J Star and the Blog of Doom

Bonus Clue

2011-12-05T14:49:00.001-05:00

Here's a bonus clue for all you stupid people: Always, and I mean ALWAYS, question things. Do not ever, under any circumstances, accept that what you are told is the God's honest truth of the matter. It may very well be, but don't accept that it is unless you have looked into the matter.

Case in point, a recent article wherein a climatologist claimed to want to clear the air about the "misconception" that the majority of climate experts do not agree about man-caused global warming. he claimed that the majority do agree, and that any claim otherwise is certain media outlets lying to support their own views. For two pages he went on about the consensus that man has indeed caused global warming. And yet, nowhere in the article did it mention how he knew that the majority of climate scientists agreed. Did they ask every climate scientist on the planet and compile the answers? Did they send out a questionnaire? Did he only ask people that attended a Global Warming conference? Or - more likely - did he just fucking make it up?

Unfortunately, a lot of you will just swallow his story whole, accepting that as the truth without even stopping for a moment to ponder how it is possible that there is a consensus according to him, and yet there is no consensus according to others. There's not even a consensus on a consensus.

The 99%

2011-12-05T13:27:00.001-05:00

My fellow Americans;
You are the 99%. That's right. 99% of you are FUCKING STUPID.

I read the news and your comments on it every day and I have come to the conclusion that the reason that this country is so fucked up right now is that you are all morons. After every news story is a series of comments by readers (Or more accurately, watchers, as so little of you can actually read and comprehend what it is you are reading) wherein you bicker back and forth like children about whose side is better. Liberals vs conservatives, Democrats vs Republicans, you fight like you are championing your favorite sports teams. Yet, in all of your fighting, none of you ever seem to be able to address things in a logical manner. Instead, you simply tow the faction line. Republicans are for things because some famous Republican said it was so. Likewise the Democrats. God forbid you think for yourselves.

I constantly read about how bad unions are for the economy. And yet, I cannot ever seem to get a straight answer about why this is. People will talk themselves in circles with statistics and rhetoric, and never ever come close to anything resembling a logical answer. The real reason that you think unions are bad (or good) is that you were told to think they were bad (or good) by your party of choice.

Today I was reading an article about gold mining in West Africa that is being done by children in horrible working conditions. After the article were thousands of comments by watchers about how this was awful, and it must be the Republicans' fault. No, it is awful and it must be the Democrats' fault. No, it's because conservatives are evil! No, it's because liberals are stupid! Why can't it just be awful? Why can't people ignore party lines and get together and do something about awful things like this?

Because you are all fucking stupid.

Now, don't get me wrong. The 1% of the population that can actually think for themselves are not necessarily the same 1% that have all the money. A good chunk of those people are stupid as well, they just happen to have been born into money or to have good fortune smile on them, or whatever. I mean, look at our last president. He's certainly a rich man, but nobody would accuse him of being smart. (Well, OK, maybe some Republicans who have to in order to justify their support of him.)

Here's a brilliant idea. All of you assmonkey retards who can't seem to think for yourselves, you need to stop listening to Rush or O'Reilly or Hannity or whoever and start listening to me. Stop letting party loyalty get in the way of actual progress. Stop letting party loyalty drive this country down the fucking drain. Here's a secret: BOTH PARTIES ARE THE SAME. They both believe in getting power, influence, and money from suckers who buy into their bullshit. Neither party gives a good God damn about you, your family, your friends, your community or your rights. They will crush you without a second thought to get what they want. Both parties claim to stand for the Constitution of this country, and yet both parties are actively working to subvert and nullify that same document.

By the way: Statistics. Because you are stupid, you don't know this, even though a good percentage of you went to college and SHOULD know it - STATISTICS ARE FUCKING MEANINGLESS. If you take nothing else away from a basic, entry level statistics course you should at least take that. All statistics are subject to error and interpretation, but more importantly, all statistics are subject to outright tampering and ill intentions. If a company is paying another company to prove its views are correct, the company providing the statistics is going to skew the research in a way that gets the paying company what it wants. Why? Because they want to keep getting paid and the best way to do that is to satisfy the customer.

Have you never wondered why both sides can come up with statistics that support their views? How is it possible that guns both increase and decrease crime at the same time, depending on which side you are on? Shouldn't it be one or the other? Yes, it should, but if you ask a research group to prove that guns are bad with statistics, they WILL. It's not the truth that's important, it's what they want to hear.

Also - Reactionary Law Making: Stupid beyond all reason. Politicians feel the need to try to pass legislation anytime anything bad happens because it makes them look like they are doing important work, which makes you keep them in power, which makes them rich and powerful. Logically, you cannot make bad things stop happening by passing laws. It doesn't work because bad things do not obey laws. They wouldn't be bad if they did, now would they? You can pass all of the Sarbanes-Oxley acts you like, but at the end of the day corporations are still going to fuck people over while your legislation crushes small business men and women. You can outlaw every gun on the planet, but criminals will still use them to kill people. Stop infringing on everyone's' rights by freaking out and demanding SOMETHING be done anytime something bad happens. Punish the guilty, not the innocent. Please understand that politicians do NOT care about protecting you from bad things - hell, they cause a good percentage of bad things themselves - they only care about making it LOOK like they care, so that they can benefit from it. They use bad things to increase their standing with you.

So, in conclusion, 99% of you are stupid. Please, for the sake of humanity, realize this. Realize that you are being led by the nose by other stupid people who do not have your best interests in mind. And then stop being led by stupid people, and listen to what the 1% of thinkers in this country have to say. And that is: STOP MAKING DECISIONS BASED ON SIDES LIKE SOME BUNCH OF FUCKING CHILDREN.

EDIT: Please do not take this as a bash on the Occupy protestors. I do not agree with all of their viewpoints, but by God, at least those people are smart enough to realize how insanely fucked up our country is and they are trying to wake the rest of you morons up. Here again, however, we find people who were themselves protesting as Tea Party activists bashing on the Occupy people simply because they think they are a different sports team that must be opposed. Stop picking sides and work together, you jackasses. It's fucked up for all of us, so instead of bashing on the people who are working to change it, how about helping them instead? Or are you too stupid to even realize when you are in trouble and need help?

Dr. Derpy

2011-10-05T23:54:00.001-04:00

Check out this Amazon Review

Let me sum it up for those of you who are too lazy to click the link: Dr. Derpy buys an Acer Iconia A500 tablet, roots it, and can't figure out how to get his BOOTLEG movies to play on it. He can't figure out how to get Office to work, and he's too cheap to spring for an app. He also hates the touchpad keyboard, but has no clue that almost any keyboard on the planet works with this tablet.

Seriously? You are a DOCTOR. Why do you feel that you need to STEAL movies? Why can't you afford an APP? Do you not know how GOOGLE works?

Getting your Amazon Unbox videos to play on your XBOX360

2011-09-28T01:59:00.001-04:00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/video/ontv/xbox

I have been looking for a way to play my Amazon videos on my TV for a while. I was almost resigned to purchasing a Roku box when I stumbled onto this page by accident. Amazon does NOT make this easy to find. The 360 is not listed as a compatible device, but ti turns out that you can easily watch your Amazon videos through it. Sweet!

