Thanksgiving and Espresso

It’s that time of year again. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I honestly didn’t think it would be any different than all of the other Thanksgivings I’ve had. I just thought I’d pop a pizza in the oven and call it a day. But, thanks to the generosity of my brother and his family, it turns out that I might be having my first true Thanksgiving dinner since many years ago! But that’s a big might. I’m probably gonna meet them when they get to my house, but afterward, I’ll probably end up having to leave with my father for a work-related thing (I got hired recently!), which also involves a dinner (but not a turkey one, it doesn’t even have anything to do with Thanksgiving, the date of the dinner and meeting just happened to fall upon Thanksgiving!). It’s not too bad, though. As I might have said before, Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday, and eating a big dinner at the table has never really appealed to me that much, even when I have experienced bigger Thanksgiving dinners. I don’t know what it is, I just always felt bored sitting there and eating, like I’d rather be sitting in my room eating and watching TV. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a holiday of giving thanks, and I’m very thankful for my family and friends and everything else. It’s just that the whole dinner thing never appealed to me. And the only person I have ever met who agrees with me is the barista from my local coffee spot!

As far as anything else goes, I have finally decided to get myself an espresso machine. Although I love going to coffee shops, it’s getting a bit costly, and my latte fix won’t be going away anytime soon before I go crazy! I figure that if I can make it myself, I’ll be saving $2-$4 (depending on where I get my coffee), and the machine will pretty much pay for itself. Then again, Christmas is nearby, maybe I won’t have to pay for it after all! All I gotta do then is wait…

-Tony

More Overcrowded Bus Drama

Last year, I made a pretty lengthy post about the size of the buses that the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority, they manage the city buses, subways, and L trains) began using, and my bad experience on one of them. Well, my experiences have gotten worse in that moving sardine can. Way worse.

For whatever reason, the CTA stopped using those buses throughout the rest of my Sophomore year, and that was great. However, this year, they suddenly began using them again, which is awful. Once again, the bus is packed to the point where you’re personal space means nothing, and grinding on total strangers is a common occurrence. Breathing is not an option, either. Every day I get on the bus, it just gets packed with tons of people during rush hour trying to get to work or school. I think that there are actually more people riding this bus now than last year, and it just gets harder and harder to ride on this damn thing.

For instance, this week for two days straight, the bus rides were simply awful. Both days, I had to stand all the way at the front, practically against the windshield given the amount of people on the thing. Then, at a few more stops, 5 or so more people decide to get on, which just leads to an even worse experience than it already is. Seriously, with the amount of people on this teeny-tiny bus, it’s just a bad accident waiting to happen. One person could fall over and end up knocking over a bunch of other people in a chain reaction, and god forbid an elderly person falls over and badly hurts or kills themselves, because that’s probably going to be the CTA’s fault for using these buses and allowing them to overcrowd like this! Oh, yeah, and I have to sort-of duck down, because apparently my head gets in the way of the bus driver.

Speaking of the bus driver, the guy’s a major (pardon my French) dickhead. Probably one of the worst bus drivers I’ve ever come across. Even worse, it’s the same douche driving the bus every single day! The CTA must have run out of bus drivers to keep switching around different routes, and I happen to get stuck with this idiot on my route. This guy seriously can NOT do his job correctly. For one, because the bus is so overcrowded, he likes to tap the brake (or press on it hard when coming to a stop) when there’s a ton of people loaded onto the bus, which I hope he knows can hurt somebody. He did the same thing when I was putting my wallet away, which caused me to nearly fall over and drop my wallet on the floor (for the random bus thug’s taking). He also cusses out a ton of people on the road and honks at everybody, something I’ve never seen a bus driver do (at least no bus driver on this route has ever been such an ass, until now). He’s got a serious case of road rage, and I’d personally love to cut him off on the road or block him in from a bus stop, just to piss him off.

Another thing I don’t like is his attitude. He swears constantly, which I just find disrespectful towards other riders. He is a very rude fellow. He mutters to himself like a madman sometimes. He also likes to blame the overcrowding of this tiny bus on me and other students, rather than the CTA themselves (“This ain’t no f*ckin’ school bus! Why the f*ck are you riding this damn thing? This not be for f*cking school! They don’t teach ya SH*T!” are just a number of things he’s said to a bunch of us. He likes to swear at as when everyone piles off of the bus, too). Aside from his hatred against me and others, he likes to trash-talk about us to any adults who get on. And trust me, the other kids I ride on this bus with do NOT cause any trouble. I seriously don’t see why he has to talk to other adults and say things like “These motherf*cking sons of bitches think they can ride this f*cking thing. They need to use a F*CKING SCHOOL BUS” (to which one of the guys he talked to found that a little funny, until I looked that guy in the eyes and shook my head, to which he put his head down in shame for siding with the idiot for a second). Also, when he stops for me at my stop, he doesn’t like to pull up the the bus stop, he likes to just stop in the middle of the road, and then he shuts the doors on me quickly (my backpack once got stuck in the doors), and takes off even more quickly (a number of people have fallen over, including myself).

