A look back and a look forward

If you remember, it was about a year ago to the day that I was wrapping up the decision making process on what was then called the ps360 fund. Back then I was wavering between the then mighty Xbox 360 and the adolescent PS3 who, while still had loads of potential, would have probably only gotten the job done then if you put a paper bag over her... er.. it.

Yadda yadda fast forward to now and things are looking pretty stellar on the PS3 front. Rather than moaning on and on about frame rates and streaming-this-and-that, I'll go the youtube vid way to demonstrate my point. Because everyone knows reading is a dying art:

Fat Princess - A PS3 exclusive capture the flag type PSN (Playstation Network) game that looks about as fun as it does cute. Nothing like a quick mindless game of capture the flag without all of the stress that comes with Killzone 2 or such.

One of my favorite things to do in the old NCAA series was create my own school, whether it be ole' PHS, Dayton, or even the Sharonville Eagles. There is just something that is neat about creating your own tradition from scratch, especially in a sport like college football. Create-a-School mysteriously disappeared in this generation of games, but it's back in NCAA 10.... oh is it ever back. This has potential to be my favorite game of all time if this works out well. In two parts:

More NCAA Football 10 Info

More NCAA Football 10 News & Previews

Slightly skeptical on how well this will work still, but a game from the creators of SOCOM with 256 players all playing on the same map (assuming it is the size of Rhode Island, at a minimum) intrigues me. Also a PS3 exclusive. Since pre-rendered vids are for sucks, find some in-game footage here.

Pixeljunks new game (currently titled 1-4). I know that means nothing to anyone reading this so let me just summarize by saying they are really really good at making sure 2D has a place on HD screens still. Their games are absolutely stunning to watch

That's good for now. Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked. Then there is also that whole Beatles Rock Band thing too.... which you know... is a must buy.

Beautiful Music my ass

It's been a project a few months in the making and (combined with being in front of a computer about 8 hours a day at work already) a large reason of my dropoff in blog content, but I can finally say I have made some progress on the vinyl to digital conversion.

I can officially put Barry Manilow Live in the done pile and move on to something I actually enjoy. After two straight days of hearing him, I feel like I deserve it.

I remember casually talking to a certain chemistry teacher in high school about the possibility of doing something like this. Knowing that I dabbled in audio engineering at school, he asked me about how complicated it would be to transfer albums to CD. I believe at the time I said I couldn't imagine it being much harder than plugging the "out" of the record player into a line in and using something like Audacity (a wonderful free program, by the way) to record it digitally.

Well, I was half right. Turns out 99% of record players need to have a separate pre-amp to get any kind of clean sound out of them. After a quick google search I came across this bad boy and as of yet have absolutely no complaints. It works exactly as it should. /shameless plug

Moving onward. Once I was getting sound into the computer I dabbled within my slightly more complicated sound editing program to get a layout that would be best suited for this venture, as opposed to, you know, recording a band. After getting all my EQs and other plugins tuned, then it was a simple hit record type of process that I initially thought it would be.

So overall, more complicated than I first thought, but still not too terrible. And yes, I know that there are USB record players out there now that basically take away the need for all this fancy shmancy doo-hickie-ing and whatnot, but going about it the one-stop-shopping way has never really quite been my thing. And, once I get done with all the vinyl, this whole setup is just a switch of plugs away from working for cassette to digital. Talk about flexibility...

If anyone has (or still is) considering this - or wants to offer some monetary compensation in exchange for my best effort at a "digitally remastered" copy of your favs - leave a comment. That is if anyone even reads this anymore...


Helloooo out there.....

In the words of the Comedian

God help us all....



Seriously... I'm running for Congress... fuck it.

Viewed the watchmen

....Because I hate stupid puns.

Anywho, my opinion formed after reading the book stands:

Reproduced for your convenience:

The only thing that has me really worried about a movie adaptation is that you can't really take much out of it without really losing a solid chunk what makes this book great. The fact that it all fits together so well, almost like a good 1500 piece puzzle, is partly what is so rewarding. It's almost like Lord of the Rings in that a whole world was created. Who knows though. There's a reason they always say, "the book was better."

And that's that. Either way, $20 well spent. On that note, movies are way, way, way, way, way, [way]x10^999999999 too expensive. Call it bass-ackwards logic if you want, but the more expensive movies get, the more I'm going to visit piratebay. Arr matey.

Subtle brag

So cool:

It's Not That Complicated

README - I realize the regulars here won't care much about this, but (a) it's better than nothing, and (b) no offense - it isn't intended for you anyways, so take it or leave it. I don't blame ya.

On Notre Dame: A lot has been said lately about the need to focus on improving the running game drastically this offseason. Some have even said to the point of 200 yards per game and above. I don't necessarily think that's true. Let’s look at every season going back to 1995 (excluding 1998 because weirdly UND doesn’t have cumulative season stats for that year); a time spanning Weis, Ty, Davie, and the last two seasons of Lou. Four coaches, four coaching styles (for better or worse), and over a decade of football. By looking at yards per game, and a net win count (Wins-Losses, ties count for a half a loss), one number seems to arise as a Maginot Line of sorts for a successful season – at least offensively.



400 yards. It doesn’t necessarily matter how you get there, but reaching 400 yards or more per game has resulted in a significantly better net win count than under 400 yards. Admittedly, there are two clear exceptions to this rule in Ty’s “smoke and mirrors” first season in 2002 and Matt LoVecchio’s starting season in 2000.

Lou did it by rushing over 200 yards per game in ’95 and ’96. Ten years later, Weis passed significantly more, but still got around there this first two seasons (with, somewhat fittingly, a disappointing 2006 season coming in just under 400 ypg)

What does it all mean? Don’t expect 200 yards rushing per game. Weis doesn’t need to get 200 yards per game under his system and honestly it would be a crime to not utilize the talent in our starting 3 wide receivers – two potential All-Americans in Tate and Floyd and what will be a highly contested 3rd spot this season by talented but unproven players. At running back, simply a load of talented unproven players.
Do, however, hold Weis and this ’09 team to a standard of reaching at least 4.0 yards per carry. Taking last season’s stats and subbing the dismal 3.2 yards per carry out with a respectable but far from great 4 yards per carry puts the team at about 135 rushing yards per game and – more importantly – 380 total yards per game, or about two more screen passes per game from 400. 4 YPC is not some insurmountable number to achieve in one offseason, it is a baseline. Also, I fully expect the passing game to continue to improve as it’s players age.

