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MISC.
Best...Super Power...Ever!
I have thought of the best super power ever conceived by man! Presenting...
HEISENBERG MAN!
With the awesome power to make the probability of any event occurring equal to 1!
It may not sound like an awesome power, but just think of all the possibilities! Want to walk through walls? Make it 100% guaranteed that your atoms would pass through solid objects! Need to fly up into the air? Set the probability that you spontaneously grow wings equal to 1! With this power, you could make ANY seemingly impossible event happen, JUST BY SAYING IT WILL!
I'll admit my knowledge of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is rather limited, but what I DO know of it makes my super power possible. If it's not, let me know how and I will promptly eat my (proverbial) hat!
EDIT: Dammit, I was thinking of Schrodinger, not Heisenberg. Oh well :/
Last night was another one those nights.
I went outside to lock up the cars for the night. A regular routine on a regular evening.
The truck was locked. I paused.
Something was...amiss...
...
It took me a moment to register what exactly it was that felt "off". It was everything! Everything was off. Nothing stirred in the dark, aside from the chirping of nocturnal insects. It was only midnight, but I couldn't see any of the regular vehicular or foot traffic that I would have expected to be out and about. A few cars snuck by on the nearby cross-street, but otherwise it seemed as though everyone had been swept off the face of the planet.
It would have been eerie if I hadn't been enjoying the silence.
...
Only six days before I leave?
Fuck.
I don't have much to say here, other than LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY COLORS! After far too many months of white, black, and brown, I've decided to go with something a bit easier on the eyes. With some help from Jonas and Gelo, I was able to find a color scheme of blue with green accents that I thought would be easy on the eyes and a layout that was simple enough so as to not overwhelm the rest of the posts.
Speaking of posts, the layout of each has changed a bit. As you've seen, the title, date, comments link, and tags are all located at the top of each post. It's an unorthodox layout, but I like having everything consolidated at the top because it means less moving of the page and mouse to comment on something I've written.
And in honor of the fact that I'll be in Japan for a year, I've included the name of this blog in Katakana so that if any of my foreign friends make their way here, they'll have an idea of how to say it!
That's it for now. Posts may be sparse now, but once I leave for Japan on July 2nd, expect lots of new material!
Oh, that reminds me! To entice readers to read my blog, I've been advised that my posts should have some kind of hook, a unique angle that will set them apart from the many other "LOOK AT ME I'M IN JAPAN" blogs. That's why I'm inviting you, loyal readers, to throw some ideas my way as to how I should present new posts. Do you want me to focus on technology? The Tokoy nightlife? Japanese culinary culture? So long as its legal, I'll do my best to provide all of you with interesting tales and pictures that follow the themes you send my way. Help me give you something interesting to read; pitch me an idea!
Well, the school year's officially over. All that's left now is to pack and go home. The reprieve will be short, however, as on July 2nd I head off to Japan for a year-long study abroad! Exciting, huh?
In preparation for my upcoming adventure, I'll be revamping this blog. At the very least, I'll make some cosmetic changes and revamp the picture gallery; at the most, I'll switch out this old system for an entirely new one. I haven't decided which path I'll take, I guess you'll all just have to wait and find out!
That's all for now. Have a good weekend : )
I indulged in a gluttony of technology purchases within the last week. Last Friday, I picked up a Casio Exilim Z1080 digital camera for the low, low price of $195; I bought Mario Kart for the Wii on Saturday for $53; and today, I bought a 160GB Western Digital Passport drive for $75.
It's all justified, though; the camera's for my trip Japan (it's got image stabilization! I have a hard time holding a camera perfectly still for 1/600 of a second and I'll be damned if I come back from Japan with a bunch of blurred images), Mario Kart is fun, and the Passport drive will probably replace my current Passport drive, which will then keep all my important files at home while I'm away on my study abroad in Tokyo.
Gotta be prepared! ; )
I've discovered recently that I get a lot more work done when I listen to music through headphones. Just having the music playing out loud isn't enough; for whatever reason, I'm able to focus better when it's pumped directly into my ears. Go figure.
Work on WormholeFTP will continue tomorrow or Friday. Bugs keep coming in via friends on MSN, so the list of fixes keep growing. Right now, I need to fix a file size bug that crashes the program when files over 100MB are uploaded, and figure out how to handle Passive FTP connections. On top of that, I'm reworking the UI to allow for multiple upload locations to be configured and accessed.
This will be the weekend for advertising, too. The support framework is up, the EXE is in a stable, working condition, the price is right...Download.com and the SH/SC thread on SomethingAwful will be my primary targets for spreading the word and gaining widespread adoption!
Also Iron Man on Friday...that is all.
P.S. Yahtzee's updates on Wednesdays have me salivating like one of Pavlov's dogs
Sometime in the next week or so, I'll have an announcement so big it'll knock your socks off! I don't want to say anything more now, but if you just hang in there I'm sure you won't be disappointed :)
My new Vostro 1500 came in on Friday, four or five days before it's estimated arrival date. I really need to get into the habit of including pictures when I review, so I'll leave the lengthy discussion of the pros and cons of the system for when I'm not smack-dab in the middle of scholarship essays. Suffice to say it kicks a lot of ass.
Parting Note: This makes me sad. Just as I'm getting ready to go to Japan, the dollar has to drop like a mafia informant who sold out to the police...
Just a quick heads up, for the next week or so I'll be permanently AFK. I sold both my tower and my laptop to finance some new technology for Japan, and they just so happened to sell within three days of each other; the tower's gone out the door, and I'm typing this up on the recently formatted laptop that's due to go out in the mail tomorrow.
On the plus side, I have a shiny new Vostro 1500 being built for me by the "wonderful" employees working for Dell. Last I checked, the estimated ship date is the 29th of this month; with three-to-five day shipping, I'll probably be back up and running by next Monday.
Until then, it's lots of reading and face time with my DS. See you all in a week!
P.S. Autistic Mode has nothing to do with autism; it's a term used in Ghost in the Shell to indicate that someone has turned of wireless communications in their cyberbrain.
You're not too old, and people DO still listen to you, Moby!
The annual UC Riverside HEAT concert went on yesterday night. Now, I'm not too keen for the concerts held here because a lot of bands playing are of the rap or R&B variety, and I just don't enjoy that type of music. This year's concert was very kind to me, though. This year, Moby came to UC Riverside and he ROCKED...THE...HOUSE.
Moby is a DJ who specializes in techno, house, and electronica music (don't ask me the difference between the three, I can hardly tell). Seeing him live in-concert is like talking tech with Bill Gates or Linus Torvalds, cooking alongside Emeril Lagasse, or doing some reps alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. I had an entire hour and a half to rave it up to some of the best DJ'ing I'd heard in a while, and I took advantage of it.
Surprisingly, I heard none of the material I'd heard before; it was refreshing to see that he didn't fall back on the songs he's famous for and can keep his mixes interesting and unpredictable. And to think I wanted to stay home!
BTW, Richard Melville Hall was nicknamed Moby shortly after birth in honor of his great-great-great-great uncle Herman Melville (author of Moby Dick). Don't believe me? [CITATION SUPPLIED]
No tech post this week. Instead, I've been quite busy these last few weeks taking care of some important paperwork for EAP and trying to find time to get a new application of mine online to sell and pull in some side-income. The aforementioned paperwork has been submitted, so that leaves the whole online commerce affair to sort out.
The hardest part of the site, the secure downloader system, is 90% complete; now I just have to figure out how to automate purchases to allow people to download my program as soon as they purchase it. Luckily, PayPal has a system in-place that allows me to verify purchases. Once I receive notification of a successful order, my system will place the order into my download system and offer the purchaser an opportunity to download the program right away. Quick and painless, and most of all completely automated!
Yeah, so that's it. More updates as they develop!
I finally figured out a round-about way of disabling FKCEditor plugins based on the page the editor is being used on. As I mentioned earlier, I installed an autosave function that will preserve my new posts until I post them onto the front page; the problem I was having was that if I wanted to edit an existing post, the AutoSave would save that post's content over the saved new-post's content. What I needed to do was disable the auto-save script on the Edit Post page.
It turned out to be a fairly easy solution. Basically, I grab a GET variable related to the current page's function from the page's URL and load the AutoSave only when that variable is set to a specific value. On any other page (i.e. the Edit Post page), the auto-saver is not loaded. In the case of this blog, it was a rather small bit of code:
var windowCode = parent.window.location.href.split('specific_GET_variable=')[1] .split("&")[0]; //(multi-lined because it broke the layout) if(windowCode == 1) { //Load Plugin }
I have to call parent.window because FCKEditor is loaded into a frame. I also learned that if I want to grab the current page's URL as a string, I need to call window.location.href as opposed to simply calling window.location; window.location is an object, and it contains much more information than just the URL. After grabbing the URL, I split the string into an array using the GET variable I want to read as the point where I want the string divided into separate array elements. Then, I perform another split on the second element of the first array. The second split is performed to single out any other GET variables that may appear in the page's URL. I can then grab the value of the desired GET variable, which is stored in the first array element of the second split.
It's a simple yet elegant solution, if I do say so myself :P
Forums are great. BBCode in forum posts is great. BBCode in a blog backend is not so great. For almost a year, I've used a from-scratch BBCode system as the primary means of formatting the many posts I make here *cough cough*.
In any case, FCKEditor will now handle all the backend post composition. I came across this free rich-text editor at work during brainstorming of a new CMS system. The project flopped, but I learned a lot about how the editor works and decided that it was exactly what I needed to add some much-needed power to the whole posting process.
FCKEditor has it's fair share of plugins, including one I installed that functions as an AJAX auto-save system. Now, every 30 seconds (or whenever I hit the save button), whatever I've written in the FCKEditor window is backed up to a database and restored next time I pull up the "Create a New Post" page. This feature addresses one of the issues I had with writing posts, namely the fact that I didn't have a lot of time to devote to sitting down and writing these. Now, I can work on a post in parts and continue whenever I have a free moment. My upcoming year-long trip to Japan motivated this upgrade, as I wanted everything to be ridiculously simple for me to use when I'm abroad; I'd rather spend my time seeing the sites than spending a large amount of time writing new posts or trying to figure out why my BBCode interpreter is freaking out.
Speaking of freaking out, I'm going to tweak the CSS so that posts work a bit cleaner with the new editor; if you go back to a post before this one and the formatting looks all off, you now know why.
And before I forget, a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!
Will and I went bike riding again yesterday, this time around the quite mountainous areas of San Marcos, California. I, being the ambitious and most gung-ho of the two of us, decided that the best place for the both of us to start would be a monster hill leading into the back roads of the city. I mean, it didn't look that bad from the bottom and hey, there really isn't anywhere around here that ISN'T hills...
What I failed to take into account was the fact that neither of us had really gone on any long-distance bike trips in over two months. Long story short (and to get to the best part of the entire ride) we both made it to the top, all two miles or so up, when we both said "screw it" and proceeded to head down the hill. Well, Will headed down the hill, and I sort of just threw caution to the (rather biting) wind and cannonballed it down.
36 Miles per hour. On a bike that weighs no more than 25 pounds. Man, it was one of the single most craziest moments of my life, a mix between "oh-shit-shit-please-don't-hit-a-bump" and "fuck yeah, just a bit more and-oh, there we go, broke my record!" Before yesterday, the fastest I'd managed to go was 34.5 mph, and I know I could've gone faster yesterday if I wasn't wearing a sweatshirt during my descent.
But that's a record to be beaten on another day.
Also, grades came in, two A-'s and two A+'s...one more quarter conquered and thrown onto the pile. Bring on Winter quarter!
And lastly, The Grand List Of Console Role Playing Game Clichés. My personal favorites are 183 (and it's corollary, 184) and 190.
Man, this week has been one of the worst weeks in terms of free time. Why were my leisure hours in such small supply? Here's what happened in the last 7 days:
- I spent last weekend studying for a chapter test for Japanese class; I took that test on Monday and received an 87% (not my best but also not bad considering the fact that I neither took nor used [much] Japanese over summer).
- I had a midterm in Psychology yesterday that I studied for from Monday till Thursday. This involved catching up on the reading and defining a list of over 70 key terms...well, I managed to narrow it down to 60 or so, since some of the terms were pretty obvious (*DUR* WHAT IS AN INDEPENDENT VARIABLE? *DUR*).