My nickname to this not-so-gentleman is Mr. 26196, because that’s the number on his jacket and I plan on reporting him to the CTA tomorrow. I’ll be sending them an e-mail first, and if that doesn’t work (which I kinda think it won’t, since I already complained about the size of the buses they’re using for the route and they haven’t done a damn thing), I’ll be on the phone with them, maybe I’ll ask for his supervisor at the station and tell him/her about this driver’s conduct. I just feel that this has all gotten way out of hand, and it really makes me want to save the money I’ll be making at my first job this year for a car.

/rant

-Tony

iPod Touch Camera!

Well, I guess Apple finally gave us what we wanted: a camera on the iPod Touch! And, surprisingly, it records in high definition, and there’s also now a front-facing camera (similar to the one on the iPhone) that can be used for FaceTime! I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting all of that. On top of that, it’s thinner, too! I actually thought that one of the reasons they had trouble fitting a camera on the touch was because of how thin it was, but I guess it was just problems with the camera itself. And besides, I guess you could say the wait was worth it. Instead of having the camera from the previous-gen Nano on the Touch, we now have the iPhone’s cameras!

I also like the new pint-sized Nano, though it seems like it might be a bit of a problem for people with “fat fingers” (no offense to anyone who might have fat fingers ). Then again, I still haven’t seen it in person yet, so maybe it just seems small on the computer. Still, I’m happy with my 2nd gen Nano, it has served me well since I won it back in 2007. I may someday replace it with a new iPod if I ever get the chance (and money if I can’t win it like I did with this one), but I’ll probably still my 2nd gen until the day it’s battery dies for good.

-Tony

Bad Habits

Well, I guess it’s certainly been a while since I updated. That’s a bad habit for a blogger, to leave their blog just sitting there for weeks or even months on end. I am now going to write a new post every week, just to keep myself from forgetting about these little online entries, and so I can have something to look back at in the future (next to my personal diary, which is seen by my eyes only).

A bad habit I seem to have is keeping my desk cluttered. I don’t know why, but my desk has more clutter than my room. My room is overall organized and clean (though, my carpet probably needs to be steamed because of a big red stain left by some Gatorade I spilled a while back), but my desk it just plain messy. I have a box of bite-sized cookies (belongs in the kitchen, but they’re in my room for whatever reason), some books I need to organize, old clothing coupons that need to be thrown away, there are tons of old papers on top of my printer, and I have two old Starbucks coffee cups stacked next to one of the speakers. If you only saw my desk in a picture and nothing else, you’d think my room would be a pig sty (and maybe you’d think I’m a hoarder from the coffee cups and old papers). I suppose I just have to make sure I clean it up every now and again, just like how I vacuum or pick up around the floor or wash the dishes. If you just let things sit there and don’t do anything about them, your laziness will grow and show to other people around you. But if we do what we’re supposed to do, we can feel good knowing we accomplished it, whether it be washing the dishes, maintaining a blog, cleaning your desk, or even going to work and earning a paycheck.

The iPhone 4G and Gray Powell

If you didn’t know already, a prototype of Apple’s 4th Generation iPhone made it’s way past Apple’s offices in Northern California to a bar in Redwood City, and ended up with the site Gizmodo. Click on that link to see all of the stories on their recent exclusive. I yesterday remember not believing this was real, AT ALL. However, it is very real, as Apple is now asking for the device back.

Now, we’ll start off with the features of this new iPhone. Now, remember, this IS a prototype, so some of the things we see here may be different than what is on the final product, which as of now has no release date.

It appears that Apple has listened to fans about certain things involving cameras. There is now a front-facing video chat camera next to the receiver. There is also a flash for the camera on the back of the phone, and that camera’s lens appears to be bigger. The phone itself is now totally flat, and looks very nice with it’s aluminum border on the sides. There are also now physical buttons for volume control, as well as a larger battery.

Now, how did this get out, you may ask? Well, on March 18th, Gray Powell, an Apple Software Engineer, had gone to Gourmet Haus Staudt, a German beer garden, to celebrate his 27th birthday. He had brought the prototype phone with him (disguised as an iPhone 3gs, and was likely using it for field testing), and had forgotten about it when leaving. It was found by another customer who waited for the owner to return, but Powell didn’t. The customer kept the phone with him to return to the owner, and noticed the next day that is was now bricked. He then noticed that the exterior of the phone felt strange: because it was a fake covering to hide what this phone really was. He had no luck with trying to contact Apple about it, and later sold it to Gizmodo for $5000! They put out their first article on it yesterday, and we now know for sure that it is definitely the real deal.

