Fiat Lux

May 29 at 11 PM

Lighting is pretty important. As Sui fell asleep for the umpteenth time on the couch, struggling to stay awake against a dim standing light (1), it was time to renovate the lighting in my condo. I also tried poking her awake and got slapped.

Like almost everybody else, I switched my incandescent bulbs for energy-saving CFL’s, courtesy of multiple government subsidies, a few years back. Sure, there was a difference in lighting, but I didn’t think much of it till now; some rudimentary research showed that stores still sold high wattage bulbs, used in higher-end lamps, at a performance level unattainable by current CFL’s. Also, there were supposedly added benefits to using halogens and full-spectrum lighting as well, and that fluorescent flicker people complain about is probably keeping me irritable.

NBA Playoff Webtacular

May 20 at 11 PM

I always figured sports would be the bastion of cable – it’s the one video category people will still willingly spend money towards, whether to just get cable for ESPN or a new HD television set to view the action in full 1080i glory.

Turns out, though, that the current NBA playoffs (with games broadcast between ABC, TNT, and ESPN) are already freely streamed online:

ESPN 360

TNT TV

Sure, it makes a poor replacement of an evening on the couch or in the bar with friends, but for those who stay in the office as late as I do (or don’t feel like paying $50+ a month for three channels), it does its job of halting productivity admirably.