dfjdejulio
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "dfjdejulio" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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12:50 pm
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nerd review: sodastream
We just got a new "sodastream" home soda maker.
In terms of its output, I like the thing. Trivial to make seltzer. We're already experimenting. The vanilla soda was great, and the cinnamon soda was interesting, but I really think I'll mostly drink seltzer.
The thing that's really impressing me is the design, though. There are safeguards that ensure you use just the right amount of pressure, that it doesn't explode when you remove the bottle, and that you know when you're done, but all that's used is physics. There's no electricity, no little lights, no meters to read, nothing like that.
So the way it basically works is there's this thing you screw the bottle into, and it's on a hinge. You have to open the hinge to put the bottle in, and then weight makes it close again. You press a button that opens the link between the CO2 tank and a hose that goes into the bottle. When the pressure gets to the right point... there's some kind of gasket or something that starts to release the pressure, and it farts (they call it buzzing, but the machine clearly farts). So you stop. But that's not enough for normal carbonation. For the default level of carbonation, you repeat that until it farts 3 times. They tell you in the book that it's okay to do it more or fewer times to adjust the desired level of carbonation.
As an aside, that part really reminds me of the homemade fermentation lock I made when I was making homebrew mead. I put balloons on the tops of 2-litre bottles. As CO2 was produced, they inflated, until it got to the point where they burped, quickly letting CO2 out without letting O2 in (unless there was a balloon failure, which happened a few times, especially early on). By varying the number of rubber bands I used to hold on the balloons, I altered the amount of carbonation that the resulting mead had.
So anyway then you're done, but you can't get the bottle out unless you move the hinge again. And as you do that, the pent-up pressure inside the bottle is released safely, in some back part internal to the machine, so when you unscrew the bottle there's no change in pressure and no explosion.
They managed to make it pretty foolproof just by using physical properties, physical design. It's neat.
Current Mood: enthused
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05:27 pm
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Facebook letting 3rd party advertisers use your data.
Facebook made a privacy policy change. Carol Fly notified me. The idea is to spread this information around.
I am doing it as a post outside of Facebook so that I can link to it from within Facebook, and other people can just hit the "share" button, which I found I'm not able to do with simple status updates. This should make it easier for people to get this information to their friends.
Here's the info I was given:
Thanks to Marc for the alert: IMPORTANT - To ALL FRIENDS. Please pass this around! Facebook has agreed to let third party advertisers use your posted pictures and profile. You can opt out of of this by doing the following: Settings >>> Privacy Settings >>> News Feed & Wall >>> Facebook Ads Choose "No one" from the drop down.
Current Mood: concerned
Tags: facebook privacy
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02:56 pm
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iPhone OS 3.0 first impressions.
Doesn't alter anything with regard to SMS tones -- the available options have not changed.
There is an option where, if an SMS message comes in and you completely ignore it, the alert for it will get repeated up to two more times. I do not recall if that option was there previously.
Tethering is definitely done via the bluetooth network sharing profile rather than by the serial port profile and emulating a modem. The device advertises this even if your provider does not provide tethering... at least when wifi is turned on. I have not tried to get this to work yet. I am wondering if it's a way to get bluetooth-only devices access to wifi hotspots, even with no GSM. Will experiment later.
The contacts app definitely did not get the ability to transmit your vCard via ObEx.
Definitely no file transfer profile, cannot browse device filesystem.
The SMS app definitely did get landscape mode.
The call log does display call duration now. Not on the list that shows all calls, but on the detail view of each call.
Computer-free podcast interaction has not improved.
A Bluetooth probe of the device reveals... let me summarize...
- Network Access Point
- Wireless iAP
- Remote Control Device
- Audio Source
- Phonebook
- IrMC Sync
- Handsfree Gateway
- PnP Information
The YouTube app does support sign-in now. And when you sign in the first time, it offers to merge your local bookmark list with your server-side bookmark list. Very good, I was a little concerned. It has new controls for "my videos" and for "subscriptions". This is good stuff here.
Stock-tracking app supports landscape. You end up getting more detail on one stock rather than your list.
Weather app does not support landscape.
Maps app does not support landscape.
Mail app does -- behavior is to increase font size rather than show more characters per line. Lines wrap at the same points.
Notes app supports landscape. Behavior is to keep font size constant and show more characters per line. Line wraps occur at different places.
Device-wide search is somewhat configurable. You can prioritize. The search interface does not support landscape.
More later, if I think of anything else. Or sooner, if anyone has specific questions.
Current Mood: inquisitive
Tags: iphone
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09:48 am
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"Peggle" microreview.
Laser Pachinko.
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05:17 pm
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"Ding!"
Current Mood: amused
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04:07 pm
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Are one-letter misspellings important?
Some folks argue that a one-letter misspelling is really not important, and people who get concerned about such misspellings are being anal dickheads.
Well.
Consider the following two sentences:
"I enjoy the laughter of children."
"I enjoy the slaughter of children."
It's only a one letter difference in one word, but boy howdy, sure does change the meaning, don't it?
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04:09 pm
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Neat, I still have rule-of-law!
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/spying/areyoulivinginaconstitutionfreezone.html
Neat, the constitution is still in effect in Pittsburgh and Austin, but both of those are fairly rare as far as major US cities go on this point. The closest city to Pittsburgh on that map that also still has the constitution is Louisville. Austin has San Antonio nearby, which is just barely still in the zone of law.
