Archive for August, 2003
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Sunday, August 31st, 2003Wired News: Pump the Eco Fuel of Your Choice
Wired News: What a Half-Smile Really Means
TechWeb: Don’t Rely On Microsoft, Trade Group Urges Homeland Security: Though certainly the creator of these malicious attacks must bear the brunt of blame, Microsoft is also largely responsible for continuing to create software riddled with obvious and easily exploited vulnerabilities.
New Scientist: Gyroscope gives cellphone ’tilt control’: Gyroscopes are just cool. Put them in everything.
Wired News: ‘Cool Hunters’ Like Apple’s Shine: Apple is one of the top five brands for young people.
Reuters: Court Blocks FCC Media Regs: This is great for people like me who were completely dissed by their Congressional representatives when responding to further deregulation of mass media companies. I guess the courts are not entirely worthless.
New York Times: Aiming at Pornography to Hit Music Piracy: The entertainment companies have engaged in a deliberate and despicable campaign of lies to smear peer-to-peer technology for political purposes.
Associated Press: Colleges Crack Down on Viruses: Oberlin College in Ohio is threatening to fine students $25 for inadvertently spreading a virus.
Emerson College shut its network down during Orientation Week due to two Windows-based viruses, though no students were fined.
Gibbs Aquada: James Bond was never so jealous.
Global Rich List: Feeling poor? Rank your yearly income against that of the world’s population.
Listening to
Sunday, August 31st, 2003Motorcycle Drive By by Third Eye Blind
Boston or Bust
Sunday, August 31st, 2003Meme, Papa, and I left Lynchburg on Saturday morning. The journey to Emerson College took more than a 13-hour drive north. I am finally here; after a year of deferment because of financial issues, after a seemingly chance role in an advertising campaign, after an extended stay in San Diego, after significant introspection, after a helicopter crash in the San Francisco Bay, after many more prayers and tears about my father and siblings.
Words cannot fully encompass how grateful that I am to my grandparents. I would not be at Emerson (or V.T. or J.M.U. or any higher education institution) without their support. Experiencing all of the first moments with them in Boston brought validity to the school and to my decision. Yes, the school is in downtown Boston and does not have a traditional campus. Yes, the school has a unique approach to liberal arts education and technology. Yes, the school is nothing like most state schools. And after visiting, I think that they feel more comfortable about my attendance at Emerson College. Smiles for everyone!
I’ve never been so alone, but I’ve never been so alive.
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Sunday, August 24th, 2003Boston Globe: Bright Ideas
Doggie Ditch Day — My latest web site launch!
I, Cringely: May the Source Be With You: I used to think it came down to nerd ego. Macs were easy to use, so they didn’t get the respect of nerds who measured their testosterone levels by how fluently they could navigate a command line interface. Now, I think differently. Now, I think Macs threaten the livelihood of IT staffs. If you recommend purchasing a computer that requires only half the support of the machine it is replacing, aren’t you putting your job in danger? Exactly.
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Friday, August 22nd, 2003I Have an iPod — In My Mind!
Wired News: PowerPoint Is Evil
Peter B. Lewis Building
We Love the SCO Information Minister
Lord of the Fruit Flies
Friday, August 22nd, 2003I have Raid! Hear me roar.
Swarms of fruit flies suddenly occupied Mark’s apartment. They ganged up on me when I opened the trash. I took a special trip to K-Roger just to buy Raid Insect Killer before eating my partially prepared lunch. $6 later and a little gasoline, I have won the war. Why do these things only happen when I am at the apartment alone? But hey, I am having a good face day.
Listening to
Wednesday, August 20th, 2003Don’t Cry (Alternate Lyrics) by Guns N’ Roses
Poof goes the Comfort
Wednesday, August 20th, 2003I am so glad that Rianna was available for lunch this afternoon. I needed a best friend desperately. Ryan’s leaving for college awoke me emotionally to the fact that I will be leaving in a week and a half for Emerson College. All of the freedom and established security of the summer will soon be replaced with a class schedule and stressful academic uncertainty. I am genuinely nervous about college’s academic challenges. I know what I was capable of in high school and I must be equally capable on a higher level to keep my Honors Program position, scholarship. This anxiety makes Christmas break, the first time I will be able to see family and friends again, seem forever away.
Emerson College called me with my room assignment. I am assigned a single room. Anticipation of having a roommate as part of the college experience vanished. And more money from my wallet vanished too, as I must pay an additional $250 per semester since I am not sharing a room, albeit unwillingly. I tried to find a positive aspect to this news, but I am not even in the building where most freshmen are assigned.
Tonight’s new community service at BRCC rocked with special guest Exodus. I could not help but feel there was something missing. Oh yeah, my brother Josh (now a junior varsity football quarterback) and Ryan.
Listening to
Tuesday, August 19th, 2003Chance by dc Talk
The Times I Won’t Have to Say
Tuesday, August 19th, 2003When the phone rang around eleven this morning, excitement rushed through me when I heard Ryan’s voice. He is leaving tomorrow for Virginia Tech and I wanted some bro time before our departure for college.
We hung out at the apartment for about an hour and then reconvened after he went on to lunch with someone. I picked up seven CDs (courtesy of gift cards) during our afternoon journey along Ward’s Road: Stripped – Christina Aguilera, A Rush of Blood to the Head – Coldplay, Roaring Lambs – Various Artists, Smash-Ups – Various Artists, Justified – Justin Timberlake, Self Titled – Tony Vincent, Escapology – Robbie Williams.
Before driving off, Ryan and I talked and prayed. Our friendship suffered during my time in San Diego. I know that too well, even to the point of feeling awkward around him when I first returned. This summer provided a chance to rapidly renew the relationship we had prior to my departure and grow it beyond as we became fully transparent in our fears, tears, and struggles. Ryan has been a continual answer to prayer, a voice of accountability, and the most significant person in my life for the past three years. It does not seem that long ago when I first stepped onto the JF patio and sat across from him to eat lunch. Nearly four-hundred lunches later, eight months of 3,000 miles of separation, and one invigorating summer, I still cannot thank God enough for the friendship of Ryan Harne.
