totally useless = i need it

this here is a shift knob that tells you what gear you’re in on a big bright beautiful lcd display. honestly, if you have to look down to tell what gear you’re driving in, you shouldn’t be driving a stick. but still, this thing is freakin’ cool. unfortunately, $169 is a bit too cool for my wallet, but a guy can dream.

also, it says on the site says that “it increases driving safety and helps reduce fuel consumption by up to 15 percent.” first of all, if i’m looking at my whatever gear i’m in in nifty blue (or red!) lettering on my shift knob, how exactly am i looking at the road? and all of the sudden knowing what gear you’re in by looking down will make you a more efficient driver? ha.

via gizmodo

college adventures

wow, its been a while since i’ve posted! i’ve actually been rather busy lately, i went up north to visit some family over spring break, but before i did that i went and visited the campus of cal poly in san luis obispo. i’ve been looking at an architecture career, mainly because i greatly enjoy the idea of designing buildings and whatnot, and cal poly had always been one to consider.

of course, now i’m hooked.

its a beautiful campus, located pretty much dead center between los angeles and san francisco, which are coincidentally the places where the opposite sides of my family live. its in a nice valley, and while it is a tad windy, the weather there is almost always gorgeous, year-round. i’ve been to a few other campuses, mostly UC’s, and they haven’t really appealed to me that much, neither in the location or the courses offered. from my standpoint right now, cal poly is my only choice. applications are due this fall, and i’m heavily considering applying early decision, which basically sets in stone that i’m going to go there no matter what, if i get in. i’m fairly certain that i can get in, but i’m just afraid that only applying to one school is a bit risky. but on the other hand, i don’t really think i’d be happy going anywhere but poly, because of how highly reknowned their architecture program is.

its definitely a tough decision. any thoughts?

uno

ok, am i the only one who really really hates the look of the brushed metal windows in os x? i’m sure i’m not. well, aside from eagerly waiting for leopard (and even hoping that it will do away with the dated look) i was pretty much out of options. that is, until my daily rompings around iusethis turned up uno.

uno is a system-wide gui manipulator that basically makes every window in os x retain a very streamlined, gray-gradient look. it is, what i feel, apple has been moving more and more toward with its latest software releases. what i like so much about this program is that it does everything without a hitch, unlike some other interface manipulators i’ve used, like shapeshifter. uno is very customizable and gives you some flexibility as to which apps you want to be changed and which you don’t. oh yeah, not to mention, its free. which is my favorite price. a very stable and solid program for anyone in the same position i was in.

on a side note, this program, and a few others i’ve seen, have advertised themselves as being able to take away the current look of itunes 7. personally, i absolutely love the new interface of itunes, and hope that the smoother, less aqua look makes its way into the whole operating system. but it sure seems like a lot of people dislike it. what are your thoughts?

oh. my. god!

anyone here watch battlestar galactica? happen to catch the season 3 finale last night? to put it simply, the last 10 or so minutes of that episode were quite possibly the greatest teleivision i have ever watched! oh, and can you say biggest cliff-hanger ever?! and its not coming back until 2008!!! i can’t wait that long!! if you missed it, get it here (itunes).

anyway, most of my friends call me a nerd for watching battlestar, but honestly, its much more than your typical star trek type sci-fi show. now that 24′s lost its edge on me, this is hands down my favorite drama on tv. its smarter and more entertaining than most other shows by leaps and bounds. if you haven’t taken a look, i would suggest it.

pressure the hinges

on march 20, one of my favorite bands of all time, haste the day, came out with their brand new album, “pressure the hinges” (itunes link). to tell you the truth, i was a little skeptical about whether or not i would like it. their first two albums and their ep featured jimmy ryan as their frontman. he had a pretty unique voice which was what attracted me to the band in the first place. unfortunately, after the release of their last album, “when everything falls” (itunes link) jimmy left the band and was replaced by new singer stephen keech. i had heard a few of the preview tracks for this album, and while they were fairly good, i was worried that what i liked about the band so much might have left with jimmy.

so, what do i think of the album? well, its different. and at the beginning, i didn’t like different so much. the feel of “pressure the hinges” is very different than that of “when everything falls” or “burning bridges.” the band seems to have traded some of their former brutality for more melodic singing, which put me off a little. however, as time went on (and yes, i realize its only been like four days, but this is really the only thing i’ve been listening to this whole time) i started to accept the differences, and really started to like this new album. in a lot of ways it is a very strong album, and definitely brings a lot to the table. haste the day continues to strive in their songwriting, and i love the lyrics in so many of their songs. so righteous, man. in the end, i’d give “pressure the hinges” a solid 8 out of 10.

if you happen to take a listen someday, my favorite songs off the album are the minor prophets, white collar, vertigo, and, one of my new all time favorite songs, chorus of angels. (all links go to itunes)

also, if you’re a fan of the band, i would recommend picking up the special edition. it includes a dvd with a documentary about the making of the album, a few music videos, and jimmy’s last show. the disc itself also has a few decent bonus tracks.

NEW: pressure the hinges lyrics, link on the top right of the page!

new headphones

well, last week my pair of ipod headphones went through the washing machine. they still work, but the wire is all screwed up and the dryer kind of chewed up the area around the ears. so, while i could’ve easily just kept on using them, i decided it was time to go after a new pair of phones. i had been wanting to try out a behind-the-head solution for a while, cuz i thought it was convenient, and cuz it kinda makes me look like a badass =)

so anyway, i went on over to best buy and found a nice pair for $20. they are the philips sbc hs520s, and for educational purposes, i’ll give my opinion:

the good these headphones are pretty comfortable, have good sound quality (very different than in-ear types, but still a good sound) and are nice and lightweight. they’re obviously made for the sporting type, as they feature a reflective band in the back, and a very durable cord wrapped in a really cool protective sleeve, which i have to say is my favorite feature.

the bad they don’t exactly hang around my neck like i wanted them to when not in use, they’re a little too tight to be comfortable. also, i may get used to it over time, but after an hour or so of listening the tops of my ears tend to start hurting. also, something i’ve disliked about all non in-ear headphones, the music is quite easily heard by others, meaning i have to keep it pretty soft if i’m in class or in the library.

overall, i’d recommend these headphones, and i enjoy using them. i’m not going to be throwing away my ipod phones just yet, though.

lord of war

lord of war stars nicholas cage as a ukrainian immigrant turned arms dealer who deals with the moral dilemmas of his business. i recently saw this at a friends house, and i can honestly say this is one of the best movies i’ve ever seen. its gritty and violent and one of those movies that shows you the evils of the world that are hard to believe even exist. its extremely depressing, but has its fair share of comic relief. its definitely not a movie for everyone, but i enjoyed it thoroughly.

and then there was color

today is a special day for two reasons: one, its my birthday (woot!), and as my first order of business i’m going to see an r-rated movie in the theater, just because i can. and second, in apple’s history, today was the day that the mac II was introduced, exactly 20 years ago. the mac II was special because it was the first macintosh to recieve an eye-boggling color screen! exciting! unfortunately, it also moved toward looking like a boring pc box, which was, to say the least, boring. but without this milestone in mac history, we’d still be in monotone color age. happy birthday mac II! and me!

via apple matters

the wheel

a really interesting article i found over at dyestat by their new columnist, lauren fleshman

My team had an atmosphere, you know what I mean? We ran together, ate lunch together at the same tree in the quad every day, went stag to dances together when we didn’t have dates (or sometimes because we didn’t want dates)

its a good read, and i think any high school runner can instantly relate

read all . . .

coverflow for my ipod??

now here’s something exciting. supposedly coming in the next firmware update.

via gizmodo