snoots

Snoots' Sexy Saturday Automotive Selections

2010-03-20T13:22:00.005-04:00

Today, I hope to bring you the first in a series of rare, but beautiful cars that might not be very well known, but certainly should be!

This week, we're starting with the Lotus Elite, a car that saw very limited production from 1958 to 1963. The Elite debuted at the 1957 London Motor Car Show, much to the salivation of "carefully selected race teams", who then developed the car through racing for a year before it went on sale to the public. At the time, the Elite's innovative fiberglass monocoque construction was unheard of. While the Corvette of the era used Fiberglass bodywork as well, it was not a stressed structural part of the car.

The Elite was equipped with a 1.2L inline 4-cylinder motor, which produced 75 HP. It might not sound like much, but in a car weighing only 1,100 lbs, it was more than adequate. In 1960, an SE version was released, bumping the output up to 85 HP. In racing form, the engine made up to as much as 105 HP. The stout 4-cylinder, all-around independent suspension, and an unbelievable drag coefficient of .29 (slippery by even today's standards!) brought the cars to six class victories at the 24 Hours of LeMans!

When production was finished, about 1030 had been built. Another version was released in 1974, but it's so hideous, I'm not even going to post a picture of that one.

My Weekend Project - Speaker Shelves

2010-02-13T16:49:00.003-05:00

I've been craving a surround sound setup since I first heard my Dad's setup in our basement back home in NJ. Today, I'm finally able to make that happen in my own home, thanks to my new Onkyo receiver, some new Polk bookshelf speakers and center speaker, and some cheap shelves from Lowe's! I've never mounted anything to the walls before, so this was a bit of an adventure for me. My landlord will be less than pleased with me when I move out, I didn't exactly make zero mistakes... Oh well, we all have to learn somewhere, right? And now I get to learn how to fill a hole in drywall!!! ;o)

A Moment, Frozen In Time

2010-02-12T18:42:00.004-05:00

I happened upon this amazing short film this evening. It's fantastically directed, and the special effects are out of this world!

Nuit Blanche from Spy Films on Vimeo.

No, You're Not On Mushrooms, My Table Is Simply Awesome

2010-02-12T18:39:00.002-05:00

Some amazing craftsmanship went into this. I wish I was that talented at wood working!

Cats Like Motorcycles, Too!

2010-02-12T12:28:00.004-05:00

I hope he stays put!!!

This dog knows where it's at.

2009-05-29T22:16:00.003-04:00

From Jalopnik. The goggles are the best part.

Awesome Dog is Awesome

I'm baa-aaaack.

2009-01-23T18:31:00.004-05:00

Going to try to make more of an effort to continue posting, yet again. We'll see how long it lasts. If you leave nice, friendly comments, I may feel compelled to do this more often. Suggestions never hurt, as well.

I built a new computer recently. Here's a quick shot of my new setup.

Mmm... Donuts... Homer Simpson Droooooooool

2008-12-21T12:24:00.003-05:00

Donuts? Donuts make Mike happy. Donuts bring out Mike's fiendishly mischievous alter ego.

Don't try this at home, kids. I'm a trained professional. No, really. (Especially if you have FWD. Donuts just aren't as cool when you have to do them in reverse.)

Art Imitating Life?

2008-11-24T16:20:00.005-05:00

In only 3 panes, this comic strip just about sums up my daily lackluster workplace productivity...

Toyo Tires '31 Studebaker

2008-11-14T14:22:00.003-05:00

The SEMA convention is wrapping up this week, and all the automotive blogs/press have been posting up gobs of eye candy. This one particularly struck my fancy.

That external steering linkage is just so badass on so many levels...

E-Ruf Graces the Pages of R&T

2008-10-29T09:46:00.002-04:00

Remember that "Teutonic EV" I posted a few days ago? It's basically a Porsche that has had its back seat and engine ripped out in favor of a large battery pack and an electric motor.

Well, it seems that R&T thought it was rather intriguing as well, as the rag has published a write-up on the famed German Porsche tuner's (Ruf) newest EV project. Enjoy!

Mini E - 150 Miles of Stylin Electric Power

2008-10-27T09:58:00.003-04:00

So it seems Mini is getting ready to release an electric version of their one and only model. The car will pack an array of batteries similar to the one utilized in the Tesla roadster. The battery pack consists of many smaller lithium ion batteries grouped into "modules". Unfortunately, the pack is so big that it takes up the entire "back seat" (Anyone who's sat in the back of one of these knows that it's hardly worthy of being called a back seat...) of the Mini.

The car will have a range of 150 miles on a full charge, and will reach 62 MPH from 0 in just 8.5 seconds. Mini is launching an experimental leasing period for the cars, with 500 of them finding their way to California, New York, and New Jersey.

I wouldn't mind leasing one of these if the price is right! (Edit 11/14/2008: Ha! $820/month for a 1 year lease? Noooooo, thank you!) No more fill-ups at the pump, and since my employer pays my electric bill, it would essentially be free transportation, aside from the monthly lease fee. That is, until they notice a huge spike in my electric bill...

In any case, it's an interesting vehicle. Now if we could only revamp all the power plants in the country to produce power in a clean and renewable way, we'd be set.

Tiny Dancer in My Blog

2008-10-23T17:30:00.005-04:00

My friend, Lizzie, posted videos of two dances that she choreographed and performed to YouTube today! They can be found here:

Uncomfortable Skin

It's My Party

She's quite the talent! And so sultry... ;o)

Also, Lizzie has submitted both dances to the Ballet Nouveau Colorado (BNC)'s dancemakers 2.0 competition. If she's selected as a finalist, BNC will fly her down to Colorado to work with their company. This would also help Lizzie to receive funding for her LizZieMoVeS 2009 projects.

Luckily for us, the competition results are based 25% on popular vote. This is judged by the number of views and ratings. So watch the video, send it to your friends, give her a 5 star rating, and post your comments!

/Shameless Plug

New Banksy Show in NYC

2008-10-21T18:03:00.002-04:00

But you wouldn't know it just by walking past it...

I just randomly discovered this today while browsing Facebook (Which is the last place I expected to see Banksy news, but apparently there's some sort of a fan page there. I'm sure, in some way, all of this is very ironic and hilarious to the man himself.).

I might have to make a stop here if I head to NYC this Saturday. Who wants to check it out?

A Teutonic EV

2008-10-20T10:33:00.002-04:00

Now this is an EV I could get excited about. Those batteries look like they probably weigh more than your typical boxer six, though, making this potentially the world's most tail-happy EV as well.

Now if only Tesla could get itself together...

The Most Hideous Car You Will See This Year

2008-08-19T15:19:00.002-04:00

Yeah... It's not real, but Nissan is planning it. Aztek V2.0?

American Perseverance

2008-08-19T15:08:00.002-04:00

GM recently ran an ad during the Olympics that featured a rather beat up truck with melted headlights. If this doesn't seem like your typical car commercial, that's probably because it's not.