The quick version: Based off previous years, a 400 YPG offense combined with even an average Notre Dame defense will generally result in 9-10 wins. This can be achieved simply by a marginal increase in passing productivity and – more significantly – averaging at least 4 YPC. While an historically bad schedule may allow some leniency in these numbers, that is counteracted by the generally held assumption (on NDN at least) that 9 wins just won’t cut it.

And the list gets longer...

For the first time owning a PS3 I can honestly say that I have a bonafide game wishlist. Not my typical "on if I were to win a million dollars I would buy this this this and this," I always have one of those.

No no, this is a list of games that if you find me in a weak moment I just may go out and buy. And I'll definitely end up buying more than one. At $60 a pop, that is no small statement. The list is as follows (in a somewhat particular order):

1.) Killzone 2 - Holy shit. Granted, I don't have a 360 so I have actually never played Gears of War and my Halo 3 time is limited, but after playing just the demo for this, I'm thinking we may have a new best FPS for consoles. Unlike over 90% of games in this generation, the gameplay is on par with the graphics. And oh (again..) holy shit (/again...) is that saying something:

Picture this at a cool 60 fps. Try not to wet the bed. (Click for a higher res)

Video - The framerate isn't that bad in game:




2.) Little Big Planet - After getting the tease of a weekend long beta play, I'm really surprised this one isn't already on my shelf. Either way, still one of my favorite games out currently (with NO BLOOD OR GUTS OR FOOTBALLS EVEN!, how 'bout that ma!). I dig the creation capabilities and since release they have really embraced the download-able content (DLC) scene with weekly (usually free) releases of new goodies. A good game just gets better.

3.) Skate 2 - This one intriques me. Usually the skating genre is Tony Hawk's to lay claim to, but this new franchise is starting to make some serious ground and worry the Tony Hawkers. The motion-based controls seem somewhat gimmicky to me, but I'm not gonna knock it until I've tried it.

4.) Every Rock Band song available for download - God, I like this game. Consider me the next Ringo once MTV game's next rhythm game comes out (consider it number 3.5 on this list). It damn well better support Rock Band "instruments".

5.) Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising - I loved the first game in this uber-realistic "military strategy" (they don't like to be called shooters) series when I played it on Xbox, it just looked like something that was released before technology would fully allow it to achieve its objective. Maybe the power of the consoles in this generation will really make this shine. Sadly though, this is the type of game that is best bought on the PC so the mod scene can really get a hold of it and make it amazing. It seems like it could still fare well on the consoles though... we'll see.

6.) Watchmen: The End is Nigh - This would be a bit of a fanboy purchase more than anything. I can't imagine it being much more than a made for the movie release type game. Those types of games generally are the worst types of games. Save Goldeneye... ah sweet sweet Goldeneye. The price seems a bit steep for a "PSN" release too; they generally hover near $10.00, slightly more than a Blockbuster rental.

7.) NCAA Football '10 - Premature? Hell yes. I have high hopes (slash expectations) that EA will finally get it right on their third or fourth or whatever it is now year on this generation. '09 was right on the cusp of the greatness of the old PS2 games, but still no I-AA teams, playbook creator, etc. kept it from being perfect. Fix a few of these things and we could have a winner. Or create a Head Coach for college football. The differences between coaching in college and the pros are immense (ask Charlie) and it could make for one hell of a sports simulation.

The pig says, "My wife is a slut."

When I see this:



This conversation is all that goes through my head:
Elaine: I don't remember , but it certainly wasn't this. Look at this cartoon in the New Yorker, I don't get this.
Jerry: I don't either.
Elaine: And you're on the fringe of the humor business.
George: Hey!
Elaine: Hey! George look at this.
George: That's cute.
Elaine: You got it?
George: No , never mind.
Elaine: Come on , We're two intelligent people here. We can figure this out. Now we got a dog and a cat in an office.
Jerry: It looks like my accountant's office but there's no pets working there.
Elaine: The cat is saying " I've enjoyed reading your E-mail".
George: Maybe it's got something to do with that 42 in the corner .
Elaine: It's a page number.
George: Well , I can't crack this one.
Elaine: Aahh! this has got to be a mistake.
George: try shaking it...(long pause) Well ,Janet should be here any minute.

Seriously, the New Yorker is really not funny. Or good at political cartoons... Just ineffective. To be completely honest, there were three reasons I posted this:
1.) Seinfeld references are always good.
2.) I want to see what everyone's favorite greek hero had to say about this. Free speech win out? How dare they blaze on Obama? This comic sucks? All of the above? My curiousity got the best of me.
3.) I really badly needed to post something.

So much for that 365 posts thing...

Sorry about the uber-delay. Possibly the longest ever. Things have been fairly hectic (especially over the weekends when I usually mine the interwebz and Earth-in-general for exciting blog posts) what with work, and three trips out of town. Grandma is doing fine by the way...

In my delay I have decided a few things:

1.) Entourage is good. Really really good. I have been catching up on them from the library and Netflix (for the later seasons) and should be well into Season four by this weekend or so. Absolutely stellar script writing to keep what is essentially a repeated macro-storyline (guy gets movie, movie sells mass, guy celebrates with friends). Definitely recommend this one.

2.) This guy is hilarious. Basically, Chi City Mane is the realest dude from Chi town now livin' in the burbs. He chronicles his adventures with his personal Handycam (meaning you never really see his face). Yet another recommendation. As a matter of fact, I'll save you the trip:





And finally, if you don't watch any of the other one's cause they look stupid and you don't need any more ghetto slang in your life, please at least just watch this one. It'll warm your heart. A little Christmas love for the less fortunate:


3.) I'm out of shape. Trying to start working out is probably four times harder than trying to continue working out. I'm realizing this the hard way. Oh well.... onward.

4.) One of my cats now does not eat unless other people are in the room with her. I swear, this cat is quickly getting the nickname "Kevin McAlister" because I think she is afraid of the furnace, near which her main food bowl currently rests. Now we have another secondary food bowl in the living room, but that is just darn inconvenient when the Iams is down in the basement by said Main Food Bowl. The things we do for our pets...

