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I’m not going to deny the fact that many of my fellow human beings consider me to be negative, and so label me as such. Far be it for me to act in any way that belies my instinct or the way that I feel about the world around me. This being the case, allow me to share with you my feelings regarding “Hallmark Holidays,” which includes birthdays, Christmas, Sweetest Day, and, of course, our most famous, Valentine’s Day…

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Some of you may not know, but I drink a lot of coffee. And when I say a lot, I mean like around 100 fl oz per day. I’m also a bit of a coffee-snob, meaning that I won’t drink any old swill you get at Dunkin’ Doughnuts (umm yuck!). So even a large (venti) black coffee at Starbucks costs over $2, and a couple coffees per day (even with free refills) adds up fast.

The recession and a new job have forced me to re-work my budget. So I decided to make coffee at work, but I’m the only one in the office who drinks coffee. So if I were to brew a whole pot, it would go to waste, and I’d be spending about $14/week on beans. So I decided to get the Keurig B60 Special Edition Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System for the office.

I’m not going to use the K-Cups that most people have to buy for the Keurig. Instead, I’m going to grind my own coffee and use the My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter. This will allow me to only use 1-2 lbs of coffee per month at work. This will actually save me somewhere between $50-70 per month on my coffee expenses.

Now for the review of the machine. I’ve been using it for almost a week at this point. Overall I am pleased with the quality of coffee it brews. The trial K-Cups that came with the brewer were pretty bad, not anywhere near up to my standards. However using my own coffee with the reusable filter makes a pretty good cup of java. You need to grind the coffee about as fine as you can (think espresso grind) in order to get good extraction and a dark cup. Be sure to tamp the grounds down lightly into the filter too. The coffee it brews is akin to a French Press, this is because the reusable filter is metal, and not paper. This lets all the flavorful coffee oils flow into your cup. Great for taste, but can do a number on your stomach, so be careful.

As for care and maintenance of the machine, it’s pretty easy. The only major pain is cleaning the reusable filter, but for the money savings, I don’t mind it. All in all I would suggest this machine to anyone who wants fresh coffee often, where brewing an entire pot isn’t economical. So work out the math, and if it makes cents (har har), get one!

I am not a huge fan of OSX, but I have to support it for users at my job. I’ve had several people recently ask me how to permanently disable the bouncing icons in the dock/taskbar. The solution is simple. Open a Terminal window and type the following commands:

$ defaults write com.apple.dock no-bouncing -bool TRUE
$ killall Dock

This will permanently disable the jumping and bouncing icons in the dock bar. To re-enable the bouncing, change the above command’s ‘True’ argument to ‘False’

Have fun with that.

So, I’m sitting in my apartment tonight, and my Chefmate P70D2AL-D4 Microwave starts beeping randomly. At first it was just a single beep, then a few minutes later it went ape-shit. Scary thing was it first was saying 6:66 then 66:66. The keypad wouldn’t work anymore, and just kept on beeping until I unplugged the thing. Reading around the internet, I’ve found that others have had this same problem with this microwave. Wonderful.

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Last night I had the opportunity to visit the Gizmodo Gallery in NYC and check out all the cool exhibits. By far the coolest was the Singing Tesla Coils by ArcAttack. The Tesla coils are programmed to emit various tones and pitches to make music, mostly video game music. The Tesla Coils are backed up by a robotic drum kit too. Check out the videos below for an example. If you ever have the chance to see ArcAttack live, I highly suggest you do, you wont regret it.





(Apologies for the crappy audio and sub-par video… I shot this with my digital camera.)

I don’t usually shill for companies, but when a product wins my affection, they deserve a shout-out. This is by far the BEST iPhone case I’ve seen and used. It has saved my phones from many tumbles. It’s especially important to be able to protect your iPhone from a drop, because you can’t get insurance on an iPhone through AT&T.

The Seidio Innocase II has a textured rubber like feel in your hand, but is made of hard plastic. This allows for some grip when holding the phone, so it doesn’t slip out of your hand. The inside of the case is lined with a velour-like felt, which protects the iPhone from scratches.

In addition to the phone protector, if you are like me and love a good holster, you’ll love this. The holster is made of heavy duty plastic, and has sturdy double springs to hold the phone. It allows for quick one-handed release and insertion. The iPhone faces inward to protect the screen from any damage. The holster is also lined with the same velour-like felt which protects the screen from any scratches.

I’ve been using Seido phone protectors for my last 2 phones, and love them. They are worth every penny to protect your phones. Check it out and get one, you won’t be disappointed!

I’ve been pushing my representative Nydia Velazquez (D-NY 12th District) to support H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 for several weeks now. I’ve made phone calls, tonight I wrote a letter. That letter is below:

Dear Rep. Velazquez,

I won’t bore you with a form letter. I am writing today to ask you co-sponsor HR 1207 to allow the G.A.O. to audit the Federal Reserve.

As a member of the financial services committee you are in a unique position to help further President Obama’s promise of transparency and vote in this bi-partisan issue. This bill has over 200 sponsors from both sides of the isle, and is now being considered by your committee for further action.

There is no logical reason why the Federal Reserve shouldn’t be audited by Congress. Your efforts in supporting this important legislation would go a long way in proving to your constituents that you not only hold the Federal Reserve to the same standard as you do your constituents, but it would also show that you believe in transparency. Anything less than support for this resolution suggests that you are in favor of secrecy and a lack of accountability to the people who pay the bills. We pay the tab; we have a right to know where our money is going.

If you are not going to support HR 1207, I would appreciate a letter from your office with the reasoning behind your decision, so that I may further understand all sides of this issue. At this point I see no logical reason why this shouldn’t be supported by all members of congress.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this very important matter. We have a historical opportunity to change this country for the better, and I hope we can make it happen.

-Concerned constituent in NYC

I encourage everyone to contact their members of congress and ask that hey support H.R. 1207. There are currently over 200 cosponsors as of today (June 9, 2009), both Democrats and Republicans.