I probably don't have to tell you this, but the next idioPod episode will come later this week. I didn't feel like recording a new one early this week, so yeah, I didn't. I'll wait until Thursday or Friday to post a new one. Probably Friday though. As far as my decision goes, I'm sure you all know where I'm headed.
So alright, I've relayed the message to you. That's all that I was obligated to do.
So alright. It' Saturday morning and I'm absolutely exhausted. I stayed up until 3 am playing Bejeweled 2 for my iPod Touch and earlier I was playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. So naturally I didn't wake up until 8 am. Of course that wasn't my own doing, that was more like my dog driving me crazy to wake up for about 5 seconds, then hauling himself in the living room to take a huge, wet crap in the floor. I also had to do my weekend cleaning stuff that I hate to do like washing dishes and getting the clothes together. I'm still very tired though and contemplating going back to sleep for an hour or two.
Speaking of sleep, I, again, had really strange and vivid dreams. This time it was about my sister and I finding a big stone angel in the middle of the forest and I did something to knock it down and it shattered. People were around and they were pissed. They were Australians... they even had the accents.
Nothing else has happened in the world. That's because the media circus has started once again about Michael Jackson. So I'll spare you all of that and you can hit up one of the news sites and read all about it. And just some useless trivia, my favorite song by him is "Smooth Criminal". When I was a kid, I thought he was singing about Annie Oakley. I thought the lyrics were really her.
So anyway, that's it from me. I'm going to attempt to sleep a little bit more.
The focus is now, the blur was yesterday...
Mark in Canada asks me questions about what's happening with me with my finances, moving and such. I complain a bit about the religious right in the USA, pros/cons of going back (religious pressure, the location of my parents, not being able to bring my weenie dog, etc.), financial unbalance between partners, my love for Canada, my cookies and a few extras.
And though this is not in my podcast, I feel sad for Michael Jackson. As scary as he looked, he was a huge influence on a lot of artists. You guys have heard enough of that anyway, I'll spare you.
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Length: 24 minutes 30 seconds
File Size: 11.2 MB
Hey ladies and gentlemen (and those that fall in between). This isn't going to be an exciting weblog entry but I just wanted to let you know there have been a few little updates to the website lately.
So what now, you ask? I'm going to be working on a few other things with the site over the next few days. Those are:
What does tomorrow bring you ask? Why, I'll be posting not one, but two podcast episodes. Both were idioPod 81 but only one gets the privilege of being on the feed. I thought I would show you what exactly I throw away. There are actually a few podcasts where I started over but saved what I already made. Some of them include my very old ones I did in 2007 with Brandi.
So look for "Humble Jumble" tomorrow. Hopefully soon I will be back to my pre-2000 self. j
Oh and have I mentioned how much I am looking forward to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland?
So alright I did a few posts today but thought I'd do another one though my Twitter says:
"I'm going to sleep because I'm tired. And bored. Mostly bored though. So bored that I'm tired. It's a vicious cycle I tell you!"
And yes, I am bored. My boredom overpowers my sleepiness. So here I am. One of the things I've been drooling over is Tim Burton's live version of "Alice in Wonderland" which I'm looking forward to like you would not believe! If you look back in my journal entries, you will read that "Alice in Wonderland" is my favorite Disney cartoon. And though I really like The Duchess who isn't in the cartoon, my heart is set on the Queen of Hearts:
That is Helena Bonham Carter, folks. And I know that she's going to be a really good Queen of Hearts! Hardly anything that Tim Burton does disappoints me so I'm really looking forward to this. I don't have the high resolution picture of Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter, but I have to say he's pretty creepy. Hooray for creepy!
Over the next few days I will be doing some trimming of website code, moving things here and there and adding a podcast player that can play in the background. Of course that's just the latest episode. I need to hammer out some details. I'm also working on other stuff relating to my website for the people I host but I've run into some security problems. (My logins aren't very secure...)
