[ Skeptic First | Human Next ]

Starting a new chapter

2008-09-17T12:47:00.003-04:00

I've always been the kind of person that doesn't like to complain about something and not do anything about it. Lately my life was at a point where I wasn't necessary unhappy, but I certainly wasn't "happy". Change was in the air, and I made lemonade out of lemons.

Last night I became a student of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, and I took the first step towards getting out of this shell I've known for 33 years. The classes are small and extremely different than anything I have ever been a part of. You know you're in for a ride when the very first instruction you're given is to take off your shoes and socks. The lessons are not only academic in the sense that you would sit in a classroom and take notes. These lessons allow you to find your inner self and realize things about yourself that you would otherwise have never known.

We began with breathing exercises and trying to find where our vocal powers come from. We lay on our backs without our shoes and stared at the ceiling while understanding how our breathing and vocal system works. The next teacher started us off by putting on some African music and he had us dancing in ways I would never have imagined myself dancing. There was a part in the night where we formed a circle and everyone had to take a turn inside the circle and just let everything go. You had to dance and everyone around the circle has to imitate what you're doing.

If that isn't frightening, I don't know what is. Needless to say, I went first and just let myself go. It was somewhat refreshing and exciting all at the same time. After about three of hours of dancing we finished the night with 45 minutes of Yoga.

Yup, we all sat there and took in the first night of a different type of class. I'm extremely excited about all these new things in my life and it has refreshed my inner self in ways I hadn't expected.

I can't wait till tonight and tomorrow's classes. This is the beginning of a new chapter in my life and I can't wait to see where I am a year from now.

Remembering September 11

2008-09-11T10:52:00.004-04:00

It seems like it was only yesterday that I was crossing the 59th street bridge by foot. The scene looked like a movie where thousands of people were walking on both lanes and chaos was in the air.

My day started out normal, I got into work early and was getting ready for the day's work. My boss came in and says to me "Did you hear about a small plane hitting one of the World Trade Center towers?" I hadn't heard anything by that point so I was oblivious to what was transpiring. We walked out of the office we were in and headed towards the conference room where a small group of people were looking at the TV screens.

None of us thought we were under attack so my boss asked me to go to one of the other labels we worked in (J Records). As I walked from 45th street and Broadway towards 57th street and 5th I could see the smoke coming from downtown. The feeling was very strange but we still thought it was an accident of some sort.

Now that I'm in J Records more and more people are gathering in the conference room glued to the TV. The second plane had struck and now we were certain it was no accident. Everyone looked at each other with disbelief, and we all had a sense of fear. Perhaps it was fear of the unknown but nonetheless it was fear. We were told that we could go home and be with our relatives because this was now a national crisis.

Upon leaving the building I tried to use the subway to get home but soon found out that all the trains had stopped working. Amazingly enough as I'm heading down towards the subway platform I bump into a friend of mine who was with a couple of other people and she tells me, "The subway is out of service everywhere". We all get out of the subway and start walking home. We had no choice. My friend was gracious enough to let us stay with her for a few hours because all public transportation had ceased at that point.

After leaving her place I couldn't even get a cab to go home so I ended up walking all the way home. One of the memories that I have from that day that I have never been able to forget is the walk over the bridge. Seeing thousands of people without a clue as to what was happening sent shivers down my spine. It seemed like a mass exodus. After getting home my next concern was my immediate family. I wondered how they would all get home.

By night time we all sat around and continued to wonder in amazement as to how this could happen in New York City. We were all glad to be with each other and lamented the loss of life in one single day. We should never forget September 11 2001, but we should also move forward.

Where were you on that fateful day?

Evan Tanner - R.I.P.

2008-09-09T22:00:00.005-04:00

Back as far as I can remember, I've always liked Martial Arts. My obsession started with the likes of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan (way before they were mainstream in America) Brandon Lee, and your usual characters in Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal. Between my friends and I we used to have discussions about which Martial Arts Discipline was the best. We would argue how if Bruce Lee were alive, his Jeet Kune Do fighting style would kick almost anyone's butt.

Other than the Olympics, and in Dojo's there really wasn't a place to see people with different disciplines fight each other. You could always go see a Judo match, a Kickboxing match, but never a Judo fighter vs. a Kickboxer fighter against each other. We got small glimpses of a supposed barbaric sport in the movie called Bloodsport where fighters would fight with their legs and without gloves.

