strange love: talking with turoczy

If you follow the Portland Tech scene at all then this episode needs no introduction... This week we talked with the ever charming Rick Turoczy. Check out the tech episode and then our after hours show where we not only talk to Rick, but also discuss the many uses of my Vidoop hard hat and chat with our fab studio audience.

Enjoy!

Strange Love Tech


Strange Love Afterhours


as always you can listen to the show here, download them or subscribe so that you can always be the first to know when we've put out a new episode...

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Join us Friday the 1st at 10 PM for another live episode of Strange Love, this time I chat with my cousin Mie as we catch up and fill out postcards to friends around the world.

strange love tech with verso: mac vs pc

Can a Mac and a PC live together in harmony? Let's find out as we chat with the geek girl of my heart, Verso:




as always you can listen to the show here, download it or subscribe so that you can always be the first to know when we've put out a new episode...

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Join us Friday 25th at 10 PM for another live and lovely episode of Strange Love with the ever vigilant narrator of the Portland tech scene, Rick Turoczy.

strange love tech: podcaster

Join us as Alex tells us all about Podcaster, it just so happens to be Dr. Normal's very favorite iPhone web ap.



as always you can listen to the show here, download it or subscribe so that you can always be the first to know when we've put out a new episode...

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Next week on the show we'll return to our roots with a special guest that was an integral part of one of our very first episodes of Strange Love... Deb On The Rocks. She was the winner of the 2007 Kaos Holiday Lyric contest.

We'll be streaming live Friday night at 10pm, join us won't you?

strange love tech: accidental open source evangelist

Tomorrow I'll post our much longer and very fascinating after hours show with Nate... look for it on the Strange Love site...

as always you can listen to the show here, download it or subscribe so that you can always be the first to know when we've put out a new episode...

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Next week on the show we'll take a departure from our normal blogger guests to have a friend of Mr. Kaos' from decades past... The talented and zany guitarist and crooner, John Borroz will be in the studio with us to share some great tunes and a nice chat.

We'll be streaming live Sunday around 2:30. Join us if you aren't too busy spending time with your father...

strange love tech: treasurelicious

as always you can listen to the show here, download it or subscribe so that you can always be the first to know when we've put out a new episode...

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On Friday night we'll be joined live by Nate Angell (@xolotl for all you twitterbugs out there). Who knows exactly what we'll be talking about... but I heard there would be plastic drink monkeys and maybe drinks to put them in.... Oooooh.

there's no such thing as a free lunch?

Why (oh why) am I writing about Lunch 2.0 at Vidoop?

that's a tech thing

you might say...

Cami's gone geeky

you might complain...

Yes yes... you'd be right on both accounts, but in all fairness they fed me bacon and gave me this lovely parting gift:

(Which I promptly gave to my daughter and then had to borrow back to get this picture)

So Cami's easy... a free hardhat and bacon wrapped goodness plus a room full of interesting people totally warrants a mention on my blog:

A few hours before Lunch 2.0 started I ventured downtown to meet my friend at our prearranged super secret meet-up spot. Then it was time for some shopping and aimless wandering before heading over to Backspace in preparation for the big event.

Then... in no time at all it seemed... we headed upstairs to the Vidoop office to attend the event known to many as Lunch 2.0... but in our house it was called... well really we called it Lunch 2.0 as well, so never mind.

The masses gathered in the brick lined room. We crammed together. Sweaty from the heat we waited patiently for the bacon wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese...

And then? There was some talking.

Some talking that was pretty darn informative, though I had already grilled a friend the week before and forced him to explain to me exactly what it was Vidoop was all about (in case there was a test).

Am I going to tell you what they said? No. Am I going to tell you who said it? NO.

It was a free event. You could have gone. You chose not to.

But after a mere 5 minutes of talking (with me standing in the very back on my tip toes peeking between peoples' heads) they suddenly gave* us hardhats (some of us anyway) and told us to eat up.

And so we did.

And then there was MUCH more talking amongst ourselves. MUCH. And many many people to meet... and here is where I must interject that I thought it would be a lovely idea to have a little calling card, so to speak (though with no number to actually call... I don't know what to call it). I thought What a LOVELY idea, a card to let people know who I am and what I do. And so I made one. And then I showed it to Mr. Kaos and he said...

Come on Cami, no one uses cards anymore... don't bother, it's just a waste of paper...

And he was sooooo right... except for the 62 million people that asked me for my card over the 90 minutes I was there.

My husband? So out of the loop. So I thought since I didn't have my card with me yesterday I would bring it with me today, here, to this post. Would you like my card? Why here it is:



So mostly? It was eating, trying not to talk with my mouth full, drinking soda (not Cherry Coke) and telling people politely that I didn't have a card but trying not to blame my husband (whose fault it clearly was) who was alternately standing across the room or snuggling up to me.

Then we left.

And that boys and girls? Was Lunch 2.0 at Vidoop.

* No one gave me a hardhat, but they said we could have them and it was totally just sitting there on the table next to where the bacon wrapped, blue cheese stuffed dates (or were they prunes) were before we devoured every last scrap.

click.

