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Journal TechnoLust's Journal: Anyone else stuck at work today? 40

Journal by TechnoLust
Man, I don't want to be here. I had to get up at 6am this morning. After not getting in bed until after that the last 5 days, it was rough. OK, so I haven't had to do much today except change a few passwords for people who can't remember them after their long weekend. I've cleaned my office up quite a bit. I moved the TV to the back of the office so I could get to the cabinet better. I restacked the pile of PCs that were on 2 carts onto the larger one, so I could go get the new shipment of laptops. I'm talking to blinder mostly. Ribbing him about how someone at American Airlines is wearing his undies and playing his SG. :-)

It's almost lunch time, so I guess I'll take a long lunch and maybe leave early. Before the end of the year, I need to go to the liquor store, use my gift card to get a massage, talk to Danielle about a friend of hers that gave me her cell number when I went out 12/26 and find out what's the scoop with her, find out what's the deal with my friend's wedding on the 31st, and find a kick ass New Year's Eve party to grace with my presence.

Oh, Linda left me a present. It's Hot Cocoa mix. Same thing she got me last year, and the year before. And both years when she asked me in mid-January how I liked it, I told her I don't drink anything but water and alcohol, so I hadn't tried it. I still have last years because the bottle it was in was really cool, but I think I gave the previous year's to Mom. I know it's a long time between Christmases.... like a whole year, but you'd think that when she see's a container of Cocoa mix, it would trigger a memory. You know, that or me bringing a gallon of water to work a day. Maybe that. I guess I should not complain, after all, I didn't get her anything this year, but to me, it's the thought that counts, not that you bought me something or how much you spent. Her getting me something that she knows I won't use isn't really all that thoughtful in my opinion. Ok enough bitching.

Oh, here are some funny tidbits. Patrick and I were discussing the new book I'm writing. It's called "Yes Virginia, There Really Is a Repo Man: Teaching Your Children Fiscal Responsibility In the Age of the Credit Card". He mentioned a book he read called, "The Millionaire Next Door" about the benefits of not owing any money, and we dicussed the advantages of building credit, and how to do that without getting in debt. During the course of the discussion an acquantance's situation came up. She had $115 for her car payment set aside. She knew she was going to be working this week and since she figured she'd make at least $75/night in tips, she would spend the car payment money on some things she wanted at the mall. She then forgot which day she was supposed to work, didn't call in, and was fired. So now, she doesn't have her car payment. Patrick came up with the choice quote, "You can't out-earn stupidity."

Damn, I was browsing around amazon.com and it gave me a recommendation of Live: Awake. I thought it was a new CD, but it's a "best of" CD. I already have all the songs, except for the the one "Previously Unreleased" song on there. Maybe iTunes will have it. If so, I guess I'll be trying to figure out a way to crack their DRM so I can listen to the song in my non-iPod MP3 player and my car.

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Anyone else stuck at work today? More

Anyone else stuck at work today?

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  • 1) Throw away the non-iPod player. It's worthless to you and to me.
    2) Yes, I'm a complete fucking iPod snob.
    3) Buy an iPod.
    4) Don't break Apple's DRM, even though you can.

    a) Burn DRM song to disc

    b) Rip previously burned song to "dirty" format like MP3, WMA, or other non-AAC format
    c) Copy song to your disgusting, icky, style-less MP3 player.
    d) Relish your inferiority.

    5) Go to fucking sleep before midnight for a week or two. It'll work wonders.
    6) GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF WORK!!!!!!!!

    • Step 1 is stupid, because my "non-iPod player" is a Sharp Zaurus. It not only plays MP3s, but I can send email, and surf the web with it. It runs linux, and it kicks the iPod's ass. It has great style and a slide out thumb keyboard.

      Step 3, I'm waiting for them to get under $100, or someone to buy me one. And I spent your Christmas gift on books. :-)

      5) I can't go to sleep unless I force myself. I'm fucking nocturnal, I swear. I love night time. Well, it's either that or all that crack I'm smoking, e

      • The Zaurus plays MP3s, but it's NOT an MP3 playah. Get an iPod. Don't buy alcohol for one day and the money you save will afford you an iPod. :)

        I used to love nighttime, well, I still do, but I've disciplined myself to sleep like the rest of society because it's just more convenient.

        Ok, I'm going home. I'm off the rest of the week anyway. Freakin' school starts for me Monday, can you believe that shit? Damn.
        • It depends on what part of society you like to hang out with! People that are up at night are WAY more interesting than the day-walkers. And as far as saving money drinking, have you not been reading? I date the bartenders so I get FREE BOOZE. As I told Sol, yes, I'm a whore, but I'm not a CHEAP whore. :-)
          • Well, after a while, reading your girl/drinking JEs is like:
            I flirted with her...
            I was drunk...
            I flirted with her too...
            She's pretty, but insane...
            She's sane, but fugly...
            I was drunk....
            I was out partying...
            I was up until 20 minutes after I woke up...

