A Personal Blog
Archive for January, 2004
It's … Okay…
Jan 31st
So, I’ve spent about an hour on Orkut so far. It’s … Well, it’s okay. I’ve invited a few friends, joined a few clubs (or, “communities) and commented on a few individuals.
The practicalist in me says “now what”…
I don’t want to be one of those “new to social networking people” who invites everyone around. That’s pointless. But I honestly don’t know what to do with the rest of my time on the site…
K, I'm In
Jan 31st
… Got an invite to an alternate email address (thanks David). They try and collect a surprising amount of personal info. I’ll buy into Jeremy Z’s hypothesis that Google’s trying to broaden their knowledge and profiling systems.
More first impressions after I’ve finished skipping all the personal bits, eh?
Orkut? What the…
Jan 30th
… HELL?
Just realised I missed the launch of what could be me sticking my foot in my mouth again because I make predictions even while saying I hate making predictions.
A social networking site that might work? I don’t know, because it’s by invite only. I’d be willing to give it a shot though. I’m one of those “yeah, social networking’s a cool concept but show me a real world application that actually solves a problem” kind of people.
As such I’ve enjoyed kicking the tires of these sites, but never stuck around. Maybe Orkut will be different? Or maybe not.
That said, the folks at Orkut obviously haven’t listened to the rules on how to name your business or product ;)
Oh, btw, found out about this from David.
If this works, great. If not, I don’t mind keeping my foot dry.
Alive In Winnipeg
Jan 30th
… If only barely.
The last week has truly been hell, in more ways than I could count. When I was in the middle of it I was going to post a huge diatribe about what had happened, but now that we’re basically out of the biggest issues it doesn’t seem so bad.
You know what they say, life is like a rear-view mirror: problems are smaller than they appear.
So, we’ve taken possession of a huge (1200 sq ft) apartment here in the city. Rent is a bit higher than it should be, but more than anything we’re glad it isn’t a lemon. We’re on an 8-month lease, so we’re hoping to buy our first home at the end of that, or at least move into a better apartment closer to work.
The move was pretty much hell with the truck breaking down 3 times, and the car needing 300$ in repair.
We’ve all been sick.
That’s about the extent of complaining that I’ll do!
On the good side, we finally found the computer, got cable and phone hooked up and are generally starting to get the feel for a whole new city and province… Not to mention culture.
Amazing what a difference 3000 miles can make.
Went to the store today and left my change at the cash register… I hadn’t realised the clerk hadn’t handed it to me (it was dispensed by a machine).
While I was away from the PC so much has happened that I’m not really sure I’ll be able to catch up. I probably won’t be blogging much at all for the next week or two, but suffice it to say that I am alive, the family’s doing good and I will post some pics of the cold (yes, it’s cold enough to see!); the area, the apartment and the family.
Thanks to everyone for the words of support, and for all those who emailed asking if they could send me money via PayPal, please feel free as stuff is really tight (I’m enjoying the weight-loss benefits of a rice and mushroom soup diet, while also starting to crave a Wendy’s Spicey Chicken…). jer AT notsure.net is my personal email as well as PayPal account. Even if you don’t, thanks to everyone for all of the kind thoughts!
Have a great week,
Jeremy
Geek Dress Code
Jan 20th
I got this in the email just a few minutes ago:
Like every health-conscious person, when I sit down to the computer for a serious work-session, I start by sitting in the proper position: back straight, arms parallel to the floor, proper eye-level and good mouse and keyboard positioning. But as the day progresses, I begin to slouch and my butt slowly slides down along the chair seat. Although my butt is moving, my boxers stay in place relative to the chair. This make for some very uncomfortable binding, which cuts into my… productivity. I have to sit up every now and then and tug at my jeans, which looks just plain silly. I highly recommend briefs or boxerbriefs if you plan to be at the computer for a very long time.