Gone are the days of the smelly man sitting on a faded couch with one hand down his trousers and one on his remote control as he watches the game or the jiggly breast laden beer ads that advertise on it. Gone are the days of the serious thinker who sits on his futon watching intense and inspired programing on PBS. Gone are the days of male dominated remote control use...

At least in my house.

You see if someone didn't know us very well and they were invited into our home... which never happens because we really don't like people... but say it did. Say Mr. Kaos invited an old friend over who hadn't already been primed for our household activities by the 32 page disclaimer we hand out to all friends and potential friends of the Kaos family...

That person would think we didn't even own a TV. There is no TV in our living room. Not at all. We don't have a family room on the main floor... there is not a single screen in our dining room, kitchen or bathroom.... they would have to peer behind closed doors (which would get them smacked) or venture down to our dark basement before they learned the truth...

We love our television... wait, let me rephrase that... I love our television.

Our primary TV lives on the wall in the bedroom that Mr. Kaos and I share.

It's my TV.

I think he got it for me for Valentines day 2 years ago. Before you romance hounds get all down on Mr. Kaos for the tech purchase instead of pink puffy hearts or life sized bears or chocolate and diamonds I should tell you that... I HATE THAT STUFF.... well... not the chocolate. I love that... but I love my gorgeous flat panel tv even more.

Then for my birthday he got me a TiVo.

That man loves me...

But as I said, they're mine... I'm a TV hog. I remote hoarder. The remote controls (for the TV, the DVD player and the TiVo) all live in a little silver box on my side of the bed. They wait there until I want them. Till I want to turn on my little box of info/ mind numbing. They are... MINE.

On occasion when he's sick or is feeling particularly downtrodden about the fact that his wife owns all the remotes I'll hand them over to Mr. Kaos. It makes him feel slightly better for a few minutes until he realizes that he doesn't love the TV the way I do and that nothing at all is on that he likes to watch except the cranky people yelling about politics or technology... so it isn't long before the remotes are happily back into my soft warm hands.

Oh remotes... how I love you...

***

This post was written in response to David's question on Weekend Wandering; Who REALLY rules the TV remote control in your house?

If you'd like to answer this in a post on your own blog just pop on by his place and let him know.

green is not my color...

or: the Kaos family's further adventures in tech consumer whoring...

Once upon a time babies Mr. Kaos had all the cool tech in our house and I had none.

Sad huh? He had is nice computers and recording equipment and palm pilots... and to be frank I was a little too busy to deal with anything except my basic computer.

You know... I was a little busy with the kid, wanting desperately to move back to Portland from the sub-suburbs and trying to figure out just why I was feeling like a libido lacking frumpy lunatic...

Once all that got worked out (well I still have to deal with the child... but what can I say... I love her) I somehow, slowly, over time, started to acquire some fun tech. For the past year or two I would say that I have been the spoiled queen of technology goods in my house. I've been very lucky and Mr. Kaos has been very good to shower me with the computery devices I coveted most... even though I am silly enough to call them "computery"...

But now with a single purchase I feel as though the tide is starting to turn.... He has a new computery thing that I love and covet... even though it's only been in our house for a few hours I can't help lusting over it. Looking at it longingly. Dreaming of holding it in my hot little hands and pressing its half scale keys...

Oh EEE PC how I yearn for you... in pink.

****

Mr. Kaos decided to go sideways on the technology road. He was considering giving up his Treo in favor of an iPhone but decided to add on this hot little tiny computer instead. he says it's the hot tattooed chick of the computer world...

I guess he has a type with computers and women...

riptide

MrKaos: Do you know what I was thinking about?

CamiKaos: no what?

MK: I used to have this old girl and she started looking kind of dowdy but she was really nice and reliable and did all the things I wanted her to do... if you know what I mean.

CK: *fit of giggles*

MK: And then I saw this hot new chick, slim and sleek and shiny... And you can't get her out of your mind cause she just keeps popping up everywhere...

CK: Is this the whole why are fat girls like a scooter joke.... oh. no, you're thinking about my iPhone...

MK: And I would get her if I could be sure she would do all the things my old girl would, like let me stick things in her slots...

two timer...

The other night after my long day of... whatever it is I do on Sundays... I was sitting back and relaxing the way I often do after a long day of being me...

I was laying in the bed with my laptop atop my lap. My headphones were on, my eyes were glued to the screen er... um screens... when Mr. Kaos came in the room.

You see while I had my laptop atop my lap (I just love saying that laptop atop my lap... you say it now) and I was intently watching and listening to what was coming from hulu, I had my left hand on my remote control deftly setting the TiVo to record another episode of the show I was watching on my computer...

and like I said, that's when the mister walked in.

I never considered that using two entertainment technology services simultaneously was tantamount to cheating on both of them...

I've been corrected.

oh no! cami kaos is mobile

I don't want to get into specifics (cause I'm a total hypocrite) but I must have been an awfully good girl...