Not too long ago a fighting organization was formed and called the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). Way back in the early 90's we finally got to see fighters with different disciplines fight one another and yeah, it was bloody. Not too many people except die hard fans actually bought the pay per views, but the sport lived underground for a bit.

It wasn't till new ownership of the UFC that the sport took off. The new owners would get the sport commissions to sanction the fights and thus make it legal. Needless to say, I've been a fan ever since the very first UFC. Along the way I grew to like a variety of fighters for very different reasons.One of those fighters was Evan Tanner. I think I associated with Evan simply because he wasn't braggadocios in victory, and he was always humble in defeat.

I was able to attend UFC 50 on October 22 2004 and you know who was on the card that night.
Evan Tanner vs Robbie Lawler.

In the picture below you see Mike Goldberg, and Frank Mir with the mic's and Ken Shamrock sitting on the bottom left hand side.

The first fight of the night. Travis Lutter vs. Marvin Eastman

Believe it or not, Mixed Martial arts is much safer than boxing.

We finally reach the fight with Evan Tanner

Evan Tanner was found dead on Monday September 8, 2008. Besides being a fighter, Evan was somebody who appreciated life and actually lived it to it's fullest. It is believed that after going to the desert he succumbed to the extreme heat, but the reports have been very vague up till now. Perhaps I identify with Evan because he was a free spirited person. Never ordinary, and always searching. What a beautiful way to live your life. I've always said that it's not tragic to die doing what you love.

Evan wrote about his trip to the desert. You can read his writings here. As you well know, I don't believe that Evan went somewhere else and is now living somewhere happily. I believe that Evan lived his life here on Earth, and allowed us to part take in a little bit of it. He has left us his legacy of being an exceptional MMA fighter, but also an exception human being. Thanks for the inspiration Evan Tanner. Thanks for having existed.

"Believe In The Power Of One"

Brian Vander Ark

2008-08-31T18:54:00.005-04:00

Back in the days when I used to work at BMG (Bertelsmann Music Group) we used to get tons of CD's handed out to us. The building consisted of a variety of music Labels (RCA, J Records, Bad Boy, etc.) and there was always something in your taste there. Amongst the things you'd expect to like, there were bands like The Verve Pipe which I never really paid attention to back then as my musical taste was different.

Last week a friend of mine who worked with me in the same floor at BMG invited me to a private party he was having at his apartment. Woo Hoo, big deal. Well, what he mentioned next to me was rather surprising "Brian Vander Ark from The Verve Pipe will be at the party performing and hanging out for a little bit". Now, I remembered the band name and the singers name but I couldn't remember what songs I knew?

A quick check online and hours later I couldn't stop listening to a bunch of Brian's music. Considering that my taste in music right now is exactly what Brian Vander Ark is doing, it was a thrill to know that I'd be in a small setting listening to him. If you still don't know who Brian is, he is most known for the song called "The Freshmen"

Now that you know who he is, let me progress with the party at hand. The night begins with some food that my friend Bill Fleischer (the host) provided.

The veggies were right on the money!

Damn, that yellow cheese was so good.

This is a must for any REAL party.

Brian Vander Ark listens to the host before he begins to play.

In between songs Brian explains how some of the songs came about.

Rocking to the tunes head shake

To hear his voice live is an experience on it's own

Lastly, yours truly with Brian. Great shot Bill!

The entire night was just awesome! I cannot tell you how great it was to listen to Brian Vander Ark live, and only about 5 feet away from me. Don't believe me, check out the video:

Watch in High Quality Here

The Internet Is Broken

2008-06-30T13:12:00.002-04:00

The life of an I.T. guy is an interesting one. Until people stop being people, we will always have a need for I.T. guys. I have heard everything from My printer is broken (when it's really just in need of toner) to My Computer is broken (when it's really just turned off). So while I'm happy that there are extremely computer illiterate people in this world, there are some of you who are extremely funny with computers.

As you will see in the following video, some people just can't function with a little change. I have met a bunch of people like the ones you are going to encounter in this video, and that goes for both the I.T. guy and the person(s) on the other line.

Too funny...

Everybody Loves Chris

2008-06-23T08:41:00.003-04:00

There are those who talk about doing it, and then there are those who actually do it. On Sunday, our buddy Chris made his stand up debut at Caroline's Club in New York City.

