, so my body is going into starvation mode and storing everything as fat and throwing my blood sugar out of whack - sometimes I'm convinced that my body has found a way to turn air into sugar - so I haven't been losing as much weight as I would like and my sugar levels are wildly inconsistent.
On the other hand, now that the snow is gone, I've been doing some walking and have found that it has a major positive (or negative, depending on how you look at it, since the numbers go down) impact on my sugar.
I've even started taking the stairs at work, which has been much more painful and exhausting than it really ought to be.
*****
Within the next couple of weeks I plan to introduce a newregular feature here at Threshold, one which I hope everyone will find entertaining and enlightening.
*****
And that's it for now.
Monday, March 08, 2010
The Law Of Unintended Consequences
Yes, I know: I've been neglecting the hell out of this blog.
But look: pictures of my newest toys!
The Asus Eee Box EB 1012. The thing is tiny - and cute - and is now my dedicated home theater PC, which means I don't have to keep going through the rigmarole of hooking up the laptop on movie night, or relying on my old media extender (which worked fine, for most things, but didn't support a lot of file formats) to play videos on the TV.
The Logitech DiNovo Mini keyboard, which lets me control the Eee Box from the comfort of my recliner.
And the new stand I bought that matches my furniture a little better than the old one.
So far the Eee Box has been working pretty well, though there have been some weird issues with sound. Audio from music and video files is fine, but it doesn't play any Windows system sounds, except for the initial Windows login sound and the Media Center launch sound, though with those it doesn't play the whole thing, just the tail end. I'm not too concerned about it, though.
To optimize the streaming of videos over my network, I picked up some more powerline Ethernet adapters so that I could have a wired connection, which is faster than the wireless.
It also let me hook up my Blu-ray player to the network, so now I can do that "BD-Live" stuff if I want, and download firmware updates.
I had to buy two of the adapters - I couldn't find them sold separately - so I used the other one to hook my laptop's docking station into the wired network.
In the course of looking for an Ethernet cable for the docking station - at first I couldn't find one, but I realized that it was inconceivable that I didn't have an Ethernet cable lying around somewhere, and, in fact, I ended up finding two - I stumbled upon some speaker wire and the speakers from my old home theater system.
So I decided to finally get around to adding two speakers to my setup to take advantage of the 7.1 capabilities (for those who aren't A/V savvy, that means that I have 7 speakers + a sub-woofer).
That actually led me to discover some additional weirdness from the Eee Box: it thinks my rear surround speakers are my side surround speakers and vice versa.
Still, most of what I play on the Eee Box is just 2.1 stereo anyway, so, again, not too concerned.
While it tends to be fine once it starts going, the Eee Box was a bit sluggish at times, so I decided that I was going to bump up the RAM (it came with only 2 GB). Because it's 32-bit Windows 7, it's not able to actually utilize the 4 GB of RAM it can be upgraded to, so I considered just bumping it up to 3 GB, but then I decided to go with 4 on the 0ff-chance that I ever upgrade it to 64-bit Windows 7 (which I could; I still have an available license from that "family pack" I bought when 7 came out).
That was probably for the best, as Windows can recognize and use 3.5 GB, that leaves 3 GB available for the system after subtracting the .5 GB used by the graphics chip. If I'd only gone with 3 GB, I'd only have 2.5 GB of system memory.
Physically, the removal of the old and the installation of the new RAM was a breeze. In fact, it was probably the easiest I've ever encountered. While full-size desktops have more room, the space isn't always used efficiently, so there's always something in the way. Not so with the Eee Box, which has its RAM in its own little easily-accessible compartment.
However, once I booted it back up and checked the System Properties, it still said that I only had 2 GB. I made sure everything was seated correctly, and tried different configurations, but no joy.
So I did some Googling to confirm my suspicion that I had to do something in the BIOS. And that's when I ran face-first into the Law of Unintended Consequences.
The Eee Box has a great feature called "Fast Boot." Within seconds of turning it on, it's at the Windows login screen. The whole process from turning it on to being in Windows takes maybe 20 seconds (it can take more than a minute on my main system).
It does this bit of mojo by skipping over a lot of the superfluous steps of loading and checking the BIOS.
Unfortunately, one of those steps it skips is checking to see how much RAM is installed.
So, since it wasn't checking, it was booting up based on the assumption that there were 2 GB installed.
So I had to get into the BIOS and disable Fast Boot in order to force it to take stock of the change to the system.
It took me about a half an hour to manage to get into the BIOS, as it just kept hurtling headlong into booting the OS, totally ignoring my keystrokes. Ultimately I had to do this weird set of maneuvers that reminded me of trying to enter a cheat code into an old Nintendo system.
But at last I was successful, and the additional RAM has added considerable pep to the system.
