LiDE

got myself a new canoscan LiDe50 for $57. now i can get more stuff scanned faster and easier.

officemax has a visioneer 7100 for $30, but apparently the cover opens sideways and it's gonna be a hassle when i'm trying to scan something like an image from a textbook. true that i can take the cover off, but then what's the point of having a cover in the first place? also, usually when i take things off i tend to forget where i put them. so i decided not to get this one.

frys has an advertised epson 1260p for $40. i was interested in that and went straight to frys. apparently everyone else was interested in that as well that when i got there they've got no more of those. my dad said that they might still have some in the back but i loathe with passion, asking help from a frys salesman. not because they're impolite and not helpful, which they are, but more because everyone else seems to love them so much that one person can hog a salesman for over 20 minutes. of course there are five or six other people waiting in line to ask questions to that same salesman. due to this i tend to NOT ask for help; it's like a waste of time. with that, 1260p was also no longer an option.

then, in the place where they have the pricetag for 1260p, i saw two boxes of canon LiDE50. pricetag said $89.99, but for the refurbished ones, $59.99. i've had experiences with refurbished items, and so far none has been disappointing, so i thought i might as well give it a try. besides, it's frys; they've got a 30-day return policy on any item, closed or open. so why not. apparently the refurbished one that i got has a price tag on it that says "reduced to $56.99." so there you go, i saved myself another $3. my dad was of course being all paranoid and said that frys is still making a shitload of money even from $57 so technically i ain't saving any money, but that's the talk the old man gives me everytime.

much to my surprise, the scanner comes with a stand so i can use it in the upright position. sweet. i can't scan books in the upright position, of course, but for photos, it works fine. 1200 x 2400 dpi resolution, 9 seconds preview, 11-12 seconds scantime, PLUS 4 buttons that just make my lazy life even lazier. button one scans, saves, and transfers the image straight to an OCR software, button two scans, saves, and transfers the image straight to photoshop, button three scans and saves, button four scans, saves, and transfers the image straight to acdsee. those buttons save me about three to five more things i have to click or press before i get the same exact thing shown on the screen. life is beautiful. now, you might think i speak too highly of this scanner, and maybe the price $57 for such a scanner isn't too cheap, but i'm happy since i moved up from a umax astra 2000p that takes ages just to preview, let alone scanning. plus the umax i used (now my dad and sister use it) is HUGE, about 18"x12" and about 4" thick, AND still uses that ugly old LPT port. no offense to LPT port fans, but i think USB rules. this new LiDE50 is only about 14"x10" and a little less than 1.5" thick. it can definitely sit or stand on top of my PC perfectly.

enough about the scanner. i just found out that the old saying "like father like son" is true. i was driving down colorado going to glendora ave when i saw a hot brunette in a tight pink shirt and mini skirt walking on the culdesac street to my right. i figured since it's a residential area no one would complain about me driving slow, so i slowed down to about 20mph and since the coast was clear i didn't bother looking straight ahead; i just made sure the steering wheel stayed straight. so for about 6-7 seconds i was looking to my right, checking out the brunette, and i noticed that my dad, sitting on the passenger seat, was doing the exact same thing. i knew he was also checking out the brunette because he looked over his shoulder after we passed her, which was what i did as well. i thought that was quite funny, considering that he's almost 50 and has been married for 20 years. i guess guys are guys, no matter how old they are. maybe one day i'll take my son to the beach just to check out the girls. haha.

i got this in my email this afternoon and i thought i should share it with the world:

the US postal service issued a george w. bush stamp. it soon discovered that the stamps were not sticking to the envelopes, so it established a commission to investigate the matter. the commission reported back with the following findings:
1. the stamps met all regulations.
2. nothing was wrong with the adhesive.
3. people were just spitting on the wrong side.

ha ha ha. now i wished i had gw's email address so i can forward this. =D