At the office Chris is your regular clown making us laugh with the silliest of things, but I think that we are all proud of Chris as he embarks on this rather difficult but rewarding path to success.

Chris started this stand up routine by going to "Stand Up Comedy School". Yes folks, there are even schools for this. The grand finale was at Caroline's and while we got to see the rest of his classmates, I must say Chris along with two other comedians were the highlight of the night.

Some of the other people were somewhat funny, but you can't expect much considering this was their first time. If nothing else, Chris has inspired me to follow my dreams and has proven yet again that if you work hard enough for something it can come true.

Congratulations Chris!!

The Wisdom Answer

2008-06-19T09:38:00.003-04:00

So I'm sitting in the dentist's chair getting ready to meet the guy who will be using instruments of pain in my mouth and I begin thinking of the worst scenarios. I think he won't be able to pull out the wisdom tooth, and in turn it'll require more injections inside my mouth.

As I meet the doctor I notice that he is a chubby fella in really good spirits. He proceeds to talk to me about how the longest part of this procedure is filling out the paper work and we strike up a conversation about technology. Being that I'm a tech geek I mention to him how it would be great if there was such a thing as a wireless tablet with a touch screen where all the info entered on there automatically goes to a database rather than writing it out on paper then entering all the info on a computer terminal.

The doctor proceeds to tell me that, that technology is already in place but in big hospitals. He tells me that perhaps in another 10 years we might start seeing all that in regular offices like the one I was in. While we're having this convo the doc proceeds to start the numbing procedure and we continue talking.

I ask the doctor "Why do they call it Wisdom Teeth?" The doctor then explains that wisdom teeth start to come out between the ages of 18 and 25 when we are supposedly "wiser" or when we supposedly acquire wisdom. I don't know if that's the absolute correct theory or explanation on why they're called Wisdom teeth but I like it and I'm sticking to it.

My next question to the doctor is "If we really don't have a need for these teeth why does our body produce them in the first place?" The doctor's answer: Evolution. Yes folks evolution is partly responsible for those extra set of teeth we have. The explanation is as follows.

Back in our primitive days we had a different diet where our body required the extra set of teeth to break down the kind of meat we ate along with the kind of greens we had as well. You have to remember that for a long long time we didn't have fast food, or for that fact cooked food. As we have evolved into what we are now, we no longer have a need for those extra set of teeth because our mandibles are receding thus it explains why most people have all set of wisdom teeth removed.

By now my mouth is numb and the doctor explains that I will feel a little bit of pushing here and there. He asks me if I want to put on my iPod and listen to music while he's doing this so I take out my iPod and start listening to music. By the time a third of the song goes by he turns around and starts packing up. He then says to me "you're all done". To my amazement the procedure took less than a minute and my worry had been for nothing.

Of course I couldn't really eat the first day but that was no biggie for me. So as I left I wondered who in the world came up with the idea of calling it Wisdom teeth in the first place. I ask this because you encounter things in your life that somtimes question what Wisdom really is.

So, you still think we acquire wisdom between the ages of 18 and 25?

Terrible Tuesday

2008-06-17T08:44:00.005-04:00

So today is a terrible Tuesday for me. First, let's begin with the bunch of fun I will be having shortly at the Dentists office. Getting this damn wisdom tooth removed proved to have no wisdom. UGH!

Secondly, as a HUGE New York Mets fan I woke up to terrible news today. The manager for the New York Mets was fired last night after the Mets actually won a game. While there might be some understandable reasons for firing your manager in the middle of the night, after a win, I can't help but really be mad at the Mets hierarchy right now.

I don't think they conducted themselves in a manner that is due to someone like Willie Randolph. Willie had shown a lot of class and poise during the good and bad times he managed the Mets. Who knows what will happen to this team now?

To Willie I say this to you: Hold your head up high. You always did your best and if you're the one to take the blame for old players not being able to play to their potential, so be it. You know in your heart of hearts that it wasn't you who lost the games after your relievers couldn't throw a strike to save their lives, it wasn't you who struck out with your bat on your shoulder with one game to go to the World Series. It wasn't you who blew three consecutive saves with tons of runs on the scoreboard. And it certainly wasn't you who decided to let go of Ruben Gotay, Brian Bannister, Paul LoDuca, and many other stinkers Omar Minaya has done up to this point.