5.) Speaking of pets, I'll be making friends (hopefully....) with three more this weekend. I'll be sure to take massive embarrassing and revealing photos chronic-(WHAT!?)-cling their living arrangements (jk doe....)

First day of work today!

Seems like it'll be a good time. First day I walk into my plant and who do I see? the brother of the guy who I had been living with for the past 5 months. Pretty crazy if ya ask me.

But yea, that was the highlight of the day pretty much. A lot of paperwork and "getting me into the system." That's a lot of what this week is going to be.

Oh, and I'll have a daily starting time of 6 AM. That won't be fun. Oh well, that's what ya get for being the n00b. As a final thought, today made me think of this. And yes, having true life events make one recall an xkcd does make one a major nerdburger.

So does using the word "one" instead of "me".

I'm On a Roll Tonight

Can you tell it's the first weekend with just me and the 'rents? Not that there's anything wrong with that....

If you follow the blog you know that I have a way out of character fondness for Brand New. I say out of character because usually I don't harp on a single band this much (Exhibit A: they have their own tag, with multiple entries). I was going through their website checking for when they planned on putting out some new music ('09 looks good) and looking at some of the old news posts they had.

This entry caught my eye. While every band harps on the "it isn't for the money" line, I think this may be one of the most poignant forms of saying that I have seen yet:

We would like to express our gratitude to anyone of you who has ever spent a nickel on this band, whether it was getting into a show, or buying a sticker, or a t shirt, or a record. It takes money to tour, and feed a band and its crew, or to record an album (after the label has spent all of yours). You all make these things possible, and in turn keep Brand New a band. But the bottom line is that we would rather this band didn't become something we felt like we were constantly selling to you guys. The only thing we as a band will ever claim authenticity on is our music. Just because all that other stuff comes from us, just because you bought a shirt on our website, or at a show, or got a lyric book in the mail, it doesn't mean it's any more unique or authentic then something you could do yourself. In fact it is less. It's just merchandise. The only "official" part of the band is what you hear on our records or at a show, the sounds we make. Write BRAND NEW on your knuckles or on a wall and it's just a good as some sticker that has an "interscope" logo on it. If you're feeling up to it, save the twenty bucks you were gonna spend on our merch site and write "The Devil and God are Raging Inside me" in marker on your dad's old t shirt. It will scare your parents, cost you nothing, and be about the most limited edition thing anyone will ever own... unless you make two.


What we are trying to say is that the important thing is that you are listening, and not so much buying. Spread it around. Share us with your friends. We thank you for supporting our band, and appreciate that you continue to do so, especially by playing our albums and coming to shows to watch us play. We hope everyone has a good holiday and a joyful new year. We're brushing up on our German and Gaelic.

This is why I don't mind waiting two years for them to release a new album. They do it for the right reasons, and if it doesn't sound right, throw it away and do it again. The candor - or honesty, or whatever you want to call it - is nice.

And now for something you have all seen before

Two posts today, mainly so I don't fall further behind on my "365-post" rule this early in the game:

Five Things I'm Interested in Right Now that I Will Probably Burn Out On in a Month
(A derivative of my "Top 5")

1.) Cooking - Thanks to watching Top Chef marathons pretty much all of finals week, some Pavlovian shit has made this a major curiosity/hobby/interest of mine lately. To add to it, I got Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food for Christmas, and I've realized I like reading about cooking when it's not in the form of a cookbook. It's like a chem lab that you get to eat at the end, which totally revs me up.

...Long distance...

2.) Converting vinyl to digital - It was a Christmas present/project to mom and dad and (like all good hobbies of mine) is turning out to be a lot more work than I had originally imagined. It helps feed into my visions of being Rick Ruben/Scott Storch. I've realized grown-ups still play pretend, it's usually just a lot more expensive than when "we" (I'm not a grown up.) were younger.
3.) Rock Band 2 - I've gotten up to being able to play aboutttt half the songs on Hard. It's those half-beat kick drum patterns that are causing me trouble right now, but I'm working through them, all the while giving myself more false hope of being musically talented. Nothing like this guy though:



3.) Meh, can't think of anything here. Put this as another long distance in between

4.) Reading good books - Finally having a shitload of time after a semester of not having much has its benefits. No more information to be divulged in this sector right now because it will make for good blog-fodder later.

5.) Dashboard Confessional - This one is taking the "right now" qualifier pretty literally. Haven't listened to Chris Carrabba in a while (like, since A Mark A Mission A Brand A Scar was released), and I must say I don't mind him.

A good family picture:

In case you were curious, this would be a solid general description of my family:

Prior to watching Step Brothers (but obviously after dinner, which mainly consisted of a random collection of whatever sounded good at the time with no culinary rhyme or reason: nachos, mac and cheese, chili maybe, chili dip, or in my case just some dry noodles) my sister and I decide it is high time for a Funfetti cake. In my family, Funfetti is the sacred cake-mix of all cake-mixes. Like a top shelf liquor, it can't be drank on just any Saturday movie-night. To give sufficient reason for this 13x9 pan of glory we ran to the cabinet with the food coloring. Since the sister teaches elementary school kids she always has a solid grasp on those holidays that I, being a college student at a school that doesn't really let us out for anything, have since forgotten about.

We mixed red, then blue, then some green, then a little more red, heck throw some yellow in while were at it, and finally a little more red and that... right... there... maybe... yes!

Our very own Martin Luther King Jr. day African-American Funfetti cake. Off color? Probably. Should I have posted this on the interwebz for (potentially) all to see? Probably not. Either way, good, fun times for all. And the Funfetti was glorious.

Disclaimer: In reality, once the mix got baked, the color didn't really stick around much. It was more of an Italian-in-the-summer tan. Oh, and this was meant in no way to be derogatory to African Americans or Italians in the summer. Thank you and have a nice day.

How many roads must a man walk down?

This week I finally got around to reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a book I've been interested in for years and avoided seeing the movie for reason of avoiding it ruining the book for me (both because of spoilers and the quality).

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is already on hold. Douglas Adams is probably one of the best character builders I have experienced. Whether it's Arthur Dent, your average Joe, Ford Prefect, the automobile-named alien who intended to be on Earth for a week only to be forgotten about for 15 years to finally have to escape to leave, or Marvin, the manic-depressive robot. They all have a sense of depth, personality, and even a unique voice of sorts (and sense of humor).

