tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-171389212024-03-07T20:23:06.717-04:00I am Mr. BentoAnd I am filled with layers and lunch.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-57152935143205923412009-11-19T09:52:00.007-04:002009-12-02T19:43:38.823-04:00Internet approved commentary!!!Yes I've neglected my personal blog, especially since expanding <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://irwatch.blogspot.com/">IRWatch</a> beyond just international news. But I've got some exciting news, my <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://irwatch.blogspot.com/2009/11/google-scholar-law-one-small-step-that.html">last post</a> went viral! Hurray! In just a day and a half, my readership's gone up 1665% and I can honestly say that I've had readers from 41 countries and 40 states. <br />
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Thanks <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://www.google.com/analytics/">Google Analytics</a>!<br />
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<i>Update</i>: At the encouragement of a few friends, I dug a little deeper to see where all the hits were coming from. No other blog linked to it, all I got from G-Analytics is that it's entirely twitter / direct link (email?) phenomenon. Doing a little more research, I found a way to <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://j.mp/info/3QnTPK#conversations_data">follow the story in one of children of tinyurl - bit.ly</a> (you can also note, that I didn't use bit.ly for the link, I used sl.im). I can see at least with this one that it's been retweeted 13 times, one of which by <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://twitter.com/mattcutts">Matt Cutts</a>, "Head of webspam team at Google." <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://twitter.com/mattcutts">http://twitter.com/mattcutts</a>. That would explain why so many people in California are reading it; he's got 40000 followers.<br />
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<i>Update 2</i>: Also retweeted by <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://twitter.com/HenkvanEss">Henk van Ess</a>, a Dutch CEO and author of books on google. He's got 14000 followers... it's fun to watch the wave. Incidentally, when can I get some wave invites so I can actually talk to friends on <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="https://wave.google.com/wave/">Google Wave</a>?<br />
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<i>Update 3</i>: A family member mentioned that if you do a google search of "<a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://www.google.com/search?q=%22google+scholar+law%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a">Google Scholar Law</a>," a reference to my article is on the first page (<a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://twittorati.com/link/791881">a reference to Matt Cutt's Tweet</a>). It's probably because I kind of dubbed the phrase "google scholar - law" because google scholar has been preexisting for years, and on that page you actually have to choose the "legal opinions and journals" box to get cases. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://grab.by/Fzt" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://grab.by/Fzt" width="400" /></a><br />
</div>Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-31672903215859178302009-03-08T23:05:00.007-04:002009-11-20T09:03:12.570-04:00TV and Radio on the InternetIn my two year hiatus of Mr. Bento-ing, a lot of things have changed on the internet. In particular, there has been an explosion of video and podcasts on the internet... most of which has revolved around cute kittens, and for those of you who know me well, nothing could interest me less. So what do I look for in video and audio on the internet? It needs to be free and legal, as well as have high quality writing, production and encoding - essentially be the same quality as something you could see on tv or the radio. And as Janelle and I flip channels on the television, I realize that much of what I watch and listen to on the internet is actually higher quality than much of the crap that makes it's way onto actual television. Rest assured, if I post it here it's quality - I promise you'll enjoy it as much as I do. Without much further adieu, I'd like to make my first recommendation.<br />
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<a href="http://www.adogsbreakfastmovie.com/images/stories/adbDVDsml.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.adogsbreakfastmovie.com/images/stories/adbDVDsml.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 240px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.hulu.com/a-dogs-breakfast"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Dog's Breakfast</span> </a> - David Hewlett wrote, directed and starred in this low budget yet superb film. If you like off beat British comedy like Monty Python or Flight of the Conchords, you will love this hilarious dark comedy about sibling rivalry and murder. What's best is that you can view the <a href="http://bit.ly/1Zv1Qx">entire movie at Hulu</a>. Watch it today, you'll be glad you did. Five stars!<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Trailer:</span><br />
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<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wmN6u8iYFlI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wmN6u8iYFlI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-75743911066081750562009-03-05T16:33:00.002-04:002009-03-05T17:45:11.168-04:00I'm Back!The funny thing about blogspot is that you can see exactly how long it's been since I've posted on Mr. Bento. Yes it has actually been two and a half years, and yes quite a few things have happened since. Where to begin ... maybe a timeline would be best. <br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight:bold;">Summer 2006</span>, I start my masters thesis with the stuffy title "A White Paper on international relations in East Asia among the United States, Russia and Japan". <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">September 2006</span>, I made my previous Mr. Bento post about <a href="http://mrbento.blogspot.com/2006/09/cocco-is-number-one.html">Cocco</a>. I still stand behind my original declaration by the way; Cocco rocks. Still about a quarter of songs on my five star playlist are Cocco's. Friends and family - let me know if you want to borrow a CD. Best musician ever! <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">October 2006</span>, Thanks in part to <a href="http://mrbento.blogspot.com/2006/09/why-i-dont-blog-often.html">all the hard work</a> I was doing at the time, I get promoted at FSU to the guy in charge of customer service. I was busy, but I like being busy. Things were great.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">March 2007</span>, A water pipe bursts in the ceiling of our apartment damaging half of our stuff, my mom goes into the hospital with serious health issues, and I decide to move from Tallahassee back to my home in Tampa.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Summer 2007</span>, I drive back up to Tallahassee to defend my Masters Thesis, and instead of immediately getting my Masters Degree, the committee recommends a lot of improvements. I decide that the best option would be to start it from scratch. Also I start work as a contract worker in IT, because it's the only work I can find in Tampa. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">October 2007</span>, I bought an iPhone. It's my baby. I mainly use it as a calendar and email client, and a handy portable way to listen to webradio and podcasts. Yes they came out with a cheaper faster one, but I'm still extremely happy with mine, and can hardly imagine living without it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">December 2007</span>, I start my second blog <a href="http://irwatch.blogspot.com/">International Relations Watch</a>. It began as a thesis study aid, but evolved into a general international politics blog. As it turns out, I really enjoy writing about world politics... it makes me feel like I'm writing papers in college again. Weird, huh?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">February 2008</span>, My mom's health problems get worse, but the subsequent final surgery leaves her much healthier. She's doing pretty darn well today. