Posted by jay on November 25, 2008 under General, Rants, Travel | 
Let’s cut to the chase and skip the history and origin of the Manbag and get to the point.
We carry a lot of shit around with us everyday. At a minimum I have a mobile phone, my wallet and car/house keys which can all fit in my pants pockets. Now add in my glasses, a pen and Moleskine notebook (because if I don’t write it down it will never get done), some chap-stick (only in the Fall/Winter), halls cough drops (only in the Fall/Winter) and my key-chain frob for the office. There no way I’m getting all that crap in my pockets.
Is there any thing I could ditch? Not really.
So what are my options? A back-pack or messenger bag. Ok but that’s a lot of bag for small objects.
A Fanny pack? There no “F” in way.
How about a WWII map satchel? Hmm sounds good but how about something a little more modern.
Aha! An Eagle Creek Guide Bag. 
Now we’re talking. Or even better is the Eagle Creek Vagabond Travel Bag 
Read more of this article »
Posted by jay on November 14, 2008 under General |
Recycling By the Numbers: The Truth About Recycling - Popular Mechanics
“Americans haul 82 million tons of trash to recycling centers each year—but that’s still just 32.5 percent of what we throw out. Here’s how much energy recycling saves and how much that’s worth.”
Posted by jay on November 12, 2008 under HOWTO, Tips |
So after reading this post about DIY Noise Canceling Headphones, I built my very own pair. I bought some low-profile / folding ear-muffs for $9.99 as well as some Sony MDR-V150 for $12.99.
These are Noise Blocking and not Noise Canceling.
I fly to Germany every other month from the east coast of the US.
On my first trip I used my $9.95 Skullcandy ear-buds. I did not sleep at all.
On my second trip I used some $29.99 Phillips Noise Canceling ear-buds. These worked well until one of the rubber buds popped off and then I had no headphones at all.
On my third trip I used my DIY Noise Blocking Headphones. I slept for 6 hours straight and the nice grandma next to me had to wake me up.
When flying the worst part for me is the constant roar of the engines. I usually have a headache just from the noise and I am exhausted from lack of sleep but not on my last trip.
My co-workers were so jealous of my slumber that they have asked me to make them some noise blocking headphones as well.
When selecting ear-muffs to use I recommend the folding ear-muffs over the “neck band” ear-muffs. When selecting headphones be sure that the drivers (the speakers) are easily detachable and that each driver has its own cord. I bought the Sony MDR-V150 because I went to CircutCity and had a look at them so I was sure that they came apart easily. Other headphone options could be the over the ear headphones.
The one extra step I took was to use a small file-tool to create a notch at the bottom of the ear-muff cups for the headphone cord.
Posted by jay on November 4, 2008 under HOWTO, Hacks, Music |
A Google search that returns MP3s in open directories. Here’s the string—just replace the “Album” and “Artist” and the like with your intended find:
-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(wma|mp3) “artist|album|track|etc”
For example: Music by Slipknot