Well, that was basically it. I'll spend today and tomorrow studying for an Entomology midterm on Monday, but after that I'm home free for the next week or so!
My birthday's coming up on Sunday the 21st, and I must say I'm looking forward to it. No more will I be a "teenager", for I will have transcended into the roaring 20's! I managed to get a bunch of friends together and we're going to go celebrate at Raxx, a restaurant that has some of the best ribs I've ever had, putting it into direct conflict with Tony Roma's and vying for second seat as my favorite restaurant right behind D.Z. Akins in San Diego.
My Golden Sun collection is now complete (again) after purchasing another copy of the first and arguably best line of fantasy RPGs for the Gameboy. It's sequel, The Lost Age, surpasses the original Golden Sun on so many fronts; that's not to say that one should start with the second, since The Lost Age continues the story from Golden Sun. I think I'll play through it again over the next week or so, for old-times sake.
The Orange Box launched! It is AWESOME! Portal had one hell of a twist, Episode 2 answered a couple questions while raising a few more, and Team Fortress 2 rocks my proverbial socks! Here are some score tables from a few games I played a couple days ago:
I used to hate Pyros, until I figured out hot to kick ass with them B)
Nothing like a medic with ubercharge and a heavy with a fully-loaded chaingun to take down three fully-upgraded turrets; CRY SOME MORE indeed!
Annnnnnd I'm spent; now where did I put my DS...?
College is starting back up. Sophomore year...wow, it's already my second year? My, how time flies!
I moved in to my new dorm last Monday; it's set up to be more like an apartment then a true dorm, which means I get my own room! I share the apartment with three other guys, two of whom I know from last year and one new guy I'd never met before. Everything's worked out so far, and hopefully we'll all be able to live without incident; a year is a long time for something to NOT go horribly, horribly wrong!
I've decided to take up cycling. After a summer spent pedaling back and forth from work, I grew quite attached to my bicycle; as a result, I've decided to practice and improve my stamina for some long-distance riding. Will, of Wolfram Studios fame, and I biked over 60 miles in two runs; our first run together clocked in at exactly 25 miles, while our second run took us on an interesting 37.5 mile run of the nearby back roads of North County. I completed another 20.5 miles yesterday; to my dismay, my right knee started acting up the ride! I'll have to take it easy for a couple days and see if it'll mend on its own.
Work on my new super secret project is going very well. I can't divulge any of the juicy details until I get closer to release, but suffice to say that it will contain a large degree of social networking.
Classes start in three days...I need to bone up on my Japanese! Of all the classes I'm taking, Japanese worries me the most; I hardly used it over summer, so I'm sure there will be a lot of stuff I've forgotten.
Aye, so much to do, so little time to do it in.
I'm in Colorado for the next two weeks, visiting family. You'd think posts would become more frequent now that I have a bit of free time...huh, funny how they don't.
More in a few!
First off, thanks to EER for taking the time to write about his (disconcerting) experience with 3D Mailbox. We all know I'm terrible at writing anything, or, when I DO write something, keeping with the technical theme I'd set out to follow all those months ago.
Ugh, this is frustrating. As I write this, I'm waiting for three other tabs to finish loading other Unleashed Creativity pages. For the last month or so, the site has gone through a few too many intermittent periods of slow or non-responsive navigation; I've narrowed the problem down to a MySQL database problem, although I doubt its something as simple as that: when the site fails to fully load, I can see the Tags and Last 10 Entries, but the main content (the actual posts or admin section) fail to appear on the screen. The page will continue to show as "Loading..." in Firefox until I close the page.
I've contacted my host about the problem, and they're looking into the cause. Hopefully, I'll hear something back from them early next week.
And yeah, that's pretty much it; I could tell you I've been doing since school got out, but to be honest, I wouldn't even want to read about it...it's been that boring, sadly.
In any case, stay tuned; I'll find something to write about in the next couple days, I promise!
A week has passed, and the adventurer pauses to get his bearings.
He looks down, and is pleased to see the progress he's made during his ascent of Mount Finals. The old man at the base of the mountain was a strange fellow and the first challenge; he spoke of nothing but double-declining balances and warranty liability and would not let the adventurer pass unless he answered the stranger's questions...
That was behind him, though; if he hoped to reach the top in time, he would need to face forward and focus on navigating the unknown and unforgiving terrain.
He tightens his safety line and climbs ever higher, every step bringing him closer and closer towards the sound of the taiko drums...
Week 10 has but started, and already Finals Week billows on the horizon, glistening banks of onyx against a sapphire sky. The brave adventurer pushes on, intent on completing his task by week's end. He knows he will have to venture into the unforgiving storm, but he fears it not, for he has worked too long and too hard to be turned down by something so trivial.
He adjusts his hat and continues up the mountain...
The honor society that I'm a member of hosted a beach bonfire last night at Corona Del Mar and though I am not one for beaches, I still had a great time. The bonfire was a bit lacking, as we had brought some wood but forgot to bring any kindling; a real bonfire requires AT LEAST two pallets, but someone forgot to pass along that memo.
In any case, there were 12 or 13 of us, not a large group but enough to make it interesting. The beach was, according to the members who'd been there before, quite busy for a Friday evening, but someone had gone on ahead and secured us a fire pit, so we were able to bust out the hot dogs and s'mores and go to town! Things got a bit interesting when a group of us ventured off to walk along the jetty. The friend I'd dragged along and I scampered ahead of the small group, jumping from rock to rock and generally going a lot faster than we should have, especially since I was only wearing sandals; the situation would have had me reconsidering heading out if I hadn't discovered my ability to be really, really good at climbing/crossing dangerous terrain a few years earlier.
As the night wound down, I met some people from UCI who were friends of the honor society president. I found out that one of them, David, was finishing off his second year and was preparing himself to head out to Japan in July for a year of studying abroad...sound familiar? I requested he stay in touch, and he obliged, so I'll get a chance to talk to someone who's experiencing what I HOPE to experience during the 2008-2009 school year. Exciting!
How did all of us finish up the night? After a quick bite to eat, we partook in that most famous of Japanese past times, karaoke! Apparently, Westminster has quite the Asian population, including many things Japanese. Needless to say, it was one hell of an hour! Seven or eight of us, crammed into a small room, singing songs from every genre, all of us off-key by at least one scale...it was a blast! By 2:00AM, all of us were wiped out and ready to venture home. My friend and I made it back to our dorm 45 minutes later and I crashed, hard.
And tomorrow, I'm going to Six Flags Magic Mountain for the first time ever! Think of a Disney Land that is owned by Warner Bros. and is dedicated to some of the most gut-wrenching rollercoasters conceivable by man and you'll have an idea of what I have to look forward to!
Its late now, so I'm going to wrap this up. I owe you guys another rant, don't I? Hmm, that may have to wait until the 18th; final exams loom on the horizon, so I'll be busy studying my butt off!
I'll leave you today with a few PSA's from around the world; all of these are horrifying and put any of the ones you'd see in America to shame. Enjoy. (NOTE: NSFW):
First up, Australia (Courtesy of Australia's TAC)
Christmas Driving
Just 10 KPH Less...
Every K Over is a Killer
Bush Telegraph
Ireland really knows how to drive the point home:
Speeding Kills - THINK!
After watching all of these, I must say I'm VERY disappointed with the anti-drunk driving PSA's I've seen on TV over here in the US. Compared to the ones above, they're quite timid! Case in point:
Pizza Delivery
See what I mean? Humor might get a *guffaw* from the viewer, but it doesn't affect viewers as much as realistic violence; I think the reason the foreign commercials succeed is because they show the horrible reality of DWI accidents and don't sugarcoat it in "cuteness".
Those videos should keep you occupied for the next day or two; I have another rant waiting on the wings, so look for that sometime next week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and if you're a fellow America, have a great Memorial Day and never forget the sacrifices of those who came before us. Our freedom came at a price, so take a moment tomorrow and thank those who died fighting to preserve our liberties.
Me thinks its time I pick up a new hobby. Any suggestions?
There are only a couple things more annoying than not being able to remember where you put something, especially if it was less than 12 hours since you had that something in your hands.
Take my keys.
After going out with some friends for a Saturday evening of food and fun, I returned back to the dorm and partook in some Super Smash Bros. Melee with a couple more friends. I know for a fact I had my keys with me then, because I used them to open the file cabinet that houses my more expensive goods (several hundred dollars of software, blank checks, and my Gamecube games and gear). I brought my keys with me when I went to play SSBM, and afterwards I grabbed them on my way back down.
This is where the "fuzzy" part of my mind kicks in and I can't remember 100% what I did with my keys. I know I made it back to my dorm room with them, and I remember using them to open the locked file cabinet again, but after that I don't have any idea what I did with them.
I scoured my room for them, looked in all the usual places, but still no keys...my dad's coming up tomorrow with some bolt cutters and a new lock, and probably a slap upside the head for being such a bonehead, so after we have lunch I'll find out for sure if my keys are in there.
In other more pleasant news, Starcraft 2 has been announced, and after watching all three gameplay trailers and the cinematic trailer (btw, Blizzard, how hard is it to offer up files for HTTP download, eh? I'm sick and tired of torrenting everything), I have to say I'm very "meh" about the whole thing. I've never really been much of an RTS guy, so I see a game like Starcraft and think, "wow, those are some pretty awesome graphics"...I'll try to get into it like I do with most RTS, but I'm just not sure I'll find the fun in this that many people who can handle micro-micro-management games will find.
I WILL, however, derive great pleasure from the new Super Smash Bros. Game that's coming out for the Wii. Super Smash Bros. Brawl promises new characters, levels, and items while retaining the familiar Gamecube control scheme we've all come to love. Nintendo announced its decision a year ago, as quoted from Joystiq's article back on May 10th, 2006:
Quote:
And before you ask, no, I don't have a Wii now, but a recent scheme came across my doorstep that, while sounding just a BIT too good to be true, also sounds plausible enough that I want to give it a try. Basically, it involves GameFly's referral program; right now, GameFly has a promotion where if I can get 5 friends to sign up for their paid service, I get a free year of GameFly or a Nintendo Wii. The cheapest GameFly plan is $8.95 for the first month, so all I have to do is give five friends $10 and have them sign up for a month of the service. Once I get my voucher for the free Wii, they all cancel, I get my Wii, and everyone's happy...except for GameFly. I have the five friends, I've scoured the TOS for any possible loopholes/catches, all I need now is to find a bit of free time to coordinate the whole ordeal. Its a bit risky, but hey, you don't get ahead in anything if you don't take chances!
The few changes to the front end also accompanied a few changes to the backend. I've recently become a validation Nazi (I coded my work portfolio using valid XHTML 1.1 markup, the strictest of doctypes!), so it brings me great pride to announce that I've eliminated many of the bits of code that were not validating according to the rather lenient XHTML 1.0 Transitional doctype. I suppose this is more of a note for myself, since most of you won't notice the changes unless your the kind of person who enjoyes poring over HTML and spotting all the invalid code (or if you have a Firefox extension that does it for you [thanks HTML Validator!]).
There's also a new "Link to me!" page that has HTML or BBCode you can use to link to this site. Look for the link to that page underneath the Affiliates box.
And its come to my attention that a friend of mine is looking for a reason to get my server dugg into the ground; if you have any ideas for worthwhile articles, let me know and I'll get to posting.
And here's a schedule of things to come, subject to change because I'm lazy like that:
1. I FINALLY figured out how to do a proper fluid-height 3-column layout
2. I had the craziest dream involving teleportation and John Candy...its MORE twisted than it seems!
3. Whatever else I can dredge up from my otherwise mundane life
And that reminds me, I need to take more pictures...its a damn shame my life revolves around edu-ma-cation, or else I'd probably be going to myriad parties and cavorting with all calibers of women and SNAPPING ALL SORTS OF PICS OMG LO-[END TRANSMISSION]
This is one of those weeks, and I mean that in a good way!
First, payday was yesterday. Can you say cha-ching? Not only has my new job as a student programmer for my university's IT department provided me with some interesting "job site" training, its proven to be quite lucrative as well; I've made 150% more money in two weeks of work than I did in a month at my old job. I also received a check from a friend who screwed up her webhosting six ways to Sunday.