Writing a book based around a veritable encyclopedia of the universe can't be an easy task. Small pieces of the guide are mentioned throughout the novel, helping to build the reader's understanding of the history of the universe and provide more lighthearted comic relief.

Which is the reason I'm planning on reading the whole series now. Sure, the characters are wonderful and the ability any sci-fi writer worth his salt has to create a whole universe (and it's unique machines) astounds me, but Adams does all of it with a sort of lightheartedness that I really can't get enough of. I'm not a huge reader by any means. So when I actively want to read a book rather than turn on the PS3, it's a huge compliment to the abilities of the writer. This writer has me hooked.

Attempting to not sound like a prick here....

Work with me here. The LA Times posted this picture of Steve Jobs today and a year ago, to show how his pretty highly publicized hormonal imbalance has affected him.

To me, all his picture shows is that 1) he is balding and 2) he shaved on Sept. 8th, 2008, but not on Sept. 16-18th 2007.



It's been rumored that he has been dealing with a rare treatable form of pancreatic "cancer," so maybe a type of chemo has to do with the hair-loss and discoloration. Either way, I hope the best for him. A world without Steve Jobs (or Bill Gates) would be like the Galactic Empire not having Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader. Just kind of empty and "what are we really doing here"-esque. Mainly I don't think the time lapse picture was the best choice for the article, it just invites needless speculation (see: this blog post).

Ahhh

Vacations are nice. Now a week from today I will be enjoying (I hope) my first day of real work. What real entails I still have no idea, other than that it is at the aircraft engine portion of GE. So that'll be interesting....

Until then, a however-many-part-I-feel-like-making-this part series on what I have been doing. However, in an effort to make this not seem LiveJournal/Xanga-y, I will throw in completely meaningless and absurd pictures, like the one to the right >>>

Part 1
Apparently, rocking my exams. I won't go into specifics because then some smarty-mcfee will jump in the comments and rain on the parade, but it was all A's and B's. If I have a solid mix of those the rest of school I can't complain.

Part 2
Pretty much after Part 1 there was a long lull of complete randomness and non-newsworthy happenings. Costume party, to which I busted out my Elf costume famous from tacky Christmas sweater day from senior year of high school.

I'm pretty much a carbon copy

Part 3
Part 3, which could realistically be exchanged with Part 2, and could be placed either BC (Before Christmas) or AC (After Christmas) consists of a large amount of Fallout 3 (Happy Bird-day to me!) and Rock Band 2 (thanks, Santa).

Fallout 3 is pretty much the shiz-nizzle. Not recommended if, like me, you are a big weenie when it comes to post-Apocalyptic radiated zombies that look eeriely similar to the things from I Am Legend. They lurk everywhere; dark places, the middle of the block, behind you, or in abandoned buildings.

While not the same (at all really), visual similarities are there.

Overall, I have to say its a very good game. Maybe the best I have played so far on PS3. The biggest flaw is that for a console game it is still surprisingly buggy (a trend in nearly all "next-gen" multiplatform games it seems). Nothing major, just the occasional freeze.

I really don't think I could say anything about Rock Band 2 that hasn't already been said/heard by any of you. It's sweet, and basically exactly the same as Guitar Hero World Tour. Only difference is the song selection. I'm impressed with Rock Band's and have already spent too much money downloading everything from No Doubt ("Don't Speak," if you were curious) to Boston ("Peace of Mind").

Part 3 has been the largest part of my vacation, for sure.

Part 4
That is of course unless you count Part 4 (ohhh, twist!!). Part 4 can be the coverall consisting of spending time with that one girl that lives down the street (also referred to as Stinky, because she is really really white like the uncle of the friendly ghost and has poor hygene habits). Yea, I saw her occasionally.

We went and saw the Nutcracker, with the highlight being the kid behind us telling mom, "I wanna go hoooooommmmeeeeee," about midway through Act 2. I grinned and couldn't really disagree with him. At least someone had the kahunas to say it. Don't get it twisted though, still an enjoyable time.


Overall, good break. Definitely needed to some extent. Now comes 2009, which I can already say with confidence will be nothing like 2008.... or 2007, or 06, or 05, or... you get the idea. My resolution-to-be-broken this year is to learn to cook more than eggs, mac and cheese, and cheeseburgers and to have 365 posts by the end of the year. I'm already behind, so clearly not off to a good start. Maybe this one can count as two....

Happy (end of) Holidays and New Year to all!

Taking some time out of my procrastination....

I understand that pretty much everyone here also frequents a couple other blogs ("couple" being used in a very broad way...). There are only maybe one or two readers that I can think of that may just give sole homage to me. Those people are pretty stupid because honestly, this this is pretty boring on the scale of blogdom.

This is one that is not: http://my42cents.blogspot.com/.

No, its not the weird political 42 cents blog, though the author does address this.

The premise is simple. Taken from the website:

"The Correspondent writes a real letter and posts it each weekday. Bookmark the page and subscribe to the RSS feed to receive daily content. Please share the page with friends and family, so that they, too, may come to expect correspondence. If you have any comments or suggestions, both are welcome via the comment links below each letter."

My personal favorites, the letter to the first grade, Val Kilmer, and the Ice Mountain Water one (mainly good because, sometimes, the companies will reply back).

Lessons learned from this blog: write letters to companies, they usually give away free stuff. Also, a lot more people than I had imagined enjoy a personal letter from someone completely anonymous.

Fun stuff, check it out.

Two classes (all but) done

Both were classes where we essentially had a semester long project, and everything in each was dedicated to said project.

One (Intro to flight) ended up being a 71 page report of sorts, the other (my last CAD class) fills a binder full of schematics. I don't even know what schematics are but I have a binder full of them.

Donezo. Also, both I turned in a little early for some honestly pretty redic. extra credit (considering the grade for each is all but my final semester grade).

I have drank three times more cans of energy drinks and cups of coffee than I have had hours of sleep this week. I think I deserve some Chipotle.

Fun gross fact of the day

Taurine, the stuff they cram in energy drinks that I consume way too much, is also a major constituent of bile.

Just ask wikipedia (actually cited by seemingly academic sources too!)

Finals Week Eve [slash] Finals Week

You guys know the drill, I suck. This week and next will be sporadic with school really picking up, then with the holidays I will probably take some R&R.

