Monday, January 30, 2012

Google makes me laugh.

Try this out in your Gchat window next time:

( V.v.V )

Ah, Google. How you make me smile.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Production gains.

From the NYTimes on productivity gains... It's from September, but still a memorable infographic.

The Spirit of Democracy != Nigeria.



Larry Diamond on Nigeria: "Nigeria is one of the saddest places on earth."

What an amazing professor. He knows his stuff thoroughly, has traveled all over the world, and genuinely hopes for better governance everywhere. He is equally articulate in writing and in person. I look forward to reading the rest of this book. I found it inspiring to speak with him in person and discuss Nigeria and its future prospects. His appearance was timely, needless (though unfortunately) to say.

His presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6adzpz12AE

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Taxing revelations.

This riles me up...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/us/politics/romneys-tax-returns-show-21-6-million-income-in-10.html?_r=1&nl=us&emc=politicsemailema1

If you're not enraged, you're not paying attention.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Snowy travel.

Went to Reno over the weekend. Going through the mountain pass was crazy! Chains required going out there. Not so when returning, but the roads were still covered in snow and ice. Speeds of 25-30 mph the whole time. Turned a 4.5 hour journey into something much longer.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Winner-Take-All-Politics

Bill Moyers is back, baby.

http://billmoyers.com/episode/on-winner-take-all-politics/

Watch it!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

My sad Mac story.

I spilled ~1 oz of OJ on the right side of my keyboard. Turned it off immediately, mopped it, turned it upside-down. Took it the the Apple store. He tore it down, cleaned off the internals (fan, memory, etc.), and offered the promising news that the liquid didn't hit the fan. (That would be the equivalent of shit hitting the fan.)

Let it sit overnight.

The next morning, the keyboard turned into a sticky mess. Keys don't repeat themselves, but they require more effort to depress the plunger. I took it back to the Apple store, asking if they could replace the keyboard. They said they could, for ~$1200. The construction of the laptop does not lend itself to such repairs.

He said I could pop off the keys myself and swab underneath. He cautioned me, however, saying there's a plastic cross the affixes the key to the keyboard. If you leverage it from the wrong angle, you snap the piece and can't replace the key. I asked if there was a map of where these crosses are located (because it varies), and he said there wasn't.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Is it Friday yet?

So tired. Highlights:

-Productive afternoon. Taking advantage of OmniFocus functionality.
-Talked with Lauren. I miss her. I want to talk with her more. It makes me sad.
-8am classes kick my butt.
-My schedule is pretty good. I like the open afternoons to be productive.
-Still trying to decide on classes. Too many to take... Why do I keep ending up with 15 units but only getting credit for 10? Why must I push myself like this? I could stay here a while, after all...
-Excited about potential aerial classes! Testing into the intermediate series tomorrow. Also: Ashtanga yoga. Oh boy!! Will need to decide on which one to do.
-I'm getting better about going to bed when I hit the end of my productivity. Staring at my inbox, occasionally hitting refresh, and feeling despairing is a good indicator.

On my mind today...

My, what a productive afternoon! Quite proud of myself...

Came across an NYTimes article definitely worth the read:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/opinion/research-bought-then-paid-for.html?_r=2

It worries me, the direction of our country... I don't understand how Congress can continue to operate (or, as the case may be, not operate) with such low approval ratings. I would think that enough to instigate change.