I was tempted to start recording the next episode of idioPod 81 today but then I know what will happen. I will want to talk about things later in the week and push it to the next week. And I hate when I do that because it gets "stale" and "old news". So I'll start recording either tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.
Well, my boredom continues but I wish you all well. Need to sleep.
Eccentricity is stretching it a bit...
Once I realized what I've said, I pretty much repeated everything in the last podcast episode except a few tidbits about how evil eBay and Skype are, the local cafe(s) where I grew up in Texas, and a bit of my planning process, favorite burgers and my coffee. Of course none of that is in order. :)
I sound like I'm crazy in this but I'm in a good mood from being able to sleep decently lately. Hooray, sleep!
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Length: 21 minutes 22 seconds
File Size: 9.8 MB
Are you looking for a place to go for your vacation (or holiday as they call it in Australia and the UK)? Why not take a trip to one of the exciting cities across Asia or Australia? With airline tickets being at some of the best (and lowest) prices ever, it's a great opportunity to go somewhere new and to save money while doing it. Heck, why not come down to Melbourne and stay at a nice hotel for only $79 AUD per night? (That way you wouldn't have to listen to my snoring or have my dog jump all over you when you stay here.) There are also great rates in Hong Kong for as low as $62 AUD or in Beijing for as low as $44 AUD.
With Accor Hotels City Super Sale, you can take advantage of up to 60% when you book online between 23 to 29 June for stays between 10 July and 30 September 2009! And of course different rates apply for Accor's different brands like Sofitel, Pullman, Grand Mecure, Mecure, All Seasons and more. So this is a limited time kind of thing so you can't dilly or dally, you have to book these awesome rates soon!
I'm not sure how many of you know this, but I haven't really spent much time in Asia. Weird, right? And of course I'd always wanted to visit India for all the historic stuff and to really get immersed in their culture. And if I could, I'd head over to India during that time frame so I can save a bit of money (I've heard horror stories how expensive it can be but rooms start at $72 AUD during this limited time sale) and stay in one of Accor's hotels! (Plus I'd go crazy eating Indian food too because I just love it and it will give me a chance to have the authentic stuff!)
And of course, if you go somewhere I really wish you a wonderful and fun trip! Let me know how it goes!
My rambling can stir up a rumble...
This podcast episode has too much to be themed so I named it "Ramble Rumble". I talk about school, the status of my relationship, coming or going, my love for American mustard, Miracle Whip and sliced cheese, my Facebook is at http://www.facebook.com/theonlyben and just general life around here in Melbourne. I talk a little bit about my dreams and also about my weekend plans and the religious people in Texas and why it deters me from going back.
Also, my local Texas number doesn't work anymore. I cancelled my subscription.
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Length: 19 minutes 40 seconds
File Size: 9 MB
I'll tell you right this second that I can't really "explain" Opera Unite but it was released today and built into Opera 10 Beta. I've been using it for about ten minutes and it's actually pretty darn cool.
What I do know is that it's like P2P web browsing so you can set up a chatroom, file sharing, photo sharing and a media player (and more) because your web browser is basically a web server. Weird, right? You can actually set up your computer as a web server too if you really wanted to.
Because my default browser is Opera 10 Beta, you can actually see me right here: http://home.idiologic.operaunite.com. I've been to it from Safari (while Opera is open) and it seems to work. It's not as cool if you're using Opera browser, but hey. (You can leave me notes on my Fridge if you want.)
Over the next few days or weeks, I'm hoping to see what people are doing with it and if there are any security problems but it's pretty darn neat, right?
So I'm telling you, if you haven't used Opera in a while, or haven't at all, now's a good time to test it! :)
Update: It only works if I'm online. But feel free to peek every once in a while.
Flip a coin and let it decide your fate...
