While I’m on vacation, I thought I’d play around with my Blackberry and install some new apps. I ran across this wordpress app and I have to say that its not half bad. The layout is clean and simple. I’m not sure how to play with the formatting or add elements like video and pictures but it is still in beta so maybe that comes later.

Just this past weekend I had this strangely detailed dream that I had to write down.  In the dream I was Satan’s servant….literally.  I was his butler for some reason and Satan was some rich guy with a bad temper and a monocle.  He kinda looked like the Monopoly guy but taller and more evil.  I was trying to secretly figure out a way to get out of the job on moral grounds.  I had my socks all packed and everything but I was afraid to leave because I had a suspicion that Satan’s wife would kill me.  In the dream the devils wife was this even tempered attractive older lady, but I had a feeling that she was the one I should be more afraid of.  I woke up pretty disturbed.  I wonder what it all means?

It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly 2 years since I got my Blackberry Pearl.  It has held up rather well over its time with me.  Even after multiple drops it keeps on going pretty strong.  It had started to show its age recently.  I noticed that the battery didn’t hold a charge as well as it used to, the case is a dinged up and it kept running out of application memory.  That last point is due to the very limited starting memory.

This past week I got an email saying I qualified for an upgraded phone so I took advantage of the opportunity to get a Blackberry Tour.  I’ve been playing with it for a week and so far I like it.  There are some bad things that go along with the good but overall it has been a good upgrade.  One thing I noticed pretty quickly is how responsive the menus are.  Everything is so much faster.  One thing that isn’t faster though is the boot up time.  In Blackberry fashion it take forever for the unit to power up.  The screen is relatively large and vibrant.  It took me some time to get used to the tiny fonts and pressing the small keyboard keys.  I was really used to the Pearl’s Suretype and larger buttons.  I did increase the font size which helps a little.  I haven’t been able to play any youtube videos for some reason.  I’m not sure if its the phone or service.  Other than that, other websites seem to render pretty well on the BB browser.  Overall, I think I’ll keep it.

It’s an exciting time for new car technologies.  There are so many competing technologies out there.  Some are really novel and others are more modifications of older technologies.  The overriding them though is going green.  Building vehicles that are more environmentally friendly.  Ethanol was one of the first ideas with a lot of public interest but eventually it seems to have been a failure.  In fact, the benefits of biofuels (at least those made from corn)  seem to be just as bad if not worse for the planet.  Electric vehicles are another very promising technology.  You can see hybrid vehicles flying off the dealer lots especially during the “Cash for Clunkers” government subsidy.  My concerns for those is the impact of the wasted batteries on the environment.  Not only that but batteries cost a lot to replace, at least for now.  I forget the exact number of year between changes but I think it’s somewhere around 10 years.

One very old idea, but new to the states, that I’m excited about are clean diesel vehicles.  The Jetta TDI is an example.  Both Audi and BMW seem to be committed to building more of these cars as well.  Not only do you get more mileage per gallon with diesel but new developments have made it as clean, if not cleaner than gasoline.  Cars run very smoothly as well.  The higher cost of diesel is most likely due to the higher US taxes on diesel vs gasoline.  That doesn’t make sense to me and I think the taxes should be equaled to level the playing field.   Not only that but diesel engines are known to be very reliable and long lasting.  They’ve been using diesel in Europe for years.  It’s time they came to the US as well.  Maybe in the future diesel hybrids may be a good alternative.

Normally I try to avoid drinking bottled water but this commercial makes a pretty good argument.

I figured I would take a few moments from my project preparation and update the blog.   Procrastination… the bane of my educational endeavors!  Anyway thanks for visiting and I apologize for not posting in over a month.  The last month or so have been super hectic with me finishing up residency, getting everything ready for the big move, and studying for board exams.  Not only that but trying to maintain a healthy social life and preparing for the new job.  It’s left my mind a little overloaded.  That and I’m addicted to a new video game called Plants vs Zombies.  It’s incredibly addicting and fun.  I’m really impressed by Laura Shigihara the games musical composer.  She’s incredibly talented and intelligent and seems like a pretty nice person all around.  Check out her music at:  shigi.wordpress.com/music.  I like her song Faster.

This week in Paul’s experimental kitchen I decided to try to add the flavor of a fresh avocado to an Italian classic.   Yeah and I failed miserably.  I pride myself on being able to eat whatever I concoct in my kitchen but this was so horrendous I only ate half of it.  I love avocados and I love spaghetti but I vow never to try to mix the two again.  Somehow cooked avocados just don’t taste very good.  They end up being very bitter and overpowering.    I hear the key to making good fried green tomatoes is using the right amount of baking powder/soda.   Perhaps avocados have a similar ’secret’ ingredient that will take away the bitter.  Then again maybe avocados were not meant to be cooked.