she who speaks

The Picture of Dignity (or: TMI?)

Elea — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:22:01 +0000

Viewing things through an ironic lens has become the best way to cope when my medical whatever-it-is-thingamabobber-that-still-hasn’t-gotten-resolved pops up. I’ve certainly been the picture of dignity lately. Highlights include having an ass cheek spasm for an hour or so last week (alarming, to say the least, but also so absurd that I had to laugh) and being paralyzed after lunch at work while badly needing to go to the bathroom (it waits for no bladder? Also, by the way, fellow coworkers, I know I haven’t mentioned this before, but don’t be alarmed…I have this thing…).

If my condition had a Twitter account, today it’d be filled with riveting details such as: Managed to migrate self from bed to bathroom. Success! [12pm] and Why am I getting hot flashes? Can’t possibly be close to menopause, but having it as another of many symptoms is just mean [5pm].

It’s just a shame sheer willpower isn’t an adequate fix. But I suppose if I can’t just feel better and be out getting things done, at least I have good material for a neglected blog and potential awkward moments to create with acquaintances who ask, “So how’re you doing?”

Pseudo updates, or ‘oh yeah, I remember this blog thing’

Elea — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:37:08 +0000

Things I’ve been up to lately:

Adopting a kitten with Corey and adjusting our household to her feisty moods
Delving into design again at work (I was initially focusing only on UI implementation here) and learning to suck a bit less with/at jQuery/JavaScript
Researching musical keyboards so that I can finally hunker down, buy one, and hopefully create something halfway decent. Hopefully?

Things I hope to get to at some point, but just haven’t made a priority (aka ‘I know I’m lame, and what I would like to do about it’):

Actually keeping this site updated/making it not embarrassing for myself to look at or point people to
- Good news: do plan at converting this into a tumblelog. Have yet to decide whether I want to create a Tumblr theme or delve into the functionalities of WordPress 3…

Elea — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 06:38:26 +0000

Today, Facebook removed its users’ ability to control who can see their own interests and personal information. Certain parts of users’ profiles, “including your current city, hometown, education and work, and likes and interests” will now be transformed into “connections,” meaning that they will be shared publicly. If you don’t want these parts of your profile to be made public, your only option is to delete them.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, on some of Facebook’s latest changes

Elea — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 00:40:17 +0000

Got to catch Florence and her machine live last night (from the very front row). She was adorable and fun and now I envy that voice even more.

Elea — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 00:21:14 +0000

Totally late to the party, but why does Apple/iTunes make it super difficult to burn shows that you purchased onto DVDs? And why isn’t it clear beforehand that DVD burning is restricted by the DRM?

Upgrading my Droid Eris to Android 2.1

Elea — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:28:50 +0000

A little over a month ago, I finally caught up with every other techie in the area and traded in my reliable but feature-light cellphone for a smartphone — specifically, the Droid Eris. I knew that the phone was still on an older version of the Android OS, but since 2.1 was already announced to be coming in Spring 2010, it didn’t seem like such a big deal.

This weekend, Google Contacts sync somehow managed to delete most of my contacts, so I decided that I might as well try my hand at upgrading my phone to the leaked Android 2.1 OS. (Yes, I backed up everything else. No, I did not get manage to get my contacts back automatically. Yes, I’ll be switching back to the OTA update once it’s available.) While everything seems to be working pretty smoothly now, as someone who’s not a hardcore Android developer, I thought that the original instructions could use a bit more detail (it took a few tries before I got it working), so here’s my version (which may only be relevant for ~~anywhere from a day to a week, as Verizon’s supposed to officially roll out 2.1 anytime now~~ an indefinite period of time, as Verizon keeps pushing back the official update):

Download the patched 2.1 ROM
Make sure the zip file is: intact (not unzipped), named PB00IMG.zip exactly, and in the SD card root (mine originally went into the SD card’s downloads folder, but I was able to move it, thanks to the ASTRO File Manager app I had)
Turn off your phone (again: make sure you have things backed up. You can do this in a variety of ways; I used the free version of MyBackup, since the Pro version isn’t yet available in the newer Apps Market)
Press and hold the Power and Call buttons down at the same time
A menu will appear on your screen with the default option of FLASHBOOT. You should “scroll” (with the Volumn Down button) to select HBOOT instead. If you see messages about “No image!” (this caused me a bit of panic initially), but still have a blue status bar loading upwards on the right of the screen, you’re fine.
The phone will reboot a few times. Just press the trackball to keep selecting HBOOT initially and let it finish.

I have to say that my phone feels a lot faster and smoother after the upgrade, and I’m even happier with the Eris now. Plus, the boyfriend and I have been having way too much fun testing out Google Goggles on things all around the apartment.

Addendum: As usual with leaks, be warned that there are a number of (what I consider to be small) bugs that come with the upgrade. For a list of reported problems (and fixes), check out the thread via Android Forums.

Elea — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:16:01 +0000

[See post for audio]
Lovebird – I Will

At least every few months, I go on a hunt for new music and artists. I can’t quite remember when I developed this habit or how I discovered Lovebird, but I stumbled across the band towards the end of last year, and was really surprised at how unknown they are. Lovebird’s indie rock has a beautifully soothing sound that transitions smoothly from mood to mood on the (self-titled) debut album, and I’ve been especially listening to them en route to work in the mornings.

Listen if you like: Eisley, Sixpence None the Richer, The Cranberries
Album available via: Amazon, iTunes

New roommate

Elea — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:21:14 +0000

Well, I suppose now that I’ve broken the news to my mother, I can tell the internets (or at least mention on my sad, neglected blog) that I’ve started officially LIVING IN SIN. With my boyfriend. And yes, we’ve brought the Quixy along.

Questions

Elea — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:08:11 +0000

Sometimes there are drawbacks to having friends who are ambitious, smart, and talented. Sometimes I’m afraid that for all the hard work and effort in the world, I may never end up being as accomplished. Sometimes I’m also afraid that I don’t have what it takes, because I burn out in between and my health continues to be up and down, and life doesn’t always work out the way you plan or want.

As someone who wasn’t born in the United States, a lot of the decisions I’ve had to make have been weighted heavily by the legal implications and the financial burden any choice would entail. Amongst all my worries, I also want to know: when can I really just be free to pursue what I want? And in the end, how much am I sure of what I want and how much am I willing to do or give up to get it?

Balance

Elea — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:14:04 +0000

How do people balance the desire to be open with the need to be discreet? Most of the time I like my name, but increasingly, I hesitate before posting anything because there are certain people who abuse the vastness of the web. It’s easy to say that you should just ignore it all, but harder to do; there are general topics that probably ought not to be discussed publicly (i.e. work, visa issues, and now family, since all my relatives are familiar with Google by this point) or things that I just feel awkward broaching online (particularly: love life). Since I can’t figure out a happy medium yet, I just find myself remaining silently frustrated with all the things I can’t say.