Category: Uncategorized

I couldn’t bring myself to sit through an episode of the OC just to watch a movie trailer, but thanks to the power of the internet, the trailer is now available for your viewing pleasure. Well, at least until the evil minions of Lucasarts descend from their orbiting Death Star and sue fans to get the trailer off line. (George, you gettin’ that last statement?)

Anyway, Jason Kottke has a couple links, or you just go to this page and download it directly.

Oh, and… yeah, dammit, the trailer rocks. Of course, the last two movies had trailers that rocked as well, so I’ll withhold judgement until I cave in and go see the new “film”.

Well, 5,031 to be exact. That’s how many words I wrote tonight for the NaNoWriMo contest. Starting at 6-ish, and finishing at 10:45, with a break for supper, a break for a shower, and a half-hour debate about religion with J– (don’t ask, ’cause even I don’t know where that one came from); well, that’s a lot of words in a hurry.

Total words count as of tonight: 17,153. I’m only about 5,000 words behind schedule now, which isn’t bad considering I didn’t write a single word for almost half the available time. Write on!

(cross posted to UMich Marketplace)

Since I have me new machine up and running, I’m selling my old machine.

Specs:

Sony Vaio – Model PCV-RX560
1.7 Ghz Pentium 4
512 MB RAM
80 Gig 5400 RPM Hard Drive
PNY Nvidia GeForce Ti4400 128MB Video Card (AGP)
16x CD-RW
16x DVD-ROM
LAN
FireWire
Modem
Floppy

Link to PDF of original specs. Note, I pulled and replaced the original video card and upped the RAM. I have also installed the latest Nvidia drivers and Windows patches. It comes with the standard PC-Cillian AV, but since you’re no Markeplace, you can download the latest AV from ITCS

The machine has been fully restored with the original restoration discs (included). This has been a reliable machine; I built my own and don’t need this one anymore.

No personnel checks. I’ll meet you/deliver in the Ann Arbor area. Payment can be cash, money order, or PayPal (where you can use credit cards). Contact indiskret@comcast.net for more information.

I’m going to attempt to not sound crass or cold about this, but I swear there’s an affirming quote to come.

Nearly 30 elementary school children in the Philippines have died after eating fried cassava balls obtained from a vendor, a local official told CNN. [Ed. I added the link.]

…

Cassava is a starchy, tuberous root that is a low-cost source of carbohydrates in humid, tropical areas; it is also the source of tapioca.

Cassava contains amino acid-derived cyanogenic glucosides — some more than others — and must be thoroughly cooked to remove toxic levels.

Eaten raw, the human digestive system will convert part of it into cyanide. Two cassava roots contain enough to be fatal.

Ok, that’s the (very) bad news. But, if there’s anything to take away from this story, it’s this:

The vendor who sold the cassava balls insisted nothing was wrong with them and ate a few to prove the point. Now she, too, is in critical condition.

Thank you, universe. My heart goes out to those families; I’m sure they have a few wishes for that vendor.

Link

I crossed 10,000 words tonight on my quest to 50,000. And that’s with almost 4 days blown on a trip (I didn’t get to write much on the plane).

I’m also such a nerd that I started a spreadsheet (complete with formulas) to track my progress. I am not, however, the biggest nerd in the household as I stole the idea from J–.

I need to sleep; my eyeballs are burning.

I’m not a huge Bruce Willis fanboy or anything, but is it weird that I think Bruce Willis having a semi-public website is a cool idea? The cynic in me still has doubts that Bruce has anything substantive to do with this site, but the concept is interesting: stars communicating directly with their fans.

If he only had an RSS feed.

BruceWillis.com

Not like they care, but Bloglines is a great web-based news reader.

(Sidenote: Bloglines was recently acquired by AskJeeves; yeah, I didn’t know AJ was still around either.)

I’m not getting anything for recommending Bloglines, either (is it weird I feel compelled to say that?), but I’m recommending it to a few of you who are reading this little offense to publishing. (I’m looking at you John, drsandy, and J–.)

Oh, and when is WMS-STC going to start a blog? That whole fostering communication initiative? Blogs are a great conversation starter… just an idea. I’d even help you set it up.

Yes, eating instant lunches is Teh Bad, but every once in a while, something warm and delicious is needed at work. If that dish can be had in under 5 minutes, all the better. It’s not like I get to eat lunch with regularity most of the time.

Enter Thai Kitchen Spring Onion Rice Noodle Bowl [ed. scroll to the bottom] (hat tip to Trader Joe’s, which I think is where I bought this). This $2 bowl of pep-me-up is gluten free, egg free, and actually made in Thailand (which, obviously, doesn’t add a wit to the authenticity, but…).

And the nutriotion info ain’t half bad, for an instant meal. Aside from 627mg of sodium, the rest is pretty non-contributory to the ole dietary chart (well, 25g of carbs for those still punishing themselves with one of those diets).

Between these little dishes and my penchant for spicey Thai, sushi, and udon, I swear I must have lived a previous life closer to Asia.

God, I have just brought myself down so many pegs in the food-snob scale. My next Food post will have to be about some dish with an unpronounceable ingredient.

If anyone wants a Gmail account, I have a ton of invites. Just email me at ryan@youknowwhatpart.com