July 15, 2008

Blogroll updated

I finally updated my blogroll (see right column). If you haven't been blogging for a long, long time I dumped your lazy ass. I mean blog.*

I have a ton of design/craft/cooking/photography blogs I read too but I haven't linked to those. Britta woke up so the likelihood of me linking to them anytime soon is not so good.

Also I removed the Amazon associates widgets because it didn't seem worth selling out my readers and messing up my blog for the meager $4 I made off of you.
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*I spared Shawnazlog from the axe because 4 little, little kids is a good excuse and I have hope she will return to blogging just as soon as she can come up for air.

Posted by jana at 7:59 AM | Comments (2)

June 13, 2008

Because I know you guys care

1. I ordered Weeds Season 3 : disc 1 from Netflix. The blu-ray version showed up. Really it was my fault for switching my account preference (for research purposes) and then not switching it back because I do not have Blu-ray. I reported the disc "mislabeled" and sent it back to Netflix.

2. In the meantime I thought I would just watch the first episode on Amazon Unbox. Not so when the player kept crashing. I finally gave up and went to bed last night.

3. Yay, got a the new disc from Netflix today. It is Blu-ray again even though I changed my account settings. Grrr. This time I reported the disc "un-playable."

4. Tried Unbox again. Crashed again. Re-installed the player. Will see how that pans out.

5. Thinking I could watch it on iTunes... but oh yeah, I already allocated over 5 machines to my itunes. No go there.

6. Thought about watching some sort of network television from abc.com. Had to install a special player on top of their flash player. Why? Turns out there isn't anything I want to watch there anyway.

7. Oh yeah, I could watch something on the "watch instantly" on Netflix. It only works in IE on the PC. For some reason I can't "update" the player because something is set wrong but I can't figure out what.

This is ridiculous. I may flip on the tv. But probably not.

So far I think MTV is the only company that has gotten the streaming right. I can watch full episodes whenever I want with commercials.

Posted by jana at 8:57 PM

May 11, 2008

Happy Trance Mixed Tape

Yesterday I twittered that listening to the Beautiful Girls song by Sean Kinston 16 times... or many more... made me happy.

Today in my inbox Marcus [insert last name], an actor, model and DJ in NYC sent me an even better version. See, he is still really cool. As Andy said, "he never did belong in B-town." I won't tell you how the new song is better, you'll just have to hear for yourself. Let's just say my favorite band and a song from one of my favorite shows is in the mix.

I'm testing out this new site I found called Mixwit. It would be fun to add more songs to my mix but for now there is just one.

Now go on and get happy.

Posted by jana at 6:21 PM | Comments (1)

May 1, 2008

New camera report

See previous post as to why I have yet to upload or hardly take any photos from my new camera.

Yay, I got a new camera!

It is the ultimate geek camera and there's a lot to learn. Should I shoot in RAW or just leave it to the default jpeg? What is this Active D-Lighting? How do I override the flash? Why would I want to turn off the VR setting on my lens? What lens should I buy next?

I realize this is a whole new game from my days of loading film into my camera. Now I can simulate any type of film per shot. It is going to take me a long time to get this thing figured out.

For now I'm just happy to have a higher quality lens!

Posted by jana at 10:37 PM | Comments (1)

March 8, 2008

What are you doing?

I am twittering. Actually I have been twittering for a while into the abyss. Now I've added the Twitter badge to the right of my bloggy so you can know even more minutiae about me. Sometimes I even mention what I'm thinking about eating for lunch. In fact food does seem to be what I Twitter about most.

And speaking of Twitter, when I came back from Chicago I met up with a group of moms. They asked me how my trip was. I said "great, I even got to ride in a car next to Evan Williams!"

Blank stares.

"He is the founder of Blogger and Twitter."

Blank stares.

Ah ha, geek celebrity! And that must make me a geek.

Posted by jana at 7:43 AM | Comments (3)

March 6, 2008

Last chance to test your inner mutant (cheaply)

My spit kit test just showed up. Cool.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the last day to participate in the huge discount for QTrait's genetic testing site. From my friend Tera Eerkes, the CEO of QTrait:

Hi everyone,

We've been filling up our orders, and are going to turn off the 90% discount at midnight on Friday, March 7th, as planned. If you haven't yet signed up, please get your orders in soon by going to

www.QTrait.com

Remember, it's easy to get the discount. Just pick out genetic tests that interest you, go to the checkout, then follow the survey link at the bottom of the order "Review" page.

When you've completed the survey, you'll be linked back to the "Review" page, and the 90% discount will be automatically applied.

Later next week, we'll close down the site to the public while we make improvements.

Posted by jana at 10:11 PM | Comments (1)

February 29, 2008

DNA analysis beta testing invitation

Hey everyone,

Some people I know have been working hard on a website for recreational genetic testing. That means nothing scary. All the tests are "nice to know" in helping you better make some life decisions. For example, you can learn how your genes play a role in allergies, nutrition, physical aptitude, certain behaviors and more. Over 40 tests are available individually or in groups as described more fully at www.QTrait.com. Everything is completely confidential.

