Yuli Yang Geng

Yuli yang geng (玉里羊羹）is some kind of gelatin eaten in China and Japan (know as youkan). It comes in bar form and you eat it in small slices plainly. Last night I tried some and it was gross. This company makes the kind I have (last item) and it states that tourists are eager to bring some home for friends. My advice, bring them chops instead.

Denny's in the East

Yummy!, originally uploaded by kungfootv.

Wow! In Japan Denny's is so much classier than in America. I don't get it, with all the over weight people in this country they should sell these at McDonald's for a buck.

MouseTrapper

Where can I get a mouse cradle like this in the US? I first saw one of these when I was in Sweden, and it was surprisingly easy to use and more comfortable than using the mouse by itself. That was several years ago and I still haven't seen anything like it here. Where are they?

21 Thanks

My Thanksgiving wasn't that great, but we still have plenty of things to be thankful for. Surviving the next four years may not be as difficult as we thought, but the second term hasn't begun yet, so it's too early to let down our guard.

via 1gm

Apple "Student" Blog

Apple has launched a Student Blog on their website in the education section. It's supposed to be "a new community site for students to hear from other students about their observations and Mac-related stuff," but so far it's off to a shaky start. First, Dave is not a student, so why is he blogging on the site for students to hear from students? His first two entries aren't very good; he'll probably get better, but that doesn't make him more a student and less an Apple employee. Hopefully real students will start blogging. Second, there's no permalinks, or maybe I just can't find them. It's powered by WordPress, so the permalinks feature is there, the student bloggers just need to turn it on. Third, the blog's to fold if they don't goose it up a bit, and I don't want that to happen. Don't they have creative interns?

via r-echos

Skype

I finally downloaded Skype for OS X yesterday. It allows you to make VoIP calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world for free. It does require signing up for a Skype account, but that's really easy. Convincing family and friends to sign up too will be harder, but it's worth it since Skype is for many platforms and you can also send instant messages if you don't want to talk. The Logitech USB headset I have has great sound coming out of the ear pieces but the microphone isn't good. Making adjustments on my computer hasn't worked either, so I need another headset (only USB).

The only calls I've made are to echo123 and echo-chinese, the Skype testing accounts for English and Chinese speaking users. They're just answering machines that let you test your sound setup, so I have no idea how good it is with real people. Everybody who's talked about Skype says the sound quality is better than on a regular phone and other VoIP software.

For a price you can call landlines too, perhaps a good idea if you're unhappy with your phone company. I don't think I'll use this much, but if you travel a lot (with your computer) it's probably a good product for you.

French in My Reader

For some reason under the file menu in Adobe Reader 6.0 for Mac it says "Envoyer vers Palm." It's supposed to be "Send to Palm," but perhaps somebody forgot to translate it from French to English. When I select the message I get this:

Adobe Reader for Palm OS 3.05 semble endommagé, Réinstallez Adober Reader for Palm OS 3.05.

A strange mix of English and French that isn't even correct because Adobe Reader for Palm is just fine!

Don't Cook in the Dark

A bit of common sense we all should keep in mind. Cat puke is hard to see in the dark. >_<

SIM Card Vending Machines

Where were these when I needed my T68i to work right?

Electronic Organizer

Yesterday I blew out my ears listening to Movin' Out on my pda. Today I'm suffering from the after effects and will stay away from loud sounds until my ears stop hurting. It was the first time I listened to a song with headphones on my new Tungsten T5, and I tried turning down the already "low" volume as much as I could, but it wasn't enough. Who knew a little pocket organizer could blast so much sound out?

I've never had an electronic organizer before, but I've played hardball on my mom's a lot. The T5 brand new model, but it doesn't come with any games. So now I actually have to use the other features like the calendar, address book, and to do lists. I don't have many appointments since the computer is where I spend most of my time. There's five contacts in my address book, mainly because I just IM people, and importing my Yahoo address book didn't work. The to do list feature doesn't help me much because I'm bad at making them. The features included with the pda aren't useful to me.

I love making the most out of new technology (or technology new to me), so I quickly found other things to do with it. Adobe Reader, Noah Lite dictionary, Mapopolis, and some translating software, all for free, makes the pda useful for me. My pda isn't helping me stay organized, but at least I can have fun with it.

AOL Snubs the Red States?

AOL will stop broadband service in several southern red states, including Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, and Mississippi. Perhaps they were told they should sign up for the "internets" instead.

Delicious Monster

I love this program! Delicious Monster allows you to catalog all your CDs, DVDs, and Books on your computer. But the best part is that you can use your iSight to scan the UPC codes and the program looks up all the information via the internet and Amazon. It costs $40, but if you don't use your iSight much it's probably worth it. You can try the program out and store up to 25 items until you register. Screenshot.

