“great quality” computers

so after a long day at the office on saturday, i came home to find my parents out of the house and a strange box in the living room. curious, I stepped closer to the box, which had been cut open to reveal something ghastly.

it was one of them “Great Quality” PC towers!! aaaaaaaah!

i recoiled back in anguish. I knew my father had been thinking about getting a new computer, but my heart screamed out in agony that he had picked this one. I know he was tempted by the price (I could hear him say, “$250! so cheap!” even though I know they’ve been on sale for $99 before). I know he was just thinking about using it as a backup system. but i also know that once you get a tower and pair it with a nice LCD screen, you start thinking things like, “boy, this screen is a lot nicer than my laptop screen. hmm, I can just do a couple of things on this computer and go back to the other one later.” Then it becomes, “Boy, this computer seems a little slow. Hmm, maybe I should spend $100 and upgrade the memory.” And then it becomes, “Wow, I could put a DVD burner in this thing! That’ll only cost me $50!”

And so the cycle begins. It then gets followed by the desire to purchase a better video card, because the one that came with the GQ box is total crap and won’t be able to process graphics worth beans. And then he’ll realize that it’s not just the video card, but that it’s the processor (piece of crap Celeron), so he’ll have to get a new mobo and processor. oh my head hurts. Why, Why?! GQ doesn’t even make CD-ROMs that burn properly! How long before this thing blows up on us?!

*weeps in the corner*

I could be more optimistic, but i know my family too well. maybe i can slip them a Dell in their dinners one of these nights. =P

bookmarks

stuff i read.

** News **
Yahoo! News
Google News
Salon
The New York Times
CNN

** Nifty / Random / Neat **
del.icio.us
kottke.org
The New Yorker
gladwell.com
Radar

**From the Nick Denton universe**
Wonkette (although it was better before the washingtonienne story broke)
Gawker (best with elizabeth spiers, still somewhat readable now)
Lifehacker (lots of handy tips.)
Jalopnik (cars! cars! cars!)
Gridskipper (cuz i dream about traveling)
Gizmodo (gadgets! and more gadgets!)
Kotaku (games galore)
Kinja (aggregator of all of the above and more)

** Music **

Pitchfork
Largeheartedboy
Stylus
Stereogum
myindieworld.com (some canadian quiz bowl guy/indie music fan. neat!)
Pollstar
Insound

Happy Birthday, Deeps!

Today is dep’s birthday. happy happy birthday! sorry i haven’t called, but i’m scared of your mom! and your dad!

somehow, i will find a way to stealth onto the arora manor and attack-hug you. but don’t get your hopes up: it’s not gonna be like the one tom cruise gave oprah. my zappy hands are in the shop.

the internet is boring

but here are some not-as-boring links for your enjoyment. or at least I didn’t think they were boring. Well, or maybe I’m just boring…

skop.com I Know Where Bruce Lee Lives [KeyJay, ultrainteractive KungFu Remixer] Make your own flash clip of Bruce Lee kicking ass.

At BMW, the Auto Assembly Line Meets High Design – New York Times Leave it to BMW to build a plant as gorgeous as their cars…

Brazilians buck rising gas prices with innovative fuel .. although BMWs could be more fuel efficient. Interesting spotlight on the South American country’s successful transition to alternate energy sources.

‘You’ve got to find what you love,’ Jobs says Boy, I wish Steve Jobs spoke at my college graduation. Instead we got some semi-sleazy state Congressman who thought that launching into a diatribe about Republicans was going to be the way to unite and inspire the class of ’03. I guess you miss out on a few perks when you just go to a UC.

When lost is found, Disneyland is a happy place Aww, warm fuzzies. The Disneyland Lost and Found reunites people with their (usually expensive) crap.

Best in Class: Students are suing their way to the top My high school got a dubious mention in The New Yorker not too long ago. I once wrote an article for the San Jose Mercury News’ student page about how insane the academic competition was at my school, but it’s a little unsettling to see it get national mention.

hello kitty checks

i finally noticed the other day that the number of checks in my checkbook was getting critically low (read: 2 left). It had been kind of low for a while, and it wasn’t really an issue since i almost never use checks anymore: I epay almost all of my bills and use my atm card to pay for groceries. The only time I use checks nowadays is to pay friends back for concert tickets. In fact, when *do* people use checks anymore? I can see using them for clubs and activities (I wrote a LOT of checks while I was in aphio), but what else?

Anyhow, I went ahead and ordered new checks for the rare instances where one is necessary. And, since I figured this is the last time I can order really girly and ridiculous checks and pass them off for “college immaturity,” I picked out these screamingly cute hello kitty checks.

Before you totally come down on me for going the Sanrio route, do a search for check designs and see what’s out there: the pickin’s are pretty slim! I guess the market for reprinted personal checks is geared toward old women living in Texas, since the every site I looked at had “Texas Pride” and ugly cat designs on the main landing pages of their sites.

Why aren’t there cool checks?! Like, why can’t I get classic video game checks, featuring images from Zelda, Contra, Mario Brothers, Metal Gear Solid and PacMan? Or a Super Mario Brothers series with Mario, Princess Peach, Toadstool and Luigi? Or hell, even Star Wars checks. I’d write more checks if it meant I got to see Obi-Wan (Alec or Ewan!) and Yoda every time I busted out my checkbook.

Then again, considering that Lucas, the savvy marketer that he is, hasn’t done this yet, the potential market of checks not geared toward white women in Texas must be pretty small. I don’t know, cuz there are sure a lot of geeks out there (like me!).

strange headaches

i’ve been getting really bad headaches lately, ones that seem to make a whole side of my head throb in pain. jer says they’re probably sinus headaches, especially if it hurts by my ear and behind my eyes. ooooi. today’s was *really* bad. the tylenol took about an hour to really kick in…

my right ear is still super sensitive now. :( boooo