My Headset Microphone Crapped Out

One day I'm talkin' clear as day, and the next it's dark as night. I have a Plantronics DSP-500 USB digital headset, and for the most part I've been pretty happy with it. But then the microphone started bugging out. At first, I thought it was some kind of software issue, because I could see the operating system struggling to automatically adjust the sound level. Then, at some point I noticed that when I adjusted the location of the microphone, the sound would cut in and out. That's when I realized that there was a problem with the physical connection of the internal wiring assembly. In other words, fixing this wasn't going to be fun. You'll see. I took a few pictures during the discovery and repair process.

Not fun... but on the bright side, I got it done.

It turned out that the wiring for the microphone had been severed. The folding mechanism that lets you tuck away the microphone into the headset had caught the wire, and eventually cut through most of it. And the wire is not easy to repair. In construction, the wire is very similar to the ones used on the AC adapters for Apple Powerbook G4's that supply Direct Current. Strands of insulated wire are underneath more insulated strands of wire. One set of wires is (+) while the other is (-). It's kind of like the Russian doll of wiring designs. I repaired the wire in my headset, but I'm sure there is a more efficient way of doing it than the method I used. Then again, I don't have the proper tools for this kind of work.

Oil Painting Demonstration

One of the local artist associations held an oil painting demonstration, two nights ago. The demonstrator is a local painter from Rockport, I think. His painting was ok, and it was interesting enough to watch him paint and ask a few questions. But that guy who used to teach people to paint on PBS was more of a showman. A quick search for "PBS afro painter" revealed his name and the name of his show to me. You may remember Bob Ross and his show "The Joy of Painting." It was always worth watching. He just had that kind of talent/personality. Here's a picture from Thursday nights demonstration:

The Sky Is Falling! or at least some dead tree tops

On November 3rd, 2007, hurricane Noel sent the top of a tree crashing down into the driveway. The good news is nobody got hurt, and neither of the cars got damaged. My parents were out of town with their car, so only my brother's car was parked there. Check out the pictures, and read on.

The SAAB is usually parked where the tree top fell, behind my parents van, so that gives you an idea of what might of happened. The evergreens in this area of the world have been dying from some disease, and there are five very large trees (some dead, some dying) in our neighbors yard, right now.

People seam surprised about the spread of the disease that is killing these trees. I'm of the opinion that it's spreading because there haven't been any forest fires in the area that haven't been stopped. Fire is natures way of cleaning up. At least it used to be. Now people inject antibiotics into tree trunks. What can I tell you? It's become an even crazier world than we thought.

Lamest Halloween Ever. Although, the weather was nice.

I'll put it this way. I was back home at around 9:00 p.m. The event planning for this annual celebration in Salem, MA has always been fairly disappointing. People want to come there and enjoy the spectacle of Halloween in Salem, and the city acts as if that's a bad thing. In the past, when I was with my friends, the police would start herding people out of the area by force at 10:00 p.m. I didn't stick around long enough to see what happened this year, but the local news reports said the night ended in violence again. What kind of idiot's are in charge of that city? At some point they should hire some consultants to run the event, because they obviously don't know how to handle it. Oh well. At least the weather was nice, and I didn't have to travel too far.

Encase you were wondering

I've decided to post the text of the Ten Commandments from the Bible, provided in English, using the Orthodox translation and formatting I found on Wikipedia. Various religions and denominations group the commandments differently. If you're curious enough, you can check them out for yourself by following this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments

The Ten Commandments:

1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me
2. Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol
3. Thou shalt not make wrongful use of the name of thy God
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
5. Honor thy Father and Mother
6. Thou shalt not murder
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery
8. Thou shalt not steal
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness
10. Thou shalt not covet

These shouldn't be too hard for anyone to remember or follow.

Ten Commandments... ummmm? Hilarious & Sad.

This is the first posting I've made in a long time. Nobody has heard from me in a while. I'm too busy sinking into a massive depression while job hunting. But while I'm doing that, you can watch this video clip from Comedy Central.

Have fun, and wish me luck in my job search. I have to find a job soon. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to. I'm much smarter than the Congressman being interviewed by Colbert in this clip.

About Me

I was filling out a questionnaire on a job site, and I like the things I wrote a lot.

