Monday, March 31, 2008

Neon Genesis Evangelion, Elfen Lied Cheap





Two of my favorite Anime Series are dirt cheap at Best Buy Outlet right now--each one less than $20 after tax & shipping! These are normally around $50. I already own Neon Genesis Evangelion, but I didn't have Elfen Lied so I picked it up today.

Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum Collector's Edition - Dubbed - DVD

ELFEN LIED 1: DICLONIUS REPORT (3PC) - DVD

UPDATE: Apparently the sale is now over, as both are over $40 now. In addition, Evangelion is now back-ordered.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Death

My father-in-law passed away this week. However, I just can't be sad for him. I've tried, but I can't shed a tear.

My father had cancer and slowly died over a two-year period. He was so weak from treatments that he couldn't do anything he wanted to do. He was so out of it by the last two months that he wasn't really there. He suffered in the hospital for his last few days. We held his hand as he drew his last breath. We saw the color leave his face as his spirit left his body.

My father-in-law came to our house the day before he died and grabbed an old lawnmower. He called my wife and joked around. He died in his sleep that night.

I would much rather go like my father-in-law: Do what I want every day and just die in my sleep one night. My wife is sad that she didn't get to say goodbye, but I'm not. Like I said, I'm glad he went the way he did and I cannot feel bad about his death.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Galagalaxian clone for Mac



My wife loves Galaga (or Galaxian, not really sure) so she might be interested in this remake for the Mac. It's also for the PC, but we have Macs so why not use 'em?

Warblade - the classic arcade shoot'em up game! Home of Warblade - Deluxe Galaga - Deluxe Pacman

"Kayakin' Turtles" Shirts


The shirts are finally on their way after a couple of months of procrastination.

Slothful Geek Feed II

I'm in the process of pointing blog.herseysoft.com to slothfulgeek.herseysoft.com. Unfortunately this could take up to 48 hours for all DNS servers to get this information. In the meantime, this feed might get messed up for a little while. Just be patient and it will all settle out in a couple of days.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Slothful Geek Feed

It has come to my attention that the RSS feed is now only showing headers. Blogspot wants you to use the Atom link just above my profile information to get a full feed. I've added the link here for your convenience:
Slothful Geek Feed

Healthy person actually wins a beauty contest



Cool!

Chloe Marshall Sweet Size 16 Vying for Miss England 2008 (Photos)

Monday, March 17, 2008

Bicycle Saddles (Seats)



Interesting article on comfortable saddles.

Bicycle Saddles

Mini Review - Novara Bonanza


I went with a friend a few weeks ago to Tribble Mill to try out an easy single-track trail she found. She rode her cool new Electra Townie and I rode my crappy Columbia dirt bike that I later returned (see earlier posts). I bought a Novara Bonanza (REI's store brand) and wanted to take it on the same trail. The group decided to try the trail after we kayaked earlier
that afternoon (see previous post).

I can truly see why there are price differences in bikes. I previously thought that there was not going to be much more than a weight difference between a good MTB and a crappy one, but I was mistaken. Everything about the bike feels better. For example, the brakes really feel progressive (more pressure slows you down more without locking up) and they don't warp or get out of alignment when running them hard. The drivetrain seems to be able to deliver much more power than even my K2 Easy Street Deuce, but I haven't figured that one out yet. Maybe it's due to the chain or the crank length? The front suspension fork is much smoother and seems to have very little 'stiction' (sticky friction that prevents the initial movement of the sliding surfaces). The tires would not let go of the track, even when I rode along the length of a wet rock on the side of the track at around a thirty degree slope. Roots were very fun to traverse, and were easily overcome, even when going up a hill filled with them.

All of us were riding the track on bikes we had not taken off-road before, so there were lots of stops along the way as we figured out how things worked and made adjustments. I want to go again now that everyone has figured things out so that I can ride it continuously as much as possible.

Kayak Season - Advanced Elements Dragonfly


We finally broke out the kayaks this weekend. It was warm enough to wear shorts & no jacket, but not quite 'hot' yet.


We all have Advanced Elements Dragonfly inflatable kayaks. They weigh about 25 pounds and pack into a large suitcase so they are suitable for airline travel. They also fold up small enough to fit three of them, along with paddles, PFDs and assorted other gear, in the trunk of my 2007 Acura TSX. My wife actually has the two-person model so that she can bring the dog (didn't bring the dog this time, though).


Our friends also have the same kayaks, except their two kids share their two-person one. Even though it had been several months since we last used them, everyone pitched in and remembered how things worked well enough for us to get all six pumped up and in the water in less than 15 minutes.


Normally Tribble Mill lake is filled with underwater weeds and lined with lily pads (see above), but not this time--I guess winter took its toll. I'm sure it will all be back soon enough. What surprised us, though, were the large amounts of turtles. We easly saw over one hundred turtles this trip.

We only paddled for about 45 minutes because the seal on my son's kayak wasn't tight. It was enough, though, because it gave us enough time to get out the bikes...