In this podcast episode, I talk about the fact that my friends are doing great things, moving away and bettering themselves. I also talk about my indecision about what to do, that I have the hots for a certain someone and what effect it has for me going back to Texas. i also talk a bit about techie things like Sims 3 and memory upgrades for my iMac. There is other junk scattered around in places. Excuse all the pauses and coughs and stuff like that.
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Length: 22 minutes 56 seconds
File Size: 10.5 MB
Have you ever felt like you were right smack in the middle of that line? That's the way I'm feeling at the moment.
I so discussed this in my upcoming podcast episode but you know as well as I do that sometimes I'm not the best person to get thoughts across. But I thought I'd do a little prequel to it.
Today I've been thinking a lot about my life here and my life back in Texas. Unfortunately, my life can't be collected and brought here. I have to leave a little bit of it here, a little bit of it there and a little bit of it in New York. I was told to never feel guilty over those things because I need to concentrate on myself. A lot of people have told me this but it's really hard. I can't say that I'm 100% happy being here, it's far from the truth. I do feel better physically and mentally, but I still feel like I need to head back and be closer to my family. Not WITH them but nearer.
The more I think about it, the more upset I am with myself that I do the things I do.
It's funny. Back a few years ago my friends and I made bets when Brandi moved away. Now that I think about it, that wasn't nice of me to do but I haven't always been a nice person. Now I'm wondering if they're doing the same thing to me... it kind of makes me want to laugh but in another way, I'm not willing to let someone win a contest.
And that is what "idioPod 78: Indecision" is about. I just touch and go with a lot of topics because I'm still struggling to get my points across.
Because I've already created it, I'll post it tomorrow (on Monday). That means those guys and girls in the USA will be able to listen on Sunday. And because this one will be posted earlier, there's a good chance another podcast episode will emerge later in the week after I can fully gather my thoughts.
I don't have much time. Really, I don't. I'll have to rush out the door at any minute now. Originally, I had planned to show you some photos I took today of my dachshund, Felix. But as always, I can't find the cord that hooks up to my computer, so yeah, that's a no go. But I happen to take random photos of my weenie dog so here you are, one to appease you while I locate the USB cord:
I've noticed that when my friends used to come over and his ear looked like that, they'd ask what was wrong with his ear. His ear is flipped back. He's got really big ears. (And have I mentioned that the couch is for sale? $30...)
So as I discussed yesterday, I had a busy morning this morning. My memory did come today and it took me about 20 minutes to get it all together. I am so afraid of screwing up the screw on my iMac so I can't open it at all. I finally got it out then was presented with another problem. I couldn't pull out the memory that was there before. Of course, I kinda just jumped into this little project. No instructions or anything. I pulled the tab hard but the memory didn't come out. Then I turned on Gilbert's computer (which takes forever to start and has Vista installed) and by the time that was available, I pulled the tab harder and the memory came out. So what would normally take someone about 5 minutes to do took me much longer.
Oh and I have to mention while I was unpacking the memory from the bubble packet, a woman came over to take photos. It looks like this place is really going on the market. But anyway the memory got installed.
It's nice not to have to wait for things to load. I have tested out Spore a little bit and it went well, then Sims 2. Both tests went kinda well though while playing Sims the graphics were doing funny things. I was hoping that this memory upgrade might make the problems go away. So far it's OK.
As with my whole "state of mind" is concerned, I am feeling a bit weird lately. I'm so tired of being tired around 2 or 3 pm everyday. I'm still thinking what my final decision is going to be whether to stay here or not. I'm thinking to stay for my career but thinking to head back to the USA for my family. It's a huge struggle but I'm not stressing myself out over it like I used to do. That's nice, really. Not worrying about the stupid crap is absolutely wonderful.
Ah yes, and John asked me to be "interviewed" at some point which I'm happy to do. I'm much more inclined to collaborate a bit with other podcasters now. I pretty much told him to name the place and time and we'll do it. So stay tuned for that. I don't know when, but it will come when it comes if that makes any sense.