Here's the scoop:
If you want in the beta test you will be asked to take an 15 minute or so online survey before you place your order and after you receive your results. You'll have to hurry to participate at the reduced price because the beta test is only available to the first 200 people.

Email: info@qtrait.com with the message "Genes for me" in the subject line to receive an invitation to the beta test. You will receive an invitation for a 15% discount off regular price for orders placed.

Posted by jana at 7:37 PM

September 24, 2007

Microsoft...grrr

I've had my MacBook for less than a month and I'm already on the Microsoft diatribe.

Can't a girl download IE for the Mac? Not that I want to actually use the browser but I would like to do some testing.

Posted by jana at 9:24 PM | Comments (3)

September 4, 2007

why I may use my broken cell phone even longer

Email exchange with one of my techie friends:

Me: I'm buying an iphone tonight.

Friend: Baby needs a new pair of shoes, you keep the !@# old phone. School starts tomorrow and you need the boy looking good.

Me: ha ha, usually that is my motto but not this time. My cell phone is busted. I don't have an mp3 player either.

Wait, wait, now I'm starting to think "no iphone". Damn you.

Friend: $500 bucks hurts when you drop it or your kid spills juice on it! Get a mini (which is kinda bulletproof and a T-mobile Dash)

------
I'm on my way to the apple store tonight. I decided to get the 15" powerbook instead of the 17" so I was going to use that savings for an iphone. Or not.

My latest blog posts seem to be all about me not buying gadgets.

Tomorrow is Karsten's first day of kindergarten so those of you only reading my blog for the kid updates you can check back tomorrow for the requisite school bus shot.

Update: I'm making this post from my new powerbook! No plug and pray... it just worked. I'm imressed alredy. No iphone. I was *this* close, but I think I'll be getting one soon.

Posted by jana at 5:33 PM | Comments (3)

August 28, 2007

done!

Camera has been purchased. Michael threw me off the fuji track with his comment on the new Canons. After even more searching I found this Canon Powershot SD800 with zoom, image stabilization, wide-angle lens and small size. I probably would have continued my feet dragging search endlessly but I realized next week is the first day of school and I can't let that pass by without photos. Hurray for deadlines.

Posted by jana at 1:09 PM

August 23, 2007

My camera buying techniques

Step 1. Ask the User Experience Design Team at work which cameras they recommend.

Step 2. Look up each camera on Amazon. Browse to the "Your Amazon" area, click on "Your Browsing History" in the subnavigation, click the compare button for each camera I want to compare the product info on.

Step 3. Surf over to Flickr. Locate the "Camera Finder" feature. View photo samples from cameras I'm interested in. What helps the most is looking at photos taken by the average user. Compare stats on how many photos are taken with each camera by how many people so I can be assured this is a camera that will be easy to pack with me.

Unfortunately the Canon 20D didn't make the Entrepreneur's Wife budget at this time. I'll keep dreaming. My reality camera surprisingly turned out to be a Fuji.

Big kudos to Flickr for camera buying help.

Posted by jana at 10:23 PM | Comments (2)

August 19, 2007

CD versus digital download

1 reason to buy a physical CD: Maktub is releasing a new CD shrink wrapped in edible/smokable recycled chipboard. Now that's something you won't get with the digital version. I'm looking forward to hearing Maktub's new album and hopefully catching a live show.

More at Maktub.com

Posted by jana at 10:08 PM

August 17, 2007

Nada

The scene: sitting around a cafeteria table with all male software developer co-workers. I'm trying not to type geeks, but it is implied (and I mean this as a compliment).

Me: My camera broke, my cell phone broke, I don't own an MP3 player, and I'm not locked into a cell phone contract.

Co-wokers: (blank stares)

Me: Don't you see this as a sign?

Co-workers: (blank stares)

Me: This of course is a sign I need an iphone!

At this point I think they will jumping up and down geeking out that I'm even thinking such thoughts.

Co-workers: If it breaks you've lost everything. And an iphone can hardly count as a camera.

Sigh. I'm going through camera withdrawl. The LCD panel on my phone went out. Someone point me to Walden Pond

Posted by jana at 9:28 AM | Comments (1)

August 8, 2007

Co-workers, be warned

Because my job requires me to do some futzing around with code I try and avoid it in my spare time. Spare time is reserved for things that don't drive me batty and take years off of my life. So of course my blog has looked like doo doo since I first started it years ago. I figured we're all friends here and this would be the same as not inviting my dear friends over to my messy house. If I cared too much I'd never invite anyone over. If I cared too much about what this blog looked like I'd never blog.

Then I ran across this font and thought: this is me! A font that I can identify with: a rough sketch, in-progress, and thinking about fun. I made a little gif and thought I'd easily upload it and that would be that.

It probably would have been that easy had I not been trying to attempt this while the kids were fighting over newly purchased Scooby Doo yogurt. I didn't save a back-up file of the code I was working on. I know. I really do know. Bad me.

