Skullcandy INK'D Earbuds (Metallic Green)

Reasoning

I picked these because they had a descent response rate, good reviews, and they come with three sizes of earpieces. The fact that they were metallic green was just a bonus. Now these are not headphones, they are earbuds. Basically these fit into your ear versus headphones going over your ear. That was fine with me so long as they are comfortable.

Review

Sound quality is good. Again, I’m not an audiophile but I think they are better than the stock Apple earbuds that came with my iPhone. Bass comes through well as do the high notes. I don’t play my music loud so I couldn’t tell you if they are “boomy” or not.

Because they are earbuds, movement on the cord makes noise in your ear. That is because the sound is traveling up the cord directly to your ear. These earbuds (and I suppose any earbuds) are not good while moving, so I won’t be jogging or moving much with these. Another thing I noticed is that chewing gum while listening with these earbuds makes a good deal of noise as well. But for my purposes of sitting and studying or just listening they work great.

As for comfort, they are OK. I’m a little disappointed honestly. While they are much better than my Apple earbuds, they still hurt my ears after not much listening. If you just barely put them inside your ear they are the most comfortable.  The three sizes of ends helped but the fit wasn’t perfect.

Miscellaneous

The cord length is good. Long enough for most situations without getting in the way. I can have my phone in my pocket and have room to move my head around freely. Also, they don’t have a volume adjustment on the cord.

Overall

I give these headphones a 6/10.  While they sound good and look good they just are not very comfortable. Maybe I’ll adjust to them. If I do I’ll revise this review.

--Query 1
--takes 6 minutes 23 seconds to produce 575,424 rows
select * from [DWPROD]..[DISC].[DW_SPD_DETAIL] x where x.FISCAL_YEAR = 2010;

vs.

--Query 2
--takes 1 minute 17 seconds to produce 575,424 rows
select * from openquery(DWPROD,'select * from disc.dw_spd_detail where fiscal_year = 2010 ');

Query 1 is using a “linked server” to make the query. A linked server is basically an ODBC connection to another server built into SQL Server and you call it using fully qualified name. In this case the where clause is not being passed to the remote server because the SQL Server engine decided against it for some reason (I think it’s either the engine found a type mismatch or it’s a bug). Instead the entire DW_SPD_DETAIL table is being dumped into a temp table locally. Then it filters on the FISCAL_YEAR and gives the result. The whole table is millons of records and the server is only running on a 100 megabit port.

Time is money.
Photo by Search Engine People Blog

Query 2 is using OpenQuery to execute the query on the remote server. The difference is that the query string is not being parsed by the SQL Server engine, it’s being passed directly to the remote server. The remote server can filter on it’s side (using any indexes to speed it up) and only return the filtered results.

Query 2 is much faster because it’s only retrieving 575,424 rows from the database where query 1 is retrieving the entire table and then giving the results.

Time is money. The faster we can load all of our tables for the day, the faster we can start analyzing and reporting on the data. Plus, it’s good resume fodder to say “Reduced time for nightly database loads by 66%”.

Photo by sunshinecity

Like most people I use a standard toothbrush. Squirt on some toothpaste and get to work. Simple right?

The other day, I noticed some plaque buildup on my front teeth after I brushed! And I don’t brush for a few seconds, I brush a good minute and a half to two minutes each time I brush and I have a firm bristle. If I’ve still got plaque after brushing then how clean can my teeth really be?  I’ve been interested in the new sonic cleaning toothbrushes for some time. Combined with Father’s Day this was the perfect time to buy a new toothbrush!

There are a few types of toothbrushes.

• Manual – This brush is the one I have now. As you move the head around your mouth it scrubs and breaks up plaque.
• Electric – This is powered by a battery and the head turns back and forth on your teeth while you move it around your mouth breaking up plaque.
• Sonic – This brush is also powered by a battery but instead of turning back and forth, it vibrates thousands of times per minute breaking up plaque as you go.

The cool thing about sonic technology is that cleaning can actually happen beyond where the bristles reach. This is because the high frequency vibrations actually create turbulence near the tips of the bristles and the energy can be transmitted through the fluids in your mouth to areas near the brush, such as between your teeth, and break up plaque.

After searching the internet for reviews and prices I selected the Sonicare Essence by Phillips. It moves 31,000 times per minute and it has a timer built in to let you know how long to use it. I actually bought mine at BJ’s (it’s a warehouse store like Sam’s or Costco) and it came with two handles, heads, and carrying cases. The manual suggests using it twice a day for two minutes each session.

Phillips Sonicare Essence

I chose the Essence over the Elite and FlexCare because it has the same specs and it costs about a third of the others. It also came with good reviews. The only real complaint I could gather is that gunk could build up under the head of the toothbrush.

The marketing claim is that it will remove 80% of tobacco, coffee, and tea stains as well as improve gum health in 28 days. I’ve taken a picture of my teeth now and I’ll compare that to the results in a month and report back with the results.