If this team no longer performs on the level it's supposed to, I say look at Omar Minaya as he's the one who assembled this team.

Good Luck Willie!
Thanks for all the Amazin' Years as the Mets Manager.

Pulp Fiction

2008-06-13T09:14:00.002-04:00

They say if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere...
Who knows.
Maybe one day you'll see this at your corner news stand.
:-)

Wisdom

2008-06-12T08:40:00.002-04:00

When I think about diving with Great Whites, jumping out of airplanes, or any activity like that I don't normally get scared. Sure there is a sense of fear, but that fear eventually turns into fun and you want to do it over and over again.

So explain to me how in the world I am terrified to get my wisdom tooth pulled out? Yup, out of all the things that I have done in my life, getting my tooth pulled out has me scared like a little girl.

This brings me to something about the tooth itself. Why do people call it a Wisdom Tooth? If these supposed Wisdom teeth always end up getting pulled out, where's the wisdom in all that?

So now I eagerly await the fun filled day of numbing and pulling.
Ouch!

Cult of Personality

2008-06-10T13:16:00.003-04:00

How many faces do you have?
After attending a wedding last Friday I realize that we all have multiple faces. We have our "work" faces, where we are always serious and trying to get the job done. We have our "partner" faces where we are different with our partners in crime. We have our "party" faces where we are always smiling at the same people that perhaps you wouldn't necessarily talk to at work.

So I ask myself... Why the need for so many faces? Is it hypocritical? I don't think so. I think it's necessary because you wouldn't behave the way you do at work, the way you behave with your friends.

So, how many faces do you have?

A little tweak

2008-06-06T09:37:00.004-04:00

If you're an avid user of Youtube, you might like this little tweak.
Some current videos have links like "Watch In Hight Quality" underneath the video screen. Some videos don't. For those that don't you can still somewhat force the video to play in high quality.

The next time you're watching a video look at the address bar and at the end of the address add the following text &fmt=18.

So the original link would look like this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9W55utXqwTw
After you've added the text it should look like this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9W55utXqwTw&fmt=18

It really does make a difference.
Happy hunting.

Metered Internet: Time Warner is Greedy

2008-06-05T12:25:00.004-04:00

As I was reading yesterdays newspaper I came across and article that was extremely disturbing. As a current Time Warner customer I am very disgusted that they have implemented a trial plan in Texas to measure the amount of internet one uses.

The idea behind a metered internet service means that you are given a cap of internet usage and if you should happen to pass the cap they give you, you pay extra. Rather than making technology better and figuring out a way to go with the times Time Warner has decided that their greediness comes first. Anything to make an extra buck.

Who will this affect? If you are someone who uses iTunes, Netflix, Youtube, or if you're a video game fanatic who plays online, this will directly affect you. The majority of us don't really use the internet to the point where a cap would affect us, but that's only because most of us aren't using intensive online media services yet.

Say you're a Netflix user, and rather than have the DVD shipped to your home you use one of their upcoming features of watching the movies online through your computer. Well, if you did this you'd easily pass the cap set by companies like Time Warner and in turn pay the extra that they want to charge you.

What about if you like watching tons of Youtube, Break, Dailymotion, videos online? You better watch what you watch because it'll cost you if you pass the limit set by your ISP. Forget about purchasing movies through iTunes, as well as music.

The thing that I don't understand is that we already pay for the SERVICE, so how is it that any ISP can justify a pay per use fee? What's more ludicrous is that AOL already tried this a long time ago with their Pay Per Hour fees and we all saw how horrible that went for them.

So if Time Warner Cable brings metered internet service to New York, rest assure I will no longer be a Time Warner cable user. I would rather buy an aircard and use that for my internet, or switch to Verizon FIOS/DSL which I believe won't be part of the greedy trip.

Perhaps this video can explain a bit more how messed up it is what Time Warner is doing.
2012: The Year The Internet Ends

If you live in Texas and you are part of this "Trial" period for metered internet, make sure you don't give Time Warner any of your money.

There is an online petition, so make sure you sign up.
www.petitiononline.com/UHSICP01

Four More Years?

2008-06-04T16:10:00.003-04:00

Have you heard of 2012?