Indian Feelings on Bush's Win

Many people in the world's largest democracy are upset about the Bush win.

George Bush has pipped John Kerry to the post of US Prez. We don't want to get into the realpolitik of it all, but Indians at large aren't certainly happy with what has happened to the Candidate-with-his-heart-in-the-right-place, John Kerry!

Says fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani, who has just opened a designer mall in the upmarket Defence Colony, "I am disappointed. I was all for Kerry's win. I think Bush was a very retarded President. Have you watched the film, Fahrenheit 9/11 ? It has a lot to say about Prez Bush", said Tahiliani.

However, those in the tech industry are happy that outsourcing will continue under the Bush administration.

The Indian IT industry Thursday expressed delight at US President George W Bush's re-election, hoping he would continue to be a proponent of free trade and outsourcing.

"The US is a powerhouse of the global economy and the Indian IT industry is delighted in being a partner to US corporations, helping to make them more competitive," India's National Association for Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) president Kiran Karnik said in a statement.

I guess those of us who voted for Kerry should move to India.

Those Crazy/Violent Conservatives

Oh boy, conservatives will do anything to get people to side with them. They'll steal campaign signs, push old ladies down in the street, and commit other violent acts just to get their way. Why, when Stacey Silveira told her boyfriend, Steve Soper, she was voting for Kerry he nearly killed her! I can hardly believe this. What kind of democracy are we living in when one political party is using the oppression and violence of a dictatorship against well-meaning citizens who have a different opinion?

I hear this kind of complaint all the time, although the political parties or ideologies discussed varies. That only proves that this kind of argument doesn't work, and it's better off not used at all. There's plenty of violent liberals and conservatives all over the US. That's just a fact. But these people are just foolish and dangerous regardless of their political leanings. Calling everybody in another group violent or crazy is just a diversion from focusing on policy and an admission to lacking knowledgeable about real issues.

It's best to not label these isolated incidents as characterizing an entire group, but some writers/bloggers/commentators just refuse to do that. Many of us would like to pummel people with pies or worse, but few of us are actually going to do that. Nobody can get away with saying all Asians are smart and all blacks are thieves, so why are they still allowed to label all people with certain political beliefs in this country like that? First it's the labels, then it's boycotting, next it's just a slippery slope down the path of hate without a clue how one got there. I guess we're still in the Dark Ages of democracy in some ways.

What Went Wrong?

Many people, including myself, were shocked that Bush was elected legitimately. We were so convinced that the public would pick the right candidate because it was so obvious that Bush's record as president was shady. Something just didn't go right. As I think back to the Bush and Kerry campaigns it's clear that Bush had more money earlier in the race and was able to label Kerry. I live in a swing state so I got bombarded with presidential campaign ads of all kinds. In the beginning though it was all Bush. Flip-flopper, tax raiser, big government supporter were labels branded early on Kerry that wouldn't come off later in the campaign.

I kept wondering why Kerry was just waiting around taking this abuse. Did he think that everybody knew that Bush was doing a bad job and that anybody else would be better? No, he wanted to make the ads and remind people of Bush's actions, he just didn't have the financial support that Bush had. All the efforts Kerry made later were not enough to change many people's opinions about him.

Like Ralph Nader says, Bush is just a big corporation disguised as a human being. He used his corporate connections to fund his campaign while guaranteeing them tax breaks. Although married to a wealthy woman, Kerry needed the financial support of the anti-Bush citizen population. He got it, but he got it too late. As soon as those Bush campaign ads started playing people should have donated funds to the Kerry campaign.

Once again it was financial resources, not leadership policies, that decided this election. Even with a presidential candidate who "makes Nixon look like Lincoln" more people still voted for him. I have a strong feeling that people in Florida, but especially Ohio, will be regretting their choice in the future.

Surviving the Next Four Years

I need to purchase the handbook on surviving the next four years. We were so close to change and we thought help was on the way, but in end our efforts weren't enough. Judging from Bush's past performance, I can predict that things will stay the same or get worse. Now that he will start a second term he doesn't need to worry about making progress to influence voters.

So how are we going to weather the storm? Just like we always have. I doubt the fabric of American society will rip apart, but we have to be prepared. We're gonna need the help of allies, if only they'll give us a second chance instead of leaving us alone. They aren't obligated to do anything for us, so I hope Bush can persuade them to help.

Electronic Voting for the Sims

Now the Sims can vote electronically just like people in the real world! Only they get added headaches including spontaneous combustion and the option to vote or die.

Internets Vets for Truth

Internets Vets for Truth, a collection of political Quicktime media clips.