mc17

Live what? - what Journal? ...what what?

2009-02-06T19:45:55Z

it's been a minute since i updated this journal.
I'm not sure i'm really planning on continuing.
Microblogging has sort of replaced livejournal. i also see no real point in taking down.

For anyone who wants to know where i'll be:

Follow me on twitter: twitter.com/jeffreymfoster

Or find me on Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=73003508 - my twitter posts also show up there.

See what i'm watching and listening to via Last.fm: last.fm/user/thirdoptical

take a look at my Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/gp/registry/2YYDFULCD2V6I

Take a look at some of my photography on Flickr: flickr.com/photos/thirdopticaltool/

Find nearly all my various links and outlets at my site: the-ish.com

Know that i rarely or never update my Myspace, CarDomain, or LiveJournal pages anymore.

much love.

Regarding CBSNews' "GOP Gives Clinton The Silent Treatment"

2008-04-30T22:06:29Z

cbsnews.com recently wrote an article called GOP Gives Clinton The Silent Treatment - the basic point being that the republican party is attacking Obama regularly while more or less ignoring Clinton.

The article never mentions it... but it seems obvious to me that they're not ethe least bit worried about Hillary, in fact, they strongly prefer that she gets the nomination because she'll be so easy to bury come the election. They have all the dirt they'll ever need on Clinton, and are grasping at straws to try and get Obama out of the running, for fear of having to run against him in the real election.

that's my take. I'd love to hear an opposing one.

(in fact, i've been looking for good info on why Obama would be a bad candidate, but there's so much nonsense out there (like "he'z a terorest!") that it's hard to find the good stuff. anyone have a good resource for me?

Lost: Ben's man on the freighter

2008-03-07T22:15:23Z

The teaser for next week's episode of Lost baits us with "[You'll see] a face that you never expected to see again" ...which, i take it, is the man Ben says he has on the freighter.

When Locke asks Ben "Who is your man on the boat" Ben replies something like "You may want to sit down for this." We the audience, of course, do not get to hear who it is.

Spoiler: It's Michael.

...or at least that seems like the obvious "surprise" - which at first pissed me off. It's so obvious it's a little bit painful. That being the case, maybe the writers are playing off that to actually surprise us with a character that's not a total waste of screen time... but i doubt it.

I hate Michael. As a character, he is a selfish, obnoxious, stereotypical piece of crap, and as an actor, he's a dreadful twat. I expect that all he'll say this season once he's back is "WWWAAAAAALLLLLLTTTTTT!!!!" hundreds of times.

But this got me thinking, maybe "resurrecting" Michael's character is actually a really good thing. When his character was finally gone, i was really relieved, but a little sad that he "got off the island" instead of "got shot in the face."

Maybe now we'll get to see him die. That'd be worth bringing him back. ...but my gut instinct is that the writers will try and put some redemption bit in and use him for a couple of lame flashback episodes filling us in with what happened on the freighter (filler episodes) and trying to cast Michael as a good guy.

bah.

The new car

2008-02-23T19:02:17Z

The left is what i've been driving, and the right is what i just got.

1993 Audi S4.

...and this sucker is quick. :)

w. t. f.?

2008-02-21T18:38:10Z

what is this?

Spoiler: it's awful. that's what it is.

"Hillary's Record"

2008-02-06T23:43:06Z

I stumbled upon this comment somewhere on the internets and thought it was kind of interesting.

I don't vouch for the validity of any of the statements, and don't necessarily agree with the rant, but it was a somewhat interesting read all the same.

(the rant is indented, my comments are not.)

interesting: Hillary Clinton has been telling America that she is the most qualified candidate for president based on her 'record,' which she says includes her eight years in the White House as First Lady - or 'co-president' - and her seven years in the Senate. Here is a reminder of what that record includes:

As First Lady, Hillary assumed authority over Health Care Reform, a process that cost the taxpayers over $13 million. She told both Bill Bradley and Patrick Moynihan, key votes needed to pass her legislation, that she would 'demonize' anyone who opposed it. But it was opposed; she couldn't even get it to a vote in a Congress controlled by her own party. (And in the next election, her party lost control of both the House and Senate.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Clinton_health_care_plan (That's not evidence supporting the above claims, just a relevant link.)