Second, I kicked ass on two midterms this week. On Monday, I had a Statistics midterm, and on Tuesday I had a Japanese midterm. I earned a 96% on my Stats midterm, and a 94% on my Japanese midterm! I'm so jazzed about the Japanese midterm because I bombed my first chapter test (78%) and was worried that I might not do as hot this quarter grade-wise as I did last quarter.
Third, I got a lot done on my PocketPadlet application. PocketPadlet (for those who don't know) is a set of applications I created that allow owners of PocketPC's to use their devices as touchpads for their PC's. Before today, functionality was limited to moving the mouse cursor around using the stylus. After a bit of inspiration, though, I was able to program in left and right clicks as well, inching the program closer to being a viable alternative to a computer mouse. There's still a lot of work to be done, as the program has quite a few rough spots when it comes to clicking; namely, whenever I tap the screen to signify a left-click, if I don't tap the EXACT same spot as the first tap, the mouse jumps around and the double-click isn't registered by Windows (liken this to jiggling the mouse around when you're trying to open up a document; too much movement and Windows doesn't register the double-click as operating on the intended file). Other than that, though, I'm very pleased with the results.
The last thing that will make this week all the sweeter will be when I finally get my new bike this weekend. My previous bicycle was stolen from a locked on-campus storage area on the 31st of December, during my winter break. Needless to say, I was devastated and have had to endure an entire quarter a half of walking...it may sound insane, but I love biking and the independence that comes with owning a bicycle. When that bike was stolen, a big part of my self-sufficiency was destroyed; I'm brutally reminded of that day every time I see someone riding a bike back to their dorm after class or chaining it up to a rack.
And that's a wrap. I'm off to study some more Japanese and hopefully get to bed at a decent time...only time will tell if I'm successful at both endeavors. Cheers, mates!
So apparently the AACS gave away its biggest secret...but how?
http://digg.com/tech_news/IP_Version_6_with_128bit_IPs
http://digg.com/apple/Sixteen_Hexadecimal_Digits_Screensaver_for_Mac_OS_X
- (http://www.newcleardream.org/screensaver)
http://digg.com/programming/The_best_mathematical_riddle_you_will_see_today_Period
- (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/480556169_6d731d2416_o.jpg)
http://digg.com/tech_news/d1af2e56517a7202a1cc087a69c4e296_md5_of_some_random_hex_values
- (http://www.quasarrising.com/md5.txt)
Stuff found on Facebook
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HaNbsIfp0 (Song featuring the process key)
http://ucr.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2338184677 (Facebook Group supporting the key)
What does this all mean? Are all HD-DVD's from here on crackable? Can the process key not be reset? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
I'm not perfect, nor will I ever claim to be. I have my own strengths and just as many weaknesses. To forget that is to set yourself up for failure; if you leave even the smallest chink in your armor, there will be someone who will find that weak spot and exploit it for their gain and your loss. I have many philosophies that I embrace, and tonight was a night of refreshers, or reminders of who I am and what I believe in.
A good friend of mine and I spent a good hour or so talking about everything and nothing. The topic? Its a bit difficult to categorize every aspect into neat, well-defined boxes, so its pointless to even try to classify what we did. Suffice to say, it was free-flow, stream-of-consciousness. I was asked, "why do I always strive for something? Why don't you hang back and let things happen on their own?" It was an interesting question, the kind of inquiry that would catch most people off guard; it was also a question that I've known the answer to for years. I responded, "I'm always striving and moving forward because the moment I stop, the world and all of its opportunities will pass me by."
An interesting response? Perhaps, but its a philosophy that I've come to embrace after years of being "in the right place at the right time". I've had my shares of ups and downs, times where things could not get any better and times where it feels like I could not have screwed things up any worse. I'm not one to simply move on with things, rather I'm one who is ALWAYS looking for a lesson. Was I too forward with this individual? What exactly did I do for this to fall into my lap? I've learned what works and what doesn't work through years of trial-and-error, and my philosophies reflect that. How do I know the world will pass me by if I give it the chance to? Because I've had a habit of general indifference to time, a laziness that has cost me some very unique, potentially beneficial opportunities. I won't go into much detail here, but there were a few times where if I HAD motivated myself to reach that goal, then I would have hit paydirt.
What else do I believe in? I believe in searching for as many answers to as many things as possible. Large religious bodies have somewhat contributed to this outlook. I was born Christian, and I found religion at an early age thanks to my grandparents, but for most of my life I've been separated from organized religion. As time passed, I came to embrace science as my belief system because I recognized that most of life's mysteries were answered in a system of irrefutable calculations. Science offered facts and physical relationships, and religion embodied a lack of initiative and curiosity. I have a natural predisposition to seeking answers, so I accepted science into my life. I have not rejected the idea of the presence of a god; if anything, I've always believed that he created the universe and stepped back from it all to give existence a chance to sort itself out. Some people have a hard time believing that, and I'm fine with that. I don't try to imprint my beliefs onto anyone, and provided those same people refrain from calling me a "devil worshiper" or condemning me to Hell, then I usually get along with everyone.
What motivates mankind? Its simple, really: people do things to make themselves feel good. There's no such thing as a truly selfless individual. Even if there is no physical reward for an act of goodwill, the personal feeling of having done something good is enough of a reward for those that give their time to help those in need. As a race ruled by our emotions, it is important to realize that if charity work didn't make anyone feel good after doing it, there would be no one helping the homeless or saving animals. I'm not downplaying the benefit that many hard-working individuals have on such ventures, I'm merely making the observation that behind every selfless act lies an individual who's trying to get their emotional fix.
Where am I going with this? If you have to ask, you've missed the point. I'm not trying to get to a destination, nor am I trying to get you to believe what I believe. I am simply stating those things which define who I am. I suppose putting some of my morals into writing will help to remind me who I am should I get lost in the hustle and bustle that is life. I don't have too many moments of intellectual clarity, but when I have a chance to let everything go and play a passive role for one fleeting moment, I come to see my place in the grand scheme of things. Oddly enough, I also feel compelled to write and make myself heard. The audience is small, but perhaps if I make the message loud and strong enough, I will gather some more people open-minded enough to my beliefs.
The special effects were really something. The landscapes were all bluescreened in; the work done on the various backdrops did a great job of creating the proper environment for the situation. Long expanses of plains laid out in front of the Spartan warriors as they at the began their journey, and desolate beach scenes arose when the Persians stormed the small band of warriors.
300 was based on the events of the Battle of Thermopylae. The location, the enemies, all of them existed and played their part in 480 B.C. There was some lore thrown in for effect, making this movie a historical-fantasy-type movie, but not enough to detract from the believability of events.
This movie gets a 10/10 in my book, and when it comes out on DVD I plan on adding it to my collection of really awesome war movies, right next to Saving Private Ryan. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I IMPLORE you to go see it in theaters and then buy it when it comes out. Its just that good of a movie!
P.S. Because I'm so infatuated with the movie, I created a couple of avatars. You're free to use them, just don't hotlink or claim you made them, as either of those make me really mad! Here they are, all two of them!
How many Ritz crackers can I fit in my mouth at one time?
Wow, I feel accomplished!
[EDIT] Here are some movies for you to...*ahem*...snack on:
First Food-Related Video: Pockey and Peach Rings:
Second Food-Related Video: Puttin' on the Ritz...IN MY MOUTH!
If that doesn't get me into Hell for the sin of gluttony, I don't know what does...
And here's something entertaining to pass the time as you scarf down copious amounts of not-cake:
They planned their dating system for this day, I'm sure of it! In any case, happy March 13th, Europe!
The quiz told me that I'm a "High-Level Nerd. You are definitely MIT material, apply now!!!"
Stupid quiz, I DID apply, and they didn't take me...but if the quiz recommended that I was MIT material, and if we assume that the quiz thinks I would get accepted, then because I wasn't accepted, the quiz is WRONG :O
EDIT:
Holy crap, its the 100th post! Congratulations to me on managing 100 sometimes mundane, sometimes informative posts! Here's to 100 more! :D
In the case of Linux, the old adage "you get what you pay for" is the order of the day.
Its been seven months since my last foray into Linux, and yesterday I found myself sacrificing my laptop to test out Kubuntu 7.04, code-named "Feisty Fawn". For those of you who don't know, Kubuntu is the same OS as Ubuntu, except it uses an alternate desktop environment, KDE (instead of Gnome). Part of my motivation to test out Kubuntu originated from many articles I'd read on Digg.com about how easy Ubuntu is to upgrade to, how much better laptop-hardware support has become, and how nice Ubuntu looks after installing and configuring Beryl/Compiz. With Windows Vista's recent price tag set at around $400 (plus or minus $20), I figured, what the hell, why not see if my less-powerful laptop (compared to my tower) can survive on a steady diet of Linux; if Kubuntu received my seal of approval, then I could save myself $200 (OEM is SO much cheaper than Retail!).
Lets start off with installation. Getting Kubuntu onto my laptop was, for the most part, hassle-free. I hit a couple snags installing from a 6.06 Live CD, but the installer did warn me that I was using a beta Live CD installer, so I worked through it and managed to get the OS installed.
A quick reboot later, and I behold! It booted! I proceed to log in, hooked it up to the internet, and played around with all the shiny (literally, the icons were incredibly reminiscent of any Web2.0 company's logo) programs.
I soon noticed a program telling me that I needed to upgrade, and upon clicking the notification, I proceeded to wade through the > 380 files I was told I needed to download. Not wanting to actually read them all, I just hit update and sat back to watch the magic happen...
...for TWO HOURS...
And that was just to download them all! Needless to say, I didn't sit through the entire upgrade process, but by the third hour, all the updates had installed, and I could move on with the experience.
Now, I'm using a copy of Kubuntu 7.04, the version of Kubuntu that comes out...after...the next version of Kubuntu...which isn't out yet...
Go figure.
To cut this (literally) 12-hour-long story down to size, I'm just going to bullet point everything else. Yes, I know its a lazy means of writing an article, but I'm sure you won't mind saving a few minutes:
> Automatix2 is a program designed to easily install MANY Linux programs, including MP3 SUPPORT and DVD PLAYBACK! I got it installed, but it wouldn't run because I wasn't running Ubuntu...that fact STILL confuses me, because as far as I know, Kubuntu IS Ubuntu with a different desktop environment.
> MP3 support had to be installed! I thought there were some freely-available DLL's that one could install for MP3 support, but are all of those in violation of some kind of patent for the MP3 compression algorithm? That could be the case.
> Wireless support for my laptop was non-existent after installing AND upgrading, which was one of the breaking points for me. If I can't move around with my laptop and still get internet, then I can't use the OS, simple as that.
> There is no safe-mode if you screw up the video driver. I learned that the hard way after installing the proprietary ATI driver. Luckily, I knew my way around the console enough to get back into the config file I modified and remove the modification, thus restoring my desktop.
> I had read an article talking about running Windows applications side-by-side Linux apps, something akin to Parallel's Coherence mode for Apple laptops. This was one of the features of Linux that intrigued me, since it held the promise of being able to work with some of the Windows applications I use on a daily basis (Web coding in Webuilder 2006, for example). Unfortunately, after attempting to set up three different virtual machine programs, Linux freaked out (I am almost certain it was because I canceled an installation script half way through the install procedure) and wouldn't install any other VM program I tried. I could have gone in and fixed the problem, but I was at 12th-hour and was too annoyed to proceed much further.
I'm sure there were a few other things that turned me off of the idea of migrating to Linux, but those were the major annoyances. Perhaps I was simply too spoiled with the ease at which I get things done with Windows, or maybe I went into the whole experience expecting not to get anything done. In any case, I reinstalled Windows, upgraded it, and installed the basic list of programs (Gaim, Windows Live Messenger, Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, IZArc, Foxit PDF Reader, Comodo Personal Firewall, AVG Anti-Virus, and some hardware drivers)* in about two hours.
Two hours with Windows[/b] and full hardware usability[/i]...or [b]12 hours with Linux and [i]more time needed to get everything working...
