Okay, it’s about Thursday, and I’m here at school on lappy typing this thing out while both my little brothers work on setting up their projects.
Since I have nothing better to do, as well as the fact that I need to recount the last couple of weeks in my life on this blog anyways, I think I should get started before anybody decides to wreak havoc next to me. Yep, the little guys made an “earthquake simulator.”
Which essentially would be made of PVC piping, a set of dowels, and a squareish piece of plywood, some nuts and bolts, and the crowning glory: type 16 (or 24, I have no idea which)…rubberbands.
If it weren’t for the fact that the whole intent of the design was to appeal to smaller children, and that it (gasp) works extremely well for a thing created on a budget of around $75 American, I would have since written it off.
I hate science fairs.
Anyway, to go back a couple of weeks, we (I mean the Woodlands Jazz Band) went off and did stuff. Which is to say, we won second place at the third Sleepy Hollow Jazz Festival, and (surprisingly) Best Trumpet Section.
BEST TRUMPET SECTION.
Somehow, they pulled a massive miracle of sorts, and one of which we will never be able to explain.
My mind is still blown.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Beyond Office 2003
Note: This post is over a year or two old; disregard the dated opinion and just read it, I'll add an opinion on Office 2007 later.
I have finally found a way to say it.
Microsoft has no idea what product evolution is as a whole.
Let me explain.
First off, Office 2003 is a rather useful thing. One major setback, though, is that its theme adapts to that of your current desktop’s setting. In other words, Office attempts to recolor itself according to your taskbar’s current theme. This would not have been so bad of an idea, until one realizes that said recolorization is inherently reeking of one blaring quality: utter tackiness. The color schema, while nice, is probably jarring for those of us not used to seeing it. As a result, it just looks really out of place. Why couldn’t we just have the option of turning it off? Because apparently, to disable it would require you to change your whole desktop theme and everything, and unless I’m mistaken, that kills the point of releasing incremental updates.
Which brings me to my next point: every single time Microsoft re-releases a product, all they do is add a new coat of paint to make office users who want to feel powerful do just that, plus adding a bunch of imbecilic additions. There are some good ones, but sadly, there is too much useless clutter of the menu bar. I mean, come on, they could have come up with a modular menu system just like how Apple incorporated one into Mac OS X Tiger (the widget bar). Instead, the consumer is forced to needlessly navigate too many menu extensions to get to where I need to go. A welcome appreciation, ceded in Microsoft’s favor, is that they have at least managed to hold on to the recently used portion of the drop down menu, which saves some time for me.
Finally, there are alternatives (gasp!) to Office 2003. OpenOffice.org is a great example of this: you get everything from Office 2003, for free. Everything that you need to do your work in the office utterly free for use. For the rest of your life. FREE. This is what we like to call, for you new people, an open source program. The whole premise is that anyone can modify it for their pleasure, as long as they (the modifications) are FREE. Another advantage to those who use such programs is that open source programs are also generally extremely modular, allowing for the installation of the plug-ins you actually need. This in turn should save a rather large amount of space on your hard drive. Let’s see – 500 MB versus 1.6 GB (of which is extra stuff I never will use, at all).
I see a very ideal picture here.
I have finally found a way to say it.
Microsoft has no idea what product evolution is as a whole.
Let me explain.
First off, Office 2003 is a rather useful thing. One major setback, though, is that its theme adapts to that of your current desktop’s setting. In other words, Office attempts to recolor itself according to your taskbar’s current theme. This would not have been so bad of an idea, until one realizes that said recolorization is inherently reeking of one blaring quality: utter tackiness. The color schema, while nice, is probably jarring for those of us not used to seeing it. As a result, it just looks really out of place. Why couldn’t we just have the option of turning it off? Because apparently, to disable it would require you to change your whole desktop theme and everything, and unless I’m mistaken, that kills the point of releasing incremental updates.
Which brings me to my next point: every single time Microsoft re-releases a product, all they do is add a new coat of paint to make office users who want to feel powerful do just that, plus adding a bunch of imbecilic additions. There are some good ones, but sadly, there is too much useless clutter of the menu bar. I mean, come on, they could have come up with a modular menu system just like how Apple incorporated one into Mac OS X Tiger (the widget bar). Instead, the consumer is forced to needlessly navigate too many menu extensions to get to where I need to go. A welcome appreciation, ceded in Microsoft’s favor, is that they have at least managed to hold on to the recently used portion of the drop down menu, which saves some time for me.
Finally, there are alternatives (gasp!) to Office 2003. OpenOffice.org is a great example of this: you get everything from Office 2003, for free. Everything that you need to do your work in the office utterly free for use. For the rest of your life. FREE. This is what we like to call, for you new people, an open source program. The whole premise is that anyone can modify it for their pleasure, as long as they (the modifications) are FREE. Another advantage to those who use such programs is that open source programs are also generally extremely modular, allowing for the installation of the plug-ins you actually need. This in turn should save a rather large amount of space on your hard drive. Let’s see – 500 MB versus 1.6 GB (of which is extra stuff I never will use, at all).
I see a very ideal picture here.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Burning Sensations
No, not those.
Don't even joke about that.
Anyway, moving on, I would like to say that overall, my day wasn't bad.
Even though I think I embarassed myself on camera more than fifteen times on Friday during a certain band rehearsal, and that somehow, Gil and Barron will spread the joy of my inane dancing skills.
Of which I have none. Nada. Zip.
I can't even do DDR properly, which is a testament to my feet-to-eye coordination. A failure of any level of nueron to neuron interaction, to be more precise. It's almost like dancing is elusive to me.
Then again, I really hate playing DDR. The only DDR-like game I ever liked was Guitar Hero, which is truly the only way to master air guitar without looking stupid in public. What with your flailing hands and such, attempting to strum notes from a guitar you know all too well doesn't even exist. Even so, belting tunes in my head without the aid of the now eponymous iPod isn't so bad; I think I listened to Rocket Man twice during that writing seminar today.
Rocket Man.
ROCKET MAN.
...
I believe you see the point.
Don't even joke about that.
Anyway, moving on, I would like to say that overall, my day wasn't bad.
Even though I think I embarassed myself on camera more than fifteen times on Friday during a certain band rehearsal, and that somehow, Gil and Barron will spread the joy of my inane dancing skills.
Of which I have none. Nada. Zip.
I can't even do DDR properly, which is a testament to my feet-to-eye coordination. A failure of any level of nueron to neuron interaction, to be more precise. It's almost like dancing is elusive to me.
Then again, I really hate playing DDR. The only DDR-like game I ever liked was Guitar Hero, which is truly the only way to master air guitar without looking stupid in public. What with your flailing hands and such, attempting to strum notes from a guitar you know all too well doesn't even exist. Even so, belting tunes in my head without the aid of the now eponymous iPod isn't so bad; I think I listened to Rocket Man twice during that writing seminar today.
Rocket Man.
ROCKET MAN.
...
I believe you see the point.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Today is funny...
Today is full of funny.
NOT.
You obviously have never met me before, at all, and therefore are excused in your ignorance of mine inner workings.
On the other hand, well...
Let's just say that I don't feel like telling stories right now.
NOT.
You obviously have never met me before, at all, and therefore are excused in your ignorance of mine inner workings.
On the other hand, well...
Let's just say that I don't feel like telling stories right now.
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