No, that's not the extension to my phone number at work but rather a number that suggests we only have four more years to live. Yes, yet another prediction that the end of times is here (once again).

Do you remember all the people who went crazy in 1999 when they thought that the end of the world was coming in the year 2000? I remember them too. In particular I had a friend who really thought that his appliances were going to "wake up" and start taking over his life. If you think I'm exaggerating, think again.

So what should we make of this latest prophecy? Should we really start packing up our things and get ready for the world to end? The answer is of course, no. End of the world predictions have been going on since we could read and write.

So why are so many people on the 2012 boat? My thinking tells me that we are all obsessed with an eventual end. When we watch movies, we can't wait for the end to come. When we take a train ride to work, we can't wait till our stop (the last stop) comes along. When we're at work, we can't wait for the end of the day to come along, etc..etc....

So, are we really obsessed with the finality of the human race or are we all just buying into something that seems plausible in any time of our existence? Just so you know, in the year 2012 we are supposedly going to get hit by either a comet or asteroid. The problem I have with that statement is that, that can happen at any time. It can happen tomorrow, or it can happen in 100 years. That in itself is not a prophecy. There are also a bunch of other things said about the year 2012 but they all lead to a supposed End.

What if I told you that next year there will be huge climate changes to the world? Would I be a prophet if there was a natural disaster like the ones we have been experiencing lately? Of course not, natural disasters have always happened and will continue to happen.

It would be very different if anyone that is "predicting" the 2012 prophecy to specify a day and time, but you will never see that happen. I guess we'll see in 2012. I for one will be relaxing and wondering who I'll be voting for president then.

You can find some info on 2012 at Wikipedia and just about any other blog out there.

I'm Gray

2008-06-03T08:35:00.004-04:00

So perhaps the stress of all the events that occurred over the last month led me to finally get to the point when you know you're getting old. Yup, I finally got a gray hair. I actually got two to be exact and I'm hoping those are the only ones for now.

I realize that this is not a life and death situation but accepting that you're getting old is on fun at all. The first few sings of age started appearing in the form of small pains in the knees, the back, the arms, you name it... it has a tendency to hurt at some point in my life.

When I was much younger I never thought that getting old would be this tough but the major differences we go through is quite incredible. Just based on our faces alone, the wrinkles, the bags, the hair, everything changes.

So is gray hair a sign of age, or maturity? Is gray hair sexy, or yukky? I wonder if I'll ever use that hair product called "Just For Men"...

A perfect example of how we age would be the following image:

Do you remember the National Geographic Cover with the Afghan girl on the left? Well, the women on the right is that very same girl.

Similar but different you say?

Back from the DL

2008-06-02T08:45:00.004-04:00

After about a month and a half of being on the "disabled list", I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. While I was not literally disabled, or playing for a baseball team, I did have a few bumps in the road that I had to deal with.

As you saw in my previous post, I did lose someone very near and dear to me but the healing process has been rather long and unexpected. I guess everyone has their own way of dealing with things. In my case I guess I just needed some time before I can return to being "normal".

So what has changed? What is new? Mmmm... let's see.
I've gained weight
I've been cooking more lately (that's probably why I gained weight)
I've been at work about two hours earlier every day
I've been in yoga mode everyday (stretching everything)
I've realized we have too much junk at home
I finally got gray hair (an entire post will be dedicated to this)
I've come to the realization that family is numero uno.
and lastly...I no longer live alone

Being that this is my first post in a while I won't dwell too much on the negative stuff but rather the good stuff. All the experiences in the past month or so have only strengthened my belief that we should live this life to it's fullest every day. I have no clue what will happen tomorrow which is why I live my life like today is my last day. No regrets.

Thanks for all the well wishes to everyone that dropped by during my absence. Even if I haven't met you in real life, it's still awesome to know that you're out there wondering.

This picture has sort of been on my mind all this time. It makes me wonder if we're really all that different like most people think?

To live is to die

2008-04-28T08:41:00.003-04:00

You know how people tell you that life is short and you should always live it to the fullest? I often find myself never regretting a day that passes by because I do in fact try to live my life to it's fullest. This method of thinking has allowed me to appreciate everyone in my life, and always communicating with them how I feel.

Today I'm not writing because I want to tell you a story. Today I'm writing this for myself. Although it's been 5 days since my uncle's death, sometimes it still feels like a dream.