If only I'd know this yesterday! But as those crazy French say, sest la viyay! I mean, c'est la vie!
*All of these programs are freeware, enjoy!
In any case, I finally got around to adding the gallery to the site. So far, you can see all the pictures and diagrams I've taken and created for the various posts here. There's quite a bit to see, surprisingly, and its sure to grow if I keep up my posting.
Gallery navigation is sorely lacking, so for now you'll have to rely on that nifty button I call the "Browser Back Button" (+10 for alliteration) to jump back and forth between the different albums.
And I've changed servers, too! I went back to 1and1 after one too many screw ups with my last host caused me to lose a potential customer. Its a bit more expensive, but the reliability of 1and1's servers is worth it and will probably pay for itself as soon as I get some more work going.
Also, check out the new look for my KaleNet Web Design, at http://www.knwd.us. Shiny, eh? New branding, new layout, a cleaner and more browser-friendly HTML structure (XHTML 1.1 no less, the strictest of site specifications!) means a more professional atmosphere and, hopefully, more customers.
I have nothing more to say for now...go, shoo, move on! There are greener pastures elsewhere, but don't forget to come back and pay me a visit!
Feinstein Speaks out on U.S. Atty Firings - http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002349.php
Senator Feinstein speaks out against the unwarranted firing of several US Attorneys across the US. The firings are not based on misconduct, but instead utilize a clause introduced into the PATRIOT Act when it was reinstated last year...now, the president can instate his cronies to preside over several upcoming cases dealing with corruption at a politician-level. Firing US Attorneys is within the power of the president, but what has changed is the time limit that interim attorneys are allowed to remain in their position; before the PATRIOT Act, interim attorneys were allowed to serve for a maximum period of 120 days, but recent changes to that policy give interims an infinite amount of time in their position.
Keith Olbermann's response to Bush's new plan for Iraq - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16583889/
Keith Olbermann tears into Bush, chastising him for being a complete and utterly incompetent president. Words can't do justice, so just click on the link to see Olbermann's response.
-----And on a technical note-----
Why upgrading to Microsoft Vista may be a smarter choice than purchasing new - http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2082979,00.asp
Here's an interesting article about Windows Vista and its upgrade procedure. Apparently, the installer for Windows Vista is leagues ahead of the installer that Windows XP is based off of, so upgrading from an existing install of XP appears to be a feasible option. After reading this article, I've reconsidered my stance on Vista and am now considering saving $150 by purchasing the upgrade to Windows Vista Ultimate...there's still a bit of time until Vista's release, and even more time until I make the jump to Vista, so I think I'll wait and see how other people to this new OS.
That should keep you guys and gals busy until I get to tomorrow's post. A hint for tomorrow, I've tested VirtualBox's now-open-source virtualization software, so look out for my review!
I'm all for website usability, but this ridiculous...
There's an image of the entire form the above image was taken from if you click it.
Reminds me of something you'd see on the DailyWTF...
That question plagues me every time I sit down to write a news post. The posts I've made recently have been droll affairs, short and succinct due to a general lack of time. College has been a mixed affair, some of it good, some of it bad...I find myself getting distracted easily in an effort to divert my attention from work and matters that must be taken care of, and in my distraction I fail to make progress on things that would be interesting. The internet is a constant bane to my education, providing boundless expanses of information, and just as many distractions. Unfortunately, I get lost in the distractions and find myself reverting to my old tactics of waiting to the last minute to get things done. Its a nasty habit that I have yet to break, and it frustrates me every time I find myself in the same situations as I did during high school.
Where is my magical transformation into a mature young-adult? College is supposed to be a time of maturation and self-growth, but yet I find myself acting very much like I did last year. Am I wanting things to happen faster than they will happen? Perhaps I'm expecting too much of myself, but then again...bah, I paused mid-rant and lost all the angsty steam that was fueling this rant.
In any case, I'm still alive and bitch-I mean kicking, and it really sucks that the IB-style of learning I experienced during middle- and high-school didn't prepare me for test-taking. End-of-the-year projects and presentations doth not test-preparation strategies make. Now, its back to studying!
1000 words or more...
Current Word Count: 210
Like I said, one of those nights
I am so annoyed by the DRACONIAN restrictions the school has put on my internet usage. I pay $10,000 for housing, can't unrestricted internet come with that?
I know there's more stuff I can prattle on about, but 2 hours in a hookah bar really frys your brain, even if you don't partake in it. Look for something better tomorrow (later today).
In other news, I've decided to redesign my main site (found at http://www.knwd.us) because the hosting switch I just went through left me starting from scratch. I couldn't bring myself to put my main webdesign site back online until I cleaned up the layout, and it was basically just a portfolio of my work, so I've taken it upon myself to learn some Photoshop in the hopes of making a presentable come back and hopefully stirring up some business.
I found a few good tutorials for designing website layouts in PS, and I've started one or two to improve my skill. I'll get the site layout nailed by Sunday, and the actual translation into an actual webpage shouldn't take much more than a week, taking into account school work and whatnot.
Ooh, and you know what tomorrow is? Black Friday. And you know what happens on Black Friday? Shopping spree at Fry's.
Awesome...awesome beyond words.
Have a good weekend.
Ever wanted to run your own railroad? Become a free tycoon today!
I played around with Railroad tycoon for a bit, but to be honest, I've never really been that good at micromanagement games or real-time strategy games so I failed horribly...I have a hard time keeping twenty things going at the same time, something about a broken X chromosome or something...in any case, there's the link if you're interested, and enjoy!
I got UC back up first since its my pride and joy (that, and I wanted to see how easy it would be to restore the site in the case of a hypothetical server screw-up), and I'll spend the next day or two getting the rest of my content up and running.
And I have to say thanks to Citriczip (the guy who owns Visfx.net) for hooking me up with all sorts of things I didn't pay for, like unlimited e-mails, unlimited MySQL databases, unlimited sub-, addon-, and parked domains, and unlimited FTP accounts...I can finally start selling some of my hosting space to friends and family and hopefully offset the TREMENDOUS cost of running these sites! :D
And a FAMILY sitting next to us brought their 7- or 8-year old daughter to see this movie. This movie was so graphic and intense it had me, a 19-year old, jumping out of my seat. The little girl next to us started crying AT LEAST three times during the movie, and not once did her parents take her outside of the theater...
At what point did "lets take our pre-double-digits-old daughter to go see a rated R movie" sound like a good idea? I'm going to assume that both parents watched the first and second movies in the series, so they knew what they were going to see in that theater...makes me sick to think that there are kids being brought up by irresponsible parents who would traumatize their kid for the sake of a movie night.
The first snafu appeared when I tried to find replacement/equivalent courses that I could take while studying abroad that would give me the same credit as the classes I would take if I studied here next year. The Education Abroad Program (EAP) site has a "course finder" that you're supposed to use to plan out your tentative classes. After playing around with it for a while, it appeared that the university I would be attending (Kyoto University) lacked in some of the fundamental science classes that I needed to take during my Sophomore year. I was all prepared to talk to my EAP adviser about what to do, but first I figured I'd run all this information past my academic adviser, to see if she had any objections.
The talk with my academic adviser didn't go as well as I had hoped. From our meeting, I learned that with my major it was nearly impossible to travel abroad and just as impossible to take a minor in a foreign language. All 180 units I need to graduate from college (regardless of major) are rigidly structured for ANY engineering major; if I were to miss one of the classes I was supposed to take for a particular quarter, my entire schedule would be pushed out into a fifth year because that one class would be a prerequisite for another class a year later.
Basically, I'm crushed. I started college with two goals in mind: 1. to travel abroad, and 2. to minor in a foreign language. Here I am, now, in a major that allows for neither. There's a problem with this picture, and it took the better part of three days to figure out some kind of alternate game plan. It was a hard decision to make, but what I've decided to do is switch to Business major. I've held a business major as my backup-plan-major, and pictured myself as getting into international business (an ambassador of sorts) if I did switch into the business program. I went over the requirements for the first two years of the Pre-Business program, and not only does it allow for a more flexible sophomore year, when I'd want to travel abroad, but it also PLANS OUT three quarters of foreign language.
There's still a lot of people to talk to, papers to fill out, and schedules to set up, but by next quarter I should be all set to start the pre-business program and get back on track to accomplishing both of my goals. I suppose now I'm a statistic of people who changed majors away from engineering. For the record, though, those things never divulge whether people moved on because the curriculum was too difficult for them, or if they moved majors because of the inflexibility of the schedule. I'd say I fall into the latter group.
I suppose you want to know what the title is all about. You do, don't you? Well, good if you said yes, and too bad if you said no, because here I go!
The UC system has a very strong Education Abroad Program that features summer-, semester-, or year-long courses to many countries, including England, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Mexico, and Japan. I went to an information session to learn more about getting some time over in Japan, and I was surprised to find out that they had a year-long program. I jumped on that so fast it would have made your head spin! How awesome would that be, to go live in Japan and learn at one of their universities for an entire year? Sure, its an entirely new culture and language, but I've always been fascinated with the Japanese way of life. After a report I researched about the differences between business culture in Japan and America, I've had a strong desire to perhaps get into international business with Japan, or at the very least minor in the Japanese language here at UCR.
I told a friend about my plan to try and get to Japan for the next school year, and he was interested in going, too. So now, the two of us are tag-teaming the application process and supporting each other on our quest to learn abroad. The academic requirements are tough, but I think we can both meet with the minimum 3.0 GPA by the end of the year AND come up with the money we'll need to fund this little expedition.
Other than that, not much to report on the business-end of things. I do have a couple projects that I'm currently working on, and web work has once again started to trickle my way, so money is coming in one way or another. I'm sick of EER and Thales and Metche and a few other people being the only readers, so I'm going to try (once again) to get some kind of focus down. I know it'll be some kind of tech- or web-related theme, but I haven't decided which would give me more things to write about.
Now that you're back, Yay! Its my birthday today! To celebrate, and in case you couldn't tell, I've NOT removed the site's stylesheet.* Why? I believe the real question is, Why not?
Have an awesome-tastic weekend, I know I'll try to.
*I actually did remove the stylesheet, but I talked about UC on a new forum so I've opted to keep the style sheet on; I don't want to drive away potential new readers...
Server Transition and I'm sure I'll think of something else
I've just been informed that everything will need to be moved one server to another, so I'll experience...DUN DUN DUN...downtime! I'll be available by MSN or AIM for those of you privy to such information, but I suppose if you're reading this, then there's nothing to worry abuot.
Couple of exciting things to keep you coming back:
First, I joined up with UCR's division of ACM, and I'll be spearheading a project that will allow people with Pocket PC's to use their device as an input for their computer. I can't really say much more, so take it as I give it and I'll keep you posted when something big happens.
Second...hmm, I suppose its my birthday tomorrow...happy 19th to me! I managed to get this weekend off so I could spend it with my family and a friend or two who are still in the area. Nothing like an In-n-Out-and-Fry's-Electronics-run to signal the 19th year of my life. Maybe I'll pick up Weird Al's new CD, I love his work! I'm sure you've seen his White and Nerdy music video, but if you haven't, there's the link.
Enjoy your weekend, everyone! I know I will be!
On a NORMAL network, you can access computer A's files from computer B by typing "\\
So I went into the Resnet office to ask the people responsible for the in-dorm network why I couldn't access my desktop tower from my laptop. I explained to them that I wanted to be able to access my personal files on my computer from anywhere on campus, citing a hypothetical instance in where I'm on the other side of campus and I don't have the time to go back to my dorm to access a file I would need. Of the two people in the office available to offer advice, one said that what I wanted to do was considered "hosting files" and that I'm not allowed to do that. I explained that you can only access the computer's files if you have that computer's login, meaning MY login since I'm the only user on my desktop computer. He basically repeated that I'm not allowed to do that since its the same thing as offering files for people to download. The second guy suggested I buy Symantec's PCAnywhere, but I politely said "F**k that s**t" (using acceptable euphemisms, of course) because I KNOW that what I want to do doesn't require anything BUT WINDOWS.
So now I have to go back in when their boss is in and try to talk to him, because they weren't 100% sure that what I wanted to do was indeed considered file-sharing under the EULA.