09-11-2001

2011-09-11T17:37:00.000-04:00

Dream Theater - Sacrificed Sons

Walls are closing
Anxiously
Channel surfing
Frantically

Burning City
Smoke and fire
Planes we're certain
Faith inspired

No clues
A complete surprise
Who'll be
Coming home tonight

Heads all turning
Towards the sky
Towers crumble
Heroes die

Who would wish this on our people
And proclaim that His will be done
Scriptures they heed have misled them
All praise their Sacrificed Sons
All praise their Sacrificed Sons

Teach them
What to think and feel
Your ways
So enlightening

Words they preach
I can't relate
If God's true Love
Are acts of Hate

Who would wish this on our people
And proclaim that His will be done
Scriptures they heed have misled them
All praise their Sacrificed Sons
All praise their Sacrificed Sons

God on High
Our mistakes
Will mankind be extinct?
There's no time, time to waste
Who serves the truth
For Heavens' sake

Motorcycles and Occam's Razor.

2011-08-20T23:34:00.001-04:00

So, I was driving home from the park today on my bike. It was after sunset, the highway was pitch black, and I was following my wife. Then my engine starts jerking and losing power for a few seconds. Then it starts happening more frequently. Then it dies.

My first instinct was to look at the trip meter. I don't have a fuel gauge, so I have to keep track of mileage so that I know approximately when to stop for gas. My trip meter only read 108 miles, and I have done a bit over 120 before stopping for gas, so I thought that was clearly not the problem.

So, there I am, on a dark country highway with a bike that will not start. I tried setting the choke and it started for a second and then died again. I pulled out my handy Streamlight flashlight and started checking the plugs and the wire connections. My wife called and I was explaining to her what happened when it dawned on me:

I. Am. Retarded.

On my last long trip, I forgot to reset the trip meter after getting gas about 40 miles from home. Instead of the 108 miles I thought I had driven on that tank of gas, it was 148 miles. My gas tank only holds 2.5 gallons, so the fuel level had dropped below the normal feeding line. Had I not forgotten to reset the meter, I would have felt the sputter, looked at the meter, and automatically switched to the fuel reserve until I hit a gas station. Instead I spent a good ten minutes panicked on the side of the road.

Derp.

So, the lesson for today, kiddies, is to ALWAYS RESET THE &*^%ING TRIP METER!

Summer Catch-Up.

2011-08-20T22:56:00.000-04:00

OK, I've been lax in writing anything on this blog. But, I have a good reason. Anyway, here's a list of things that took place this summer. You know, for posterity. And also so that going forward my posts make some sort of sense.

Sometime in June I was diagnosed with Mononucleosis. This is the second time I have had this stupid virus.
Mono suppresses your immune system fairly well, so I also got to experience a good handful of other things on top of it.
I attended a Summer semester at college. With mono. About as fun as it sounds.
I purchased a motorcycle, attended the MSF safety course, and received my motorcycle license.
I've been driving the motorcycle almost exclusively for about two months.
I've been spending WAY too much time playing video games.

There, I think that about catches you up to mid-August.

Fuck you, NY State. Seriously.

2011-07-06T17:17:00.000-04:00

So I get a letter from the NYS Department of Labor on Tuesday. (July 5th) Being that it is from a NY governmental agency, the letter itself really makes no sense. Our unemployment has dropped below 8%, so instead of 20 weeks of extended benefits, we only get 13. And a lot of other stuff that tells you basically nothing.

As I originally understood it, benefits would continue until the end of this year. Which was great, because I have only one more semester left in college before I get my AAS degree. So, I was thinking, OK, seven weeks shortened from that means I will be dipping into savings to live the last seven weeks of school.

And then we checked with the NYS DOL today. Oh, no, they tell us, YOUR benefits end next week!

WTF?!?!?!?!

First of all, one week's notice? Thanks for that, assholes.

Secondly, 13 from 20 is 7 weeks. If it was supposed to run until December 31st, how is 7 weeks shorter July 11th?

Thirdly, what kind of fucking retard writes a bill that bases extending help to people off of an imaginary number. Look, if the unemployment rate drops below X%, we can drop it even lower by kicking more people off of unemployment! We'll look great! (Except for all the starving out of work people that we don't count because we're not paying them...)

So, in conclusion: Fuck you, NY State. Fuck you right up your stupid ass. (And I include our wonderfull bill-writer as well. FUBO!)

XS Big Dot 24/7 on a Walther PPS

2011-06-10T23:51:00.000-04:00

I've always wanted to try the XS Big Dot 24/7 sights, so when my laser went kaput on my Bodyguard 380 it gave me the perfect excuse to equip my Walther PPS with them. (I need something that I can shoot at night, right?)

I found a good deal on them online and two days later they were in my hands, ready to install. or so I thought.

The front sight was very easy to remove from the PPS. Simply unscrew a flathead screw and pop it off. No problem. The rear sight was another story. According to the instructions and others online, you simply use the included non-marring punch and drive the rear sight out of its slot with a few light hammer taps. In reality, that sight was damned if it was going to leave its home. I ended up having to use a heavy brass punch, lots of hammer blows, and heavy cursing to get it out. And tape. Lots of blue painter's tape. (So I wouldn't scratch the slide.)

Anyway, once the old sights were off, the new front sight almost fit in easily. I tapped it in a bit with the non-marring punch and it fit flush to the slide. Honestly I don't think it would have moved even after that, but I used the red thread-locking fluid XS supplied and screwed in the new screw. (Don't use the screw from the old sight, it will break the tritium vial in the front sight as it is too long.)

The rear sight, unfortunately, was just as bad as the old rear sight. It would not slide into the slot, even with light tapping. I ended up having to buy a $30 set of files to shave off enough material from the sight to allow it to fit. Once I did get it slid into the slot, I lined it up by eyeball and tightened the set screw. I then applied the red fluid to the sight and let it set overnight as directed. As you can see from the pictures, it seems to look OK.

I took it to the range after the fluid had set and fired off about 100 rounds of 165gr .40 S&W ammo. Eyeballing the sight seemed to have worked OK, as I didn't have any windage issues. It did, however, take me about 40 rounds just to get used to lining up the big dot on the front sight with the line on the back sight. I kept lining up the middle of the dot, and instead should have been lining up the bottom of the dot. So, for 40 rounds all of my shots were low. Once I figured it out, I was able to punch a bunch of holes in the bullseye at 7 yards. I didn't try any farther as I was getting used to the sights and had a limited supply of ammo on me, but I feel confident the sights would do well at longer distances too.

Time Warner Funnies

2011-05-30T22:54:00.000-04:00

A comedian recently took out a full page ad in newspapers to bash Time Warner for their appalling customer service.

Time Warner responded in a pathetic, trying-too-hard kind of way.