I'll post some shorties here and there, but as always, this is fairly high on the list of things to go (don't worry, Mom, PS3 is too) when the going gets rough.

The good news (that I'm not sure if I have mentioned here yet; if I have, ignore me) is that I will be home next semester working at GE (the "Aviation" portion) getting some much needed on-the-job training and making some serious dough stacks in the process. Well, compared to my current job of unemployed. I get to use my favorite division problem here: my pay rate increase will be x/0. Undefined ftw!

Anywho, back to finishing up these end of semester projects. Hollaaaaa

Happy Birthday To Me

And in honor of my consistently sporadic and late posting, this is a day late!!!

HURRAH!!!

Why I love my major 1.0

Intro: This is going to be a running theme. I'll try not to get too nerdy because, let's be honest, I do actually have a rep to try to live up to. I'm not sure where it is going to go, but that's what's fun about life. Onward:

1.0 - Whenever I make fun connections to non-engineering stuff. Well, in the traditional sense of the word. We in the major (like any major) like to think that everything is engineering. People hate us for this.

You know that weirdness about how when you breathe out with your mouth open hot air comes out, but when you breathe out with wittle itty bitty kissy wips, cold air comes out? No, there is not a mini thermostat in there, though that would be friggin awesome. Nor are you cold hearted (well, maybe you are, but cold kissy breathe is not related to the relative warmth of your heart).

This is a phenomenon that is called I-don't-know-what. I'm sure it does have a name, but I don't know it because only the really complicated things get names.

Essentially, this has to do with mass flow (your breath) through a nozzle (your kissy wips) or a diffuser (the "she must be unlisted" type of breathing). Basically, as you lower the exit area for a gas while raising the velocity, through some boring thermodynamic properties that we can ignore, the temperature of said gas will decrease. Sure, in theory it is possible to "she must be unlisted" breathe out hot air, but it would have to be really friggin fast. To the tune of 50 times faster than your kissy-wips breathing. Given the limited capacity of our lungs, it's pretty much impossible. Don't go collapsing anything trying to do this.

This is just something that has always seemed a little curious to me and I never would have thought that I would figure out the why while studying mechanical engineering. Truth is, we are machines ladies and gentlemen.

Now that's some hot breath.

Every Time I think you couldn't get any dumber....

Ok, the title really has nothing to do with the body, but I just wanted to quote some Dumb and Dumber, Jim Carrey's best motion picture.

Anywho, to the point. Just when I thought Google couldn't get any cooler (really, I thought their method of predicting the flu impressed me to the max), they one up me. Google is now hosting every image from Life magazine from 1860-1970s. We're not talking shit 300x300px "here is the idea" size. No, no. More like full-ish res 1000(or so)x1000(or so).

Really impressed. If only I had to write history papers still. Either way, a very nice selection of desktop backgrounds here with some easy cropping in your favorite photo editor.

Thanks, Google. You can contact me in regards to my ad check.

XKCD gets even cooler

The creator of famed web comic XKCD may just win the entire internetz one day. Not only does he have the nerdiest web comic ever, he struck pure gold with his comparison websites.

Learn what the best, funniest, fairest, and cutest thing ever is by venturing to their respective websites, giving a few votes of your own, then reading the respective top lists to learn what really is the Best Thing Ever.

For the record, the current best thing ever: being outside at night in the perfect temperature. Can't argue with that much...

Proof I am going to Hell

Just figured I would keep with my trend today....

Funniest blooper of all time:

Sesame Street from Hell

Yes, this is a blatant ripoff from a Digg comment stream, but damn is it funny. First, it seems everyone's favorite cookie monster is suffering a relapse.

If you think that is really unsettling (it is) but mildly creative and funny, wait until you see Tickle Me Elmo (on of my favorite toys ever by the way) on fire!!!

You Suck At Photoshop

Really, you do. Don't worry, Donnie Hoyle (Dane Cook) is here to help.

Comedic genius, right up my alley. It really is pretty informative too. I wish I woulda known about this during Odin's, I definitely would have just made people watch these.



There's more than this, but you got the idea...

1 Picture = 1,000 words

It must be an exponential growth rate on (dPicture/dWords), because these four say at least a billion. Maybe even a million. [/subtle Austin Powers reference]




Not trying to get all sappy or anything, but this will probably stick in my memory the most out of all the pictures and shit.

That and CNN breaking the "Obama Elected President" headline the second the California polls closed. That was pretty cool too....

Obama wins

You heard it here first. I will bet my left nut, then raise you my right. On a more serious note though, it really is shaping up to be a huge election night for the idealists. I'm excited/nervous to see what will happen. I wish I could say more about it, but I really don't know.

Then I remember we have Joe Biden, and all is well. Even T.I. wants him.

Begin rant here

I'm not sure where to begin. Apparently, black students at the University of Illinois went about creating a separate homecoming event geared towards African-Americans. RTA first.

Excuse me while I go Achilles. (I needed some type of disclaimer).

First off, I find it disturbing that race differences in a University setting are so cataclysmic that two completely different events must be held (one white, one black) for "school spirit" to be shown. That ceases to be support for one's SCHOOL (on both sides of the equation) and becomes a race rally. White people do it by painting their bodies, getting trashed, and maybe dancing a little. According to the article, black people do it by "step shows," as the article describes as if it's some tribal ritual (way to perpetuate the stereotype there).

I find it even more disturbing that this already happens at both OSU and Minnesota also. Three major public institutions. Public being the keyword.

I think it shows a lot about the state of the nation, on this, the eve of election day. A day in which from the sounds of things, the nation's first black man will be elected president (he is not African-American, if he were he could not be elected president).

Is this racism in the traditional sense? No. Is it against any laws? From the sounds of things, no, the program still welcomes all. Would I attend the black homecoming? Hell yes, if only for the music. But that's neither here nor there.

The point is, what are we as a generation really trying to accomplish here? From stories like this, I truly believe that no one really wants unity. People just want to do whatever the fuck they want. That's cool I guess. No harm no foul. You don't want your black homecoming king and queen to be constantly outvoted by the 93% whites or to have to listen to Savage Garden and Tom Petty all night. I understand, I've been there and I hate Tom Petty, too.