Way to go Resnet...way to be too god-damned anal about LAN TRAFFIC...I mean, I see why they limit WAN file-sharing on account of most of it being illegal and using up bandwidth, but LAN networks aren't limited by bandwidth restrictions and what I want to do can be easily adjusted to prevent files from being accessible by everyone on campus.
Is it worth maintaining? Perhaps, but a purpose is needed
Oh, and the tags don't work...for SOME as of yet unknown reason, the TABLE CONTAINING THEM went missing.
*POOF*
Gone.
Do you require proof? Besides the text in the "Tags" sidebar to the left saying
Quote:
there's also this screenshot I took of my CPanel announcing the news:
So yep, I have to figure out what the hell happened there, and then restore the tags database if it can't be recovered...well, at least its not because of something I did!
Oh yeah, and I check out http://www.anappaday.com/. The creator is creating one C# app a day for 30 days, and he offers all the programs he makes for free on his site. Don't expect complex, COMPLETELY USEFUL programs, but check them out nonetheless; some of them are VERY unique and informative. The Software Jedi (as he's come to be known) chats on his IRC channel whenever he codes, and he's set up a WebEx for people to log into and watch him as he codes. It's a very neat and unique setup, so go check it out!
Oh! I attended a couple student organization meetings yesterday, one for the BioMedical Engineering Society (BMES) and one for the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). I've joined up with BMES because of my BioEngineering major, and I hope to make a lot of good connections with other like-minded individuals, and potentially get an internship at a biotech company. ACM interested me because its basically an organization for Computer Science majors. I haven't joined yet because of the $20 membership fee, but I probably will just to hang with some people who are learning the programming aspects of computers. If things work out, then I might be able to pick up some programming without having to sneak into classes and pretending I'm a CS major.
College is expensive, so to make ends meet, I've found work in the nearby cafeteria. On Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, I work, keeping the salad bar clean or handling dishes. Its not the most glamorous work, and I'm sure they're not paying much more than minimum wage, but its better than sitting on my duff, pretending to get work done, and not getting paid.
That reminds me. If you know anyone who needs a website done, send them my way! I could use the work! And if you have an idea for a simple program I could dub as my new C# project, let me know; I haven't forgotten about my SUI, but I'd rather start over on something less ambitious before I go back and tackle that. And if I get a decent program idea and get it done, I'll offer it up free for download!
And with that, I'm out. I could keep writing about my adventures over the last two weeks, but then I'd run out of time, the most precious of commodities here at college...right after pizza.
When: Today @ 6pm
Where: Foxhole
What: Counter Strike 1.6 Lanparty
Sixteen five-man teams enter for a chance to win one of three awesome prizes, a gaming mouse for first place, gaming headphones for second place, and a gift certificate to Best Buy for the third place team. Resolution is set at 1024x768, with stock Dell mice and user-defined mouse-sensitivity.
So its my first lan tournament, and I'm on a team. You would think I'd be happy, except for one thing: I SUCK AT COUNTER STRIKE 1.6! :O
I've been practicing, and I realized (again) why I hate 1.6:
1. In 1.6, its OK to shoot through walls; if the game lets you do it, its technically not cheating, right?
2. The bigger the weapon, the more damage it MIGHT do, unless its the AWP, in which case ONE SHOT TO THE RIGHT ARM KILLS YOU (true story =\)
3. Full Armor and Full Health? Not after three shots are put into you with an AK...its a shame I wasted $1000 on RIOT GEAR; was it too much to expect it to do ANYTHING in the way of stopping bullets? I guess so...
That's all I can think of at the moment. I'll let you guys know how it went sometime later tonight. Wish me luck!
Life
Medium: Bits on Glass Platter(Matt, 2006)
DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE SYMBOLISM? THE WAVE REPRESENTS THE INEVITABLE CASCADE OF ADULT RESPONSIBILITIES, DARKENING A ONCE BRIGHT AND CAREFREE CHILDHOOD. THE OCEAN REPRESENTS THE REST OF LIFE, WHICH WHEN COMPARED TO THE SMALL SPIT OF LAND I AM STANDING ON, IS FAR GREATER THAN ANYTHING I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED. The lightening just looks cool :P
Life is catching up to me, and I've been preparing for the last 18 years. I have the rest of my life to prove that I can handle anything thrown my way, and when the going gets rough, if I can keep my head above water, then I can make it through anything.
To be honest, for thirty minutes in Flash, I don't think its all that bad an image. True, it lacks detailed shading, or character development for that matter, but this was very spur-of-the-moment. It turned out a lot better than my initial pen-on-paper sketch, thats for sure!
I move into my dorm on Sunday, so look for the inevitable waterfall of photos the day or two afterwards. College, here I come! Are you ready for me?!
Pure Nerd78 % Nerd, 39% Geek, 13% Dork
I consider myself a geek, so obviously a "test" stating otherwise must be wrong. But how can I defend my position that I'm a geek and not a nerd, as the "test" claims I am? Looks like it time to employ facts to back up my claim (gee, what a concept!). Now, some people might be confused as to what exactly a Nerd or a Geek is. Lets turn to the internet, shall we?
According to a Dictionary.com search, a "Geek" is:
Quote:
While a similar Dictionary.com search on the word "Nerd" states that I would be:
Quote:
Now, a geek I most certainly am. I've made a business out of my knowledge of computers, and I would never deny my geek roots. A nerd, though? Lets take a look at myself. Am I obsessed with computers? No, not really. The time I spend on my computer is spent either browsing the internet, playing games, or working on websites. I don't think any of these things constitute an obsession, so that's one hit against my Nerd status. I also enjoy few-mile-long bike rides, and I've played baseball for the last 13 years, along with the my involvement with my city's Traffic Commission as a full-time Commissioner for the last three years. Obviously, most of my hobbies involve people, but I do enjoy a bit of alone time. Strike two against Nerd-dom.
Oh, and I have had girlfriends, so my social skills aren't lacking at all ;) That's, what, strike three?
Taking all this into account, and the fact that Nerd struck out three times when I tried to apply it to myself, I can say without a doubt that this test is obviously faulty. I am and always will be a geek, and may a disk crash happen to anyone who says otherwise >:D
So Angry and I squared off in Jaykon Bacon: Source today at approximately 5:00pm PST, and boy, what a hectic hour and a half it was. We were neck-and-neck every step of the way, and we each had an opportunity to pull a win out from all the sneaking and sniping.
Round 1: Deathmatch
Winner: Angry
The first round was played in the eternally dark map hl2jks_svm_assault. Angry won this round, but not after getting spanked by me in the first 10 minutes. Once we figured out each other's tactics, though, the game's intensity increased and we were constantly at each other's throats. He'd snipe me, I'm obliterate him with my heavy machine gun, and he'd come back around with his insane-range-shot gun. He laid the final blow with a sniper from the opposite corner of the map.
Round 2: Deathmatch
Winner: Matt
The second round was played on the sunny-day map hl2jks_svm_aztec. This time around, Angry got the lead, but the real excitement was at the middle of the round. The map broke and started spawning us in the exact same area each time we died. Needless to say, we spent a good 5 minutes racking up seven or eight kills each. I laid the final twentieth blow with my trusty heavy machine gun, and it was off to round three!
Round 3: Snake V. Monkey
Winner: N/A
The last round was a game of Snake Versus Monkey. Basically, it was a game of keep-away with explosives and cardboard boxes. But these weren't your average boxes, no, these were cardboard boxes that made you invisible if you crouched under them. The goal of the game was for the snake to steal a pile of stuffed turtles. Don't ask me why, that's just how it works. Anyway, Angry admitted to being paranoid several times during this round, and I couldn't blame him: when your enemy can turn invisible and run faster than you, you have to be paranoid. Each role was well-balanced, though, with the Snake having a silenced pistol, flashbangs and the hide-box, and the Monkey armed with an SMG, sniper rifle, pistol, and several types of explosives. We were both convinced that this mode of play would be more fun with more Monkeys and Snakes, but we'll see where that goes :D
All in all, trash was talked on both sides, and in the end...I ultimately came out the winner, with my FIRST win yesterday ;)
Final Score: Matt 1 (1), Angry 1
[EDIT] Apparently, Angry has no sense of humor, so I modified the score to make him happy :P
Angry is terrible at Half Life 2 Jaykin' Bacon: Source
Don't trust anything he says. Compared to me, Angry's a noob at blogging, too ;)
I guess there's no convincing some people that they need practice before they challenge a master...Master_Kale, that is! :D
Well, what do you think? I wanted to go with a lighter set of colors, and I knew that red would be the focus this time around, so I've met both of my criterion. I'm not too sure, though, if the red is too far into the "pink" color area; finding a red color that doesn't tear out your eyeballs has always been hard because the ligther I go, the closer I get to picking a color that matches the hue of bubblegum.
And along with the new color scheme comes some new layout code. To be honest, this isn't anything you need to worry about. Basically, I went back through some of my code and changes markup around to better clarify where the page structure ends and the content begins. When I first started working on the backend, I had finally figured out <div>'s and decided that instead of using <p> or <span> tags to logically denote blocks of content, I had gone crazy with the <div>s and used them for just about EVERYTHING. In my quest to profit from my work, I'll continue to go through, making minor tweaks to the code and getting it that much closer to validating 100% with the W3C standards for XHTML and becoming a respectable blogging software.
Anyway, let me know what you think about the new look, good, bad, or otherwise; I enjoy constructive criticism as it helps me UNLEASH MY CREATIVITY!
Now, I just have to get a car and a girlfriend, and I'll be set ;)
I had a sweet party yesterday, too. Some family members held a going-away get-together for me, so I invited some friends over and spent four or five hours playing Smash Brothers and Mario Party and ingesting large amounts of pizza and "bucake" (its like cake but now its an inside joke!).
Afterwards we ended up at the beach. If you're ever in Carlsbad, California, stop by a cafe called "Vinaka". They have really awesome espresso and hot chocolate! Four of us stopped off there and I was impressed at the quality of service. I felt more "at home" with their ceramic coffee mugs and board games than I ever do at one of the many Starbucks around my house...
The night ended pretty well. Four of us enjoyed the ocean breeze and talked about nothing and everything. It was probably one of the last times I'll get to hang out with these guys and gals before I head off to college next week, so I had a lot of fun while I still could!
I also found out that my new friend's car's trunk serves as a perfect area for setting up a laptop and watching movies. I saw Blue Sub 6 for the first time, and it was pretty awesome! Man-made submarines blowing up half-animal/half-mechanical submarine monstrosities is alright in my book. Just watch out for shark men with anger problems ;)
Other than that, life in general is pretty much still at a status quo. I'll spend the rest of this week packing up and getting ready for the long trip up to Riverside in 7 day's time.
Oh, and I feel a new layout coming on! I still need to design it and run it by some friends before I make the layout official, so it won't be today, but when I get it up and running you'll know :P
...and a techie who missed his daily intake of 12 volts
It turns out things were not as bad as they appeared regarding the apparently "dead" motherboard I received from Newegg.com.
No, the problem was a result of operator ignorance and error...I took the motherboard for granted and applied two year old knowledge to a problem today. It turns out that I had missed a plug when I hooked the computer up. What plug did I miss? Take a look at the picture below and see if you can guess what plug I might have missed:
Now, to find out for yourself what POWER PLUG I missed, just click the picture...I'll wait.
YES! That's right, I forgot to plug in the 4-pin 12v power cable to the motherboard. In my defense, I'd never worked on a computer that was new enough to use this plug, and there was no mention of the socket in the manual. I found out the error in my ways only after going to Fry's, dropping $118 on a new motherboard and power supply, installing the new board, and then having my good friend William point out that maybe, JUST MAYBE, I might want to plug that 4-pin connector in. After getting the new motherboard to beep, I tried the same set up with the board I thought had died and *Beep Beep* it worked!
So now, I have to apologize to Newegg.com (Sorry, Newegg, for thinking that you'd taunt me with faulty hardware), kick myself in the butt (I'm standing as I write this), and then see if Fry's will be nice and allow me to return hardware I purchased out of stupidity...