I get the phone call around 8:30 pm on Wednesday night with my mom all in tears. Of course I immediately assume the worst has happened to my dad or my younger sister, but my mom manages to tell me that an uncle who I was extremely close with died. I needed to hear what she said twice because I thought that perhaps she was wrong. After listening to how the events unfolded and still trying to grasp the idea that my uncle will no longer be around, I went to see my mom to comfort her in whatever way I could.

I wish I could say that I broke down in tears, and that I was devastated but that's far from what happened. My mind and body instantly went numb, and thoughts of the times I shared with my uncle came to mind. My "uncle" was only about two or three years older than I am so I never really considered him and uncle. We were probably more like brothers.

About three years ago my uncle and I met up in Argentina, and we toured the country. Whenever I've gone to Ecuador he has always been the one to take me under his wing and see the country or do just about anything I wanted. Some of my greatest memories of being alive include him, and yet I still can't break down and cry.

I'm thinking perhaps that my mind is in denial and I really won't understand his loss till I visit Ecuador once again and realize that I can no longer count on seeing him at the airport. At the same time I stop and think that I do not have any regrets about my relationship with my uncle. Before his death I had talked to him about two days earlier and it was as if we never stopped talking.

In my heart and mind I know that I never once shied away from telling my uncle that I loved him, or that I somehow held back. Perhaps that's why I don't feel so horrible at the thought of him not being around anymore. My usual self keeps telling me that I should celebrate his life rather than lament his death and I guess that's what I've been doing.

My mom's words never rang louder than these past few days. My mom has always said to me "Don't cry for me at my funeral, considering I'm alive now". What she meant by that was that I should never hold back on emotions and time with her. She meant to say that I should spend as much time as I can with her now because when she's dead it serves no purpose to cry for her. Since then I've somewhat changed my ways with not only her, but everyone else in my life that is close to me like that.

So we're born and it's certain we will all die. How we live between those two points is what's important. I for one know that I try and live each day as if it were my last because.... you never know.

For all those who have perished, may we celebrate their life and never make a point of their death. After all, we should always celebrate being alive.

Dith Pran

2008-03-31T10:06:00.006-04:00

As a kid I remember my parents taking me to see a movie called "The Killing Fields". Before seeing the movie I remember that I thought it was a scary kind of movie where there would be ghosts, and supernatural stuff like that.

Little did I know how much that movie would have an impact on me. As it turns out, the movie was nothing of what I thought it was going to be. Till this day the movie still holds a special place in my heart and I think it's perhaps because it shows that people who want to succeed, will succeed no matter what the obstacles.

I hate to admit it, but the last scene of the movie always gets me. It never fails, but the music with which is played in the background (John Lennon's Imagine) along with what happens in the scene, it's sure to bring a tear to your eye as well.

The movie was based on a true story and one of the character's the movie was based on is Dith Pran. Sadly Dith Pran passed away on Sunday March 30, 2008. Dith's struggle through four years of imprisonment in Cambodia and success as a New York Times photographer is legendary.

If you don't want to read on the hell Dith lived through with the Khmer Rouge, or the atrocities he saw while he was imprisoned for four years, please try and see the movie "The Killing Fields". I guarantee you it will make you appreciate life in a totally different way.

Dith Pran has always been an idol to me. I'm saddened that he is no longer with us, but I'm also happy for his existence. Dith Pran will always be missed.

R.I.P. Dith Pran.

Lenovo is terrible

2008-03-26T09:05:00.003-04:00

As someone who works in the technology field, I'm going to shed some light on some of the terrible tactics used by some computer companies (in this case Lenovo) in order to get you to spend more money than you should.

Lenovo is a company that bought out IBM's personal computer department. That means that if you get an IBM Thinkpad, or Netvista computer it's coming from Lenovo now. While the majority of the time you'll never experience what I'm about to tell you, it's good that you know so you won't be as shocked as I was.

When I have to purchase computers, the first thing that I look for is the manufacturer's warranty. Most computer companies offer a one or three year warranty. Of course with the three year warranty you will pay a bit more for the same computer, but it's better to go this route. When your purchasing computers, the best thing to ask about any warranty is "What does this cover".

