For those of you who don't live in NYC, let me tell you that here apartment-hunting is an obsession for some. I personally haven't seen any bad apartments when looking to rent, but I do have friends that have seen some horrible apartments commanding outrageous prices.
To give you an idea what rent is like, I'll throw out some numbers. In my neighborhood, the undesirable location of Washington Heights (which some people not-so-lovingly refer to as "the ghetto"), the average 700-square foot one-bedroom apartment rents at about $1300 per month. These apartments are usually quite old and not in the best condition. In a more desirable neighborhood like Chelsea or the West Village, a similar apartment will cost you about $2500 per month, but probably more as most apartments are smaller down there.
As a result, many people are always on the lookout for a new apartment: one that is cheaper, in a better location, and in better condition. (I have more than one friend who has moved every year while in NYC.) Those who can afford to buy (and plan on staying a while) do so because then you aren't throwing your money away on rent.
But buying an apartment brings its own problems. The average apartment in Manhattan goes for $1.3M. Of course, that is not the median price, as there are many apartments/townhouses that cost in the tens of millions of dollars. (There's one on 5th Avenue, aka Central Park East, that is going for $70M.) The median apartment probably costs $700,000 or so. That means that exactly half of the apartments on the market cost $700k or less; I'd imagine that ~75% cost <$1M. (For the record, the average apartment in Washington Heights probably goes for ~$300k. Three hundred thousand dollars. For an apartment. In the ghetto. Think about that.)
For most apartments in desirable neighborhoods (the Upper West Side, Chelsea, the West Village, the East Village, SoHo, Tribeca, etc) you can expect to pay at least $1000 per square foot when buying an apartment. Prices of $1300/sqft aren't uncommon for luxury apartments in desirable neighborhoods.
Which is why I wonder WTF people in London are thinking when something like this comes on the market: a 77 square foot apartment for $335,000. Excuse me? I'm bigger than 77 square feet! (OK, maybe not, but the surface area inside my lungs is.) That's 7.7 feet wide by 10 feet long. Mmmm, bed?
The article mentions apartments in NYC that go for $5300 per square foot. I'd like to see those places. Even that one on 5th Ave can't be more than $3500 per square foot. Either way, what a ridiculous waste of money. Perhaps if I were a single 40-something-year-old self-made billionaire I would buy an apartment like that to entertain the ladies, but even then I still doubt I would do something so vain and frivolous as spend $5300/sqft.
As for the London apartment, well, some people are idiots. Let them live in closet-sized London apartments. Literally.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Race complete.
Yesterday I ran the Manhattan half marathon (13.1 miles). As I mentioned before, I hadn't been running very much, so I had no idea how the race would go, but I was fairly certain that I would finish. Let me clarify a few things, tell you how I did, and post some observations about NYC runners.
I ran twice last week, about 4.2 miles each time. Before that I hadn't run since mid-December. In fact, I have run maybe 8 times since November 1st, and I can't remember the last time before that. When I run, I run with Yilin, who (despite her great progress) still only runs at about a 10:30 pace. (She never ran much before she started running with me.) That pace is not difficult for me, so I am never really pushing myself when I run. However, I felt that I could run that same pace for the entire 13.1 miles.
Except that I have never run that far before. I have never run half that far before. The longest distance I have ever run was 6 miles. I did that maybe 4 times last spring. One of those times was when I ran with Hyunmi and Mike in Central Park (we did the loop). That was the only time I had ever run in Central Park, that I can recall.
Therefore, on Sunday morning (21 degrees Fahrenheit, 14 with wind chill) I lined up at the starting line with those runners who planned on running an 11 minute/mile pace. I was trying to be realistic.
Well, I finished the race in 2:04:33, which is a 9:30 pace. While not stellar, I am not a runner (nor am I in shape), and I was pleasantly surprised that I beat my (admittedly lax) goal of an 11 minute mile pace by 1:30 per mile. I came in 2970th place, out of 4394 runners.
