My Other Selves

2005-07-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

while my thoughts may not be so pure, my actions always will be.

what am i trying to say???

2005-07-07T23:53:00.000-07:00

what i've discovered with all this blogging is that it's really difficult to convey thoughts and ideas with the nuances of the english language to everybody equally. we use pictures and words to try to communicate with other people all over the world and the entries we post on our blogs give the reader insight to what we are like. you can also find out more about a person by the blogs they visit and the comments they leave at those blogs. but still, this may not be enough to truly understand how a person thinks and where their morals lay. i find it difficult to edit myself not because i want to be politically correct but because i don't want to hurt anyones feelings, make someone angry or make some feel bad. i definitely don't want to be hated by anyone. let me be clear, i don't have the typing version of tourette's syndrome but sometimes i might not come off sounding right. i always thought i was better able to express myself in written form rather than spoken word partly because of the ability to edit. the past few days, i've read some really intelligent & a lot of times very funny blogs written by seemingly ordinary people and have a renewed appreciation for them because i realize how difficult it really is. i have enjoyed them immensely and now look forward to future installments of their respective blogs so that i may gain further insight into the person, be mentally challenged and/or be made to laugh hysterically. that and i feel creatively stifled.

perhaps a break from posting my own entries is in order here...

all women are beautiful, all men are pricks

2005-07-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

talk to me.

my mp3 player

2005-07-03T23:35:00.000-07:00

amid all the hysteria surrounding file sharing and mp3 licensing, i have gone out and bought me an mp3 player. i went to my favourite local bigbox warehouse store, costco, to buy some other things when this one caught my eye. i had wanted to buy one for awhile now and had my eye on an ipod shuffle. i knew what kind of features i wanted but never really put that much effort into looking for one and then going to the store to check it out thinking that one that i like might magically appear before me. it did, kinda. i bought the sanyo dmc300. it has 512mb of built-in flash memory (of which, 16mb is taken up by the system leaving you with 496mb), fm tuner, voice and fm recorder and an sd/mm expansion slot for more memory. this last feature was something that i was looking for as i already own sd memory cards for my digital & mini-dv cameras and have an sd reader built-in to my notebook. i have already filled the entire memory with 96 mp3 songs at 192kb sampling. i probably could get 30 or 40 more songs if i had used 128kb sampling but regular mp3 is not a great compression method for sound quality. hopefully sanyo will release a firmware update for an ogg vorbis [wikipedia:home page] decoder! that way, i won't ever have to worry about mp3 licensing because it's open source.

***UPDATE***

i have been asked by 2 people so far about the sanyo dmc300. so i will oblige and share some more useful information about this particular mp3 player.

all-in-all, this unit is pretty easy to use, as are most mp3 players. the design is simple and esthetically pleasing and the blue back-lit lcd screen is large enough to display all the necessary information that you could want to know about the songs that's currently playing. you can adjust contrast and battery saver settings for the screen. as mentioned above, the expandability of the memory is one of the selling features that i truly wanted and a built-in fm tuner with lots of station presets was a real bonus. the voice recording feature is pretty convenient if you want to record some notes, comments or even interviews. the recording is in mono but can be adjusted for the quality of sound and type of compression (better quality=bigger file size=less recording time). there is no voice activated recording but can be paused and then continued on the same file. if you press 'stop', the next time you will start a new file. the documentation seems to indicate that the unit can record fm transmissions but have yet to figure out how to do so. there are also other features such as the ability to scroll lyrics across the screen, change preset equalizer settings, random/repeat and others. the player comes with a quick start guide, ear phones, usb adapter and cd-rom (win98 drivers and additional documentation).

the unit is not without its problems though. for one thing, the buttons are finnicky. you must press & hold the stop button for a few seconds to turn it off but sometimes it fails even though it feels like you are pressing the button. coupled with this problem is that it sometimes fails to remember the last track that was playing (returns to track 1) and compounding the problem, the shuffle algorithm is not really random meaning that it seems the "shuffled" track order is always the same. i also thought the battery indicator wasn't as accurate as it could be. the battery life is good however at about 8-10 hours of use but the indicator still showed power when it cuts out. on my particular unit, it seemed that the fm tuner was not functioning. i reflashed the firmware and that seemed to clear up the problem for me. but all these negatives for an mp3 player that costs $120 shouldn't stop you from getting this unit because it truly is a great deal!

