gadgets


gadgets + zoom-zoom24 Apr 2007 05:45 pm

today i traded in my 1995 pontiac sunfire and drove away in a shiny, new 2007 mazda 3 sport GT!

mazda3 sport GT
zippy-zippy zoom-zoom!

since shopping for cars is not as easy as shopping for shoes, i was armed with a lot of information: articles on car-buying; wholesale reports from CarCostCanada; the latest Best 2007 Cars issue of Consumer Reports.

although i am a very indecisive person by nature, i knew that i wanted a honda or toyota (i didn’t really want a mazda since mazda is owned by ford). i wanted a hatchback. i really wanted a moonroof. i also wanted a hybrid, but even with the tax rebates, the toyota prius was out of my reach. i knew i wanted a car in time to drive it to ALC 2007

i test drove the toyota matrix, since it met my criteria, and i liked it. i was just about to go buy it, when… at the eleventh hour, i decided that i MUST test drive the mazda 3, just to rule out that i really don’t want a mazda. turns out i really liked the mazda 3!!!

i waffled in great agony between the toyota matrix and the mazda 3. i finally decided on the mazda 3 and then i waffled in great agony over the colour…

black cars look better in the shade!

culture + gadgets25 Dec 2006 11:09 pm

happy 359th day of the year!

it is not yet midnight and the turkey seems to have lulled everyone else to sleep. vegetarians unite!

during our fabulous feast (thanks anne and merran!) we partook in traditional british .

don we now our crafty colourful paper crowns.

while my friends got “recognizable” novelty toys in their cracker (mini-stapler, mini-sewing kit, rubic’s cube key chain, mini-toothbrush, dolphin bracelet, nail clippers, bouncy rubber ball, water gun, shoe horn), i found myself with this item of mystery:

party crackers
it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…

suggestions so far are: teeth flosser, slingshot, poking device, needle threader… please help identify this mysterious novelty item! is it related to bridge, golf, knitting, karate?

here is an article about the decline in quality of christmas crackers.

anyway, crackers are no fun without cheese…
here is some requisite corny “family friendly” christmas cracker humour…

Q. why can’t prisoners have chocolate?
A. because it makes them break-out

Q. What’s the most popular gardening magazine in the world?
A. Weeder’s Digest

happy holidays!

gadgets + photographica29 Nov 2006 11:06 pm

i recently bought a Nikon D80 DSLR.

it tooks months of waffling over which camera to buy (years actually, if you count my personal nikon v. canon debate over the past 6 years — it took me so long to decide which camera to buy that my coveted film camera turned into a digital camera!).

here are several initial experimental photos taken on various autumn days…

abstract leaves colourful leaves
see all my Nikon D80 photos

i am looking forward to taking winter photos when this ridiculous cold snap ends.

in the meantime, to learn more about photography i am reading Photography and the Art of Seeing by Freeman Patterson.

as well, over the past 4 weeks i participated in the college intramural photo club, where i benefited from professional photographer arto’s expertise.

the first rule of photo club is you don’t talk about photo club…

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