So that's what's been occupying my time for the past few days.
On the blood sugar front, I seem to be doing pretty well. I hit a low of 76 on Friday, and so far since I cut back to 18 units of insulin rather than 24 the highest it's been is 105. It tends to hover just at or above 100. Hopefully that's a sign that I'll be able to get off the insulin entirely at some point.
In any case, I'll try to be less neglectful of this blog in the future.
But look: pictures of my newest toys!
The Asus Eee Box EB 1012. The thing is tiny - and cute - and is now my dedicated home theater PC, which means I don't have to keep going through the rigmarole of hooking up the laptop on movie night, or relying on my old media extender (which worked fine, for most things, but didn't support a lot of file formats) to play videos on the TV.
The Logitech DiNovo Mini keyboard, which lets me control the Eee Box from the comfort of my recliner.
And the new stand I bought that matches my furniture a little better than the old one.
So far the Eee Box has been working pretty well, though there have been some weird issues with sound. Audio from music and video files is fine, but it doesn't play any Windows system sounds, except for the initial Windows login sound and the Media Center launch sound, though with those it doesn't play the whole thing, just the tail end. I'm not too concerned about it, though.
To optimize the streaming of videos over my network, I picked up some more powerline Ethernet adapters so that I could have a wired connection, which is faster than the wireless.
It also let me hook up my Blu-ray player to the network, so now I can do that "BD-Live" stuff if I want, and download firmware updates.
I had to buy two of the adapters - I couldn't find them sold separately - so I used the other one to hook my laptop's docking station into the wired network.
In the course of looking for an Ethernet cable for the docking station - at first I couldn't find one, but I realized that it was inconceivable that I didn't have an Ethernet cable lying around somewhere, and, in fact, I ended up finding two - I stumbled upon some speaker wire and the speakers from my old home theater system.
So I decided to finally get around to adding two speakers to my setup to take advantage of the 7.1 capabilities (for those who aren't A/V savvy, that means that I have 7 speakers + a sub-woofer).
That actually led me to discover some additional weirdness from the Eee Box: it thinks my rear surround speakers are my side surround speakers and vice versa.
Still, most of what I play on the Eee Box is just 2.1 stereo anyway, so, again, not too concerned.
While it tends to be fine once it starts going, the Eee Box was a bit sluggish at times, so I decided that I was going to bump up the RAM (it came with only 2 GB). Because it's 32-bit Windows 7, it's not able to actually utilize the 4 GB of RAM it can be upgraded to, so I considered just bumping it up to 3 GB, but then I decided to go with 4 on the 0ff-chance that I ever upgrade it to 64-bit Windows 7 (which I could; I still have an available license from that "family pack" I bought when 7 came out).
That was probably for the best, as Windows can recognize and use 3.5 GB, that leaves 3 GB available for the system after subtracting the .5 GB used by the graphics chip. If I'd only gone with 3 GB, I'd only have 2.5 GB of system memory.
Physically, the removal of the old and the installation of the new RAM was a breeze. In fact, it was probably the easiest I've ever encountered. While full-size desktops have more room, the space isn't always used efficiently, so there's always something in the way. Not so with the Eee Box, which has its RAM in its own little easily-accessible compartment.
However, once I booted it back up and checked the System Properties, it still said that I only had 2 GB. I made sure everything was seated correctly, and tried different configurations, but no joy.
So I did some Googling to confirm my suspicion that I had to do something in the BIOS. And that's when I ran face-first into the Law of Unintended Consequences.
The Eee Box has a great feature called "Fast Boot." Within seconds of turning it on, it's at the Windows login screen. The whole process from turning it on to being in Windows takes maybe 20 seconds (it can take more than a minute on my main system).
It does this bit of mojo by skipping over a lot of the superfluous steps of loading and checking the BIOS.
Unfortunately, one of those steps it skips is checking to see how much RAM is installed.
So, since it wasn't checking, it was booting up based on the assumption that there were 2 GB installed.
So I had to get into the BIOS and disable Fast Boot in order to force it to take stock of the change to the system.
It took me about a half an hour to manage to get into the BIOS, as it just kept hurtling headlong into booting the OS, totally ignoring my keystrokes. Ultimately I had to do this weird set of maneuvers that reminded me of trying to enter a cheat code into an old Nintendo system.
But at last I was successful, and the additional RAM has added considerable pep to the system.
So that's what's been occupying my time for the past few days.
On the blood sugar front, I seem to be doing pretty well. I hit a low of 76 on Friday, and so far since I cut back to 18 units of insulin rather than 24 the highest it's been is 105. It tends to hover just at or above 100. Hopefully that's a sign that I'll be able to get off the insulin entirely at some point.
In any case, I'll try to be less neglectful of this blog in the future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