Craig Monahan and his Chevy truck were at the South tower on 9/11. When it came time to leave the scene, now in a much more disastrous state than when he arrived, Craig's truck was a little worse for wear, but fired right up when he turned the key. A change of a tire was all that was needed to drive the truck back to the firehouse after the tragedy.

This article from the Daily News is a good piece about how one truck and one man embodied the spirit of American perseverance.

Big Brother is Watching

2008-08-19T13:40:00.002-04:00

This article popped up in the Washington Post a few days ago. It discusses the recent use of GPS tracking devices to record the whereabouts and migration patterns of potential criminals.

It doesn't sound like a huge deal, until you get to the part where they explain these devices were put in place on the suspect's car WITHOUT A WARRANT.

That's right, if the police suspect that you're a criminal, they are now legally free to place a tracking device on your vehicle and keep track of just how many times per week you go and hang outside that Victoria's Secret on your lunch break.

As with many "Big Brother" arguments of this type, the first thing defenders of the practice say is, "Well if you have nothing to hide, it shouldn't bother you..."

Umm, you know, there's this little document that grants people freedom from this sort of practice. It's called THE FREAKING CONSTITUTION. The idea of personal freedom was the tenant our entire nation was founded upon. Our forefathers are rolling in their graves...

This is not a new trend in American law enforcement, and one that's of particular interest to me as a purveyor of personal freedom. You might see more articles like this in the future.

A Married Man

2008-08-18T07:27:00.002-04:00

This past weekend was the wedding of my good friend, Andy, and his beautiful wife, Nicki.

It was a fantastic time, and I wish them the best for many years to come!

Andy looking a little bit surprised at this new object that's found its way to his finger:

Close Call!

2008-08-06T12:37:00.004-04:00

Not really, but kind of interesting nonetheless.

During my leisurely ride on Sunday, a giant powerplant seemed to rise out of the distance. It was made even more strange by the fact that there's mostly farmland all around there, so it looked uniquely out of place.

I snapped this photo while I was there:

Well, I was watching the news last night, and it seems that the day after I visited it, part of one of the cooling towers collapsed!

Edit: More here.

Intentional Misuse of Red Cross Symbol

2008-08-06T12:13:00.002-04:00

The recent rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and her fellow hostages from Farc captivity is a brilliant story, that played out much like a sensational movie plot. Disguises were used, double agents assisted the rescue, and everything came together to make the rescue a complete success.

After the fact, however, details have emerged to cast a dark shadow on the rescue operation.

Recently, a video of the rescue operation was leaked by members of the Colombian military. In this video, it's shown that the rescuers wore the symbol of the ICRC, otherwise known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

This misuse borders on violation of the Geneva Convention. Aid workers of the ICRC need to be able to move freely through warzones in order to provide care to wounded soldiers, civilians, hostages, etc... By posing as Red Cross workers, the rescuers violated the trust of the Farc rebels.

Some might argue that all is fair in love, and especially war. Once you start taking liberties like this, however, you have to wonder if it opens the door for others to do the same. Others that might use such deception for less than pure purposes.

In this case, the "Good Guys" misused the emblem. Who knows what could happen if the situation was reversed?

Just something to think about on this early Wednesday afternoon.

Myself, My Bike, and the Open Road

2008-08-05T15:37:00.003-04:00

Some of you may or may not know that I recently purchased a motorcycle. After a long wait to get the bike legal, and for my gear to be shipped to my apartment, I finally hopped on.

It was scary at first, getting onto the open road with cars all around me. I did a lot of slow speed riding in my apartment parking lot prior to getting plates on the bike. I'm glad I did, because I'm pretty sure that taught me to ride the bike a lot better than if I'd just hopped on it and tried to ride.

Once I got the hang of it, I started to realize just how much fun I was having. It clears my head like nothing else. The feeling of riding out in the open air, with the sun shining down on me, and the beautiful farmland scenery surrounding me, smells and all, is something that can't be matched.

There's also an intimacy between rider and machine that you don't get anywhere else. The feeling of carving through turns is phenomenal.

I'll write about it more later, but I just wanted to at least mention the fact that I recently got a bike, and have been enjoying myself immensely. :o)

(Now you know why it's been so long since my last post!)

One more self portrait from my first real ride. You can tell I'm smiling.

Olympic Swimmers Face Mind Games Before Races

2008-08-05T15:27:00.003-04:00

I found this article in the New York Times earlier today. It's pretty interesting, and gives a peak into the stressful world of a world-class olympic athlete.

Sheesh. I need to do a few more pushups...

And is that a tattoo of the Olympic rings to the right of his junk? Classy.

A Tale of Space, Espionage, and Cold War Antics

2008-07-21T14:22:00.000-04:00

I stumbled across this article on Reddit today, and thought it was worth mentioning. It tells the tale of two young Italian brothers who had front seats for the glorious display of the early space race. The article's interesting, in that it gives a viewpoint on the whole thing that you might not have otherwise heard about. I found it quite interesting, and I hope you will, too.

I'm Kind Of In Love With Zooey Deschanel

2008-07-20T21:20:00.002-04:00

And the duet she formed with M. Ward turned out to be one of my favorite new artists.

Nintendo's New Wii "MotionPlus" Sensor

2008-07-16T11:05:00.002-04:00

Before the Wii's release, I was psyched to experience its capabilities. Nintendo claimed that we would finally be immersed in our games, using real-life movements to accomplish in-game tasks. It's a sort of "Holy Grail" of gaming, leading to a deeper level of involvement, rather than simple button pushing.

Yet I was skeptical from the start. Being slightly more technically inclined than the general population, I realized what kind of technology it would take for Nintendo to accomplish this task, and at the price point they were selling the Wii for, I knew the experience wasn't going to be everything Nintendo was hyping it up to be.

Once I tried the Wii, I realized that this skepticism was well-founded. Sure, the little "Mii" swung his arm back to take a swing in Wii Bowling in some sort of approximation of what I was doing with my actual arm, but it was never the true "be the character" experience that everyone was hoping for.

Nintendo realized this, and I suppose this is what they've been working on for the past two years while their system was enjoying its continued popularity, despite its shortcomings. The MotionPlus sensor claims to provide the true 1:1 movement experience that Nintendo was shooting for from the start. I haven't tried the new add-on piece yet, but there was a hands on article over at Gizmodo today that made me think about all of this.

To me, this is kind of a band-aid solution from Nintendo, and a bit of an admission that the original Wii-Mote wasn't the be-all, end-all game controller that they claimed it to be. I'm anxious to try this new add-on, but in reality, shouldn't this have been included in the original hardware? Perhaps the Wii would've been a better overall product if they had delayed its launch a couple more years to improve the hardware.

Budweiser Becoming a Belgian Brew?

2008-07-14T14:24:00.005-04:00

Well, not really, but they are now owned by InBev, the same company that owns Stella Artois and a host of other beer brands. A sad day for American beer history, or a sad day for Belgian beer history? You be the judge.

New Job, New Home, New Posts

2008-07-14T14:19:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since my last post (16 days by my count!), so I thought I'd fill in those who might read this but not talk to me on a regular basis.

