Month: August 2005

Categories
Reflected

For Three

I apologize in advance for doing this, because I know what it’s going to do to most everyone. I’m not expecting verbal complaints, but there’s a reasonable probability you might go bug eyed. Feelings of time flying by are not uncommon. There’s even a slight chance of spit take, so – just to be safe – I recommend you put away any beverages you might be drinking.

Today is our third wedding anniversary.

(I’ll give you a second to regain your composure, should you have lost it.)

To be honest, it’s been a tough year – not in terms of the marriage, but in terms of the tolls of the world. It’s a frightening age to be trying to live in; it feels like the world is on the verge of collapse more and more every day. So above and beyond all else, I’m grateful I have someone I can help support, and someone who will support me, through and through.

Rather than try to put pen to paper at this very late hour, I’m going to take the very familiar stance of pushing a song out there to speak for me. (Certain family members will be happy to note I am linking to this song legally, as it’s on the site of the artist in question.) So, for today, please listen to Ted Leo’s [The Gold Finch And The Red Oak Tree](http://tedleo.com/audio/TheGoldFinchandtheRedOakTree.mp3). It’ll only take two minutes out of your day – I promise it’s worth it.

I love you, Katie.

Categories
Debated

Saving The Day One Day Too Late

The big Apple news today was news that many people took as hell freezing over: [the no-button mouse is dead, long live the no-button mouse](http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/). Just over five years after the introduction of the “Apple Pro Mouse” (the white, lozenge-like mouse), Apple finally joins the modern input device revolution and introduces the [Mighty Mouse](http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/), a sort of four-button-plus-scroll-nub thing, retailing for $49.

A handful of dear readers put two and two together and pointed out to me that this could be taken as a timely divine intervention to solve my [busted mouse issue](https://vjarmy.com/archives/2005/07/role_reversal.php). And I would agree, except for two problems.

One, it’s a corded mouse. Now I can use a corded mouse – at work, where I’m striving to keep my desk clean on a regular basis. At home, I frequently have to deal with debris, spindles of disks, and most of all, a certain cat who loves to sit on my mousepad. The slack always ends up getting pinched, and this drives me up the wall. As such, I’ve switched to USB cordless mice and have no desire to look back for my home use.

Two, along these lines, I just purchased a new Microsoft Standard Wireless Optical Mouse yesterday at Best Buy. It ran me, after various discounts I had accumulated, a whopping $15. This is well under half the price of the Apple mouse. I’m not against spending money when there’s functionality to be had, but I get the bulk of the functionality I need out of this mouse for less than a third of the cost.

For the Mighty Mouse to win me over, it really needs to come in Wireless, and I really need to see some really worthwhile functionality or neat hacks for it. Otherwise, it’s just yet another Apple peripheral for me to ignore.

Categories
Created

New Flickr Group: Gaming Life

Detex Watchclock Station

Twenty years of gaming does things to you. Scary things – like forcing your attention to notice keys dangling off of buildings. It’s disturbing to have that gut feeling, the one where you just know you’re going to find your progress blocked and you’ll need that key to get to the next section of…whatever.

Yes, it’s true, I see a lot of the gaming world reflected in the real world. Enough to create a sort of open ended Flickr group entitled Gaming Life. I encourage those of you who see the world in the same way to join.