Now, I’ve been surfing around all day, asking some people I know, and asking myself. What should happen to Gray Powell? Some people think he should be fired, which I totally understand. The device was in his possession before it got lost, and it just seems like careless handling of a prototype device to me. Also, Apple probably planned to have a big event sometime in the near future, explaining all about the new iPhone, but there may not be as much to talk about, now that it has been pretty much stripped down, and we know a few things about it. Then again, we are all human, and humans make mistakes, don’t we?

It was his birthday, after all. He was likely excited (and maybe a tad bit buzzed, who knows?), and probably left for home, not realizing that he had left it in the bar until probably the next day (when the phone had been bricked). Not to mention, if you read his Facebook page, he does seem to maintain a good sense of humor about the incident, so maybe Apple isn’t mad at him. Hopefully, nothing bad will come out of this for him, and maybe he learned a lesson from this, as well: be careful with secret prototypes!

-Tony

Is the iPad Worth It?

Today, Apple released the iPad, their newest electronic device. Many people preordered theirs online, and many more line the streets outside of Apple Stores waiting to get their hands on it. It seems like everyone wants one, and it’s all over TV (everything from the news to David Letterman to an episode of “Modern Family,” which was practically a 30 minute iPad commercial). I even saw a few people on the local news outside of Apple’s retail store on Michigan Avenue, who claimed that they didn’t know why they were buying, they “just wanted one.” Now, the iPad comes with a price tag of $499, starting price. Quite hefty, but, of course, this is Apple we are talking about. Expensive, yes. But, is the iPad really worth it?

I don’t think so. At least not until the 2nd and 3rd generations come along. Look at Apple’s previous products. The iPod Touch and iPhone both have come a long way since they were released. Their specs have been raised, prices dropped, and they have better hardware and can do more things than before. The iPod Touch is faster (and it may still get a camera once the next generation comes along), the iPod Nano now has a good-quality video camera, and the iPhone has an amazingly good-quality camera/camcorder built in. Most likely, we will be seeing a second gen iPad next year, which will probably have much better power, and maybe we will even see a third gen that can do even more! Basically, it’s best to just wait and be patient, as something better will most likely come along.

But that’s not the only reason why I don’t think the iPad is currently worth it (and why I won’t be getting one anytime soon). The lack of a few certain things pretty much proved to me that it’s not going to be replacing my laptop any time soon. 1. No flash. Why? I’m sure it can be done if Apple worked on it. I’d like to be able to get the most out of websites that use and/or require flash. But I guess that can’t happen yet. 2. No Multitasking. Some people might not care about this, but I do. I often find myself multitasking on both my Mac and PC. This week, I pretty much had Word, Firefox, and Photoshop all running on my PC, and Safari, iMovie, and iTunes all running on my Mac. With the iPad, it’s only one program at a time. Though, most likely, this is due to it not being able to handle so many programs at once. Maybe we can do this in the future, though. 3. No USB. Seriously? That was the first thing that came to mind when I heard that the iPad had no USB. Instead, I have to buy Apple’s USB adapter for $30 if I want to connect my camera! “No way,” I thought. I don’t think I would have minded the device being a little thicker, just for the sake of saving money, and convenience.

Oh well, I guess I’ll just save my money now and wait. I’m happy with my laptop, and I don’t see the iPad taking it’s place. Maybe in the future of it’s worked on, but certainly not now.

-Tony

Recent Earthquakes

Man, all of these earthquakes happening right now, isn’t that something? It seems like after the Haiti earthquake, the quakes just won’t stop! Now it’s Thailand, Chile (which experienced the most recent one last Thursday), and a few others we hear about every so often. Heck, even I was in a small earthquake, which stuck us here in Illinois last month.

Is this a sign? Is the world really coming to an end in two years? Will huge earthquakes rip across the continents, sinking huge landmasses into the earth, flattening buildings, and killing scores of people?! Maybe not. It’s probably just the media getting a little uptight from the Haiti earthquake. Now, every time there’s an earthquake, no matter how strong (or, in Illinois’ case, weak) the quake was, it gets all over. CNN seems to make it a breaking story on their site each time. This reminds me of all of the “possible terror threats” that occurred post-9/11. I guess the news feels the need to make a big story out of any occurrence that might have some (if any at all) relation to the big event that it follows.