My company has relocated me to Pennsylvania to work on a project out here. I'll be working in Danville, and living in Bloomsburg. The assistant engineer on the project prior to me submitted her resignation, so I was asked to take over. Fortunately, I was also given her apartment, which I'll add is mighty sweet.

I'll add more details about the new home and new job in a future post when I have more time and some worthwhile photos. Until then, I'm going to try to resume my usual couple posts a day now that I'm a little more settled into my position out here.

Did That Car Just Wink At Me?

2008-06-28T12:05:00.004-04:00

BMW has created a new concept vehicle, affectionately known as "GINA". The car is revolutionary, in that it does away with the traditional metal "skin" of the vehicle, and replaces it with a taut, flexible material. I hesitate to call it fabric, because I'm sure there's a lot more that went into engineering this material than your favorite flannel shirt.

For me, the coolest thing about this vehicle is the mechanisms underneath the skin. It must have taken a complex system of linkages and motors to shift the shape of the car.

There is an article about it from the New York Times here. Below, I've embedded a neat video with the lead designer, the infamous Chris Bangle, explaining his vision for this car.

NYC Waterfalls - First Real Photos

2008-06-26T16:02:00.002-04:00

The New York Times has a gallery of the first photos to be taken of the new NYC Waterfalls exhibit along the East River. It looks pretty spectacular, and I think I may need to take a trip out to see them this weekend.

Urban Trials

2008-06-18T19:29:00.003-04:00

More info about trials here.

And if you liked that video, here's something a little, hmm, classier.

Firefox 3.0 Released Today

2008-06-17T15:20:00.002-04:00

Firefox 3.0 is being officially released to the public today. I've only just installed it, so I haven't had a chance to really dig into the new features yet.

Lifehacker has an article about the top 10 new features in Firefox 3.0. My favorite one so far is the "Smart Location Bar":

"Like a personal assistant who telepathically knows when you're going to need just the right phone number (or Starbucks fix), Firefox 3's address bar, now dubbed the Smart Location Bar, helps you get to your frequently visited, or recently discovered, sites in super-quick fashion. That application you just read about on Lifehacker, but can't remember the name? Type "li" into your address bar, and Firefox instantly pulls the relevant sites from your history. The bar also learns through repetition, so the next time you start searching with "li," it knows you're looking for Lifehacker, not Linux."

Charging by the Byte

2008-06-16T14:13:00.002-04:00

This article was published in the Technology section of the New York Times yesterday.

It's bad news for users like me, who use A LOT of bandwidth. My torrent client is pretty much always open, except for those few hours at night where I bask in the rare silence that occurs when I shut down my computer (and if it wasn't so damn loud, I'd just leave it on while I sleep, too.).

ISP's are getting killed trying to keep up with the demand that high-bandwidth users place on their systems. Especially with our ancient backbones here in the US. In japan, the average home internet connection is somewhere around 100 Mbps. Here in the US, it's more like 10. My service from Cablevision is advertised as 30 Mbps, but it rarely hits that speed. It only comes close during the hours when no one else is online, or if I happen to hit a really good server, since you can only download as fast as someone else is uploading.

So what's causing this sudden increase in demand for bandwidth amongst internet users? Contrary to what you might think, it's not really people like me, who download large files over Bittorrent. No, the people that are breaking the internet are those who play streaming video files over the internet. Yes, those tiny, crappy quality streaming videos on sites like Hulu and network TV websites are KILLING THE INTERNET. Why, you might ask? Well, much like me, people don't like being forced to adhere to some arbitrary television schedule. It's much more convenient to time shift your viewing. TiVo has done it for ages, and those wise to Bittorrent have been doing it for ages, yet television networks and other content providers are just starting to get wise to the fact that there's a lot of money to be made in providing ad-supported entertainment for free.

And people love it. They're eating this shit up. They can just go to their favorite bookmarked website and catch up on the latest episodes of their favorite shows, or reruns of classics. It's convenient, there's no software to learn, etc... I can't stand watching these videos, due to the fact that their quality is often akin to a garbled YouTube video. The video is chock full of artifacts (anomalies that appear on the screen that shouldn't be there), and the sound is worse than AM radio. I much prefer to download high resolution videos that were recorded from the actual source (usually over-the-air HDTV) compressed into smaller files with a decent codec like DivX, along with true MP3 or AC3 audio that could be mistaken for the real thing.

If you made it through all that tech babble, congrats. Basically, what I'm saying is that the fact that people are willing to settle for these crappy videos of their shows has made it extremely profitable for networks to experiment with a new medium. And no one told the internet providers that this was going to be so damn popular. Now, they're trying to keep their level of service at the same level it was at before, all while juggling the increased bandwidth demands this has put on them.

So what's the solution here? Well, from the ISP standpoint, it's kind of obvious. Charge for usage, just like cell phone plans or car leases. The more you use, the more you pay per month. And if you use more than your plan's set allotment, then the ISP rejoices at the fact that they can suddenly charge you exorbitant overage fees, just like cell phone companies do.

What's the problem with this? The internet is full of CRAP. A fairly large proportion of the bandwidth that passes over your connection is crap. Ads, useless images, poor web design, etc... Do we really want to spend our precious LIMITED bandwidth on this stuff? I, for one, am completely and absolutely opposed to this concept of varied rate plans dependent on usage for this sole reason. In its current state, a "per byte" rate plan is totally wrong for the internet.

Totally Shameless

2008-06-16T12:30:00.002-04:00

At this point, I'd like to apologize to all of my female readers. (It's ok, you can admit it, you like this video, too. It's not weird, it's ok to experiment. That's it, touch her bottom... Gently... Caress it...)

Whoa, hey, what happened there?

Some of you might have heard of a little video game called Wii Fit for the Nintendo Wii. Well, this video (Entitled: Why every guy should buy their girlfriend Wii Fit) was posted on the internet a while ago, and I loved it when I saw it back then, but neglected to post it here. Well, today I stumbled upon it again (just stumbled out of nowhere, I swear!) and I've decided it's too glorious to not post here.

Like I said, totally shameless.

Signs of Our Impending Doom

2008-06-13T10:17:00.002-04:00

Can someone please explain to the British government why it's a bad idea to name your defense satellites "SkyNet"? Thanks.

This Apartment is Like an Adventure Game

2008-06-12T13:58:00.006-04:00

Anyone that's ever played the classic Lucas Arts adventure games knows how frustrating it can be to figure out how the game programmer wants you to use some ordinary object to perform some extraordinary task or open some lock, or whatever.

The classic example I can think of is in Maniac Mansion, where you had to record some sort of sound to a cassette tape and then use that tape to break a chandelier and get a key or something.

Anyways, Eric Clough, a renowned NYC architect, has designed an apartment with a built in "scavenger hunt." It's pretty epic, and I'd love to have a go at it.

Update: Link changed.

NYC Weekend Recap

2008-06-10T09:58:00.005-04:00

On Saturday night, Vanessa and I ventured to NYC to meet up with Mike and catch a Norwegian film called "Reprise." It was one of those nights that kind of takes you on an unexpected adventure.

