Archive for July, 2005

Circuit City Sucks, Newegg Rocks!

26th July 2005

I went to Circuit City last night to buy a SD card for my new z750 as I saw an ad in the papers for a SanDisk 512mb Ultra II SD card for $39.99 after a $12 rebate. So I go in there expecting to pay 50 bucks or so for the card only to find out they want $74 for the card. Apparently you had to buy their stupid Anika branded camera case (none of which fit my camera AND it was ugly as all hell) to get the price AND the rebate. I refused to put up with that crap and just left.

Luckily when I got home I checked Newegg for SD cards. They had the A-Data 1gb 50x for $45 after a $10 rebate!! I have the same card in my Treo 650 for weeks now and it works flawlessly. The benchmarks on this card are among the fastest according to the SD Benchmark for Palm devices. My personal scores are also on this db and is consistent with what others are getting with VFSMark and CardSpeed.

I definately recommend Newegg and the A-Data card for any one that needs a cheap and fast SD card.

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18-Jul-2005

18th July 2005

Here’s a good read.  Hats off to all the nice guys out there,
especially those that didn’t take advantage of me while I was drunk off
my ass ..

 This is a tribute to the nice guys.  The nice guys that finish last, that never   become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes   guys are, while disproving the very point.  This is dedicated to those guys who always   provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys   who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside   the changing room at department stores.  This is in honor of the guys that obligingly   reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the   appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support.  This   is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern.    This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her   theology to her clothing style. 

 This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from   parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany   girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys   who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who   always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are   accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the   nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys   who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you. 

 This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell  phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours  painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over  dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a  jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about  it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d  ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically  linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the  world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing  against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her  concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for  that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was  nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party  where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly  with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to  everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were  invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways.  Because you’re nice like that.  

 The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And  perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often  as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I  can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from  talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only  conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical,  manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice  guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational,  confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a  good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much  from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of  all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament  the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their  too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men  that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to  fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what  they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with   this complete ass now!).  But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last  phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who  grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the  nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding  those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.  

 So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys.  You know   who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously   nice.  But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department   store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to   be a sucker for a pretty smile.  For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for   all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my   acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you.  You do have credibility in this   society, and your well deserved vindication is coming. 

 Fu-zu Jen, SEAS/WH, 2003 

Her website: http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~jenf/writing/rant04.html.

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Going back to Cali

18th July 2005

I’ll be heading to LA on August 4th – August 9th to visit Kenny and his brother. With a new vacation comes new toys!

After having my heart set on the SD500 by Canon for a few months now, I decided it might be in my best interest to see what’s new on Steve’s Digicams and dpreview.com. I came across two articles that were very favorable of the Exlim EX-Z750. It’s pretty much the SD500 with mpeg4 compression for the videos instead of mpeg2. It was a no brainer since I’ve been partial with the Exlim series for a while now.

Using my favorite comparision shopping search engine, I was able to get the camera for a mere $380 shipped. I’ll do a full review on the camera after I’ve put it through the ultimate test, the girlfriend.

[edit]
Looks like Buy.com was offering the camera for $360 – $15 coupon. Also picked up the Casio Business-Card case with it for $17.

Much cheaper than my previous order..
[/edit]

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