What I think is really funny is this line from TW's response:

Missed installs and clumsy customer communications are issues that have plagued us for too long. They’re not unique to us, though — all of our peers and competitors struggle with the same problems, and not just in the United States, either. We have over 47,000 employees servicing 13 million customers.

Firstly, you sound like an asshole for trying to excuse your company with the old "they do it too!" routine. Secondly, HEY JACKASS *BOING!* Do you think, maybe, perhaps, that having 47,000 employees trying to service 13 MILLION customers might be your base fucking problem right there? Hey, maybe stop trying to step up the bottom line by making each customer service person cover a few hundred customers and instead cut the insane top level bonuses out. You know, the ones where you pat yourselves on the backs for paying the people who do the actual work for your company jack shit while pissing off a huge chunk of your customers and making everyone hate you? But, what do I know? I'm only working on a degree in a business, I don't yet have my masters in fucking everyone over and dying rich but friendless.

Tattoo Designs 3 - The Return!

2011-05-28T03:42:00.000-04:00

Alienware Aurora R3, GeForce 590 GTX note

2011-05-26T14:50:00.000-04:00

Just a small addendum to my Alienware articles. I wanted to note that the GeForce card that came in my system (which I specifically upgraded to when speccing it out) - the GeForce 590 GTX - was noted as having 3 DVI and 1 HDMI outputs. This is incorrect for the card I received, as it came with 3 DVI and 1 mini-Display port outputs.

Also, since I did not have any DVI cables, I had to run out and buy an adapter for my HDMI cable. As a warning to others, this is a Bad Idea. Oh, it works. You get a nice picture and can use your existing HDMI cable. But, the communication between the adapter and the cable gets interrupted every once in a while to the tune of a black screen for between two and ten seconds. Irritating if you are reading or watching something, devastating if you are playing a game. I finally sprung for a new DP cable to stop it. (After getting killed ins everal different games because of the black screen.)

Just something to be aware of.

My Alienware Experience - Part 4

2011-05-22T14:59:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been two weeks now, and I am still using my Alienware Aurora R3 PC, and I still love it. I've had the chance to really give it a workout in some new, high end graphical games, and it really shines. It also works great for the day to day computing that I do.

Let me start out by saying that if you are like me and research the crap out of major purchases before you commit, then you will have read all of the internet horror stories about Alienware. They ship broken, or they don't work right, or you have to spend two months working with support to get the right stuff, etc. Of course we all realize that the Internet is 90% bitchfest, and only 10% praise. People don't come online to tell you how great a purchase they just made, but they sure do come on to complain when something goes wrong. So you may be a tad bit anxious about purchasing a computer that even has it's own sucks.com site. I say "don't be."

My Alienware shipped on-time - actually, a couple of days early. It was working flawlessly when I set it up. (Yes, I had to install all of my software and update some drivers, but hey, that's life with a PC. If you don't like that, you shouldn't be using a PC.) It has performed with excellence in all tasks that I have shoved at it, and I have yet to have occasion to complain.

As far as performance goes, let's talk briefly about two modern games: Brink and Rift. I ran Fraps during both of these games for extended periods to make sure that I was getting decent performance for my money. I chose these games because they are both newer releases, and because they both push the graphics card to work hard. In fact, these two games are the only games that I played recently that actually caused the graphics card fan to spin up to a faster level.

During multiplayer, 16 person Brink sessions, the fps (Frames per Second) never dipped below 38. They averaged out at 44. This is with all of the graphics options turned up as high as they will go and at a resolution of 1920x1200. The game looks nice, and it played smoothly, with no detectable hitching. I will note, however, that Brink is a really new release, and that it still has its share of graphical bugs. I expect that as the game is further optimized, I will see an increase in fps.

Rift is a newer MMORPG game that really has spectacular graphics. Of course, in order to enjoy those graphics, you need a PC capable of showing them to you in an acceptable framerate. I ran Rift at a resolution of 1920x1200, on the Ultra setting at first, and I was getting an average of 62 fps. But then I noticed that the "ultra" setting left quite a few graphics sliders turned down. How ultra is ultra if it isn't actually ULTRA? So, I went ahead and turned all of the sliders up to the max. Go big or go home, right? When walking around solo and questing, I averaged around 45 fps. In groups doing dungeon runs, my fps dropped just a tiny bit to average around 42. And the real test, giant raid sized outdoor events where rifts are opening and spilling out hordes of monsters and 100+ players are all on the screen at once battling those monsters. During these chaotic events, the Aurora R3 still averaged 28 fps, with a low of 24fps. Even with that many things happening onscreen at the same time, the gameplay was smooth and I never noticed any detectable graphical hitching. My old system hitched during World of Warcraft raids with as few as 20 players present, and it wasn't out of date or under-powered. it just wasn't as top notch as the new Alienware.

So, I am going to end my series of articles on the new Alienware Aurora R3 with a positive rating for the system and a few notes. The only thing even slightly bad I can say about it is that when playing Rift and Brink the GeForce 590 GTX card's fan kicks up the speed quite a bit, and the exhaust sound is quite loud. It actually makes me turn up my speakers a bit. Of course, my system sits level with my desk and about a foot away from my monitor, so moving it might make the noise a non-issue. (Or liquid cooling it, like the CPU.) The only time the system ever crashed was the first day that Brink was released. The open GL interface between the game and the graphics card locked it up tight. Other than that, it has run flawlessly. The lighting system looks great, and is fun to set up with different color schemes for each game or flashing lights when you receive an email. So far, my Alienware experience has been very positive, and I would definitely recommend them to others who want a custom gaming PC, but don't have the time to build and support it themselves.

Holy Christ, the rapture!

2011-05-20T13:25:00.000-04:00

Let me start out by saying that while I believe in God, I despise organized religion. Belief is great. Religion is about controlling people.

Having said that, I think that if you are going to follow a religion, perhaps you should be aware of the basic tenets of your faith. I know, I'm wasting my breath. Christians are one of the most bigoted groups in the world, and they also tend to not believe even their own faith. God is all powerful. Yet they fear Satan may take over. Well, which is it? You either believe God is all powerful, in which case nobody is taking over because ALL POWERFUL means that if Satan looks at him crosseyed ZAP! God snaps his fingers and Satan disappears in a poof of sulfuric ash, or you don't believe it and pray every night that the boogie man won't get you.

Anyway, if you believe in Christianity, God, and the bible, how in the everloving fuck can you believe the world is going to end tomorrow based on same crazy-ass radio DJ's prediction? Let's go to the bible and check it out:
Matthew 24:36 (whichever version you have, it translates to roughly) But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

OK, so crazy religious nuts, here's your checklist:

1: Is this radio DJ God? - No.
2: Is this radio DJ a man? - Yes.
3: Is he some crazy ass dipshit flying Wacky Motherfucker Airlines? You betcha.

He's not God, he is a man, and he is crazy. Since only the Father (God) knows when the return is, I guess it isn't happening tomorrow.