The weather was perfect, in my opinion. I don't perform as well in heat, so the colder the better. At the "fluid stations" (places where you get water or Gatorade), I grabbed water cups only to have to break the rather thick ice that formed at the top so that I could drink the water within. I mean about 1/4 inch think ice, using my index and middle fingers to punch a hole in the top. Some people were frustrated that they couldn't break the ice and spent a lot of time looking for freshly poured cups. I barely slowed down enough to grab any cup I could, slammed my fingers through the ice, took two large gulps, tossed the cup in a trash can (unlike hundreds of other people), and kept running.
Some observations about NYC runners:
Most people drastically over-estimate what pace they will run. As a result, I was blowing past people for the first 3 miles, and still passing a lot of people after 6 miles. In fact, I didn't cross the starting line until 5:20 into the race, and my first mile was run in 10:30 because there were so many people and it was difficult to pass them all.
Also, even up until mile 3, I was passing people who were walking. Why were they so far up in the starting position if they knew they would have to walk so early in the race? The worst was the speed walker I passed at about 2.5 miles into the race. Granted he was speedwalking really fast, but come on. He should not have started so far up. "Frustrated" doesn't begin to describe how I felt, especially since I purposely slowed down a number of times to keep pace with runners who I thought knew what pace they were running/going to run, and then realized that they were way too slow.
A large percentage of NYC "runners" like to think that they are real runners, and that the latest greatest high tech running shorts, shoes, socks, hats, tights, sunglasses, water-bottle-belts, and other crap will improve their performance. It won't. Some of these people passed me in miles 1-3, only to be found shortly thereafter huffing and puffing and/or walking as I cruised on by. Many of the others started ahead of me and ate my dust.
Don't misunderstand me: I don't think I am a great runner. I am definitely an athlete, and even when out of shape still far more physically fit than most people. But who signs up to run a 13.1 mile race when they should know that they can't run it? I seriously doubt that there were many people like me in that race: people who had never run a race before, had never even run half that distance before, and hadn't been training at all. So why were they performing so poorly? My answer to that question: they're weak.
Now to speak of the strong: The race course was two laps around the Central Park loop (6 miles each lap), followed by an additional 1.1 miles to the finish line. So, you actually cross the finish line 3 times: 1.1 miles into the race, 7.1 miles into the race, and at the end (13.1 miles). Thankfully, nobody lapped me (passed me while finishing their second lap, when I was still finishing my first).
However, the top five finishers did pass me after I finished the first loop, but within that 1.1 mile stretch before I crossed the finish line the second time and they crossed it for their third time. I think the winner ran the race in something like 1:10:??, or at a 5:30 pace or so. I am pretty sure that he beat all the wheelchair guys, who usually smoke everyone due to the slight advantage of having wheels on the downhill.
Something I learned about running long distance: at some point, you can't slow down. I became concerned that I might be running too fast at around mile 9, so I tried slowing down a little to conserve energy. I couldn't. For some reason, when I slowed down, it felt like I was using more energy to run slower. So I just let my legs keep going at whatever speed they wanted to. Also, after I crossed the finish line, walking was hard. Which is really odd since I had been running for 2 hours, you'd think walking would be a refreshing change. It wasn't. I felt like I was unsteady while standing. Very strange indeed.
One last funny thing: the loop in Central Park is also a road which is only open sometimes. Sunday it was closed (of course), but the race was supposed to be run only in half the road (the left lanes), while the other half was supposed to be left open for non-racers to use the park. Therefore, there were cones set up in the middle of the road, with race marshalls positioned every hundred yards or so asking everyone to stay to the left.
Well, the race marshalls were mostly 10-15 year olds. Take a guess at how many NYC adults would take orders from a 10-15 year old. Very few. It was sad and funny to see these kids trying so hard to get people to obey them, people who would inevitably run right past without even acknowledging the marshalls' existence, just like most people ignore homeless people on the subway. (I stayed in the proper roadway the entire race, except once early on when I ran outside for about 15 feet to pass a wall of people.) This was despite the fact that the rules of the race state that if you leave the racecourse (i.e., go outside the cones) you will be disqualified from that race and any future New York Road Runners races.
