This week's fortune.

You will receive unexpected support over the next week. Accept it graciously.

Test the speed of your Internet connection.

While there are many sites that offer this service, my favorite has to be Speedtest.net. They have a great user interface which allows you to perform the test using one of a multitude of servers around the world (the default is the closest to your geographic location). They also maintain a history of all your tests so you can go back and look at past results. You can also get statistics for internet connections all over the world. Pretty neat if you're a huge Internet nerd like I am.

Maybe I'm a grinch.

Isn't it a little early to have Christmas lights up? After all, November just started today. I saw two separate display of lights on the drive home today. Perhaps in this commercial society that we live in it is appropriate to start the holiday season as soon as we can get away with it. I guess most Christians don't even celebrate the true meaning of Christmas anyway.

In need of MP3 advice.

I have a $50 gift certificate that I could use at a bunch of places, including Amazon.com, Best Buy, and Circuit City.

I want a new MP3 player with the following features:

1. Color display
2. Video playback
3. Good, if not spectacular, battery life
4. At least 30 GB of storage
5. Black case
   

I've narrowed my choices down to the following, in order of preference (prices are shown before gift certificate deduction):

1. Creative Zen Vision:M - 30 GB
   
   • $289 @ Amazon
     
2. Microsoft Zune (2nd generation) - 80 GB
   
   • ~$250 @ Amazon or Best Buy or Circuit City
     
3. Microsoft Zune (1st generation) - 30 GB
   
   • $140 @ Amazon
4. Apple iPod Classic (5th generation) - 80 GB
   
   • ~$250 @ Best Buy or Circuit City

If you have a glowing recommendation or just some simple advice, please feel free to share.

Although slowly, the wheels of justice do turn.

Updating a previous posting, our boy Genarlow Wilson has been freed. Wright Thompson, author of the original E-ticket article that caught my attention, weighs in on it here. Good luck in the future, young man, and may your decisions be made with more care.

This week's fortune.

When the flowers bloom, so will great joy in your life.

This week's fortune.

Tomorrow is a good day for trying something new.

Here's a good idea...

Kiva allows "ordinary" people to help make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate around the world. Through them, you can loan money with minimal interest to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Yes, loan...not donate. The idea is that this isn't just a free handout, but a way to provide people some help through opportunities that may not ordinarily be afforded them. You can find out more by checking out their website: kiva.org.

This week's fortune.

Someone thinks you are wonderfully mysterious.

New Radiohead in 10 days!!!

The new album, In Rainbows, will be released on October 10. Interestingly, it is initially only available for download from their website:
www.inrainbows.com
or
www.radiohead.com

Even more interestingly, YOU decide how much to pay for the download (WTF?!?!), excluding a potential 90 cent surcharge. Of course if you're a fanboy like me, you'll skip that option and buy the discbox (which includes, in addition to the aforementioned download, a CD of the album, an extra CD of new music, vinyl copies of both CDs, a booklet of lyrics, and some artwork) for $80 because it makes absolutely no sense.

Joy!!!

This week's fortune.

When in doubt, let your instincts guide you.

This week's fortune.

A pleasant surprise is in store for you soon.

This week's fortunes.

(another lucky double-fortune cookie)

You will receive unexpected support over the next week. Accept it graciously.

You have a charming way with words. Write a letter this week.

This week's fortunes.

(courtesy of the lucky double-fortune cookie)

You will soon receive an usual [sic] gift freely given. Accept!

You should enhance your feminine side at this time.

Vegetarian Week recap.

I did it! A week without meat. And I don't even have the shakes, either. I feel like this is something I could do for longer, though I don't really have a desire to. After this past week, I have realized that the reasons I couldn't make vegetarianism permanent are twofold:

1. I'd be missing out on too many appetizing dishes. There are a plethora of perfectly good meals with meat out there that are just screaming my name, beckoning me to consume them. I can't let their calls go unanswered, can I?
   
2. It's sometimes hard (though not as hard as I thought) to find a substantial meal that does not have meat in it. I think this is mostly a product of the society that we live in, though. You can't go to a fast-food joint and expect to find something good without meat...usually the best you can hope for is that they can prepare something without the meat, which is a significant portion of the meal. It's definitely easier at sit-down restaurants or when you do your own grocery shopping, though.

I would like to thank and congratulate my fellow temporary vegetarian Tom Musick for his support and inspiration. Without him this experiment would never have been conceived, much less successful.

Vegetarian Week

For the next week, I will (attempt to) be a vegetarian.

Tommy Musick and I were inspired by the lack of meat at our friend Nishant's wedding a couple of weeks ago, and vowed to have a vegetarian week in the near future. The future is now.

From 0:00 on 4 August 2007 to 24:00 on 10 August 2007 we are not allowed to eat meat. I assume we don't have to go completely vegan or anything, though. My personal goal is to last at least 2 days. We'll see how that goes...

This week's fortune.

Linger over dinner discussions this week for needed advice.

This week's fortune.

Listen these next few days to your friends to get answers you seek.

This week's fortune.

You will always be surrounded by true friends.

This week's fortune.

You may end up saving the day.