And so there you have it, my new computer is up and running, and OMG the difference in performance is night and day. I took a couple screenshots of Half Life 2: Lost Coast at 1280x1024 and with 16x AF and 6x AA to show off the power of the ATI Radeon x1600XT I have chugging away under the hood:
A picture of the coastline, showing off HDR
The level of detail on the fisherman is phenomenal, especially with all the graphic settings turned way up.
That's it for the evening, good night!
*big sigh*
So I have to figure out what the problem is. I've tried turning the computer on with only RAM and CPU in place, with RAM, CPU and video card in place, and even went so far as to unplug the RAM but keep the video card in. In all instances, there was no system beep and I tested each configuration twice, each time with the speaker plugged in both possible ways.
Initial talks with friends and people in the hardware community indicate that the problem may be a bad motherboard, but I don't want to believe that my brand new hardware has ALREADY failed and it has not been in my hands for more than 3-4 hours.
I'll keep everyone posted about the problem, but I will greatly appreciate your input as to what might be causing this problem
Waiting, like a prom-date waits for her lover to...well, you get the idea
[quote]The waiting is bad
For the things that are to come
Damn you, UPS[/quote]
Yes, I wrote it...what, I'm not allowed to be creative? :P
Oh, and I've also updated this site's RSS feed. You'll want to upgrade your feed readers with the new URL: http://www.unleashedcreativity.net/rss.php.
Search around a bit, and let me know what you think. I have a couple topics I've been sitting on, maybe they'll surface in the next day or two :P
[EDIT] Alright, all the comments have been transitioned over. Thankfully, PHP made the task of replacing all the existing comment's post times in timestamp form a MILLION times easier, so I spent the remainder of the time playing around with the comments and verifying that they do indeed work.
And I've taken it upon myself to reserve my name ("Matt") for the comments. You'll see what I mean if you go back a bit and look for comments I've made. I saw this done on a couple other blogs and thought it was a great way to show feedback originating straight from the author's mouth. "Matthew" is not reserved, so if you read my blog and happened to be named Matthew, then by all means go ahead and comment with that name.
I'll scrounge up a new post here in the next day or two. I just wanted you to know that I was resolving some of the bugs on this site so you don't have to worry about the site throwing up in your face anymore when you comment.
[EDIT 2] I found a better way to do timezones with timestamps, so I've disabled commenting for the next few hours until I get that squared away. Until I make the changes, all the times will appear 7 hours earlier than they should be. That'll be fixed by the end of the day, so no worries :)
[EDIT 3] Alright, I've gotten all the timestamps taken care of. I found out a way to ensure that time() spits out a timestamp that's set to Pacific Standard Time, so I went ahead and got all the timestamps in both comments and posts to post correct times using this new environment variable. Joy!
This wizard's health is just fine, so keep your food
To cut an otherwise boring story short, I'm fine in just about all ways. Lungs and heart checked out, no hernias, and pulse (60 BPM) and blood pressure (117/80, I think, or maybe it was 117/60) all normal. I've never really been a sick person, and I'm guessing all those years of baseball, wrestling, and cross country are paying off in decreased medical bills.
I've gotten addicted to EVE Online recently. They had a 14-day free trial and I had a lot of free time, so I decided to give this space-based MMO a try. I must say, its a very interesting game. Most MMO's have you raising character levels and stats, and equipping various armors and weaponry. EVE deviates a bit from this by removing the concept of levels. Right off the bat, you start training various skills. These skills come into play when you purchase a ship or add various weapons and armor to your ship. Each usable item in the game has various skill requirements, and you must meet each requirement to use the item.
The size of space in ginormous, and EVE does a VERY good job of portraying the size of New Eden (the name of the system the races of EVE inhabit, for more back story check out this page). You navigate by setting destinations and engaging your auto-pilot, which proceeds to navigate the vastness of space to get you to where you want to go. This method of navigation sounds a bit boring to some, but the fact is the time it takes to get from system A to system B can be so long (5, 10 minutes) that you can actually put the game down and let it run its course while you go do some chores or read a book or watch TV. Right now, as I write this, I'm returning to my corporation's headquarters, and I have about another 2 minutes of travelling before I make it there.
Don't count EVE out, I really can't do the game any justice unless I take up a whole two more pages. Just know that this game is very community-based, from system alliances to corporate espionage, all the way up to the very economy that you buy goods from. Demand and supply play strongly into commerce, and you can even follow EVE's "stock market" in-game. Neat stuff!
And before I sign off for the evening, I owe a friend a plug for some skinning he did. First off, a little background: as some of you may know (read: most of my readers), I'm the webmaster for the Deus Ex High Definition Texture Project (HDTP) and have been for a little over a year. Over this last year, the project has been aiming to enhance and recreate (in high-poly models and high-resolution textures) all the weapons, decorations, crates, barrels, and NPC's in the game.
Well, a great deal of progress has been made, and I happen to be good friends with some of the texturers and modellers. One of the modellers, ThalesA7X, was nice enough to do some custom skins of upcoming weapon models for HDTP, and here they are, a lineup of the best Matt's Blog Weaponry available on the blackest of markets!
The always potent Gas Grenade, filled with hot air and ready to kill
Knock off a few baddies with this witty weapon
When you're up against a mech, go with the best
Because you deserve the best...plasma-based weaponry
Recognize anything about the textures? And before I get anyone else mad, I want to thank JC12[/b] for the Gas Grenade, Glock, and LAW models (fan-freaking-tastic work my friend), and [b]Snipamasta for the Plasma Rifle (can't wait to see that baby in-game)! And of course, watch for the official release of these weapons (with appropriate textures of course) sometime in September, if everything goes according to plan :P
And because he did such an awesome job with these, ThalesA7X gets a plug and I make myself out to be an marketing whore...but hey, I have custom weapons and you don't!
Good night everyone!
In any case, I really don't have a whole lot to report on. Umm, I went to the gym yesterday for the first time since I got out of school. I have about a month before I start college, so I figured I might as well try to get into shape instead of wasting the days away.
Oh! And today I completed a reservation request system for the Torrey Pines State Reserve. That was a lot of fun, actually, as it was the first time I'd ever done work with someone. Quite to my good fortune, I met a fellow web designer at my hometown's chocolate festival (of all places...) back in late June. Once he heard that I was proficient in PHP, he was immediately interested, as he possessed the artistic aspects of web design, but was looking for someone to handle back-end datbasing and to get him going on learning PHP, too. To make a long story short, Goodkin Design and KaleNet Web Design are partnered up for the time being, and now I can say I've done work for the state of California!
I will say this for partnering with someone; the money is a bit easier to get a hold of, especially if they have an understanding of the work that goes into something like a form reservation system.
And other than that, due to my tie-ins with the city's Traffic Commission, tomorrow I get to go to the ribbon-cutting ceremony of a new road! Yay for politics! I also get to bike about 6 miles to get there. Its the perfect opportunity to break in my new helmet and gloves :D
Physics and You: A Guide to Teaching Science to Inner-City Youth
Not only that, but I was approached about teaching science at a school that is incorporating an IBMYP program into their curriculum. I went through both the MYP program and IB program during high school, and since I was also one of the 3 people out of 13 to receive the IB Diploma, so I know a great deal about both programs and what they offer students in terms of skills and learning habits.
Today was just the first day of talks, but so far, I agreed to take a "project overseer" position that would involve watching over and guiding inner-city youth through various projects that teach them physics and design technology concepts. Since Hawthorne is a good hour or so away from my college, transportation would be the only issue. Fortunately, this will most likely be accomodated with an online solution. Its all very much up in the air, but I might utilize a system such as Blackboard to post project criteria and communicate with students.
I'm a bit anxious to see if this will work out, and it'd be interesting to see if I could pass on what I've learned to others. The only problem I forsee is a lack of interest on the part of the students...I was warned that I'd need to teach the concepts using examples from their lives, and that I'd need to teach at around a 7th grade level (for high schoolers?). It'll be a challenge, if nothing else.
Other than that, today was pretty mundane. Got a new electric hedge trimmer...woohoo, I guess!
Anyway, I've been slacking on this form parser; I suppose I should get started on that...I'm getting burned out on web design, MAKE IT ALL STOP!
That is all.
The Venture Brothers rock my world, and they'll do the same to you
And what did I come across? Why, its none other than the most kick-ass introduction to their 2nd season. And while we're on the subject of the Venture Brothers, if this doesn't make you laugh, then I dub thee inhuman!
Go team Venture! ( ^o^)--< >--(^o^ )
YOU might be wondering about the title, "A truly impossible task". You're probably thinking, "Whatever could he mean? International peace? Solving world hunger?" Actually, I'm referring to everyone's search for the "perfect" operating system (OS).
IN today's economy, rising prices and not-so-rising incomes put a huge strain on people to budget and prioritize what they purchase. At the top of everyone's list is the essentials necessary to survive, relative to today's standards of living: food, shelter, and utilities (gas, water, electricity). After that, the list changes from person to person, but I think we can all agree that operating systems are towards the bottom of "the list".
AS it stands, its not like OS's come out everyday. The big two operating systems that 99% of computers users use, Microsoft's Windows and Apple's Mac OS, have fallen into a fairly predictable time table for releasing a new operating system. Apple, for example, releases a new "whole number" OS about once every four to five years, with incremental version (x.1, x.2, x.3, etc...) releases averaging out to one a year[1]. Microsoft releases a new operating system at an approximate ratio of one OS to every three years[2]. With such long times between major OS released, operating systems are not (nor should they be) a priority on ANYONE's personal "gotta buy to live" shopping list.
SUCH as it happens, though, during the advertisement-created anticipation of a new operating system's release (Microsoft's Windows Vista, for example), loyal Windows users find themselves staring in disbelief at Microsoft's estimated retail price of their newest creation. At the time of this writing, I can't find any numerical data to back up my claim that Vista will cost an arm and a leg, but my gut tells me that if Microsoft feels justified, it'll jack up the prices to compensate for all of the "features" we'll see in the new operating system (this is, of course, NOT taking into account the facts that Microsoft's new filesystem and one of the "Three Pillars" of Longhorn, titled WinFS, will never see the light of day[3], PC-to-PC synchronization has been cut, and the new scripting shell, code-named Monad, was deemed too risky and a security violation[5]).
WITH all of these cuts Microsoft has made to get Windows Vista out of the door and into the market in a timely manner, computer users have been wondering if their hard earned money would be well-invested in the next generation of Windows. Recent doubt about Vista has created an opening for Linux enthusiasts, and the various flavors of Linux have received consideration because of their improved usability and their very attractive price: free.
I suppose part of this article has roots from my recent experience with the Linux operating system Ubuntu. My experience wasn't all that bad, but it was no where near as easy or hassle-free to use as Windows is. For comparison, When I do a fresh install of Windows, it usually takes me about 1-2 hours to get Service Pack 2 and subsequent updates installed, my firewall and anti-virus set up and updated, install better video drivers, and install all the other miscellaneous software I use on a daily basis, games included. I can get Windows set up and ready to go in that short a period of time because I know what I'm doing and I've had 6 installs before this one to get everything sorted out and restored. It took me a good three to four hours with Ubuntu to get it somewhat near what I felt would be a "normal" status. I will give Ubuntu, this though: right out of the box, this operating system offers a perfect combination of software that would be suitable for anyone doing mundane word processing, spreadsheeting, internet browsing, and e-mail sending. If I didn't play PC games, relied on some Windows-Only software, or had the time to learn a new OS, I would have made the switch sooner.
A big deal has been made about Linux's XGL interface; to be honest, after getting it working on Ubuntu, its just a whole lot of Eye-candy that can't mask the myriad Terminal commands one must execute to install software or even make changes to the list of start-up programs. For an operating system that wants to be as an alternative to Windows, it needs to work on removing Linux's Terminal as a requirement to do anything. And I want it to be known that I don't believe for a minute that XGL is in direct competition with Vista's new Aero interface. Sure, it may look nice and wobbly, but when it comes down to it, only one will be on greater than 90% of computers starting early next year.