I ran twice last week, about 4.2 miles each time. Before that I hadn't run since mid-December. In fact, I have run maybe 8 times since November 1st, and I can't remember the last time before that. When I run, I run with Yilin, who (despite her great progress) still only runs at about a 10:30 pace. (She never ran much before she started running with me.) That pace is not difficult for me, so I am never really pushing myself when I run. However, I felt that I could run that same pace for the entire 13.1 miles.
Except that I have never run that far before. I have never run half that far before. The longest distance I have ever run was 6 miles. I did that maybe 4 times last spring. One of those times was when I ran with Hyunmi and Mike in Central Park (we did the loop). That was the only time I had ever run in Central Park, that I can recall.
Therefore, on Sunday morning (21 degrees Fahrenheit, 14 with wind chill) I lined up at the starting line with those runners who planned on running an 11 minute/mile pace. I was trying to be realistic.
Well, I finished the race in 2:04:33, which is a 9:30 pace. While not stellar, I am not a runner (nor am I in shape), and I was pleasantly surprised that I beat my (admittedly lax) goal of an 11 minute mile pace by 1:30 per mile. I came in 2970th place, out of 4394 runners.
The weather was perfect, in my opinion. I don't perform as well in heat, so the colder the better. At the "fluid stations" (places where you get water or Gatorade), I grabbed water cups only to have to break the rather thick ice that formed at the top so that I could drink the water within. I mean about 1/4 inch think ice, using my index and middle fingers to punch a hole in the top. Some people were frustrated that they couldn't break the ice and spent a lot of time looking for freshly poured cups. I barely slowed down enough to grab any cup I could, slammed my fingers through the ice, took two large gulps, tossed the cup in a trash can (unlike hundreds of other people), and kept running.
Some observations about NYC runners:
Most people drastically over-estimate what pace they will run. As a result, I was blowing past people for the first 3 miles, and still passing a lot of people after 6 miles. In fact, I didn't cross the starting line until 5:20 into the race, and my first mile was run in 10:30 because there were so many people and it was difficult to pass them all.
Also, even up until mile 3, I was passing people who were walking. Why were they so far up in the starting position if they knew they would have to walk so early in the race? The worst was the speed walker I passed at about 2.5 miles into the race. Granted he was speedwalking really fast, but come on. He should not have started so far up. "Frustrated" doesn't begin to describe how I felt, especially since I purposely slowed down a number of times to keep pace with runners who I thought knew what pace they were running/going to run, and then realized that they were way too slow.
A large percentage of NYC "runners" like to think that they are real runners, and that the latest greatest high tech running shorts, shoes, socks, hats, tights, sunglasses, water-bottle-belts, and other crap will improve their performance. It won't. Some of these people passed me in miles 1-3, only to be found shortly thereafter huffing and puffing and/or walking as I cruised on by. Many of the others started ahead of me and ate my dust.
Don't misunderstand me: I don't think I am a great runner. I am definitely an athlete, and even when out of shape still far more physically fit than most people. But who signs up to run a 13.1 mile race when they should know that they can't run it? I seriously doubt that there were many people like me in that race: people who had never run a race before, had never even run half that distance before, and hadn't been training at all. So why were they performing so poorly? My answer to that question: they're weak.
Now to speak of the strong: The race course was two laps around the Central Park loop (6 miles each lap), followed by an additional 1.1 miles to the finish line. So, you actually cross the finish line 3 times: 1.1 miles into the race, 7.1 miles into the race, and at the end (13.1 miles). Thankfully, nobody lapped me (passed me while finishing their second lap, when I was still finishing my first).
However, the top five finishers did pass me after I finished the first loop, but within that 1.1 mile stretch before I crossed the finish line the second time and they crossed it for their third time. I think the winner ran the race in something like 1:10:??, or at a 5:30 pace or so. I am pretty sure that he beat all the wheelchair guys, who usually smoke everyone due to the slight advantage of having wheels on the downhill.
Something I learned about running long distance: at some point, you can't slow down. I became concerned that I might be running too fast at around mile 9, so I tried slowing down a little to conserve energy. I couldn't. For some reason, when I slowed down, it felt like I was using more energy to run slower. So I just let my legs keep going at whatever speed they wanted to. Also, after I crossed the finish line, walking was hard. Which is really odd since I had been running for 2 hours, you'd think walking would be a refreshing change. It wasn't. I felt like I was unsteady while standing. Very strange indeed.
