The Appropriate Size for a Fridge

Recent events have left me with a fridge of smaller dimension than I was previously used to. This has led me to realise that I do actually have standard for what size fridge is sufficient for my purposes.

A fridge should be large enough that you can lay a pizza box flat on a shelf and still close the door and have a bit of space next to the pizza box. The vertical dimension is more flexible but should be in the normal fridge proportions to the horizontal dimensions.

Discuss.

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Writing time: 3 minutes
Time since last post: A while
Current media: Drop the Hate by Fatboy Slim

A + B = Why?

Here's another product I'm not sure how someone came up with the idea of. Lingerie with a built in GPS tracking system.

I'm not sure exactly what the application of such a combination is. Some women are calling it a modern chastity belt, but that seems a bit ridiculous given that the GPS device has a power switch, so it would only transmit when the lady wearing it chose to.

The design itself looks pretty good, but I'm reasonably sure having a chunk of plastic hanging off of one side would be slightly uncomfortable (I can't be completely sure, but I do know if my coat pockets are unevenly loaded it sits less well on my shoulders and the general principle should be the same).

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Writing time: 10 minutes
Time since last post: Does anyone care?
Current media: none

It's a special number

Apparently 42 university students were kidnapped in Iraq today.

I'm pretty sure I don't have to explain why this caught my attention.

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Writing time: 1 minute
Time since last post: 8 hours
Current media: Torchwood 2x13

What did I do to deserve this?

I was just checking my email and noticed something odd. I looked at the web clip above the message list and saw this.

Potty Training In 3 Days - ThePottyTrainer.com - Potty Training Secrets That Work Say Good Bye To Diapers Forever

Now I've always assumed that the paid links that appeared in the web clips were like the ads on the side while reading email, in that they used the contents of my email to pick key words for the ads. So when I was sending emails looking for new jobs, I got ads for job websites and help writing resumes.

But I can not for the life of me fathom why my emails of late would in any way suggest that is an appropriate ad that would be relevant and of interest to me. There has been no mention of children, toilets, diapers or anything else pertaining to the ad.

Perhaps Google is not as omniscient as I thought.

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Writing time: 8 minutes
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: jPod

Improving the odds

According to two recent news stories, if you want to get lucky, your best chances would be to find a depressed woman from New Zealand.

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Writing time: 3 minutes
Time since last post: about 10 hours
Current media: None

DAAS

It has been quite some time since I listened to them but the Doug Anthony All Stars are still fucking awesome.

Although hindsight it makes me question why I thought it was a good idea to play my copied tapes of them in the car with Mum on the way to and from home on the weekends when I was in high school. Songs about bestiality, BDSM, and transvestites are not to be listened to with ones mother. Sorry Mum. At the time my enthusiasm outweighed my rationality. I now understand why she would buy me MacDonalds in exchange for listening to something else on the 45 minute trip between Cairns and Babinda.

Twenty odd years has not diminished the goodness that is the Doug Anthony All Stars (It's not twenty years since I heard them but it's about twenty years since they performed.).

Fuck Yeah

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Writing time: 6 minutes (I thought I was much more distracted than that)
Time since last post: 4 days
Current media: None (just the music in my head)

I like it

You've probably already read it, but the latest xkcd is pretty good.

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Writing time: 1 minute
Time since last post: two days
Current media: iPod

Defenestrate

From dictionary.com
defenestrate
verb throw through or out of the window; "The rebels stormed the palace and defenestrated the President"

I don't know exactly what I thought this word meant, but I thought it was something a lot worse than that.

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Writing time: 1 minute
Time since last post: 2 day
Current media: iTunes shuffle, currently Lovin' Ain't So Easy by Velvet Chain

postscript: related to my previous post script about iTunes not being a word, it appears that part of the improvements for the new version of OS X is the addition of Apple words to the dictionary. I'm not sure this is worth paying $129 for though.

For Posterity

The following was found while doing the first stage of preparing to move. It is a song written during an honours solid state lecture. It is intended to be in the genre of heavy metal/punk. I'm putting here to preserve it for future generations and so I can get rid of one more bit of paper.

Semiconductor by the Conduction Band

I'm above the forbidden gap
Apply a potential and I'll move in a snap
Those in the valence band are caught in a trap
About them no one gives a crap

chorus: I'm an electron in a semiconductor
I don't drive a real big truck
Computers and such they all need me
But I don't give a flying duck

In an intrinsic semiconductor
Currents due to temperature
My motion is a complete blur
I'll put your head into a whirl

chorus

For everyone in the conduction band
A hole remains in the valence band
If we all went back to our home land
We'd all be colder than a bear in Iceland

chorus

Guitar solo, lots (I mean lots) of distortion

Some semiconductors are full of dope
Without them you don't have a hope
Around disruptions electrons have to grope
They're more impure than the pope

End Post
Typing time: 7 minutes
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: iTunes Shuffle, currently Drop the Hate by Fatboy Slim

Postscript: I found it rather amusing that iTunes is considered a misspelling of tunes by the apple spellchecker

Stupid Expensive

The other day I was wandering around a bookshop and saw something quite shocking. Among a display of Harry Potter books was an audio book version of the final book. The first thing that shocked me was the size of the thing. It was 20 CDs long. A slight shock, but nothing too major. The thing that made me exclaim out loud and get some funny looks from one of the other customers was the price tag. 18000 yen. That's around A$180. This seems to be a stupidly high amount to pay for something like this. It makes me wonder just why the price is so high. The materials are obviously not that expensive. Blank CDs are a buck a piece retail if you want to pay a lot, so I'm sure they can get them for a lot cheaper than that. There's no extra time in writing it, so the author doesn't need to get a larger cut. That I guess leaves the reader and production costs. Harry Potter does have a big name reader, Stephen Fry, but surely he's not getting all of the extra cash. Production and studio time could add more, but surely not a huge amount. It's not like the producer has to do much, just edit out any coughing fits or hiccups.

Anyway, in conclusion, I believe that audio books are ridiculously overpriced.

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Writing time: 53 minutes (I got distracted)
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: None

Thought for the day

Paragraphs seem longer when handwritten in a notebook than when they are typed.

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Writing time: 30 seconds
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: None

Scary Dream

I just woke up from a really scary dream (thank you alarm clock). The dream was that I had gone back to working at GE, which I think says enough.

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Writing time: 2 minutes
Time since last post: a day or so
Current media: none

I had an idea for a project

Today while doing a voice session I had a really good idea for a project, but I don't think I can really do it over here. I'm putting it up here so that in a few years time I can look back and remember it.

Anyway, the idea is as follows. Get a bunch of old refedexes or UBDs or any book with street maps for your city, one for each year, or as often as they are released. Find some interesting part of your city, and get the map for that part each year. Scan in the maps, and make a video out of the images.

Not particularly original, but it would be interesting to see how the city has changed over the years. The challenge would be getting all the old refedexes.

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Writing time: 2 minutes
Time since last post: 4 days
Current media: None

Holy Shit That's Fast

I don't think I've truly realised how fast the Internet is over here in Japan. Now, I have some idea. Except for the blurring to prevent incriminating myself, this is an actual screen capture. Please note the speed. I will admit this only lasted for about 30 seconds, but it is still none-the-less impressive.

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Writing time: 7 minutes (had to touch up the picture a little)
Time since last post: "go" days
Current media: none