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">September 2008</span>, I finish my second Masters Thesis, now entitled "Why the United States Must End the Second Cold War as it Begins." This one is much less of a history paper and more of a policy recommendation paper, and it is quite a bit less Japano-centric than the original, but the original conclusion remains the same: The US and Russia need to deescalate the Cold War rhetoric, and a good way to ease the tensions would be by letting the US mediate an official end to WWII between Russia and Japan. I'm happy to see tensions easing between the US and Russia, though they haven't done my idea... yet. You can read a more detailed brief on IRWatch (<a href="http://irwatch.blogspot.com/2008/09/its-done-kinda.html">click here</a>), or to read the whole thing by asking me for a copy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">November 2008</span>, The economic downturn hits close to home and I loose my job at the time. Yeah it sucks, but it turned out pretty well for me. There are a lot of other people these days who can't say that. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">December 2008</span>, I get my Master of Science degree in International Affairs, and I get interviewed and eventually hired at the USF, the University of South Florida in Tampa. A total 360 from the last time I published, I'm back working at a Florida University in a job that I love, but this time in my home town. The only difference are that this time I'm working in the Deans Office instead of in the Cashiers Office... oh and the university is spelled USF instead of FSU.</blockquote> <br />So now that things are right again and I have a bit of spare time, you can look forward to reading more what's going on around the world in <a href="http://irwatch.blogspot.com/">IRWatch</a>, and in my world here in Mr. Bento.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1158724421780462412006-09-19T22:25:00.000-04:002006-09-19T23:53:41.853-04:00Cocco is number one<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Those who know me, know I like Japanese music. In fact, I liked it so much I even took four semesters of college Japanese "for fun". Well I'd like to refine the original assertion, I've gone through a lot of my old songs, and decided I don't like Japanese music per se; I like Cocco's music. So much so, I've bought three Cocco CDs in the past year, and would by more if they were available. <br /><br />But because I'd rather be lazy than write a very long post, I'll just <a href="http://yukihime.com/?p=582">link to someone elses</a>. Yukihime puts my feelings to words quite well, and even gave me the idea to look on YouTube for Cocco music videos. I've since seen all of the ones available, and disappointingly I couldn't find a couple of my favorite songs as music videos. But to give a small taste of what makes Cocco the best, here are a few links to songs that aren't the best. This is a link to a music video of a pretty good song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iTHlYgMoI0">Hoshini Negaiwo</a> (probably #6 on my favorite Cocco song list, but good none the less) , and here is a link to a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEMlBptNuoA">live performance of Yagenogahara</a>, which I am guessing is her final performance before she retired in 2000. <br /><br />At first seeing her sing was a bit of a shock, I was surprised that such powerful music could come out of this shy and awkward middle aged Japanese woman. A friend from JSA had heard that in her final concert before she retired, she ran off stage crying. I think I have now been able to incorporate that story into my understanding of Cocco. Yukihime said "<i>Other songs are about</i> <i>something; Cocco’s songs are</i> <i>the thing itself. It’s the difference between understanding something and </i><em><i>believing </i></em><i>in it</i>" <br /><br />This is why I was so happy to hear that Cocco had come out of retirement a year or so ago, and why I bought her new CD... and why if anyone would like to visit Japan with me to eat delicious Japanese food like sushi and <a href="http://sub3.way-nifty.com/blog/images/takoyaki.jpg">takoyaki</a> (octopus balls), I'd love to plan it around a Cocco concert. <nudge> :?)</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Well it's bed time, so I should get going. Peace out all, and word to your respective mothers.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Mr. Bento<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">______________________________________________<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">PS: I am, of course, always happy to let friends borrow CDs. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">PSS: Yes I know, you don't speak Japanese... try listening to the music without knowing the words first. I couldn't find a good translation of "Hoshini Negaiwo" but I'll loosely translate the title as "Wishing on a Star." Here's a Yukihime translation of <a href="http://www.yukihime.com/music/eastwest/yakenogahara.html">Yagenogahara </a>(the live second one). I'll loosely translate the title "Scorched Earth". You'll be wanting to learn Japanese in no time, and you haven't even heard the best songs yet!<br /><br />PSSS: If you're still interested, here's the YouTube links her “I'm no longer retired” song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CunkabDPo6A">Shoka Rinrin</a> (<a href="http://yukihime.com/?p=481">translation</a>), and two other songs, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUfaQyORyWY&feature=PlayList&p=D9FA0EB2B76F0ADD&index=2">Oasis</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9SKYD6npMM">Raining</a>. <br /></p>Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1157239685800587982006-09-02T18:19:00.000-04:002006-09-02T19:28:05.880-04:00Why I don't blog often<p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in;">I've been pondering this for a while, and my old excuse has always been that I'm busy. Sure it's true, I'm a busy person. In fact, in the past two weeks:</p> <ol><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I had a birthday (hurrah, now I'm 24) and we went to my favorite restaurant <a href="http://kitchenmonkey.blogspot.com/2005/01/kitcho-tallahassee-florida.html">Kitcho</a>.</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I've published my first ever official webpage for my job (<a href="http://sfs.fsu.edu/">http://sfs.fsu.edu</a>). Even by modest standards it looks damn good. It also uses 100% clean and pure CSS & HTML is handycap accessible, and even has a really small file size. This is all cool and significant, but took a lot of time.</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I've gotten my first two newspaper ads in a long time published (I'll put them up on my webpage's "portfolio" page whenever I get around to making both the webpage and the portfolio) </p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I made my first color flyers ever because the director of my job liked one of my newspaper ads so much she asked me to redo it into a color flyer and have 1500 copies printed. </p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I made my first full color posters because the director liked the full color flyers so much she wanted posters, so I made one and we printed 50 of them. Here's the wild thing, campus printing services charges only 35 cents for printing 12" by 18" posters... I'm going to be making so many posters its not even funny. At the very least, its a great portfolio filler. </p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This is the second busiest week of the year for customers coming into my job (topped only by next week), and they just changed around the phone systems so I now get around fifty to a hundred more calls a day than usual.</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I had to deal with unbelievable bureaucracy in order to register for classes this semester, special thanks to <a href="http://cheaplikeyourmom.blogspot.com/">Eric</a> who helped me get it all done within this hectic week. He's the bomb.</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I started a class which I believe will be the least of my worries in the weeks and months to come. Its Thursdays 2-5, so no one needs to worry about calling me while I'm in class this semester. Special thanks to my boss John for OK'ing it. </p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I started seriously researching my thesis (Americano-Russo-Japanese relations), which I still can't describe in less than ten words... I desperately need a good title. </p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I began playing a new game with my friends online called <a href="http://eleves.ec-lille.fr/%7Ecgames/diplomacy.jpg">Diplomacy</a>. I've already made two moves, but I haven't even really read <a href="http://www.wizards.com/avalonhill/rules/diplomacy.pdf">the rules</a> yet, I just skimmed the <a href="http://ry4an.org/diptutor/">tutorial</a>. </p> </li><li><p>And in the midst of all of this I have spent a good deal of time with Janelle and even played three to five hours of Halo with my friends.