OK, after I said I don't have much time, I should go. Take care of yourselves and have an awesome weekend when it comes. In case you missed it, new idioPod early next week... not today.
Today I was frantically (as much as I can these days) thinking that I had not posted a weblog entry in about a week but then I looked and it had been about 2 days. So yeah, 2 days. I've got a busier-than-usual day ahead of me tomorrow so I'm pretty sure I won't be throwing an idioPod into the web world. Today I ordered a memory upgrade for my desktop (iMac) in hopes that I can possibly run The Sims 3. I'll go from 1 GB to 4 GB which is a good thing. What's sad is that I don't even think 4 GB is enough but it will have to do since it's the maximum for the system. I'd also love to play Spore without all the lagging that it's been doing lately.
So hopefully it comes tomorrow (because they're shipping it from a warehouse in Melbourne). And also tomorrow the real estate agent (who is gay x10) is coming to take photos. Of the house. There was a pack of agents by today, about 6 or 7 of them, just to do a brief walkthrough. I, of course, didn't know that until an hour before they got here. I got the "Oh, I thought I told you before." The place was a wreck!
I'm pretty excited over a few things and still need to think a few things over like whether I'm staying or going. It's a hard decision to make, as you could understand. My optometrist has commissioned me to design the website for his new practice too. I hate when people ask me how much I'm going to charge for a website. I just don't know. I thought about striking a deal where I can pay off my credit card and pay a bit down on my student loans.
And direct from Twitter, I've just learned that Opera will "put the internet on a USB stick so that you can have a connection wherever you are." So that's cool. Apparently people aren't supposed to know but you heard it first, third or 300th here at idiologic! I have a website to work with at http://www.opera.com/freedom/ for you to look at if you want to.
And now, I must bathe. And I was going to ask you, while you're reading am I making a lot of grammatical errors? I just went back up to read what I wrote and it was a mess. I hope I'm not confusing anybody. I'm outta here now. Enjoy your night.
Update: Also forgot to mention that my sister's trying to earn enough Swagbucks to get herself a Mac Mini. I signed up but it doesn't do her any good because I'm in Australia and the site can tell. So if you are wanting to grab yourself some gift certificates for Amazon, The Apple Store or something, sign up with them. I would greatly appreciate it and so would my sister. Sign up here.
If you need help, be brave and admit it...
One of the things that I'm glad I did was talk to someone professional about the things that are bothering me. In this podcast, I talk about the relief I feel about getting help for the depression and anxiety I was going through and I'll tell you now that I'm absolutely happy that I did it. I also discuss my week since my last podcast episode, Apple's announcements, my love for The Sims 3 and a "habit" I was having issues with before.
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Length: 23 minutes
File Size: 10.5 MB
In tradition of telling you my favorite stuff, here is the one dedicated to the Mac. I use Macs about 95% of the time and I love mine (most of the time at least). There is a list of applications I tell people to install when they get one and now ladies and gentlemen, I'll share some with you.