            So the details tend to get lost after a while. I'll start remembering after you move out of your drunken whore phase. :)
    • Don't break DRM? Are you high? I break DRM just because I can. Even when I don't need to. I went out of my way to buy the new Bestie Boys CD from Canada, even though I didn't want it, just so I could break the DRM!
      • I believe there is a place for "fair" DRM. My view was that I didn't always want to buy a $15 CD that sucks ass except for one song. Also, the DRM on iTMS songs is very fair.

        I stand by that view and iTMS has satisfied it!
        • iTunes DRM isn't horrible, along the whole spectrum of DRM attempts. And it should be noted that I have an iPod Mini, and buy iTunes. I bought a bunch last night:

          Pressure Drop 2:57 Toots & The Maytals & Eric Clapton
          I Fought the Law (Live) 2:26 The Clash
          Frankenstein 2:43 Gary Hoey
          Another Piece of Meat 3:47 Scorpions
          Bad Boys Running Wild 3:52 Scorpions
          Big City Nights ("World Wide Live" Version) 4:58 Scorpions
          Blackout 4:04 Scorpions
          Can't Get Enough, Pt. 1
          • And of course the answer to all of these is to break the DRM. Thankfully, Apple even gives you a way to do it, burn a redbook CD. For some of us, that's still too much trouble, and we can't be bothered to reach for a blank and wait.

            Not sure if this is possible in iTunes, but in Media Player you can use a plug-in to do virtual CD burning - ie, directly creating an iso without physically burning to disc. You then use one of the myriad of available virtual cd drive tools to rip the songs - no blank CDs requi
            • Yes, I'm sure there are more effecient ways to make it work. I'm just annoyed at having to play the game at all.

              In iTunes, there's a function that does AAC->MP3. Of course, it doesn't work for a DRM'd AAC file. They had to do extra work to make that not work.
              • In iTunes, there's a function that does AAC->MP3. Of course, it doesn't work for a DRM'd AAC file. They had to do extra work to make that not work.

                But that's the point of DRM - it would be pointless if they allowed you to convert the file to a DRM-free format.

                DRM in and of itself is not always a bad thing. DRM which locks you into one particular media player/device is. At present there is no usable DRM solution which works across several media players/devices. DRMed WMA is more widely supported than o
                • it would be pointless

                  Ah, now you're catching on. :)

                  It is pointless.... because they DO let you convert the file to a DRM-free format. A fully supported feature (burning to redbook CD). They just make you jump through more hoops. So what's the point?
                  • So what's the point?

                    Two points:

                    1) It stops the "honest" people from bypassing the system; and
                    2) Apple are only going the DRM route to satisfy the major labels, otherwise they'd have bugger all to sell on iTMS.

                    From what I recall, Apple weren't particularly interested in including DRM, but the labels won't let you sell their music without DRM. (Remember the Mac campaign from a few years back? Rip, Mix, Burn? That got a lot of the labels off-side.) Plus, at the price they charge, users would have demanded
                • I like DRMs. I think if I sell you something i still have the right to limit what you can do with it, as long as it's known upfront. After all, you don't have to buy it.
    • The iPod is great for first gen. However, it will not survive to gen three.

      Smoking crak? Hardly.

      Once Nokia, Rim, etc., bundle MP3 players (with gigs o' storage) into their phones, the iPod is effectively dead. It doesn't matter that it has a cooler interface. It doesn't matter that it is WHITE.

      Apple recognizes this, and may be trying to do something about it [mobilewhack.com]. The question is 'can they pull it off?'

      • We'll see my friend, we'll see. Inflammatory words never really seem to come true. :) You will be prying an iPod from my cold dead fingers when I'm 90. I do not want a fucking MP3 phone. I don't want a camera phone. I don't want a PDA phone. I want a phone. I've seen all my friends gushing about they're 5000 in 1 phones for years and have yawned consistently. AND, I'm a technological pioneer type as well. It's just stupid to be too many things at once.

        :)
        • I still tend to be of the mindset that I want a phone to do phone things, a camera to do camera things, an ipod to play music, a windows computer to crash, a....er, yeah.

          Anyway, from my experiences, and from working with people that tend to buy the newest combo gizmo, yes, they seem to do everything, but not any one thing well.

          And I guess I may still think a quality product is better than a "quantity" product.
          • Normally I agree, but I just bought a new cell phone that does pics and video. It doesn't do them great, so when I know I'm going to take pictures, I take my digital camera, but when I'm out and see something I need a picture of and don't have my (comparatively) huge digital camera with me, it's great to be able to open my phone and take a 1.2 Megapixel picture and email it myself. If my phone played MP3s, I'd be in tech heaven. :-)
    • Amend Step 1 to be, send non-iPod mp3 player to OctaneZ... no seriously
    • Throw away the non-iPod player. It's worthless to you and to me.

      I love the iPod. One of these days Apple will release the API so others can write applications for it. It is so much more than a music player.

      My only mp3 player is my Palm Tungsten E. I have the aluminum/plastic case with the two card slots and music on one card. Work on a machine, plug in the headphones and enjoy. I'd rather have an iPod that could function more like Palm but it works for now.

