Wednesday, February 28, 2007

National Ban on Radar Detectors Coming Soon

"There is proposed legislation going through the US Senate right now that will ban the use of radar detectors in the US. According to the legislation, it’s supposed “to protect the public from drivers who think they can speed with impunity by using radar detection devices.”

I expect a ban on quarters coming up soon, because parking tickets provide a great revenue too.


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Monday, February 26, 2007

11 dead, 100 injured in kite flying festival

"At least 11 people died and more than 100 people were injured at an annual spring festival in eastern Pakistan celebrated with the flying of thousands of colourful kites, officials said today."

...


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Macbook Pro Takes a Bullet and Still Works

"Took a bullet during a mugging in Brazil, and it still works!"

How to tell if you have good hardware; shoot it!


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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

More Americans Will Vote for a Homosexual President Than An Atheist One

"A recent Gallup poll reveals that Americans are much more likely to elect a black man or a woman president than a Mormon or an old man. More interestingly, they’d rather be governed by a homosexual than an atheist"

I remember a time when evolution was accepted by religious people, my family and I were brought up religious (I'm no longer religious for personal/common sense reasons) and we accepted evolution, because it's from scientists and they're usually pretty good about knowing this stuff. Then this creationism crap started being propagated by weak-minded power-junkies and now nobody gets along. I don't see how people can pick and choose regarding science, but then again people are stupid by default.


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Bananaphone!

"Imagine the sight: a man walking down the street talking into a banana. Madness!"

Go banana!


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5 Quick Fixes for the Xbox 360

1. Auto-off needs to be manual or done in 30min/60min increments. 6 hours is illogical and was too long for Xbox, now with the 360, I fear the system kicking the bucket or worse.
2. Back should bring you back to the main dash, whilst hitting B remains unchanged and just brings you back one level. It seems very easy to implement and can be especially useful to if you navigate deep into folders for music on a portable device, instead of hitting B a bunch of times to go back, just hit Back once.
3. More video codec support would be nice, WMV alone sucks. How about some DivX support? I'm aware of TVersity, but that's Windows-only and for streaming, I play all my media from an external HDD.
4. The BC list needs to be viewable from the dashboard. There’s absolutely no reason you should have to go to a computer just to view text. Don't even get me started on the insanity that it the lack of a backwards compatible Panzer Dragoon Orta (not to mention a slew of other great, exclusive games; Otogi 1 & 2, JSRF, Riddick, Breakdown, OutRun 2 and RalliSport 2 say hi).
5. The d-pad is awful, fix it. It hampers an otherwise perfect controller and literally does not work properly, because when I hit left, it should go left and only left, not up or down. Playing XBLA games with it is bad enough and I shudder at the thought of trying to play Virtua Fighter 5 with it (it's also the reason why I didn't care when Soul Calibur II was made BC). Hell, just throw the old controller S d-pad on there, it's not the greatest, but it's immensely superior. I shouldn't have to sand down my controller to make it functional, and no, don't make us pay extra for something that should have been done from the start.

(Dis)honorable mention: Allow people to resubscribe to Xbox Live, RIP my Gold account 2002 (beta tester) - 2006. I'm not even asking for the ability to cancel XBL via the dashboard, since it's obvious MS doesn't want it to be too easy to cancel. I didn't know this until it was too late, but if you cancel XBL, you will revert to Silver, which makes sense. However, you can't get Gold again, unless you make a new account, which is just plain stupid, since it's essentially flipping a digital switch.

Four of the five can be done via a patch, here's hoping the annual spring update will deliver the goods. Maybe the Zephyr that's not coming out *wink* will have a decent d-pad, only time will tell...


Digg!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

CNN Runs Story on Marijuana Legalization

One problem with this piece is that they said the "Nancy Reagan crowd" focuses on education. That's a complete farce, because if they used scientific facts and education, it'd already be legal. It's not in the government's best interest to educate the masses, it is to instill fear and maintain control. They have an agenda and they want to keep throwing taxpayer money away for god knows what reasons.