Hillary assumed authority over selecting a female Attorney General. Her first two recommendations, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood, were forced to withdraw their names from consideration. She then chose Janet Reno. Janet Reno has since been described by Bill himself as 'my worst mistake.'

Hillary recommended Lani Guanier for head of the Civil Rights Commission. When Guanier's radical views became known, her name had to be withdrawn.

Hillary recommended her former law partners, Web Hubbell, Vince Foster, and William Kennedy for positions in the Justice Department, White House staff, and the Treasury, respectively. Hubbell was later imprisoned, Foster committed suicide, and Kennedy was forced to resign.

Hillary also recommended a close friend of the Clintons, Craig Livingstone, for the position of director of White House security. When Livingstone was investigated for the improper access of up to 900 FBI files of Clinton enemies (“Filegate”) and the widespread use of drugs by White House staff, both Hillary and her husband denied knowing him. FBI agent Dennis Sculimbrene confirmed in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in 1996, both the drug use and Hillary's involvement in hiring Livingstone. After that, the FBI closed its White House Liaison Office, after serving seven presidents for over thirty years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_FBI_files_controversy

In order to open “slots” in the White House for her friends the Thomasons (to whom millions of dollars in travel contracts could be awarded), Hillary had the entire staff of the White House Travel Office fired; they were reported to the FBI for 'gross mismanagement' and their reputations ruined. After a thirty-month investigation, only one, Billy Dale, was charged with a crime - mixing personal money with White House funds when he cashed checks. The jury acquitted him in less than two hours.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_travel_office_controversy

Another of Hillary's assumed duties was directing the 'bimbo eruption squad' and scandal defense: ---- She urged her husband not to settle the Paula Jones lawsuit. ---- She refused to release the Whitewater documents, which led to the appointment of Ken Starr as Special Prosecutor. After $80 million dollars of taxpayer money was spent, Starr's investigation led to Monica Lewinsky, which led to Bill lying about and later admitting his affairs. ---- Then they had to settle with Paula Jones after all. ---- And Bill lost his law license for lying to the grand jury ---- And Bill was impeached by the House. ---- And Hillary almost got herself indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice (she avoided it mostly because she repeated, 'I do not recall,' 'I have no recollection,' and 'I don't know' 56 times under oath).

Hillary wrote 'It Takes a Village,' demonstrating her Socialist viewpoint.

...I think it's silly when the word "socialism" is used pejoratively.

Hillary decided to seek election to the Senate in a state she had never lived in. Her husband pardoned FALN terrorists in order to get Latino support and the New Square Hassidim to get Jewish support. Hillary also had Bill pardon her brother's clients, for a small fee, to get financial support.

Then Hillary left the White House, but later had to return $200,000 in White House furniture, china, and artwork she had stolen.

In the campaign for the Senate, Hillary played the 'woman card' by portraying her opponent (Lazio) as a bully picking on her.

Hillary's husband further protected her by asking the National Archives to withhold from the public until 2012 many records of their time in the White House, including much of Hillary's correspondence and her calendars. (There are ongoing lawsuits to force the release of those records.)

As the junior Senator from New York, Hillary has passed no major legislation. She has deferred to the senior Senator (Schumer) to tend to the needs of New Yorkers, even on the hot issue of medical problems of workers involved in the cleanup of Ground Zero after 9/11.

Hillary's one notable vote; supporting the plan to invade Iraq, she has since disavowed.

What major legislation has Hillary sponsored during her time in the Senate? - Yahoo! Answers - (answer: "I see no major legislation, most of this is Senate Resolutions.")

Quite a resume’. Sounds more like an organized crime family’s rap sheet.

...So it might be a bit.. polar, but this guy brings up a good point. Hillary is the "qualified candidate" and we keep hearing that she is the one with a "record" ...but is that a good record? or is just having a record enough? I think that 2 of her strongest assets are familiarity, and associating the Clinton name with economic prosperity (without necessarily giving credit to all the other variables that contributed to the pre-2001 economy.)

meh. food for thought.