NO matter what tech site you look at or forum you browse, you'll most likely find one or two or ten people singing the praises of a Linux-based OS; you'll also find ten times, if not a HUNDRED times, that many people arguing for Windows' superiority (I'm sorry to say I neglected Mac OS because I personally have very little to no experience with Apple-based technology). The truth of the matter is, each side of the OS triangle (Windows, Mac OS, and Linux) has its own Pro's and Con's, and there will never be that perfect OS that will have the market share and software selection of Windows, the adaptability and free price of Linux, and the multimedia capabilities of Mac OS. In my opinion, computers were designed to give people choice, and as long as an economy is present and markets exist to sell to, operating system manufacturers will be competing against each other until computers become obsolete. Until that time, I say go with what you're comfortable with; if you can't have everything, get most of what you want!
P.S. I haven't done a long piece of writing like this in a long time, so let me know what you think of not only my message, but my writing style too, please!
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_Windows
[3] http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,2180,1640454,00.asp
[4] http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,2180,1973620,00.asp
[5] http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122145,00.asp
Q: How can laughter kill?
A: Add an "s" in front of it!
Yeah, I know its bad, but there ya go ;)
So now, I must hit the streets again and play the "oh please sir, may I have a job?" card in the hopes that someone will bite and give me work. If I don't find some work as an employee, I'll have to bust my ass at some web design work, and hope that I can get enough that way. So far, I have one web design job I'm working on, so it looks like I'll have to kick it up a notch with my design skillllllz....
And Firefox 2.0 Beta 1 is pretty awesome. I used it to type this entry and for the most part, I must say I'm impressed...at least with the spell-checking feature. I don't know if I like my tabs each having a "close" button on them; it was for this reason I never used one of the earlier extensions that put those same buttons on the tabs. The search bar is also unusually long for some unknown reason...huh. I know there's a "how to tweak Firefox 2.0" article floating around on http://www.Digg.com somewhere, I just have to find it now.
Well, that about wraps it up for now. I hope you're all having an awesome time over July! Oh, and before I forget, there's a map I'm working on for the Deus Ex: MIB mod that I'll post screen shots of, so for people who like DX and the mod community (*cough*EER*cough*), stay tuned!
I'm off; someone's computer got majorly b0rked (that's "broken" for all you non-leets) and he needs it to stop spontaneously restarting.
Tune in soon for version 3 of Matt's Bl- I mean Unleashed Creativity!
Oh, but fate has all kinds of twists up its sleeve! For you see, when I proceeded to set up my voice mail, I discovered that my brand new phone lacked a working microphone! Woe betide me, something is wrong with my brand new phone and I can not speak to those whom I reach out to! Kind of defeats the purpose of having a cellphone, in my opinion...
What course of action did I have? Why, I could call the free tech support and ask them for advice in solving my silent-phone-syndrome! Of course, it all sounds so simple...what could possibly go wrong?
I called the 877 number, secure in the knowledge that I'd get help with returning my phone for a replacement model. What follows is paraphrased from the wonderful time I had getting my problems laid to rest:
[color=#FF8888]Me: doot-doot-doot-doot-doot-doot-doot-doot-doot-doot[/color]
[color=#6A6AFF]Them: *ring ring ring*[/color]
[color=#6A6AFF]Them: (wonderful automated menu bs...finally waded through all the crap to get a real live person!)[/color]
[color=#6A6AFF]Them: "Hello, un' welc-am to da Net10 wireless su-vice technical supp-owt. How may I he'p you?"[/color]
[color=#FF8888]Me: "Yeah, I'm having a problem with my cellphone, when I talk into it, no sound is heard by the person I'm calling. I found this out when I went to record my voicemail message and the phone acted as though it could not hear what I was saying."[/color]
[color=#6A6AFF]Them: "Alright, ma' I pleese have yur cell ph-own's IMEI numba'?"[/color]
[color=#FF8888]Me: *tells lady my cellphone's serial number*[/color]
[color=#6A6AFF]Them: "So fo' clarifahcation, dat numba' was *serial number*".[/color]
[color=#FF8888]Me: "Yes"[/color]
[color=#6A6AFF]Them: "So da praw-blem seems ta be witch yer voy-ce may-le."[/color]
[color=#FF8888]Me: "Well, the problem is with my phone's microphone, its not picking up anything, so a byproduct of that is my voicemail not working."[/color]
[color=#6A6AFF]Them: "So da praw-blem seems ta be witch yer signal strenth."[/color]
[color=#FF8888]Me: "...no, that can't be right, because when I call a landline, a HOUSE phone number, they can't hear anything either. And besides that, my phone says it has full signal strength."[/color]
[color=#6A6AFF]Them: "Well den, can you tell me you' name und' address?"[/color]
[color=#FF8888]Me: *tells lady "ma name un' address"*[/color]
[color=#6A6AFF]Them: "Ok den, he's yo' case numba' *reads off case number*"[/color]
God, I'd type more, but then I'd end up smashing my laptop through the nearest window and then jumping up and down on my cellphone; only problem is, I love my laptop and I need my cellphone to return, so I'll just have to break it down to basics (accent edited out for sanity...my sanity):
[color=#6A6AFF]Them: "Your phone was stripped of its minutes, and you must wait 3-5 business days for a new phone and credited time to arrive. When the new phone arrives, you have 20 days to return the old phone."[/color]
[color=#FF8888]Me: "So do I keep the SIM card? Or do I return that, too?"[/color]
[color=#6A6AFF]Them: "Your phone was stripped of its minutes, and you must wait 3-5 business days for a new phone and credited time to arrive. When the new phone arrives..."[/color]
God, I feel like I was talking to AOL, what with the repeated requests of the same information, "clarifying" everything, and scripted responses...
What a HUGE inconvenience this has become; I'd look for an actual cellphone service like Verizon or Motorola if they didn't cost $40 a month, but as it is with this service I pay $30 for 300 minutes and 60 days of service. Not too bad for a starter phone, and the first month or so I'll find out if I'm getting the best bang for my buck with this pay-as-you-go plan.
Oh! Good news, I got my new 200GB Maxtor drive today! Time to wipe the faulty one and reinstall Windows!
Click to view everything you would possibly ever want to know about me...
Suprisingly, most of it was spot on ;)
The Guajome Grads site is coming along nicely, and now that it has an online presence with a remember-able URL, I can plow ahead and get it done. Basically, the front end for registration is done, I just need to:
1. Finish the code that gathers requests into the queue
2. Create a page that will display the queue and allow for approvals by admins (me, for now)
3. Create the profile display page (I already have the MySQL table setup with all the information I'll allow to be displayed)
4. Figure out how I'll allow for member communication.
I already have a forum planned for the GuajomeGrads site, but outside of that, I'm a bit stuck. I don't want another MySpace site, but I do want people to openly communicate with each other. Perhaps an internal e-mail system? Or perhaps allowing everyone to supply contact information is enough to get external communication going...maybe Guajome Grads will become one giant phonebook...
At this point, there's a lot to be worked out, and I can always adjust as people request new features or removal of existing ones.
And my primary site, KaleNet Web Design, is on the verge of expiring (scheduled to expire tomorrow, June 29th, 2006), but I still don't have full control over it. The story behind that is a bit strange: I had originally registered my domain with 1and1 two years ago, when I was working on http://www.SlowFoodSanDiego.org, and for the last two years, my domain was still registered with Schlund+Partner AG (1and1.com's registrar); as such, even though I switched KaleNetWebDesign.com's nameserver to my current host's name servers (thereby allowing for my domain to reside within my hosting package), my site was still registered with 1and1 as a part of the original 1and1.com package from two years ago, which has since been discontinued.
Luckily, I had reset the owner information of KaleNetWebDesign.com to match my current information. I called into 1and1 about my domain being switched from package 1 to package 2 (package 2 being my current domain package). Apparently, even though it doesn't appear so, KaleNetWebDesign.com is safe from domain-parkers (people who gobble up expired domains and then offer them to anyone interested for the low low price of $2500) and I might be able to get some sleep. Tomorrow, I'll hope and pray that second-level management pulled through and my domain is in fact re-registered for the next year.
So yeah, the adventures of a web developer continue, and once again I find myself at the mercy of another unknown individual!
P.S. I really need to redesign my primary site...maybe I should make it a permanent portfolio with some contact info...ideas, ideas, ideas!
Any suggestions for a domain name for this site? I figure the first part should include "matts", but from there I'm open to ideas. I came up with matts-mind.com, but...I dunno, lets see what you can come up with!
I had been meaning to put some kind of security measure up to combat this problem, and today I implemented the security element that will hopefully keep spammers at bay. When you comment on any of the posts I've made, you'll notice a new image that appears below the comment box. Normal humans can discern the individual letters and numbers that will appear, but web spiders and bots cannot.
From now on, you'll need to fill out that extra text box in order for your comments to appear; I know, its inconvenient, but if you want to get mad at anyone get mad at the spammers that feel it necessary to spread their material all over the internet.
Anyway, I tested out the system, it should work fine but if you run across any problems, feel free to send me an e-mail. The Contact link is above, in the header.
Enter Guajome Grads. A quick brainstorm session with some friends and my business teacher generated a demand for some way for organize future class reunions. I figured, the internet is a good way for people to stay in contact, and I'm good at web design, so why not create a website that will 1) allow people to stay in contact with each other after high school, and 2) give members the ability to easily notify other graduates of upcoming class reunions?
I've been working on this site for about a week now, and I've gotten a majority of the front-end done during my vacation in Colorado. Take a look at http://www.kalenetwebdesign.com/guajomegrads/.
There's still a lot of work to be done, but so far I've created both MySQL tables I'll use to store members, as well as planned out the registration procedure potential members will have to go through to gain access to Guajome Grads; new members will have to be approved by the administrator (me) before they can login. I can't think of any other way to keep non-graduates out of the system, so for now that'll be the way I'll screen members.
I'm flying back to San Diego tomorrow, where I'll enjoy the sun and continue working on the Guajome Grads site. My friend, Strange_Will (owner of the Wolfram-Studios Forum and whose blog is here)posts on his blog daily about his web work, so to stay competitive and not fall behind, I'll do the same thing :D
Oh! Highland Games are in town on Sunday! So fucking sweet, I can't wait ^_^
Speaking of which, I GRADUATED! YAY! Last Wednesday, on the 14th, 76 people from my Guajome Park Academy graduated and moved on to bigger and better things. The ceremony was pretty good (I'll put some pics up when I get home), I got to lead one line of graduates (we paired up for the walk and I happened to be stationed at the front of the line), I was the first to be called to receive my diploma, and since I earned the distinction of school Valedictorian (of which has been all women for the last 7 years; take THAT, History!) I gave a neat little speech in front of about 500 people. Overall, I had to brag somewhere, so you get to see the full fury of my overinflated ego :P
After graduation, I did the dinner thing with family. Pretty uneventful, really, just ate some kickass food at Hometown.
Thursday, graduation party at a friends house! Pool and food, how could it get any better?
Friday, I headed out on the road to Colorado Springs to spend a week with some family. It took me three days to get there, partially because I stopped in Holtville to see some more family of the great-great-aunt and -uncle variety, and some cousins half-removed or some such deal, I dunno, I always get confused who is who at such large family events.
And so Saturday and Sunday were spent in the car, enduring the desert sun and heat. I finally arrived at Colorado Springs Sunday night. God, that trip could not have been any worse. I'm flying back, thank god, so I won't have to endure something like that again.
Anyway, I have no idea why any of you would be interested in the minutia that makes up my life. I still have a couple tech articles to write up for you, and since I have so much free time, those should be coming out sometime this week! Stay tuned!
For some as yet unknown reason, I decided to see what the Version.2 layout of this journal would look inverted. After your standard print screen and inverting in Fireworks, I nearly shat my pants when I saw...well, take a look for your self.
THIS LAYOUT IS THE EXACT COLOR OPPOSITE OF MY OLD COLOR SCHEME!!! What are the chances of that? I mean, I picked the black-and-blue color scheme completely by chance (and a suggestion by EER)...I in no way collaborated with my old color scheme so that I would use its opposite colors in the new scheme, and...wow. It may not sound like such a big thing, but it completely blew my mind when I saw the comparisson.
What do you think? Coincidence? Or maybe something subconcious? Man, Edgar Cayce must be rolling in his grave...
Time for another shot of oily Victory Gin...ooh, with cloves!