canada day special

2005-07-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

for those of you who are unfamiliar with the great white north, here are some facts & figures about canada on this canada day:

2nd largest country in the world (9,984,670 square kms or 3,855,174 square miles)

the largest coastline in the world (243,791 kms or 151,485 miles)

population of over 32 million (a little less than the population of california)

highest mountain is mt. logan (5959 m or 19,551 ft.)

largest canadian city is toronto (4.8 million people)

average life expectancy of 79 years

1,047 radios per 1,000 canadians

750 tv's per 1,000 canadians

66.8% of canadian households own computers

56.9% of canadian households access the internet

to celebrate the closing of the only canadian virgin megastore, here are some canadian music facts:

bryan adams' biggest hit is (everything i do) i do it for you

kiss has the most chart albums in canada

eric clapton is the oldest artist to have a #1 single and britney spears is the youngest

madonna has had the most #1 singles in canada with 16

by decade, top ablums in canada are fleetwood mac's rumours (yes, they spell in english) in the 1970's, michael jackson's thriller in the 1980's and alanis morrissette's jagged little pill in the 1990's

photo shoot with a diva

2005-06-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

having a camera and a recently opened flickr account, i decided to set up a photo shoot with the aforementioned Iggy. she is my overweight fluffball of a cat.

for this first shoot, i coaxed our model out into our brightly lit studio by giving her one of her favorite things - the catnip lid. she had been trying to tell me something earlier but i had already fed her, refilled her water and emptied the litter box. she probably was wanting her fix, like all those high price runway models. good thing that tyra banks championed plus-sized models on primetime tv or Miss Iggy would definitely not be getting any gigs. it's also a good thing when your agent is the cameraman and provider of the basic daily necessities. i once suggested to her, trying to be the good agent that i want to be, that she get off that high protein atkins diet and go on the south beach one, like fellow blogger JadedManiac suggested - because it obviously wasn't working. she then pointed out she is a carnivore and that the only reason why she eats grass is because she swallowed some fur and would like to wretch. "Yes! Grass makes me f***in' puke my guts out so F*** OFF!" she hissed. so i've never mentioned anything about her diet since.

we started out with some overhead action shots of the buxom Iggy playing with the lid.

when she settled from her sudden initial high, we took some close-up shots of her face, but rarely full on. she despises the typical head shot and will avoid it at all costs.

then, we moved to the sofa. actually she moved to the sofa so I just followed because at this point, i knew the shoot is almost over. she did start to get irritated with my constant presence and started to indicate her impatience by whipping her tail to and fro. in a little while, she was going to crash.

i would like to post the video (.avi) of the final few seconds of our photo shoot. unfortunately, Miss Iggy refuses to sign the release papers so that I can officially publish them. she says, "The f***in' footage portrays me as a violent bitch and it [the punch] would be taken totally out of f***in' context. I was just f***in' tired from all that f***ing work and i just f***ing lost it for a m*****f***in' split second!"

that and i don't know how.

for those of you who missed it in the last post, try this website if you like kittens!

***UPDATE***
as mentioned in my comments, the photos in this post are hosted on blogger's servers. for people who are having problems viewing them, i have uploaded them to my flickr account as well.

sea otter decked out

2005-06-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

Sea Otter Decked Out
Originally uploaded by Lester T.

finally got my flickr account going and uploaded a few pics. here's one of them:

my beloved, overweight, sometimes violent cat (not to me,) Iggy. she is lounging like this, trying to entice the other cat of the household, Me'sha to play. Me'sha, incidentally is a tough loner cat who hates all other cats. she hates Iggy and could kick Iggy's butt but she won't fight because she knows Iggy's "in". so she just tries to avoid her like the plague. Iggy likes others and often makes friends with other cats & dogs. she's definitely not a fighter but will inflict horrible pain and rip away human flesh without remorse. stay on her good side and allow her to make the decision on what kind of relationship is going to be formed before ever even THINKING about petting her. ah, she's not so bad. but i'd be cautious...