One last funny thing: the loop in Central Park is also a road which is only open sometimes. Sunday it was closed (of course), but the race was supposed to be run only in half the road (the left lanes), while the other half was supposed to be left open for non-racers to use the park. Therefore, there were cones set up in the middle of the road, with race marshalls positioned every hundred yards or so asking everyone to stay to the left.
Well, the race marshalls were mostly 10-15 year olds. Take a guess at how many NYC adults would take orders from a 10-15 year old. Very few. It was sad and funny to see these kids trying so hard to get people to obey them, people who would inevitably run right past without even acknowledging the marshalls' existence, just like most people ignore homeless people on the subway. (I stayed in the proper roadway the entire race, except once early on when I ran outside for about 15 feet to pass a wall of people.) This was despite the fact that the rules of the race state that if you leave the racecourse (i.e., go outside the cones) you will be disqualified from that race and any future New York Road Runners races.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
My first race
Sunday will be my first long distance race ever. I am running in the Manhattan half marathon (13.1 miles). I originally signed up to run with Hyunmi, but she is backing out due to a knee injury.
To be honest, I haven't trained for this event. Well, not in a meaningful way. Sometime in November I started running with Yilin. We ran 3-4 miles per day, two (sometimes three) times per week. Then we went to Montreal for Christmas, then I was sick for two weeks, so I missed a lot of "training". This week is the first week I have run since mid-December: I ran 4 miles twice.
Effectively, I will be running the half marathon in close to the worst degree of physical fitness I have ever sunk to. Why do it, then? Because if I can be in such poor shape and still run a half marathon, then I have no reason not to tackle any physical challenge. Granted, it's not the same as taking on a marathon without training, but you have to qualify for most marathons. Besides, if I want to I can just run the course a second time once I finish. ;)
To be honest, I haven't trained for this event. Well, not in a meaningful way. Sometime in November I started running with Yilin. We ran 3-4 miles per day, two (sometimes three) times per week. Then we went to Montreal for Christmas, then I was sick for two weeks, so I missed a lot of "training". This week is the first week I have run since mid-December: I ran 4 miles twice.
Effectively, I will be running the half marathon in close to the worst degree of physical fitness I have ever sunk to. Why do it, then? Because if I can be in such poor shape and still run a half marathon, then I have no reason not to tackle any physical challenge. Granted, it's not the same as taking on a marathon without training, but you have to qualify for most marathons. Besides, if I want to I can just run the course a second time once I finish. ;)
Friday, January 12, 2007
New Kicks
When my parents visited last Saturday, my mom handed me some money and said, "Buy some new shoes." Now, I didn't think anything was wrong with my shoes, but I said, "OK. Thanks mom." (She is conditioning me to say this; usually my brother and I just protest and claim, for instance, that we don't need new shoes.) I told Yilin, and her immediate response was, "Thank God."
My mom and Yilin know something about me, which I will now reveal to you: I do not buy new shoes or clothes unless it is absolutely necessary. By "absolutely necessary" I mean that the item in question is unable to stay on my body, without my help, during a light jog. Any shoes or clothing that cannot survive/stay on during a light jog should not be worn. (I realize for women that means high heels, but then high heels are so impractical it makes me glad to be a man.) With one exception.
The exception being Exhibit A: my lab shoes. (My mom will cry when she sees I posted this to the internet.) Everyday I pull a Mr. Rogers: I walk into lab, take off my outer layer (long-sleeved shirt, sweater, etc) and change my shoes. I only wear my lab shoes in lab, and in lab I only wear my lab shoes. The duct tape has been replaced twice. I cannot wear them outside if it is at all wet because my socks will be soaked due to the size of the holes.
This exact model of shoe has been on my feet since... sometime in college (1995/6) for sure. They are Sperry Top-Siders. This is my third and final pair. The first two pairs were thrown in the trash by my mom when I was home for holiday breaks, after she bought me new pairs. This last pair was actually thrown in the trash five years ago, but I rescued them. They are my lab shoes.
