Rikaichan

Today in my Japanese Literature class, a student showed us this amazing Firefox plug-in called Rikaichan. It has got to be one of the best Japanese plug-ins that I've seen. You hover over any word and it breaks the kanji down to its basic reading plus the English definition. Talk about a time saver!

Engagement Photos Up

Many of you have asked that Diane and I put some photos of ourselves on our wedding website. Your wish has finally been granted. We took our engagement pictures in Downtown Salt Lake earlier this month. It was freezing, but we tried to make the best of it. We hope that you enjoy them. Go to http://www.dianeandfernando.com for more info.

Minister a Hero? I Think Not

OK, so two minister stories in one day. I actually came across this one first, but I couldn't remember the link. It's also a lot less fun and positive than the previous post. Anyway, here's the gist of this CNN story.

• At age 16, he robs a convenience store and stabs the clerk with a knife
• 14 years later, he confesses to police
• Congregation now praises minister for being a role model

A role model? The man killed an innocent person. I know that the Bible teaches that we must forgive, but I'm flabbergasted to think that people would call this man a role model.

Quotes

• "He's a hero, really," said Kelley Graham, 24. "I don't know how many people would do what he did. The Bible says you just need to confess to God. Calvin took an extra step."
• "To lock him away someplace and say he owes it to society is robbing the next generation of a mentor."
• "I am thrilled my son has a role model to accept responsibility the way Calvin has"

This is a bit ludicrous. The man still owes a debt to society and especially the family of the victim. To call him a role model for children is unreal. It may be considered laudable that he did come and confess his crime, but that doesn't automatically forgive him of what he did. Justice must be served.

Carpe Diem!

As my Spanish professor (rather Renaissance-era Spanish poets) would say, "Carpe Diem!" In an effort to reduce the number of divorces among his flock, a minister is encouraging couples to have sex every day for a month. For the full story, go to CNN Video. If it doesn't show up, search for "Minister to married couple."

Laptops Galore

The past month has been very difficult because I have gone through a number of different laptops. It all started one morning when I cracked the screen of my HP tablet PC. I lived with it for a few weeks, but then the crack started growing. In fact, I cracked it a second time. Anyway, that's not the main point of this post.

I called HP and they told me that they would repair it because it was under warranty. This was in mid January. I borrowed a MacBook so I could continue using a computer in my classes. While writing one Python program, I had to switch to my old Gateway tablet PC because the Python program was not working on my loaner Mac. However, two days later I sold the Gateway and I went back to the MacBook. Now, I have to give up the Macbook and my HP tablet is still gone.

In fact, after 2 weeks of holding my laptop, HP informs me that I have a crack in the screen (amazing observational skills) and that it is not covered by my warranty (doh!). Rather, they want me to pay $250 for a 2-year accidental damage plan (ADP) warranty or pay $720 to fix the screen. Since I got this laptop from work, I called them and I was told to not have HP fix it. I am to ship it back to my company and they will send me a new one. Needless to say, I have run out of computers to use and I have a bajillion things to do. So, as a last resort, I managed to find yet another loaner laptop (IBM) from a different friend. Hopefully, I get my HP back within the next two weeks because I can't stand it anymore.

Summary of computers used in 4 months:
1) HP Tablet PC
2) Apple MacBook
3) Gateway Tablet PC
4) IBM ThinkPad

All Meat Tastes Like Chicken

I received this from my sister-in-law:

--------------------

I can't claim this NYC story for myself but it is one of my favorites. Natasha & Curtis can correct me if I get the details wrong. Our good friend Curtis was out for his morning run in a nearby park. Not many people were in the park but he did notice two men looking suspicious so Curtis circled the park a few times keeping an eye on them. They were surrounded by lots of pigeons which they were feeding. Then he noticed a box propped up with a stick and rope tied to it. As he circled the park again, he noticed these two men were actually catching the pigeons in their trap. They would catch a couple pigeons, wring their necks, and shoved them into a bag. Of course his curiosity was now piqued so he followed the men from a distance. Unfortunately, they entered a chinese restaurant bag in hand, straight for the kitchen. Guess they were all out of chicken. This restaurant is no longer in business. True Story.

Filling Out Forms

Why can't people fill out forms properly? As part of my job on campus, I manage offers that students receive from companies. I can't tell you how many times students say that they have not accepted a job, but they fill in the accepted date field. Check it out (most info has been removed for privacy reasons).

Smart? I Don't Think So

I'm sorry, but when a friend was browsing through her friend's friends list on Facebook, I noticed this tagline. While we chuckled at the typo on the tagline, I had to laugh when I read the last name of the individual: Smart. Yeah, right...


P.S. I don't claim to be smart as I have plenty of typos in my writings. :)

Scrabble Videos

Okay, if you don't know by now, I love Scrabble. I'm not very good at it, but it's still fun to play. Here are two videos that a friend (hat tip: Matt) sent me.

Video 1: National Team Scrabble Champions on Jimmy Kimmel

Video 2: Scrabble - Take That, Grandma!

BYU Unblocks YouTube

[4 Feb] Update: BYU has reblocked it...looks like they were modifying some network configurations.