So there you have it. The only people that are going to meet God tomorrow are the loony-tunes that show up on my front porch claiming the rapture is happening, or the ones that follow claiming the rapture passed them over and so they're going to loot my house. Those people are going to earn themselves a face-full of 00 buckshot, for Jesus!

RIFT

2011-05-17T18:17:00.000-04:00

To start with, I really, really need to never open my mouth and say I don't want to buy something, because every time I do that (Playstation 3, my Jeep, etc...) I end up buying whatever I said I didn't want to buy. I said that I didn't want to buy Rift because I beta tested the game, and it really felt just like World of Warcraft with better graphics. I was playing World of Warcraft with my friends, so paying to play another game just like it seemed silly.

And then Alienware started a contest to win a new laptop by trying the 7 day Rift trial and leveling a character past level 5. I entered the contest and wound up at the level limit of the trial (15). Then I ran out the next day and bought the collectors edition.

You see, Rift is not really just like WoW. It's close enough to feel comfortable, but it adds elements from Everquest 2, Warhammer Online, Lord of the Rings Online, and dozens of other past MMOs. So it feels like an old flame dressed in a hot new outfit. You already know what she is like in a relationship, but damned if you don't have a couple of drinks and wind up in the sack with her anyway.

I've also made the self discovery that I don't like the endgame of most MMOs. I love leveling up and discovering the story and exploring the new areas as they come, but once I hit the level cap and work through most of the content, I don't want to keep doing it over and over forever just to get new gear. I wind up leaving until an expansion or sequel comes out. I've done it with WoW every time I finish an expansion, and I've done it with a bunch of other games. I left WoW recently because I think Blizzard made a mistake and this newest expansion was too short. I finished it, did all of the dungeons a few times, and even raided a bit. Then I burned out. I'm sure Rift is headed to the same fate, but... Oh well. I'll enjoy the ride until then!

Tattoo Designs 2

2011-05-14T14:39:00.003-04:00

Tattoo Designs 1

2011-05-14T00:07:00.001-04:00

So, I've been coming up with designs for my next tattoo, and I've decided to post some of the designs I rejected on my blog. You know, because they are cool. And stuff.

Right. Here is my first one.

My Alienware Experience - Part 3

2011-05-09T02:50:00.000-04:00

So, I've had my new Alienware Aurora R3 for a whole weekend now. I wish I could say that I played the crap out of some games, but the reality is that I spent a good deal of time transferring data from my old PC, loading in programs that I use, loading drivers, and just generally setting things up. I did get to play for a decent amount of time, just not enough to form a solid opinion yet.

My impression so far is that it is a fast system, and it has been very stable. It's fairly quiet. There's always the low humming of a fan, but it's not very noticeable until the GeForce 590 gets hot, and then it can be fairly loud. I play with surround sound speakers on, however, so it's not really an issue except in very quiet moments, and really the only time I have heard the 590 heat up at all is in GTA IV. It has yet to kick in the fan on Fallout: NV, Borderlands, WoW, or COD: Black Ops. We'll see tomorrow whether or not Brink heats it up.

I really like the case and the lighting, but I wish there were more USB ports. That's not Alienware's issue though, as even if they had 50 I would want more. Mouse, keyboard, printer, back up external hard drive, UPS, XBox controller, hey, where did all my rear ports go?

I'll keep pushing it this week and we'll see how it fairs. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm a pessimist, however, so the fact that it worked right out of the box means it has already surpassed my expectations.

Alienware - Pictures

2011-05-07T03:09:00.000-04:00

Man, that's some cool packaging. I can't help but wonder how much they could shave off the cost by using generic boxes, though.

Inside the Alienware Aurora R3. I like the little alien head on the liquid CPU cooling block.

All hooked up to my 27" Dell Ultrasharp. Notice the lack of bloatware on the desktop.

Alienware - Grand Theft Auto IV

2011-05-07T02:57:00.000-04:00

This is a game I picked up a couple of weeks ago when it was on sale on Steam. I was bored, it was cheap, I figured what the hell, at the worst I'll get a few hours of enjoyment out of it while I am waiting for other games to release.
Yeah, I really should have checked into it before buying it.

GTA4 runs like crap on the PC. No matter what settings I chose, the game jerked so bad when I was driving that it literally made me dizzy. I gave up after an hour of trying to fix it because I was about to throw up. It turns out, lots of people have complained about how bad this runs on the PC.

Well, tonight I thought I would try it out again on the new Alienware and see if it was any better.

Holy. Shit.

I can actually play this game now. It looks good, it is completely smooth, and the graphic settings are turned all the way up. Color me impressed. As long as this system doesn't crap out on me during the magic money-back window, I'm sold.

Alienware - Fallout New Vegas

2011-05-07T01:24:00.000-04:00

Had a chance to put Fallout New Vegas through its paces with my new Alienware Aurora R3. All I can say is wow. My last PC was no slouch, but the thing that always killed New Vegas for me was the load times between areas, and the jerky frame rate that occurred for the first 20 or 30 seconds you were in a new area.

The Aurora gets rid of that. The longest load time I have experienced was about three seconds. Most areas transition so fast now that I don't even see the load screen pop up. There's no jerkiness as the textures load in a new area, and the animations on things like fire are much smoother. The lighting effects seem to stand out a bit better as well.

So far I'm impressed. Hopefully this Alienware will perform just as well in my other games. (Especially Brink!)

My Alienware Experience - Part 2

2011-05-07T00:17:00.000-04:00

Let's start off with the good:

My PC shipped 2 business days early. That means I got it on Friday, May 6th instead of Tuesday, May 10th. Nice. Time to set up before Brink releases.
The system looks amazing. Ah. Maze. Ing!
Install was very clean for a pre-built. No bloatware at all.

Now the not so good:

The system shipped with a GeForce 590 GTX card with 3 DVI connections and 1 mini-Display Port connection. Alienware sent me a mini-HDMI to HDMI adapter. I have an HDMI cable with a mini on one end and a full size on the other that I have been using for years. I have no DVI cables left. I have a full size Display Port cable. This means that I had to run out and get an adapter for $25 just to be able to turn the thing on. Grrr. Small oversight on their part, but giant pain in my ass.
The system shipped with NVidia drivers installed that don't support the GeForce 590 GTX card. The card laughed at me when I tried to play World of Warcraft.
The pre-installed version of WoW is still Wrath of the Lich King. Great. Good thing I have all my stuff on a hard drive in my old PC that is separate from the OS drive. Just popped that out and plugged it into my Alienware. (Which worked flawlessly.)
The Dell monitor that came with the system: Ugh. I guess I am spoiled by my 27" Dell Ultrasharp, but this new monitor is washed out looking and just not anywhere near as nice. I had hoped to use it as a second display (I mean, what the hell, I got the graphics power to burn now) but I think I may just end up selling it.

It may look there are a lot of negatives compared to the positives, but keep in mind that I just spent 10 hours setting up the system, transferring files, updating drivers, and playing with settings. I haven't really had a chance to drive it all that much, and for the most part the negatives are minor. (Getting that part really annoyed me, though.) The monitor was always just a bonus in this deal, as it came with the best system deal. So no biggy if it has to go.

