stupid phone My phone would soft reset everytime I had new voicemail. I troubleshooted this for 20 minutes. After uninstalling, reinstalling, hard resetting, restoring, I finally figured out that my mp3 ringtone manager was causing it. The fix was to set the voicemail sound to "no sound."

Really stupid and dumb, mostly due to the fact that the Palm OS5 uses a software layer and is not written to natively support the processor. My phone is stable again at least. However Windows Mobile 5 is really tempting.  ¶ 11:59 PM 0 comments

  Katrina poor New Orleans... :(  ¶ 9:04 PM 0 comments

  Densha Otoko I decided to take BART to work, due to ...

1. the increase in gas prices
2. my own inclination to experience what it feels like to be a "salaryman"

That meant driving to Union City and taking BART to Embarcaderro (Daly City Line). This added about 20 minutes to my commute, not that I minded.

I had also recently watched a few episodes of "Densha Otoko" per my client's recommendation. I found it painfully funny, the guy in it is about the geekiest guy imaginable. So geeky that you will cringe with horror at his social inadequacies. You will pull your hair out as he bumbles around. And this is just the first hour! Whereas the girl is a total babe (the ubiquitous Misaki Ito). Anyway there weren't a ton of cute "salarywomen" (or whatever you call them) on the train, but there was one cute girl. I think we had a connection. If you can call staring into the back of her head a connection. (J/K we really did have a connection. maybe)

The ride home was pretty uneventful, aside from one young gangster who talked really loud into his cell the whole way back. This guy was a wannabe rapper with all the f-bombs, shit talking, etc. Except for the rhyming part. It was too funny.

Anyways work was good especially when my end was working just great. I had the opportunity to mess around with my phone's bluetooth capability thanks to Stan. Wireless synching and DUN is too sweet. When it works that is, at the moment it's a bit flaky. D-Link DTB-120 is going to be my next purchase.

P.S. I've recently met some people who have "extraodinarily poor people skills." Having the naivity of a 3-year old was amusing ... for about two seconds. I will refuse to talk to them. (directed at no one in particular)  ¶ 12:17 AM 0 comments

  Weirdest dream I had the weirdest dream last night, so strange I opened notepad and wrote everything down. I won't go into details but the big action scene involves a group submerged in a canal or sorts. Then a billion dead bodies are catapulted at them ...

If I wrote a script based on the dream it would probably be worth two cents. Not counting the huge waste of time.  ¶ 5:28 PM 0 comments

  Work was very expensive today So today at work they launch the new sites internally... and they actually are very nice. The BR one is sweet in particular, you can click on any article of clothing in a picture and be taken to the details page. So someone has the bright idea of giving people with internal access a promo code which is 30% off.

Now 30% may not sound like much, but couple that with some heavily discounted items and everyone was shopping like mad. Nice jeans - $10. I picked up a zip jacket for $30 and a blazer that probably won't fit for $14. I also called some buddies and hooked them up. I even was buying stuff that was sold out and not my size just so I could exchange at the local store for the right size (if possible). Or I would just return it for a refund. Suffice to say that I won't be buying clothes for a long time.

A Loooooooooooong time!

Of course I did say that my last go around, but this is it!!

(really!)

It would be kinda funny if none of these orders shipped and they claim it was a ruse to stress test the applications. Of course everyone would be pissed off and probably look for other jobs. :p Anyways the sites will be launched in a few days, check out GAP and BR next week.  ¶ 9:20 PM 0 comments

  day 1 Still need to write up about the wedding trip....

Day 1 of the water and yogurt diet. Don't laugh!

I need to dunk!  ¶ 8:27 AM 0 comments

  Old photo albums rock   ¶ 12:52 AM 1 comments

  Wedding blog Thursday: THREE HOUR layover in Dallas. That pretty much sums up the day. Factoring in the time difference, I spent a whole day in transit. The Waldorf Astoria entrance/lobby is rather exquisitely designed. Very impressive. The rooms themselves aren't very large, unfortunately.

Friday: In the morning we went to Chinatown which at first glance appears larger than the one in Boston, and much cleaner than the one in SF. I picked up some $30 Kenneth Coles for the wedding. We ate at

So yes I did have a few to drink, but I wasn't as "hard-core" as some people I know. Who would have a pre-game beforehand, drink from a paper bag DURING the ceremony, then completely destroy themselves many times over during the reception.