But at the same time, I don't want to hear this bullshit about racism still being alive, when it is perpetuated through a complete and utter unwillingness by both sides to come together as one even in aspects of social life when race plays no part. Do you, sophomore Ashley Williams of U of I, really think that through organizing an African American Homecoming, you are really truly helping the cause of blacks being more socially welcome. If I want to make friends, I don't lock my door, I leave it open. You can say you are leaving it open by inviting all, but why create the divide in the first place?

Bullshit like this is far more destructive to race relations than any radio personality saying "nappy headed hoes." This is the youngest voting generation. To the vast majority of people I see on campuses around Ohio (my sample size) I have to say this: electing Obama will not do shit to make this nation a better, more unified place. You, your friends, and that girl who stinks and sits by herself at lunch everyday will. Start showing some responsibility and stop taking the lazy way out. You want a separate homecoming? Fine. But never say you want change you can believe in ever again.

Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where's the tylenol?

Lemme hear your thoughts, maybe I'm way off.

Gas prices sub $2.00

I'll be making the short trip to Huber Heights today or tomorrow to bask in the glory of gas prices being as low as they have been nearly since I have had my license.

Adventures of a poor college kid

In the latest search for the almighty dollar, I am seriously considering going the blood-plasma donation route. By seriously considering, I mean I have an appointment for 1:00 tomorrow. It seems a little too good to be true.

I go in at one and sign in. They then give me a physical (for the first appointment) to make sure I'm in good health (if I'm not, news to me) and don't have AIDs (if I do, news to me). Then they do what is essentially a blood donation which is then spun in a centrifuge so all the blood cells fall out, leaving the liquid plasma (with the clotting factors included, with a big shout out going to a special someone since I actually understand how this could be useful).

A lot of the blood plasma is used for people with blood clotting issues (hemophiliacs for instance) when a moderate-severe blood loss occurs. Sometimes people with liver disease need it to. Also, correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe by removing the actual cells, blood plasma is universal for all blood types (again, correct me if I'm wrong).

Basically, the way I see it, I'm doing a good deed, have no fear of needles or blood, and I'm getting paid $40 a pop for it. Sounds pretty unbeatable to me.

Ya know what's really hard?

Eating grapefruit without a grapefruit spoon.

Ah,the joys of college.

Observe:

The greatest grapefruit-spooner ever.


Yours truly.

In other news, interviews for co-ops are done, just writing the thank you letters (maybe I will use the ones I bought for graduation and never filled out, woops) and waiting for a call to go. And I also finally got my camera back from the sister unit. So I got that goin for me....

LittleBigPlanet Delayed

Wonderful. The game that Sony was hoping would be the major "console pusher" of holiday season '08 is being delayed from an expected release on Tuesday, to mid-November.

Apparently, one of the background songs in the game contains two phrases from the Qur'an which Muslim types don't like. From what I learned in basically my religion 101 class, a fairly fundamental Islamic belief is that the Qur'an is literally the word of Allah. This is why it is RARELY translated. Allah (in keeping with the "no translation rule," the Arabic term for God, which, regardless of what your old aunt from Tennessee wants to tell you - and if I remember correctly - is actually the exact same God Christians worship. Fun fact.).

So, some song, the artist of which is actually Muslim (Sunni no doubt), had a few Arabic phrases in it and one of the beta testers noticed it. Rather than mentioning this, oh I dunno, BEFORE MILLIONS OF COPIES WERE MADE AND DISTRIBUTED, he decided to wait until a day or so ago.

Now, tens of millions of dollars in investment later, everything is being recalled, Blue Ray disks (not the less expensive DVDs, mind you) are being burned with the same version of the game, sans song, and shipped all over the world again.

Personally I see this from three sides:

1.) Gamer side - Shit shit shit, this sucks. As a beta tester for the game and college kid with seriously no money, I was considering giving some plasma for money to buy this game. It's that good. The creativity it allows as well as the ability to play others created levels from around the world was really exciting, even in a limited beta version. I can't imagine how this will be in a full release.

2.) Moral side - I understand the problem, and to be fair to the person who mentioned it, he suggested releasing a patch deleting the song (I assume this would be possible) and from here on out printing the new copies sans song. Problem is, he is not the voice of the entire Muslim community, so drastic steps needed to be taken to please everyone. to be honest I feel like if this was released in America only it would not be a major issue, admittedly because American-Muslim relations are so far in the shitter that 95% of the country would give two shits, with maybe 40% actually celebrating pissing Muslims off. The game was initially delayed for Europe only by the company that created it, but Sony stepped in and gave the word to hold it for the world.

3.) Business side - Someone will be getting fired over this. If there has ever been an example of a company putting their eggs in one basket, LittleBigPlanet may be it. Since it was publicly announced in March 2007, they have not skirted around the fact that it is anticipated to be a "console pusher" to get them back competing with the 360 in software sales. Since Sony is still losing money for every system sold, having blockbuster software titles is that much more important. Make no mistake, the fact that they are hoping to have it completely reprinted, shipped, and released in about three weeks time shows how important this is for the company. If I were to explain it in an analogy, it would be like Carson Palmer getting hurt for the Beng--- oh wait. Yea, it's like that.


P.S. the past two blog posts being horribly long will not turn into a trend, I promise

UPDATE: ah the joys of blog posting on developing events... apparently media molecule (the publishing/design company responsible for the game) is going with the patch/change future discs route. This makes a lot more sense, and further shows what I was saying about this being a huge product for Sony. The patch was made and ready for release about 12 hours after it came to their knowledge. For some perspective on that: NCAA 09 finished a gameplay patch about a week following the release, but Sony did not approve it and put it up for download until two months later. This speed of turnover is rare to say the least (unprecedented is more like it)

Em's Back

Given that I kind of consider myself a bit of a student of rap, I can't let this go un-commented on. Before you make the snarky "student of rap comment," I've heard it before. Har har.

Sometime last night Eminem announced on his radio station (didn't realize he had his own station, it probably sucks) that he is releasing his sixth studio album, R3lapse. There has been talk for about a year now that he has been in the studio working on an album known as "King Mathers," I'm assuming that is what this is. With it he released his first bit of music from the album, appropriately called, "I'm Having a Relapse," embedded below. Take two minutes and listen.