We met at the Chatham train station, in the 95 degree heat. I had a pounding headache, bordering on a migraine, but I was determined to endure it. I seem to remember it disappearing right around the time I got back into the air conditioning on the train.

The ride to the city started off like any other train ride. Until we got to the Maplewood station (Also known as the tilted station.). Apparently, there was some sort of a scuffle or disagreement over a bicycle. The police had to be summoned, and we had to wait until they arrived. Well, let me tell you this: I never want to get shot in Maplewood, because we sat there for about 45 minutes before the cops showed up. I know this, because there was one of those bank clocks outside the train window, taunting us with the passing minutes. Vanessa was screaming inside her head, much like Elaine in that episode of Seinfeld where she gets stuck on the subway. She knew that the movie was starting at 9:00, with or without us, and to miss the start of the movie would be a serious detriment to the evening's plans. I had given up on worrying about it, as I knew my worrying wasn't going to make the train go any faster.

To top it all off, there was a crazy crackhead woman sitting in front of us. She chugged an entire party mug of beer as she got on the train, and then proceeded to bang said party mug on the window in her frustration at the long wait, screaming about how "this is some bull****!" She even peered over the seat to have a word with Vanessa, who did her best to not look like a frightened deer. Once the train started moving again, someone stole her seat, and she walked back and forth along the train looking for her bag. I could've sworn she went back and forth about at least 15 times. In hindsight, I should have been less of a jerk and told her that some punks had stolen her seat and that her bag was in the seat ahead of us. In all honesty, the German in me was getting a kick out of the schadenfreude.

We finally got to Penn Station, and walked up to the street level. We were too late to chance the subway, so we decided to catch a cab. We quickly walked past the suckers in line for cabs outside Penn station, and made our way down the street a little bit to flag a cab of our own. Luckily, a few people were getting out right at Penn station, and we were able to grab their cab as they got out.

We drove downtown, and made it just in time to meet up with Mike and catch the previews. The movie was definitely enjoyable, if a bit out there.

Afterwards, we made our way to an upscale diner in the East Village known as 7A. Vanessa got the biggest bowl of vegetables ("The Healthy Bowl") I've ever seen in my life. The girl seated at the table behind me even muttered, "That's a big salad!" as it was brought out. I got some delicious tortilla chips and some of the best guacamole I've had in a long time. Mike had an Avocado Tuna Melt that looked equally delicious. The restaurant had a nice atmosphere. I always enjoy taking a trip to NYC, because I often find myself at some interesting places.

While we were sitting there, eating our late night meal, a trio of horns (And tuba. Is a tuba a horn?) put on an impromptu performance to serenade the diners outside. The big windows in 7A gave us a nice view of the spectacle, and just enough sound came through to make the atmosphere that much more phantasmal.

New iPhone Details Announced (And Mike's Kinda Disappointed...)

2008-06-09T19:29:00.003-04:00

Today was a big day in the Apple community. The 2nd Generation iPhone was officially announced. We got what was expected, 3G capability, A-GPS, the app store, Enterprise support, and games.

Not much of this is that much of an improvement over the original iPhone, though. Most of it is software updates. And with the 2.0 firmware that includes all the new software updates, the only real features that differentiate this new version from the old one are 3G capability and A-GPS.

Not only that, but the back of the phone is going to be completely plastic now. This bodes well for the reception and call quality, yet doesn't say so much for the build quality.

The price for the data plan has also jumped up $10/month. I expected this with the 3G data plan, but I was hoping that AT&T would take pity on us. It's not terrible, I suppose, it could've been raised even more and people would have still paid it.

So what else was left out that people have been clamoring for? Here's a portion of the list from Gizmodo:

- No 32 GB model.
- No better camera.
- No MMS.
- No front-facing camera for video conferencing.
- No video recording.

The good news? $199 for the 8GB model. That's half the price of the old one! And the 16GB model comes in at $299. AT&T is subsidizing the price of this new model, hence the lower price. Of course, this also means you'll have to sign up for a new 2-year contract, but apparently buyers of the original iPhone should have no problem "overlapping" their current contracts. That means you won't need to sign up for yet another 2 years, making for a total of 3-4 years, but instead are only committed for 2 years after the renewal date.

It will be released July 11th. I'm settling in for the (seemingly) long wait. :o)

Oh yeah, this "MobileMe" thing sounds pretty cool, too. Too bad it costs $99/year.

Urban Mountaineering

2008-06-06T09:09:00.002-04:00

As I was cooking my dinner last night, I turned on the television to kill some time while I waited for a pot of water to boil. On NBC, a man was climbing the NY Times building without a harness. I thought it was the world-famous Frenchman, Alain Robert, also known as "Spiderman", since he's known for these kinds of stunts.

It turns out Robert had climbed the building earlier that day, though. The man I was witnessing scale the NY Times building was 32 year old Renaldo Clarke, of Brooklyn. I'm more impressed with his performance, since no one knows anything about this guy. Is he an accomplished climber? Just some crazy dude who decided to follow suit after Robert? My curiosity is certainly piqued. I think this is a more interesting story than the Robert story.

Stuff Like This Doesn't Get Enough Media Coverage

2008-06-05T12:51:00.004-04:00

These are some breathtaking photos of Saturn and its moons. Stuff like this doesn't get enough media coverage these days, and I think that's part of the reason NASA is so underfunded. That, and the U.S.'s tendency to favor defense spending over scientific research.

Every day, we are making tremendous scientific breakthroughs, yet the new Sex and the City movie probably got more press coverage than the Phoenix Mars Lander (More about this in the future. Long story short: The Phoenix may have landed right on a giant block of ice covered by dust. This is a huge deal.)

Pound It!

2008-06-04T22:14:00.003-04:00

What a way to celebrate. It made me smile. :o)

Well that was quick.

2008-06-04T20:55:00.003-04:00

Wow, today I sold my iPhone for my asking price fairly quickly. I posted it on Craigslist at about 1:20, and had the cash in my hand at about 8:00.

The buyer barely looked it over, too. The whole process was fairly painless. That is, aside from having to hand over my precious... My sweet, sweet precious...

So why would I part with this object of my affection? Well, there's some new hotness coming out very soon.

Selling My iPhone

2008-06-04T13:20:00.002-04:00

I'm selling my iPhone, if anyone is interested.

Here is the Craigslist link.

Finally...

2008-06-04T10:32:00.002-04:00

Last night, Barack Obama clinched the nomination to be the Presidential candidate of the Democratic party. This is a milestone in U.S. history, as it's the first time a black man or woman has been chosen as the nominee for either major political party.

Now the question remains, is Obama a strong enough candidate to defeat McCain in November? I would say that he seems to have more public and media support than McCain, yet the rift that has been torn across the Democratic party may create problems for Obama down the line. Many of Clinton's supporters have been quoted as saying that they would vote for John McCain come November before they would ever vote for Obama.

To me, this is the epitome of stupidity. "Our candidate didn't win, so we're going to vote for someone whose policy starkly contrasts our candidate's, rather than THE OTHER FREAKING DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE."