So, what's been going on? Hmm, John Minns recently updated his site to version 3. Its a rather nice site and he's going to feature a lot of cool stuff: narrated video tutorials on several programming languages, anyone? He's recently begun coding in PHP and CSS, so I give him advice when he asks for it and THE WORLD KEEPS ON TURNING!
You should also go check out my friend's forum at http://forums.wolfram-studios.com/. It's a bit dead right now, possibly because of end-of-the-year testing, but feel free to register and start posting. There's a lot of neat threads in the General Discussion, and you're sure to find something that'll make you laugh in the aptly titled Funny Stuff thread.
If you own Half-Life 1 and you've never played SvenCo-op, you owe it to yourself to download this EXCELLENT mod and proceed to lose entire days to it. Sven Co-op (SC) is a quirky mod that is designed with cooperative game play in mind. There are literally thousands of maps available and just about all of them involve over-powered monsters, jumping puzzles, and unique weaponry to mow down the competition. I was a member of the Cafe of Rabid Snarks SC clan up until it was disbanded, and I'm the one responsible for their current site layout (though, it looked a lot sharper beforet the clan leader got his hands on it).
So yeah, there's a little bit of background behind some of the affiliates I've linked to on the right. Go and check them out for a nice change of scenery; you might be suprised at what you'll find!
P.S. To those of you who've stayed loyal, school is almost out and my time is almost free...*HINT HINT*
That's no good, so I'll have to work on it tomorrow, after this project I'm working on is turned in.
I'm really sorry for the long delay between posts, and I know my overly mundane life doth not an interesting online journal make, but you've stuck with me this far, and for that I salute you!
- School's been winding down, but not before piling a large number of tests square on my head, in rapid succession. By the end of the year, I'll have taken IB or AP tests in:
- AP Calculus (2 parts, 3 hrs total)
- AP Physics (2 parts, 3.5 hrs total )
- IB Business (2 parts, 3 hrs total)
- IB History (3 parts, 4.5 hrs total)
- IB English (2 parts, 4 hrs total
- IB Spanish V (2 parts, 3 hrs total)
- I've added a couple things to the general layout, the blue bar up top now has some links to MYSTERY PAGES! Well, if you can read the link titles, the cat's out of the bag. REGARDLESS, I'll be adding a couple more links and/or making pages for the links that don't work. Stay tuned.
That's about it. I've successfully implemented comment deletion into this journal system, so the spam from the previous post (can't believe I got hit with it...) and future spam will be easy to take care of. Hooray for cleanliness!
Now, I was administered a major blow to this theory when my current girlfriend laughed after I proved that I remembered THE DATE. I asked her what was so funny about that, and she claimed that it was a bit ridiculous to remember one day out of the year simply because that was the day we started going out.
Of the few readers I know who read this online journal, I know that some of you hail from outside of the US; is my girlfriend's reaction normal? I'm thinking its just a difference in culture, but I'm not quite sure. Any thoughts?
I originally wanted to go with a dark theme when I redesigned my Livejournal system into this online journal, as the LJ page used a dark "space" theme, but I figured the first version of my journal system should be a lighter color scheme so I would get some practice working with lighter colors. That first effort succeeded quite well, if I do say so myself.
On a whim, I decided to reskin my journal, and this is the result of it. The header image was a favorite desktop pic of mine, and I think it fit well with the overall theme of the color scheme.
Let me know what you think! Based on your opinions, I'll either stick with this look, or go back to the lighter version. And I suppose while you're at it, if you have any suggestions on changing the physical layout of the page or adding in any features, I'd appreciate that sort of feedback, too ^_^
So now, I've grown angry with my blog system, and I'm going to ignore it for the rest of the evening...that oughta teach it!
>_<
*Note to self: research everlasting server sessions!
The commercials have been flying around the internet as of lately, so if you have no idea what I'm talking about, I've included all three of the commercials:
Commercial 1 - Mike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuoNtFUdnn4&search=v-dub
Commercial 2 - Jason
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4jjLiQuwmY&search=v-dub
Commercial 3 - Trey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PCP0qbDULU&search=v-dub
Yeah, so I have two more news posts coming up sometime this next week, both of them of a technological nature; for now, though, enjoy the videos :D
[EDIT] Changed the videos to their matching URL's on YouTube. I was tired of waiting for the videos to load to see the rest of my site :P
For the first Something to Think About, I posted this rant on a friend's forum after reading SOOOO many fake news posts on Digg.com and Slashdot.org and getting tired of all the BS I had to sort through. For some reason, this April Fool's day really annoyed me...
So here's the post, so aptly titled, "Why I hate April Fools day":
[quote]Yeah, pretty self-explanatory, I was perusing many of the tech news sites that I frequent, and I found that today happened to be the "fake stories" news day. Now, I can take a joke, but for some reason it was really annoying to see headlines stating some untruth and not being able to determine the truth from the fiction.
Why is this day so great? I've never really seen the point to it, I pull jokes on friends all the time, why do I need a day for it? At least the holiday hasn't been commercialized...yet...
Anyway, what do you guys think? I saw some pretty funny non-news related pranks pulled today, including the "Chuck Norris and his Karate Crew" tv show from the 80's, and an attempt by a favorite mod of mine to convince us that they had achieved the impossible, but other than that, the meaning of April Fool's Day has been lost to me...[/quote]
So there ya go, my rant on AFD; what do you all think?
And, to top it all off, because of the recent walk-outs occurring here in my hometown, school has been cancelled for tomorrow (which would have been the last day of school until Spring Break)! Hell yeah, time off for good behavior!
d--(^_^)--b
Have a good weekend, everyone :D
College search continues; I found out that UC Irvine won't tell me how much financial aid they'll give me until I enroll there!!! Outrageous... I mean, if I wanted to buy a car, and the dealer wouldn't tell me how much the car cost until I agreed to buy it, I would walk away right then and there.
I guess I have to REALLY want to go to UCI to agree to something like that...And I don't really want to go to UCI, so I'll have to take some more time before I decide.
MOAR NEWS LATERRRRRRR!
mms://mbstream.no-ip.org:8080
When you click it, it should automatically open up the stream in Windows Media Player. I don't know if there are any players in Linux that can handle mms:// URL's, so if you use Linux and find out there is a media player capable of playing that type of URL, then let me know and I'll update the list!
As for hours, they're pretty sporadic, but you can usually tune in anytime around 4:00pm-11:00pm PST. I'm working on setting up suggestion capabilities, so you guys can control what comes on, but for now, expect anything from Mozart to Metallica and a majority of Techno.
So yeah, thar be the new post!
C'est la vie, I suppose...though it shouldn't be
*Sputter* *Cough* Damn, foiled again! Well, faithful readers, more tomorrow!
I'm going to try and take lots of pictures, and when I get back on Monday, I'll post some pics and let you all know how it went!
Wish me luck!
I made a LOT of progress on the Volo Designs site this last Friday and Saturday. Here's a comparison pic of what the site looked like before I got my hands on it. I'll give you a moment to admire the progress...
*waits*
The new layout was completed over the course of about 11-12 hours. Here's the breakdown of how I spent my time Friday after school, when I made the most progress:
- Friday
- 3:05pm - Get out of school
- 3:25pm - Pick up my computer from my house
- 3:45pm - Arrive at friend's house (god, what a drive that was)
- 4:00pm - Start work on the new site
- Redesign page structure to accomodate new layout
- Code expandable navigation that matches look of Photoshop document (always fun!)
- Code picture galleries with rollover affects (I learned some JavaScript, which I've been wanting to do but have been putting off)
- Set up a Paypal shopping cart to work with the shirts
- Integrate a Terms of Agreement page into the purchasing process (it actually works really well, you'll be able to see it in action once the site starts taking orders)
- 11:15pm - Call it a night, left for my house
- 11:45pm - Back at home
In the next article, I'll show you guys how I made an image-less link map, so stay tuned!
"Wah-wah, wah wah wah, wah, wah-wa-wah"
For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, here's an audio clip of the sound you hear when you're "listening to the news".
Bear in mind, there's a lot more work to be done, but the foundation is there. The front end is of my friend's design; I simply put it to HTML. There's a bit of PHP I threw in that was able to work only because my friend had (thank god) learned sometime earlier how to name similar or related pictures with the same prefix and different suffixes based on the image's use. Let me know what you think of it!
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On my end, I did a little bit of remodelling on the main site. You'll notice there's a login box on the right side of the page, THAT'S NOT FOR YOU ^_^. I threw in the ability to log in because I wanted to be able to use the kick-ass admin page I made for this blog. The admin page had, until now, been used solely with the version of this blog system I keep for personal use on my localhost server. But because it granted access to adding and editing news posts without the need to login, anyone who found that page could have messed with the news posts. Now that I've thrown in a login system, I can utilize the admin page for the purposes of keeping this blog up to date. Hooray for me!
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Lets see, personally, I've been accepted to 3 colleges so far. Texas Christian University, Illinois Institute of Technology, and University of California, Riverside have sent me notices of even, strangely enough, a flash video, saying I've been accepted to their school. Now, all that's left to hear from is Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UC Irvine and UC San Diego. I should hear from the last of the colleges I applied to by March.
Already, I've received hefty sums of money from TCU and IIT. TCU offered me a $38,000 scholarship over 4 years, which takes about a fourth of the total cost of college off my shoulders. IIT went one better and is giving me the opportunity to receive a full ride. I have to interview for this one, though, so that means a flight out to Chicago sometime next month.
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Well, that about wraps it up for today. Until next time, folks!
-Matt
However, look for something this weekend, including a report on some work I've recently done on a friend's website!
Stay tuned!
I know there are many blogs out on the internet, but I wanted to see how successful a blog I made could become.
In order to do that, though, I need to find a niche, something that sets my blog apart from the thousands of others out there.
I've brainstormed an idea for the focus of my blog, and it involves web design. I figure, I was able to create this blog you are reading from a blank page, I must be talented at what I do.
So this is what I propose: I'll focus this blog on various web design techniques, from CSS, PHP, MySQL, and even some ASP. Mixed in with the web design tutorials will be reviews of various programs and new pieces of computer hardware, and the occasional arbitrary technology story.
What do you all think? Let me know what you think of this idea, as well as any cosmetic changes you'd like to see done to the site!
P.S. Get the word out about .:[Matt's Blog]:.! I've created a web badge you can use in forum signatures and on your own blogs. You can find the image underneath the "Links" to the right. Please, save a copy of the image to your server if you use it; that means no hotlinking!
Here's the link to OVH, as well as a few others:
- http://www.ovh.com/en/ - OVH (the one I used, can be a bit strange to navigate; look for /fr/ in a page's URL, and replace with /en/)
- http://www.nucleus.be/ - Nucleus.be (you can supposedly register up to 6 free .be domains with them, check out their TOS)
Well, here's how I scored:
The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to the First Level of Hell - Limbo!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
| Level | Score |
|---|---|
| Purgatory (Repenting Believers) | Very Low |
| Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) | Very High |
| Level 2 (Lustful) | Low |
| Level 3 (Gluttonous) | Very Low |
| Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) | Low |
| Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) | Moderate |
| Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) | Moderate |
| Level 7 (Violent) | Low |
| Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) | Moderate |
| Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) | Low |
Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
Not too bad, I think; hey, I didn't make it into Heaven, but I'm also not burning in Hell. Plus, I get to meet some great historical figures like Aristotle and Homer.
I heard those guys were party animals...
Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope your day was filled with all the good things in life, like love and happiness and...
Oh, who the hell am I kidding? Here's to the awesome swag we all got for the one day of the year where commercialism is king...well, today and Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, and any other holidays celebrated by those who aren't Christian or a denomination there of.
Hi there, and welcome to Matt's Blog. This is more a test of my coding abilities than a full blown blog, but that doesn't mean I won't find time to keep you informed on the inner workings of the overly mundane life I live.
There's some more work to be done here. As you've probably noticed, the right-hand side of the blog is pretty boring. I'm going to use that space to put affiliates I'm associated with and links to other parts of my site. As for any other graphics, I think I'll stay with the site layout as it is now until something catches my fancy and I rework the layout.
Check out KaleNet Web Design when you have a chance; I make websites for small companies and individuals, and that link will take you to my porftolio of past websites I've done.
Anyway, enjoy, and make sure you leave a comment before you leave, let me know what you think about the work I've done.