see more kittys here

the lowest common denominator

2005-06-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

"I see dumb people." - some t-shirt

what's your definition of stupid or stupidity? if you think about it hard enough, you'll find that it truly is a difficult question to answer. we all find certain stupid things annoying. yet some stupid things are very amusing and totally laughable. how many people actually paid money to see "jackass" the movie? exactly. and how many people watched mr. bean? ok, so stupidity actually seems to be a attractive quality if shown in the correct way. (could w. really be smart and is actually acting dumb??) why? i believe it is because stupidity, like sex, is to something that which we all can relate. (uh, sorry to all the people practising celibacy (wtfuwt?), abstainers 'til marriage (ditto), and guys who want to but can't and probably never will for whatever reason. take consolation in the fact that you may also qualify to be excluded from relating to this entire post.) take another step and we could call this "common sense". i mean, do we not often say after some stupid episode, "if only common sense was used..." alas, on first reading, it appears to describe the lack of common sense as stupidity, but after some thought, common sense is stupidity, itself. we have to think of all the stupid things that we could do in order to avoid doing something stupid i.e. showing some common sense. therefore showing some common sense indicates that you can imagine all of the stupid situations that may arise proving that you can think stupid, stupid.

toilet debate

2005-06-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

has the issue been resolved? seems as though the arguement has existed since the invention of the toilet and accompanying seat. i haven't researched this because i find it trivial at this point. perhaps someday, when there are less amusing things to do. but for now, let me solve the this debate once and for all. once your business is done,

SHUT THE TOILET!

NOTE:-void in public restrooms

just put the lid down along with the seat. i mean, come on. that's the fairest solution to this hole thing! think about it: men and women each perform the same action at the toilet before AND after (and i assume, during) doing their business. this post was inspired in part by Larry's Crappy California Adventure.

while i'm at it, please load the toilet paper roll so the paper hangs at the back.

it's a secret

2005-06-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

I came across a blog (via a link on Canadian Dude's blog) that really moved me. No other blog has made me feel the same emotions that I felt. I say emotions in the plural form because it is a whole range of emotions that bubbled forth from my heart & soul. I guess the most emphatic emotions that I felt were compassion and empathy (are those really emotions?) which in turn made me feel closer to the rest of the world. Not just people but closer to Mother Earth. I suggest that you open your mind and visit it by click on the picture above or the title of this entry. Please tell me what you all think and how it made you feel.

clean air day

2005-06-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

Recently, a local newspaper printed an opinion article by someone who views the Smart Car as "a waste of highway." His argument was that this vehicle is too ugly, too small and that it's all about superiority rather than function. "The anti-Humvee" as he put it, made to make people who don't drive one feel like a "planet destroyer."

Well whatever. It's great to know that this vehicle has done what the Canadian government is trying to do by declaring Clean Air Day on Wednesday, June 8th. They are trying to raise awareness of our declining air quality and how this can eventually lead to climate changes. The thought goes that if we are aware of it, we will do something about it. Unfortunately, not all people care enough or at all. But we get the word out and persist hoping future generations will be taught better. Such is the slow progress of social evolution.

It takes time but things change. There is even a hydrogen powered Hummer, dubbed the H2H!

By the way, check out another way to help the environment!

communication = relationship

2005-05-17T23:55:00.000-07:00

The relationships that we have with one another are based solely on our interactions with each other. These interactions can be made in a variety of ways including in person, on the telephone or through the internet. Other methods could include body language and our everyday actions (or inactions). This is all in the name of trying to communicate with and understand each other. These are easy words to type but it is quite a difficult discipline to master.

Writing a blog is another form of communication and interaction. Except it is no longer one to one, but it is or strives to be one to many or ultimately, many to many. But it is sometimes the case that people misunderstand one another because of entries posted and comments left. This can often be resolved by leaving more comments and thus more communication. There are many advantages that technology can provide us but more opportunity for failure. The avantages of creating and maintaining meaningful relationships, regardless of location far outweigh any disadvantages in my opinion. Blogs are sometimes difficult to create, but I am thankful that the opportunity is there.

asian differences

2005-05-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

I am proud to be born Canadian and of Japanese ancestry. My family has been in Canada for about 80 years over 4 generations. Although I am third generation, I can speak conversational Japanese fluently and can read a little and write even less. I have only visited Japan 3 times but am really interested (somewhat knowledgeable) in Japanese culture and society as it is part of my proud heritage.