Browsing: Stainless
We all know that Opera is my browser of choice, but Stainless is also pretty good. It's a bit of Google Chrome mixed in with a little bit of Safari. Meaning that if one tab stops working, the whole browser won't crap out on you. Yes, the first browser to bring you multi-process tabs. Stainless is still in development and doesn't have all the features you'd find in a production-ready browser but it is still damn good. Grab Stainless here. (FREE)
Chat/Communication: Adium
I found that in so many ways, Adium is a lot better than most of the official clients. Especially *cough cough MSN*. I always suggest people dump their Microsoft Messenger (as it's called on the Mac) and install Adium. Yes, the duck above is asleep but he wakes up when you use it and flaps his wings when you get new messages. It supports AIM, AOL, MSN, Yahoo! Messenger, Jabber, Twitter (in beta), Facebook, MySpace and more. The beauty about it is that it's all in one client. And it's customizable too. Have a Mac and want to give it a go? Go here. (FREE)
Internet/Production: Transmit
One of the handiest applications I have is called Transmit. If you don't have a website of your own, it might not do you any good. (I've actually used it for other uses too.) It's pretty, easy to use, and just great software really. Everything is so easy to do because it's just drag and drop and several times, it has stopped me from deleting or replacing files I need. It's not free though. It costs $29.95 USD for new users and $17.95 for upgraders but I'll have to tell you that it's well worth it. Go check out Transmit which has a trial. ($29.95 USD / $17.95 USD)
Presentation: Keynote
This is one of my favorite Apple applications. Not only is it a million times prettier than Microsoft Powerpoint, it's about a million times easier for me to use. I've also learned that a good presentation doesn't have to take all year to make! Keynote is part of iWork '09 and costs $79.99 USD. I also like Pages, but at the end of the day I'd rather use Microsoft Word. Numbers... well, let's just say that version 2 is a lot better than version 1. Same goes with Pages. But anyway, Keynote... it's awesome software to play with, to use and to show everybody that Powerpoint should be thrown in the garbage. Check it out here. ($79.99 USD)
Maybe you're a collector. Maybe you just want to look cool. Well, maybe you might just have a use for a Blackhawk SERPA Holster or a Surefire flashlight which I hear are pretty awesome. Not only can you get those kinds of things at LA Police Gear, you can grab yourself some clothing on the cheap by looking at and buying their closeout items. They've got thousands of items at great prices for binoculars, Brunton GPS devices to T-shirts. If you need something special, you can get a quote and they can be quite competitive on large orders and happy to provide a quick quote to government agencies and other businesses. Ah yes, and I should mention that they give you free stuff for ordering $50 or more worth of goods. We're all fans of free stuff, aren't we? :) I know I am.
Wow, I feel the need to go camping now. Thanks.
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Probably not worth mentioning if you haven't figured it out but there's no new episode of idioPod today. It's been one hell of a week. I've suffered with the flu most of the week and it's still an ongoing thing. So yes, I'm still feeling like 11 kinds of garbage today. I have to get out and about today unfortunately and with all the swine flu craziness going on here, I should reconsider.
I did go to the doctor for my issues and I'm in the process of getting better. But I'm not going to go into that right now, that will the topic of the next podcast episode. I did manage to get a pneumonia vaccination which has made my muscles sore... of course that might be from the flu. Who knows. (I kinda think that she just wanted to give it to me to get more money from the government...)
So I guess with that said, I should go now. Things to do, places to go... unwillingly.
I probably would have been better off updating this thing later today. It's not even 9 am and I'm awake. That's all I can really say, I'm awake. I am still sick with the flu, definitely. I am absolutely sore everywhere. I've sneezed more times in the past two days than I probably have all year. I"m all snotty, my eyes are runny and well, I guess that it's a good thing that I have a doctor appointment today. What's also sad is that I'm behind with my immunisations. So, um, yeah. I probably deserve getting the flu. I'm going to be missing about a week of work from it.
In other news, and this is borderline nerdy, Opera 10 Beta was released. I can't tell you whether it was today or yesterday but I saw that it was available last night. Anybody who knows me knows that I like Opera. I've been using the Alpha version for what seems like forever so I'm kinda already used to the "new" features. But I have to say that I am really liking the newly customizable Speed Dial and new skin/visual tabs. Opera Turbo? Well it's great if you use dial up or have a crappy internet connection. It kicks in every once in a while. I turned on and it compresses the heck out of images which isn't really a good thing all the time. Oh yeah and for the ultra nerdy, it passes the Acid3 test with 100/100.
And I'm not 100% sure when it was released here, but The Sims 3 is here. It's about $100 AUD here. I don't know why gaming has to be so freakin' expensive here. Wii games can break the budget in no time.
And now I must bathe and get ready to go to the doctor's office for my flu, my eternal sadness and to schedule my injections.
