- I have a major craving for Bob Chinn's. The strange thing is, I think it is because I saw a commercial for Joe's Crab Shack yesterday. That's almost like saying that I feel like crafting after watching someone play Solitaire. Which does happen from time to time, but a lot of things make me feel like crafting.
- Microsoft just released the latest version of their Pocket PC OS (called Windows Mobile). Toshiba is offering the upgrade for my model (e755) for $19, but only if you bought the thing between May 18th and now. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I got it before that date. And I will NOT pay $50 to upgrade a model I paid over $500 for only a couple months ago. It's not so much the $31 difference, it's the pure principle of it all. So, I'm gonna have to figure out if there's a "cheaper" means of obtaining this upgrade. (Stork and Goods, I'm looking in your direction)
- One thing I forgot to complain about in last Friday's Hulk experience was crying babies in theaters. Why would you bring your baby to a movie? Especially the opening night of the Hulk? Maybe if it was Finding Nemo or some other G-rated cartoon, I would kind of understand, and that's still a big maybe. There's no way your baby's gonna enjoy any movie, let alone a crappy one with a big scary green monster that looks like Jose Canseco. I mean, as a 23 year old grown man, even I was scared. Okay, so I wasn't, but still.
Parents need to be taking care of their babies at home, not in a crowded, loud theater where they are gonna probably traumatize their little infant, and disturb everyone else in the process. If you really want to watch a movie, why not rent one? And if you really, REALLY have to watch the Hulk the first night it comes out, get a damn babysitter. But I would like to think that if I had a baby of my own to take care of, I would be willing to forego watching any movie until a better time was available. I don't care if it's Matrix Revolution, Return of the King, Star Wars Episode III, Austin Powers 4, or Jeepers Creepers 2, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Yes, I'd like to think that if anything is worth missing a movie for, taking care of your baby child would qualify. But for a lot of people last Friday, I guess they don't think the same.
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Monday, June 23, 2003
Layoffs
One thing I've started to notice lately is that I am a little too popular. Most people think that you can never have too many friends, but actually, over-popularity can be problematic. It's like the episode of Simpsons when they get a pool and Lisa becomes popular. Then Martin (the nerdy kid) gets a better pool and ends up with so many friends that his pool bursts. It's a lot like that, yah.
So, I have decided to start laying off friends. This means you would be removed from my Pocket PC list of contacts, your phone number would be erased from my cell phone, and if you have a blog/xanga page, I'd have to delete my bookmark to it and stop checking for updates. Of course, you would still be allowed to contact me by phone or email, and I would be happy to be a reference or write a recommendation for you to get a new friend to replace me. However, the layoff process requires that we no longer hang out together in person.
If you happen to be among the laid-off, please don't take it too hard. It's nothing personal, the decisions on who to cut were purely practical and professional, rest assured. Among the major factors I considered:
- Distance: Logically, people who live/work closer to me have the advantage over those who are far. It's only reasonable. Those of you close to me in P-town, consider yourselves fortunate.
- Race: Taiwanese friends obviously have the edge over non-Taiwanese. In general, the yellower you are, the better chance you have of avoiding this wave of layoffs.
- Common Interests: For example, if we can craft together, work out together, or are in the same fantasy baseball league, those kinds of things are considered.
- Benefits: Things like getting me a discount at Best Buy or hooking me up with pirated movies/software count for significant plus points.
- Contact History: If you have been keeping up with me regularly by email/phone calls/IM/etc., your efforts have not gone unnoticed! Now is the time when you finally reap the fruits of your labor.
- Social Status: You don't have to be super rich to hang with me, but let's face it: nobody likes to be friends with someone who's really poor. If you don't have any money, then sorry, I guess you're out of luck.
Other than that, official policy also exempts immediate family members from being laid off. So if you happen to be my mom, dad, or sister, then you don't have to worry about this.
Again, if you get a layoff notification from me in the coming days, don't be too down. It's tough for me to let go, but the circumstances really force me to cut personnel, as hard as it may be. But, if more friendship positions open up in the future, you will definitely be among the first to be considered.