Friday, March 14, 2008

HULU: Free Video on Demand



Here's another free-video-on-demand service, but this one might last more than a month. Features shows like SNL and Family Guy, as well as movies.

hulu: Watch your favorites. Anytime. For free.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Visual Music

Here's an example of a way to visualize music as positions on a helix (or a circle if viewed from above).

Sample using Chopin
Dmitri Tymoczko, Composer and Music Theorist

EDIT: Note that you have to open up the sample with QuickTime to see the visualization. Microsoft's music player will not show the video portion.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

SXSW Music



My favorite music festival, one I have yet to attend, gives away its music for free every year. The time has come to download 2008's music! Yahoo!

SXSW Showcasing Music Torrents

Monday, March 10, 2008

Scissor Spiders



Cool! This guy makes spiders from scissors confiscated by the TSA.

Christopher Locke's Heartless Machine

Lego Weapons



Finally, a place where you can buy high-quality realistic weapons for your Lego minifigs!

BrickArms

No More Anonymous Posts?

Wow. Just...wow

Kentucky Lawmaker Wants to Make Anonymous Internet Posting Illegal - Video - WTVQ 36 - Lexington, Kentucky

No More Anonymous Posts?

Wow. Just...wow

Kentucky Lawmaker Wants to Make Anonymous Internet Posting Illegal - Video - WTVQ 36 - Lexington, Kentucky

Sore!

My legs are sore today. We're all trying to eat better and exercise more, so this is to be expected. I biked for 3 miles at a local park, played racquetball at the YMCA for an hour-and-a-half, then swam laps for 30 minutes.

Gwinnett County Georgia Parks and Recreation Centers

Mini Review - K2 Easy Street Deuce



I've been riding the bike for about 20 miles and have grown to really like the bike.

To recap, my wife and I bought new bikes to ride in parks with our son and our friends. I bought a 2007 K2 Easy Street Deuce, medium, for $299, which was a steal. I originally thought it was a return, but after digging around the 'net I realized that it was just last year's model at a reduced price. Not really sure why it was discounted so deeply because some of the components were the same as the 2008 model (mid-year updates, maybe) and other components are actually better (front forks, etc.).

It's a medium, which means it is supposed to go up to 5'10". Large is from 5'10" to 6'1", which would be ideal for my height. After searching around the 'net for a while I found out the change is in the height of the vertical parts of the frame. For example, compare the fork tube on my 2007 (above) and the 2008 pictured below:



Notice that on my bike the top tube and down tube almost touch, while the other bike has about three inches of space between the tubes. Notice also that the rear geometry is positioned so that the top tube doesn't flow into the wheel supports in the 2008 model. In my opinion the shorter frame looks better than the longer one and looks like it would be stronger. Besides, the silver looks much better than the retro dark red & orange paint job.

The handlebar height can be adjusted. I originally pulled it up as high as it would go (added 3" to it). I also raised the seat to what felt right (but was wrong, as I found out). I rode it for about 10 miles in a couple of trips, but it felt wrong. I bought toe clips but it still didn't feel right.

I bought a bicycle repair book and followed its recommendations on adjusting the bike: I moved the handlebar back down to its lowest (default) setting, raised the seat even more so that my leg was almost extended when the pedal was at its lowest position and moved the seat to its farthest back position. So much better! I went to a local park with a few hills this past weekend and had a much easier time powering up the climbs.

On a side note, I bought a new helmet for about $35 on sale at Sun & Ski (Giro Indicator). My previous helmets were a $16 one from Target and a skateboarding helmet. The Target one was huge, uncomfortable and had very few holes for air. The skateboarding one looks like a small football helmet, and is comfy, but it has no airholes at all. This new one has tons of holes and an easy-to-use adjustment system. For the first time ever, I can ride in high 60's, lower 70's without creating a soaking wet head of hair.



K2 Bike

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Records Making a Comeback



We recently got out our record player & have been listening to records during dinner. One of the kids of our friends plays with it every time he comes over. Apparently he's cutting-edge:

Forget MP3s, some teens turning to vinyl records ajc.com

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Ten Bills: T-Shirts



I recently was introduced to jeans that actually look good on me (hadn't worn 'em for 25 years). I had to have some cool, hip, limited edition T-shirts to go with them. I found some really nice ones only $10 each! I ordered three and got a bonus 'free' kid-sized shirt that I gave to one of the cool kids in our group.

Ten Bills: T-Shirts!

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm not really 'cool', and that no one says that anymore. Regardless, I like the shirts and I'm glad I'm not wearing something from the week's sale paper from Kohl's.

Obama 1434 Clinton 1357

Wow, still close!

Election Center 2008 - Election & Politics News from CNN.com

Monday, March 03, 2008

Vinyl Preservation Society



One of my friends' kids is really into old technology. He needs this shirt.

NoiseBot.com - Vinyl Preservation Society T-Shirt, Hoodie, or Tote Bag

Saturday, March 01, 2008

You Bar



Sounds like a neat idea--design your own bars and have them shipped to you. I'll have to try this out.

You Bar - Fresh, Handmade Nutrition Bars - Home