My memories of that night are rather fuzzy, I had to recontruct it piece by piece ala Memento. Usually I can remain lucid while drinking. However, that night the alcohol made the neurons in my brain stop firing.

- Beautiful ceremony. Presided by one of the judges on the NY supreme court (how'd they manage that?)

- Alcohol break while they set up the dining area. Red / white wine, champagne, rum + coke is all flowing.

- Dinner: I get seated with the cousins and relatives :( Plus this huge flower pot is obscuring my vision. Waitress makes many jokes about serving alcohol to minors. I think she made the same crack about 6 times, this may have been when I started losing track of how many drinks I had. Guy I met inputs his contact info into my phone, but leaves out a digit. He must have been faded too.

Admittedly, this might not be the actual timeline, but that's not too important.

Memories after the wedding are hazy. Somehow I've changed into my jeans but forgot to take that insufferable tie off. And my call log shows a scary amount of dialed numbers after 1 am.  ¶ 5:44 PM 0 comments

  New career? After watching a lot of Alias this weekend I attempted to pick the lock on my front door using a paperclip.

It's harder than it seems :/ I need real lock picking tools. At least I know the principle behind the technique now, after reading some articles.

I know, I know, fundamentally I still may be 10 years old. Let's just say I'm very impressionable.  ¶ 10:57 PM 1 comments

  Sudoku puzzle http://www.puzzle.jp/letsplay/play_sudoku-e.html

I wasted a lot of time playing this puzzle game. Finished two beginner, one intermediate, and one hard puzzle. There is a certain algorithm to solving it (aside from blind luck) and it probably would be a fun programming assignment to write it. But I'm lazy.  ¶ 6:46 PM 2 comments

  :( I twisted my ankle rather badly today playing basketball. It was mostly my fault for wearing low top running shoes. However I also blame the uneven patch of concrete for causing me to roll my ankle. Icing my ankle seemed to bring down the swelling, although I am still walking very gingerly. This is a damper since it will cut short my exercise for a few days at least.

The past couple weeks have been quiet with regards to work. I've got a couple more tests to study for, the least I can do is spend the time reading and be somewhat useful. Of course the perks of staying home, taking long naps, ps2 breaks can't be denied. Lately, I've felt a strong urge to expand on my knowledge in a variety of areas -- I haven't been this motivated in a while. Although not motivated enough to quit surfing ESPN, fatwallet, and yahoo finance.

I'll be busy starting next week so might as well enjoy the downtime.

New drink - sprite zero. I actually bought a bag of chips from Costco solely based on the free sample that I tasted. Terra Red Bliss roasted garlic, parmesian potato chips. Usually I scarf down chips but I've been savoring every bite.  ¶ 1:57 AM 0 comments

  Fight Night Round 2 On Saturday I frustrated the hell out of my cousin playing Fight Night Round 2. In our prior history he had more experience than me and would soundly beat me until I figured out some new moves. I decided to take the time and play the computer a few times to figure out the system. After seeing the computer drub me, I adapted its tactics and was able to finally beat it. Then I used those tactics on my cousin.

Its an extremely basic system.

- parry all uppercuts, haymakers, any move that leaves your opponent with a disadvantage. Then retaliate with a haymaker. There are only two areas they can target, the head or the body, using either the left or right hand. If he drops an elbow you know which side the haymaker is coming from, then just parry high or low on reaction.

- for offense, mix up jabs, body blows, high/low haymaker mixup. Drop the left elbow then attack with a right jab or uppercut. Just don't get predictable.

From his point of view, he was amazed that I could read him so well and parry most of his attacks. In actuality, the guesswork is very minimal. Once you get attuned to the system, you can see the left haymaker coming a mile away.

I was even able to beat my brother using a featherweight vs a heavyweight. My lack of power meant that I wouldn't be able to knock him out. I resorted to parrying his moves and retaliating, as well as running away to win the rounds and stay away from his power. [note: ok so my brother isn't very good at fight night but still... woohoo]

Now Burnout 3 on the other hand ... twitch racing games I'm not very good at.  ¶ 2:35 AM 0 comments