uninteresting :: rich

i never used to care about warranties when i bought stuff, because things never broke…maybe i was just lucky, who knows, but i’m starting to think differently now that a bunch of my gadgets are falling apart:

* my sony digital camera was all jacked up after burning man (ok, this one was my fault). playa dust got all over and inside it and i assume that’s not so good for electronic circuitry. it’s still under the Sony warranty so i just took it to an authorized repair center and they fixed it for free. i also bought it with my American Express card, which doubles the manufacturer warranty. i need to sit down and organize all my warranty information.

* the firewire port on my original ipod stopped working. it still works and plays music just fine - i just can’t put new music on it. apparently this is a design defect (like the batteries that wear out after a few years). sent it to an online repair shop (pdasmart.com) to fix for $55.

* the video card on my desktop pc is displaying corrupted video. it was the top-o-the-line card a year or two ago (ATI All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro), and i discovered one day that my computer air vents were totally clogged with dust. something must have fried. it’s taken me literally several days of troubleshooting to figure out if it’s the video card, motherboard, cpu, bios, or drivers that were causing the problem. just mailed it back to ATI - hopefully they’ll fix it for free.

* my dvd burner just up and stopped working. it was a few months old, and i sent it back to newegg.com where i bought it. they’re offering to replace it with a newer model or refund about 2/3 the price. not sure what i’m gonna do, as d* just gave me a new burner for free.

what’s weird is that all this shit is broken NOW (except my dig cam which is fixed).

years ago i had a Sega Dreamcast with the coolest accessory - a VGA adapter that let you connect it to a computer monitor (which has a *much* better resolution than TVs). the games looked so much better on a monitor - much sharper and deeper colors.

well, i just got a VGA adapter for my xbox and it’s equally as impressive. it’s the neoya x2vga+, and you can only order it online where it’s shipped from somewhere in asia. weird, considering that i’m sure there’s a huge demand for it here in the states. anyways, it translates all games to 480p high-definition resolution, and also 720p and 1080i if your monitor supports it.

i’ve got it connected to my other new toy, a Sony HS94P XBRITE 19″ LCD monitor. visual ecstacy.

article: The online cons known as “phishing” have cost U.S. consumers $500 million

i just received this very believable email and *almost* fell for it. it’s called ‘phishing’ - the scammers send you an official looking email, you click on what looks like a link to a real corporate website, and it leads to a fake website that looks like the real thing and the next thing you know, you’ve given them your credit card info. but if you look at the address bar in your browser you can see it’s a fake domain (in this case it took me to a korean web host).

i was going to write a bunch more about BM, but i’m too lazy. take my word that it was really, really, really fun. images from 2004 are starting to show up on the BM website. i might submit some of mine.

back in the real world, yesterday was the first day i felt normal at work. so the official recovery time is 1 week.

burn night (Saturday night) started off a bit shaky. first, everyone had to rush out to the playa by 9pm (most nights started round midnight). everyone was frantic in the dome gettin ready - not only with our outfits, but also making sure we had all our supplies: blinkys on the bikes, glowsticks, gallon jug of gatorade, water bottles, shades & goggles, dust masks, gifts, gum, smokes, lighters, ashtray containers, lotion, lip balm, cameras, batteries, extra layers of clothes. but we’re pros at it by now.

bikes have to left at the outskirts of the playa, as just about all 35,000 people and every single art car surrounds the man. the crowd is a little annoying, and there’s a sense of chaos of every sound system blasting and blinky things left and right. the burn itself is amazing as usual. words can’t describe it.

afterwards, we head home to rest a bit. amo is feelin sick and it’s not clear if she’ll make it out at all. we’re all feelin a bit ragged. being up the past 2 nights in a row is catching up to us. rose & nate and brian are MIA, and debbie and kevin are about to head out on their own. it starts to seem like the last night will be spent with everyone partying separately.

about 7 of our neighbors pop in before heading out to the party on the playa. my peanut butter cup is kickin in, and there’s a new energy with about 8 conversations going on at once. to their pleasure, we equip them all with bright red led earrings. they smoke up and talk about doing tequila shots - i’m thinkin they’re nuts. at least the earrings will help them find each other out on the playa. one guy is dressed as Hunter Thompson and his impression is *dead on*. it’s a hoot.

suddenly rose & nate appear out of nowhere. they head out with kevin & debbie - the plan is to meet at space cowboys and then stonehendge. amo, ever the trooper, brings herself about and we head out about 1/2 hr later. somehow we run into brian on the way out and tell him the plan.

we get to space cowboys, and it’s dead. they’ve got a small party on the playa, but our gang isn’t there. we head to stonehedge, and amongst the sea of bikes our trademark seizure-inducing blinky lights stick out right away and we find their bikes immediately. the 6 of us get into the groove, and then brian comes bouncing in and suddenly we’re all together, feelin alive, and ready to get down. we stick it out at stonehedge a bit, pay a visit to lotus, and then go to lush. things are good.

by about 4am there’s another lull - amo is in a chill mood by the fire, debbie & kevin are ready to call it a night, rose, nate & brian are all MIA again. and then, wouldn’t ya know it, we all end up together somehow and get down again…this time until the sun is high in the sky, we’re all completely exhausted and satisfied that we did the night right.

home to the dome, plop onto the hammock for about 2 hrs of sleep. wake up with a killer headache and start packing - several hours later, in the heat of the afternoon sun, the dome is dismantled and our bags are packed. one last ride through the playa to pickup MOOP.

say goodbye to black rock city around 5pm. i’m delirious on the ride home - pulled over for an hour snooze in a really scary wooded area, but i’m too tired to care (sorry, amo :)). get to amo’s dad’s around 1am. unload her stuff. to jon’s loft, do some laundry, bed around 3:30am. i am *dead* tired. up at 8am to go to SFO. i sleep from the moment i get in my seat to when the plane lands. get home around 11pm and go right to sleep. call in sick the next day and sleep til 1pm. wake up to eat and go back to sleep. wake up to eat again, and go back to sleep.

today i’m a zombie at work. the computer screen is fuzzy. can’t focus on what people are saying. leave work at 5pm and go to sleep. now, about 3 days later, i’m starting to feel a little more normal. time for a bit more sleep.

even just the last night was worth all the effort. the five days before it make it that much better.