I have completed about 95% of my thesis work thus far in these shoes, and will complete the rest of my thesis work in these shoes. My mom will also be happy to know that when I graduate I will retire these shoes and have them bronzed. They will hang on my wall above my diploma. (I might not even hang my diploma, rather give it to my parents and hang up my shoes.)
But for everyday wear, I now wear blazing yellow Onitsuka Tiger sneakers. Yilin and I went shoe shopping and I wasn't liking anything she picked out. Then I saw these and said, "What do you think?" She told me to try them on, then decided that she really liked them. They're comfortable, so I bought them and wear them everyday.
The reason I got these was that I believe they serve as a proper warning. In nature, poisonous and deadly animals are brightly colored as a bold and daring warning to others: "Mess with me and you will die." In Manhattan, my deadly feet express the same sentiment: "Mess with me and my kung fu kicks will leave you to die in the gutter."
The colors are even appropriately those of Bruce Lee's tracksuit in "Game of Death", which you may recognize as Uma Thurman's tracksuit in "Kill Bill". And they work: I always see people staring at my feet, walking clear of me, with looks of mortal terror across their brows. Nobody has messed with me since I got these new shoes.
My mom and Yilin know something about me, which I will now reveal to you: I do not buy new shoes or clothes unless it is absolutely necessary. By "absolutely necessary" I mean that the item in question is unable to stay on my body, without my help, during a light jog. Any shoes or clothing that cannot survive/stay on during a light jog should not be worn. (I realize for women that means high heels, but then high heels are so impractical it makes me glad to be a man.) With one exception.
The exception being Exhibit A: my lab shoes. (My mom will cry when she sees I posted this to the internet.) Everyday I pull a Mr. Rogers: I walk into lab, take off my outer layer (long-sleeved shirt, sweater, etc) and change my shoes. I only wear my lab shoes in lab, and in lab I only wear my lab shoes. The duct tape has been replaced twice. I cannot wear them outside if it is at all wet because my socks will be soaked due to the size of the holes.
This exact model of shoe has been on my feet since... sometime in college (1995/6) for sure. They are Sperry Top-Siders. This is my third and final pair. The first two pairs were thrown in the trash by my mom when I was home for holiday breaks, after she bought me new pairs. This last pair was actually thrown in the trash five years ago, but I rescued them. They are my lab shoes.I have completed about 95% of my thesis work thus far in these shoes, and will complete the rest of my thesis work in these shoes. My mom will also be happy to know that when I graduate I will retire these shoes and have them bronzed. They will hang on my wall above my diploma. (I might not even hang my diploma, rather give it to my parents and hang up my shoes.)
But for everyday wear, I now wear blazing yellow Onitsuka Tiger sneakers. Yilin and I went shoe shopping and I wasn't liking anything she picked out. Then I saw these and said, "What do you think?" She told me to try them on, then decided that she really liked them. They're comfortable, so I bought them and wear them everyday.
The reason I got these was that I believe they serve as a proper warning. In nature, poisonous and deadly animals are brightly colored as a bold and daring warning to others: "Mess with me and you will die." In Manhattan, my deadly feet express the same sentiment: "Mess with me and my kung fu kicks will leave you to die in the gutter."The colors are even appropriately those of Bruce Lee's tracksuit in "Game of Death", which you may recognize as Uma Thurman's tracksuit in "Kill Bill". And they work: I always see people staring at my feet, walking clear of me, with looks of mortal terror across their brows. Nobody has messed with me since I got these new shoes.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
300
Every once in a while a movie trailer comes along that makes my jaw drop and makes me unable to sit still in anticipation. A trailer which causes the hairs on your arms and the back of your neck to stand up. Well, when I went home for Thanksgiving I saw such a trailer, and it is for the movie 300.
The movie is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller, who did the comic book "Sin City", which you may have also seen on the big screen. Miller got the idea from watching the movie "The 300 Spartans" as a kid. The inspiration for that movie comes from one of the many battles at Thermopylae.