I have a lot more programs to install on the new system, but hopefully I will be able to take a break and put it through its paces in some games. Then we'll see what it can really do.

Alienware Aurora R3 specs

2011-05-04T14:19:00.001-04:00

Description

		Alienware Aurora-R3
		Intel Core i7-2600 (8MB Cache) Overclocked Turbo Boost to 3.9GHz
		8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
		Alienware MM Keyboard, US
		Dell 23 Inch Wide ST2320L
		Single Nvidia GTX 590
		1TB SATA 3Gb/s (7,200RPM) 32MB Cache
		Matte Stealth Black Alienware Aurora w/ 875W Multi-GPU Approved PSU
		PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
		DataSafe Local BackUp
		Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
		Dell Resource DVD with Application Backup
		Accessory Kit, Aurora 3, Eng
		Alienware Optical Mouse, MG100
		AlienFX Color Astral Aqua
		ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
		Single Drive: Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVD+/-RW, CD-RW)
		NERO 9, ANW
1		Power DVD 9.6, 3D
		Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
		Automatic Updates: On
		Alienhead Glow
		Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Extended Year
		Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Initial Year
		Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, 1 Year Extended
		Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year
		2 Year Limited Warranty
		Accidental Damage Service, 2 Years
		Warranty Support, 1 Year Extended
		Warranty Support, Initial Year
		Soft Contracts Consumer Accidental Damage Agreement for Alienware
		Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware
		Software, DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
		To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online
		DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
		Steam and Portal Factory Installed
		World of Warcraft Preinstall Edition
		Alienhead 3D
		Thank you for choosing Dell
		Alienware High-Performance Liquid Cooling

My Alienware Experience - Part 1

2011-04-28T16:13:00.001-04:00

So, I recently came to the conclusion that I need to buy a pre-built computer. The PC that I have been rebuilding over and over since the year 2000 is giving me major issues with just about everything that you can think of. I solve one issue only to be vexed by another. Hey, no problem, right? I used to work in tech support, I should be able to fix these things.

Yeah, no problem. Except that now I have a little girl, a wife, a dog, and a cat who all want some sort of attention at least once a day. I also attend college full time. I also practice the drums for a couple of hours a day. So, when I sit down at my PC, I want to check Facebook and then jump right into a game. (Or, you know, do my homework/ term paper/ online courses) I don't have the extra time I used to have to figure out why the hell my PC is freaking out again.

So, with all that in mind, I started looking at pre-built PCs capable of doing high end gaming stuff as well as my papers. Alienware has been around for a long time, and I was aware of them, but I was also aware that they are expensive. So, believe me when I say I did my homework. I looked at every custom gaming PC shop online. I looked up parts prices to make sure I knew what things should cost compared to what I was being charged.

In the end, I came back to Alienware.

There were a few reasons for my choice. First, they are owned by Dell. This is a big one, as I have dealt with Dell professionally for close to a decade through different jobs. I know what kind of tech support I can expect from them, and I know how to work them to get what I want. This is the biggest reason for me to buy a pre-built. I want someone else to work out the issue while I move on to something else. Dell can connect remotely and solve issues, and my coverage will let them send someone to work on it if they have to, or replace the whole thing if need be. Hell, I even have coverage for accidental spills and drops.

Secondly, was price. I know, I know, all the Internet ragers claim Alienware is ridiculously overpriced and horrible. The fact is, when you look at what you get for what you pay, they are about the cheapest custom gaming PC you can get, bar Cyberpower PC and their ilk. This is true even after looking at local shops. It helps that I got a huge discount for being a student as well.

For a little over $2000 US, I got a PC with CPU liquid cooling, an Intel i7 Sandy Bridge clocked at 3.9 GHz, 8 Gigs of DDR3 RAM, a Geforce 590 card, 1 Tb HDD, 875W PSU, Blu Ray drive, and a custom case. Because of my student status, I also got access to a package (which they pulled the day after I ordered) that included free 2 year warranty status (which I upgraded to advanced for $30), a 23" Dell HD monitor, and a free $100 Alienware headset. (TactX) I also had a coupon for $50 off, so I used it to upgrade to overnight shipping.

All in all, I am theoretically happy with my purchase. When it ships next week (The PC, I already have the headset) I will start my evaluation period and decide if it is really worth it.

Fear Mongering by Gun Control Activists

2011-04-16T22:22:00.000-04:00

Here’s some logic for you: Ban “assault clips” – magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds – because they are only good for killing a lot of people very fast.

Here’s some similar logic: Ban “assault vehicles” – minivans and other vehicles capable of holding more than 5 people – because they are only good for killing a lot of people very fast.

But, you may say, minivans are actually very useful because they allow people to transport larger groups of family and friends to school, sports events, or other outings. Sure, some nutjob parents may have killed a bunch of their kids by crashing them or driving them into water, but the rest of us shouldn’t be punished for their actions right? I mean, obviously minivans weren’t created simply to allow people to kill other people. That’s not their primary purpose.

And all of that is true.

It’s also true that magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds serve equally benign purposes. Competitors in shooting events have a better chance to score higher, target shooters can spend less time reloading and more time enjoying themselves, and people concerned about safety for themselves and their families can rest easier knowing they have a better chance to defend themselves.

But, but…people can use those large magazines to kill other people! Yes, this is true. It’s also true that people can use cars to kill other people. In fact, many times more people are killed each year by motor vehicles than are killed by firearms. Many tragedies occur daily involving vehicles, and yet we don’t have a public outcry to ban them. When the rarer gun death occurs, however, people are quick to try to capitalize on the tragedy to spread fear.

And make no mistake; this is about controlling people with fear. That’s why the argument is completely illogical. They don’t want you to think about it, they want you so afraid that you agree with them and advance their political agenda.

Here are some of their arguments:

You don’t need more than 10 rounds to defend yourself. – The fact is that in stressful situations, even trained military and law enforcement officers miss more often than they hit. The fact is that there are many instances where the bad guy doesn’t stop his aggressive behavior even after being hit a dozen times. The fact is that often people are attacked by multiple bad guys at the same time.

If they really thought this was true, why wouldn’t they be calling on the government to ban large capacity magazines for law enforcement and military too? It’s obvious that they know this is a lie, and they’re just hoping that you swallow it.

There are no legitimate reasons to need that many rounds in a “clip”. – Fact: many competitions require you to fire as many rounds as you can in as short a time possible. The bigger the capacity of the magazine, the less time you spend swapping magazines and the better your score. Fact: many of us would rather concentrate on the principals of marksmanship than on reloading our magazines every five seconds at the range. And I already mentioned the legitimate need to defend yourself and your family.

From the Brady website:

4. They Claim: If you ban large-capacity ammunition magazines, only criminals will have them and law-abiding citizens will be outgunned.

Response: Are you saying we should continue to make it easy for dangerous people to get their hands on ammunition magazines that hold up to 100 bullets? A ban on the sale of large-capacity ammunition magazines would make it harder for criminals to get them to commit mass murder. If manufacturers stop making these magazines for civilian use, criminals aren’t going to start making their own. The supply will eventually dry up.