Best,
Joe
* The preceding blog was a joke. I know a lot of you reading were getting worried about losing me, but I'm not really gonna lay off anyone. Yes, each and every one of you are my friend for life! I just felt like writing something different in my blog. And the idea of laying off friends amuses me.
So yeah, I do think the more friends, the better. I don't go out of my way to meet new people anymore, but that's one thing I miss most about college - being able to meet new friends on a regular basis, without ever having to put effort into it.
"More friends! More allies! More, I say!"
One thing I've started to notice lately is that I am a little too popular. Most people think that you can never have too many friends, but actually, over-popularity can be problematic. It's like the episode of Simpsons when they get a pool and Lisa becomes popular. Then Martin (the nerdy kid) gets a better pool and ends up with so many friends that his pool bursts. It's a lot like that, yah.
So, I have decided to start laying off friends. This means you would be removed from my Pocket PC list of contacts, your phone number would be erased from my cell phone, and if you have a blog/xanga page, I'd have to delete my bookmark to it and stop checking for updates. Of course, you would still be allowed to contact me by phone or email, and I would be happy to be a reference or write a recommendation for you to get a new friend to replace me. However, the layoff process requires that we no longer hang out together in person.
If you happen to be among the laid-off, please don't take it too hard. It's nothing personal, the decisions on who to cut were purely practical and professional, rest assured. Among the major factors I considered:
- Distance: Logically, people who live/work closer to me have the advantage over those who are far. It's only reasonable. Those of you close to me in P-town, consider yourselves fortunate.
- Race: Taiwanese friends obviously have the edge over non-Taiwanese. In general, the yellower you are, the better chance you have of avoiding this wave of layoffs.
- Common Interests: For example, if we can craft together, work out together, or are in the same fantasy baseball league, those kinds of things are considered.
- Benefits: Things like getting me a discount at Best Buy or hooking me up with pirated movies/software count for significant plus points.
- Contact History: If you have been keeping up with me regularly by email/phone calls/IM/etc., your efforts have not gone unnoticed! Now is the time when you finally reap the fruits of your labor.
- Social Status: You don't have to be super rich to hang with me, but let's face it: nobody likes to be friends with someone who's really poor. If you don't have any money, then sorry, I guess you're out of luck.
Other than that, official policy also exempts immediate family members from being laid off. So if you happen to be my mom, dad, or sister, then you don't have to worry about this.
Again, if you get a layoff notification from me in the coming days, don't be too down. It's tough for me to let go, but the circumstances really force me to cut personnel, as hard as it may be. But, if more friendship positions open up in the future, you will definitely be among the first to be considered.
Best,
Joe
* The preceding blog was a joke. I know a lot of you reading were getting worried about losing me, but I'm not really gonna lay off anyone. Yes, each and every one of you are my friend for life! I just felt like writing something different in my blog. And the idea of laying off friends amuses me.
So yeah, I do think the more friends, the better. I don't go out of my way to meet new people anymore, but that's one thing I miss most about college - being able to meet new friends on a regular basis, without ever having to put effort into it.
"More friends! More allies! More, I say!"
Somebody's Got A Case Of The Mondays
I saw the Hulk on Friday, and man, it was a pretty forgettable experience. It's not like I was even expecting an awesome movie, but about halfway through, I really wanted to just leave. Maybe I just don't understand the comic enough to appreciate the movie. Still, I think I would've been much better off watching 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Got my car tinted early Saturday morning. Did "light" in the front, "medium" in the back and rear (50%/38% for people who like percentages better), and I'm pretty happy with the results. Dark enough to block some sunlight and make the car a little cooler, but not so dark that I look like a crack dealer. So hopefully it won't attract cops.
Watched Austin Powers 3 at night, and realized that it loses a lot the second time around. Even though Britney is in it, the movie overall doesn't have nearly the staying power of the first two. Still entertaining, and I thought it was good seeing it at the theater last year, but not something I would watch over and over.