</p> </li></ol> <p>So am I a busy person? Yes, but the more I think about it, I made it that way. I volunteered for all of the special projects at work from the webpage to the newspaper ads to the flyers and posters. It is my choice to go to school as I have a 40 hour a week job, and it is my choice to write a thesis. I guess subconsciously I like being busy .<br /><br />I've commented to several friends in the past that I don't like to read, and couldn't even finish reading a book I was really enjoying (A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and I haven't picked up a book for fun since then. Is it because I have undiagnosed attention deficit disorder? I used to think so, but the more I look at the list above and I think of my success with similar ventures in the past, the less I think so. In fact, I've been writing this blog entry for at least 30 minutes now so it is an excellent example of how I am able to focus on something... it just needs to have perceived value for me to want to focus on it.<br /><br />And that's the answer, each of those things above has significant value to me, but my interest slumps where the perceived value ends... and that's why I don't blog very often. It may be a little corny but like Mr. Ed I'll never speak unless I have something to say. <br /><br />-----------------------------------------<br /><br />PS: My Mr. Bento classic template died and the color changy and accessable template didn't have a way to let others post comments, so I sold out and used a base one. I'll probably make myself a new one if I ever get around to it. So in other words, please leave comments :?)<br /><br /><br /></p>Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1155778109567031762006-08-16T21:16:00.000-04:002006-08-16T21:54:37.273-04:00I can make websites apparentlyTwo months ago I'd never made a website with little more than MS Word (<span style="font-style: italic;">shudder</span>). Now I've got a real website under my belt <a href="http://test-sfs.fsu.edu">test-sfs.fsu.edu</a>, which will be going live to <a href="sfs.fsu.edu">sfs.fsu.edu</a> very soon (once I get around to updating all of the pages). What I think is the greatest accomplishment is that I made it from scratch, by capturing the look of the <a href="http://finaid.fsu.edu">FSU template</a>, while using none of the bad code. In addition, I optimized it so that all of the files are super small (in fact all of the graphics other than the banner total 752 bytes) and I even improved upon the style (what can I say, I love subtle gradients). In conclusion, I rock. I can't wait to make a supercool homepage.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1153835274492372162006-07-25T09:02:00.000-04:002006-07-25T09:47:54.756-04:00CSS: More fun than it soundsAs many of you know I've been experimenting with webpage design in the last month or so, and for the last week or so I've been trying to learn CSS (Cascading Style Sheets, basically a way to change the looks of a webpage without changing its code). I've got most of the language down thanks to the easy interactive lessons at <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/">W3Schools</a>, but yesterday I found an amazing website which I think explains why CSS is much more fun than it sounds called <a href="http://www.csszengarden.com/">CSS Zengarden</a>. Basically they have a base webpage which various graphic designers use to illustrate the extremes that can be made by using CSS ... <span style="font-style: italic;">"The code remains the same, the only thing that has changed is the external .css file. Yes, really."<br /><br /></span>Here are a few of my favorite examples of what can be done just by using CSS and not messing around with the (HTML) code of the page . . . the most exciting part is that I should actually be able to do this stuff!<br /><br /> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=194/194.css">Amazingly Done Paper Effect</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://www.sprae.com/csszen/EmptinessIsZen.css">Very Clean: Calligraphy and Misty Hills</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://www.danleroux.com/newzen/boundtohappen.css">Very Clean: Lake</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=/165/165.css&page=3">Clean: Old Passport</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://www.webdaum.de/css/cssZenGarden/sample.css">Well Done Constant Background Image: Cow</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://www.crawforddesign.com/zengarden/sample.css">Unique table backgrounds: Leaves on Water</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://www.pro-ymd.co.jp/zen/sample.css">More table backgrounds</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://www.synergynet.co.uk/swindonchan/csszengarden/css/mushin.css">Interesting Blur Effect</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://www.digitalmash.com/zencss/style.css">Rubber Ducky</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=/044/044.css">Unique Paragraph Effect</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=/042/042.css">Cleanly Done Adjustable Tables</a></li></ul> <br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></span>Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1152903805637198562006-07-14T15:00:00.000-04:002006-07-14T15:03:25.646-04:00The Ten Commandments<a href="http://www.georgecarlin.com/mp3/George%20Carlin%20-%20When%20Will%20Jesus%20Bring%20the%20Pork%20Chops%20-%20The%20Ten%20Commandments.mp3">Here is a link</a> to George Carlin's take on the Ten Commandments. Makes sense to me.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1152822519076204892006-07-13T15:49:00.000-04:002006-07-13T16:35:56.703-04:00Adobe CS2 is funI recently convinced my office to get me a copy of Adobe Creative Suite CS2 so that I can make more professional media for release; I had used my copies of Photoshop 5 and Illustrator CS1 to make some decent flyers and stuff which sealed the deal. But CS2 is new to me, and I'm <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/1600/flexo_x8_z.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/200/flexo_x8_z.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>trying out all the new options, and in particular one new feature in Illustrator called "live trace" which instantly turns pixel graphics into vector graphics. Vector graphics are better because they can be sized down and up ad infinatum <span style="font-style: italic;">without any pixelization or loss</span>.<br /><br />As an example, take <a href="http://img68.exs.cx/img68/231/futurama-206-flexo.jpg">this image</a> of Flexo I found on the internet. Press a single button, and it changes it into a vector graphic. Then you are free to use "live paint" quickly and easily fill up the different spots with different colors. Never before has been using colors in Illustrator been this easy; now it a snap to show different possible color schemes. To the right are a few examples, click on it to get a better view.<br /><br />The trick is going to be that I, or anyone actually, could make a quick pencil drawing of something that we want to be a graphic. All we have to do is scan it, run "live trace" and boom. It's a graphic that can be any resized, reshaped and quickly colored to a hundred different color schemes. It is so cool, it's unbelievable.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1151460412910599602006-06-27T21:12:00.000-04:002006-06-27T22:16:11.980-04:00The Future is Today<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://members.cox.net/futurama/RocketUSA/Tin01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 203px;" src="http://members.cox.net/futurama/RocketUSA/Tin01.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The future is today, but I won't hear about it until tomorrow. Where have all the newsmen gone? Looking at the TV Guide, I see 10 channels that <i>could</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> have news . . . and there is no news. The closest thing is Larry King Live and the O'Reilly Factor, neither is strictly news, and neither really interests me. I'm disappointed in CNN, because there are two channels (normal and headline), neither of which has any news of value. MSNBC and CNBC are both garbage, in particular James Cramer's “Mad Money” on CNBC. I thought Janelle was cutting it quite a bit of slack when she called it intellectually offensive. </span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;">There is real news going on today, there are conflicting reports on whether or not the Hamas government has acknowledged the state of Israel. I heard a little bit on NPR driving home, and I see it on Google News . . . I just wish I could see it on television. Twenty-four hour news channels are a lie, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. There is no news right now on television, and I am deeply saddened by it.