I think the people saying this are the same people wearing "Clinton '08" stickers on their foreheads. Gawker seems to think they belong to some strange Clinton cult. I think they might be right.

WTF of the Day

2008-06-02T13:25:00.002-04:00

Saw this woman pull into a gas station as I was about to leave today. Yes, that is a bird on the passenger seat headrest...

Guerrilla Gardening

2008-06-02T10:22:00.004-04:00

The L.A. Times has an interesting article about "Geurrilla Gardening" today. I'm lovin this concept. It's socially disobedient, environmentally friendly, and an urban beautification project, all rolled into one.

More at GeurrillaGardening.org

Mozilla (Firefox) Attempting to Break World Record

2008-05-30T15:12:00.003-04:00

Mozilla, the developer responsible for Firefox, is going to attempt to set a new world record for the most software downloaded in one day.

Firefox 3 is going to be released sometime next month, and to commemorate the ocassion, Mozilla is going to keep track of how many times it is downloaded in a 24 hour period. If you don't already use Firefox, this might be a good time to start. It's filled with more features than Internet Explorer (useful features, at that), and it's also more secure and user friendly.

And how can you resist that cute little download badge they made for the release?

Iggy Pop's Concert Rider

2008-05-30T10:49:00.003-04:00

This was posted over at The Smoking Gun, and I've gotta say I loved it. I've heard of some ridiculous riders in the past. If I recall correctly, Led Zeppelin requests no green M&M's, so that they would know whether or not the promoter actually read their rider. Other bands have requested items that are equally absurd, I imagine, but the rider for Iggy Pop and the Stooges is something else altogether. Apparently written by roadie Jos Grain, the Iggy rider is peppered with such items as, "We need one (1) monitor man who speaks good English and is not afraid of death."

$4 Gas is Good For You

2008-05-28T13:13:00.002-04:00

Thomas Friedman of The New York Times discusses why gas should cost $4 a gallon, if not more.

I can personally relate to this, as I'm spending upwards of $300/month on gas alone. This does not count the wear and tear on my car, or the opportunity cost of sitting in traffic and dealing with all of the cell-phone-jabbering, lane-wandering morons that seem to populate the NJ Parkway.

We as Americans in general thrive on this "commuting" lifestyle. From what others have told me, and from what I've gathered from world media, this is a uniquely American phenomenon. Elsewhere in the world, people tend to centrally locate themselves near their place of work. I'd like to make a lifestyle change and drastically reduce my commuting time, and my dependence on an automobile for my daily work transportation altogether. Because of this, I've been looking at apartments in Red Bank. Two of the apartments I've looked at were close enough to the office that I could ride a bike every day. Not only would I eliminate my dependence on gas to get me to work every day, but I could keep myself in shape as well.

Now if I could only figure out a way to afford these pricey Red Bank apartments. The extra $300/month sure will help, but I'm not sure it's enough.

Flavor Tripping

2008-05-28T10:31:00.003-04:00

I found this article interesting, if for no other reason than the new term, "Flavor Tripping."

Apparently, a fruity berry native to West Africa known as Synsepalum dulcificum causes the taste buds to "reprogram" and interpret many tastes as sweeter than they would normally be.

Also, the intro picture to the article was delightfully creepy yet hilarious.

Bruce Gilden - NYC Street Photographer

2008-05-26T21:15:00.005-04:00

I love this guy's style, he's very in your face. It's so invasive, but it captures something so unique.

More here.

Trash As Art

2008-05-24T14:50:00.003-04:00

These sculptures from Tim Nobel and Sue Webster appear to be piles of trash at first, yet they create something new and brilliant when viewed in a different light.

Yes, He Is On Facebook.

2008-05-24T14:42:00.003-04:00

So guess who I stumbled upon on Facebook recently? I haven't added a friend request yet, but I'm contemplating it. My reluctance stems from the fact that I'm pretty sure I don't want him to know anything about me, yet I'm eager to know what sort of life this crazy 6 foot tall rapping jew leads.

Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital (Old)

2008-05-22T16:48:00.004-04:00

Vanessa's comment:

"I'd like to see pictures of the spooky Greystone of yore. Get on that."

Yes ma'am.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greystone_Park_Psychiatric_Hospital
http://flickr.com/search/?q=gpph&w=all
http://flickr.com/search/?q=greystone+hospital&s=int
http://designedbreakdown.com/photo/stoner_state/index.html

I hope that's enough for now. If you want more, let me know.

Also, if anyone wants to risk a criminal record and visit this place @ night with me after I get a new camera, please let me know.

How I Spent My Wednesday/Thursday @ Work

2008-05-22T11:00:00.003-04:00

[Picture Removed Due to Security Concerns]

Yesterday, I had to go to the new Greystone Psychiatric Hospital that my company has built just down the road from the famed spooky old Greystone of yore.

I always wanted to go check out the old one and do some photo exploration. I think that might be frowned upon now that my company counts them as one of their customers.

The purpose of my time here the past 2 days has been to test the security systems that appear at all the nurse's stations throughout the facility. It's pretty boring.

What's really weird is having to walk around the facility. I'm sure it would be creepier were there patients here, but it's kind of creepy in another way.

Yesterday, the project exec took me aside to see one of the "comfort rooms". Basically, it's a padded room. Weird...

The attached photo is my view from the nurse's station here.

Hungry for Change

2008-05-19T12:01:00.002-04:00

This photo is making its rounds on the internet today. It was taken at a rally in Oregon, where 75,000 supporters turned out to stand behind Obama.

I don't necessarily agree with all of his policies, but you've got to admit this country looks hungry for change. All those faces in the crowd focused on one man.

I Love These "Punny" Headlines

2008-05-19T11:59:00.000-04:00

"Turkey Readies to Go Cold Turkey"

Animated Street Art

2008-05-16T12:36:00.003-04:00

Wow, is all I can say to this video. It ignites both my love for interesting street art and affinity for quirky animation. Props to the Bologna-based artist, Blu.

20-Something Frustrations

2008-05-16T12:19:00.001-04:00

This article resonated with me for some reason. Perhaps due to my
frustrations with the post-college dating scene.

http://origin.observer.com/2008/brooklyn-borough-15

Something Tells Me This is Going to Be an Internet Phenomenon

2008-05-15T10:50:00.002-04:00

So disturbing. So many conflicted emotions. Part of me wants to laugh, and a much larger part wants to crawl deep into a cave somewhere and swear off humans for life, conversing only with the bears, until, of course, they inevitably eat me.

http://www.manbabies.com/

[Chatham] Police Nab Cross-Dressing Bank Suspect

2008-05-14T17:12:00.003-04:00

Tonight, I arrived home and picked up the Independent Press that someone had chucked onto my lawn. This was the top headline, front and center.

I couldn't make this shit up. Who'da thunk it in Chatham, huh?

