A week ago, my friend Drawde finally delivered the Trackpoint caps I asked him to get me a few months ago during one of his not-too-infrequent trips to Japan. Unfortunately, he had misplaced it and only found it last week. He gave me the tiny plastic bag and there they are: three perfectly-shaped Trackpoint caps. These are the textured flat-headed caps, not the easily worn down eraser-head caps that I have been using (there is a third type: rimmed flat-headed caps). I immediately replaced my current cap which I had just installed not too long ago. The new cap fit snugly in place and definitely improves control by providing a bigger point of contact and better traction. And although it looks pretty durable, the insurance provided by two spare caps is very comforting.
Yesterday, I spent an afternoon playing airsoft. It was the best time I’ve had playing airsoft in months. Granted, I haven’t been playing all that much but during those times when I did play, I had been turned-off by the crowded game sites, the generally poor quality of opponents (tactics, ethics, personality, etc), the emphasis on form (costumes, gizmo guns, etc), and politics. Yesterday was different. There was just six of us but all were tactically-oriented people. And although there is still an element of form involved, the primary focus was on tactics. This resulted us playing a lot of fast-paced games. The repetition honing our tactical sense and the fast pace giving us a bit of a workout. It was quite refreshing.
The subwoofer of my old Logitech 4.1 speaker system had given up the ghost a few month back. I haven’t found a reason to replace it then. But lately I’ve been listening to music. And with the holy week then coming up, there’s the inevitable marathon of TV show episodes. Listening to limited-bass sound for a lengthy duration, though quite feasible, is not entirely palatable. So I decided to get an SBS 350. It’s a 2.1 system. I decided on 2.1 because I hadn’t been using the 2 speakers from my old Logitech system. The speaker units are black, elegant-looking and well-made. They matched my Thinkpad quite well. Installation was a snap. There was sufficient length of wiring to position the satellites and the subwoofer anywhere within reason. At a total of 20W power, it’s more than sufficient for solo listening or even for a small room. Just don’t expect surround. The bass can be overwhelming at times but you can tone it down with the graphic equalizer available in any media player software. It’s not the best speaker system there is but for most bang for your buck, it can’t be beat.
Rating: 4/5
Timing is one of the most important things. And timing in marketing is one of those important things. For example, those street peddlers’ product of the season (they’ve sold fishing rods, binoculars, and dog leashes in the past) seem to be cowboy hats. What better time to sell cowboy hats than when summer is upon us, right? Unfortunately, it was only recently when Brokeback Mountain was shown at the cinemas. So who’s gonna buy those cowboy hats now? At the very least that cuts the market for the hats by half :P
When you’re looking for something, you can bet you’re going to find it. And not just once but everywhere. It doesn’t have to be something you are explicitly looking for. Your brain looks for patterns. Take the clock. Have you notice when you take a random look at it how it always seem to be 7:11 (the famous convenience store chain) or 9:11 (the US emergency phone number or September 11, take your pick)? Sometimes you see these patterns in words, in text. But do they really have meaning? Is it really what you were looking for? Or is it just you seeing the patterns? So if you’re looking for that something: Good luck! :P