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01:39 pm
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Okay, class...
Here's the assignment. How does this (especially the sixth chapter) relate to this?
(I have both subjects on the brain recently, as I recently re-read the Lovecraft essay and a pile of Lovecraft and Poe stories, while listening to music that attempts to evoke the same aesthetic response that both of those authors do.)
Current Mood: all analytical and shit
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04:49 pm
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Unforeseen interactions.
So.
One news site bubbles an article from 2002 up to a list of popular articles based on automated site behavior sparked by user actions.
Another site takes action based on the appearance of an article that wasn't previously there, and burbles the news around a bit more.
It picks up steam.
Automated stock trading software takes action based on this "new" hot news item.
The result is... just read it:
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB122100794359017593.html
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02:09 pm
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Big Orange Kitty
The results are back. This is what he had:
http://www.cathealth.com/FSA.htm
Nothing we can do for the moment except hope that he didn't have the recurring kind.
So far all signs are that, apart from getting that to begin with, he was very lucky -- it was easy for the surgeons to remove the whole thing without radiation or chemo, and it didn't appear to have spread anywhere else.
Our fingers are crossed.
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11:06 am
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Help me brainstorm.
So, this Sunday is our thirteenth anniversary. Help me think about what to surprise Nora with!
So far, I'm thinking that some sort of horror theme fits, since it's the 13th. So I have ordered two albums by "The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets", a horror/Cthulhu-themed rock band that we both like somewhat. So that'll set the musical mood.
I'm thinking maybe I'll cook up a fondu with cauliflower to dip in it, and try to find a way to disguise the florettes as little brains.
Anyone have any other interesting ideas? Anyone know where to easily get dry ice on short notice in the Oakland/Squirrel Hill area of Pittsburgh?
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12:55 pm
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My Activision boycott is now over.
http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77842
The patch to permit use of GH3 guitars with Rock Band on the PS3 is finally being permitted to come out.
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06:35 pm
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Kitty is home safe.
For those who know what's been going on: our Big Orange Kitty is home safe from today's surgery.
The lump they took out of him baffled the surgeons, and they're sending it out for testing. However, it wasn't attached to anything, and it was pretty uniform, and x-rays didn't turn up any other strange masses anywhere else in him. We're cautiously optimistic.
He was apparently silent until I got home, and then he wandered around and complained a bit, and now he is resting on top of my shoes. I've got to follow him around with painkillers for a bit. I'll probably be around, but at any given moment I might be ignoring stuff to pay attention to the kitty.
Current Location: home
Current Mood: cautiously optimistic
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02:54 pm
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Rock Band 2
So, "Rock Band 2" has been announced. The XBox 360 version will come out in September, with versions for other consoles following later.
Normally, this would piss me off. But, the news came with a few tidbits that instead make me excited.
The biggie?
All downloadable content for "Rock Band" will also work with "Rock Band 2".
And, actually, that's an understatement. All downloadable content for RB2 will also work with RB. They're not thinking of it as a distinct platform, and they spent time working with Microsoft and Sony to come up with a way to be the first game to offer cross-title downloadable content.
So, if you never buy RB2, you will still get a continuous stream of content that'll work with RB1. And if you do buy RB2, for enhanced online and party modes for example, your song library will go along with you as you upgrade.
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11:28 am
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Wii Fit
It didn't kill me.
It told me my weight with great precision (10th of a pound). Better than I feared, worse than I hoped.
Weighed myself yesterday, and did once balance exercise yesterday. Weighed myself today, and did one balance exercise and one aerobic exercise. My cardiovascular system could tell I'd done something. And it hasn't killed me.
Let's see how things progress from here.
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02:59 pm
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My "Wii" code.
Long story short: I finally have a Wii.
The code for my console: 4510 2467 7394 0120
If you want to be on my buddy list, follow up to this with your code, and If I know you I'll add you. (Remember, you have to add mine too -- it has to be mutual in order to work.) You can also send me your code privately if you don't want it on the internet. (I'm not worried about that since it has to be mutual anyway.)
Also follow up with any "must-have" games. So far I'm tempted by "Nights: Journey of Dreams" and "Endless Ocean". (I'm looking for stuff that has unique aspects on the Wii. For generic this-generation game titles, I'll probably stick to XB360.)
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10:59 am
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NEED MORE COWBELL!
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "There Goes My Baby" by "The Walkmen"
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02:08 pm
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My world is upside down.
What is it with Microsoft not being evil more lately?
Some folks made a mod for a shooter on the PS3, so you can play Halo's "Master Chief" inside it.
Microsoft's reaction is basically: "Hey, some fans who like Halo are doing some Halo-themed stuff in other platforms! Cool! We're just glad that they like Halo enough to do this!"
WTF?
Current Mood: confused
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01:32 pm
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Forgive me.
I rarely find these funny, but...
Current Mood: amused
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01:16 pm
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XB360 diagnosis help please.
If you have any experience at diagnosing problems with an XB360 unit, please look here:
http://web.mac.com/dd26/XB360_Trouble/XB360_Trouble.html
(This isn't my XBox, it's the one at the office.)
Current Mood: concerned
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