trisweb.com

Seriously, is anyone going to upgrade to Vista? I’m definitely not anytime soon. I see no added benefit from XP and just a bunch of hassle with the install, new computer, and worst of all, living with what Microsoft thinks usability is. I don’t think I’d be able to.

My options now are to get a Mac, and run XP and Ubuntu alongside OSX. Oh, wait, that’s only one option. Heh.

Just in case you’re into stocks, every technically-minded person I know is thinking the same thing. The losses from the iPhone (eh, it could still take off I suppose) will be a drop in the bucket compared to the new Apple computers purchased because Vista isn’t worth the box it’s in. I love to laugh at all the advertising dollars Microsoft’s spending that aren’t even affecting me… it’s so sad.

Are you upgrading to Vista? Have you already?

Update: Dean was so nice and modest about leaving links in comments that he gets two links to his site in the main article! Also because I agree with him wholeheartedly, of course. First, why his next laptop will be a Mac, and second, why he’s not impressed with Vista either. I too am waiting for the next OSX update (and hopefully MacBook update as well — here’s hoping they support more than 2GB of RAM) before jumping all over it.

From my stats log:
8587 | 29 Oct, 18:16:59 | China | 210.22.189.66 | 1 | Windows XP Windows XP | Explorer 6.0 | http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=tristan+harward

From APNIC whois search on the IP address:
netname: shanghai-weihua-jianshe-corp
country: cn
descr: shanghai city

It’s not random that someone is searching for my name in Shanghai on the English google site. Hi Dad! We miss you, get home safe.

Preface. I’ve always wanted my weblog to be exactly like the ones under “Design” to the right, to be about 70% free of personal life. That’s a good balance, I think. I’ve been trying to do that for the last few weeks, and look what it did: no posts. Anytime I think of something interesting to say, I realize it’s either personal drivel or it’s already been said and I’m just copying.

So, to hell with it today. You can’t call it a weblog if you don’t say something at least once a week.

I’ve been “working” for the Cal Band for the past three days (and by “working” I mean slaving away at a computer without pay, but I have no regrets). I’ve been designing an invitation for the big annual benefit party (lots of… benefactors) and it’s been a royal pain. It has 4 parts: the invitation itself, the envelope, a reply card, and a reply envelope. The envelopes are easy, the reply card took a lot of skill laying out small type, and the invitation so far looks like crap. I am not satisfied. If you know me, you know that means I’ll start over.

It has been fun working with print this year. You learn many things when using ink instead of pixels. These include the following:

• Ink can’t be changed except by little stickers, and no one wants to stick fifteen thousand little stickers over a phone number on a very important recruiting brochure. Make sure everyone reads the proof 20 times twice. Then call all the phone numbers.
• Printing with 2 (spot) colors is cheaper than printing with 4 (process) colors. I didn’t know how to use spot colors until today. This is a bad combination.
• You can’t have stuff go all the way to the edge of the page (bleed) unless you pay for bigger paper. Quick! Compress everything down a half-inch!
• InDesign has a lot of complicated printing options. I wonder why…
• All the little crop marks, bleed marks, registration marks, and color bars printed with a document make you look like you know what you’re doing.
• Boy I hope my monitor is calibrated well… (aka – you need a Pantone swatch book to choose colors right).

So that’s been fun. And in the midst of all this work (which is more stressful than any sort of web design) my parents are piling yet more work on me. They must think I’m not doing anything because it’s summer. I wish.

Speaking of the Cal Band, my new Cal Band web site design went live this past Monday — check it out and let me know what you think. And speaking of redesigns, this site needs it badly. But I’m dissatisfied with the last direction I tried to take, so I’ll probably start over again. Who knew I’d have no time during the summer to work on my own web site? Honestly, it’s the one thing stopping me from being a respectable designer. I know I have the skills and the eye, I just need to update my freakin’ portfolio to show everyone.

And as one last final end note, I was admitted to the Computer Science major at Berkeley, which is no small feat. It pays to be a very convincing writer.

