Geek Chic, Heartbreak, and a Clarification

I am what people call "a consumer whore". I like stuff. I enjoy having stuff. Though I'll be the first to admit that I've made some AWFUL purchases in the past. Examples are not limited to: A pocket PC [Compaq Aero 2110 - $450 in 1999], buying 40 Gamecube games in the timespan of February 2003-February 2004, a Sega Saturn over a N64 or PlayStation, and probably some others. But there are some things that I'm prouder than hell for picking up: my Creative Nomad Zen Xtra [40gb of mp3 goodness for $200, not as sexy or good as an iPod, but cheaper and 2x battery life], my Aiwa in-dash car MP3 CD player [hot shit in 2001, but the AM doesn't work anymore], TiVo, and most recently, the modded-to-hell Xbox.

So what's the point? I like cool, new shit. And one such thing that tickles both my "consumer whore" and my techno-geek sides is the OQO Personal Computer. This thing is hot. A handheld with the power of an actual PC. And it's running XP, not some shitty specialized OS like WindowsCE or PocketOS. You can actually run normal apps on it. Only thing from looking at the OQO specs is the choice to use USB 1.1 over USB 2.0 and 802.11b instead of 802.11g. Oh, and a 1GHz Transmeta? Boo. But why lie, I'd love to have one of these, a 80GB Apple iPod, a Sony PSP, and a Nintendo DS. And a hot cell phone. But damn, throw in car keys and that'd be one crowded set of pockets.

Another hell of a lot more useful new product is the cell phone dock that connects to your wired land-line and allows you to make cell calls on any of your home phones. I plan on getting one of these promptly upon getting a place of my own. Two examples are PhoneLabs' Dock-N-Talk and the Motorola CellSocket. Cool stuff, though neither works with my current phone, the LG VX2000. But since my current phone is a piece of shit, giving it up will be no problem. And I'll be damned if I ever sign a 2 year contract again. Fuck that.

Sad realization: the computer I stream my media files off of to play on the Xbox has a slower processor speed than the Xbox [450 vs. 733]. And one cost $2400 in 1999, the other cost $129 in 2004. That makes my wallet cry. So does the goddamned gas pump. Best I saw today was $2.02 - my car is getting used to that orange light that comes on when the gas needle points to "E". Next job interview: Tuesday, June 9th in Albany, GA with these guys for a Process Engineering job. Sounds interesting, but I wont know more until I see it.

I was in Wal-Mart today picking up some things when I saw something that broke my heart. While in the electonics section, looking over wireless Xbox controllers [I bought this one], I was standing next to the wall-o-TVs when I heard one of my favorite songs of all time, "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers. I immediately turned to see what it was, only to see something that saddened and horrified me. On the TV screen were two hands, each holding an Ore-Ida french fry. French fries. Possibly my favorite song was defiled by a goddamned fried potato commercial. I'll never buy Ore-Ida again. Melodramatic? Yes. But justified. This is very similar to the case where the late Johnny Cash's family wouldn't let his song "Ring of Fire" be used in a Preparation-H commercial. Kudos to them. Selling out is fine, but leave that to shitty bands like Smashmouth.

Oh, and a quick clarification for non-Tallahasseans. When I use the phrase "I'm sleeping with Mickey" I'm referring to my dog. Here's some pictures of the little guy from last Halloween:


Mickey inside the pumpkin I used to Trick-or-Treat with.  


Hey, dogs can look stupid too.