Just a few books for the next couple of months
All the Mathematics You Missed But Need to Know for Graduate School
Combinatorics for Computer Science
Selected Papers on the Analysis of Algorithms
Selected Papers on Computer Languages
Saving my pennies for this expensive one..
Handbook of Theoretical Computer Science : Formal Models and Semantics
Grad school starts in two months!
I have a coworker who sometimes likes to spray air freshener in the office. It really bothers me. I'm sensitive to chemicals and it always gives me a headache and causes eye irritation. Today, after another 'spraying', I had a headache, so i took some advil and went home.
When I got home I noticed there was something odd with my vision. Couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it was definitely not right. In about fives minutes, it deteriorated to serious blurriness, then it got weird. Jaggedy, colourful images dancing in front of my eyes with surrounded blurriness. I was practically blind for about 5-10 minutes and had serious spatial disorientation when I could see my surroundings. Closing eyes did not help, could still see the same hallucinations and no blackness. The feeling was very much like after a small dose of hallucinogenic drugs.
The whole episode ended in about 15 minutes and via the magic of google, I found the symptoms were very consistent with a migraine aura. I have had migraines before, but the precursor was usually blurry vision and nausea. I didn't even know migraines could cause hallucinations.
More google magic and turns out that air fresheners are pretty nasty stuff and one of the known triggers of migraines. Tomorrow, i'll have a conversation with my co-workers, but in the meantime, if you get migraines, something to think about.
No, it does not plug in.
Answer to the second question:
No, I did not want the civic hybrid, I like that the Insight is so small and efficient.
The first question has been asked by almost everyone who learned about my new car (including my mom). The second one was every single honda dealer I talked to, except for the one I actualy bought it from. Found them via autotrader.com as one of three dealers in a 300-mile radius that actually had an Insight arriving from the factory soon.
I should trail an extension cord from the trunk.. just for fun!
.. did you know you don't have to pay sales tax on your new hybrid if it gets over 40mpg? Surprisingly enough, most people don't know that. Including the DMV chick that registered my new Honda Insight.. I had to explain it to her and triggered a full-on debate between a gaggle of DMV employees. Amusingly enough the law is right there on the back of the registration form.
I love my new car.. so far getting an average of 57mpg and the previous tank gave me 60mpg average and lasted 612 miles (I've had it for a week but had to drive it from VT since that was the only dealer who had it in stock). The tank is only 10.5 gallons too :) The efficiency is supposed to improve as the car breaks in.
Honda Insight is a teeny, wonderful car built purely for efficiency. It sits only two people, has a funky, aerodynamic shape and attracts far too much attention on the highway. Thanks to the real-time fuel efficieny gauge it also makes me a lot more concious about how I drive. Mostly the speed limit now! Me and the grannies!
Pictures forthcoming soon, after I give it a proper wash. The trip from Vermont made it amazingly dirty.
It's the pretty blue with a manual transmission. Number 314 for year 2006.. low production numbers on this car! It also arrived from the factory fresh-off-the-boat on 3/14 (it was due 3/17, came early). So, obviously, it's a geek's car. Little pi car.
Other states have hybrid incentives as well. There is also a federal tax credit in the making for 2006.
One of the greatest thing about the Internet is that buying a new product is no longer a trial-and-error shopping trip through several crowded department stores, but rather an easy and uneventful review search in your comfy living room chair with a cup of coffee. But you already knew that, moving on.
I decided I want to buy an espresso machine (yes, this is despite making fun of my boss for spending 10 minutes every day making an espresso at work[0]. So call me a yuppy (more accurately wannabee as I don't intend to spend $1000 on a coffee maker). Armed with some basic knowledge about what an espresso machine should do, a powerbook and a cup of coffee from my unexciting but dependable drip coffee maker I said down this morning to research the best espresso machine for under $200. My self-imposed budget.
Long story short, I found this Gaggia machine to be my best option[1]. This is where the point of this blog entry is made.
Contrast, if you will, these two reviews:
A three-star review from a "Java Man"[2]
Haven't tried the machine yet, but it arrived with the top ajar obviously having taken a hard shot somewhere along the line. The exterior isn't scratched or cracked. I contacted the supplier and they quickly put me in touch with a service tech., who told me how to remove and reinstall the top. Now we'll see if the unit works.