<br /><br /><br /></p>Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1150942713591451302006-06-21T22:16:00.000-04:002006-06-21T23:03:42.420-04:00Random Quote<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Not-Paid-To-Think-Magnet-C11756289.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 281px;" src="http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Not-Paid-To-Think-Magnet-C11756289.jpeg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Yes, believe it or not, I'm still alive. Here's a random quote:<br /><br />"The country is run by extremists because moderates have sh*t to do."<br />-Jon StewartAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1147378275236680282006-05-11T12:55:00.000-04:002006-05-11T16:11:15.280-04:00Long time no post . . . as usual?<p class="MsoNormal" style="">Yes, I have been getting a lot of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kearney_%28Simpsons%29">guff</a> from my friends and family about not posting enough lately so I figure I might as well. As you all probably all already know, I didn't make it into the foreign service; I made a 4.0 out of 7.0, and the minimum score was 5.25. What does all that mean? No idea actually, they wouldn't let me ask questions about how I did. The next chance I'll get to be interviewed would be September 2007, and while I'll definitely try again, I'm not betting 14 months of my life on the chance that I'll make it in next time. So what do I do? I'm looking at a doctoral programs. I can make it into FSU History department relatively easily, in fact the person who would let me in is already on my thesis committee. What's more is that I could even keep my job . . . what can I say, I like to pay the bills. I've also begun to look at other universities, and the one that I like the most so far is Cambridge . . . not only because it's in England, but it's also relatively cheap considering it's in the top 5 world universities, it has a good Asian History department, and there are even a few National Fellowships set up just for Americans who want to go to Cambridge. Special thanks to <a href="http://www.gates.scholarships.cam.ac.uk/">Billy G</a> by the way.<br /><br />Not that I want to turn this into a political blog, but there are a few things that I would like to get off my chest. But before I start, let me plug two really valuable internet resources which I use on close to a daily basis "<a href="http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn">Google News</a>" and "<a href="http://www.bugmenot.com/">Bug Me Not</a>". Google News of course lets you search throughout breaking news and links you to the most relevant and latest articles, while Bug Me Not gives you passwords to the online newspaper sites so you don't have to sign up for them and get all that fun spam. If you have any problems logging into any of my links, check <a href="http://www.bugmenot.com/">Bug Me Not</a> for a password. Anyway, back to the issue at hand.<br /><br />Our political and legal system is based on a system of checks and balances, but recently I have become aware of a few movements that are aimed at eliminating many of these checks and balances and thus threaten our system of government. Because of limited time, I'll just write about the first of them today. Yesterday, I heard about something that I heard "Presidential Signing Statements" for the first time. Instead of vetoing a bill, which is of course a president's constitutional right, these signing statements instead challenge the constitutionality of the law . . . thus refusing to implement the law. The problem? Vetoes are overridable, but these are not . . . because they are not in the constitution. Hurrah for checks and balances. Check out one the signing statements yourself <a href="http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wcomp/browse.html">here</a>; though you'll notice they're often hard to read, you might want to look in the library of congress <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/home/bills_res.html">here</a> as well to see what they are talking about in the laws. If all of that is too much work, you might want to check out the article that made me aware of the situation <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/04/30/bush_challenges_hundreds_of_laws/">here</a> . . . or check out the author's examples of signing statements <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/04/30/examples_of_the_presidents_signing_statements/">here</a>. A critic of the first article (<a href="http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=12539">here</a>) notes that Bush is not the first president to use signing statements, Regan was . . . and Regan, H.W. Bush, and Clinton all used them. But as both articles show, our current president has written more of these signing statements then the other three presidents combined (check out a graph <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/04/30/statutes_challenged">here</a>). What's more is something that neither article mentions that our current president has used these signing statements lieu of vetoes. Bush remains the first two term president never to veto a law since John Q. Adams. Whether you're Republican, Democrat or independent like myself, no one should be happy about this subversion of constitution.<br /><br />Peace out, and word to your respective mothers.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">-Mr. Bento<o:p></o:p></p>Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1143650582315047772006-03-29T11:15:00.000-04:002006-03-29T12:43:06.483-04:00A roadmap for my lifeWell April 11 is my interview with the Foreign Service, and I'm really anxious about the result. I would love to join the State Department, but I've heard the chances of getting in on your first time are slim. If I don't make it in, I will definately want to try again, but unfortunately the registration window for the prerequisite written exam closed when I was in the hospital, so I would have to wait for September 2007 to make another shot at an interview... and that makes me sad. <br /><br />I have decided that if I don't make it into the foreign service this time around, I would like to work towards a doctorate and becoming a professor. I don't think I should do this at FSU though, hopefully I could work to become a doctor at a slightly more prestigeous university, perhaps in one of those cities in which we'd like to live. If I can manage to graduate grad school with a 4.0 I might actually have a good chance to get in wherever I'd like. I think I'll go write a few emails to a few universities.<br /><br />-Mr. BentoAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1143040513591878342006-03-22T10:56:00.000-04:002006-03-22T11:30:05.113-04:00Doing Well ConsideringHello everyone, just wanted to chime in and say that I'm recovering slowly but surely from my surgery.<br /><br />Question of the day: Have you ever Googled yourself? I just gave it a shot and had five hits that were actually me, including an old Japanese Student Association <a href="http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~mjv0573/events/october2002/JSA.ppt">Power Point Presentation</a> I gave three and a half years ago on WFSU's Global Gatherings TV show. Ah memories. On one level I think its neat that I can be found on Google, but it bothers me a little too. That's why as you'll notice, I don't use my name anywhere on my Blog.<br /><br />Peace out my friends, and word to your respective mothers!<br /><br />A Post-Post Note: I've got comments working again on my blog, sorry about the inconvenience!Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1140404953643012732006-02-19T22:28:00.001-04:002009-03-03T14:00:37.833-04:00Now... no mo pneumo?As I know all of my regular readers already know, I had to go in for lung surgery again on February 15, 2006. When I went in for my checkup, they determined that I had another Pneumothorax... this is bad because the last surgery was supposed to stop them. They called me in for immediate surgery. This time it wasn't the fun la-dee-da cameras through small holes surgery, it was the more serious old-fashoned open me up surgery. Thank you all of my friends for the love and support you have shown with the previous surgery, and this one in particular.