I say this because I purchased a computer about a year ago with a three year warranty. As it turns out the battery on this computer went bad. It's not that the battery worn itself out as I've had other older computers still work with their existing batteries. The actual battery just died out for no apparent reason.

So the first thing I do is check the status on the warranty. The computer is still in warranty till the year 2010. I call Lenovo tech support to get the battery replaced and the guy on the other line tells me that the battery is out of warranty. I tell the guy, "I think you're wrong. I just checked the status of the warranty online and it's valid till the year 2010". The guy then proceeds to tell me that the computer is in warranty till 2010, but the battery has it's own warranty.

You can imagine the look on my face at this point as I try to have this person explain to me how the battery is not part of the computer. The tech then tells me that the battery is considered a "wear and tear" component and thus not part of the hardware. I ask the tech if the hard drive, keyboard, and LCD display don't incur wear and tear, because they often have to be replaced and are always covered under the warranty. The dummy of course had no answer.

As it turns out, your computer is broken up into pieces that the warranty can differentiate when it comes time to get them fixed or replaced. It seems like the hard drive which also experiences "wear and tear" can be covered by warranties but not a battery which you would figure is one of the most essential pieces to a laptop computer.

The lesson in all this folks: Don't ever buy from Lenovo. Before Lenovo purchased IBM's laptop and desktop department's I'd say IBM was great. Now I would recommend you either get an HP or any other brand and make sure you check on that warranty before you buy.

Great Minds Think Alike

2008-03-21T12:08:00.001-04:00

Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it!

No Bitch Ass Ness

2008-03-19T11:15:00.002-04:00

Have you heard the catch phrase yet?
What does it mean anyways?

The phrase came from the show Making the Band 4. Apparently one guy had tried to sabotage another guy by bringing a girl he was trying to get with to a party they were all at. The "Bitch Ass Ness" came in the fact that you don't do that to a guy whether it's in fun or not.

"There are rules to the game" they say...

Not so common colds

2008-03-18T09:52:00.003-04:00

I can't remember the last time I was in bed like shivering like a little girl due to a cold. I'm not really sure if what I had was a cold or the flu, but either way I'm still feeling the ill effects of getting sick.

While I always take strategic and precise steps to try and prevent things like this, I guess it's never enough. If you looked in my every day bag, you'd find a travel size Purell in there as well as moist alcohol wipes for those occasions when there is no water to wash your hands with.

While on the subway I almost find it difficult to hold on to the hand rails or poles so that you don't fall, but we don't have much of a choice. With millions of people sneezing all over you, and not to mention all the sick people at work I guess it was inevitable that I'd get sick.

I say all that because there seems to be a huge misconception about how we get sick. Do you know anyone who tells you "It's really cold outside, so bundle up...you don't want to get a cold"? People have this idea that you can get a cold by going from extreme warm weather to extreme cold weather. The truth is that colds can only be transferred via a virus. That means that if someone sneezes in front of you, or you come in contact with the sick person's saliva or touch a contaminated surface, that's how you'd get a cold.

Don't get me wrong, you can get sick in a different way by going from one extreme weather to the other, but you wouldn't get a common cold or the flu. Having said all that, I'm thinking that I perhaps will start wearing rubber gloves on the subway, or even those face masks that our friendly Chinese people wear now a days.

Do you think that would make me look crazy?
Maybe if they had it in black?

Super Moko

2008-03-12T11:26:00.004-04:00

When I went scuba diving this past December I remember how we would hear Dolphins all around us, but seeing them was not quite as easy. Sound travels faster in the water and a Dolphin's song is very very easy to pick up.

It is no surprise to me that in Australia, a Dolphin helped two stranded whales back to safety. After an hour and a half of trying to get the whales back into the ocean by people who saw them stranded, along came a local Dolphin called Moko who in two minutes did what the humans couldn't do in an hour and a half.

It is believed that the Dolphin heard the distress calls made by the Whales, and thus approached them, communicated with them, and led them away from the beach. Is it really that difficult to believe that such a thing could happen? For me it isn't as I think that there are far superior beings in this world we call Earth, they just don't speak "English" or "Human".

If we humans had half the heart that Dolphin does, we'd perhaps live in a better world. A world where there are no wars, there is no greed, there is no deceit, and there are no differences amongst us.

If only we could be more like Moko the Dolphin.
Check out the video here..

