As the song goes, “the best things life are free”… Take this reasonably unique chromed out “S” on the MINI side-scuttles. Sure you may remember this same mod on my previous MINI, but other than that, I’ve never seen it elsewhere….
Chrome S Turn-signal Scuttles
Sticker removal: 5-minutes
Excess sticky stuff removal (via “Goo-gone”): 15-minutes
Total cost: $0
Not a bad day. 
Just to get all nerdy for a second, I have to say that the IKEA catalog for the iPad is the coolest transition-from-print attempt I’ve seen yet! While still retaining the look and feel the print version has retained for 60 years (yeah- who knew!), the 2012 digital version is dynamic and interactive, complete with video walk throughs of the sets. If you want to stick to flipping through “pages”, you can do that too!
And I’m only on page 6! I just had to give IKEA their props. (i have not tested if you can buy direct from the app- that would put it over the top!!). I might have to amend this post if I see something else super awesome.
Screen shot from iPad app.
I was reading a thread over at ModernVespa.com today about “How To Attach Your Patches To Your Jacket?” Which reminded me of how lazy and/or fickle *I* am, when it came time to affix my club patches, as shown below…
Club badge on vinyl fabric...
...attached via velcro.
Club badge on mesh fabric...
...attached via safety pins!
Once again my laziness/obstinace prevails! Plus, when I get kicked out of the club I won’t have holes in my jackets! 
I am far from being an early-adopter. In fact, aside from reading up on the news, issues, and short-comings of new technologies, I’m usually the last person I know to bite the bullet. However since my job gave loaned me my Macbook Pro, iPhone, *and* iPad2, I figured the least I could do is help them out.
Worth the wait? Um, yeah.
I use the aforementioned devices primarily for work, and as such, am looking at iOS5 as far as its functionally from that prospective.
Caveats:
Oh yeah- a couple mundane details that affect my experiences:
1. I’m on an iPhone 3GS. Whatever features unique to iPhone 4/4s, I didn’t get them.
2. I’m on Snow Leopard on the Macbook. Whatever Lion-only niftiness there is, I don’t have those either.
3. I have not turned on iCloud as of this posting. Why not? Because: a) I don’t care. b) These aren’t my devices and could have them yanked from my at any moment, and c) My job backs up my MacBook regularly anyway.
Part One: The Install. To upgrade to iOS5 I needed to update iTunes. Which required me to update Safari for some lame reason. I read a couple blog and Twitter posts yesterday about installs going wrong and a couple bricked iPhones. I wasn’t one of them. In fact the install process on all devices went about as seamless as possible. The only hiccup was when updating my iPhone it asked me for a password to restore the phone- only, i’ve never put a password on it. After ignoring the request a couple times my phone updated, bookmarks and all. I did have to reset my wallpaper though. (*gasp!*)
On the iPad, I have no news to report. It updated exactly as expected.
Part Two: First look. On first glance, nothing is really changed- Oh the “Music” icon is a little more orange and the Voice Recorder icon is a little more blue. Oh, and there’s a Newsstand app that I can’t seem to get rid of. If you’re not paying attention, you wouldn’t even notice the update. Then little things started to pop-up…
Part Three: The nitty-gritty. I lied about the phone update going seamless- all settings reverted back to their defaults. The advantage of this though- it forced me to take a closer look at all the new options/features of iOS. A few that stand out after just a couple hours:
Auto-syncing over wifi. You’d think this is a little thing- this is actually a really really big deal. Change anything on any device- add or remove an app or photo, make a note, start an email or podcast, re-arrange icons, etc. and the updates are made on all devices. This feature alone is worth the hassle of the update.
Push notifications to the lock-screen. I turned them all on for kicks. It got annoying this morning before I even left the house. I could see where someone might like that though.
A ton more ringtones and alert tones. One thing that always irked me was having only 5-6 alert tone options on the iPhone. If you’re into that, then you’ll enjoy the variety. If you’re like my co-worker who leaves everything on vibrate 100% of the time, you’ll never notice.
Twitter integration. I mean, “post to Twitter” is now an option in like, everything. If you’re into that, then you care. If you’re not, you won’t even notice. It will be interesting to see if Twitter use goes up because of it.
Camera. For still shots you have the option to turn on a grid overlay, if you’re into that whole rule-of-thirds thing. No noticeable features on the video side.
So that’s a look at my first 18 hours of iOS, if you count 5 hours of sleep. (me- not the gadgets)
Feel free to share any of your experiences with the upgrade, or any features you want me to test and document- in the comments!
Last night I inadvertently discovered a simple Coinstar® hack. You know- the big green box- usually at your local grocery store next to the RedBox box? If you’ve never seen or used one, you dump your change jar into the hopper and it counts it all up for you, keeps a not-so insignificant percentage*, and spits you out a ticket which you can then exchange for cash.
*(Yes, you can also get iTunes and Amazon Gift Certificates and ditch the fee, but whatever). Hack, after the jump…
Buttons! The bane of change counters everywhere! (image courtesy of exploringprejudice.com)
Admist the pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, pesos, yen, and canadian jingle, what I didn’t know was that there was a small button in there too, which jammed up the machine to the extent that it threw an error code and forced an attendant to come and fix it. When she opened up the machine- it printed a ticket of the up to then, counted change. I innocently asked (because I’m a geek, and like to know these things) “how does it know that amount is correct?”. The attendant, quite perplexed, did not have an answer.
