I taped the eclipse from right in front of my home. Original music is from something I recorded a long time ago.

Podcast: Download (9.7MB)

Tags: lunar eclipse, podcast
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This one’s self-explanatory.

Podcast: Download (26.2MB)

Tags: car, car wash, podcast
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On Friday, we took a short drive over to Pismo Beach.

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Tags: California, Flickr, Pismo Beach, seagull
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Tags: California, Flickr, San Luis Obispo
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Friday night, I came across this ad on the local Craigslist:

1 am selling a PowerMac g5 in perfect working condition and I still have the package it came in. I need cash fast so I am selling it incredibly cheap.

Features include:
* Dual PowerPC 2.0 Processor
* Dual Hard Drives
* 2GB Ram
* Keyboard
* OS X Panther (10.4)

Need audio software? I’ll will throw in: Ableton Live, & Reason

I am letting for only $200 cash. First come first serve.

No shipping, pickup only. No e-mails call me directly.

K. C. (415) XXX-XXXX

It’s an amazing deal, and one I couldn’t pass up. I woke up early on Saturday morning and phoned the number in the ad. It went straight to voice mail, and the mailbox was full. Even though the ad said not to, I sent an e-mail, anyway. I went back to bed, and woke up a few hours later to go to work. After work (about 6PM), I called the number again and had a repeat experience of the call from earlier. I’m sure by now that this computer (and probably its owner) are long gone. (I never received an e-mail reply.)

When I told Jen about the computer, her immediate response was, “It’s stolen.” Out of curiosity, I googled the phone number. It’s listed on several “escort” websites. Perhaps the person who placed the ad received the computer in exchange for “services rendered,” and needed to trade it out for some quick cash. Guess I’ll never know.

Tags: Apple Computer, California, Craigslist, San Luis Obispo
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I have an Epson PhotoPC 800 digital camera. I bought it in 1999. Back then, of course, it was state of the art. (And I paid a pretty penny for it, too.) And while the camera has been key in capturing some of life’s most important events over the last eight years, I’m considering selling it on eBay. My new cell phone (a Sony-Ericsson w810i) has a surprisingly good two megapixel camera, and at least in terms of pixels, it rivals the PhotoPC’s 2.1 megapixels. The PhotoPC outperforms the w810i only when photos need serious adjusting. Specifically, low-light photos taken with the camphone tend to look pixelated, even with the camera’s “night mode” turned on. And while the PhotoPC is no champ at taking low-light pictures, at least the pictures it does take can be improved through image editing software with decent results. Overall, the PhotoPC’s biggest drawback is that it works off AA batteries (it prefers rechargeables), and it tends to drain them rather quickly. And the w810i’s biggest problem is simply that it’s not a camera. That means that it takes a few moments to get the camphone into picture mode, which can spoil the opportunity to take spontaneous shots.

And when it comes down to it, the PhotoPC isn’t going to fetch a ton of money. I suppose it won’t hurt to just keep it around for now. But, I don’t know. I hate to have excess things. I’ve got the PhotoPC boxed up and all ready to be listed. Maybe I should hang onto it for just a little longer. At least long enough to see if the w810i can handle all of my photography needs.

Tags: Epson, life, money, PhotoPC 800
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I have a 3rd Gen 15 GB iPod that I bought new (well, refurbished) a few years ago. The device has always served me well. That is, until last week, when it began acting strange. Specifically, during playback of certain files (usually podcasts) the sound would cut out. Any attempt to bring the sound back would cause the display to go wild, randomly jumping from file to file. The only solution was to reset the iPod, and hope for the best. Not long after this problem surfaced, the iPod began having trouble syncing, and it would often flash the dreaded folder and disc icons. Using iTunes, I restored the iPod to its default settings many times. But the problems wouldn’t go away. Until tonight, I had written the device off for good. That is until I decided to give it one more try. I docked it with my Mac Mini, and after some struggling with the flashing folder icon, the unit synced up with iTunes. I cruised through the player’s menu system, and it seemed to be working OK. I’ve decided to let it charge overnight and see how well it works later today. If it performs like it used to, then I’ll assume it’s back to normal. But if it continues to be problematic, I’ll be sending it off to an electronics recycling company. For cash.

Tags: Apple Computer, iPod
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Last weekend, me and Jen went to Chumash Casino for a Huey Lewis concert. The concert was awesome. Here’s some pictures:

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Tags: California, Flickr, Huey Lewis And The News, Solvang, windmill
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