the new keyboard has arrived!!

This is the first post that i am making using my new mobile iGo key board pictured below. this was definately a fantastic buy! The way that they have structured the keys makes it very easy to type and it holds up the mobile device (a htc excaliber aka t-mobile dash in my case)so that its very easy to see what it is that i am writing. the set up process wasn't too convoluted and once its set up hooking it up when you want is a breaze! literaly a two step process.

I woould definately recommend it for anyone with a phone running windows mobile that is looking to sqeeze more productivity out of their device. with windows mobile 6 you get word and excel built in so it basically turns your smartphone into a mini computer.

The keys of the keyboard are customizable (though i havent gotten to doing that yet) but it works well witht the default configuration and has a bunch of cool functionality that you can access using the two funtion keys that are present on the device.

Once abain i highly recommend the device for the ultra mobile user. I got it on amazon for a total cost of $75 inclusive of shipping and handling costs.

Book Review: Fooled By Randomness by Taled Nasim

I read this one at the begining of the summer. I would summerize it as an analysis of the natural biases that we as humans have and how the affect out ability to make logical decision.

The author is a former trader who has made his fortune by basically betting ont he impossible, or what others consider impossible but he through a thorough mastery of probability considers quite probable. He does this by buying options on things that other thing will never happen. Since the probability of the even the option is based on it highly improbable to the seller he sells it for cheap. Sure enough many of the options that he buys end up expiring and so he is constantly loosing small amounts of money. But... when he does win, its a REALLY big win and that how he comes out on top.

He is a very well read individual and does a pretty good job of explaining some pretty heft statistics and probability stuff. Its definitely a book that will get you to rethink some of your basic assumptions about the nature of things. But be ware of the authors tendency to rumble on about how brilliant he is and how everyone he meets turns turns out to be an idiot and a disappointment.

a couple of wonderful new discoveries

Fantastic Brazilian music: CeU

An sheng entry in wikipedia: Sheng

eat fairly well for under $8 on the upper west side

For those of you who like me are always looking for a good place to eat for cheap in this wonderful but slightly pricey neighbourhood I found a place called club 71 that a pretty good deal for the price. I got the food you see in the picture for $6.95 plus tax. (side bar: this is the first picture im posting taken with my new Dash. It was at night so the lights not very good).

Here is a picture of the place:


Its at 2061 Broadway, New York, NY in case your ever in the area and hungry

never buy anything from those time square computer shops

You know the ones that have all the fancy electronics on the window display with tantalizing prices plastered all over them. Yeah you know the ones... well they are a scam! Avery well tuned one too if i may say so myself. The price they have for the sexy canon camera in the window is actually the one for a crappy useless on that they have on the inside.

On the rare occasion that they do have the actual price written in the window, don't be surprised to be told that they only have the window unit in stock and that that it is for display only. Whatever you buy there is marked up at least 200% and no matter how good a deal you think your getting, rest assured that you are being scammed.

If you remain obstinate and decide to go in anyway please please ask them to tell you the price you will be paying for the gadget verbally. Yes, even if you have already read the little red sticker on the packaging. And do this before the quickly pull out a razor blade and cut open the packaging making the item unreturnable.

My advice though, stick to companies that you can actually sue if the scam you. And if your a staunch bargain hunter, you'd rather even go get your gadget on ebay or something, just don't subject yourself these con-artists.

Eating raw meat (Bibim bap)!

I went with a couple of friends to a Korean bbq place yesterday in K-town (32 and broadway) and ordered this meal called bibim bap that consists of beaf and vegies that have been mixed together with a scrambled egg on top.
Unbeknownst to me, the version that of bibim bap that i pointed to on the menu was different from the one that my friend had recomened to me. This perticular version is not only served raw ( as is almost every thing else at the place), but is supposed to be EATEN RAW!



Now there is a bbq place in the center of each table at the place so that you can cook the food that they bring to you to your hearts content adn at first i was convinced that was probably the way to go but after some hesitation and having my food carefully stired by the very nice lady who served us, i decided to embrace the spirit of adventure and give the raw beef a shot!

surprise surprise! it was actually reeally good! it tasted nothing like what i expected and didn't have the weird consistency of raw meet that i had expected would make me gag. I finished the entire bowl which was not small as you can tell from the picture. I definately recomend the meal to anyone looking for something new and exciting to eat. After eating it, eating my first jelly fish seemed like a relatively small step. All in all it was a revolutionary evening for my pallet :)

july 4th, and the unheralded kenyan chicken

so this was the week of july the 4th. we got wednesday off at work and spent most of monday doing community service at this school in harlem. the story there is pretty interesting, the long and short of it is that a friend and i ended up painting desks in the wrong school and get blasted by yet another overly krunk new yorker, allot of these people here need to take a chill pill. its not like i would go and just start doing home improvements (or is it school improvemnts) in some random school. she was acting like repainting defaced desks was the crime of the century.

anyway seeing as two of my work days were unceremoniously taken away, i now have 3 day to finish 5 days work, I aint compaliniing though. went to coney island jana... it sucks... but the company was good so i had a good time. there was a hot dog eatting compe there (which i missed do to oversleeping... i had gone to bed at 4 on tuesday, another night on the town :). The winner though ate 66 hotdogs!!! in 12 minutes!!!! (correction, he didn't eat them, he swallowed them bila chewing i tell you). that stuff is dangerous! apparently is actually a recognized sport and they have a league and everything! its called M.L.E. Yeah you guessed it... Major League Eating :) only in america i tell you.

Oh, i was talking to an iteresting friend the other day and the converstation the otherday and somehow the converstion drifted into fast food and how much we miss kenyan fast food, stears (swoon), Nandos (double swoon), and the ultimate KENCHIC!! That kuku mfalme just has no compe on this planet! anyway it came to me that i haven't read any praise for kenchic and them and i figured i should just give a shout out to all those who know that there is only one kuku mfalme and its the king of all kukus on this planet.

yet another wonderful evening in the city

New York has once agin lived up to its reputation and treated me to yet another memorable weekend, I had a blast having dinner and going out with a couple of new and old friends, i had people come in from out of state and we all had a merry time. I forgot my debit card at a lounge in meat-packing jana, but i am sure it will be safe and sound when I go to pick it up in about 30 minutes. i doubt any of the people in that part of town would bother with my little moneys :)

I have decided that, rather than keep trying to figure out an easy way of calling a perl script (running on cygwin) from a c sharp application, i will just re-write the entire file parser in c sharp. I think it will be easier and will make for a more solid solution because everything will be bundled together nicesly into ac sharp solution that can be installed anywhere. I have already started re-writing it and am currently going through the steep learning curve phase. Hopefully it passes soon.

apparently according to a blog post by assidous chris khaemba, (aka sodi :) my former principle will be moving to south Africa to lead the African leadership institute! its a big loss for bush, but i am sure he will be a valuable asset to both institutions int he future.