Movies

2008-01-26T21:27:15Z

A few of the movies i've seen recently:

Cloverfield

I actually really enjoyed this movie. It was, to one degree or another, a "Blair Witch" that wasn't completely retarded. It's like they took that concept and actually put some real thought into some clever ways to use it to tell a story. It has its faults, but i really do think it was good. 4/5

Juno

Great movie. I really like Ellen Page in this roll and the writing is quick, clever, and engaging. 4/5

Casino Royale

This was another really fun movie. It's better than just a re-hash of the older flicks, it seems to bring something new to the table. 4/5

Finding Neverland

I enjoyed it, but i really don't have much to say about it. 3/5

Resident Evil: Extinction

Just another crappy Resident Evil in the silly series, but it wasn't really any worse than the other 2. They're bad, but i enjoy them. 2/5

Van Helsing

saying that i had "low" expectations would be charitable... but it was fun, in one of those "this movie is aweful" kinds of ways. Kate Beckinsale, while not ugly, certainly doesn't look or do her best in this flick. Even though "Click" was bad, as far as i've seen, it's were she looked her best. I wish she'd get more "normal person" roles instead of these awful leather-clad-vampire-hunter / 17th-century-whore costumed roles. :\ 1/5

Sprint's customer service policy

2008-01-26T18:55:23Z

I wrote a little bit about Sprint's frustrating customer service philosophy: that the only way to get good customer service is to threaten to cancel my account.

It's a fundamentally flawed philosophy.

Feel free to read it. :)

the-ish.com/blog/?p=34

New Fuel Pump in the Audi 5000

2008-01-17T17:24:56Z

On January 12th, Jeff and I (mostly Jeff really) replaced the Fuel Pump (and Fuel Filter a few days before) on my black Audi 5000 CSTQ, at around 175,000 miles.

It runs great now, when it starts, which is not so often. :(

We probably need to replace or repair the check valve above the fuel pump. The car will really struggle to start, as if there is no fuel in the lines, but once it finally catches (and i do mean finally, several minutes later) it drives great. (...or at least as good as it has before, and about as great as you could possibly expect a 22 year old turbo car to run.) So it seems that there actually isn't fuel in the lines - that when the car is turned off, all the fuel in the lines drain back into the tank. ...that's the theory.

So when we get the chance, well open it back up and take a look at replacing the check valve.

Hello again

2008-01-17T17:03:51Z

It's been exactly 4 months since i've posted anything here, and i'm wondering if i should even bother...

On occasion, i post to my techie-nerd blog; the-ish.com/blog, but only about techie nerdy stuff, and i think i'd prefer to keep it that way.

Here is much more of a random assortment of notes and thoughts, and i'd also prefer to keep it like that. So i guess i'll keep it (for now) and attempts to use it more often.

So here's some of what's been going on the last few months:

Graduation
Looks like i never mentioned it, probably from being crazy busy at the time... but in May '07 I finally graduated from UCCS with a BA in Fine Arts. (Magna Cum Laude & Highest Distinction)

For my graduation, Chelise organized a large group of people together to pitch in for a "computer fund" for me. It was incredible, and really blew me away. After sitting on the money for a while (and waiting for the eventual iMac refresh) I finally ended up getting a 24" iMac, fairly well spec'd. ...and i love the thing.

November
Chelise and i went out to California for Thanksgiving. It was great to spend some time with my family, but also just to spend some time in CA. :)

December
Shortly after, in December, I went out to NY with my artist buddy Adam, and had a great time. A few of the highlights: we got first tier box seats at Carnegie Hall for Kiki & Herb: The Second Coming (december 12th), and it was spectacular. we also went to the top of Rockerfeller Center, saw the Saks and Bergdorf Goodman etc Christmas window displays, and saw that highly recommended Fuerza Bruta (which is something that you you really should see if at all possible.)

The NY trip was fantastic, with really great people, and Adam's uncle Phil really made the trip incredible. (I still need to try and figure out some way to thank him.)

Christmas
Then came christmas, which was nice and low-key this year. Chelise got me a rad Bulova watch. :)

New Years
Then, for New Years, Chelise and i headed back out to California, for my little sister's engagement party. It was beautiful, and i'm really happy for her.

January
Now we're a few weeks into January, and I'm again working at UCCS. (My 6 month contract with UCCS ended in November, and i'd been doing freelance web work in the mean time.) Now (since Jan. 7th) I'm working in University Relations, and even though i've only been here about a week and a half, and even though i'm currently using an old mac (with a nice screen, but slow old 933MHz g4), and even though i'm on this tiny, temporary desk for a few more weeks..... i'm loving it.

