Mexican Pointy Boots

Just watch it.


The best part is a lot of the comments on the video basically translate to "Goddamnit. Now white people are gonna think we're fucking retarded" and "HAHAHA. LOOK AT THOSE DOUCHEBAGS." I think it's safe to assume pointy boots are the Ed Hardy of Mexico.

If You Don't Have an iPhone, You Don't Have an iPhone

No shit, Apple.


I've never been one to hate on Apple products. Their specs are pretty great, after all. I have, however, commented on their over-manipulation of the media and consumers. But I figure that just as any other company, they're doing what they know how to do to stay relevant in such a competitive market. Sure, I've said that I hate the general consumer's Apple-centric view about technology, but even then I know it's only because Apple's been smart enough to make people feel they're the best of the best.

But with ads like this one, I feel they stopped caring about collecting new consumers and fans on their own. They know their current fanbase is huge, loud, and willing to make comments snotty enough that they make non-iPhone/Mac users feel like they own subpar technology. Instead of making ads that introduce an iPhone's features and why one should use them, Apple went ahead and acknowledged that everyone knows about their app store, uses it for both important and mundane purposes, and that everyone that doesn't all ready own an iPhone... well, they wouldn't know what it's like because they don't own an iPhone.

This ad may have had the opposite effect on me. It made me feel like iPhone users are a bunch of bigots and that I shouldn't associate with them because they'll only make me feel like crap for not owning one. But alas, I have friends who've fallen for the iPhone game. I know people who have bought the iPhone only because it's the iPhone and not because they care about the specs or functionality or customization or DRM issues.

And don't even get me started on how this ad completely disregarded the fact that Android and BlackBerry also have app stores with apps that are "easy to find" and "easy to download." (Not to mention both apps they featured are not exclusive to the iPhone.)

Two things.

1. This song is so catchy it hurts.
2. Miley needs to cover it.

I'm giving up meat for lent.

So far it’s been great (except for that one tiny chicken strip that was forced upon me). I decided not to tell my family because I remember trying the whole vegetarian thing before and they would treat me weird. I’d get a lot of questions and a lot of people arguing about why it’s a bad idea, and then I feel sometimes my mom would feel bad that I didn’t always eat what she cooked. Since I’m not often home during dinner nowadays, I don’t think this’ll be a problem anymore. If it does start to become a problem, I'll let them know that I'm only doing it for lent. Just to see if I can. Otherwise, I will continue to order garden burgers, food with tofu instead of beef, and tacos with only beans and veggies in them.

I have no intent on becoming a vegetarian right now, but I would like to start eating and cooking more vegetarian meals just because they're healthier most of the time.

Last coffee shop visit: The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in East Los Angeles. Jasmine-Dragon Tea Latte.
^ I hadn't done the last snippet thing in a while.

Update: I'm no longer doing this. For reasons I don't feel like writing about right now.

Feedback, updates, etc.

A vlog in which I talk read a few comments, and update you on my life.


Stuff I mentioned that might require links:
Alex Carpenter/Kristina Horner music video: http://youtu.be/ZUvV0f5SAZU
Web comic I like: http://questionablecontent.net

Goodbye Missed Connections

Sometime around 2006, when I was in high school, I remember sitting at a Burger King with a friend of mine. We were enabling Bluetooth access on our phones so that we could share files when we noticed there were about five people near us who also had Bluetooth enabled on their devices. We tried to figure out which Bluetooth device names corresponded to which of the people that were sitting at Burger King with us. Then I said something along the lines of "Wouldn't it be funny if we send our files to those people instead? What would they say?" Followed by "It would be cool if we could, like, chat with the people around us via Bluetooth. It'd decrease Missed Connections on Craigslist by, like, half."

We don't hear much about sharing files with other phones/devices via Bluetooth these days because most of it's been replaced by Wi-Fi and apps. And the whole idea of knowing who is in the same room as you by looking at your phone has been replaced by check-in services, like Foursquare and Gowalla.

The third, -- chatting with people who are near you -- I just found out about today. There's an iPhone app called Yobongo, which allows you to do just that. I thought it was brilliant when I heard of it. It allows you to communicate with people around you, people you've talked to before, and people you already know. It's still in Beta and will be available for free in March. While I don't own an iPhone, I'm glad this idea has come into fruition. I'm a sucker for innovations in communication. And more of a sucker for services that allow us to talk to people when we find interesting if we don't want to embarrass ourselves in person first.

Slow Internet Speed + YouTube

In the spirit of LifeHacker, I thought I'd stop by and give you folk with slower internet speeds a tip for viewing videos on YouTube. Oh, wait. You mean, I'm the only person out there with internet too slow to load HD videos on the spot? Heh.

As you've probably noticed if you've read my blogs the past year or so, I have strong opinions about my internet experience. Ever since my internet was downgraded I've had trouble watching YouTube videos in a large size, both pixel-wise and file size ...wise. I've reached the point where I value speed over quality. If there is a way for me to watch a video in lower quality without having to wait a bit for it to buffer, I will take it.

I prefer watching videos in full screen, or have them take up more space than the standard 640x390 YouTube video. I noticed that every time I tried to make a video full screen, it would automatically switch my video from 360p to either 480p or 720p, which take a considerably longer amount of time to load.

Then I found a work-around that both kept my video at 360p and made my video size larger. It was so simple and so genius.


The trick: Zoom in on the page. (keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+). This increases the size of the video and keeps it at 360p so that  you don't have to sit through the load.


Unfortunately, it doesn't work this way for all flash video players. I tested this method on others, and it only made text and images around the video larger while the video remained the same size.

Embracing Change

I always find it funny when people whine and moan every time a major website gets a redesign. I saw it a lot in 2009 when Facebook was constantly changing its design. Then later on when #newtwitter came along. And most recently, YouTube's redesign.

When #newtwitter rolled out, everyone complained about how confusing and ugly it was. Contrastingly, I was happy that Twitter finally decided to step it up and implement a couple features that independently owned Twitter clients were all ready providing (embedded photo and video, lists, suggestions, etc.). I guess they just thought it was too much. Which I now totally understand. What always differentiated Twitter from other social networking sites was that it kept everything short and simple. But as the site grew more and more, it was clear that they needed to innovate. And that they did... despite everyone's protests.

With YouTube's recent homepage design, I heard complaints about how the subscription boxes turned into a feed, and how one no longer had the option to go back to the old design. To be frank, I was pretty surprised there was so much hate. I'd changed my YouTube settings to the redesign as soon as it was in beta. Months later I see tweets "OMG YOUTUBE IS SO STUPID NOW!!!!1!1!" Apparently YouTube made the switch to the new design permanent. It was bound to happen sooner or later. People are kidding themselves if they think they have the option to keep an old design 'til whenever they choose.

What I think others fail to see is that there is always reason for what web developers and designers do. They don't arbitrarily make changes to websites because they think it would be cool. They make plans, they examine what people do online and try their best to make tweaks that will make features easier for the user to access in the long run. Everyone is so used to their damned used to their sub boxes and 140 character text-only feeds that they freak out when something changes. Believe me when I say, the designers did not intend to piss you off. They want to make user experience simpler and more functional. Whenever a website or program is in beta I always opt for the newest version (unless I later find that it's too buggy to use). If a site offers me the option to go back to the old settings after a new version is released, I never go back to the old one. I know that in the long run, I'd only be screwing myself. I like to embrace change and feel that everyone else should, too.

Whenever a website or program you frequently use changes, there is reason for it. Stop and think about why someone may have made the changes before you go ramble on about how terrible you think it is because you don't know how to use it yet.