It’s so obvious now! Except that automatic weapons have been effectively banned from civilian ownership in this country, and yet criminals still manage to get them. In fact, it would be very easy for criminals to manufacture their own magazines. You don’t exactly need a lot of complicated equipment and skills to put a piece of sheet metal together with a spring. They could simply use the followers and floorplates of factory magazines to complete their very own high capacity magazine.

Many of the AK-47s on this planet are manufactured in villages with no indoor plumbing or electricity. To think that American criminals with access to even basic tools could not put together their own magazines is ignorant in the extreme.

Come on people, sometimes awful things happen, but you shouldn’t use those bad things to impose your will upon others or to spread fear and ignorance. And I’m sorry, but you simply cannot legislate crime away. You can only punish law abiding citizens and ignore inconvenient truths.

Here are some more useful facts for making up your own minds:

99% of the time when someone says "clip" they are referring to what is actually called a magazine. A clip is something that feeds or loads a magazine. Of course, most of the lawmakers trying to create legislation for guns don't actually know much about them. Perhaps that's why they fear them so much.

High Capacity magazines - Most of the time this is used to demonize magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds. The fact is that standard capacity for most modern semi-automatic rifles is 20 - 30 rounds. Standard capacity for most modern semi-automatic pistols is between 12 and 20 rounds. Pistol that shoot larger bullets, a .45 for example, tend to hold 8 - 10, and tiny pistols made for concealment tend to hold 6 - 10 rounds.

According to the FBI, violent crime in the country has been decreasing steadily since 1992, regardless of the assault weapon ban in 1994 and it's lifting in 2004.

Top 5 Most Annoying Religions

2011-03-21T20:02:00.000-04:00

In no particular order.

1. - Christianity. A million different sects, all with their own rules and beliefs. Most of them incompatible with each other. You don't like black people, or Jews, or gay people, or people that drive Volkswagens? Then there's a Christian sect for you. And they're all right, and you are wrong. And they love to tell you about it. Loudly.

2. - Atheism. The religion that revolves around telling anyone who believes in anything that they are wrong and that life is all a huge coincidence. They believe so strongly in their non-belief that they feel the need to shove their non-belief on to everyone else, thus making them a religion of non-religion.

3. Global Warming Eco-Freaks. The religion of decrying the evils of man and their planet killing technologies. Al Gore is their pope, and you are an enemy of the planet. Never mind that scientific evidence tells us that the Earth warms and cools in cycles and has been doing this for millions of years without mankind's evil. No, it's all because of US and we're all going to be EXTINCT!

4. Islam. - Almost any religion is about controlling people and getting them to act the way that you think is appropriate. Islam is just a lot more open about that, and is in control of a good many governments throughout the world. You know, friendly, happy places like Iran, Sudan, and Indonesia. Combine the countries controlled by Islamic law with the actions of groups like the Taliban and al-Qaeda and you can kind of see why Islam annoys people.

5. Democrats and Republicans. Oh, come on. You know that you are religions. Your followers believe everything you say, and try to convert people from the other side. You both take offerings from your followers, promise to take care of them and lead them on the path, and fleece them like a televangelist with a million dollar gambling debt.

Birthdays

2011-03-06T15:31:00.000-05:00

Yeah, don't feel bad if I forget yours. (If I know you. You other people can piss off.) I can't ever remember how old I am unless I take a few seconds to remember my birthday and calculate how old I am from my birth date. Memorize my age? Yeah, I tried that. Unfortunately, while I sleep my subconscious keeps whispering over and over to my slumbering mind "you're 25! You're only 25!" Reality doesn't help much either. You can't be that old, you're still in college and you don't have a job!

Fox "News"

2011-02-09T18:40:00.001-05:00

Fox news is shit because it has never been news. It has always been about slanting "news" to counter the perceived liberal bias in other news sources. Which in turn caused the other news outlets to slant their stories in the other direction even more.

I am neither a liberal or a conservative, Democrat or Republican. I think they are two sides of the same coin. So understand that my bias is that ALL news outlets are shit to varying degrees. We have long since given up on journalistic objectiveness and integrity. Fox news is just the shittiest of the shitpile. King shit of shitty news, if you will. And the Huffington Post is his personal asswiper.

Violence never solves anything

2011-01-28T15:50:00.000-05:00

Robert Gibbs, spokesman for the White House, is telling us now on a live feed that violence won't solve this issue in Egypt.

You're are correct, Mr. Gibbs. However, look at history. Violence never solves issues, but sometimes it is the only way to make people take issues seriously. Disagree? If you live in the US, you live in a country that was freed from British rule by violence. President Lincoln forced our country to stay united with violence. The resolution of these issues almost always takes place after violence forces the issues to the forefront of peoples' minds.

Also, when was the last major media blitz about human and civil rights in Egypt? It took this outbreak of violence to bring these issues to the attention of people. (And even now I would bet a majority of people in the world with access to media are still ignorant of the situation.)

I'm not condoning violence, but I can't force my conscience to feel bad that these people are using it. Freedom is important, and sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in.

NOTE: There is quite a difference between this and terrorism. I do not, under any circumstance, think terrorism is a legitimate way to do anything. Violent protests against oppressive governments target those governments in an attempt to force change. Terrorism targets bystanders and civilians in an attempt to scare people, and it has never achieved anything but more violence.

Believing in Violence

2011-01-28T15:29:00.002-05:00

A man says to his friend, over drinks one day, “I don’t believe in violence.”

His friend calmly sets down his drink and then punches him in the face. “Do you believe in violence now?” he asks.

“No! What the hell was that?”

His friend punches him again. “Now do you believe in violence?”

“No!” The man protests again. “Why do you keep hitting me?”

His friend punches him in the face one more time. “How about now?”

“No, please stop hitting me!”

The friend shrugs and picks his drink back up. “Well, I’ve showed you it exists three times now. If you still don’t believe, that’s just willful ignorance.”

The “situation” in Egypt

2011-01-28T15:28:00.000-05:00

Seriously folks, wake up. The US government is feeding us BS about being concerned with Egyptian freedom all along, but if it had been, wouldn’t they have withheld aid? Instead we have funneled them money since the late 70s, regardless of the brutality of their police force and their suspension of civil rights. The White House’s talking head is simply trying to spin this to make us out to not be callous.

Suspension of rights due to terrorism? Poor economic conditions? Oh, wait, why would Washington care, we have that here and THEY caused it!

Dear UbiSoft

2010-09-14T23:21:00.003-04:00

On Mike Portnoy leaving Dream Theater

2010-09-09T17:49:00.002-04:00

Listen, I know it sucks. My favorite drummer leaving one of my favorite bands (the others being Iron Maiden and Sonata Arctica) is horrible. But people need to learn to read between the lines a bit to get the real story.