No I'm not writing this in Spanish. There's no point, really. I'm sure some of you can speak the language but I won't make myself look that bad anyway. I wasn't feeling 100% yesterday and went to bed. I remember having some really weird dreams about this guy who was chaining up this woman somewhere and he didn't really know I was in there and I kept trying to save her but he was always one step ahead of me. Then he transformed into a dachshund and I let him outside, locked the outside door and the inside door. Then while I was trying to help the woman leave, he somehow got inside. Then I woke up feeling like 3 kinds of garbage. While I was sleeping I swear I could hear myself breathing... well, in my dream I couldn't breathe very well.
So I got up, turned on the heater (because someone here refuses to let the heater run during the night), and got some of this lemon medicine that you drink. I feel like I'm absolutely drunk. Just stuffy all over and I am sore. I'm hoping it's just a cold and not a flu.
On Wednesday (tomorrow), I am supposed to bring Gilbert back to the hospital to get another surgery done. I'm actually afraid to step foot in a hospital with what I have whether it's a cold or the flu. That also means that I can't go to work. So no fun.
Well I didn't have much to say anyway. I hope you really enjoy idioPod 76. :)
This podcast episode was proudly done while half-naked...
No, really. This podcast episode was done while I was half-naked. Apparently, I was going to take a shower then somehow got distracted to record a podcast. I really have no idea how that has to do with anything but I talk mostly about my mental health and basically what's going on around here. I focus mostly on that, racism and well, other junk. Oh yes, and this one is a bit longer than usual.
But if you wanted the bulleted list, here we go:
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Length: 33 minutes, 14 seconds
File Size: 15.2 MB
Alright, back now. You might have been noticing some crazy things going on with my site and my Twitter. Apparently, things keep breaking around here. The calendar software I use to post the upcoming updates to idioPod has gone crazy so it hasn't updated since idioPod 74. And even then, the dates are wrong. I decided I'm going to go ahead and use iCal instead of SOHO Organizer. SOHO products have been a stabbing pain in my anus since I used them.
And also, Feeder continues to be a horse's ass by Twittering the name of my unreleased podcasts when I upload them which I don't appreciate at all.
Speaking of which, have you taken a look at my special Twitter page? It doesn't really fit in anywhere. I saw it on the creator's website and yanked it. I might implement it somewhere at some point though.
And I just noticed that some of my pages to my weblog are bouncing off to 500 error pages (which are the worst kind, to me). The damned fun doesn't end I tell you!
Tomorrow, look for idioPod 76. There are some new things in it and just discussion of what's happening around me. It's probably one of those non-failed attempts to get inside my head a bit.
And of course, to make this entry a little happier, here is Mallary from Realtown. In Animal Crossing? You don't know what that is? Get a Wii and buy Animal Crossing! She's my favorite animal in my town.
Mesothelioma is an extremely dangerous form of lung cancer and has been proved to be linked to asbestos exposure. It affects not only the workers that were exposed to asbestos but their families. Common jobs where workers were around asbestos were at places such as the shipbuilding industry, auto mechanics, contractors, construction and demolition. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking however smoking greatly increases risk of other asbestos-induced cancers.
Unfortunately, asbestos has been used in several industrial products such as cement, brake linings, roof shingles, flooring products as well as insulation. If the tiny asbestos particals are airborne (especially in the manufactering process, they can be inhaled or swallowed and can cause serious health problems such as increased risk of lung cancer, asbestosis and larynx and kidney cancers.
Those who are diagnosed with mesothelioma are suggested to work with an aggressive, experienced mesothelioma attorney because they can be entitled to compensation. Over the years, many of the producers of asbestos have filed for bankruptcy and that's where an experienced Mesothelioma lawyer can be used to work beside you. Like any other dangerous product, the manufacturers knew about the health hazards before it was every known to the public and unfortunately, as a result, thousands of people were needlessly exposed to this dangerous, life-threatening substance.