1. What’s your dream job location? - Cambridge, MA
2. How would you describe your office space? - Surrounded with, computer stuff, work and art.
3. Why do you work? - I recently read in the news about a theory that altruism is genetically programed into our minds as a source of satisfaction. I feel the same can be said about work, when I have created something that others and myself are able to appreciate. This is especially true when I have worked exceptionally hard to accomplish the goals of a project.
4. What’s your career ambition? - I want to be the person who changes the way people think about each other, and to lead them towards a better future.
5. What’s your dream job? - Art Director
6. What was your first real job? - Computer Lab Assistant, North Shore Community College, Danvers, MA 01923
7. Who have you most admired in your career? - John Duff, who was the Adviser to the newspaper organization I worked with.
8. How would your coworkers describe you? - As a Super Hero.
9. What’s your lunchtime ritual? - I haven't had lunch yet. Is it really 4:00 p.m.? Wow! I'm starving. I'd better have lunch now.
10. What three things at work do you find most satisfying? - Doing great work, working with people, and helping others do their best.
11. What’s the most rewarding thing about your job? - The work I've created.
12. What book are you currently reading? - Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide by Eric A. Meyer, An O'Reilly book.
13. What’s playing on your playlist? - Nothing, right now.
14. What do you do to blow off steam? - I don't usually have steam.
15. What’s your morning commute like? - I read a newspaper.
16. What’s most surprising about your company’s culture? - The only time I'm surprised, is when I know I'm not getting the best from someone.
17. What are your pets’ names? - Iera (Hera, in English). It wasn't my idea.

Stranger!

Yesterday (2/21/2007) was a pretty good day (I started writing this on 2/22/2007). My girlfriend and I had dinner, drinks, and ice-cream with a friend of hers that helped us arrange our trip to Bali, Indonesia. Actually, she didn't help us, she arranged the whole trip for us. Luckily, our friend is a travel agent.

Around 9:40 p.m. we finished having drinks and headed home (her sister's home). We were coming home on the 9301 bus in Seoul, and since the ride is fairly long we were also taking a nap. I was having trouble resting though, because we were sitting above the left rear wheels and their vibrations were tickling my feet. Sounds strange, but it's true.

While I was fidgeting and repositioning my feet, the corner of my eye caught some activity across the isle. I wasn't exactly sure what it was at the moment, I just felt like something out of the ordinary was happening. I then saw a kind of puzzled and startled look on the face of a girl in the window seat. She seemed nervous and uncomfortable, and the source of those feelings seemed to be coming from the man resting in the seat next to her. But, if anything happened, I hadn't seen anything (for sake of record, this was at about 10:40 p.m.). As I was watching, the man seemed to have been disturbed by her nervous activity, and opened his eyes. Everything then settled down for a moment, but I suspected something, so I kept my eyes on them.

Almost immediately after she sat down to go back to sleep, I saw the man move his hand onto her left knee, and I was as shocked as she was about the whole thing. Maybe not as shocked as her about it, but pretty shocked. She knew exactly what happened this time, and said something to him while pushing his hand away. He then tried to shush her quietly into submission while continuing to pursue his actions. She then started slapping his hand and arm away, and shuffled as far away from him as she could. But, she could only move so close to the wall of the bus in her seat. After being able to stop his sexual assault, she stood up from her seat and went to stand near the exit of the bus.

I woke up my girlfriend, explained to her what I had just witnessed, and told her which two people were involved in the whole event. Neither one of us knew exactly what to do. The girl needed to wait for her bus stop to get home, and while we were contemplating what to do next the girl started crying. I asked my girlfriend to try and console her in some way, but she wasn't sure what she could say to help her. I then suggested a few things to say, and got up from my seat so that my girlfriend could go talk to her. When my girlfriend came back, she seemed to feel a little better after somebody showed that they cared about her and what happened. Eventually, her stop came and she got of the bus.

The guy that molested her was still sitting across the isle from us, and was pretending that nothing happened. He even made a call with his mobile to let his family know he was on his way home. We still weren't sure what we could do that would result in any consequences for him, but we were trying to think of something. I then suggested we take a photo of him, and post his image with a full explanation of the event. We both liked that idea, so I did take a photo of him with my camera. But, we were advised not to post his photo by friends and family, for legal reasons of liability for slander. That's only because we don't have any actual proof that he did anything. I know that stinks, but that's the way it is.

I do have some good news, though. My girlfriend and her sister made a visit to the local police department, and told them we have a photo of this guy. The police on duty gave them a card with an e-mail address to send the photo to. So that's where the situation stands so far. My girlfriend has sent the photo to the address she was given, and we don't know what will happen next.

Eh, what the hell. Here's the photo of the guy with a blue rectangle over his face.