i heart oxi magic!

On Saturday night I had a few of my new girlfriends over for a slumber party. The plan was to watch cheesy john hughes movies, trade make-up tricks, play truth or dare and crank call boys....but we didn't get to any of that because we ended up drinking and chatting outside the entire evening enjoying the warmish weather and my new patio furniture. It was awesome....until, at about 3 am when we headed in to sleep, I, being particularly gracious, *kicked* over a full glass of red wine spraying red wine all over my new carpet and white bedding. i was horrified then in shock and then, with the aid of my dear friends, leaped to action. Here's what we did:

(1) I poured an entire container of salt over the stain on the carpet. The salt absorbs the wine so it doesn't go into the carpet - this really works!
(2) We then vacuumed up the salt, but the wine was still there. the situation looked dire.
(3) I remembered that a friend who works in the wine industry had recommended oxi magic to me last time i saw her and so i had bought a bottle and kept it in the basement near the laundry. I ran down the stairs and found it and then proceeded to spray it over every red thing in sight.
(4) Put the sheets and bedding into the washer on the Hot/Cold cycle, leaving out softner just in case.

IT WORKED. Every single drop of wine -- including the wine that was on my white bedding -- is gone. I can't believe it. I am honestly shocked. and sooooooo very happy.

Oxi magic is amazing. Go buy some. Go!

browsers

How many browsers does one person need? Well, lately i'm not quite sure that the answer is One...Right now i have four on my mac, three on my pc for a total of 5 brands:



Firefox:
Tagline: Take back the web. or Rediscover the web.

I downloaded firefox last spring and fell in love with tabbed browsing. I swear tabs changed my internet experience. I then got my mac, and realized that safari had been doing tabbed browsing for awhile...I also have to admit that I loved the speed of firefox and the logo. The logo is hot. I'm currently using the pimpzilla skin to liven things up.


Camino:
Tagline: Mozilla power, Mac style. Could it get any better? or
Simplicity is something of infinite beauty.

This is my newest browser (downloaded today) so i have yet to mess with it much. It promises to be just like Firefox, but primed for my mac. This is exciting since I use the blogger interface on Mozilla (better tools via this browser format) over Safari (i typically blog from home on mac) but have found firefox to run slightly slower on my mac.



Safari
Tagline: A superior Web experience with outstanding performance. or
Your desktop is the new doorstop.

Ok, i love this browser. It works seamlessly on my mac and is generally speedy.

Opera:
Tagline: Simply the best web experience.

I'm testing this one out purely for the ads (screenshot) they build into the browser. I think this is an interesting idea. Right now I think I look too much at the ads because i'm curious, otherwise, I would find them annoying and a waste of space. I get enough ads via the pages i'm looking at.


Internet Explorer:
Tagline: ?

I'm not quite sure that there is an IE tagline, but the value prop for v7 appears to be "security"... and apparently the beta will be available this summer. They really need a value prop here. Update: I just spent some time looking at the pages to figure out how to download the current version, and uhm, I can't find it. I see patches and updates -- but what if I didn't have IE pre-loaded on my computer? There's no easy download...I guess I can go to Download.com. But everything seems to be targeted at the Service Pack download and not the actual app itself. That just seems weird. But then, who's really downloading IE?

For the nitty-gritty comparisons check out these links:
Use your Brain - Browser Comparison
Wikipedia - Browser Comparison Chart
Lois.Co.UK - Comparison shows what a single web page looks like in different browsers.
Browser Speed Comparison

At the end of the day, I'm using IE + Firefox/Safari (Firefox on my PC, Safari on my Mac). I use Firefox at work for all my personal stuff -- i open firefox and then immediately open up a tab for Gmail, my stock portfolio, bloglines, flickr and then i open up web pages from what i read in bloglines. Sometimes I open up a tab for news (usually cnn.com or news.google.com). I do all of my work stuff on IE -- it promotes the idea to me that there is a "work" space and an "explore" space -- and that there's a seperation between the two...