<br /><br />You all are the best.<br />-Mr. Bento<br /><br />_______________________________<br />A Post-Post note: Oh, by the by, the way you comment on this blog template is by clicking either on the title or on the number next to the title.<br />_______________________________<br />A Post-Post-Post note: One more thing, you'll notice a few new links on my sidebar (by the way, "no" is the japanese particle for " 's " ). <a href="http://portableapps.com/">Portable Apps</a> is a handy collection of PC applications which can be run directly from a jump drive at any PC location. Its very handy for having all of your stuff with you at the same time. <a href="http://www.bugmenot.com/">BugMeNot </a>is a handy thing I found recently on the internet. It gives you names and passwords for "compulsory registration" websites, which basically means that you can access websites like the New York Times (and hundreds of others) without getting spam in your email inbox... or having to give them a password. Pretty cool eh?Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1139369059828072912006-02-07T22:25:00.000-04:002006-02-07T23:43:27.866-04:00Poetry SchmoetryI worked for a while today on my new template (<a href="http://blogger-templates.blogspot.com/">K1 Black</a>), so I figured I should christen it with a post. For the record, that's <a href="http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/The_Cheat">The Cheat</a> from <a href="http://www.homestarrunner.com">Homestar Runner</a>, and <a href="http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/CharacterBios/flexo.dhtml">Flexo</a>, Bender's slightly less evil twin from Futurama. Speaking of Futurama, Adult Swim told me the other day that they're talking about making new Futurama episodes on DVD... which is fricking sweet. (This Futurama fansite mentions the same <a href="http://www.gotfuturama.com/">announcement</a>.)It's not a return to TV... yet... but it's a step in the right direction. So everyone do your part and buy the Futurama DVDs as soon as they hit the shelf! You'll be doing me and the three other Futurama fans out there a big favor.<br /><br />I wanted to finish with a bit of poetry. No not my own, I got the idea from Rob to just copy someone elses. Wandering the web, I found a picture of Data's cat "Spot." She really looks a lot like Janelle's cat <a href="http://janelle711photos.blogspot.com/">Sammy</a> to me. But anyway, I also found Data's poem "An Ode to Spot" which I thought was hilarious. I hope you do too.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spot_%28Star_Trek%29">An Ode to Spot</a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span><p> Felis Cattus, is your taxonomic nomenclature,<br />an endothermic quadruped carnivorous by nature?<br />Your visual, olfactory and auditory senses<br />contribute to your hunting skills, and natural defenses. </p><p> I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,<br />a singular development of cat communications<br />that obviates your basic hedonistic predilection<br />for a rhythmic stroking of your fur, to demonstrate affection. </p><p> A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;<br />you would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.<br />And when not being utilized to aide in locomotion,<br />it often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion. </p><p> O Spot, the complex levels of behaviour you display<br />connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.<br />And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,<br />I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.<br /></p><br /><br />Peace out my friends, and word to your respective mothers!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/1600/spot.jpg"><br /></a>Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1139201857407450822006-02-05T23:47:00.001-04:002009-03-02T13:21:19.789-04:00No mo pneumo!Well it's been a month since I've posted and for good reason. I've been into and out of the hospital. I've got no more <a href="http://www.webmd.com/hw/lung_disease/tp23039.asp">Pneumothorax</a>, and though I'm still recovering, I'm feeling pretty well. It still hurts when I breathe really deeply with a yawn or sneeze, but at least I can yawn now. Work's been pretty nice and are allowing me to go in half days as I recover (well technically I could take entire days off, but I'd like to leave a few vacation days for our anniversary in April).<br /><br />I'm watching <a href="http://abc.go.com/primetime/greysanatomy/">Grey's Anatomy</a> right now with Janelle, it seems to be an interesting show... at least an interesting episode. I like watching tv with her, it's pretty fun. We should do this more often, if only there were more quality shows to watch. Well, we do have the tivo-like "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_Media_Center_Edition">Windows Media Center</a>," I guess we could record good shows to watch, we just need to know which ones to record. Any recommendations? I'm currently just recording The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, Futurama and Stargate SG1.<br /><br />In other news, I'm very interested in watching news from the Middle East with Hamas in power, and Ariel Sharon out of commission. Amazing the stuff that can happen in one month, I wish I'd thought to bring a radio to the hospital so I could have listened to NPR. Or at least have had a newspaper. A real newspaper of course, the local newspaper sucks... as does local tv news (<a href="http://www.wtxl.com/">which we're currently watching</a>). Why does local news suck so much?! They just said "the future of hollywood is just down the road". Hurrah, we should stay in Tallahassee for the rest of our lives.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/1600/flexo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/320/flexo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Well it's getting late, I should get to bed. Peace out my friends, and word to your respective mothers!<br /><br />__________________________<br /><br />A Post-Post Note: I almost forgot! I've got a goatee! I was in the hospital for two weeks, and when I got out, I just decided not to shave off the middle. So it turns out I'm the evil Adam from an alternate universe! It's fun, though I don't know how long it will last.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1137001561498144132006-01-11T11:22:00.000-04:002006-02-08T00:56:50.296-04:00Up-frickin'-date already, would you?<div style="text-align: left;">That sentiment is from <a href="http://mccowen.blogspot.com/">Rob</a>, and he’s right, it’s been ages since I’ve updated. <span style=""> </span>Luckily I’ve got quite a bit to talk about so I’ll get started.<br /></div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Luck and Surgery</b>:</p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal">-<span style=""> </span>I’m going into be going into surgery Friday, January 13th. Good thing I’m not paraskavedekatriaphobic. I will be getting my Spontaneous Pneumothorax treated, so it does not occur again. Because it has happened so many times (three verified with xrays and numerous other times with just symptoms), they believe that there is a pinhole in my (left) lung which allows air to escape to create an air bubble which forces my left lung to collapse (currently %30!). This procedure will staple the hole shut and glue my left lung to the inner chest wall so it doesn’t happen again. To the best of my knowledge, this has never happened with the right lung.<span class="article-title"><span style="color:black;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal">-<span style=""> </span><a href="http://janelle711.blogspot.com/">Janelle</a> is superstitious… sometimes I really don’t know if it’s to be silly or if she actually believes it.<span style=""> </span>Yes, there’s the Friday the 13<sup>th</sup> surgery, but seems to bother Janelle more is that I did laundry on New Years Day. <span style=""> </span>Apparently someone at work told her that it’s bad luck (she won’t even tell me who it was… so you know it’s a very reputable source). <span style=""> </span></p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal">-<span style=""> </span>My car broke down yesterday. <span style=""> </span>I had to replace the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternator">alternator</a>. <span style=""> </span>So apparently this and the surgery are both due to all those clothes I ironed on New Years Day. <span style=""> </span>I guess I won’t be doing laundry on New Years Day next year.