Archived News starting from 06-01-2013 and earlier
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Tonight we hosted the bi-annual meeting with the Schwartzs. Having been alerted to their new found organic non-dairy, non-carb diet during the last meeting, Lila
went shopping
for some acceptable food. Turns out, the Schwartzs also don't drink beer or certain kinds of wine, meaning I was the sole consumer of the evenings alcohol (save some expensive
ice wine which met the needs of snooty Schwartz). With the organic needs met, the meal was served and accepted, allowing for the natural shenanigans to
proceed as normal given my intoxication level. The evening was rounded out with a showing of "Wreck It Ralph" which was of course new and exciting to the childless couple as opposed to repetitive torture for parents.
With my
HTC 8X approaching it's 6 month anniversary,
my hunger for a new device was growing. The recently launched
Lumia 928 was not helping, but
I promised myself I was going to wait until it either came in red or was reduced to a free upgrade. I clearly can't keep promises to myself, as a trip to the local
Verizon store pushed me over the edge. The inevitible salesperson attack was quick, as the store was mostly empty. Before I could get out "just browsing" he pulled out his own
HTC 8X and asked where I got my red one. The embrace was quick, but tender. I whispered "thank you" in his ear as he held me for a brief moment. Composing myself, I took several "hand seizure" photos,
proving the stabilized lens on the 928 was indeed a miracle, with the Xenon flash freezing time as advertised (no blur whatsoever).
Sadly, the glossy "brick" chassis felt like it was going to slip out of my hand at any moment, and was nowhere near as comfortable or secure as my 8X in my hand. Assured the LTE SIM did in fact control the
CDMA pairing with the network (no more calling Verizon to switch phones) I took the plunge and got my $25 app store credit via NFC on the way out (yes, a Windows Phone NFC gift card exists in a Verizon store).
The
obligatory benchmark confirmed it has the same SOC guts as my 8X, with double the storage and the amazing camera as the only major upgrades.
The OLED screen had a few
interesting options as well as the "glove friendly"
touch settings. The lame "Beats Audio" my 8X
advertised was more than compensated for with a full
equalizer and "Dolby Audio" branding, which I'm sure is just as amazing as "Beats" was.
The famed
Nokia apps were also now at my disposal instead of
locked out of my reach. I conclude with the
system info screen, and the hope I can get used to the slippery finish.
From
Pennsylvania a wasp did travel, hidden in the folds of a jacket and trunk. Unbeknownst to those transporting it, and showing itself for only a moment, it's stealth was unequalled in the history of wasps. Then, seeing it's opportunity for maximum chaos, it hid in a blanket bound for the couch. As Lila adjusted for maximum comfort, the Wasp did strike hard and fast,
ending the innocence of insects for Lila forever.
A bike adventure to Wal-Mart ended up becoming a Carnival odyssey for Lila and I. Having forgotten the
carnival had come to down, I was glad to see the ferris wheel peeking out from above Sears and calling
us to it's mystery and wonder. Speechless in awe of the variety of people and rides, Lila took it all in slowly before deciding to step up to a dart throwing booth. I learned this was an "everyone's a winner"
Carnival and adjusted my pockets accordingly for the incoming flood of stuffed animals. Fully immersed in the carnie excitement, I purchased $10 worth of ride tickets before discovering
Lila was 32" tall and every ride was a minimum of 38" to ride. A lucky family received the tickets after the ticket booth made it clear there were no refunds. Explaining to Lila why she couldn't
go on the slide or merr-go-round was a bit more difficult to pull off, but a petting farm and face painting were sufficient weapons in keeping her tantrums from converting into full meltdowns.
Bedrest Lisa was disappointed she couldn't join in all the reindeer games, but quickly recovered with some
tea time.
With our trip to Pennsylvania cancelled due to "contractions requiring bedrest" I was left with a spare vacation day.
