Friday, June 20, 2008

Lunchtime reading -- complex mobile phones in Japan

From Wired:

In Japan, Cellphones Have Become Too Complex to Use

Plus 2 other iPhone-related items:

Speculation on value of old iPhones, including how many will pay for the mandatory 3G package, but will be unable to use it b/c of where they live

and

Refurbished iPhones are an excellent source of previous users' data

I'm still happy with mine and I use it for so many things! Gone are the days of being in a conversation and not being able to answer a question. For example, "What's with the big metal grasshopper on top of Faneuil Hall?" (in Boston)

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Housing prices... *sigh*

So I'm realizing that my condo purchase may have been a mistake for various reasons. Until recently, I'd seen that prices in my building were holding steady but then this morning I came across a listing for a unit that's very similar to mine, but for $25,000 less than what I paid. *frown* I also have high condo fees, so if I had looked more carefully at things in the beginning I would have seen how bad that was. If I had waited last summer, rented for a bit, and then done my shopping/buying now I could have gotten a really good house in a better location for a nicer price.

I'm a bit sad about this now. I like my place and the redeeming quality is that there are few places in the country where I could get a cool-looking place for the price that I did... Here's hoping that we can improve things and increase values over the next few years!

Even if nobody is reading this, at least I got to vent...

Monday, June 16, 2008

We Can Solve It!

Have you heard of the We Can Solve It campaign? If not, then you have now! ("It" = the Climate Crisis)

Well, I'm writing about it b/c their newest ad features Tonya Kay, a funky actress who grew up in a small town in Michigan near the tiny town where I grew up. *grin* (we have never met, but we email periodically and had mutual acquaintances during school) In the ad, she holds up the "Tofu" sign at the beginning -- in her personal life, she promotes eating raw foods, drives a car that runs on veggie oil, etc.

Here's the direct link to a page with the ad that she's in (at least as I post this, it could change):
http://www.wecansolveit.org/page/s/millions

Dreary Morning

I went to Boston yesterday for the first time. What took me so long? *sigh* Why didn't anyone tell me how cool it is? I loved it! How many days over the past few months have I wasted "relaxing" when I could have been in Boston? Sad!