While sorting through the aftermath of the Easter holiday week, I found a couple of bags of unmarked jelly beans that my mother left in my apartment. I'm not sure why they're here, since my mother knows very well that I'm not too fond of jelly beans (don't worry, I got plenty of real Easter candy too).

I decided that I should at least do a taste test, before writing the beans off completely. There were 2 unlabeled Ziploc bagfuls, which I will now refer to as Group A and Group B. Sampling a bean from Group A first, I was instantly struck by its overall gritty texture. This sandy candy was not for me. I then put that bag down and tried a bean from Group B. These beans were much more fruity in flavor, and less gritty overall. With clearly identifiable flavors such as green apple and coconut, I couldn't help but enjoy several of each color. The yellow ones tasted more like liquid lemon Pledge than citrus flavored candy, but I guess that's all one can expect from artificial flavorings.

While I've already left my first (and hopefully last) cubicle behind, this chronicle of the ultimate office furniture proved interesting. How cool to hear from the "father of the cubicle" himself. If I had created such a beast, I'd be a little bummed, too. I have to forgive the guy, though. The cubicle is just another case of a designer's creation being mangled by economics.

Note: An installation of the Herman Miller Resolve furniture ("1999" in the article's Photo Gallery) was completed on the 1st floor of RIT's Wallace Library during my years there. It looked pretty spiffy.

Modern Marvels on the History Channel is one of my favorite TV shows. I seldom sit down to watch it deliberately, but sometimes it's nice to affirm that there's something on the tube these days besides American Idol.

Tonight's episode, which focused on cans and canning, introduced me to a company called Edlund, and a great mechanical beast known as the 825A Can Opening System. This is the most awesome can opener I've ever heard of. It opens, dumps, cleans, and crushes 30 cans per minute

Now I know why the old southern lunch ladies at my high school always looked so chipper. They never had to break a sweat, because all their cans were opened for them. In fact, this thing reminds me of a scene in the movie Super Size Me, that features a cafeteria worker brandishing a box cutter. She proclaims it to be their most common tool of the trade.

Soylent Green, anyone?

2006 held a couple of great opportunities for new hardware. It wasn't time to upgrade when the first MacBook was released, nor when the 2nd generation MacBook arrived, all decked out with a Core 2 Duo processor. Other options? How about a PC laptop? Sure, just as long as it's free.

When I found that the Toshiba booth at this year's Consumer Electronics show was giving away chances to win one of their laptops, I thought mine was in the bag. So I took my seat in the audience to play their version of the game show Deal or No Deal. I was the first contestant called on stage that round. I made small talk with the host, eyed the wall of cases behind me, and decided that Case #6 must contain the laptop.

Had I chosen wisely? They tried to bribe me with a padded laptop-toting backpack, but I don't need one of those for my aging PowerBook. My good ol' man-purse case works just fine for this tiny machine. The audience shouted CASE! CASE! CASE! I made my decision; the case it must be. As the lovely stage hostess cracked that silver briefcase, my hopes for portable computing in the new year faded a little. I won...another backpack.

When relaxing in my own apartment, there used to be few surprises. That changed over a year ago when I opened my heart and my living quarters to the girlfriend. Thanks to her being enrolled in a veterinary program, there are more physiology flashcards than CPUs lying around my place these days. When I came home the other day, I found a new DVD on the coffee table. "Horseowner's Guide to Colic in the Horse." I won't even mention the pair of lab rats that have taken up residence in one of the bedrooms.