In this particular battle, 300 Spartan warriors guard a narrow pass to prevent the Persian army from conquering not only Sparta and all of Greece, but all of Europe as well. The wiki of this historic battle is pretty interesting, and references Herodotus' "The Histories" (which I own, but have yet found time to read). I will sum up some of the interesting points here, but feel free to read more on your own.
In essence, 300 Spartans and something like 6,000 others planned on guarding the pass against a foe estimated by historians to number somewhere between 200,000 to far in excess of 1 million, depending on whose written accounts you believe.
Xerxes, the emperor of Persia, sent messengers to each of the Greek citystates demanding their submission to Persia, with gifts of earth and water as symbols of their surrender. Most of the messengers were sent away. Some were told to get it themselves and then cast into wells. Obviously this ticked off Xerxes. He brought his army ashore near Thermopylae, a narrow pass amidst the rocky shores of Greece. At a mere 15 yards wide, this pass was the gateway to Europe. ("Thermopylae" roughly translates to "gates of fire".)
On the first day of battle, Xerxes sent forward 10,000 troops. All of them were killed, at the cost of only 2 or 3 Spartans. Xerxes was stunned. The Spartans dismissed all of the other Greeks who were with them, but some 1,000-2,000 stayed.
At this point I have decided not to tell you more about the battle (read the wiki if you have to know). Instead, I will ask you to view the trailer (a longer version of which I saw in Montreal when we went to see "Apocalypto").
And ask yourself this: "What does a pile of 10,000 bodies look like?"
The movie is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller, who did the comic book "Sin City", which you may have also seen on the big screen. Miller got the idea from watching the movie "The 300 Spartans" as a kid. The inspiration for that movie comes from one of the many battles at Thermopylae.
In this particular battle, 300 Spartan warriors guard a narrow pass to prevent the Persian army from conquering not only Sparta and all of Greece, but all of Europe as well. The wiki of this historic battle is pretty interesting, and references Herodotus' "The Histories" (which I own, but have yet found time to read). I will sum up some of the interesting points here, but feel free to read more on your own.
In essence, 300 Spartans and something like 6,000 others planned on guarding the pass against a foe estimated by historians to number somewhere between 200,000 to far in excess of 1 million, depending on whose written accounts you believe.
Xerxes, the emperor of Persia, sent messengers to each of the Greek citystates demanding their submission to Persia, with gifts of earth and water as symbols of their surrender. Most of the messengers were sent away. Some were told to get it themselves and then cast into wells. Obviously this ticked off Xerxes. He brought his army ashore near Thermopylae, a narrow pass amidst the rocky shores of Greece. At a mere 15 yards wide, this pass was the gateway to Europe. ("Thermopylae" roughly translates to "gates of fire".)
On the first day of battle, Xerxes sent forward 10,000 troops. All of them were killed, at the cost of only 2 or 3 Spartans. Xerxes was stunned. The Spartans dismissed all of the other Greeks who were with them, but some 1,000-2,000 stayed.
At this point I have decided not to tell you more about the battle (read the wiki if you have to know). Instead, I will ask you to view the trailer (a longer version of which I saw in Montreal when we went to see "Apocalypto").
And ask yourself this: "What does a pile of 10,000 bodies look like?"
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Linux
Just before Christmas I got fed up with Windows XP. So last week I formatted my harddrive and installed Linux (specifically Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft for those that care). This has become an interesting endeavor.
Let's just say that I actually installed Linux 4 times. The first three times I managed to screw up my installation bad enough so that I couldn't use my computer at all. The most memorable incident was when I (note: Nerd Alert) made myself a superuser and locked myself out of Bin by denying root access privileges. (If you understand the consequences of that on a *nix machine then you are probably laughing. If you didn't understand that, then feel free to laugh at those of us who do find it funny.)
Not only is my operating system different enough that it takes me about 30 minutes to do something that took 2 minutes in XP (learning curve; once I figure it out it takes <2 minutes in Ubuntu). I no longer use familiar programs such as Microsoft Office or Photoshop. I now use OpenOffice and GIMP. Instead of Illustrator I use Inkscape. So far it hasn't been problematic, as the programs new to me are very good. Better yet, they are free.
