Sometimes, even when you're only searching U.S. sellers for an item on eBay, it can be difficult to find the real deal. This has been the case for me in searching for a pair of Sony MDR-V900HD headphones. Quite often, I think the case is that the U.S. seller bought a knockoff for personal use, decided they didn't like it (of course), and will do pretty much whatever they can think of in order to convince themselves and others that it's a legit item and they simply have a perfectly good reason to want to resell it. I mean, who wouldn't want their $40+ back in a case like this? Here is one such item:

( Image behind cut. )

This was the exchange of messages that came about from my attempt to determine if they were real:

Me:
I'm wondering where these were originally purchased and if you feel you can be fairly certain these are real V900 headphones? If I can be assured they're real, I would purchase them at your buy it now price. But there are more knock-off copies of this model than there are real ones, so I would like to try to be sure.

Seller:
These were shipped from China and the actual earcuffs have the correct model number, they look well made, and don't appear to be knock-offs. I certainly understand the reason for the question. I looked over everything carefully and all seems OK. I just didn't like them as much as the 600's. If you'd like a picture of the everything inside the box, let me know and I'll update the auction again. If I can't I can email it to you directly.
Thanks for asking.

Me:
From all the research I've done, Sony does not manufacture these in China at all. A few of their best products are still made in Japan. The rest are made in places like the Philippines and Thailand. However, most of the knock-offs of their high-end headphone models are labeled "made in China", to make it seem more legitimate that they're being shipped from China. If my research is a little wrong and they are actually making some things in China, it still would not include their best products, such as the MDR-V900HD.

I'm sorry to have to be the one to inform you that yours probably are not real. However, it does at least explain why they don't sound quite as good as your pair of V600s.

The "UPDATE" added at the bottom of the auction was in response to my last message to the seller. Obviously, if the headphones came in a box that has the right model number on it and says "SONY," they must be a real Sony product. As we all know, copying model numbers and printing "SONY" on a box is hella hard.

The headphones did sell at the buy it now price.

Alright everyone, I've found a slight flaw with the images used for this eBay listing. For the event that the listing is deleted, maybe in like 90 days or so, I'm also posting the images in question ( behind this cut! )

Anyone else notice what's wrong? If I've shown you this, don't ruin it for everyone else.

Alright everyone, it's time for me to step up on my soapbox for a moment here and be serious in this journal for once.

The reaction I'm getting from most friends when I ask them about the current swine flu thing is basically that the press would exaggerate it no matter what, so there has to be nothing to worry about. Let's think on it for a moment though. Disclaimer: NONE OF THIS POST IS DIRECTED AT ANYONE SPECIFIC!  DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY!

The numbers we're seeing in the press would probably suggest a mortality rate of about 6% in Mexico, so far. And, of course, this could be off in either direction, depending on which input statistic is wrong and how. It's probably high, but it could also be low, since the press is most likely to exaggerate statistics for both the number of deaths AND the number infected. Most of the people who are currently infected with it in Mexico haven't gotten over it yet, so more of them could still die and raise the statistic higher.

Alright, now let's suppose either the press is greatly exaggerating the mortality rate from this thing or it's somehow just really adept at killing Mexicans for some odd reason. Suppose the mortality rate from it is only a measly 0.1%. 0.1% doesn't sound all that high, right? So, everyone's individual chances of dying from it would seem pretty low. Yeah, sure, but what's that mean about the overall death toll? Well, the US population is around 306 million, so it would kill 306,000 people in the US alone. That's about half the death toll of the U.S. Civil War. Sure, something like 4.3 million people were going to die over the next year anyway, right? Well, I hate to break it to you, but this thing probably wouldn't have killed most of them anyway, because most of them have depressed immune systems. The young and healthy are apparently the MOST likely to die from this thing. This, by the way, is a big cause for concern, for those of you who didn't catch on to that yet.

The worldwide death toll, with a fixed 0.1% mortality rate, would be about 6.7 million. However, I gather that the toll would be higher in really populated parts of the world with poor medical care. In some parts of Asia, it would likely be higher than what we're seeing in Mexico right now. My guess would be about 400 million worldwide, primarily due to the crowding and medical care conditions of some countries.

Sure, a lot of people may never actually know someone well who dies from this thing. So I'm not saying it's a reason to go buy canned goods and lock yourself in the basement for the next year. The point is that A LOT of people will probably die from it. Possibly hundreds of millions! Sure, I'm all about curbing overpopulation, but this isn't the way. These are REAL PEOPLE, dying in a horrible way. Yeah, I get it, some of you don't care because you probably won't personally die from it. So what? Where's the compassion for everyone else?

By the way, I'd like to point out that even the U.S. death toll I speculated is far higher than the the number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq. If you're the type to moan about the U.S. deaths in Iraq and don't shed a care about the likely death toll from this thing, nobody should trust in your sincerity regarding such issues.

So last night I'm poking around on eBay in this guy's <99% feedback to see what the deal was. Yeah, isn't it funny that I get concerned when feedback is less than 99%? Does that say something about eBay?