</p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><b style="">School</b>:</p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal">-<span style=""> </span>I got a 4.0 in all of my grad classes last semester!<span style=""> </span>That means I’m 12 credit hours toward my 30 credit hour degree with a 4.0 GPA!<span style=""> </span>Can I get a what what?</p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal">- <span style=""> </span>I officially enrolled in graduate school as an official graduate student this semester. <span style=""> </span>At the current rate, it looks like I’ll be graduating December 2006.</p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/1600/sched.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/200/sched.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal">-<span style=""> </span>I enrolled in three classes this semester; the hours for the two required courses hours suck:<span style=""> </span>12:30-3:15 and 3:35-4:50 on Thursday. <span style=""> </span>It pisses me off that they would set up required courses like that; I’ll be coming early every day of the week and taking shorter lunches this semester to make up for it.<span style=""> </span>I’m really lucky that they like me at work and are allowing me to do this.</p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal">-<span style=""> </span>My class schedule is posted here, please do not call me during class!</p> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/1600/sched.jpg"><br /></a></p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Fun</b>:</p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal">-<span style=""> </span>Never much time for fun with 40 hours of work plus grad school.</p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal">-<span style=""> </span>Rob & Eric have introduced me to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_&_Dragons">D&D</a>, and it’s an addictive concept. <span style=""> </span>I’ve always loved video game RPGs like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_fantasy">Final Fantasy</a>, and even more loved board game style video game RPGs like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Tactics">Final Fantasy Tactics</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shining_Force_series">Shining Force</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Wars">Advance Wars</a>.<span style=""> </span>I’m surprised I’ve gone this long without ever playing it.<span style=""> </span>Eric has started his own campaign, and I love it… we even made <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/17/1639/400/extremedorkitude.jpg">character figurines</a>.<span style=""> </span>I would love to start my own campaign, so I have been doing a lot of research on how it works in my free time. <span style="">Rob has said that my attention to detail would make me a good <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Master">DM</a>. Towards that end, </span>I’ve even developed a system to play it online using <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting/">Microsoft Netmeeting</a>. <span style=""> </span>See <a href="https://home.comcast.net/%7Eadamjfernandez/summon.GIF">this link</a> for an example of what the game might look like. <span style=""> </span>Anyone who is nerdy enough to be interested, please send me an email. <span style="">Plus, I've got a pretty good plot lined up, but you'll have to play hear more!<br /></span></p> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/1600/sched.jpg"><br /></a></p>Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1133884761416975662005-12-06T11:04:00.000-04:002005-12-07T10:10:48.453-04:00What can you learn about yourself from a website?Janelle showed me Pandora.com over the weekend, and it is the coolest thing I've seen online to date. Its even cooler than Google Earth, and that's saying something. What have I learned about myself? Well for starters, I've learned that I like "mild rythmic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncopation">syncopation</a>." All the music I like across genres seems to have it, but then again according to Wikipedia "Syncopation is used on occasion in many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music" title="Music">music</a> styles, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_classical_music" title="European classical music">classical music</a>, but it is a fundamental constant presence in such styles as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragtime" title="Ragtime">ragtime</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz" title="Jazz">jazz</a>. In the form of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_beat" title="Back beat">back beat</a>, syncopation is used in virtually all contemporary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_music" title="Popular music">popular music</a>." It occurs to me that Pandora probably puts that in most music. Oh well.<br /><br />One other thing I noticed over the weekend is how much the Firefox extention AdAware kicks ass. The first time I loaded pandora, I didn't even realize there were any ads on it... it wasn't until I opened it internet explorer that I noticed it has a really annoying flash ad right there in the upper right corner. AdAware cuts ads out of webpages before they load! My favorite example is my old yahoo mail account. There got to be a point when I gave up using it because of the annoying ads, but that was before I started using Firefox & AdAware. Check out the comparison below.<br /><br />I've got to get going, peace out, and word to your respective mothers!<br /><br />________________________________<br />A post-post note: Dr. Karen is right, I was talking about <a href="http://adblock.mozdev.org/">AdBlock</a>, which stops ads from loading in webpages while using Firefox. <a href="http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/">AdAware </a>is free software for the PC that protects against spyware. Oops!Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1133231864471631932005-11-28T22:27:00.000-04:002005-11-29T09:20:47.303-04:00I thought I would write; All of my friends a haiku; So I feel like writingTwo interpretations of today's Haiku... IN ENGLISH!<br /><br />Interpretation #1<br />Halo can be fun<br />When I have nothing pressing<br />But I should right now<br /><br />Interpretation #2<br />Halo can be fun<br />When I have nothing pressing<br />But I should write now<br /><br />Ok not quite as multi dimentional as my Japanese Haiku, but wha'cha going to do? I just thought I would say hey to my five or so peeps who read this, and appologize for not writing more (more text/more often). By the by, its good to know that I'm at the top of my form playing Halo 2 when I havn't played for weeks. That's as good a reason as any to play it slightly less! On that note, I'm off to finish a paper I should have finished yesterday.<br /><br />Is anyone else interested in turn of the century Russo-Japanese relations? I didn't think so. And for the record... writing <a href="http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=historiography">historiographies </a>suck.<br /><br />Peace out homeys, and word to your respective mothers!<br />-Mr. Adam "Saibashi" BentoAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1132260809430808272005-11-17T14:28:00.000-04:002005-11-17T17:00:16.423-04:00OSXtreme for XP: It's not OSX but it's closeThe title <a href="http://www.ppxthemes.com/details.php?image_id=916">OSXtreme</a> is in reference to a shell I made for the Pocket PC operating system back in the day, which took the crappy Pocket PC OS and gave it most of the functions of a Windows OS and gave it a cool OSX look. My goal is to now give Windows XP all the friendlyness and functionality of OSX... and do it for free... and be able to transfer this functionality from computer to computer. Before I had thought this impossible, but I have made some recent discoveries which lead me to believe that this is a goal well within reach.<br /><br />ICONS:<br />Windows XP can use 64x64 pixel icons, but for some reason all of the standard windows icons are 32x32. Additionally, I have finally found free icon packing software, which can convert multiple images into an icon pack. I have converted and am currently using the <a href="http://everaldo.com/crystal.html">Crystal icon set</a> for Linux, and am setting these to all of the windows icon defaults. It looks pretty nice, and with any luck the windows theme creation tool should allow me to export these icons with relative ease. I would be happy to give these icon sets and themes to any of my friends who want them, but due to legal reasons, I do not want to post them online.