That is something I haven't mentioned: price. Linux, and all the programs now present on my computer, are free. Not "free" as in "pirated", but "free" as in "free beer". These pieces of software are part of what is collectively called "open source software". There are thousands of computer programmers working tirelessly to thwart the capitalist efforts of software corporations everywhere. They work hard to create programs that anyone can download and use for free, with nothing in return but a warm fuzzy feeling. Amazing.
Of course, the open source alternatives (which often run on Windows, Mac, and *nix) are usually not the equal to the corporate produced software. But they often aren't far behind, and usually offer more flexibility in the way that you use them.
Anyway, we'll see how far this little Linux experiment of mine goes. For about 2 years I've wanted to throw off the yoke of Microsoft, but the timing didn't seem right, or there wasn't enough open source software capable of what I've needed to do lab work. But now, it seems that the tide has turned just a little...
Let's just say that I actually installed Linux 4 times. The first three times I managed to screw up my installation bad enough so that I couldn't use my computer at all. The most memorable incident was when I (note: Nerd Alert) made myself a superuser and locked myself out of Bin by denying root access privileges. (If you understand the consequences of that on a *nix machine then you are probably laughing. If you didn't understand that, then feel free to laugh at those of us who do find it funny.)
Not only is my operating system different enough that it takes me about 30 minutes to do something that took 2 minutes in XP (learning curve; once I figure it out it takes <2 minutes in Ubuntu). I no longer use familiar programs such as Microsoft Office or Photoshop. I now use OpenOffice and GIMP. Instead of Illustrator I use Inkscape. So far it hasn't been problematic, as the programs new to me are very good. Better yet, they are free.
That is something I haven't mentioned: price. Linux, and all the programs now present on my computer, are free. Not "free" as in "pirated", but "free" as in "free beer". These pieces of software are part of what is collectively called "open source software". There are thousands of computer programmers working tirelessly to thwart the capitalist efforts of software corporations everywhere. They work hard to create programs that anyone can download and use for free, with nothing in return but a warm fuzzy feeling. Amazing.
Of course, the open source alternatives (which often run on Windows, Mac, and *nix) are usually not the equal to the corporate produced software. But they often aren't far behind, and usually offer more flexibility in the way that you use them.
Anyway, we'll see how far this little Linux experiment of mine goes. For about 2 years I've wanted to throw off the yoke of Microsoft, but the timing didn't seem right, or there wasn't enough open source software capable of what I've needed to do lab work. But now, it seems that the tide has turned just a little...
Monday, January 08, 2007
Obligatory Post-Holiday Entry
I am a bit tired right now (more on that later), so this post will be a bit brief, and not fully encompass everything that has happened since I last blogged. Also, I took almost entirely film photographs rather than digital, so if those pictures ever grace this blog, it will probably be a while as I haven't even finished the roll of film yet. Lastly, omission does not equate unimportance.
I had a great holiday vacation. Friday, December 22nd, Yilin and I went to Montreal to visit her family for Christmas and New Year's Eve. A lot of the time was spent seeing Montreal, which was great. I haven't had much of a chance to do that in the past.
Christmas dinner was awesome. Literally. I was so stuffed it might as well have been Thanksgiving, especially since there was a huge turkey. In fact, every day we ate a lot, with Christmas, Dec 26th, and New Year's Eve being the biggest of the feasts, but not by much.
Yilin and I also took care of some wedding stuff, meeting up with our wedding planner, Elyna, and meeting the photographer, tent people, getting info on the DJ, meeting the florist. It was good to get this stuff out of the way.
New Year's Eve was spent at home, with Yilin, Yen-I (her brother), and I cooking dinner for her parents. I did the least amount of work, but I am OK with that.