The case for Leopard

2008-03-11T10:39:00.004-04:00

As someone who works in the technology field I always wait a little bit before I start using a new version of something. The same went with Apple's Leopard operating system. When the software was released I was hesitant to install it on any of my Macs because my philosophy on life is "Don't fix it if it's not broken".

At the same time the new software was supposed to fix some bugs that the previous software had and thus I had to install it on a couple of machines at work. The interface along with some of the new features looked really great but that still didn't convince me that I needed to have it on my machine.

Part of the problem of upgrading to the latest operating system whether it be Leopard or Vista is that some of your existing software might now work correctly. I learned this the hard way after installing Leopard on a Mac only to have to reinstall the old operating system because of incompatibilities.

So why should any of us upgrade to Leopard (that is if you use a Mac)? In my case there are two very good reasons to upgrade to Leopard.

1. Time Machine
2. iChat

Time Machine is software that comes built in with Leopard. Time Machine is nothing new in the computer world. We already have other software that does the exact same thing; BACKUP.

The difference with Time Machine is that it doesn't require someone like me to install it, configure it, and make sure it's working correctly. This means you get to save some money by not hiring a pro like me to make sure you backup your computer files. All you need for Time Machine to work is an external hard drive with the same amount of storage space as your internal hard drive. Plug in the external hard drive and Time Machine automatically asks you if you want to use that drive as your backup device. Once you say "yes" it automatically backs all your files up hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly. That's it! There's nothing else to do.

Sure you can use Retrospect or other backup software, but why pay for it? Additionally trying to configure other software to backup your machine is no walk in the park. For me it's pretty easy, but I can imagine my dad trying to figure out the software and I can see him getting lost very easily. That's why Time Machine is priceless.

iChat is an Instant Messaging program. It's the same thing as Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, and other ones you might use. The main difference between iChat and all the other instant messaging programs is that you can allow a buddy to connect remotely to your machine. What does that mean?

Picture this scenario: You are at home and I'm here. You call me and tell me that something is up with your Mac. I tell you, get on iChat. We start a video conference and I connect to your machine remotely and fix the issue as if I was there. I can basically see exactly what you see because I am connected remotely to your machine and have total control. Once I'm done, you quit iChat and your Mac is back on track.

Sure there are programs like Remote Desktop, PC Anywhere, VNC, but again, they all require some sort of configuration. Not only do you have to configure your Machine, but you'd also have to configure your firewall. Yup, you see how easy iChat is? All you have to do is turn it on, start chatting and let me do the tech work.

Those very simple little programs make Leopard worth the upgrade. I say that because it seems like more and more people now a days are losing all their data due to lack of a backup program.

Not on a Mac? I guess you can try and figure out the Windows "Backup" software. It's not quite as simple as Time Machine, but then again Windows is not as simple as a Mac.

Browser Wars

2008-03-10T08:41:00.003-04:00

Have you ever had your IT guy ask you "What browser are you using?" and you not have the slightest clue as to what they're talking about? Some of the answers I get are incredibly funny, but I can't blame people as they're not supposed to know anyways. Some of you have said answers like "I'm using Windows 2002" or "Word is my browser" when the question is posed upon you.

What is a browser anyways? The easiest way for me to explain is like this:

The internet is kind of like a 3D movie. You know it's there, but without the 3D glasses you can't really see the movie. With a pair of 3D glasses you can see everything on the internet.

A browser is a piece of software made by a company that allows you to view what's on the internet. One of the very first real browsers was called "Netscape Navigator". It was Netscape that really spawned the age of the internet because it was offered for free at a time when we really didn't use the internet for much.

You know that Microsoft couldn't stay put without it's own version of things, so they went ahead and copied Netscape's Navigator and created their own version called "Internet Explorer". Back in the day (if you used computers back in 95 and on) the internet was expensive and only geeks would know how to "surf".

Now a days we have tons of browsers for our use, but as usual Microsoft still rules in this arena. Although Netscape no longer exists, the spirit of Netscape will always live on with Mozilla and it's products like Firefox.

The Discovery channel has put all this little bit of geek info into a program called Download: The True Story of the Internet. This program shows you the early history of the internet and how it's still an ongoing war for your usage.

Personally, I use Firefox as my browser and till this day.... anyone that I have put onto Firefox has never wanted to go back to Internet Explorer.

So, what browser do you use?