Educating people about cannabis is the dumbest thing the government can do, because it's not something that would help them in any way, unless their goal was to make money, not waste it. Show me one anti-drug commercial where the goal is to educate, not misinform and I will show you a person who got cancer from cannabis or OD'd on THC (hint: it's not gonna happen).


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Best of Craigslist: Why Geeks and Nerds Make The Best Boyfriends

+5 exp lol



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Calvin & Hobbes: "How Come We Play War and Not Peace?"

Speaking of awesome comics...



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Random Review: Sunday paper comics

My time my not be the most precious in the world, but any part of my day where I can save a couple of seconds is important. The Sunday paper is big of full of news, all of it depressing, there are lots of ads showing you crap you don't need or can't afford and most of the time, the deals aren't even good.

However, there's that one bright colorful section in the middle of that giant heap of paper, the Sunday comics. It's reliable and always there despite being unable to contain anything that would surpass Cavlin & Hobbes. Since I've got nothing better to do, 'll give them a shot anyway. but is it worth your precious seconds to read? I'll make the decision for you below with all the comics listed and reviewed chronologicallyr:

Hi & Lois - Eh, entertaining enough I guess, worth a read sometimes.
Classic Peanuts -
Good ol' Charlie Brown, Lucy's still a bitch though, nothing new, but it's a classic and worth reading.
For Better or Worse -
Not as interesting as it used to be, sometimes the read will be worth it.
Prince Valiant -
Never cared for it, but I'm sure it's got a decent fanbase.
The Family Circus -
The most insipid crap in the world. Today the kids hit z repeatedly on the keyboard and said "you get a whole line of sleep", which I'm sure is slang for blow. I hate this comic, but every single time I read it and I don't know why, probably the same reason we're drawn to train-wrecks.
The Lockhorns -
Reminds me of better times (read: Married With Children) and it's more enjoyable because I'm not married. I read it most of the time, but I don't care at all if I missed reading it one week.
Shoe -
Pretty good most of the time, but not one I care to read often.
Cathy -
Garbage.
Beetle Baily -
Sometimes when I'm in the mood to see a skinny guy getting the crap beaten out of him.
Hagar the Horrible -
Vikings with marital problems rock.
Garfield -
We all know it hasn't been good in more than 10 years. At its peak, there was a surprisingly watchable cartoon show. I'll usually read it, but I'm disappointed the vast majority of the time.
Slylock Fox -
Proof that jail isn't a deterrent and isn't about rehab. Slick Smitty and Shady Shrew need to be locked up for good.
Get Fuzzy -
I hate this because it replaced Close to Home. Aside from a couple occasions, it's a waste of time.
Mallard Fillmore -
A political duck is just plain intriguing. Read it most of the time, satisfied enough to not hate it.
Rose is Rose -
I think this has the blasphemous honor of having actually replaced Calvin & Hobbes in my paper, it's pretty crappy too.
One Big Happy -
One big waste of time. Very rarely is there a good one.
Jump Start -
Used to be readable, now it's just shitty.
Non Sequitur -
Pretty good most of the time, worth a read.
Zits -
Pesky teenagers and their wacky antics, but at the least the comic is good.
The Wizard of Id -
Meh, easily forgettable, occasionally I'll read it..
Baby Blues -
Whenever they run out of ideas, she seems to have another kid, I think they're up to 17 now. Pretty good, but not great.
Blondie -
Any comic that can stay enjoyable all this time is worth something, plus Blondie's a real woman, just look at her save Dagwood from phishers and then tell him to get back to bed, yowza, pretty hot for the comics section.
Dilbert -
Easily the best comic out of the bunch, the TV show rocked too. Makes me laugh most of the time.


So there you have it, most comics are average and there are a few terrible ones and only a couple good ones.

Thailand hates blind people

"Chotiros Suriyawong, a 22-year-old actress better known by her stage name of Amy, has been publicly vilified after she dared to turn up to Thailand's version of the Oscars ceremony in a dress modelled on Elizabeth Hurley's well-known safety-pin number.