Her parents drove us back to New York and stayed for the week. Unfortunately, I managed to get sick. Today is my attempt at a first day back at work (although I have been coming in for 2 or 3 hours every day to check on my mice, etc.) As a result, I didn't spend a whole lot of time with them here, although we went to the Metropolitan Opera to see The First Emperor starring non other than Placido Domingo. It was a very interesting production: a combination of Chinese opera and western opera. While some lines were in Mandarin, the vast majority was in English. (That was probably the weirdest part for me, to hear an opera in English.) The costumes and sets were amazing. I feel, however, that my lack of familiarity with Chinese opera prevented me from truly appreciating it.
Tuesday night we went to Babbo, one of Iron Chef Mario Batali's restaurants. (If you remember, this is one of the two men who Yilin loves more than me, the other being Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.) Even though I was very congested and couldn't smell anything, I enjoyed the restaurant. But it wasn't what I expected: it was louder than I would've liked, less expensive than I thought it would be (Yilin told me it was really expensive, so naturally I thought in the range of $200+ per person), and only a few of the dishes appealed to me when reading the menu. But, I was sick, so food in general wasn't extremely appetizing. I think I will have to go back when I am healthier to get a better feel for it. (Note: This place is Yilin's favorite Italian restaurant. You have to call one month in advance for reservations, and you can't reserve a table more than one month in advance, i.e. if you want to eat there on February 18th, you'd better call at 10am on January 18th and hope to get through.)
Most of the rest of the week I was sick.
Saturday my parents visited and all of us hung out and had a good time. We found a really good, reasonably priced, Italian restaurant near Columbus Circle called Puttanesca. Everyone thought the food was really good, and entrees were around $14-18 for the pasta dishes.
I have a few other things to devote single posts to, but they are for other days. Check back tomorrow.
I had a great holiday vacation. Friday, December 22nd, Yilin and I went to Montreal to visit her family for Christmas and New Year's Eve. A lot of the time was spent seeing Montreal, which was great. I haven't had much of a chance to do that in the past.
Christmas dinner was awesome. Literally. I was so stuffed it might as well have been Thanksgiving, especially since there was a huge turkey. In fact, every day we ate a lot, with Christmas, Dec 26th, and New Year's Eve being the biggest of the feasts, but not by much.
Yilin and I also took care of some wedding stuff, meeting up with our wedding planner, Elyna, and meeting the photographer, tent people, getting info on the DJ, meeting the florist. It was good to get this stuff out of the way.
New Year's Eve was spent at home, with Yilin, Yen-I (her brother), and I cooking dinner for her parents. I did the least amount of work, but I am OK with that.
Her parents drove us back to New York and stayed for the week. Unfortunately, I managed to get sick. Today is my attempt at a first day back at work (although I have been coming in for 2 or 3 hours every day to check on my mice, etc.) As a result, I didn't spend a whole lot of time with them here, although we went to the Metropolitan Opera to see The First Emperor starring non other than Placido Domingo. It was a very interesting production: a combination of Chinese opera and western opera. While some lines were in Mandarin, the vast majority was in English. (That was probably the weirdest part for me, to hear an opera in English.) The costumes and sets were amazing. I feel, however, that my lack of familiarity with Chinese opera prevented me from truly appreciating it.
Tuesday night we went to Babbo, one of Iron Chef Mario Batali's restaurants. (If you remember, this is one of the two men who Yilin loves more than me, the other being Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.) Even though I was very congested and couldn't smell anything, I enjoyed the restaurant. But it wasn't what I expected: it was louder than I would've liked, less expensive than I thought it would be (Yilin told me it was really expensive, so naturally I thought in the range of $200+ per person), and only a few of the dishes appealed to me when reading the menu. But, I was sick, so food in general wasn't extremely appetizing. I think I will have to go back when I am healthier to get a better feel for it. (Note: This place is Yilin's favorite Italian restaurant. You have to call one month in advance for reservations, and you can't reserve a table more than one month in advance, i.e. if you want to eat there on February 18th, you'd better call at 10am on January 18th and hope to get through.)
Most of the rest of the week I was sick.
Saturday my parents visited and all of us hung out and had a good time. We found a really good, reasonably priced, Italian restaurant near Columbus Circle called Puttanesca. Everyone thought the food was really good, and entrees were around $14-18 for the pasta dishes.
I have a few other things to devote single posts to, but they are for other days. Check back tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