Then this five star review from a Worldymichigander
After many happy (and dare I say, naive) years with our DeLonghi Caffe Espresso, it was time to replace our old workhorse. Having just spent the summer in Spain, where no bar is complete without the standard superautomatic Gaggia espresso maker, I decided that truly great espresso was a daily necessity. I was tired of incompetent teenagers / college students who work at local coffee shops mangling something as simple as a cappuccino (one part espresso, one part milk, one part foam) into a milk-drowned latte with no foam.I wanted something in the range of $200, with a dependable track record and plenty of power to spare. I waded through a myriad of reviews for the Gaggia Carezza, hailed as a champion of its class, but read a number of negative reviews concerning design shortcomings.
Enter the Gaggia Evolution. Although the Gaggia Carezza and Evolution share the same innards, the Evolution boasts several improvements in design. With its 17.5 bar pump and high wattage, dual element boiler, the Gaggia Evolution is ready to brew in around 5-10 minutes (I always prime the boiler first).
Design improvements over the Carezza include: a larger drip tray, a cup warmer (although, as usual, it's more effective to preheat your cups by filling them with hot water, which can be done during priming), anti-vibration mounts (once primed, the Gaggia Evolution is nearly whisper-quiet), and a brass commercial portafilter (the spouts on the Carezza were changed to plastic). My Evolution came with the Perfect Crema device (which is supposed to go under the single filter basket in order to create additional pressure/allow a coarser grind), but having read numerous negative reviews of the ineffective device, I simply left it in the box with the packing material.
Five stars for the instruction manuals and CD-ROM: the Gaggia Evolution comes with not one, but two instruction manuals: one from the manufacturer (Gaggia), and one from the North American importer (Importika). The Importika manual is intuitive, easy to read and injected with coffee humor, although the Evolution is not among the Gaggia models listed in the Appendix. The included CD-ROM walks you through setup in the form of short movies and narration, along with more advanced tips and techniques for coffee connoisseurs. We put our laptop on the kitchen table and followed along after unpacking our new Gaggia (thankfully, nothing was broken in the mail, as happened to several Gaggia Carezza owners). Although the manual hinted that your first coffee might not be potable, we'd followed various tips online (prime your new machine several times to remove any residue and plastic-y taste), and our first espresso was laden with crema. The Turbo Frother attachment made the creamiest, densest microfoam I have ever seen-it looked more like meringue (hint: use skim milk for best results). My only complaint would be the cheapness of the included coffee scoop, and you definitely want to invest in a better tamp for maximum extraction (the Gaggia takes a 58 mm tamp at a recommended 30 pounds of pressure).
If you're not in the market to buy a $200-300 grinder (Rancilio Rocky or Gaggia 8002 MDF Burr Grinder) to go with your new Gaggia, Illy makes a delicious, dependable espresso grind, available in tins (decaf, too) or Pods. The Evolution is Pod-ready, simply use the single shot basket with the portafilter. Tip: "classic" double shots should take around 20-25 seconds to extract.
The Evolution is a steal for the current price, since it contains the same innards as other Gaggias in the $400-500 range. Although it runs around $50-100 more than the Carezza, I appreciated the design improvements, stylish lines (I have a Tuscan kitchen with hand-painted ceramics and terra cotta tiles and was afraid that the "modern" styling would stand out, but the Evolution is much more traditional-looking and unobtrusive than the Carezza), and performance. (Note: the Evolution is also available in an all-silver model, but it will set you back another $50. The black model features a black base and sides and a silver front and silver drip tray.)
Excellent for the espresso novice or connoisseur, easy to use and clean, and it makes better espresso than some $500-1,000 machines I've tried!
Lengthy, I know.. but do you see the difference?
Although the second review qualifies nearly as a small novel based on length alone, it is full of useful information and convinced me to spend $50 more on this model rather than the other one I was considering[3]. You might say I hit paydirt here, I don't think I've ever seen an item with two reviews that are so exactly opposite one another. One so thoroughly useful and the other so ultimately useless. Yet both count for the same in the rating system.. go figure...
This is exactly why just looking at a star rating isn't very useful.. so before you write another product review, pay attention, is your review of any use? If not, don't bother.
[0] Yah, he really does.
[1] it's more than $200, but with free shipping, no tax and a $25 discount it comes up to about what I would pay for a $200 one elsewhere, so why not.
[2] I doubt he means that the way I mean "Java Geek".
[3] It also made me look up some espresso-making terminology.