Tag Archives: life

I don’t think I’m THIS enthusastic about anything

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Which means, depending on how you look at things, this is either a commentary on how nutty some people can be or how empty my life is. 1  Here’s a comment from a woman who purchased an iPad:2

“Have you touched one?” she said after being asked why she showed up at 7:30 a.m. at the Apple store. “It’s going to change everything about how you live. You are going to be connected to everything. You are 30 seconds away from anything you need to know. It’s really amazing.”

This quote makes it sound as if by purchasing an iPad the sky will open up and the Dali Lama will start IM’ing you for advice about life, the universe, and everything.  I like Apple, I like Apple products, and I love how they’ve raised the bar as to what we expect from computers3 , portable music devices, and mobile phones.  That said, they did not invent the internet when they launched the iPad. 4  I’ve been 30 seconds away from anything I needed to know the day I got my first web-enabled phone.5

  1. And, I don’t think I lead an empty life.  I’ve got a MakerBot, you know. [↩]
  2. Thanks to Tony Buser for the link [↩]
  3. Especially personal computers [↩]
  4. ‘Cause, you know, that was Al Gore. [↩]
  5. Well, actually, the day I started down the road to my internet addiction – but that’s not the point. [↩]

Christmas, Birthday, etc

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It’s not that I’m not materialistic or a complete stoic.  It’s just that my interests are so simple, narrow, and specific there just isn’t a whole lot I require out of life.  But for other happy and fortunate life complications1 I’d live in a studio apartment almost completely devoid of furniture except for a futon, small table, one (perhaps two) and book shelf.  Give me a library card and a laptop and I’ll show you a content man.  For example – one of my hobbies is origami.  Which boils down to basically a lot of paper. 2

While this means I’m easily content, it means those family and friends are frustrated at the thought of having to find me a gift. 3  So, for basically the first time ever I’ve put together a wish list with stuff I would love to get (in rough order):

  1. aka family [↩]
  2. A hobby which, hundreds of years ago could only be practiced by those precious few who had access to a luxury such as paper, can now be practiced by anyone in reach of a paper recycling bin. [↩]
  3. 500 sheets of A4 bright white multipurpose paper???  Score! [↩]
  4. Since I have none of the equipment or skills to perform SMT soldering [↩]
  5. Someone mentioned the modular thermistor set ups don’t detect temperatures properly – about 10 degrees too low?! Update:  Rick of MakerGear clarifies this was the result of a ring terminal mounted thermistor.  His modular thermistor kit pictured at the bottom of the this page shows that this kit allows you to make the entire thermistor attachment far more modular by covering it’s terminals in PTFE sleeves and then adding a connector.  This only makes me want this kit more.  Thanks Rick! [↩]
  6. Preferably one with George Plimpton’s face [↩]
  7. That’s a Simpson’s reference, FYI [↩]