Update: The site has been redesigned, and is now very presentable and I am satisfied. I think it won’t change for a long long time.

I realized how long ago I had logged into Windows today when I checked my e-mail (in Windows) and found 37 messages. I think I like Linux better in general, though the desktop software (I use Gnome, and I hate how KDE feels) has a ways to go before being as usable as Windows, or anywhere close to the beautifully designed OSX. It’s all in the details — like when trying to find a certain file in a directory of 200 files, I can’t just start typing the filename to get to it.

Life in Ojai is quaint and goes by fast. I was supposed to do a lot of work this week, but most of it never got done. I find myself doing too much for myself and not enough for everyone else. I’m trying to fix it, honest.

One of those me-projects that I “wasted” a lot of time on today was ripping my dad’s CDs. He and I share some taste in music at least, so I’ve been ripping his new aquisitions that I like, and re-ripping others that I ripped to Windows Media, back when I was young and naive. I now encode all my audio in Ogg Vorbis quality 5 (~160kbps, variable bit-rate), which is relatively transparent to my ears (if I’m not constantly analyzing it) and easy enough on the old hard disk (only 2 gigs left!). Check out Hydrogenaudio if you’re into audio compression. My dad’s convinced he can tell the difference between a CD and any lossily-compressed music. I have to set up a double-blind ABX test for him so he can prove it… ::

I remember thinking about doing one of these a really long time ago…

Some of the vehicles look really cool. Always fun to look at.

Kill Bill Volume 2: Go see it. But– not if you haven’t seen the first one. In which case, buy the first one on DVD and then go watch the second one. Best movie ever.

Some country we live in where your approval rating is “stable” when only half the population actually approves. God I hate statistics– or rather, the stupid people who use statistics.

I’ve also been considering replacing the needle on my turntable. It would probably make a difference, especially considering that I bought it from a flea market. It’s just that I’ve been buying a lot of used vinyl lately (it’s dirt cheap), and I’ve noticed that, even with the most pristine record, there’s static when the volume gets too loud, which would be consistent with a dull needle, which I hear needs replacing right away to avoid damaging the records. Anyway, records are fun. I already have a decent collection, including all of Mozart’s woodwind concertos (including my favorite, the Clarinet), Holst’s “The Planets” suite, Dave Brubeck’s “Time Out,” and the classic Getz/Gilberto in all its original glory (all of those (together) for under $10). I just want to hear how they sound with a decent needle. ::

Just don’t. Take my word for it. I would call it one of the worst ways to travel from anywhere to anywhere else. You may quote me on that.

It really wasn’t soooo bad, I did meet one of my old high school friends by chance on the train, and he introduced me to this nice girl from Seattle he was talking to, and I beat her at speed (the card game (geez)) a few times. And it was very relaxing up until about 9 PM, when I started to get worried about how I was going to get home from the station. And I did get a lot of CS reading done. I reckon I could finish my homework right quick this week.

Did I mention I saw my high school’s production of “Annie Get your Gun” 4 times this week? Yup. My brother was in it and my parents are way too involved.

Anyway, I did get some work done. And talking to people was fun. But 12 hours is just too much. And now I’m tired, as I tend to get around midnight after being home for a while (which is probably healthy). So goodnight. Never take Amtrak. ::

I hate it. How the fuck does my brain decide what to throw away? I spent like 4 hours on one EE homework due at 2 this afternoon; I worked really hard at it too, actually learned the material, researched stuff on the internet, read through lecture notes a billion times, and corrected it like 5 times. And when I woke up, what did I think? Not “Your only goal in life until 2 PM is to turn in your EE homework you dumbass. Go do it.” It was something more like “Mmmm. Pankakes.” Stupid brain.

Oh well. Just a few points. This will be remembered next time– so I said the last time….

Aside from that 5 minute fiasco, it has been a beautiful day. Actually, a beautiful week. I don’t think there were clouds this week…. ::