"Chatham Police last week arrested a 39-year-old Jersey City man and charged him with trying to rob the Commerce Bank on Main Street. According to the FBI, after his arrest Huy Trong Luong admitted that he had committed a string of similar bank robberies dressed as a woman.
The latest incident began on Monday, May 5, at 12:42 p.m. when Chatham Police received a 9-1-1 call that a bank robbery had just occurred at Commerce Bank at 425 Main St. As police responded to the scene they were given a description of the suspect as well as his vehicle, a green mini-van. As police approached the bank they observed someone who they believed was the suspect exiting the parking lot in a green mini-van.

Officer Daryle Kelly pulled the van over on Kings Road, but after a brief check of the driver he let him go. Moments later, further information developed at the scene indicated that the vehicle and driver that Officer Kelly had stopped fit the description of the person involved in the bank robbery.

Officer Kelly was again able to pull the vehicle over, this time with the help of other Chatham police officers as well as Sgt. Dennis Lam of the Madison Police Department.

The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Huy Trong Luong, was arrested without incident and transported to police headquarters for further investigation. According to police, Mr. Luong was identified by the bank teller as the individual who attempted to rob her only minutes earlier.

According to FBI agents, Mr. Luong approached the teller and passed her a note that read, "Empty all your money into this bag. I want all the banded 100's, 50's, 20's and 10's too. Do not make any stupid move or you will get hurt. When you are done, put this paper back into the bag too. Be quick, you got less than two minutes before somebody will get shot."

The teller hid underneath the counter and yelled for help, at which point Mr. Luong fled the bank.

Police say the suspect had entered the bank wearing a black wig, sunglasses, a black Dolce & Gabbana hat, a black jacket and bright red lipstick. All items were later found in his mini-van.

In addition to the disguise, police also recovered the cash and a hoax bomb in the van. The "bomb," which appeared to be three sticks of dynamite with fuses wrapped together, in reality consisted of Roman candle fireworks, officials said. According to the FBI, Mr. Luong confessed that he used the fake bomb to threaten tellers in bank robberies he had committed in Connecticut.

After his arrest and under questioning by Special Agents of the FBI, Mr. Luong admitted he had committed another seven bank robberies, four of them in New Jersey and three in Connecticut, as well as one other attempted robbery in New Jersey.

The FBI said Mr. Luong admitted to having robbed a Wachovia Bank in Greenwich, Conn., on Jan. 11, a Commerce Bank in Westport, Conn., on Jan. 13, a Provident Bank in Toms River on Jan. 22, a Commerce Bank in New Canaan, Conn., on April 21, a Commerce Bank in Stafford Township on April 28, a Commerce Bank in Bergenfield on April 30 and a Commerce Bank in Mahwah on May 4. In addition, he attempted to rob the Wachovia Bank in Highland Park on April 26, but the attempt failed. The total amount stolen in all the robberies was approximately $38,000.

As of last week Mr. Luong was only charged with the attempted robbery at Commerce Bank in Chatham. The investigation is continuing and other bank robbery charges are anticipated. The single attempted bank robbery charge carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

Mr. Luong, a native of Vietnam, was held without bail after being deemed a flight risk and a danger to the public. At the time of his arrest, Mr. Luong was on parole for aggravated assault. In addition, authorities said the suspect has a prior conviction for illegal possession of firearms.

Members from the Chatham Borough Detective Bureau, the Morris County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Section, Morris County Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation all responded to the Chatham crime scene."

New Nick Walker Piece in Williamsburg

2008-05-14T08:27:00.002-04:00

Nick Walker has a new piece on the side of the Williamsburg hipster hangout known as the Roebling Tea Room. It features his same trademark "Vandal" tag that we saw on the side of Thunder Jacksons. Speculation about Banksy connections continues.

This Guy Clearly Has His Priorities Straight

2008-05-13T09:34:00.003-04:00

From BBC News this morning:

"A car driver in Australia has been fined for strapping down his beer rather than his young child."

Interesting Street Art

2008-05-13T09:25:00.004-04:00

If you didn't know already, I'm a fan of unusual and interesting street art. I say "street art" rather than "graffiti" because this stuff is beyond the usual idiotic sharpie "tagging" that you usually see around the city. Usually there's more to street art than simply displaying the artist's name on a surface.

This guy does the kind of street art that makes you stop in your tracks and say, "Wait a second, something's not right here..." I like it. A lot of it is "mixed media" type of stuff, rather than simply paint on a surface.

Ginormous Panoramic Photographs of Various Cities

2008-05-12T22:07:00.003-04:00

I did not take these, but I thought they were pretty damn impressive. Don't know how long the servers will survive, so you might want to save them if you like them.

Montreal, Quebec:

San Francisco, California:

Caracas, Venezuela:

Kush Lounge

2008-05-11T13:11:00.004-04:00

Last night, Vanessa, Brandon and I had the pleasure of meeting up with James Rieser in New York City last night. We convened on Kush Lounge, a stylish hookah bar on the Lower East Side.

It was good to see James after a long time, and the night was amazing. Kush provided a nice start to the evening, with cool music and a sampling of some mellow rose shisha.

Unfortunately, we missed the last train out of Penn Station and had quite an adventure getting home. Let's just say we didn't get to Chatham until about 4 AM. Still, it was a fun night, and I look forward to doing it again.

Legally Blind Man, 78, Bowls Perfect Game

2008-05-11T13:04:00.004-04:00

The Dude would be proud. This only furthers my belief that bowling holds some sort of Zen secret.

The Bendito Machine

2008-05-11T12:57:00.001-04:00

An interesting bit of animation I found on digg today.

Anteaters Are Hilarious/Scary

2008-05-10T13:55:00.001-04:00

I think I'm slowly developing an Anteater obsession/complex.

More Banksy Confusion/Drama

2008-05-09T16:50:00.003-04:00

You may remember my earlier post (And if you don't, it's actually right below this one, making linking to that previous post completely pointless! But I did it anyways. So there.) that made a passing reference to a recent "street art" piece in NYC that many mistook for a Banksy, but was actually painted by artist Nick Walker.

Well, now some are claiming that Nick Walker is Banksy.

True? Probably not. I don't think the real Banksy would admit that he was Banksy to anyone but his closest friends, and while they have a similar style, there are differences that stand out between the two.

In any case, this is just stirring pot of recent Banksy sitings in New York and Los Angeles.

The New York City Waterfalls

2008-05-09T15:04:00.002-04:00

Stumbled upon this while reading about the Banksy piece that turned out to not be a Banksy piece today.

Artist Olafur Eliasson, know for his previous work in the London Tate Modern, will be installing man made waterfalls along the East River.

Wikipedia has this to say:

"Eliasson has been commissioned by The Public Art Fund and New York City to create four man-made waterfalls, ranging in a height from 90 - 120 ft, in New York Harbor. The installation will run from mid-July to mid-October 2008."

More here.

Trying Out This Mobile Blogging Nonsense

2008-05-09T12:50:00.000-04:00

Blogger let's you do updates via email, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Here's what I need to ship out today. This isn't even all of it.
Back to work!

This Can't Be Good

2008-05-09T11:41:00.004-04:00

This was posted over at Reddit today. The caption was, "Anteaters wearing sweaters. Where is your God now?"

