Friday, November 18, 2005

thingy overlords...

from slashdot article talking about IPv6 and how with 6 billion people and billions and billions of personal devices, IPv4 is just not able to cover everyone.


I for one welcome our new.... thingy overlords...

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

self heating coffee

Found this in the bargin basket at Jewel for $.50 - it looked interesting and a bargin at 50 cents so I got it. Only reason i can figure is that it had a small dent at he bottom corner of the can. Also maybe it was simply older than the rest of the cans they had on the shelf (by 30 days or so).

Anyway - the coffee tastes ok, about as good as any starbucks coffee i have ever had or any gas station latte. Regular price off the shelf $3.49 so again about as much as it would cost at starbucks. Cheaper in bulk I would imagine as they do sell it on their webiste (albiet some generic variety). Heated to full temperature in about 8 minutes (top end of stated range) but was totally drinkable immediately upon opening.

The container is made by Ontech. Apparently they have a shit load of $$ and time spent in this thing. It really seams like a simple device. Some quicklime and some water are all that make the heating reaction, i guess it took them time to design just the right shape container, amount of chemical, manufacturing technique, etc... The technology itself is not really new, but Ontech's design is the true marketable feature. Totally self contained self heating beverage that doesn't need refrigeration. I think if the price comes down a little, or they do a little better job of marketing, this device will really take off.

A nice review and disection of the thing here

Monday, November 07, 2005

the times, they have changed

from Jason Mulgrew's old blog (dead link)
"When my dad was 26, he had been working full-time for eight years, had a two year old son, and a wife of three years. I’m 26, and I’m spending my Sunday afternoon hungover in a cell phone store trying to customize my number around vulgarities so that I can buy a phone that represents 5% of the cost of my dad’s first home. God bless America"

It is totally absurd what I will spend my money on. I bought a used Ipod mini a few weeks ago from a guy I work with. I spent more on this than I normally spend on gifts for my wife for her birthday or Christmas (perhaps I will have to start buying nicer gifts).

I am thinking about spending around 200k for a condo sometime in the next year. This is also totally absurd. I am fairly certain that this is approximately 160% of the value of my parents current home and at least 50k more than my parents last home which was sold in 1994. Granted my parents live out in BFE and I live in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country (at least Im not in NYC). I have no idea how I can afford this, or why it is even possible. I take a quick look at the numbers, at what is available, and what I think i will want etc... and this is probably what will end up happening.

But I still don't give money to the bums on the street, which, on average, I run into about once a week (I dont walk around a lot). I figure I give money to charities from time to time, and I am forced to give to many government sponsored programs, through my taxes, of which most of them could be taking advantage. I know if I ever ended up on the street I would do everything I could to keep from having to beg people for money including looking for every government hand-out available. Perhaps that I why I am not out on the street.