She has been sacked from the cast of a film in which she was due to appear and ordered by her university to make a public apology and to do 15 days of community service by reading to the blind. source: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2278039.ece"


Wear a revealing dress, get punished by... reading to the blind. I think it's more punishment for the blind, as if not seeing doesn't suck enough, they'll never be able to gaze with perverted urges at her or her dress, what a sadistic legal system.


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Monday, February 19, 2007

Apple.com is 20 years old today

I find it amazing to think that I'm only a couple months older than this website. Kudos Apple, here's to another 20 more.



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Google Hard Drive Survey - Engadget

"From one of the Internet's largest databases comes an interesting look at hard drives the Google way. With hundreds of thousands of these babies being put into use each day by the Internet giant, this evaluation points to "drive manufacturer, model, and age" as being the primary factors that induce hard drive failure."


Most HDDs nowadays are all pretty equally good quality (save for defective devices), with some brands slightly outperforming others. I've never had a bad experience with one and I've gotten flawless performances for a little under a year with Seagate 300GB and Maxtor 300GB. I've even got a 120GB MDT (Magnetic Data Technologies, not as popular as the other brands) that's been in my Xbox since late 2002 and under heavy use and tinkering with hasn't acted up once.


Personally, I think Seagates are the best, then Samsung, WD, Hitachi and Maxtor, though Maxtor's newer drives are of much higher quality, so they're probably around WD quality now. Most big name HDDs are fine, just check out the reviews on Newegg, there are a couple bad apples, but the overwhelming are positive, because HDDs are designed to last.



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Could EA buy 2K Sports?

Even the most die-hard EA Sports fanboys should not want this. Monopolies are bad for EVERYONE. With no one to compete against, Madden has stagnated and for good reason (2K can't do NFL football anymore). Why should you try hard and make a good product when you don't have to? Don't give EA any more reasons to be lazy, speak with your money and stop buying EA's games!



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Sunday, February 18, 2007

An Eraser Shaped Like A Delete Key - Designed by Art Lebedev

"The palm-size Tersumus eraser is shaped like the well-known key on a computer keyboard."

A nifty little invention, I'm surprised we haven't seen more things like this sooner.

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Saturday, February 17, 2007

Gaming for the first time again

I just played the Nintendo Wii and I felt something that I haven't felt for a long time (no, not an urge to blog, but that fits in this equation too). Fun. It was like playing games for the first time again. The Wii brought my inner child to light and made me look like a fool swinging that Wiimote around, but I didn't care, I was too busy enjoying myself. Before the Wii, I had been in a slump, I had Xbox, recently purchased a PS2 and most recently, Xbox 360, but those just felt like there was something missing.

I had purchased a PS2 late into its life cycle, allowing me to catch up on a few games that I had been dying to play. I enjoyed them, but I was never really that into them, they felt like diversions and failed to hold my interest. The 360 was the first next-gen system to market and I had gotten one a couple months after launch, but never really enjoyed myself. I eventually sold it and came into another one just a month or so ago, but I still felt that void. The 360 offered nothing new, just the same damn generic games I've been playing all my life, except they were prettier, that's it. After completing Gears of War, which was enjoyable, albeit overrated, short and anticlimactic, I was burnt out. Shooting people had gotten old and I was in a rut that would need more than pretty graphics to fix. Enter the Wii.

A friend of mine got a Wii and invited me over to play it. Before this, I had only briefly tried Zelda at GameStop and wasn't blown away. Once I got there, we played Wii Play, a game reminiscent of air hockey, I got my ass kicked, but I was still learning the ropes. After this came something surprisingly fun, Wii Sports bowling. 4 people gathered around the TV, tossing virtual bowling balls down a lane and it was amazing. Golf, baseball, boxing and tennis followed. We all probably looked foolish, but it didn't matter, it was a blast to play and the simple gameplay with the new control scheme was indeed revolutionary. Learning the Wiimote barely took any time and I even bowled the first strike of the night. I had an incredible time and I couldn't believe that something so simple could offer so much fun. It's no wonder why the Wii won't stop selling, Nintendo hit gold here, offering something to draw in new gamers and to make sure the old, cynical gamers like myself have some fun. Laughs and smiles were plentiful and the exuberant amount of fun I had made me feel like I was playing games for the first time again.