She then proceeded to a) give me the printed out ticket, and then b) give me all of my change back! So of course I didn’t say anything. Would you? Once unjammed, swept out, WD-40′d, and reactivated, I resent all my change through the machine and now had two tickets to redeem at the counter. Approximately an extra $11 bucks after the vig. Did I hack the machine, or the low-paid attendee? Does it matter?
Not suggesting you try this at home (cough*yest I am*cough). Jus’ sayin…
Looking for something completely different this morning, I was reminded on Modern Vespa of the old reflectorized-tape-behind-the-piece-of-plastic-on-the-top-case trick…
To put it briefly- that reflector on your $400 OEM Vespa topcase? TOTALLY NOT A REFLECTOR!!! How lame is that?! Jonesing for an excuse to take the scoot out anyway, I went for a jaunt to my local M arine Supply Shop and grabbed some reflectorized tape in red…
Vespa topcase "reflector"? Not a reflector!
I removed the reflector by unscrewing it from the case…
The screws to remove it...
Yep- just a cheap piece of plastic…. (really?!)
White Plastic? Really?
3M reflective tape. Around six bucks after tax…
$6 bucks...
I covered the OEM plastic with the tape, and trimmed to fit…
trimmed to fit (w/ screw holes)....
Replaced onto the topcase. Can ya see it?! (Yeah- me neither!)
Noticeable to the naked eye but not w/ an iphone pic 
I admit it’s noticeable to the naked eye but not (sadly) w/ an iPhone pic (might just be my crappy lighting as well!). On the other hand, giving the same treatment to the reflectorized stripe on my Corazzo jacket? totally noticeable!
Before…
Before 3M tape
After…
Reflectorized stripe on my Corazzo jacket? totally noticeable! (We hope anyway!)
Conclusion:
(Note: all pics shot with the 3Gs iPhone, because it was either a new camera or a used Vespa!)
Related Links:
ReflectiveStore.com
ModernVespa.com
Corazzo Shop Shop Jacket Review
Broke my screen, ordered a replacement. Now I’ve got a perfect set of hardware still in the box. Fits Vepsa LX/LXV, may fit other screens but don’t take my word for it. $50+shipping o.b.o. (slightly over 2lb.)
Here’s the screen…
Here’s the box…
Hardware for Prima Short Screen
Inquire within… (Please leave a comment!)
A friend sent the link to iNudge.net this morning. After a couple seconds I figured out what it does and how it works. Here’s one of the 8 or 9 creations I came up with in the last half an hour…
If you can get good music out of this, then you already know how to use Reason, FruityLoops, Sony’s Acid, Apple’s GarageBand, and basically, any other “looping” software out there (and there are plenty!).
If you’re a music noob, this is a good way to learn 4/4 time signature and how beats breakdown into eighth notes and sixteenth notes. It’s also a good way to blow 20-30 minutes.
I think I’m going to have a lot of fun when I get home from work tonight! Do not visit this site if your don’t have 30 minutes to kill.
Related Links:
iNudge.net
Reason
FruityLoops
Acid (from Sony)
GarageBand (from Apple)
Being the end of the month and all, I was once again challenged with finding something healthy to eat…
Foraging through empty cupboards I threw together an impromptu recipe, which actually turned out damn scrumptious! I don’t even know what to call it/its called. Any suggestions?
Ingredients
Straight from the can. How glamorous!
Black Beans (one 15.5 oz can)
Green Beans (one 14.5 oz can)
Diced Tomatoes & Green Chili (one 10 oz can)
Firm Tofu (approx. .5 oz)
Diced Onion
Black Pepper, Garlic Salt, and/or preferred seasonings.
Directions
1. Strain and rinse black beans, green beans, and diced tomatoes
2. Cut Tofu into 1/4 to 1/2 inch cubes
3. Dice Onion into tiny bits or preferred consistency
4. Place all ingredients in mixing bowl, mixing thoroughly.
5. Season to taste.
6. Enjoy!
TOTAL CALORIES (per serving): 257
TOTAL FAT (per serving): 5.3g
Comments:
I’m guessing this would probably be even more tasty left to marinate in the fridge for an hour or so, but I was hungry! No photo, because I ate it all! I don’t know- does this count as salsa? Salad? Other?
Oh yeah- total prep time: 5-10 minutes!
Funny thing about Internet® is, (s)he always knows the answer to any question I might have. Today I asked Internet, “how do I link to a specific tweet?” Internet®. immediately hooked me up with lexblog.com who already answered this question. So, don’t think I’m all Mr. Smarty Pants. I’m actually Mr. Knows-how-to-look-shit-up.
The short version (thanks for Lexblog for not suing the smartypants off me):
“How do I find the URL of an individual tweet?
To do so, click on the date & time the tweet was published.. Once you click that, you will be brought to the individual page of the tweet. From here, copy the URL of the page and use that in your hyperlink.”
Here’s a photo I’ve illegally hot-linked to from the aforementioned website:
image borrowed from lexblog.com
If you need more specific instructions from there, well, you should just check out the post in its entirety.