Watched the Sox game after church on Sunday. After beating the Cubs in the first 2 games of the series, I found myself starting to be interested in watching them again. This interest was quickly lost when we blew the game late in familiar fashion. Bartolo Colon shuts down the Cubs for 7 innings, giving up zero runs. Jerry Womanuel pulls him, puts in Dumbasso Marte with a 1-0 lead, who manages to retire 1 out of 5 batters faced and leaves with the Sox trailing 2-1. Of course, a 1 run deficit is too much for the Sox to come back from, so it's pretty much over after that. Seriously, GET RID OF JERRY MANUEL NOW. Not saying it's entirely his fault the Sox are underachieving, but it's obvious the guy has no sense of how to handle his pitchers, and that's one of the most important duties of the manager. Your supposed ace pitcher goes 7 without giving up a run. He's known for getting stronger as the game goes on, and he's under 100 pitches. Leave him in, that's what you are paying him the big bucks for!! On the other hand, Cubs leave in Zambrano, their 4th or 5th starter, for 8 innings, and come away with the win. I really want to root for the Sox but it's hard when it seems like they don't want to win.
To relieve stress from watching the game, I decided to wash my car. Washing my car takes a while, and it makes me tired, but I always love doing it. Clears my head and gets me in touch with all the little nicks and scratches of the car. Not that I like scratches and dents, but I take the imperfections as they come, and I don't sweat it too much because it adds some personality and history to my car. It's like life, it wouldn't be interesting if everything worked out perfectly all the time. It would be boring, and maybe even unhealthy, if you always had a perfect clear coat finish, even after years of driving. As long as the "rock chips" or "swirl marks" aren't too big, I guess it's part of experience that you should just accept and learn to appreciate. Anyways, the best part of car washing is at the end, my baby looks pretty. And it always seems to drive smoother when it's pretty.
Now it's back to work.
I saw the Hulk on Friday, and man, it was a pretty forgettable experience. It's not like I was even expecting an awesome movie, but about halfway through, I really wanted to just leave. Maybe I just don't understand the comic enough to appreciate the movie. Still, I think I would've been much better off watching 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Got my car tinted early Saturday morning. Did "light" in the front, "medium" in the back and rear (50%/38% for people who like percentages better), and I'm pretty happy with the results. Dark enough to block some sunlight and make the car a little cooler, but not so dark that I look like a crack dealer. So hopefully it won't attract cops.
Watched Austin Powers 3 at night, and realized that it loses a lot the second time around. Even though Britney is in it, the movie overall doesn't have nearly the staying power of the first two. Still entertaining, and I thought it was good seeing it at the theater last year, but not something I would watch over and over.
Watched the Sox game after church on Sunday. After beating the Cubs in the first 2 games of the series, I found myself starting to be interested in watching them again. This interest was quickly lost when we blew the game late in familiar fashion. Bartolo Colon shuts down the Cubs for 7 innings, giving up zero runs. Jerry Womanuel pulls him, puts in Dumbasso Marte with a 1-0 lead, who manages to retire 1 out of 5 batters faced and leaves with the Sox trailing 2-1. Of course, a 1 run deficit is too much for the Sox to come back from, so it's pretty much over after that. Seriously, GET RID OF JERRY MANUEL NOW. Not saying it's entirely his fault the Sox are underachieving, but it's obvious the guy has no sense of how to handle his pitchers, and that's one of the most important duties of the manager. Your supposed ace pitcher goes 7 without giving up a run. He's known for getting stronger as the game goes on, and he's under 100 pitches. Leave him in, that's what you are paying him the big bucks for!! On the other hand, Cubs leave in Zambrano, their 4th or 5th starter, for 8 innings, and come away with the win. I really want to root for the Sox but it's hard when it seems like they don't want to win.
To relieve stress from watching the game, I decided to wash my car. Washing my car takes a while, and it makes me tired, but I always love doing it. Clears my head and gets me in touch with all the little nicks and scratches of the car. Not that I like scratches and dents, but I take the imperfections as they come, and I don't sweat it too much because it adds some personality and history to my car. It's like life, it wouldn't be interesting if everything worked out perfectly all the time. It would be boring, and maybe even unhealthy, if you always had a perfect clear coat finish, even after years of driving. As long as the "rock chips" or "swirl marks" aren't too big, I guess it's part of experience that you should just accept and learn to appreciate. Anyways, the best part of car washing is at the end, my baby looks pretty. And it always seems to drive smoother when it's pretty.