To me, this is a sign of the coming apocalypse.

I Just Really Wanted to Post a Platypus

2008-05-09T11:17:00.003-04:00

Platypuses (Platypi?) are awesome.

Chatham Township Ranked #1 in NJ Monthly's "TopTowns 2008"

2008-05-09T10:40:00.002-04:00

I missed this when it was published back in February, but I found it kind of interesting.

NJ Monthly ranked Chatham Township as the #1 town in NJ to live in.

Chatham Borough ranked #24.

This should add some fuel to the "Borough vs. Township" debate.

Great Tits Cope Well With Warming

2008-05-09T10:21:00.003-04:00

When I saw this headline, the last thing I expected to read was a story about thriving British birds.

Whoa, I Still Have This Thing?

2008-05-08T21:29:00.003-04:00

So, a while ago, I said I was going to start updating this again. Then I put it off. Then I put it off some more. Well, let's get it started again. I don't know what I'm going to use it for, but watch this space. Maybe something amazing will pop up. Maybe I'll succumb to my laziness and forget to update it for another, let's see here, whoa, 32 months? Sheesh. Maybe I should just start anew.

No! I will CONTINUE! Now to find something interesting.

Let's start with this photo I took while waiting for the train.

2 Week Blog Break

2005-09-12T16:01:00.000-04:00

Well, as most of you have probably noticed (and by most of you, I mean the whole 2 people that actually read this on a very infrequent basis), I haven't posted here in a good 2 weeks. I know, I'm a jerk. But give me a break, ok? School just started, I've been busy starting all my new classes and doing the phenomenal amount of work that comes with going to engineering school. In my free time, I never thought to post here, so hence the absence of new posts. I have some good material that will be arriving here soon, so stay tuned! Oh, and I encourage all those who still actually read this to POST COMMENTS! It'll take you like two seconds, geez. And who knows, you might just make my day. ;o)

New Camera

2005-08-28T09:15:00.000-04:00

My new camera came a few days ago. I've been really busy with trying to get all set up for school, so I haven't had a lot of time to mess around with it. I did get a chance to take these two pictures right outside my college house, though.

Moved In

2005-08-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I last posted here. Things were crazy at work this past week. Friday was my last day, and I had a lot to finish up before they would unlock my shackles. When Friday rolled around, and it was time to go, everyone was really nice. I went out to lunch with some co-workers on Thursday, and then again with different co-workers on Friday. Everyone at work was so nice, and wished me well this year at Lehigh. I'm going to miss all of them.

Saturday morning was intense. I don't think you realize how much junk you have until you try to cram it all into a car and move it from one place to another. Thankfully, I had already made a couple trips out here, so it really wasn't that bad. As of right now, I have no desk, so I'm using this cabinet as a computer desk. Today, I think I'll do some desk shopping.

(Damnit, my door keeps opening itself. The doorknob on it is such that the springy latch thing doesn't go into the door frame. In fact, there's not even a hole for it on the door frame. There might as well not be a doorknob at all. I think I'm going to have to solve that with a latch of some sort.)

Sorry for that tangent. So I got most of my stuff into my room, and made my bed, so it's starting to feel more and more like my room instead of just a random room that happens to have all my stuff in it. I took some quick pictures to give you guys an idea of what it looks like.

Google Talk

2005-08-24T14:07:00.001-04:00

Today, Google announced a new program called Google Talk. There's been a similar program out for a long time, called Skype, but now that it has the Google name on it, I'm predicting it will take off. It's basically an instant messaging client with the ability to make voice "calls" over the internet. All you need is a Gmail account (Which is no longer invite only, I might add.) and a microphone and speakers. A cheap headphone/microphone headset would work even better. Kind of interesting, if anyone wants to give it a try, add me to your list.

Junkmail Haiku

2005-08-23T12:08:00.000-04:00

I know this isn't actually a haiku, but I thought this piece of junk email I got this morning was kind of interesting... Here's the body of the message:

you miserable letters steps
added find wife
fascinate sandwich or development respect reading

Crazy spammers...

Max's Triumphant Return!

2005-08-23T08:20:00.000-04:00

It's been a long and hard winter/summer without our favorite goofball. Max has been trekking across the Australian outback, in search of wild eyed koala bears (you know, the eucaplyptus...) and boxing kangaroos. It sounds like he had a great time, and we were glad to have him back, even if it was for one night and one night only. The evening began with a listening session at Riddleberger's, progressed into a visit to Vanessa at the Office, and finished off with many bottles of beer at Charlie's house. What a great night! Max, you'll be missed, have a great time in Ithaca this year!

On another note, guess who I talked to last night? Elliot! Funny story, actually... Earlier that night, I was telling my family that Max was coming home after a long time of being all over the globe. They asked where Elliot was, and I said I had no idea, I hadn't heard from him in about a year or so. Well, apparently the Druckers were kind enough to send my family a post card when they moved, and their phone number was on it. My mom called up Elliot, and before I knew what she was doing, handed the phone to me. He's now living with the 'rents in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is going to college. Anyone down for a road trip to AZ?

Concert Photos and Ness

2005-08-22T08:34:00.000-04:00

I finally got the pictures from Wednesday night developed over the weekend. They came out blurrier than I was hoping for, but I kind of expected it. In low light, you have to use longer shutter speeds, so you tend to get motion blur or camera shake in your photos. Next time I'll have to use a more sensitive film, so I can use shorter shutter times but still get the right amount of light. Most of the pictures are up on my Flickr page, but all of them are here.

I also snapped this great shot of Vanessa on that same night. I'm really happy with how this one turned out, I think it's one of the best photos I've taken. I think I'll call it, "Waiting."

Intense

2005-08-18T23:46:00.000-04:00

The show at the Bowery Poetry Club was awesome last night. I took a whole bunch of pictures, but I have yet to get them all developed. As soon as I do, the good ones will be up on my Flickr page, and I'll probably post them here, too.

I had a pretty intense night. I don't even know how to describe it. Someone close to me is going through some very tough times right now, and there's nothing I can really do but let her know that I'm here for her. I look at the way I feel, and how intense it's been for me, and I just can't even imagine what she's going through right now. I don't really want to get into it, for the sake of her privacy, but I just want to let everyone that reads this know that I hold all my friends near and dear. If any of you guys ever need anything, you know where to find me. There are few things I won't do for a friend that's truly in need.

"One Last Hurrah"

2005-08-17T08:18:00.000-04:00

Summer's winding down. I have only a week and a half left before I venture back out to PA for school. Everyone else seems to be leaving quite soon, as well. Mike's band, Quintus is playing at the Bowery Poetry Club again tonight. When I talked to Vanessa yesterday, she called this "our last hurrah." So let's make it awesome. Let's have tons of fun. Let's get a little drunk. I can't wait to see you guys tonight!

Now With More Pretty!

2005-08-15T16:53:00.000-04:00

The blog needed some spicing up, so I took to the CSS mattresses and busted out that cool header you see above. It'll probably change some more until I decide on something that's cool enough, but for now, I think it's a definite improvement over the previous drab header.