    • You know why my non-iPod mp3 player kicks more ass than your rather gay iPod? I'll tell you why:

      1) Not only does it play mp3's, it also plays music CDs. In your face!
      2) It's way cheaper.
      3) No bloody DRM.
      4) It's four years old, it's been beaten and battered, yet it STILL WORKS -- unlike your wussie iPod that will break after three months of use.

      Of course it does have several flaws. For one, the batteries (ordinary rechargable AA batteries) are getting old and can only hold for a couple of hours. And rec

    • no boards of canada? no, not a single song by boards of canada. how can they even put "music store" in the name of such a thing?
  • and posting to slashdot? How responsible is that? But, in answer to the question, yeah I am stuck at work as well. But almost no one is here so I'll probably leave a bit earlier than normal. Bastards. With there damned vacation time.

    As for the person getting you hot-cocoa as a gift, maybe she wants to get you something that'll last, and if you don't consume it, it'll last forever. Or, she might not remember that you don't consume it. People with good memories or with accute perception frequently project th
  • ...at work, today, tomorrow and the day after that. Things are so slow that besides the tumbleweeds and zombies it's pretty much dead over here.

    But I am preparing for New Years festivities and bought a bottle of Chapagne last night, trying to beat the new years rush. Last year they were sold out of any semblance of reasonable bottles and all that was left was the warm stuff on the shelves that tastes like carbonated swill or the overpriced bottles still left in the cooler after all the other bottles have
  • once again real life imitates fark
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I'm at work. Tomorrow I don't work, as I'm taking my driver's test (free hint: don't let your license lapse for two years in NYS), I work Thurs., and then I have Friday off for New Year's. (And Monday the 3rd, where the office celebrates NY's but I celebrate my wedding.)

    Wife was supposed to work, but something we ate didn't agree with her, and so she was up late as her body decided to purge itself of everything she ever ate. I think pieces of wedding cake came up.

    and as for your beverage choices -- wat
    • I do drink fruit juice with alcohol, and I've been considering what to add to the cocoa mix... I'm thinking bailey's might do well. I also have Kaluha and some Godiva chocolate liquor. :-) I guess I'm experimenting tonight!
  • This week between holidays is defintiely slow. I think all the cleints and subcontractors we work with must of just closed up shop this week. Here I am midway into my work week (we are closing our office friday) and I have received exactly one email here at work, and it was a newsletter. Except for in-office intercoms, I do not think my phone has rang once since last week.
  • ... I work for an ISP and people get shiny new computers for Christmas and want to get them on "teh intarweb".
    About 60% of callers just want to know the dial-up number and/or their password as they are transfering their settings from their old box. The rest are starting up new accounts.
  • Oof! It drives me crazy when bands do that. The point of a "Best Of" CD is to get your CDs to a broader audience, an audience that will only buy a CD if it is already full of songs they already know, or maybe to sell it to people who only marginally like your band, but would like some of your better stuff. The point is not to schnooker your fans into buying it just so that they can get a legal copy of the one "previously unreleased" track you put on it just for that reason.

    Counting Crows did it too. I
  • ...because i haven't got one.

    In theory, i should be studying like mad for the exams next week, and doing other schoolwork. In practice...let's make it "starting tomorrow", ok? For somehow, these exams have been the least of my worries over the past several days. My only accomplishment today has been finally finishing War and Peace.

    Meh.

  • Yep, I'm a-working too. But the good part is, I head to the cabin tomorrow, where there is a sick amount of snow, and my snowmobile & snowboard are waiting for me...

    Hubby's out there already, so when not working, I have been batching it: watching all the chick flicks that my hubby would rather swallow nails than view, reading, eating leftovers, drinking lots of beer, playing the guitar (stupid B & Bm, my hands are too freakin' small) and reno'ing my bedroom... god, I love these little moments of s
  • I was supposed to get up at 6:30 this morning, but although I changed the timing of the alarm, I failed to set it to go off at that time :-p

    So at 7:24 I wake up.

    I'm supposed to be downtown at 8:00.

    A trip that normally, from the time I wake up to the time I get downtown, takes well over an hour, today I managed in only 37 minutes... Pulled into the parking spot a 8:01. About half the usual time.

    Blah.
  • I don't have to go back until mid-January. Yayish.
    I don't get paid until a few days before mid-January. Boo.

    But I do get an expenses-paid trip halfway across the U.S., so it works out. :)

    I do think I will start going stir-crazy here shortly, though. My brother is running around in his boxers saying the word "Leg" over and over again, and torturing the dog. When trying to watch a movie, he waits until the plot-revealing moment to start talking again. Sadly, he isn't a middleschooler like you're probab
  • Sucks to be you, TL. :)

    Having said that, I am helping my sister learn how to use Powerpoint to make education resources for the ICT part of her First Year studies (she's doing a three-year Degree course to become a primary school teacher). I've got an unused copy of MS Office 2000 knocking around, so she's sorted to do work on her laptop rather than rely on the Computer Centre.

    Oh yeah, and I know someone at work who'd benefit from that book you're planning on writing. He's already got nearly £1500 o
    • Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out how to turn, "Do not spend money you do not have, jackass!" into a 100+ page book. So far, playing with fonts and adding a table of contents has netted me 10 pages total. Now I know why I'm not a writer.

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