Red Mosquito’s blog

Phone texting reveals sensitive new "metrotextual"

nobody@vox.com(Red Mosquito) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:20:27 -0600

Phone texting reveals sensitive new "metrotextual"

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/2009110...

Men have become so openly affectionate with each other using mobile technology they've taken to signing off text messages to male friends with a kiss (x), giving rise to a new generation dubbed "Metrotextuals."

I'm speechless. x

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2009 PEARL JAM SIGG WATER BOTTLE

nobody@vox.com(Red Mosquito) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:41:58 -0500

2009 PEARL JAM SIGG WATER BOTTLE

https://secure.pearljam.com/store/pro...

2009 PEARL JAM SIGG WATER BOTTLE SKU 4086 $25.00 2009 PEARL JAM BUILT TO LAST 1.0 LITRE SIGG WATER BOTTLE WITH NEW BPA-FREE SIGG EcoCare Liner. "PAINTED SILVER". NOT FREEZER SAFE. RECYCLABLE. DISHWASHER SAFE. HOT LIQUID SAFE TO 185F/85C.

I probably should have ordered 2. One for work and one for home. Maybe I'll transport it back and forth.

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How I spent my saturday

nobody@vox.com(Red Mosquito) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:48:49 -0500

new kitchen faucet

At least a good part of it. I spend installing this new kitchen faucet. The spray part on the bottom of the old one broke off, so whenever we turned on the faucet we got a shower. And the sprayer part, which was a separate piece, had a broken handle, so it didn't work at all.

It was time. I had put this off for weeks, probably a month. I needed to buy the new one. I was never really sure about doing it myself. Something just happened on Saturday and I said what the heck. I'm going to do this. "There is no try, only do or do not."

I went to Home Depot and purchased the new faucet, a basin wrench, plumbers putty, and a cover for where the old sprayer was. About $150.

I cleaned everything out from under the sink. Found a few tools. As the morning went on, I went back and forth to find a few more tools. Of course most of the old sink was pretty well attached and stuck. WD-40 became a good friend. Along with the eye protection.

One side of the water to the sink had been replaced when we had the fridge with water and ice maker installed. So there was a nice, new shut-off valve on the cold side. I was not so lucky with the hot side. There was no shut-off. I had to turn off the water to the entire house.

Eventually i got the old sink out. It was at this point I realized I needed a shut-off valve, what I had under the sink was NOT going to work to connect to the new faucet. A quick trip to True Value in town and some great help from the gentleman there and I had a new supply line, and two choices of sizes for the shut-off.

Got them home and the 5/8 didn't fit, neither did the 3/8. I realized I didn't need anything special to put this on a different part of the pipe. I just had to cut the pipe. And for that I did have a hacksaw. A little sawing and mission accomplished. Shut-off installed. I made sure they were turned off and turned the main water back on. NO LEAKS.

I had removed the new faucet from the box and looked over the contents. But it was at this point, with the old faucet and sprayer removed (thanks to a chisel and a hammer to loosen it up) that i found out, i was missing the base of the new faucet that covered the three holes.

A trip back to Home Depot. And a quick exchange and a hope that this one would have all the parts.

It did.

The rest of the installation was pretty simple. I even managed to do a decent job with the plumbers putty.

The new sink works and you don't get a shower, unless you want one.

I feel a great accomplishment for completing this all by myself without professional help.

I spent most of the day cussing at the old sink. And I came out of it with just one injury. At the end while climbing under the sink to check for leaks, I bumped my forehead on the drain pipe. I soon noticed my forehead was bleeding from a tiny scratch.

Not bad for about 5 hours of work.

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my #THTH experience

nobody@vox.com(Red Mosquito) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:29:25 -0500

Are you on twitter? Do you follow Tony Hawk? If so, you probably know about the current THTH (Tony Hawk Twitter Hunt) that is currently underway.

tonyhawk Madison, WI: SP WI Sheehan sk8 park, creek bed between diamonds and park. look in the bushes. you will find your prize. #THTH

On Wednesday someone hid one of Tony's skateboards in my town. I saw the tweet two minutes after it was posted. And I grabbed my coat and keys and told me coworkers I was heading out the door and would be back in an hour. By the time I got to my car, someone had posted that the package was found. It took less than 10 minutes.

Evidently he was skating that day, in the rain, and saw someone digging in the bushes. He then found the package. I was so close to finding a Tony Hawk skateboard. That would have been cool.

Granted I don't skate. But it would have been sweet to find. I'm not really sure what I would have done with it. If it's signed I probably would have donated it to the local skatepark so they could raffle it off to build their new park. Or I could have it framed and hung on the wall at home.

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Video: 9 year old scores greatest goal in Boston this season

nobody@vox.com(Red Mosquito) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:39:25 -0500

Video: 9 year old scores greatest goal in Boston this season

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck...

Oliver Wahlstrom's shootout attempt in the Boston Bruins "TD Bank Mini 1-on-1" competition begins as expected: Deliberate skating to the puck before picking up speed into the zone. But once he gets between the faceoff circles ... well, let's just say we wouldn't have been shocked to see him pull a rabbit out of his helmet before sawing a woman in half. This is hockey magic.

