/dev/blog

Well, I finally recieved my E2C in-ear headphones. Well, when I tried it with the default (type: flex, size: medium) plugs, I couldn’t stick it into my ear, and also the sound was just horrid. Then, I took out the other plugs that came with the whole package and tried the ultra soft small ones, wow, just, wow.

I can now hear each part of the music quite clearly, especially in the big fat symphonies (tried it with Dvorak’s 9th). The quality is simply amazing. Compared to my friend’s Sony EX-71s, the bass isn’t as “strong” but it is way tighter and much more accurate. And from a non-audiophile’s point of view, this set of cans (do these qualify as cans?) is well worth the money.

Outside noise is almost totally filtered out. If I have these E2C’s on, and am playing music, it was quite hard for my sister to grab my attention. She had to scream very loud, or to get my attention visually.

Oh, and if you are looking for just boomy bass, go for the Sony’s, if you are looking for a nice pair of in-ears that isolate outside noise well, and reproduce music in an accurate manner, look no further. Well, unless you have more money to spend, then, the higher grade Shures or the Etymotics would do even better.

Perhaps I’ll throw in another write-up after the so-called “burn-in” period, and see if the sound quality really improves.

Well, I’ve some what ignored this blog for a bit, but I do have a very good excuse!

I was Out Motoring.

I got a MINI Cooper S on Sunday the 21st.

It was an unplanned purchase, so I kind of got lucky, I guess. My dad asked me what I wanted to do for the day, and since I’ve already visited many Apple Stores around the area, I thought that we might just go take a look at the MINI Coopers and see if I can also get my dad hooked.

Well, after the sales person demonstrated the MINI in an emergency manuver, where he goes up to 45 mph, and then quickly changes to right lane, then recovers to the left very quickly, and, as I was sitting in the back seat, all I could say at the time was, WOW, and ouch. My elbow banged on the side of the car during the manuver, but it was FUN! Anyways, another feature demonstrated was the ABS brakes. So, the sales person brought the car up to 80 mph, then braked REALLY hard, and, woah, it stopped way fast.

Those two little demonstrations sealed the deal for my dad, and we just bought that one off the lot at Assael MINI with a $1000 markup.

Here are the specs:

Jet Black w/ white roof and mirror caps
DSC(Dynamic Stability Control)
17″ S-Lites w/ run flat tires
Xenon headlights
Front fog lights
White bonnet stripes (still to be installed)

All else was mostly standard.

It’s been exactly a week, and I’ve already put some 500 mediocre miles on it (break in rules: no revs more than 4500 and no speeds more than 95 mph until 1200 miles). Man, the car is already very fun to drive, especially in the twisties and corners. Can’t wait till I break in the car and really release the supercharged monster under the bonnet.

And, yes, pictures will come soon, after I regain control of our digital camera and wash the car.

Well, after looking at all the Etymotics ER6i and the Shure E2C in-ear canalphones, I took the dive today and ordered the E2C’s from Amazon.com for $65 with super saver shipping, which I found to be a pretty darn good deal, since they retail for $99 at shure.com.

Let’s just hope they sound as good as they say online. Will post a review after I get them and try them out.

Oh, and if you are interested in new, perhaps better headphones, head-fi is a great place to ask questions and do research.

I just found this cool podcast on all things MINI.

It has a bunch of information on all things MINI Cooper. It is quite enjoyable, and I highly recommend it to people with similar interests.

Oh, and I caught a glimps of a lime green Lotus Elise down either the 55 or 5 freeway just yesterday. Man, is that a nice car. Just not as sturdy as a MINI.

Pics of a MINI Cooper S in a 45 mph crash

Lotus Elise in a 10 mph crash

Here’s my first attempt on “transparent” monitors!

Not the best, but I’ll be trying this again pretty soon, just to see how real it can get.

As you can see, the cup isn’t matching up in the lower right corner.

Enjoy!

CVS Camcorder download alpha - hack a day

This is awesome, I can capture those little embarrassing moments on video! If only I had a CVS in the area.

Anyways, I think I’ll go look for a CVS, get one of these, and have a little fun.

Too bad some of the software seems to be for MS Windows. Hope they come out with a *nix variant soon.