It turns out the code wasn't CSS, html or javascript so when I deleted something that looked all funny I knew it would be bad, and even worse when I hit "save and rebuild." Had I not futzed with this once before a few years ago I could probably just reload an old template. But I can't.

For now my banner link is hosed. I plan to hit up the professionals at work tomorrow for a banner rescue mission.

Update: Thanks awesome co-workers! Banner link is fixed.

Posted by jana at 9:51 PM

Hello Jana Spice

I found this awesome hair app (via domesticali)so my husband can feel better if I cut my hair a la Posh Spice. The first image is supposed to be the "before."

Here are a few other styles I tried:

Much more fun than the actual salon.

Note: the fancy embedded widget isn't showing up in RSS feed readers so if you're wondering what I'm blogging about you'll have to actually visit my blog.

Posted by jana at 2:36 PM | Comments (3)

June 14, 2007

Strangest Radio Station Ever

My Launch Cast Radio seed music:

Depeche Mode, DJ Shadow, Tears For Fears, The Corrs, Led Zeppelin, Prince, Guns N' Roses, Louis Armstrong, Kiss, Kid Rock, Foreigner

Posted by jana at 1:51 PM

May 21, 2007

Review: Google SketchUp

I heard Google had an easy to use 3D imaging program. Great, I thought, I can make a model of my house so when I see cool furniture on Craigslist for sale I can see how it would look in my house before I buy it. (I just bought too short of bar stools, if anyone is in the market for some cute ones.)

Make a model of my house... ha ha. So far I've made one corner of the floor in the last half hour. Fortunately I'm watching Oprah while I'm working on it so no major time wasted. It seems as if it should be so easy and perhaps it is, I was just hoping for something with hardly any learning curve. I thought since I know Photoshop and Illustrator it would be easy enough for me.

So this is my quick review. If you're interested in quickly learning SketchUp think twice. It may take more than half an hour to pick up. If anyone has any tips let me know! Maybe I should try out the 3D Warehouse?

Posted by jana at 5:09 PM | Comments (1)

February 24, 2007

Digital clipboard

Passing along an article I recently read about a digital clipboard for hospitals.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6383035.stm

Very cool. It is about time something like this was invented.

Posted by jana at 3:58 PM | Comments (1)

November 13, 2006

The future is now

I watched Desperate Housewives via my computer last week and it was a dream come true. I had to watch some 30 second Advil spots but I was happy to do so to be able to watch the episode free and at my leisure. I could pause it as needed too. I've been hoping to be able to watch shows/movies via the Internet pipe for years now and it felt like the future had finally arrived.

Posted by jana at 3:36 PM

October 26, 2006

Externally testing an internal beta

Check out my little widget on the right. You can see my favorite books, movies and music. I hear some display issues will be fixed soon.

Posted by jana at 10:42 AM

April 28, 2006

Update: My Amazon detail page screen shot post may have mistakenly tagged me as anti-tagging and that is not true at all. I LOVE TAGS. My thought is that sometimes "private" tags could be useful. Yes, it won't be as simple UI wise but I think it would be worth it.

Posted by jana at 3:07 PM

March 8, 2006

Dodgeball, not just for the cool kids

Listen up parents! It is time for us to take Google's Dodgeball away from the cool kids. I'm talking about those friends of yours that actually go out past 7:30pm on weeknights and like to use Dodgeball to brag about it. Forget about them, I have a new use for Dodgeball.

Roaming the park with the kids and looking for someone to talk to with a higher than 5-year-old vocabulary? Dodgeball me.

Found a train table at a mall and you want to share it with Karsten?
Dodgeball me.

My fellow parents, let's unite. Together we can pretend to been cool again.

Posted by jana at 9:06 PM

February 18, 2006

Going private

Bad news. For the Karsten and Britta photo fans you'll now have to have a Flickr account and be my friend or family to see their photos.

Some weirdo marked a bunch of our family photos as favorites and that was just not cool.

Mom, Dad, if you need help setting up a Flickr account I'm here to help.

Posted by jana at 10:17 PM | Comments (3)

September 30, 2005

New whirlwind romance to begin

I downloaded Skype. Oooo, cool. Can this really be free?

Posted by jana at 12:40 PM | Comments (2)

Flickr honeymoon is over

Two words: Flickr spam. Flickr was the latest love of my life. How cool could this site get? Well the honeymoon ended once I started getting some disturbing Flickr contacts. I guess I can ratchet up my preferences. So sad that I end up seeing things on the web that nice, normal people shouldn't have to be subjected to. It makes me worry for my kid's future of web surfing.

Posted by jana at 12:30 PM | Comments (2)

September 17, 2005

A perfect marriage

Pandora.com is a perfect example of technology and humans working together for an amazing personalized experience. Yes, it's too bad categorizing music can't be entirely automated.

After listening and creating music stations for a week I think I'm going to pay the $36 a year for their service. I have speakers wired throughout my house so all I have to do is plug in and I have an instant personal DJ.

Posted by jana at 11:12 AM | Comments (1)