Visible Reflection

• An earthquake struck the U.K.

• 80th Annual Academy Awards - Despite the 3-month long writer’s strike, the Oscars were on. I was was particularly excited about Diablo Cody winning Best Screenwriter and Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova winning the Best Original Song for “Falling Slowly.” No Country for Old Men won Best Picture, but that wasn’t too much of a surprise.
• Ralph Nader is running for presidency - Really? Come on dude. Get a hint.
  

• Jeff Beck’s Bachelor Party - Though the plan was to go Go-Karting and then see Dave Attell, only the latter happened due to delays at the race track. However, we successfully got Jeff smashed, so Mission Accomplished!
• Raul Castro takes control of Cuba

• US Shot Down Spy Satellite with a Missle
• Hilary Clinton and Barak Obama debated in Texas

• Total Lunar Eclipse - I only got to see the beginning and end of the partial eclipse as the clouds and haze prevented me from viewing the total eclipse. Lame.
• HindZeit.com Registered - I registered the domain for what I think this simple idea will blossom into.

• A good friend’s dad died today - After hearing about another very good friend’s grandfather passing away yesterday, I don’t think I could have more sadness in my heart than I do right now. I’ve been told I’m good at listening, yet I’m so bad at comforting.  I wish I could do more…
• Fidel Castro Stepped Down as President of Cuba
• GDC ‘08 began

Note: For those who actually still check this useless blog, this is a quick dump for an idea I’m having about logging the things I find particularly important during any given day. I may start Twittering or I may just make a whole new blog. I haven’t decided yet, but figure this is the best place to keep my thoughts while I’m figuring it out.

So, I decided to start a Tumblr blog. For those who don’t know, Tumblr is a way to blog about, well, blogs. Sure, you can write up entries and post photos, but where it seems to shine is the ability to add a Flickr, del.icio.us, or any other kind of feed to the blog. So, say that I upload photos onto Flickr, they just pop up on my Tumblr blog. I review some books on Goodreads? Boom! Automagically on my blog.

This way that I can blog without actually blogging. I love it when it pays to be lazy!

Anyway, here is my Tumblr blog: http://chrisjm.tumblr.com/

I got my new MacBook Pro today! It was supposed to be delivered yesterday, but I typed in the wrong zip code and FedEx got confused like dogs when you make the ball throwing motion without actually throwing the ball. After contacting Apple, they fixed the issue rather quickly and I got my package this morning.

I must say that I almost shed a tear of joy when I opened the box. Despite it looking almost exactly like my PowerBook G4, it was still a beautiful site. Since I am a geek, I can’t help but post the specs:

• 15.4-inch LED display
• 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 2 Gigabytes SDRAM
• NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
• 8x SuperDrive
• Built-in 802.11n wireless

The LED display is something to see. It is so crisp and clear and responds to a wake up so quickly! No waiting for the screen to warm up to display. It’s just on!

So here is where the sad tears come in. After playing around with it for 15 minutes, I open up Safari. I clear the address field and start typing in “ww…” The screen dims and a message comes up saying that I need to restart. WHAT?! I’ve had it for 15 minutes and it’s already crashed?

I restart. Try to do the same thing to see if maybe it’s something repeatable. No such luck. So I install more software and play with it more. I open up Safari again and BOOM! Dead again. So, I guess it’s something to do with Safari, but it still seems to be totally random.

I will likely take it to the Apple Store’s Genius Bar and probably have to send it in. I was expecting this. This is why I got the Apple Care plan. This is why I didn’t get rid of my current PowerBook G4. I am going to keep a positive attitude and hope for the best. And do several back ups.

After over a decade playing video games and using a computer, I think I have finally developed carpal tunnel syndrome. Though, of course, I have yet to go to a doctor to see if this hypothesis is correct.

My symptoms started out as just a weak wrist. Lifting heavy things hurt a bit and twisting my wrist caused a little bit more uncomfort. It wasn’t until I was hammering in tiki torches that I finally got to the point of severe pain. I am now wearing a wrist brace to see if it will fix itself. Only time will tell, but if it doesn’t start to feel better in a week, it’s off to the doctor for me.

I just changed hosts to Lunarpages and am in process of rebuilding my tiny, minuscule section of the blogosphere. I’m definitely not promising anything given my past.  That said, I have a few ideas floating around with what to do with this space.

That’s all for now!