http://estrip.org The estrip.org Site Last 20 Journals en-us Copyright estrip.org Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:06:39 EST Elmwoodstrip paulsidekick@gmail.com http://estrip.org/elmwood/images/rss.gif http://estrip.org 88 31 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=50342


2. People Magazine says Johnny Depp is the sexiest man alive. Dude's one of my favorite actors but dang if he isn't skeezy as hell. What's the deal?



3. FiOS just became available at my house. It's only $10/month more than my current dry-loop DSL. I do not have, and do not have use for telephone or television service. Is it worth it?

- Z
]]> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:02:35 -0500 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=50342 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=50288
- Z]]> Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:22:52 -0500 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=50288 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=50168 (peeps). We left around 1a because (dragonlady7) was sleepy and actually under the weather [not the hamthrax, though].

You may not believe it from the frequency of my updates, but I'm live-blogging my crafting too. Someone was taking up the only sunny spot in the house.



OK this photo may be slightly too cute. (dragonlady7) earnestly cautioned me that if I posted crafts on the Internet, it would be assumed that I am female. Now I understand.

Does anybody want a copy of the chart?

- Z]]> Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:01:40 -0400 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=50168 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=50121 (dragonlady7) has started up a craft club which involves bringing a craft project, ignoring it while you drink a lot of alcohol, staying over, sleeping late, working off your hangover, and then putting in a couple stitches before heading home. We're very productive! But up until this weekend, my stated project was 'fidgeting.' Like, winding thread or something I guess. So this weekend I upgraded to 'advanced fidgeting:'



Cross-stitch: embroidery for the obsessive-compulsive.

The Happy Mac: http://images.google.com/images?q=happy+mac

- Z]]> Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:54:43 -0400 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=50121 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=50074

...but if you don't, we'll send the deformed babies in person next time.

Cleft palate is a serious problem, and they say they can fix it in 45 minutes for only $250. That's amazing! It boggles my mind. But am I the only person who sees an implied threat to send unsettling photos until I pay up?

- Z]]> Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:07:01 -0400 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=50074 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=49953 http://images.google.com/images?q=zobar
[ ] YES!
[ ] NO.

(Check one.)



- Z]]> Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:38:42 -0400 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=49953 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=49897
One of the things they'll try to sell you is a green-screen photo of you in front of Niagara Falls. You could just walk across the street and take as many pictures as you want of the real thing - for free - but I guess some people would rather pay cash for a dorky simulation. Now, thanks to technology,* you can get a dorky simulation for free!

+++Flash File Removed+++

0. If the Flash app isn't directly above this, go here http://estrip.org/elmwood/users/zobar/swf/1009/ChromaKey1001.swf
1. Allow camera access, if necessary.
2. Get out of the camera frame.
3. Click 'Background.'
4. Use the slider to move the background, and adjust the threshold if necessary.
5. Say cheese, and click 'Save.'
6. There you go, you just saved eight bucks.

- Z

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* Adobe Pixel Bender http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/pixelbender
]]> Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:20:16 -0400 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=49897 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=49883
1: Brian May is an astrophysicist. How did I miss this? http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/NewsUpdate/index_92016.htm

2: Somebody screwed up a little: http://apple.com/retail/walden/map


- Z]]> Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:05:03 -0400 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=49883 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=49865
I have a hypothesis, but it's pretty weak. The highways used to have names [I guess technically they still do]: The Kensington Expressway, The Scajaquada Expressway, The Thruway, The Niagara Extension, The Youngmann Highway, which naturally got shortened to The Kensington, The Scajaquada, The Youngmann. But there's hardly any signs that say their names, which only geezers know anyway. So they went to being the... the, you know, 290, which is only a short trip to 'The 290.'

But that doesn't really explain The 219 and The 400, especially when there's Route 5 and Route 20, but only 990 and 20A. It also doesn't explain why Canada has 'The QEW' and 'The 401.'

The only other idea I've got is that the Great Lakes chapter of the Illuminati, convinced by the success of their 'pop' campaign, are teaming up with the Newfoundland division to come up with new and innovative ways to make us all sound like yokels.

- Z]]> Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:31:06 -0400 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=49865 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=49842
Within the span of my three-year warranty, I had three hard drives, two AirPort cards, a faulty temperature sensor, a glitchy mouse button, and a case that chipped so bad they would have fixed it out of warranty. So when I brought it in today, with another dead AirPort card and a dead Ethernet port, I was not really in the mood to have my appointment quietly canceled after I got there - on time - because I didn't check in, and to not have anyone tell me until 45 minutes later when I had to ask why my name wasn't on the list anymore. So when the geek behind the counter explained their total lack of common sense like some computer glitch [Did you check in? No. Well then. Well then what? The person before me was a no-show and even she got the courtesy of being called at least a dozen times. I didn't even get called once times!] I didn't really agree that it was a big favor that he would reschedule me for two hours later. He did say that if I continued to hang around like an asshole like I had been that maybe they could edge me in somewhere. Well what else am I going to do, go home and get back to work?

Right, work. We'll get to that. Anyway, it turns out that an Ethernet card on a MacBook is actually a $700 logic board. Which oddly enough is not the problem, because the only thing they ever do for out-of-warranty repairs is 'factory-refurbish' them for a low, low fixed price of $280. But they don't do that on-site, they mail it off to God-knows-where, and it's 5-7 days before I'll see it again. Which brings me back to work. I double-checked: 5-7 days, right? Five to seven days, so you can't freak out on us before that. What?? Some people get all kinds of anxiety when they drop their computer off. Well this is kind of my work computer, and I can't really do anything without it... We'll give you a call as soon as it's ready. I know it's a bummer... especially since I bill hourly. OH. I'll see if I can put a rush on it. Thanks. I don't have a project right now and I understand there really isn't anything they can do, so I didn't make a big deal out of it. But yeah, I could potentially be out a lot of money for that.

I don't think I was a dick about it. Maybe I was. I only really got annoyed just now when I wrote it all down in one place. Thanks, (strip), for making me aggravated six hours after it would have made a difference!

- Z

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* The owner was totally out back grilling hot dogs for their Leopard 'release party.' Man, Steve Jobs starts grilling me hot dogs maybe then we can talk.]]> Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:34:43 -0400 http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=zobar&id=49842