chuma.org

Month: January 2004

  • Oh yeah.

    On Saturday night we went to Linkin Park… along with Sandy’s brother and five of his “country folk” friends. I say that in the nicest way possible, because we had quite a time corraling them all on the subway from our apartment to the ACC. And when I say “quite a time” I mean “I’m surprised we didn’t get arrested.”

    The concert was amazingly good. I’d never been to the ACC before but it makes for a fairly decent concert. The sound quality was alright, certainly not as good as other smaller or open-air venues but not as bad as the horrible, horrible echo machine known as SkyDome. The band played everything and sounded great. They even pulled some random guy from the audience to play guitar for a song! I had tons of fun and Sandy really, really enjoyed it as well.

  • Photos like this make me love the Newton.

    The Stanford Newton User Group held it’s 10th anniversary meeting the other day! Without a doubt they are the longest-running NUG. Hats off to SNUG!

    photo by Adam Tow

  • IKEA Walkthrough 2.3.1 – This is how I like to go through IKEA.

    “As you enter the SHOWROOM, perform a rolling dodge to the left. Grab a free PAPER TAPE MEASURE and a handful of IKEA EMBLAZONED GOLF PENCILS from the kiosk near the entryway. The PENCILS serve quite well as ranged weapons, but it will take some time to master their use. Before venturing further in the world, stand at the kiosk and practice hurling GOLF PENCILS at patrons as they enter the SHOWROOM. Remember: Hitting the eyes does triple damage.

    Seriously though. I live five minutes from the first IKEA built in Canada. It’s both good and bad: good because, well, it’s close, and bad because, well, versatile well-designed furniture is just a hop, skip and a drive away.

  • Kofi Annan to speak at Canadian Parliament

    Kofi Annan accepts invitation to address Canadian Parliament – This is pretty cool. This can only mean one thing though… more BtAF comics like these ones over here.

  • We’re back, after a minor meltdown…

    You might have noticed that we were offline for a while. That’s because the RAID array on the server here took a fatal blow, and then rose from the ashes like a phoenix to see another day. Thanks to Stan for his heroics.

    It’s been hella busy these last four or five days. On the weekend we went up to see Sandy’s parents. I worked Saturday in the computer store and found a bunch of used stuff which I’ll be unloading for them. On Saturday night we went to the pub in town for karaoke night. Let’s say that I’ve been avoiding karaoke all my life, and for good reason: I can’t sing. Well I stepped up anyways, and missed an entire verse of Weezer’s “Keep Fishin’” but kept on going anyways. I think that’s the primary goal in karaoke anyways. Sandy sang way better than me. Her brother’s friends were there too, and belted out the worst rendition of “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It” ever heard in this hemisphere.

    On Sunday it was a surprise baby shower for Sandy’s brother’s girlfriend, who is due around March 1. We had spent all weekend running around getting the last-minute things for the shower while trying to keep it a surprise, and after a few close calls we finally made it and surprised her. She was incredibly happy. Sandy worked hard with her mom at the last minute to host it and make sure it went smoothly and it did. Kudos.

    At the same time, Mike (Sandy’s brother) and his dad and his friends and I were busy hauling garbage and various other stuff out of the horse barn behind the house, getting it ready to be converted into an apartment. Nothing like moving straw bales and 12000 feet of electric fence to keep warm in -10 weather!

  • three components are NOT better than two.

    Today was just one of those days where the more you think about a problem, the more you realize how much of a bitch it is going to be to solve.

    In this instance, it could easily be eliminated by just getting rid of one redundant component. But when doing that isn’t an option because of one person’s will, then despair starts to set in. Right now my despair has been sitting in my gut since this afternoon. I’m sure tomorrow I’ll feel better though.

    Sorry this has to be so ambiguous, but it’s work-related and I usually try to keep that stuff off of here.

    I know what will make me feel better: listening to music. And drawing diagrams on my Newton on how to sort out this mess.

  • aha! we are getting screwed!

    Wireless: Canadians pay more – gee whiz, we’re getting hosed for wireless hardware prices? Well whaddya know?

  • I totally forgot to mention that you can see the up-to-date view outside my window here. It’s really not that exciting, but I’m not sure where else to point the darn camera.

    For those that are interested, I’m actually using my old Kodak DC200Plus digital camera as a webcam.

  • winter has finally come

    The view out my apartment window this morning:

    Don Mills Rd & Fairview Mall, Toronto, Canada