Monday, December 22, 2008

 

Opinion: John Chiang, CA State Controller is nuts!

article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/22/national/a153948S79.DTL

title:
Official says Calif. could be broke in 2 months

problem:
John Chiang, the California State Controller and also the official referred to in the article, says CA will not have any money in the next 2 months to pay folks. He also says the state will be forced to defer payment or issue IOUs. He's also referred to as the "Chief Financial Officer" in the article.

Another problem is this same person about 6 months ago was against the governor's plan to lay off state employees and slash the pay to existing folks.

article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/25/MN0B11V432.DTL

title:
Controller says he won't cut workers' wages

I remember he also did a very lame interview on KCBS radio saying the governor's plan would be negatively viewed by folks in Wall Street. He also said California could access loans. I forgot what type of loans but I remember they were the same type of ARM loans "home buyers" accessed a few years ago that's now causing the foreclosure mess and not to mention the entire economic situation. First of all, six months everything was in the sh*ts so what and why is he so worried about what Wall Street thinks? Second when I heard him talk about the loans I immediately concluded that he is an idiot.

Winding forward to now, I'm sure he has to eat his words now. When the governor wanted to fix the cash problem six months ago, he was saying "What cash problem? California is doing fine!" Now he's saying, "California, we have a problem!"

Another problem I have is his inability to do his job. I'm thinking in business if the CEO ordered layoffs and salary reductions but the CFO declined to go ahead with the plan, guess what happens next? This dimwit thought that he was helping out employees but really he's destroying the state he lives in.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

 

Products Review: Noise Canceling Headphones

I have been in the market for noise canceling headphones for a week or two. What started it was my work area was getting very noisy. There were lots of sounds: desk and cell phones going off, folks having conversations near me or as they walk by, the A/C turning on and off with regular frequency, and the cleaning staff vacuuming.

I was willing to spend so I narrowed my list to Bose QuietComfort 2 and Sennheiser PXC 450. I also looked at "mid" class range and considered Philips SHN9500 and Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint.

I didn't get to try the Bose but I was able to try the others.

Now the cancellations:

I canceled out Bose because of all the reviews about poor build quality. The photos of the plastic hinge cracking and breaking apart convinced me that Bose is not making a good product.

My friend recently bought a pair of Philips and let me try it out. It was actually very decent for the price; he paid around $50 I think. The noise canceling capability reminded me of the Philips noise canceling earbuds I used to have. It brought the noise volume down a bit.

The Audio-Technica felt like it didn't work that well. The headphones were comfortable but they felt a bit tight. The noise canceling did bring the noise volume down but it just didn't feel like much happened.

Finally the Sennheiser pair I have to say I didn't get a chance to try it before buying it. But I decided on this because I was convinced of the reviews and the information from the manufacturer. The noise canceling really worked for me. I know noise canceling headphones don't exactly kill all noise but the Sennheiser was able to do it for me by creating a silent like feeling in my ear despite the outside noises. I also like the talk-through feature where it brings the outside noise into the headphones if I want to talk and listen to someone without taking off the headphones.

The one negative about the Sennheiser is actually with the case. The Audio-Technica has a small pouch with a velcro backing to carry the accessories: audio cable, plugs, battery and more. The Sennheiser case does not have a pouch. What it has instead are rubber band cloth "hooks" but they are just too small to open up and put the accessories in. Also the headphones require some strange transformation to be put in the case. It just made me afraid that I might break them doing the transformation. With the Audio-Technica, I just have to turn the cans and that's it.

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