Being mad at Dream Theater - Come on. Portnoy basically asked four other guys to put their careers on hold while he goes out and makes a shitload of money with a band that has a number one album. They did what anyone would do it that position. Sorry, mate, but we need to make money too. Congrats on your new gig, see you later.

Portnoy on being burned out - Bullshit. He's bitching about Dream Theater's schedule, but meanwhile adds on tour after tour in between Dream Theater tours. He wanted Dream Theater to go on hiatus so that he could make money with Avenged Sevenfold, plain and simple. His story on the press release is just that: A story. It's designed to make him appear in a good light.

On Dream Theater not being Dream Theater without him: Bullshit. If Steve Harris left Iron Maiden, that would end Maiden, because Steve writes most of their stuff and has a large hand in even the stuff he doesn't write. Historically, Petrucci has written the lion's share of the lyrics, and the music is usually split evenly among Petrucci, Myung, Portnoy, and the current keyboardist. (Rudess now, but Moore and Sherinian wrote on their albums as well.) And let's face it, there are so many drummers out there who idolized Portnoy and grew up trying to play like him that replacing him won't really affect their sound to much. I can list of dozens of prog-metal bands with amazing drummers that could fill in for Portnoy with no problem.

So, I can see why Portnoy would want to leave/take a break, but I can't sympathize with him one bit. I think Dream Theater did the right thing.

Baby Robins - Followup

2010-08-08T19:01:00.002-04:00

The bird that refused to fly finally did this morning. He spent the night on my window AC unit downstairs, and then early this morning woke up hungry. I fed him part of a blackberry from our bush, and then he gathered his courage and fluttered off to a nearby branch. He chirped for quite a while trying to attract his parents attention, and by the time I woke up this afternoon he was gone.

Baby Robins

2010-08-07T22:17:00.005-04:00

These are the two remaining baby robins that were on our porch nest two days ago. (There were four. Number four disappeared overnight one night a week ago, number three was the biggest and jumped out a couple of days ago.)

I was awakened from an after-dinner nap on my couch this afternoon by a weird screeching sound from the porch. It seems both remaining birds decided to leave the nest this afternoon. One bird was gone, but one was being attacked by a stray cat on my porch. I scared the cat away, but the remaining bird just could not seem to fly. He kept trying to fly into my big living room window, but was smacking into the siding below the window. Eventually I got tired of seeing him brain himself on my house, coaxed him onto a paint-stirrer, and put him back in his nest.

His brother (or her sister, too young for me to tell) was sitting on my back porch, and migrated to my Jeep when I came outside.

A short while later, my wife informed me that the house-crashing robin was now sitting at my front door staring into the screen and chirping. *sigh* I went out to check him out and make sure the cat wasn't around. He waited until I was watching him and then chirped "Look at me! I can fly!" and then proceeded WHAM WHAM WHAM to repeatedly launch himself against the side of my porch. (I think the other fledgelings got all the brains.)

OK, I get it, you don't want to stay in the nest. I also think that you are cat food if you stay on the porch. Let's try moving you to the backyard where your brother was and see if you can perch in a bush or something high enough to stay safe.

Nope, halfway to the backyard the robin decided that it was going to sleep on the paint stirrer. (Just like my baby, it apparently likes to fall asleep to a nice rocking motion.) Grrrr. I put the robin - stick and all - on my Jeep, hoping he would flutter off to a bush or something. Nope. Not wanting to leave the sleeping moron where the cat could come back and munch on him, I decided that he should sleep somewhere safer.

Delta Children’s Products Eclipse Double Dresser - Black Cherry

2010-07-16T18:11:00.000-04:00

Horrible quality, horrible company, July 16, 2010

Reviewer:

J. Star "Agent.X7" (Endicott, NY 13760) - See all my reviews

My in-laws ordered this for us 2 months before our baby was due. It's now 3 months after our baby was born, and this dresser is still in pieces in the baby's closet.

When we got the dresser, all of the wheels on the drawer tracks were broken, and the sides had big gouges in the wood. Target did not have this in stock, and we really wanted to finish putting it together, so we called Delta. Big mistake.

Delta sent us 2 replacement sides. Great, except that the sides they sent us did not fit the top of the dresser. Apparently they have 2 or three factories in Asia, AND THEY ALL MAKE THE PARTS A DIFFERENT WAY. So a dresser made in Thailand has parts that do not fit a dresser made in Vietnam. I guess corporate communication doesn't exist in Asia? Anyway, these replacement sides took weeks to get to us. Once we got them and realized they did not fit, we called Delta again. They promised to send us a new top, but it was back-ordered. And back-ordered. And after weeks of being on back-order, Delta finally promised to just send us a new Dresser. Meanwhile the baby had been born, and we still don’t have a place to put her clothes.

Finally a package arrived from Delta, 2 MONTHS LATER. Guess what? Yeah, it’s not a new dresser, but the top that had been on back-order. Guess what else? Yeah, it is THE SAME TOP WE ALREADY HAVE. It doesn’t fit the new sides either. After calling Delta for a week, we finally got them to send a new dresser. They refused to have it shipped to us by a faster means, so now we’re looking at 2 more weeks of waiting. I have zero hope that it will not be broken, or that it will actually fit together. I have very little hope that the Delta rep. isn’t lying to us again about sending a new dresser altogether.

Bottom line, Delta is a God-awful company and I will never purchase anything from them again, and will return gifts manufactured by them.

Well played, trolls, well played.

2010-07-09T15:45:00.002-04:00

Blizzard officially backed down on using real names in their forums today. Congratulations, trolls, you can now go back to calling everyone niggers, fags, kikes, and chinks without fear of anyone in your life knowing what a prick you really are.

Disclaimer

2010-07-08T19:52:00.002-04:00

Yes, I play World of Warcraft. No, I don't plan on buying Starcraft II. (Not a fan of RTS games.) Yes, I do plan on buying Diablo 3. Yes, I do use Real ID in WoW now. Yes, I own stock in Activision-Blizzard. (Why would you not, if you give them so much money?) No, I do not agree with everything they do.

RealID

2010-07-06T19:57:00.002-04:00

Blizzard has begun a new "thing" in World of Warcraft (and soon Starcraft II) that requires you to use your real first and last name to "friend" people cross-game, or so that you can always chat with your friend no matter what character they are playing. Soon they will require that people use their real first and last names to post in the forums.

The reaction to this, of course, is outrage. I won't go into the myriad of ridiculous reasons why people think this is bad, I will simply translate them all for you in one sentence: I'm worried about using my real name because I am ignorant of real world security issues, or I am worried about using my real name because I am - in fact - a giant fucking asshole to everyone online when I think I am anonymous and now everyone will know who that giant fucking asshole really is.

I think it's a great idea. It may cut down on the retards who feel the need to post bullshit and clog up the forums with useless posts.

Some slogan suggestions

2010-07-04T01:15:00.001-04:00

You know, I think some people could benefit from some news slogans.

The Brady Campaign - Spreading hatred for law abiding gun owners since 1974.

The Brady Campaign - Trying to make rape and murder easier since 1974.

Too much truth in that advertising?