It's a very good place to work, the office dynamic is working out pretty well, and we're getting in to some cool projects. (Stuff that i think will really benefit the university in one way or another.) I'm hoping this can turn into a permanent position - i like working here, but also, i believe i bring a lot to the table, and that what i'm just starting to do here will prove to be something they need and value.

I'm wondering if i should just keep a personal blog on my own site, or maybe move to a person wiki.... or just go ahead and keep my journal here. If you (the theoretical reader) have any opinion on the matter, chime in.

Balls of Fury

2007-09-18T04:30:12Z

worst movie i've seen in a very long time.

The main character isn't the least bit likable, and it would be charitable to call the other characters one-dimensional.

No redeeming qualities whatsoever.

PS: Sorry for neglecting you, journal.

Change

2007-06-10T04:17:56Z

Out with the old, in with the new.

I sold the gold one, and bought the black.

Not that it's any newer, it's actually ~~the same exact year~~ one year older... but much nicer looking, lower miles, better engine, and nicer interior. :)

It, of course, has its problems, but i really like it.

Broken camera blues

2007-01-25T05:06:12Z

Just in time for my Digital Photography class (which is a joke, by the way, but it satisfies an upper level credit i need to graduate) - my camera died.

None of the buttons except for Power and Exposure respond at all. ...which for the most part makes the camera completely useless.

It's a Canon SD500, 7.1mp camera. I've had it for about 18 months, so it's out of warranty.

I'll probably be getting the SD700 as a replacement. It's only a 6mp camera, which kind of sucks to pay money for less pixels, but the CDD is larger, and just about everything else is as good or incrementally better (newer) and this one will come with another year of warranty, which wouldn't be the case for the $200 repaired camera i'd be getting if i just paid Canon to fix mine.

so - lame. I can't afford this, but i need it. ...and want it.

Cold Weekend

2007-01-13T18:48:31Z

It was highs in the 50s a few days ago, which still sounds a bit cold to me, but which i much prefer to the forecast this weekend:

the snow is pretty... but does it have to be so cold? brrrrr.

iTunes checklist

2006-12-29T19:42:27Z

(this is for myself, but check 'em out if you're bored.)

checklist:

Albums:
[ ] Rocky Votolato: "Suicide Medicine"
[ ] Rocky Votolato: "Light and Sound - EP"
[ ] Josh Martinez & Sleep: "The Chicharones"

Songs:
[ ] Get Set Go - "I Hate Everyone"
[X] Talib Kweli - "Get By"
[ ] Bright Eyes - "First Day of My Life"
[X] Mike Doughty - "Looking At the World from the Bottom of a Well"
[X] John Legend - "Save Room"
[X] John Legend - "Ordinary People"
[ ] People Under the Stairs - "The Break Down"

Wishlists

2006-12-13T08:24:42Z

I've been updating my Amazon Wishlist recently, reminding myself that i need to make some money. :)

I would really like to get links to wishlists from everyone i know. Not that i'll be able to do anything with them, but it's nice to keep tabs on the things my friends and family are interested in, and should i run into money for some reason, it's nice to have an up-to-date wishlist to take a look at.

so please comment on this post if you have a wishlist, and i'll add the URL to my address book for (possible) future use. (and make it current!)

...please. this is something i really want. ^_^

Update + Extras

2006-12-08T23:04:30Z

BenQ apologized.

My article describing why Cnet's Michael Kanello is a jackass looking to cash in by Apple-Bashing.
It's a disturbing trend where people write poorly written articles bashing Apple with little or no logical support, in an attempt to drive traffic to their site when the Apple fans come out to tell you you're an idiot.

seems to work every time. :(

BenQ's tasteless advertising

2006-12-01T23:37:35Z

the China-based electronics company, BenQ, makes LCD monitors, mp3 players, etc. They're fairly known.

their new mp3 player (limited productions, may not even make it to the states) uses an interesting marketing image:

legitimately pulled from their own site.

look at it closely. Anything look familiar? ...left side.

Now let's take a look at an image of the World Trade Center wreckage:

Did they think no one would notice where that image was pulled from? What exactly is the message?

regardless of their motive, i think that's a pretty callous move to try and use imagery from 911 to promote any product, much less something totally irrelevant. (911 sucked. Buy Our MP3 Player.)

Financial Times article regarding Hollywood vs Apple

2006-11-29T00:35:04Z

read the article here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/6c6aa286-7f08-11db-b193-0000779e2340.html

According to the Financial Times, many major movie studios in talks with Apple about making their movies available on the iTunes Store are pushing Apple to redesign their business model, limit the number of devices that can play the movies, and other anti-consumer (under the guise of anti-piracy) concessions.