Charlie's Suggestion

2005-08-14T15:57:00.000-04:00

So I was hanging out with Charlie on Saturday night, and somehow the topic of this "blog" came up. He thought it was a pretty cool idea, but suggested that I let everyone post to it, rather than just me. Now, I don't think anyone's really reading this thing on a regular basis yet, but I do want this to eventually become a place that people look forward to checking regularly. I think that I have to make it more interesting and let more people know about it before it becomes that, though. But I digress. We can use this post as a test to see who is actually reading it. You can leave your opinions on whether or not I should allow this in the "comments" section of this post. It doesn't require you to register or anything, just click "other" where it says "choose your identity" and write in your name or a nickname or something. If people decide that they want to make posts in addition to mine, then I'll create an account for each of you, and we can turn this into more of a community thing, rather than a Snoots thing. Let me know what you all think!

Amazon hacked, Mike cries... :o(

2005-08-12T12:49:00.000-04:00

Well, this morning I was browsing Amazon.com, when I came upon the digital camera that I'd been wanting for a while for a very, very nice price. I assumed that they had maybe made a mistake on the price, but that I might be able to get it for that price anyways. So I ordered it. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

After watching my order get canceled, I called Amazon to ask what was up. Their outsourced Indian support guys told me to call the vendor. Amazon has now become so big that they use secondary vendors to sell some of their products. Now, I should've known this was strange when I ordered it, but the vendor was "Hilltop RV Superstore." What's an RV store doing selling digital cameras? I don't know, and I don't care, that shit is cheap, man! Stupid, stupid, stupid...

"Hilltop RV Superstore, how maybe I help you?"
"Yes, I ordered a digital camera from you guys through Amazon.com earlier this morning, and it appears my order has been canceled?"
"No you didn't. We deal exclusively in RV sales. Amazon was hacked."
"Excuse me?"
"Amazon was hacked. We don't sell digital cameras. I would've thought that was obvious."

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

So is my credit card number now in the hands of some nefarious punk about to go on a shopping spree with my chump change bank account? I don't know, let's call Amazon's customer support again and see what's up. After speaking with another outsourced Indian guy, he told me that they don't transmit the credit card data to the secondary vendor and that my credit card information is "quite safe." He also had no clue that Amazon was hacked, and couldn't supply me with a record of the hack in case my bank needed it. Right...

Time to call the bank. I explained this whole situation to a very nice man by the name of Mark Lewis. Mark explained the whole credit/debit card transaction thing to me and assured me that he personally would check to make sure that my account was not charged. In fact, he's calling me tomorrow, a Saturday morning, to let me know the status of everything, and if I have anything to worry about. Top notch customer service if you ask me, much better than those guys over at Amazon.

So what's today's lesson? If it's too good to be true...

A Few of my Favorite Sites

2005-08-12T08:08:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd share a few of my favorite web places with all of you.

Geeky:

http://www.slashdot.org
http://www.engadget.com
http://www.digg.com
http://www.theregister.co.uk/
http://www.tomshardware.com
http://www.anandtech.com
http://www.gamegirladvance.com/
http://www.joystiq.com
http://www.firingsquad.com
http://www.techbargains.com
http://www.woot.com

Automotive:

http://www.autoblog.com
http://www.vwvortex.com

News:

http://www.cnn.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
http://www.newyorktimes.com

Yeah, there was really no point to this post. Feel free to add your own favorites in the comments.

The object of my desire...

2005-08-11T19:07:00.000-04:00

My car is beginning to die. She's getting weak in her old age. At this point, I think she needs more money put into her for repairs than I could get if I sold her. After college, if I'm lucky enough to get a job that will support me fairly reasonably, I hope to get one of these bad boys. Either in silver or black, who knows. Yum... :)

RSS Feeds

2005-08-11T15:50:00.000-04:00

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, has taken off all over the internet. You've probably seen RSS buttons on websites, but didn't really understand what they did. If you're using Firefox (an alternative to Internet Explorer), which I really hope you are, then adding RSS feeds is as easy as using bookmarks. Simply click on the orange button that kind of looks like a satellite dish in the bottom right hand corner and click "Subscribe to 'snoots'..." You'll then get a handy stream of posts that I make right in your bookmarks sidebar (to open the sidebar, press "Control-b"). Lots of sites have these now, as you can tell by my screenshot. It's really useful for tracking news and articles on your favorite web sites. And thus ends today's lesson. If you have any questions, let me know.

A Sampling of Photography

2005-08-11T13:37:00.000-04:00

So we were on the train to see Riddlerberger's band play at the Bowery Poetry Club in the city. It was me, Liz, and Charlie. I began to rant and rave about how much I wanted to get into photography after we passed a particular interesting building at the Newark Broad Street station. They both acknowledged my desire, but I think they both secretly thought I was nuts.

Well, I did it guys. I actually worked up enough initiative to dig out my grandfather's old camera. It's a Minolta SR-7. I'm not sure of the exact date, but I'm guessing it's from sometime around the early 1960's. Anyways, I've decided that anyone looking to get into photography should start off with something like this. Everything is manual on it. The only electronics within it is the built in light meter. I absolutely love it. Until I save up some more money for this bad boy, it's been serving me quite well. Here are a few of the pictures I've taken with it so far:

Man, Blogger's image adding scheme is HORRIBLE! I'm going to have to try to work my way around that. Adding just those images took nearly a half hour. Anyways, if you want to see all of my photos, you should visit my Flickr page. It's presented much better there, as well. I hope you all enjoyed my sampling of pictures, there will be more to come.

Introduction

2005-08-11T13:23:00.000-04:00

First thing's first, I want to say welcome! If you're visiting this site, it's probably because you're friends with me or you somehow stumbled across it while floating through the ether of cyberspace.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mike, I'm 21, and I'm a student. I'm currently studying mechanical engineering. If you're one of my friends you probably already know all this, so I don't think I need to explain much more about myself.

Ok, now onto what this page will be. Right now I'm broke. Like, seriously broke... I dropped off my tuition check not too long ago, and my school promptly cashed it. This put a serious dent in my bank account. Before that check got cashed I had visions of my own domain (something like "www.snoots.com" which has already been taken, I might add...) on my own server. This proposition is expensive, however. Dedicated hosting costs at least $100 per year, not to mention the absurd cost I'd have to pay to bribe whoever stole snoots.com...

Before my hopes and dreams of my very own customized web space were dashed by the cruel hand of my hideously expensive private university, I had planned on creating a web space where I could host pictures, ideas, rantings, cool things I've found, interesting things that are happening in my life, etc... Basically just a place where those who know me can get inside my brain a little bit. I'd also planned to share this space to some extent with those who are close to me so that we'd have a place on the web where we could congregate and discuss matters of interest. I was planning a format much like my old website, which I might add was also crushed by the hand of the very same private university... Now that I'm going back there, I might get my webspace back, but who knows if I'll implement it or not.

So that's what this is right now. This is Snoot's page. Please feel free to leave comments or send me suggestions. I look forward to hearing from anyone who checks this out!

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