Neil Vitale's Weblog

Former Zuner…

admin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:04:49 +0000

I suppose I should have titled this “Wannabe current Zuner” because I really kinda miss my old Zune. I bought it back in February last year, and it had been going strong, until the battery started going on me. I took it back to Best Buy where I bought it from, and they were able to give me back store credit for the return (because I bought an extended warrenty). Since then, I have been using an old 3rd Generation ipod, which I had refurbished. I must say, that the more I use this device, the more I miss my old Zune. It is slow (perhaps because it is an older version - I haven’t used the current ipod), the clickwheel is annoying, with no tactile feedback. I also miss being able to just hold the down button to scroll through large lists. Hard as it is for some to believe, I miss the brown color and the large screen. I thought about buying one of the new Zunes, but they come only in black and besides, the touchpad is kinda annoying. It doesn’t work anything like you would expect. I can’t simply hold it down and have it scroll, I have to do a “flick” motion to go through the lists. I suppose it wouldn’t be annoying if you could turn the touchpad off and simply use the “D-pad” that they provide but I have yet to hear if you can do that. I had considered selling the ipod and getting an ipod touch, but there are two problems with that: I don’t like itunes and I don’t really like touchpads either. Never have. I suppose since I still have my store credit to Best Buy I ought to think of something to get, since it’s not like I can cash out the store credit. I suppose till then, I will continue my search for a decent mp3 player (or other alternative Best Buy purchase).

Think fast… no faster… depression and thought processes

admin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:22:52 +0000

Just an interesting article I stumbled upon. Apparently some preliminary findings show that if you think quickly you can help reduce depression.

Link

Wayne Root on Sarah Palin

admin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:33:45 +0000

I was a little hesitant to vote Libertarian this year, not because I’m going with McBama, but because Barr, before going his separate way with the GOP, had been very involved in bills which restricted people’s personal freedoms. Originally he was for the drug war, and thought that Medical Marijuana had no use. He later changed his stance before running for the Libertarian party. Plus on top of that, he is pretty much incredibly boring. He never seems to smile, and his interviews are very cut and dry with no excitement at all.

The Libertarian vice presidential nominee, Wayne Root on the other hand, seems a much more interesting candidate. While he doesn’t have the congressional experience that Barr has, he seems to be more consistent - at least in what I’ve heard. He’s also a gambling maverick, and doesn’t think that online gambling should be banned.

I may just vote for the Barr ticket, not because of Barr, but because of Root. He’s quite a character, as this quote from Slate shows:

Wayne Root says that the Republicans chose Sarah Palin for two reasons. First, the GOP was concerned that the Libertarians would take votes away from McCain and throw Alaska to Obama. (Never mind that the state has voted Republican since prehistoric times.) Second, Root says, Palin is a “female version of my image.” The similarities: “Well, first of all she says she’s a hockey mom; I’m the son of a butcher. We both come from very humble beginnings. We both come from far Western frontier states that believe in no taxes and lots of guns. … We both have big families with a brand-new baby. … And to top it off, if you could think of one attribute that describes me, I think it would be an Energizer Bunny—high-energy, exciting, passionate, gets crowds going crazy. I can get a crowd whipped into a frenzy in five minutes, whereas Sarah Palin does the same thing, she’s the only one on the Republican side who does that. So I think they found a female version of me, except here’s the difference: Underneath the excitement, OK, and underneath the citizen politician, I’m a policy wonk, I’ve studied politics my whole life. Underneath the entertainer exterior, I’m actually an intellectual who went to Columbia University and can tell you an awful lot about political history in this country. Sarah Palin is none of those things. She’s from the University of Idaho, she’s a … beauty pageant participant. … [U]nderneath the exterior there’s gotta be some substance, and I’m not sure they found it with Palin. But I know they found it with me.”

Tests today

admin — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:41:15 +0000

So today I had two blood tests, an allergy test and a cholesterol test. Both were done at the same time via the same small blood donation. I have never known if I have had any allergies, but I do seem to have a lot of sinus congestion from time to time. Both tests were ordered from my doctor who, in an appointment yesterday, told me that I probably would want to get these tests done, to supplement the nasal spray that she had given me at the time.

Hopefully this spray will help, as so far I have mostly just went swimming or have used Vapo-rub to deal with congestion. I suppose that this isn’t really a very exciting topic to blog about, but I haven’t had a very exciting life lately. I’ve been sleeping in, and trying to stay active, to starve off boredom. Hopefully things will pick up on the Job front and the love life, but I suppose that none of this will be happening anytime soon if all I do is stay at home most of the week.