<br /><br />SEARCH FUNCTION:<br />OSX Tiger is supposed to put everything into a cache so that its search is instantaneous. In comparison, a Windows search can take up to 5 minutes. Yesterday, I found a tool that gives this functionality to Windows. It's another free tool from our newly public friends at Google called <a href="http://desktop.google.com/">Google Desktop</a>. Its quite something, type in a phrase and it will instantaneously give you every document on your computer with that phrase in its title or in its text. It also has integrated email search, rss reader (which you can use to keep track of all your friends updates to their blogs), and a whole bunch of other things which you can turn off if you so desire. I actually rather like the picture slideshow, I expected it to be a distraction, but I find it<br /><br />EXPOSE:<br />A cool trick in OSX is <a href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/expose/">Exposé</a>; this has ability to hit a button which allows you to see every open window on the screen <a href="http://www.schubart.net/archives/2004/02/07/iex-expose-clone-for-windows">by shrinking them</a>. You can then click on one of these small windows and everything will be restored to full size and the one you selected will be brought to the front. <a href="http://www.oxygen-inc.com/premium/InsaniSoft/iEx.htm">iEx </a>is a free tool that does this for windows. I havn't tried it yet, but I plan to when I get back to my computer. And of course, it's free.<br /><br />OTHER SOFTWARE, FIREFOX:<br />Why use <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/">Firefox </a>in place of Internet Explorer? If the higher security, stronger <a href="http://adblock.mozdev.org/">ad blocking power</a>, and hundreds of useful plug-ins aren't your thing, it also looks a lot nicer with its many skins. I like using <a href="http://www.tom-cat.com/mozilla/">Mostly Crystal</a>, because it "mostly" uses the same Crystal icon set I am using to replace the windows icons and the <a href="http://www.tom-cat.com/mozilla/firefox/options.html">curves </a>are very pleasant on the eyes.<br /><br />OTHER SOFTWARE, THUNDERBIRD:<br />Why use <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/">Thunderbird </a>as your email client? Well it's about a hundred times more powerful than Outlook Express, and has all the high security and plug-in features of Firefox, and it can be skinned as well. I use the <a href="http://www.tom-cat.com/mozilla/">Mostly Crystal </a>skin for this program as well.<br /><br />OTHER SOFTWARE, OPEN OFFICE:<br /><a href="http://www.openoffice.org/">Open Office</a> is an MS Office replacement (yes I know that this has nothing to do with OSX, but it has everything to do with functionality). It mimics each of the MS Office programs for free (except Outlook, see Thunderbird above), so if you find yourself without a legal copy of MS Office for your computer, why not make the leap to Open Office? Or you can just stick it to the man, you know you want to.<br /><br />Oh well, I've got to get going, peace out and word to your respective mothers.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1132157904929516602005-11-16T09:17:00.000-04:002005-11-16T12:32:23.513-04:00Small plans of the past; Make me believe in our great plans for the futureYes, I stole the idea to open with a Haiku from Rob. Oh well, it's mine now! So anyway, if you havn't noticed, my titles are attempts at English haikus, but again I have problems counting syllables in English, so I'm always up for critique. But before I give you today's Japanese haiku, I would like to respond to something Rob said on my last post: "You know what I like about Japanese? It's so <i>straightforward</i>..." The lack of directness is mostly my fault, I chose to only write it as you would hear it spoken, without the Chinese characters that let a person reading it know what's going on. But this was my intention, as I was trying to mimic the effect of listening to a song, so that it was a little less straightforward... and I thought this would go well with the concept of a Haiku. This time, I will give the pronunciation again, but also give the Chinese characters of the interpretation I am translating. But there still is some ambiguity because in a Japanese sentence, you do not need a subject or an object... they can be inferred. I try to use this trick a lot to give it "deeper meaning", but the practical upside of this for someone who doesn't read Japanese is that when I say me, he, or we it very well might mean me (as in you), you, us, them, Rob (in #1 in particular) et cetera. Oh well, without further adieu, I give you, haiku:<br /><br />かきあげる<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Kaki ageru</span><br />こといるつもり<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Koto iru tsumori</span><br />かきなぐる<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Kaki naguru</span><br /><br />Interpretation #1 (or what I was actually going for):<br />書き上げる<br />To finish writing<br />事要る積もり<br />Is what we plan to do.<br />書きなぐる<br />But we write so very quickly.<br /><br />Interpretation #2 (for the fans: another interpretation revolving around food)<br />牡蛎揚げる<br />To fry oysters<br />事要る積もり<br />Is what I plan to do.<br />牡蛎殴る<br />I will pulverize the oysters.<br /><br />Interpretation #3 (From the guiney pigs)<br />火気上げる<br />The flaming guitar rises<br />事要る積もり<br />That is his intention<br />火気殴る<br />This flame strikes me.<br /><br />Interpretation #4 (ironically, here actually is ambiguous as to if the city is shot or is doing the shooting, I suppose this is a glass is half empty or half full question... either way, I suppose this is a rather grim haiku)<br />火器挙げる<br />Guns will raise<br />古都射る積もり<br />This is the plan, an ancient city will shoot/ There is a plan that an ancient city be shot<br />火気殴る<br />and a fire will strike<br />__________________________________________<br /><br />Yeah, poetry writing is good at stirring up the creative juices. Let's see, I'm still looking forward to <a href="http://janelle711.blogspot.com/">Janelle's</a> Harry Potter party. I just wish I was seeing more of her lately.<br /><br /><br />I saw a bumper sticker yesterday which pissed me off... so I'll share it with all of you. It said: "Remember 9/11, the left has already forgotten." While I agree that complacency is a mistake, these sorts of blanket statements piss me off to no end. In an addition to Rob's critique of "<a href="http://mccowen.blogspot.com/2005/11/musings.html">conservatives</a>" I would add predjudice. Not racism, predjudice. The attitude that one already knows everything about everyone and everything and there is no need to investigate the matter further. This oversimplification is as dangerous if not more dangerous than complacency, and let us not forget there are people complacent about national security who are both "conservatives" and "liberals". But disagreement on national security or any other topic does not inherently equal complacency and being a hawk is not inherently the cure all for<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/1600/strongbadia.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/200/strongbadia.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> the nation's security woes.<br /><br /><br />In lighter news, <a href="http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail138.html">Strong Bad has his own space program now;</a> it was a long time coming. I wish I had my very own teh Cheat/ Strap Coopmore, then I'd have my very on space program too.<br /><br />That's a good note to end with as any,<br />Peace out and word to your respective mothers!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />_______________________________________________________<br />A post-post note: You know, reading back over my translations, it seems like I'm making Engrish of my very own.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The flaming guitar rises</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">That is his intention</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This flame strikes me<br /><br /></span>Seriously, I need to start my own Japanese T-shirt company.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1131466404986641182005-11-08T11:18:00.000-04:002005-11-08T12:15:13.970-04:00I have a thought that; Haiku is good for you; let's Haiku together<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/1600/tehcheat_toad2.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/320/tehcheat_toad2.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Garth</span>: We're looking down on Wayne's basement. Only that's not Wayne's basement. Isn't that weird?