Sorry, I just had to get that out. I was just thinking about it after my friend said to me that it seemed like more earthquakes were happening than normal (even though there’s almost 2000 quakes every day, most of which we don’t feel). In my opinion, I don’t think there is anything to worry about.

-Tony

Earthquake!

Did you know that Chicago is prone to earthquakes? That’s right, what many people think happens only on the West Coast also happens in our Midwestern city. And just about an hour ago, I felt my first earthquake, which, according to WGN, was a 4.3 and was centered in Sycamore (a western suburb).

It was probably 4:00 A.M. I woke up to use the bathroom, washed my hands, and then quickly went back to bed. I closed my eyes, and then I suddenly felt my bed shaking, almost as if someone had grabbed it and shook it themselves. Then, I could hear my desk shaking (and all the things I have on my desk were rattling), and then my whole room began vibrating. This must have lasted for about 10 seconds before it stopped.

It was quite surreal for me, as this was my first time experiencing an earthquake. The second after it was over, the first thing that popped into my mind was “Earthquake!” because I couldn’t hear any trucks passing, and the 30 mph winds we are having now only go against the window, not make my room vibrate!

It is currently 5:40 A.M., and this earthquake is being talked about on the news after every commercial break as if this was another mega quake, and then they talk over the phone to eyewitnesses in the suburbs or ComEd people or earthquake people. Lets just hope that every minor earthquake in the future isn’t made out to be a major one. That’s what the news seems to like doing a lot nowadays. A train could stall on the tracks, and the news (usually cable news, like Fox or CNN) could make it out to be like it’s a full-scale terror attack on the city.

-Tony

Magic Mouse

My late Christmas gift finally arrived! An official Magic Mouse from Apple!

Ever since I got my laptop (a 15-inch Macbook Pro), I had been looking for a mouse to go along with it. I first considered Apple’s then-”Mighty Mouse” (now simply referred to as “Apple Mouse”), until I read about the problems occurring with the scroll ball. So, I was then looking for a 3rd party mouse, and almost bought a Logitech bluetooth mouse, until the rumors popped up that Apple had a new wireless and scroll ball/wheel-less mouse. I decided to wait and see if this was true, and sure enough, the scroll ball-less mouse became a reality. I held off until Christmas to ask for one, and it finally arrived (it was ordered before Christmas, it just took a while for it to ship). And I have to say, this mouse certainly is magic!

I was at first afraid of how the mouse would feel in my hand, seeing as how it is very thin. But, it feels quite good in my hands, and is also, in my opinion, comfortable.

Because the mouse is a Bluetooth mouse, it immediately connects to a computer with Bluetooth-capabilities. When I popped open the battery coiver to insert the two AAs that I had, I was very surprised to see that the mouse already came with two Energizers already inside! How nice of Apple!

The setup was easy and quick, and the mouse does what it’s supposed to do: it works! The touch-scrolling is smooth, too, and I have not experienced anything like delayed actions.

However, there are two cons that I have come across. One, I wish there was a way to access Expose using the touch sensor (similar to how we access it on the laptop’s touchpad), rather than doing it like we would with any other mouse. Second, I wish it came with a protective case or sleeve. The case it comes in is apparently just for looks when it sits on a flat surface, because that cover does not stay on when it’s being moved (even if I touch it, the cover just falls off). That, or they could have at least made the case snap on and off. When I put the mouse in the case in my bag, it cannot be on it’s side, or else the cover will fall off and the mouse now has a chance of being squished by something else in the bag. So, if you get the Magic Mouse, make sure you get a case or sleeve for it, too. Or, if you’re broke (like me), keep it in it’s original case, and then put the case in a sock. It works for me

-Tony

Ho Ho Ho

It’s that time of year again. That time of year that we either love or hate. As kids, we all loved Christmas (if you celebrated it), watching the specials on TV, helping decorate the Christmas tree, and eagerly waiting for Santa to come down the chimney, through the fireplace (for me, he came through the vent, we didn’t have a fireplace), and bring us presents! As older people, we either enjoy whatever time off we get, and maybe buy a gift or two (either for ourselves or others), and just enjoy the holiday. That, or we become Scrooge and can’t wait for Christmas to be over with.

I am happy about the holidays this year. Mostly because it means a new office chair for me, and the new year is going to be a new decade! It’s going to be a very fresh start, and I welcome what the 2010s will bring us. What new fads will come about? What advances in technology will we have? I am excited about it!

I just got finished shoveling away all the ice and salting outside my house (there’s an ice storm here in Chicago, I’ll post some pics on Flickr later), and I am preparing for my brother and his family coming over, so I am going to rest a bit and then get ready. But, I hope everyone has a happy holiday this week, and a happy new year!

Happy Holidays!

-Tony