Now it's back to work.
Thursday, June 19, 2003
Blog #2 ... woo-hoo
- Yesterday while cooking a burger at the townhouse, I set off the smoke alarm. Oh man, that is the loudest, most piercing, annoying, make your brain explode sound I have ever heard in my life. And the only way to stop it is to let the smoke dissipate and air out with time. Of course, I didn't figure out this fact until after I spent a good 10 minutes of eardrum-throbbing fun, trying to push the one button there on the detector (which I guess is only for you to test if it works, not to shut it off). Finally, Jason (one of my roommates) opened all the windows and fanned the detector until it stopped. But my ears were still ringing for a couple hours afterwards. Also, the episode prevented me from working out. >:-O
- I've been reading some interesting articles about spam. It seems there is a battle going on between spammers and anti-spammers, with each one trying to outdo the other in creativity. Some of the methods are kind of amusing (at least to me). For example, most spammers rely on hijacking other people's unprotected email servers to send out mass mailings, so they can hide their own address. Well, now there is an anti-spam campaign to flood the internet with "honeypots", which are basically fake unprotected email servers that fool spammers into thinking their mass mailings are sent, when they actually go nowhere. The hope is that spammers will realize they are wasting their time, give up and find a real job. (It's similar to record companies flooding Kazaa with fake songs to frustrate users into just buying the CD)
Then there is this "challenge-response" idea that some ISPs are adopting. It blocks all emails from being sent to your inbox, making the sender first prove that they are human by clicking on a link and typing the answer to a simple question like "What is the 2nd month of the year?" or something. So this would deter spammers because it's impractical to have to do something like that for every message you send out in mass. I thought this idea was guaranteed to be effective, but I guess many experts don't. Apparently, it will clog up server space with all these challenge-response emails bouncing back and forth, while also blocking some legitimate messages, like auto-generated receipts from ordering off Amazon.com for example. Also, they say spammers will be able to find ways around the system, and then the whole thing will be even worse because they can make their emails look like these challenge response emails. Then when you click on the link to prove you're human, it takes you to their porn site instead. When I read that, I was like wow, they are so clever. If only they used their ingenuity for a good cause.
It amazes me how much effort is being put into this spam war on both sides. There must be a lot of money at stake here. Personally, I think the best way to stop spam is if everybody would just decide to never click on any of the ads under any circumstances. But obviously, some stupid people still are, and that is why spammers still do what they do. So I guess the only way to stop them now is to hunt down each spammer, go to his house and kick him in the nuts.
- The White Sox are quietly having one of the most underachieving years ever, making me a very miserable fan. Our division is probably the weakest in baseball, yet we are sitting in 3rd place with a record under .500. We got supposedly two ace pitchers on our staff in Buerhle and Colon, but they are both being outperformed by our #3 pitcher. And even despite the huge gift from heaven that was Esteban Loaiza, our team is a joke. I looked at the hitting stats a couple days ago and I don't think anyone in the lineup is batting over .280. Instead we have Konerko flirting with .200, Valentin, Crede not much better. Magglio is way below All-Star level production, to say the least, and Frank Thomas had to go on a "hot streak" to get the decent stats he has. >:-O
- I just read the latest Sports Guy column on ESPN Page 2, and he pointed out that Simon from the Real World looks like Keith Van Horn. That had me laughing at my desk for a long time, can't believe I didn't pick up on that one earlier.