I admit, sometimes I'm a little too quick to anoint an album. When Carter III came out I was convinced Lil Wayne was the best rapper alive. Then Nas came out with The Ni-ahem, Untitled and I was floored. Surely that would be the best rap album of the year. To prove me wrong again, Game came out with LAX. Most recently, T.I.'s Paper Trail is on my list of "album of the year" with seriously four or five Top 10 singles. I'm a bit of a lemming, I understand.

For the record, my revisionist rankings go somewhat like this:
1. Untitled - Nas
2. Paper Trail - T.I.
3(t). Carter III - Lil Wayne, LAX - Game


With that being said, I really really really truly honestly think this could be the return of the real Eminem. In this two minute freestyle he touched on prescription pain killer abuse, anal sex with inanimate objects, self-abuse, and finding the body parts of a cheerleader. Gruesome? Absolutely. Offensive? Without a doubt. Catchy as hell? Yes, again.

It looks like, from this extremely small but promising sample, that Eminem has found his way out of the fake-gangsta G-Unit mentality and back into rapping about HIS life as a white trash kid from the Detroit trailer park with his signature over-the-top-ness and black comedy.

Call me a bit of an optimist, but for now I'm considering (hoping) the "3" in the album title being Em's own recognition that this will be the third time that Marshall Mathers comes out to play (previously in the Slim Shady EP and self-titled LP), not Hollywood-Em (Eminem Show, which was good but clearly different, and Encore, meh) or G-Unot (post Encore, hurl city).

Please please please please don't screw this up...

the bengals are terrible

they can win out from now until 2010 and I will still hold that fact to be true. At best they will be 2-14.

Yes, at best.

The Browns will finish off about a .500 team, as will the Patriots.

Stone.

Bringin it to the States

A while back I posted an extremely well done Nike commercial that was only released in Europe, no doubt because of it's focus on soccer. It seems that they have brought the idea over here for OUR version of football. While this one loses a little in going with the majestic, epic music - one thing I really liked about the European version was the peppier mood - it is still very good.

Kudos to a marketing group that really doesn't need any more:





EDIT:
For some reason I can't figure out if I really did post the soccer video before. Either way, here it is. Far and away my favorite Nike commercial, and that's saying a lot.

Woes of fantasy football

I am cursed:

No kidding, this was my fantasy team at the beginning of the year:

Yes it's a weird roster set up, I know.

QB: Tom Brady - shit.
RB: Julius Jones - considering he was going to be the go-to guy with Morrice injured, he has been very unimpressive.
RB: Chris Johnson - the rookie on the Titans, the one player I'm not totally disappointed in.
RB/WR: Reggie Bush - Don't get it twisted, he's a wide reciever/utility player; not a running back.
WR: Braylon Edwards - Finally got his head out of his ass on Monday, we'll he where he goes.
TE/WR: Roy Williams - Just traded after a highly unproductive year.
TE: Kellen Winslow - Just was released from the hospital for a pretty serious non-football illness.
DP: Patrick Willis - OK I lied, he hasn't been bad either. Still, a defensive player isn't winning any games.
D: Giants - Injuries and no Strahan has left a mark.


I kid you not.
Cursed I tell ya.

New favorite e-comic

Ok maybe not FAVORITE, but Luke Surl Comics is pretty entertaining - rarely LOL funny, but not all comics need to be - with very few duds. Something not even XKCD can say. I'm not sure if the title is the dude's actual name, or if it's a witty way of writing Luke's URL, as in Luke's website. It's a mystery for the ages...

Some favs:

Fall Break

Finally. Three tests today, one last Friday. It's been a long past 7 days.

In other news, new South Park tonight at 10. Check out the link of you are a fan of Cartman, Kyle, Stan, dead-Kenny, and Butters. Every episode free streaming. Boners!

This is Surreal...

Never did I in my wildest dreams ever think I would hear the words "Belmont University" come out of Obama or McCain's mouth.

Here's to a really really friggin' cool school being in the national spotlight for 90 minutes.

The Ultimate Tailgate List

Ok, not complete because I don't want everyone's browser to crash from the massive songs. This will give you a solid idea.

And yes, the USSR anthem is a must have. Don't question my tactics.


SeeqPod - Playable Search

And for you nerds out there who bring a TV with you:

If I never hear of Wall St./Main St. again

I will die a happy man. God I hate news cliches of the day.

Not Who Dey, but What are Dey Thinking?

Marvin Lewis needs an anatomy class. He obviously doesn't realize that every human body has a spine. He needs to show he has one, and once, just once live up to his word.

I'm tired of signing players other teams don't want to take a chance on (or in Benson's case, players that have also showed an inability to play a full season uninjured, OR live up to their potential). I thought the Bengals were cleaning house, getting rid of players that don't earn their paycheck. So far there has been one whole player that has been dealt with in Rudi Johnson (about two seasons too late, now you can't even get a late-round draft pick out of him, way to go).

Instead, the Bengals just keep 'em coming. I don't completely blame Lewis though. Fun fact: the Bengals have the smallest scouting department in the NFL. It's pretty tough to field a competitive team when you can't even scout the same number of players as any other team. Thanks, Mike Brown.

I'm done, from here on out the only mention of the Bengals you will get from me will be celebration when Chad is finally able to go play for a competitive team. At this point in the season though, he looks like he is fitting in the 'nati all too well.

EDIT: HEY MIKE! How about Travis Henry! He needs a job too!

Read. Because its free.

I like reading, when I have the time. Swer to god, mane. I like not paying for stuff too. Not in the illegal way (necessarily...) but in the poor-unemployed-college-student way.

If you like to read at all, this site should be in your bookmarks, now. Free books, multiple file types (.pdf is my flavor of choice, but you can pick what you want. Choices. The American way), multiple genres.

Banned books category, here I come!


Now for that free time thing...

Suggestions on how to refuse a breathalyzer politely.

Because I care, and, well, let's be honest, THEY know the law, THEY just assume you don't.

1) Ask if they have a warrant to perform this search (if they do, you pretty much have to. they won't have one).
2) Let them know that you would like to cooperate with them, but are concerned that you may need to speak with your attorney before proceeding in the absence of a warrant.
3) Ask what the legal penalty is for refusing (they may lie here, and this would be only goodness, especially if this is filmed).
4) Nothing else. Be sure to be respectful and polite the entire time. If they get bellicose with you, do not respond.