And even though it is tedious and time consuming I am writing this entire post with my thumbs from my new phone (slash camera slash mp3 player slash mobile thingy slash lover)...

I never knew a phone could make me feel this way!

*swoon*

thank you mr phone delivery man

the caulk master, the cock master, and the magical internet connection...

I can't begin to tell you how much caulk was used unnecessarily in our bathroom. I don't even know where it could have come from. I didn't know there was a need for that much caulk in the whole world, let alone our little bathroom. After spending an entire day scraping it off I am so over caulk.

So instead of hemming and hawing about the Caulk Master of Kaos house I will tell you about the Cock Master. Back in the day when people used VCR's instead of DVD players and Mr. Kaos and I were only dating he gave himself the curious name of "Cock Master". Now it has obvious sexual connotations and I could say countless complimentary things about him in this particular arena but still to this day I am not quite sure where the name came from or why. He would sign notes with it, yell it loudly while I watched TV or cooked dinner, he even changed his name in my cell phone to Cock Master. Where did that come from? Yes yes, obviousness aside; Cock Master?

Well the Cock Master has become the master of many things in my life since the days of VCR's and pink futons (his pink futon not mine) not the least of which is all the technological mayhem that lives, nay, thrives, here in the house of Kaos. So yesterday when I returned home from dropping K off at school and sat down with my lap top eager to write a post about my evening of martini sipping family fun and my laptop flat out refused to connect to anything -Internet, what is this Internet of which you speak?- I called Mr. "Cock Master" Kaos at work and said "fix it please".

After a lot of looking at lights both blinky and solid, pulling of plugs, pinging of addresses and talk talk talking we were able to determine that something was wrong. What? I have no clue. He was at work and I am not blinky light room savvy.

He called those people that provide us with our fix, you know, the Internet service providers, and they determined that they were still receiving packets (hooray I love packets, packets of what people?) but that I had NOTHING. NADA. ZIP. ZILCH. ZERO.

They decided it was on our end. Mr. "Cock Master" Kaos decided it was our router, he said it was flaky. I thought that term was reserved for me and he never seems to want to replace me with a new Cami so I couldn't quite figure out how to feel about our sudden need to rip that poor little box out of it's cozy ceiling home and replace it with another that wouldn't be so free spirited. He was quite sure though, and who am I to stand in the way of progress (unless I am the flaky thing in question), especially since I had no Internet to make me smile with my rainbow of happy non VPness...

So I went about my day as best I could with the shakes and nerve twitches from computer withdrawal, smashed and scraped and found too much caulk in the bathroom and then went to pick up K from her play date. It was sunny with just a threat of huge storms and we took a little jaunt around the neighborhood stopping for cookies and hot chocolate before hanging out with some friends in their yard. Just when it looked like the sky would split open and pour we headed inside to find???

A magically working Internet connection!!!!! I think the flaky router heard us talking and decided to hop to and make good on it's routing duties. So progress was not made, my little blue router friend still has it's cozy ceiling home and I have all but erased any evidence that the Caulk Master visited our home. Though I'm keeping the Cock Master around just in case...

consumer whore cami... again...

So it's been a while since I went the consumer whore Cami route and screamed that I loved some technological hoo ha but here goes...

We spent the weekend shopping around for a new laptop (days 2& 3 of the 40 day celebration of the birth of me). Saturday found us at the tattoo parlor for a consult on my 30th birthday tattoo... then off to Pioneer Place mall to check out the Mac store. Oh so pretty mac books and pros... the love was almost too much, it was all we could do not to buy one on the spot... but we had more looking to do. We did a little shopping and then had a quick lunch at Alessandro's before we tried to head home... It was so nice out though that we decided to head over the the library and Vino (again)...

What does this have to do with consumer whore Cami? Nothing... But we did ask everyone we met along the way about Mac Books and Mac Book Pros...

This morning (Super Bowl Sunday woo hoo go team) we thought it would be a great time to go laptop shopping. Boy were we right... We got a great deal on a spankin new HP notebook complete with Vista... umm... did I say Vista? But we don't want Vista. We really don't. I don't need the trouble of a whole new operating system... re learning word... and junk... Mike was way down on the Vista. The original plan was to either buy a Mac Book or buy a Windows machine right before the Vista release and try to get a good deal... so how did I wind up with this pretty shiny happy nice new HP laptop with all sorts of doodads and goodies and Vista... and the new office...

And why oh why do I SOOOOO love the new OS & Office? First off they did a ton of things right that they should have done right before. There are a ton of cool new features... my favorites in Vista being the quick search right in the menu, being able to scroll through all my open windows and the gadgets. Yes I know that so many others have done it before and they should have done it earlier... but they've done it now and they've done it well. I haven't played with most of the new Office but Word is great. I kept hearing that you have to completely re-learn word but I think that's babble. The commands all seemed to work the same way and the only differences seemed... well great. I loved being able to view the fonts and font sizes without having to change a thing...

So yes, it's me consumer whore Cami here and happy to tell you that something rocks... perhaps someday I will tell you all how much something sucks... like oh, my moto razr...