Monthly Archive for February, 2005

The Student Life Centre

hiyo.org is out for the count. The webhost isn’t being very helpful at all. Posting to bennymoto.com had to be suspended due to recent server overload (there are a couple hundred websites on the same server). And posting here has been sparse to say the least. If you’re all dying for something to read, I have the answer for you!

The Student Life Centre

It’s a new website which I’ll write about my life on campus here at UW, but also a lot of happenings which other people should know about as well. It’s written in a Gothamist inspired style, though it’s kinda of just me for now. More than anything, this is just something for me to do, a hobby which will kick me into getting some sort of routine down. I think I’ve become trapped in my writing on the bennybox, and i think the SLC is a nice outlet for me right now.

I’m trying to have fun with it, and didn’t want to announce it without some solid layout down. But the site will evolve, and hopefullly I can write something interesting to someone.

The Student Life Centre is the name of the UW Student Services building. It’s hope to Imprint, the student paper, the student union office, The Bombshelter, a pub we all love, and various retail and food services. It’s the Central Plexus of student life here on campus, so it’s a fitting name for the UW blog.

I’m going to draw a lot of my information from my travels through the web, mostly the indispensible UW Bulletin (the reason websites like this haven’t come into being sooner), some UW blogs, Imprint, the occasional Lindsay Lohan news and whatever else I can find something relevant to talk about.

The web address will move to the domain studentlifecentre.com and maybe this hobby can develop into something serious. Till then, it’s point the ship to the third star on your right and sail till morning.

SLC pic courtesy of Ram.

You Oughta Know.

Yahoo! News - Alanis Morissette Becomes U.S. Citizen - I think by some logic, this is ironic?

Give me my Red Pocket!

There wasn’t any countdown, sparkly hats, noisemakers or Ryan Seacrest. It may have passed quietly, but today is the first day of the New Year, the Rooster.

The Chinese Zodiac runs on a twelve-month cycle, which means that next year, when I turn 24 will be the Year of the Dog. Good things are supposed to happen, and I’ve been waiting since I was 12 for another.

I’ve never had the urge to jump on the New Year, New Beginnings train before, likely because I’ve never kept to a resolution in my life. This year seems different, and for probably the first time ever, I have the opportunity for a fresh start.

Those who knew me these past twelve months have seen me at my highest and lowest. CUTC is long over (and I’m not looking back!). Six months of being single (with a few false starts in there), I’m finally ready to put a foot forward. I’m looking for a job for the summer. A job in Vancouver or at the new Apple Store would please me greatly.

My metabolism has revved up, I can’t quite figure out why. I’m starving a few hours after scarfing down these giant meals. Satiating my appetite with midnight snacks is like dousing a five-alarm fire with my old obsolete P4 desktop. I’m losing weight, and it’s dropping quickly.

All this has put me in a position where it would do me well to make a lot of changes. Maybe 22 wasn’t so hot. I need to use 23 right and set up an amazing 24.

Lets see…
* this website is back. and a couple projects somewhere in the pipe will help get me grounded into routine.
* the DC Comics Encyclopedia has got me back into reading comic books once again. Kingdom Come and the Justice League show made me a DC fan. I already picked up the Bone Anthology (so good), and I’ll soon have the full TPB collection of the new Marvel Ultimate Books.
* the movies just stack up. awaiting my slanty eye: Wong Kar Wai’s 2046 has been on my shelf for a month too long.
* And I will go out and learn to love this great city more! Winterlicious may end tomorrow, but there’s just so much to do, and I’ve been slowly learning where to look. Excited for Wicked in March! I’ve had tickets since November.

Anything except sitting around eating Campus Pizza and vegetating infront of the television. Go out and learn something!

Google Maps

Hype!!! - Fly around Toronto

Chinese New Year 2005

Happy New Year! - It’s the Year of the Cock. *chuckle*

UPDATE: It’s apparently the Year of the Wood Rooster! You can’t make this stuff up!

Switch - The Steve Jobs Experience

I’m not sure if it was overwhelming gadget lust, frustration with the Windows platform, or a sore back from lugging around my Dell laptop to and from campus (I swear the thing is made of dark matter), but in late October of last year I cracked and picked up a used Apple iBook. My baby the bennyBook.

I’ve become a virtual overnight Mac Enthusiast.

iBook Hits:
* iLife - why I switched in the first place
* no crashes!
* no viruses
* Airport Extreme - the best wireless ever

iBook Misses:
* Gotta remember to make PC compatible files
* Learning all new keyboard shortcuts is a PAIN.
* 1024×768 isn’t enough pixels for me, even on a 12″ screen.

I love the wakeup from sleep. 3-4 seconds and I’m going after I open the display. With my dell, it’s a good half a minute before I can do anything useful. Not to mention the 10 seconds it takes to open the Start menu.

And there’s something strangely satisfying about burning a DVD while playing mp3s, downloading several torrents, surfing the web, chatting on MSN, and not having a single hiccup.

The “one mouse button” thing wasn’t as big a deal as I originally thought, and for a 800MHz computer, I outperform my 2.2GHz Dell on basically everything. It’s a charming device.

Want to get a taste (2005 is the year of the Mac afterall)? Download iTunes, and import all your music into it (and let it organize your file for you). After a few weeks, it’s ease of use and usability will really impress you, and you’ll start to get a knack for how Macs deliver a better user-experience.

Hitoshi hates Apple with a passion. I agree that Macs can’t do a lot of things that PCs can do. The idea behind switch though, is that Macs do the everyday stuff you need better and when you need it to, it works.

Time to mail my resume off to Apple Canada. We’re getting an Apple Store in Yorkdale this year.

Esthero

Oh, you’re just waiting for me to drown
So no one knows that you stole my whole sound.

esthero has a new album due. Her debut breath from another is still one of my favorites. It should go on your “cds i don’t own but should” list (if you have one).