I was reading a friend's blog when I noticed all of his YouTube videos were loading. It caught me off guard at first because BYU had YouTube blocked for some time. The only building with access to it was the Jesse Knight Building (where the police station is housed). I'm sitting here at work in the Tanner building and I can watch videos without any problems. I wonder why they now give students access to it...

Custom AJAX Loading GIFs

So, I was working on an RSVP function for my wedding website and I needed to find a loading GIF that blended with my web site. After a simple Google search, I found two websites that are awesome! My favorite is AjaxLoad.info because when you select the indicator type, it gives you an image rather than description of the image. It's so much easier to envision an animated GIF if I see it rather than read about it. I like how both this site and Web Script Lab create GIFs at no cost!

What Happened to All the Nice Guys?

The other week, I was reading my friend's note on Facebook and she referred me to a story on Craigslist. I was intrigued because I had never seen anybody write a story on Craigslist and I also thought the story was funny. I am pasting it below (edited for language). In case you're wondering, I'm not writing this as a bitter, single guy. I am happily in a relationship with the most wonderful girl.

--------------------

Date: 2007-11-19, 3:52AM PST

I see this question posted with some regularity in the personals section, so I thought I'd take a minute to explain things to the ladies out there that haven't figured it out.

What happened to all the nice guys?

The answer is simple: you did.

See, if you think back, really hard, you might vaguely remember a platonic guy pal who always seemed to want to spend time with you. He'd tag along with you when you went shopping, stop by your place for a movie when you were lonely but didn't feel like going out, or even sit there and hold you while you sobbed and told him about how horribly the (other) guy that you were [with] treated you.

At the time, you probably joked with your girlfriends about how he was a little puppy dog, always following you around, trying to do things to get you to pay attention to him. They probably teased you because they thought he had a crush on you. Given that his behavior was, admittedly, a little pathetic, you vehemently denied having any romantic feelings for him, and buttressed your position by claiming that you were "just friends." Besides, he totally wasn't your type. I mean, he was a little too short, or too bald, or too fat, or too poor, or didn't know how to dress himself, or basically be or do any of the things that your tall, good-looking, fit, rich, stylish boyfriend at the time pulled off with such ease.

Eventually, your platonic buddy drifted away, as your relationship with the boyfriend got more serious and spending time with this other guy was, admittedly, a little weird, if you weren't dating him. More time passed, and the boyfriend eventually cheated on you, or became boring, or you realized that the things that attracted you to him weren't the kinds of things that make for a good, long-term relationship. So, now, you're single again, and after having tried the bar scene for several months having only encountered players and douche bags, you wonder, "What happened to all the nice guys?"

Well, once again, you did.

You ignored the nice guy. You used him for emotional intimacy without reciprocating, in kind, with physical intimacy. You laughed at his consideration and resented his devotion. You valued the aloof boyfriend more than the attentive "just-a-" friend. Eventually, he took the hint and moved on with his life. He probably came to realize, one day, that women aren't really attracted to guys who hold doors open; or make dinners just because; or buy you a Christmas gift that you mentioned, in passing, that you really wanted five months ago; or listen when you're upset; or hold you when you cry. He came to realize that, if he wanted a woman like you, he'd have to act more like the boyfriend that you had. He probably cleaned up his look, started making some money, and generally acted like more of [a punk] than he ever wanted to be.

Fact is, now, he's probably getting laid, and in a way, your ultimate rejection of him is to thank for that. And I'm sorry that it took the complete absence of "nice guys" in your life for you to realize that you missed them and wanted them. Most women will only have a handful of nice guys stumble into their lives, if that.

So, if you're looking for a nice guy, here's what you do:

1.) Build a time machine.

2.) Go back a few years and pull your head out of your [bum].

3.) Take a look at what's right in front of you and grab ahold of it.

I suppose the other possibility is that you STILL don't really want a nice guy, but you feel the social pressure to at least appear to have matured beyond your infantile taste in men. In which case, you might be in luck, because the nice guy you claim to want has, in reality, shed his nice guy mantle and is out there looking to unleash his cynicism and resentment onto someone just like you.

If you were five years younger.

So, please: either stop misrepresenting what you want, or own up to the fact that you've [messed] yourself over. You're getting older, after all. It's time to excise the [crap] and deal with reality. You didn't want a nice guy then, and he certainly doesn't [want] you, now.

Sincerely,

A Recovering Nice Guy

Today Was a Sad Day

Today was a sad day. I had to part with my Treo 700wx. It isn't so much the phone that I am going to miss, but what is on the phone. I had several hundred text messages (mostly from Diane) that I could not get off the phone. I tried syncing the device; I tried googling for an answer; all to no avail. The messages contained many wonderful memories from our courtship. Sadly, they are lost forever. :'(

Since getting a Blackberry Curve, I have been happy to learn that it will backup my text messages. Happy day! If only Palm was smart enough to do this with their earlier devices...

Funny Video

A buddy of mine showed me this hilarious video clip from Blueprint Ventures. Pretty much, Gary Snoman mocks entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, etc. Check it out. If you cannot view the video, please go to Blueprint Ventures directly.