After months of discussion, a sticking point has emerged over the studios’ demand that Apple limit the number of devices that can use a film downloaded from iTunes.

The studios want to avoid the experience of the music industry, which has yet to recover from years of illegal digital piracy. Apple must introduce a “new model” for feature film content delivery...

[ I have a number of complaints, some about the article, and others about the situation. ]

I take issue with articles that make ridicules claims as if they're facts. By that, i mean that the article claims the music industry hasn't "recovered from years of piracy" there is absolutely NO empirical evidence that could back up a claim like that. In fact, there is a good amount of evidence that the music industry actually benefits from the piracy, but they blame their failing business model and dropping profits on a pretty convenient little piracy scapegoat.

The article also mentions that the movie industry want's Apple to "limit the number of devices that can use a film downloaded from iTunes" but totally fails to mention that Apple already limits how many computers can play a film to just 5. They are specifically asking apple to further complicate the process (decidedly un-Apple-like) by limiting the portable devices that can use a film. (which is only the 2 most expensive iPod models.)

At this point, a movie can be loaded on to as many iPods as one likes, but once on the iPod, they cannot come off. Even if you manage to trick the computer into letting you copy the movie off the ipod and onto the computer, it will not play unless that computer is one of the 5 authorized computers for the account. That sounds like a perfectly reasonable situation to me, but we all know that the phrase "Perfectly Reasonable," to the music or movie industries, might as well be "One more spot we can screw the consumer for another few dollars."

Wal-Mart, the largest US retailer, is entering the nascent market, challenging Amazon and Apple with a different model that ties digital downloads to the sale of DVDs.
Customers buying the newly released DVD of Warner Bros’ Superman Returns, will be able to download a digital version of the film on to a portable device, a personal computer, or both for a small extra payment.

An "Extra Payment"? Whatever happened to Fair Use? expecting me to pay full price to play a DVD on my TV, and then expecting me to pay again for the same movie so that i can watch it on my iPod... that's just absurd.
Why dont they just tie every DVD i buy to the first DVD player i play it in so that if i want to watch it in the livingroom i have to buy it again, and if i want to watch it in my bedroom later, i'll buy another copy. And should i ever need to replace my DVD player, i would then be expected to re-purchase all of my DVD collection.

Here's an even better idea: Tie the DVD purchases to a specific time. Charge full price for them, of course, but make them playable only during a specific time of the day and time of the year.
"Sorry, this DVD will only play from 8pm until 10pm on thursdays, in december. if you would like to watch this movie at any other time of the day, week or year, please go out and purchase it again, at full price. You'd only have to buy it about 1,095 times before you own all time copies and can watch it whenever you want! Please keep in mind, though, that you can only watch them on this TV, and if you would like to watch it at a friends house, you will need to purchase another 1,095 copies of the DVD."

How much revenue is the movie industry just throwing out the window by letting the stupid consumers choose when they watch the movies they purchase? They would be ~~increasing their already monstrous profits~~ recouping their investment by approximately 109,500% !!

I cant wait for that day. What a magical time it will be.

Random Sketch

2006-11-27T21:52:44Z

Midterm Elections!

2006-11-06T21:25:21Z

Getting in the spirit.

[ download / listen to midterm-elections.mp3 ]

...via The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, some time ago. :)

side note: LiveJournal doesn't allow me to use <object> to embed a little flash-based music player. that's lame.

Home from the New York trip

2006-10-23T05:33:05Z

I'm just now home from New York.

i dont think a warm bath has ever felt so good.

the trip was amazing.

~~Pictures will follow when i get a second.~~ Here's a Flickr photo set of a few images from my trip.

goodnight!

New York

2006-10-16T06:26:57Z

So i'm leaving, in a few hours, for the airport.

I'll be in New York for the next week.

...taking a ton of pictures - which i will share with you when i get back.

weird

2006-10-16T06:25:44Z

Apparently i've gotten more girly looking over the years, because the newer picture of me gave me a lot of chick look-alikes.

at least there good looking! haha

Old picture....

2006-10-14T04:54:13Z

One of the only ones i could find that was straight on... i think it's like 2 years old. :\

hahaha. whatever.