( For the IMGs! )

Last night, I finished up my assignment for Graph Theory and submitted it at 11:57. I thought I was done with the class for the week. Then at about 12:10 I checked the site again. "Dr. Hu" had assigned a "quiz."

It consisted of this:
1. Problem 3.7.2 in the text.
2. Problem 3.7.8 in the text.
3. Problem 4.4.2 in the text.
4. Problem 5.1.7 in the text.
5. Problem 5.2.2 in the text.

And yes, that was how it was written.

This is just not a proper quiz.

Yeah, my MIS book really sucks.

In chapters 7 and 8, I started noting an unusual number of strange errors, mostly in spelling and such.  ( Cut for length. Click to read more! )

So yeah, school life remains an interesting thing, for the wrong reasons.

Yeah, this is the kind of world we live in:

The News

Isn't that just terrific?

I will admit that Obama has indeed gotten his economic stimulus bill through congress very fast, just as the news articles have been saying. Not that I think this is any great achievement, since it shouldn't have been very hard given that the congressional majority is in his favor right now in both the House and Senate.

( And here's why I think that, along with some pictures. )

Oh Pred Forte, to splash a drop of you in each eye tastes of heaping spoonfuls of that white dust from inside balloons.  Oh, how I loathe thee.

Yesterday the world abounded with wonderful stupidity.  Some I feel I may be able to take advantage of and some I will not. 

For starters, I noted an article on Yahoo! about how SUV sales are back up again and this is a big boon to GM.  What the Hell, people?  Gas prices have been low for like, what, 2 weeks?  Who is that stupid?  And shame on you, GM!  You know that it's better for your long-term future to try marketing something more fuel-efficient.  GM is going to be in the same mess again once gas prices shoot up next time!  But hey, it's not my money.  Or at least, it won't be as long as none of that $700 billion bailout package wafts their way.  Let's face it, that would be pure waste with such poor management of what they already have.

But I figure a few morons will be trading in a Prius they bought 6 months ago because of high gas prices to get something that will allow them to continue spending enough money on gas.  If enough people feel the need to do that, maybe it'll push down the market price of the used ones and I'll finally get to grab mine in a few months when I hopefully have the cash.  We'll see.  I hope to get one of those cool ones with GPS in the dash for those rare (but always at the worst time!) instances when I'm lost.  But I probably won't get to do that unless I get that better job.

Another nice example was provided by our fine local USPS representative:
( Picture!!! )

Yes, it's nice that he was just barely able to cram the box in to the mailbox, thereby allowing him to avoid climbing the stairs to get it up to my door.  (He's stated he hates that flight of stairs.)  And not to have to wait on me to answer said door.  But what did he expect me to do with it once I opened the mailbox?  I had to disassemble the box while it was inside the mailbox in order to get it out.  I guarantee you, that was a blast.

This is not the first time they've shown this rare level of intelligence.  I still haven't forgotten that they managed to break that well-packed decanter I shipped down here early this year.  I'm sure that was a fun game of football for a few overly-secured minions of Uncle $am.

Sometimes you have to deal with people on eBay who defy every attempt to talk reason into them.  Here's an example...

( That is, the example is behind this cut. )

Original Post (8/21/2008):
I bought a 3 1/2-year-old Miyasama Yatsubusa Trident Maple, as the seller put it.

This was one of my books when I was a little one. It probably explains a lot more about me than I care to admit.

( Images behind cut )

Just remember, these are the people who more recently brought us Elmo.

Original Post (5/9/2008):
I have this potted elm tree that I obtained last August.  This wonderful paint drawing explains the method I used to capture it:

( Pictures Inside )

Yeah, I suppose this post is probably boring to those who don't care about this kind of thing.  But I don't really care. :P

Teri and I took a nice walk.

I found an old valve and some Spanish moss.

I stole some little rocks.

Then we came home and made dinner.

I made crepes for Teri.

Then she cut me with scissors.

But dinner will be good.

,So the Compaqs and the Dell are gone.  So are four others.  Some that I junked were not numbered.  Overall, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, and 19 have been junked out.


The salvage yard gave me $15.60 for the 240 pounds of steel from the computers and whatnot.  Total take from the whole thing was $34.35 after counting my other scrap metals.  Apparently, I do really like to recycle.

So I've been trimming away at my huge amount of junk and getting ready to move.  I now need to decide which older computers stay and which go.  "Stay" means I take them with me, which is I guess a little confusing.


I would appreciate it if any of you would comment on which look good and which do not.  Keep in mind, this is retro stuff here at this point and I'm not asking what looks like it's in style.  Also, I can replace almost anything that's missing, so pay no attention to missing parts.  I have some ideas about which I'd like to keep, but thoughts from others are always helpful.

Some day, humans will die and be mostly forgotten. 

Some other animals will evolve into bipedal forms. 

Some will develop societies with culture, art, and science.

Some will dress up, on occasion, for holidays and whatnot.

Some will dress up for entirely different reasons.

Some will get a little too happy about dressing up.

Some will be in pink latex suits, reminiscent of hairless apes.

Some other animals will find these "humanies" to be quite odd.