Went to Mulholland Drive yesterday. Quite the view, I loved it. Click photo to see it on Flickr.
Facebook.com/zacharytamas
June 14th, 2009 § 3
Like millions of others, I snagged my own vanity URL at Facebook Friday night. I had planned to be there right at the beginning and try to snag just “zachary” but I ended up forgetting about it until it was too late. I knew I’d have no problem getting my usual username, but I thought it would be neat to just have my first name. No luck there—congratulations Zach McNaney! I ended up with my default:
http://www.facebook.com/zacharytamas
Final destination
June 11th, 2009 § 1
So I read on London’s Times Online (via NPR) that a woman who quite luckily missed her flight on the Air France 447 Flight was killed in a car accident just eight days after she would have died in the plane crash.
This kinda reminds me of the movie Final Destination, where the main character has a vision that his plane will crash and gets off the plane at the last second with several of his friends. The plane crashes just as it had in his vision, except he and his friends survive. As the rest of the movie pans out, his friends slowly die in strange accidents in the order they would have died on the plane. The idea of the movie is that you can’t cheat death. If the universe decides it’s time for you to die, you will die.
I just thought it was odd.
How to convince your best, non-single girl friend to have sex with you
May 27th, 2009 § 1
I’m sure this has been linked to death lately but my friend Adam sent me this link last night. It’s a guide to get your girl friend who has a boyfriend to have sex with you in 17 simple steps. Check it out at Batteries Feel Included. Good for a laugh or two. Or three.
A book you should read
May 23rd, 2009 § 1
I’m currently reading an interesting new book written by John August called The Variant. Some of you might recognize the name John August as he is the screenwriter for several popular Hollywood films, including Go, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Corpse Bride. Lately he’s trying his hand at writing books.
On August’s website he has a page dedicated to his new book The Variant. The book is currently available in PDF form from his website or in Kindle format for your Amazon Kindle of Kindle for iPhone/iPod. The best part: the entire book is 99 cents.
From Amazon’s description of the book:
“After 35 years working at the Central Library, Vincent Lewis has perfected the art of unremarkability. But when a terrified woman falls through his bathroom ceiling, he’s forced back into a life of gunfights, double agents and paranormal research. The secret he’s been keeping for nearly four decades might reunite him with his lost love, or kill millions.”
I am currently reading the book myself but already I have to say it’s very interesting. Much like one of his movies, it maintains a mysterious element where you’re not sure what, but you’re sure something just doesn’t seem right—like you’re missing a very big piece of the puzzle and you’re dying to put it together.
You can read a generous 15-page free preview of the book on his website here. Check it out, if you like it, pay that buck and finish a great story.
Make extra money by selling textbooks on Amazon
May 22nd, 2009 § 4
At the end of this semester I was left with some books that my college’s book store wouldn’t buy back from me for a variety of reasons (they had reached their quota on that book, the instructor was using a new book next semester, etc.) I needed to get rid of a few so I looked for places online I might sell. I had used Amazon to sell things before (books, actually) so I quickly found myself there.
It was extremely easy to list my books—all I had to type in was the ISBN and it knew everything about my book—and they were listed in just minutes. Amazon shows you their prices for the book, as well as other individual sellers’ prices to help you decide how much you want to sell yours for.
Within two hours I got an e-mail from Amazon informing me my Calculus book had just sold and I should ship now—the money was already in my Amazon Payments account. The only complaint I have about the whole process is Amazon’s high fee for using the service. I listed my book for $85 and in the end I received $73.90. Not that bad but still.
All in all I’d give Amazon Marketplace a pretty high ranking. It’s almost too easy. I barely had to do anything but list it and ship it. If you’ve got a few extra textbooks (or anything, really) laying around you want to get rid of quick, Amazon Marketplace is a good place to do just that. You’ll need an Amazon account but who doesn’t have one these days?
What other places online would you recommend to college students for selling textbooks?