Dear Self,

Look on the bright side. At least you don't have any money to lose right now.

Well, minus that whole financial aid thing.

Career Fair

Where every company that you want to work for comes in and, instead of you learning more about them, things turn into a semi-informal interview.

Sweet.

Make that about 50% less stressed than college apps.... Probably how it should be.

In other news, Happy 10th Birthday Google!!

It's really sad

...and a sick commentary on this system when I feel about 200% less stressed (note: that doesn't mean relaxed...) in applying for Co-Op interviews than I did about college applications.

Need a little pick-me-up

School sucks, co-op applications suck, the work never ends.

Took a little timeout to venture over to Youtube, started at watching football highlights, then came across this Lou Holtz speech compilation (with weirdly, the first one repeated..)



From there on, took a little break to venture onward in the motivational speech realm.


Greatest sports-movie speech, IMO:



A little piece from Hoosiers, much better movie than Any Given Sunday:


I've linked it numerous times, but if this doesn't wake you up, nothing will. It gets me every time:


For this clip alone, "New Noise" by Refused will forever be a staple on my workout playlist. Every time it reaches that point I feel like I'm walking out into the Astrodome:


I know why this never made it over the pond, but damned if it isn't a great commercial. Nike's marketing department is grade A:


I think I just ran through a wall....

Psychological Warfare

I'll be honest, there have been a few times where I will go to a website or something with with a lot of flashing lights to try to scare a fly away, but this technique is just downright genius:

OBAMA'S EMAIL ACCOUNT!?!!?!?

For those of you who don't know, apparently a few day's ago the hacker group known as Anonymous (most famous for their crusade against stupidity) successfully hacked into Sarah Palin's email account. Nothing is private anymore, literally.

The blog-worthiness of all of this lies in the fact that while it took a world-renowned hacker group to break into Palin's gmail account, it only took The Onion to get to Obama's.

Hey Barry, I'm diggin the icon, mayne.

;-)

Math is fun

One thing that as been surprising to me is that in my engineering specific classes, a lot of the time there is very little focus on getting the right answer. A lot of times it is like math-light. Constants are rounded to the point to where, as one of my professors puts it, "You aren't right, but neither is thermodynamics, and at least you are in the game."

In doing math-light a lot this year (though when you are dealing with something like a Benedict-Webb-Rubin equation, not much can be considered "light" about it...) it's surprised me how easy even complex math can become but just knowing "this number gonna be really big, so screw this number, its only gonna change the final answer by like .2, oh but this number matters," and so on and so on.

This morning I saw that one of the supplies of the New York Times had not been emptied (they usually are by about 10 minutes after 8 AM, when classes start) and switched to the Science section because I'm a huge nerd and Wall Street confuses the shit out of me, only to find this article.

Basically, that sense of approximation is starting to be linked to one's mathematical ability. This seems kind of stupid and common sense-ish to me, but the WAY that they were able to test for it is really kind of cool. Basically, the test flashes a random number of circles on a screen for .2 seconds, some blue some yellow. It is your job to determine, basically off of a gut instinct, which color circles there were more of.

Sort of a why didn't I think of that type of thing...

Anywho, I like to think I have a mildly varied readership, so I'm curious how some people test. Clink the link above, go for maybe 20 or so tries, and lemme know what you get.

For the record, I went 50 times, got 76%. I'm sure at least one person will try to beat the system and play like seven times to get 100%, so ahead of time.... I win.

It's getting to be that time of year....

The crisp fall breeze is starting to show in the evenings and (sometimes) that downright cold winter chill wakes me up in the mornings. Kids are throwing footballs to their dads (and occasionally, hip moms) in backyards everywhere. Football (and with that, tailgating) season has arrived.

Just in time with that comes the homework. The papers. The projects. The tests.

Hurl.

Bare with me for a little while I spend most of my time on school work (sorry... priorities and such...), a little less time (for now) on this new thing called "co-op interviews," and a little less on my favorite season of the year (footbaw season).

No, this isn't a goodbye. It is not a "it's not me it's you..." type thing.

It's an "expect shorties like I have already been doing for a little while anyways," type of thing. I like those better anyways; I ramble too much on long posts.

Leaving on a bright note:

Ninja cat (its like an LOLcat, but a real, live, video...):

Best College Football Weekend Ever.

You know why.

That is all, for now.

YAYYYY WE SURVIVED!!!

Happy LHC Day! Were not dead

Or we are and we don't know it.

o.O

AHH!!

Holy crap...

Mythbusters is awesome and hilarious. In this I learned how helium-voice works, and why it never works for me (I exhale...)

Now, what happens if you inhale sulfur hexafluoride? (Science types, is this unhealthy??)



[EDIT]:

Chemguy, if you can sweet-talk the higher-ups, this would be a freakin sweet before-winter-break lab:

Thermodynamics is hard.

Rainy Fridays suck.

These two facts consist of my day. These made me chuckle:








^^the lulz are mild, but on topic

Irregular Webcomic! is actually pretty funny....

Death Magnetic

Metallica is about to release a new CD. Out of spite (fuck you, Lars) I have acquired it already.

They are good again.

I'm not saying they are my favorite, but Rick Rubin has definitely turned around the club. St. Anger is a thing of the past, finally.

Maybe they did nearly carbon-copy the formulas from some of their more popular songs (That Was Just Your Life : Master of Puppets :: The Day That Never Comes : One), but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

5 Straight Days of college football

and not one game i truly care about.

this is like getting a brand new car only to discover that the last person to give it a test drive let out a really good shart before giving up the keys

My not so professional opinion:

- Pitt lost to Bowling Green. Hopefully that just means they suck and not that they lost their focus already and will be perfect the rest of the season. LeSean McCoy scares me. He is good...

- Michigan sucks. No really, it's not some fun slogan anymore... from what I saw Saturday... they really really suck. Threet/Sheridan are not good throwing quarterbacks, let alone spread option running QBs. McGuffie is a freshman. If their defense lays a turd like they did in the first half, they are in big trouble.... im talking 3-9 trouble...

- I'm tired of these warmup games. Maybe Chris Wells getting hurt is karma.

- USC is going to be very, very, very good this year. Their quarterback, Sanchez, should have started all year last year. Ruh roh.