Which browser are you using? why? I'd love to hear comments/thoughts on this. I know tons of people who've switched to Firefox because of the speed and their anti-evil sentiments, but really, i switched primarily for tabs. and then speed. Generally I don't use any of their special functionality (like RSS) -- although i do find the built in search box very handy.

so my mum does read my blog...

i got this e-mail from my mum today:

To: natala
From: mom
Date: 4/11/05
Subject: hmm...

Tala: exactly what does this mean? You don't want me to come up any more? You do want me to come but...

"I love LOVE having guests (my mum was just here and it was great, except for when i brought up my feelings around "persistent vegitative states") ... but it will be nice to have an empty house for a little while."--Natala's blog

do you mean the persistent vegitative state of your refridgerator?

------
i sometimes forget how funny mum can be. i called her tonight and we had a nice, brief chat where she updated me on the going's on of her favorite son (aka the dog, Brizzie). I swear i've been completely replaced by this pet.

updates / things i've been thinking about:
- i'm dealing OK with Arizona's loss in the Elite Eight. I'm truly happy that UNC won it all. I can't stand a team who wears orange and has a mascot called the "fighting illini" -- please that is almost as bad as the tree.
- How did i forget that Patrick Dempsey was soo cute? he's the new carter! and the show (gray's anatomy) is good too. i never knew you could donate your eyeballs and your skin. neat stuff.
- my taxes are being sent out tomorrow. wow, i've never been done in advance! woohoo for accountants.
- the pope died. it is sad, i liked the pope (even though i disagree with him on many things, esp. contraception-- afterall didn't the catholics invent the rhythm method?).
- my diet is going well, but i've got an infection (unrelated to diet) this week and the meds have turned me into an insomniac. this does not make me more productive unfortunately.
- i really enjoyed this article on Man Dates by the NYT.
- i've been a wee-bit homesick this week. i'm debating if this means i need to take a trip home to CA or suffer a bit longer to see what the homesickness matures into. Moving is interesting, i've been really challenged to go outside my comfort zone on a more regular basis -- meeting new people, trying things out that i probably wouldn't do...etc. Finding good friends in a new place is much, much harder than i expected. I'm a pretty friendly person (and i like to think i'm personable and interesting...ha!), but it seems to me that seattle folks are more closed-off than San Francisco folks and keep to relatively tight circles. As a result, I've noticed that i'm taking an intellectual (i.e. i'm overanalyzing things) approach to social situations. I'm more interested in the dynamics of how people interact with each other than I am in actually joining in the interactions. Perhaps this is because, feeling out of my comfort zone, i'm being a bit more reclusive? hmmm. I definitely find that i miss intimacy, that connection you have with people who know you, and appreciate your quirky neurosis. thank god for cell phones and e-mail. these are two critical links that keep me connected to friends and family.

right now i'm blogging instead of figuring out my taxes...

seriously, i hate filling out forms -- even simple online forms sorta irk me every now and then...but having to fill out a form, fax it or copy it and then submit it just kills me. I can never ever find the stamps. Truthfully these should be the simple, easy, brainless tasks that take moments to complete...but for me the whole process is bothersome. I get rebellious against the beauracracy, against the "man" and the paper-pushers...so, as a direct result, I take a long time to do these "little" things. I let them pile up. By the time I get around to taking care of all the administrative aspects of maintaining my life i'm faced with mountains of paper and it takes hours to weed through it all and i hate hate hate it. I am completely self-tortured here. i know it. aaargh.

the worst part is the satisfaction i get when i'm done. it's freaking glee. you would think that feeling could fuel me through the administrative part, but it doesn't. perhaps the self-torture is more enjoyable. *sigh*

elite eight

Source: Getty Images / CBS Sportsline

ok, at this point in the tournament -- with an essentially demolished bracket -- i try not to get too excited. but well,

HOLY MOLY ARIZONA IS GOING TO THE ELITE EIGHT!!! YEAH YEAH YEAH!!