I started the day off right, bringing my neglected
Cougar to a day at the spa for various minor issues I hope to have fixed before all parts for it disappear. Next up was a trip to the movies so Lisa and I could finally see the new "Star Trek: Into Darkness" which is equal to the aformentioned "Oblivion" movie. Don't argue with me, watch them both! We completed the day with a dinner from the new
Blue Apron meal plan
which is slowly making me feel like I know how to cook.
After years of rumors and months of anticipation, the Xbox One was announced today. The confirmation that achievement points will be carried over to the new system is all I needed to go whole hog and
throw money at the screen in hopes of having one materialize. Sadly, it looks like I'll have to wait till "late 2013" before I can give all my money to Microsoft. Everyone immediately went bonkers over used games licencing, lack of focus on games in the announcement, and how the Kinect will play the part of Ingsoc from 1984. Blind to all such arguments, I was of course in love and would have been even if they showed a baked potato that doled out achievement points for the entire hour. Now that I know the future (and that all Xbox 360 equipment will be obsolete) my eBay fire sale of Xbox 360 paraphenilia can begin in earnest, as I prepare my body to accept the future.
Armed with my new GoPro camera, it was time for another SCCA Autocross.
Last year, I decided to be macho and turn off all stability control, thinking I was a good enough driver to beat the computer.
This time I decided to leave it in SPORT mode and noticed
quite a difference, proving the
computer knows a lot more about vehicle handling than I ever will. I also lost my exclusive status as unclassified Focus ST, as this year I not only had an official classification but there was a second Focus ST at the event.
After a few laps the other ST owner also agreed SPORT mode is where it's at. Three equally exciting
inside,
outside, and
above videos were created, conveying the same entertainment level that's come to be expected from Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! At the Sliverdome!
After convincing Lisa that Salvation Army and Craigs List are both acceptable sources for toddler supplies, she focused her power of OCD into finding the perfect $350 swingset and $80
princess playhouse. I estimate the MSRP of each item at $2,000 and $500 respectively. Not because it's a likely estimate, but because it makes me feel even better about how much money
we saved. Her all-plastic swingset was an excellent find, and it will most likely outlast every kid I can throw at it. Lila already demanded I join her for tea time in the princess castle,
and our record for swinging is approaching a solid hour.
Having received my
free GoPro camera thanks to my
Focus ST purchase, it was time to put it to good use. I quickly discovered my version (GoPro 2) had no preview capability, so it was off to eBay for a $30
WiFi Backpack and the
GoPro app which works amazingly well. After connecting to the GoPro wifi and adjusting the camera for maximum awesome, it was time to
record the deluge of Detroit for all to enjoy. I can now point to a 20 minute nail-biting video of what it's like on my daily escape from Detroit when people ask how hardcore 8-mile is.
More than a year ago, I
benchmarked my collection of WP7 phones. Since then, I've been growing my crack habit and now have a
total of 11 dummy display phones, and 5 actual phones. Fortunately, I've come to my senses and sold Lisa's old Samsung Focus Flash along with the Lumia 520 I picked up for $150 (now that I have it I know why it's only $150). Before they departed, I created an
updated benchmark to help me feel better about my loss. I was shocked to find the Lumia 520 had the fastest GPU before remembering it only renders at 800x480 instead of the 1280x720 the 8X chugs through. The Trophy is still the saddest Gen1 hardware, with the Flash/900/800 all running almost identical thanks to fairly identical chipsets. With my Lumia 928 just around the corner, another fanboy orgy post is sure to follow soon.
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Tonight we hosted the bi-annual meeting with the Schwartzs. Having been alerted to their new found organic non-dairy, non-carb diet during the last meeting, Lila went shopping
for some acceptable food. Turns out, the Schwartzs also don't drink beer or certain kinds of wine, meaning I was the sole consumer of the evenings alcohol (save some expensive
ice wine which met the needs of snooty Schwartz). With the organic needs met, the meal was served and accepted, allowing for the natural shenanigans to
proceed as normal given my intoxication level. The evening was rounded out with a showing of "Wreck It Ralph" which was of course new and exciting to the childless couple as opposed to repetitive torture for parents.
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