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wayne</span>: Garth, that was a haiku!<br /><br /><br />I've never much liked haiku, because well... I've never been good at counting syllables in English. I can't even tell if the above is a haiku. But I had a thought after talking to Rob about haiku, it would be a lot "easier" in Japanese! I mean, Japanese is a syllabic language, and was kinda built for haiku (or the other way around, eh who cares.) In addition, I was reading through the lyrics of a Cocco song the other day, and I realized several double meanings for many of the lyrics I had previously thought I understood, so I thought it would be cool to come up with my own poetry with multiple meanings. So here we go, I'll do it first in Japanese, then give a few possible translations (japanese is pronounced like latin... think spanish if the h's sound like h's):<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">nicchuu wa</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />kurushii darou</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">kyou iru no<br /><br /></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho";" lang="JA">にっちゅうは</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho";" lang="JA">くるしいだろう</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho";" lang="JA">きょういるの</span></p> <br /><br />Translation 1:<br />The middle of the day;<br />It can be rather difficult.<br />I need a day off<br /><br />Translation 2:<br />The middle of the day;<br />It can be rather difficult.<br />I'm going back to sleep.<br /><br />Translation 3:<br />The middle of the day;<br />It can be rather difficult.<br />The day is alive.<br /><br />Translation 4:<br />The middle of the day;<br />It can be rather difficult.<br />Thus, I set into the day.<br /><br />Translation 5:<br />The middle of the day;<br />It can be rather difficult.<br />Thus, I enter the sun.<br /><br />Translation 6:<br />The middle of the day;<br />It can be rather difficult.<br />I'm going to deep fry a meal.<br /><br />Translation 7:<br />Sino-Japanese relations<br />Can be rather tenuous.<br />They need to take a break.<br /><br />I will leave you all with<a href="http://www.homestarrunner.com/ween05.html"> a link to the Homestar Runner halloween episode</a>, wherefrom I have created an icon of Teh Cheat dressed as Toad from Super Mario Brothers 2.<br /><br />Peace out, and word to your respective mothers.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1130770141580600592005-10-31T09:48:00.000-04:002005-10-31T11:56:50.110-04:00Hello out there in the land of the living<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/1600/pinocchio.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/320/pinocchio.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Sorry for not posting in a while, I wish I could say I've been exceptionally busy or even that I've had nothing to write about, but both would be lies. So let me take a moment bring everyone up to speed with what's been going on in my life.<br />1) <a href="http://news.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=us/10-0&fp=43660e9a2732104c&ei=hyFmQ6nnMaWSaYGLlKwJ&url=http%3A//www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/sports/baseball/31lopez.html&cid=0">Al Lopez</a>, the Baseball Hall of Famer died over the weekend. He was the only famous, semi-relative I've ever had.<br />2) I got my new "<a href="http://www.cocco.co.jp/contents/index.html">Cocco's Best</a>" two disk CD set and I couldn't be happier with it. Well, maybe if there was one song with a banjo...<br />3) I can't wait to be grilled on pan-asian culture by the <a href="http://mccowen.blogspot.com/">Rob-o-Bob-o-Bobulator</a>, and to read some of his up and coming novel.<br />4) My <a href="http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/hardware/notebooks/0,39001743,39074480p,00.htm">pretty new laptop</a> died, and I sent it off for repairs.<br />5) In despiration, I ripped appart my three year old broken <a href="http://www.pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=144">Toshiba PDA</a> and banged it with a hammer. Turns out it works now, and is being held together by solder and superglue. But hell, it works. Again, never buy a Toshiba product; I am pretty sure they are built to fall apart.<br />6) I got my pretty new laptop back, but not after Best Buy gave me some <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=guff">guff</a>. I don't recommend purchasing from there either, at least if you ever want customer service with a repair.<br />7) So bottom line, I've now got a semi-operational PDA and a hopefully fully operational laptop. Funny the way that worked out... Janelle would you like to borrow one?<br />8) My favorite Homestar Runner episode in a while: <a href="http://www.homestarrunner.com/cheatcommandos4.html">Commandos in the Classroom</a>. "I've got dysentery!"<br />9) I like adding links into my posts whenever possible: for example, Pinocchio is coming to the <a href="http://www.hiroshima-asahi.net/">Hiroshima Noh Theatre</a> November 19 & 20th. Crap, I guess I'll miss it.<br />10) I really should start two papers on 20th Century Russo-Japanese relations, I just don't know what to write about. Perhaps, one about pre-Communist relations and one about post Communist? I would need to know when to end the second one... perhaps 1945? I don't want to get into WWI and WWII<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">too much</span> but it seems that they are going to be unavoidable. Maybe I should just break down and do a WWI paper and a WWII paper. Sigh. The World Wars don't get links, chances are you've heard of them.<br />11) <a href="http://www.sfs.fsu.edu/">Work</a>'s pretty uneventful now, I think now is my time to shine.<br />12) I'm still awaiting an acceptance into grad. school, so I contacted the department friday, and they said that they were still awaiting my GRE scores that I took back on September 14. Seriously, almost 8 weeks have gone by... I need to get in contact with the GRE.<br />13) Boo! It's <a href="http://www.partycity.com/">All Hallow's Eve</a>, or Halloween for you modern folks. Not that anyone has noticed<br />13) I made sausage, pork and potato stew last night, ghetto sushi too. Too bad, I forgot my lunchbox.<br />14) I'm hungry, I think I'll go call Janelle and see if she'll bring Mr. Bento to school for me.<br /><br />Yep, I think that's it for the moment, I'll do my best to keep you all posted with more regular posts in the future.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">_____________________________________<br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A post-post note</span>: Janelle slept in and is missing her class, so it looks like I'll be going to Burger King for lunch. How I pine for Mr. Bento! Oh, and my wife I guess. To think, I could be eating ghetto sushi right now!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">_____________________________________<br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A post-post-post note</span>: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17077311&postID=113050403776175693&isPopup=true">I like comments too</a>...Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17138921.post-1129836138426478592005-10-20T15:00:00.000-04:002005-10-20T15:22:18.433-04:00It's the little things in lifeSorry I havn't posted in a while, I've been busy busy. Lets see, I got my new CD <a href="http://www.keikaku.net/reviews/61">Barairo Pop</a> and its good, though not exactly what I was expecting. It was a little brighter than Cocco before, but the thing that really surprised me was the banjo... and the fiddle. I guess you can chalk that up to the new band, but really I was not expecting a Japanese music group to have any songs with a banjo or a fiddle, much less two.<br /><br />One other exciting thing happened today, I test drove Google's new personalized homepage. I had been using news.google.com as my homepage for months, but I like this much better. Its clean, simple, and completely customizable with news, email, weather and everything. C'est tres bien! Ahem, sorry still feeling a little French after John Stewart's interview with <a class="results_title" target="_top" href="http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=24091">Bill O'Reilly</a>.<br /><br />That's all for now, peace out and word to your respective mothers.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/1600/google.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/507/1645/400/google.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722093368264449583noreply@blogger.com3