Revamped music page...sort of...

I removed the Song of the Week sections, which I have neglected for a while, and added some charts from Last.fm which should update automatically as I listen to music. Check out the new page here.

Which phone?

I am in the market for a new cell phone to replace my antiquated little egg. I was pretty sure that I was going to get the Samsung SGH D900, a.k.a Black Carbon. That is, until Apple rocked my world, and the rest of the cell phone industry, with the iPhone. I'm pretty sure it's the best thing since sliced bread. So my quandary is: do I get the Black Carbon now, or wait until June for the iPhone? If you scroll down (unfortunately, my template is too narrow and changing its size messes up some previous posts...plus Blogger doesn't do the best job of HTML generation), you can see a head-to-head comparison of the two:

Category	Black Carbon	iPhone	Winner
Cool factor			iPhone
Cellular Networks	Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), EDGE	Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), EDGE	Push
Other Connectivity	Bluetooth	Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0, USB	iPhone
Display	2.1 in 240x320, 262K color TFT	3.5 in 320x480, 160 ppi	iPhone
Camera	3.0 megapixels	2.0 megapixels	Black Carbon
Music playback	AAC, MP3	AAC, MP3, Audible, Apple Lossless	Push
Video playback	?	H.264, MPEG-4	iPhone
Input	9 dedicated buttons, 2 soft buttons, flat number pad	1 hard button, touch screen	iPhone
Other features	Standard cell phone fare + document viewer, TV out	OS X	iPhone
Battery life	6.5 hrs talk	5 hrs talk/video/browsing, 16 hrs audio playback	Black Carbon
Size, weight	4.1 x 2.0 x 0.51 in/106 x 51 x 12.9 mm, 3.3 oz/85 g	4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 in/115 x 61 x 11.6 mm, 4.8 oz/135 g	Black Carbon
Storage	60 MB internal, microSD	4 GB or 8 GB internal	iPhone
Price	$400 (phone) + $75 (2 GB microSD card) = $475	$499 (4 GB) or $599 (8 GB)	Push
Availability	Now	June 2007	Black Carbon

Let me preface this by saying that I like Rex Grossman...

...but this picture is HILLARIOUS!



Thanks to Tommy Musick for forwarding that to me.

Proof that Christmas is actually Halloween.

Being the übernerd that I am, I found the following proof which I saw on a board at work humorous. The crux of the proof is that 25 in decimal numerals is equal to 31 in octal numerals (see the Wikipedia article on octals if you don't understand this). Since DEC(25) = OCT(31), one could argue that December 25 is October 31. Therefore, Christmas is Halloween.

This week's fortune.

Your enthusiasm inspires people.

The future crib.

Updates to follow...

So I just googled myself...

...which I do from time to time, and I found an entry in a transportation related blog called Trans-Talk which references a paper that I wrote for a graduate class at Wash U this past spring. Even though it's just a blog and not a real publication, it's still kinda exciting. You can check out the blog entry here.

On a related note, earlier in the summer a co-worker was looking up a topic for work on the internet and came across the same paper. It almost makes me feel like I'm making a contribution to society.

I officially had an "Oh, sh*t!" moment driving home today...

By the time I left work for home tonight there were 3+ inches of ice on the ground from the steady sleet all day. I did alright for most of the drive, though there was some slippin' and slidin' on 270.

Things took a dramatic turn for the worse after I exited onto Page. In order to maneuver from the semi-clear far left "lane" to the not-as-clear far right, to take the Westport exit, I had to go through a mess of piled-up as with stray tire tracks cut through it. As I did this, I went into a skid and totally lost it. I ended up facing the wrong way in the middle of the road (mind you, this was a highway-like road) and had to pull a u-turn while avoiding one oncoming car. Luckily, this was the only car anywhere nearby at the time. I made it home safely, with the only other trouble occurring while trying to get up the driveway (I had to dig myself a path up).

All in all, I came out unscathed, though a bit rattled.

We're goin' to the 'ship!

Cardinals!

This week's fortune.

Soon you will receive a letter from a loved one.

Cool picture.

Space Shuttle Atlantis landing in Florida this morning.

After killing 2 hours on Wikipedia and Google...

...I found a "famous" Nigerian professor whose name is the same as my brother's name and my name (or nickname)...Chike Obi. Here are some web pages with content about him:
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/PEEPS/obi-chike-fermat.html
http://www.supernaturalminds.com/ChikeObe.html
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/PEEPS/obi_chike.html

It all started with me looking up a place that I visited during my recent Eurotrip on Google Maps. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they now have detailed maps of many major world cities. Pretty soon I was mapping the world, including Nigeria. A few Wikipedia searches and links later, I saw our names in an article. I googled the guy, and came up with the pages above. I'm a dork.

Seems a little ridiculous if you ask me...

This domain, obezma.com, was set to expire in November. It is currently registered with GoDaddy, but I wanted to transfer it to 1&1, who currently provide my hosting, as they have cheaper rates. When I tried to do this, I got a message which said that the domain could not be transferred. I eventually figured out that this was because I had a lock on the domain at GoDaddy, so I removed the lock.

After a couple of weeks I tried again to transfer the domain, but got the same message. I called GoDaddy and a technician informed me that ICANN does not allow transfers within 60 days of domain expiration. This seems a little ridiculous to me. The reason I'm transferring is because my registration is about to expire and I want to go with a better deal. In the end, I had to renew with GoDaddy at a higher price than I would be paying 1&1. When I switch, I'll then have to register for additional years with 1&1 to be able to transfer. I guess that's not so bad since I plan on owning this domain for the foreseeable future, but it just doesn't make sense to me.

Curse you, USCIS.

I bought tickets to see Massive Attack, one of my favorite bands, in Chicago on their first tour of the U.S. in 8 years. The show, originally scheduled for September 13, has been postponed to September 27, a date I can't make, because they could not get visas from the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service in time. The band released the following statement:

In spite of timely and coordinated efforts, the essential U.S. immigration visas were not issued in time for the beginning of the Massive Attack North American Tour.

Subsequently, the band has been forced to cancel the first four shows (Toronto (September 10), Montreal (11), Detroit (12) and Chicago (13)).

Currently, the rest of the tour remains intact. The band hopes to reschedule the cancelled shows as soon as possible.

You can read a little more here.

The Eurotrip 2006 travelogue is finally up.

Check it out here.

Just arrived in Athens.

Italy was great, despite not getting my luggage until yesterday. About 300 pictures taken so far. More to come soon.

This week's fortune.

You should strike the iron while it's hot.

Zizou international.

Here are a few interpretations of how the headbutt by Zinedine Zidane was seen in different countries around the world:

In Germany:











In France:











In Italy:











In the U.S.A.:











In Hong Kong:











Thanks to Robert for the e-mail.

I must be a lot older than I thought...

...or the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is recruiting a little early. Here are some snippets from a letter I received from them:


Dear Obinna C. Orjih,

Our records show that you haven't yet registered for the benefits of AARP membership, even though you are fully eligible.
...
You need only return the form above. Please remove and keep the card below as your record of enrollment. You will receive a new card and Membership Kit, with full details on your benefits.

As a member, you'll have the resources and information you need to get the most out of life over 50.
...
I look forward to your joining us. I think you'll agree with our other members: AARP is one of America's very best values.

Sincerly,
[signed]
William D. Novelli
Executive Director


Whaaaaa?!!!

My hippie thought for the day.

Go see An Inconvenient Truth.

And/or go to climatecrisis.net and stopglobalwarming.org.