I am truly disturbed by and I do not understand the methods used by the Chinese people and government with regards to their relationship with Japan. As long as Chinese history is and as many Chinese people there are, it appears that they, as a society still have not learned to deal with other people and culture with tolerance. Their anger and hate runs deep and it scares me. I do not pretend to know how the Chinese feel because, as I stated before, I don't know. However, taken in context, they are not alone. Sadly, there have been other similar incidents that they could use to guide their actions (eg. the Jewish & Nazi Germany) and yet they want to travel down a different, more disruptive & violent path. It is apparent to me that the Japanese people have seen enough blood spilt in wars (their own and others') to want to not see any more spilt (their own and others') for the rest of eternity. Bottom line: it's history so learn from it.

microsoft windows(tm) onecare

2005-05-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has announced that it will begin testing their anti-everything product/service that protects users from viruses & spyware, has a new firewall and tune-up tools as well as other services. Now correct me if I'm wrong but, didn't Microsoft create the problem that they are only now trying to fix? Had Windows been a safe, secure and stable environment for general computing, would we have had to install all of these third party programs that "fix" or prevent the problems that Microsoft "unwittingly" programmed into their software? Would Microsoft even have to spend time and money on this if it had made Windows correctly in the first place? And why is the buck passed down to the consumer when the problem originates from Microsoft itself??

Ok, I have programmed before and I do understand that programming an operating system or environment is a huge undertaking and requires thousands of man hours plus all of the testing that is required. But the commercial software industry seems to be all backwards, selling products that are not even close to bug free and then expecting us to pay for support. I refuse to pay extra for something that I should be getting when I buy the original product, especially when I am investing hundreds of dollars in it.

Why can't it be tested thoroughly enough before being released into the general public as a consumer product? It all reeks of internal corporate pressure to reap profits as quickly as possible at the consumers' expense. The irony of it is that they make even more money by resolving bug issues after the fact and consumers are duped into paying extra for something that they should've had in the first place. The solution is an open source model.

Why there are virtually no viruses, spyware or other malicious threats that we hear of on MAC or LINUX machines??

news?

2005-05-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

While watching the Montel Williams Show yesterday morning, the program was interrupted by a "News Bulletin" about a low flying, single engine plane near restricted airspace around DC. Just as Sylvia Browne was about to say something interesting, we are abruptly taken away by an old CBS news anchor who vaguely knows what is going on. He then talks to a reporter & crew on the scene who can only echo the vague details that the anchor had just given us. Kind of dismayed that I missed something that I was actually interested in and resigned to the fact that I might have to watch this play out, I changed the channel to CNN where I got filled in with proper, detailed information. Good news! A "possible threat" to national security had been averted.

Why didn't CBS just put a "ticker" type news update while still showing the original program until something conclusive could be offered? If I were interested in the news as they gave it, I would seek out more detailed information, like change the channel to CNN (like I did anyway) or go online. A ticker would have given me the exact information that the anchor and reporter imparted with minimal interruption of the original program that I wanted to watch.

Anyway, I've been noticing that it's been slow for news these days. Perhaps this is a good thing as most news is invariably bad news. I guess it really was a wise person who said, "No news is good news."

raison d'etre

2005-05-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is the first of many entries that I hope will open your eyes and free your mind. The concept I have for this blog is probably similar to a lot of other bloggers out there. I will write about things that a lot of people are writing and talking about because I get upset reading the editorial page every morning. People either do not have the correct information or are too short sighted and their comments make them look very ignorant or just plain stupid. Then there are people who actually have something else to say. Here, I get my chance to voice my opinions and my ideas. And here, you will get a chance to tell me how wrong, ignorant and stupid you think I am (of course, you will have the brain power to tell me why I am wrong and your alternative) or agree with me. Intelligence, wit & flattery will get you everywhere.