i love this team. i have the arizona fight song as my text message alert music (since i get arizona basketball scores sent to my phone). and well, every year i pick them to go to the final four and complete at least one bracket with them winning it all... I restrained myself this year -- and what good did that do my bracket? well none. So, i'm going back to my roots and we're red and blue all over:

Bear Down, Arizona
Bear Down, red and Blue
Bear Down, Arizona
Hit 'em hard, let 'em know who's who;
Bear Down, Arizona
Bear Down, Red and Blue
Go, go, Wildcats, go!!!
Arizooooonaaaa, Bear Down


Image source: CBS Sportsline / Getty Images
It's nice to see salim playing as a team member. Hassan Adams is on the right in the headband.

btw, as a sub-note: while looking for an image to put on this post i did a search [arizona wildcat basketball] and the #1 result is a pic i posted during the 2003 tournament -- when i first started to blog! woohoo. Link.

email overload

outlook: 2012 inbox, 297 unread
gmail: 496 inbox, 117 unread

ugh, i am so behind on e-mail my head hurts. i'm not even going to post about how far behind i am on bloglines...

that being said -- i'm in Seattle for the next month! yeah! (although i may go to Portland for a day trip...but that doesn't really count, does it?) and right now i'm also without visitors for the month -- which means a bit less entertaining. I love LOVE having guests (my mum was just here and it was great, except for when i brought up my feelings around "persistent vegitative states") ... but it will be nice to have an empty house for a little while.

i should rephrase that -- empty for now -- i ordered furniture! yes! for real! the first shipment arrives next week, then i get a chunk at the end of April/1st week of May and then the rest (including my beloved couch) will arrive in June. I will finally have living room furniture. I still need a dining table..and outdoor furniture...but well, this is a BIG first step. I'm sooo excited. yippee.

Also, just a heads up readers, I'm planning to have a house warming party in August...

Update: I'm adding this picture because i heart saturn.


Source: APOD/Cassini

acquisition monday

flickr has been acquired by yahoo.
ask jeeves (and myway.com etc.) has been acquired by Interactive Corp (aka Barry Diller).

wow.

I thought this quote from the flickr blog was interesting:
"Yahoo Photos and Flickr have different kinds of users with different needs, and will remain separate for the foreseeable future. Flickr would also suffer from a sudden deluge of LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! omg! so we're going to grow it carefully."

I've been thinking a bit about online communities and how they work and how I participate in them. My thoughts are pretty much in "draft" state right now -- but here's some initial thoughts:
- i like to participate as a "voyeur" -- i'm curious to see what others are up to -- but i'm not likely to make friends or "network" via interactions i have online...although this does happen occasionally.
- i'm interested in tracking the actions of "influencers" -- aka the cool people in the industry that i have blushes (blog crushes) on.
- i'm interested in a customized web experience that leads me to influencers or other items that reflect the lifestyle i want to lead (which may and is likely different from the online life i lead -- i expect that i consistently contradict myself)

I'm thinking that as more people participate in interactive, online communities -- it's likely to get overloaded with people who aren't really the type of people i want to interact with, even in a voyeuristic sense. That's why this quote from Flickr caught my attention -- "growing carefully" is all about making sure that individuals are able to connect with the right type of people -- the ones they want to connect with -- it's about seeing the trees in the forest. This is a big challenge for open-door communities where you can pretty much browse to anybody. For example, take a look at Orkut -- which has apparently been run over by Brazilians...i know i get random links for "friends" from brazilians on orkut all the time. It's annoying -- because i'm not really interested in the random connection.

so do we create participatory communities where the users share common values without creating barriers to entry that make it difficult for newbies to join? Will online communities that work become more exclusive? where you have to prove your coolness in someway in order to get entry into the truly neat and interesting stuff?

hmmm.....

i wonder who will acquire del.icio.us? or sixapart (moveabletype)? time will tell...certainly feels a bit bubalicious lately.