I haven't seen the video. It's blocked here at work.

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New Wi-Fi spec challenges Bluetooth

nobody@vox.com(Red Mosquito) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:06:27 -0500

New Wi-Fi spec challenges Bluetooth

http://news.cnet....

A new Wi-Fi specification will let Wi-Fi devices discover and connect to one another without a router. The new specification called Wi-Fi Direct was announced Wednesday by the the Wi-Fi Alliance, the industry group that promotes the technology. Th...

This could drastically change the electronics industry. I mean bluetooth is cool. I don't use it because I find it cumbersome and battery consuming. This would use wi-fi, which already consumes my wi-fi battery. And maybe I'd be able to link up with someone else's phone or even my laptop and latch onto the internet connection it already has. I'm sure apple will find someway to not make this available on first gen or non-3G iPhones.

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Electroids - 9v USB Charger

nobody@vox.com(Red Mosquito) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:25:15 -0500

The Original Electroids Company

https://www.electroids.com/main.php?c...

This is the premier do-it-yourself USB charging kit solution with over 5,000 sold in 12 months that has been featured in Popular Science Magazine, Make: Magazine, Boing Boing, the Make: Blog, DIYlive, Digg, and countless more websites. You heard me. Countless.

Pretty cool idea. It's a 9v USB (Cell phone) charger for about $15 plus a few other tools.

Anyone got the soldering stuff?

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test

nobody@vox.com(Red Mosquito) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:14:43 -0500

this is only a test

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my Backspacer review

nobody@vox.com(Red Mosquito) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:28:54 -0500

My copy of Pearl Jam's latest release arrived in my mailbox on Friday from Ten Club. Since that date I've probably listened to the album 30 times. I brought it into the house and popped it into the CD player for the first listen and ever since then it's been locked in the CD player in my car. The car seems to be my current choice of preferred listening.

01 Gonna See My Friend

Pearl Jam

The CD/Album starts off with 4 great rocking songs. Especially the track above, Gonna See My Friend. There are one or two more rockers later on the CD. The rockers are my favorite, that's Pearl Jam to me. My favorites are Got Some and Supersonic. The CD follows with a couple of slower songs, almost in the "Into The Wild" type of song. These are good also.

For a lot more information I suggest you check out Two Feet Thick and all of their Pearl Jam information, including Ed's talk about Backspacer Track-by-Track.

05 Just Breathe

Pearl Jam

The CD is short, about 36 minutes. I like the idea and the concept. The songs are easy to remember and I'm sure in concert they can jam a little more if they want on these.

I like the deal with Target. It still allows them to sell the CD on Ten Club and sell it with independent record stores. Some of which are getting the limited edition The Fixer single which Pearl Jam is using on their Twitter feed to give away. You need to be the first one to the store to get the single on vinyl. So far nothing in my area.

If you're a long time Pearl Jam fan, I think you'll like this CD. If you've never really heard Pearl Jam, you should like this. My son requests that I play it every time he's in the car and even wanted to me to blast it out for the Face-Off Festival this weekend.

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Face-Off Festival recap

nobody@vox.com(Red Mosquito) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:41:27 -0500

it was expensive and a long day, but worth it.

Austyn and Nick each played in the 3-on-3 tournament, and even though their teams did not do all that well, they seemed to have fun and enjoy themselves. They had games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

I showed up early on Saturday to help setup for the Festival. I was a regular gopher for those first couple of hours. I even went knocking on the neighbors doors and invited them to the festival, although I don't think any of them showed up.

This great "stick guy" showed up from Tribute Cause Cure. He was on a 45 day US tour to promote his sticks and just happened through our area on Saturday. He donated 3 sticks to our raffle and 10% of his sales to our new rink. As part of his sales he donates 10% to one of several tributes, causes, or cures of your choice. We happened to qualify as a Cause with building a new ice arena. Austyn talked me into buying him a stick. Then I won a stick in the silent auction, and then Austyn won a stick in the raffle.

I tied the Dunk Tank Contest with the most number of people trying to dunk me. Then myself and Tony had to each try to see how many times we could dunk each other in 5 tries. We each got one. The highlights of my dunk tank experience were the first person in line, McKenna, who was on crutches from a foot injury. She hobbled up to her spot to throw and hit the bullseye on the first throw. It was a bit humbling. After that many kids tried but failed. Both of my sons missed on multiple occassions. My wife stepped up last and after several throws and moving closer each time, dumped me into the tank.

The Race Bannon band was really good. They played some great covers and had a really good sound. Unfortunately I didn't get to to listen to their entire set, I was busy watching my kids play hockey in the 3-on-3. Race got the folks to drinking a lot of beer and really enjoying things.

My wife won a Sake basket in the raffle. We had fun watching hockey and drinking beer and listening to the band.

it was a great day, with wonderful weather, and brought out lots of people.

A big THANK YOU to everyone on the Face-Off committee.
And thank you to everyone who attended the event.

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