- Yesterday while cooking a burger at the townhouse, I set off the smoke alarm. Oh man, that is the loudest, most piercing, annoying, make your brain explode sound I have ever heard in my life. And the only way to stop it is to let the smoke dissipate and air out with time. Of course, I didn't figure out this fact until after I spent a good 10 minutes of eardrum-throbbing fun, trying to push the one button there on the detector (which I guess is only for you to test if it works, not to shut it off). Finally, Jason (one of my roommates) opened all the windows and fanned the detector until it stopped. But my ears were still ringing for a couple hours afterwards. Also, the episode prevented me from working out. >:-O
- I've been reading some interesting articles about spam. It seems there is a battle going on between spammers and anti-spammers, with each one trying to outdo the other in creativity. Some of the methods are kind of amusing (at least to me). For example, most spammers rely on hijacking other people's unprotected email servers to send out mass mailings, so they can hide their own address. Well, now there is an anti-spam campaign to flood the internet with "honeypots", which are basically fake unprotected email servers that fool spammers into thinking their mass mailings are sent, when they actually go nowhere. The hope is that spammers will realize they are wasting their time, give up and find a real job. (It's similar to record companies flooding Kazaa with fake songs to frustrate users into just buying the CD)
Then there is this "challenge-response" idea that some ISPs are adopting. It blocks all emails from being sent to your inbox, making the sender first prove that they are human by clicking on a link and typing the answer to a simple question like "What is the 2nd month of the year?" or something. So this would deter spammers because it's impractical to have to do something like that for every message you send out in mass. I thought this idea was guaranteed to be effective, but I guess many experts don't. Apparently, it will clog up server space with all these challenge-response emails bouncing back and forth, while also blocking some legitimate messages, like auto-generated receipts from ordering off Amazon.com for example. Also, they say spammers will be able to find ways around the system, and then the whole thing will be even worse because they can make their emails look like these challenge response emails. Then when you click on the link to prove you're human, it takes you to their porn site instead. When I read that, I was like wow, they are so clever. If only they used their ingenuity for a good cause.
It amazes me how much effort is being put into this spam war on both sides. There must be a lot of money at stake here. Personally, I think the best way to stop spam is if everybody would just decide to never click on any of the ads under any circumstances. But obviously, some stupid people still are, and that is why spammers still do what they do. So I guess the only way to stop them now is to hunt down each spammer, go to his house and kick him in the nuts.
- The White Sox are quietly having one of the most underachieving years ever, making me a very miserable fan. Our division is probably the weakest in baseball, yet we are sitting in 3rd place with a record under .500. We got supposedly two ace pitchers on our staff in Buerhle and Colon, but they are both being outperformed by our #3 pitcher. And even despite the huge gift from heaven that was Esteban Loaiza, our team is a joke. I looked at the hitting stats a couple days ago and I don't think anyone in the lineup is batting over .280. Instead we have Konerko flirting with .200, Valentin, Crede not much better. Magglio is way below All-Star level production, to say the least, and Frank Thomas had to go on a "hot streak" to get the decent stats he has. >:-O
- I just read the latest Sports Guy column on ESPN Page 2, and he pointed out that Simon from the Real World looks like Keith Van Horn. That had me laughing at my desk for a long time, can't believe I didn't pick up on that one earlier.
Education Fair
Coming next week to our site here in NG-Rolling Meadows will be an "Education Fair", where a bunch of local schools will show up with information on their graduate programs. Places like Purdue, Northwestern, DePaul, and IIT are gonna be there to talk to us about opportunities for continuing education.
For the past 3 or 4 years, I've gone to nothing but job fairs, looking for a place to start my career. I've gotten used to handing out resumes and trying to explain to HR reps or interviewers what I have to offer to their company and why they should hire me. Now, I'm less than a year into career life, and already I'm being pointed back to school. A weird feeling.
I think I'm gonna pass on this education fair thing for now, but maybe next year I'll go. It might be nice for once to be the one asking the question: "What do you have to offer me?". "Why should I choose your program?"
Coming next week to our site here in NG-Rolling Meadows will be an "Education Fair", where a bunch of local schools will show up with information on their graduate programs. Places like Purdue, Northwestern, DePaul, and IIT are gonna be there to talk to us about opportunities for continuing education.
For the past 3 or 4 years, I've gone to nothing but job fairs, looking for a place to start my career. I've gotten used to handing out resumes and trying to explain to HR reps or interviewers what I have to offer to their company and why they should hire me. Now, I'm less than a year into career life, and already I'm being pointed back to school. A weird feeling.
I think I'm gonna pass on this education fair thing for now, but maybe next year I'll go. It might be nice for once to be the one asking the question: "What do you have to offer me?". "Why should I choose your program?"
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