Sunday, September 25, 2005

The KNL Posture


The KNL Posture
Originally uploaded by cafn8.
Here, Boots is demonstrating what is known as the "KNL" or "Kitty No Legs" posture. As you can see, the body and head are upright, and all four legs are folded neatly under the body, giving him a flat-bottomed appearance, much like the shape of a loaf of bread.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Reaping Benefits

I haven't been blogging too much about biking to work lately. There actually was a period of a few weeks when the weather was so hot and/or rainy that I didn't ride at all. Lately, though, I've been back at it, usually 2 or 3 times per week.

Usually, when talking about why I ride my bike to work I mention how it makes me feel good, eases stress and gives me more energy. Today, however, I stayed home from work due to a sinus infection. It's not the first I've had. In fact, I used to get them every 3 months, so I'm very familiar with how they feel. However, I went to the doctor anyway, with the hope of getting something to shorten the suffering. Well, to make a long story short, (oops, too late?) I found that my blood pressure had gone down by over 20 percent since I started biking. Where I had a borderline high blood pressure, I now have quite normal, safe blood pressure. Neat.

Friday, September 16, 2005

The Generation Gap


The Generation Gap
Originally uploaded by cafn8.
I just read an article in the newspaper. It was a silly little piece about how cellphones have become teenagers' lifelines. The writer details an instance when the home phone rang and she and her husband watched in amazement as their teenage daughter took the call- her first land-line call in who-knows-how-long and how she looked so uncomfortable tethered to the wall (never mind who was on the other end of the line.)



She then talks about how amused she is by the fact that these teenage cellphone users actually use all of the non-talking functions on their phones, such as the date book, alarm, address book, etc. She seems to consider these functions silly, frivolous add-ons to what should simply be a portable version of the big, black rotary phone plugged into the wall. She echoes my co-workers who show off their expensive new high end cellphones as they boast proudly about their shrewd negotiations toward getting cheaper service by disabling the extras like text messaging and data. Why not just get a free cellphone and an expensive watch? The tone of the article was a bit condescending, as she compared cellphones to security blankets. Perhaps the comparison works, but I think cellphones are the new PDAs. Most do everything PDAs from a few years ago did, plus they benefit from being connected to cellular networks for data. In the end, the writer proves one point, although unintentionally. She just doesn't get it.

Friday, September 02, 2005

Your Acronym and You.

Recently, I have noticed that acronyms can be a bad thing if care is not used in selecting one. Here's an example. I was reading an article about a conversion which can be done to an everyday Ford Focus wherein the engine, transmission, much of the suspension and a few pieces of the floor are torn out and replaced by a nice big V8, a rear-wheel-drive drivetrain and all of the miscellaneous bits that go along with such a major modification. Anyone can buy the parts. They're made by a company called Kugel Komponents (yes, with a "K"), but the whole project was initiated by a part of Ford which is responsible for motorsports activities, known simply as Ford Racing Team. Sure, it's a fine name, but one that should not be made into an acronym. It's almost as though they aim to poke fun at the "import tuner" crowd by selling FRT Cans for the exhausts of their cars.

Another case in point which comes to mind also happens to be a motorsports division of a major automaker. I'm referring to Toyota Racing Development. You can see where I'm going with this. I guess Toyota deserves a bit more slack, since they are a Japanese company, but I still can't help thinking "TuRD" every time I see a car with this unfortunate acronym emblazoned on its body panels in bright vinyl letters.

If you listen closely on a still summer night, you just might hear the sound of a TuRD Corolla engaged in an all out drag race with a FaRT exhaust equipped Focus in the distance.