The Brady Campaign - A hate group?

2010-07-04T00:58:00.005-04:00

Inspired by this article:
http://www.peoplespresscollective.org/2010/06/brady-campaign-is-newest-hate-group/

As discussed on the NY Firearms forum by myself and others.

i think its funny that people are saying all of this... but i also think its a cheap shot on an opponent which im not a fan of. The brady group isnt a hate group as much as MADD isnt a hate group against alcohol consumption... they are however a group of poorly informed, closed minded... dare i say elitists?

My Response:

No, they really are a hate group. The difference is this: MADD is Mother's Against Drunk Driving. Drunk driving has been illegal for a long time, and before that it was frowned upon as something jackasses did. MADD spreads awareness of this illegal activity in the hopes to persuade people not to do it by showing the consequences of breaking this law.

The Brady Campaign spreads ill will towards a group of law abiding citizens enjoying their God given right to keep and bear arms as provisioned for in the Constitution of this United States. How often do they also mock and insult lawful citizens? They promote hatred towards gun owners. Hence, Hate Group. The NRA makes mock of them, yes, but the NRA isn't asking us to outlaw non-gun owners, or harass them with nonsense lawsuits, or blame them for every evil thing that happens to us. Brady promotes hate, and that is a fact.

I never really thought about it until I read that article, but it really does make sense. I read news articles all the time where the Brady folks try to paint every gun owner as a destructive beast who willingly brings society to the brink of destruction, and it brings to mind the Nazi's painting the Jews as the bad guys, or racist people in the US calling other people unintelligent beasts simply because of their skin color. The Brady Campaign seeks to spread hatred of gun owners. They are, in fact, a hate group. Sure, sometimes they try to hide it behind flowery BS - in the same way that religious zealots spread hatred of gays by "hating the sin but loving the sinner" - but they are, in fact, a hate group.

EDIT: I have been informed that MADD is, indeed, fairly wacky now and is calling for prohibition and other such nonsense.

2010-07-03T01:35:00.001-04:00

Top 5 Musicians

2010-06-12T20:09:00.002-04:00

For music lovers and musicians:
Top 5
Vocalist:
1- Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)
2- Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica)
3- James LaBrie (Dream Theater)
4- Ray Alder (Fates Warning, Redemption)
5- Geoff Tate (Queensryche)

Drummer:
1- Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater)
2- Uli Kusch (ex-Helloween, ex-Masterplan)
3- Nikko McBrain (Iron Maiden)
4- The Rev (RIP - Avenged Sevenfold)
5- David Charlesworth (Dead Air Radio)

Bassist:
1- Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)
2- Geddy Lee (Rush)
3- John Myung (Dream Theater)
4- Flea (RHCP)
5- Justin Chancellor (Tool)

Keyboards/Piano:
1- Kevin Moore (ex_Dream Theater)
2- Heinrik Klingenberg (Sonata Arctica)
3- Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater)
4- Elton John
5- Derek Sherinian (Planet X, ex-Dream Theater)

Guitarist:
1- Janick Gers, Adrian Smith, Dave Murray (Iron Maiden)
2- John Petrucci (Dream Theater)
3- Eddie Van Halen
4- Mark Tremonti (Creed, Alter Bridge)
5- Jani Liimatainen (ex-Sonata Arctica)

Band:
1- Dream Theater
2- Sonata Arctica
3- Iron Maiden
4- Redemption
5- Masterplan

These are mine. What are yours?

Palestine, for the ill-educated masses

2010-06-07T16:44:00.005-04:00

Helen Thomas, I think, represents the majority of Americans in their ignorance about the "state" of Palestine and the Jewish "occupation." Scratch that Americans part, since the rest of the world seems bent on saving the "Palestinians" from the evils of Israel, as evidenced by the strange "peace" missions to Gaza. (During which the "peaceful" protesters attacked Israeli military forces.)

Dear Helen and other morons: Jews have been living in that area for, oh, pretty much ever. Jews and Arabs have been getting along well since..Oh, wait. They have NEVER fucking gotten along well. When, after WWII, the UN decided to separate the Arabs and the Jews into two areas, there was massive violence from both the Jews and the Arabs that had BOTH been fucking living in the same areas.

So, telling the Jews to get out and go home is FUCKING STUPID and IGNORANT. They ARE home. After WWII, the US pushed for relocation of Holocaust survivors to the area to join their brethren who already lived there. They didn't invent a Jewish population, they just added displaced people who no longer wished to live in Europe.

Telling Jewish people to get out of Israel is akin to having asked black people to get out of South Africa, or Irish people to leave Northern Ireland.

Guess what? The Arabs were given their chances to form a state and failed to do so. They instead chose to be in a constant state of conflict with Israel, and now they are reaping the benefits of their choice.

Writer Larry Miller sums it up best:

"A brief overview of the situation is always valuable, so as a service to all who still don't get it, I now offer you the story of the Middle East in just a few paragraphs, which is all you Really need.

Here we go:

The Palestinians want their own country.

There's just one thing about that: There are no Palestinians.

It's a made up word. Israel was called Palestine for two thousand years.
Like "Wiccan," "Palestinian" sounds ancient but is really a modern invention. Before the Israelis won the land in war, Gaza was owned by Egypt, and there were no "Palestinians" then, and the West Bank Was owned by Jordan, and there were no "Palestinians" then. As soon as the Jews took over and started growing oranges as big as basketballs, what do you know, say hello to the Palestinians," weeping for Their deep bond with their lost "land" and "nation."

So for the sake of honesty, let's not use the word "Palestinian" any more to describe these delightful folks, who dance for joy at our Deaths until someone points out they're being taped. Instead, let's call them what they are: "Other Arabs Who Can't Accomplish Anything In Life And Would Rather Wrap Themselves In The Seductive Melodrama Of Eternal Struggle And Death."

I know that's a bit unwieldy to expect to see on CNN. How about this, then: "Adjacent Jew-Haters." Okay, so the Adjacent Jew-Haters want their own country. Oops, just one more thing: No, they don't.

They could 've had their own country any time in the last thirty years, Especially two years ago at Camp David. But if you have your own country, you have to have traffic lights and garbage trucks and Chambers of Commerce, and, worse, you actually have to Figure out some way to make a living. That's no fun. No, they want what all the other Jew-Haters in the region Want: Israel.

They also want a big pile of dead Jews, of course -- that's where the real fun is -- but mostly they want Israel.

Why? For one thing, trying to destroy Israel - or "The Zionist Entity" as their textbooks call it -- for the last fifty years has allowed the rulers of Arab countries to divert the attention of their own people away from the fact that they're the blue-ribbon most illiterate, poorest, and tribally backward on God's Earth, and if you've ever been around God's Earth, you know that's really saying something.

It makes me roll my eyes every time one of our pundits waxes poetic about. The great history and culture of the Muslim Mideast. Unless I'm missing something, the Arabs haven't given anything to the world since Algebra, and, by the way, thanks a hell of a lot for that one.

Chew this around and spit it out: Five hundred million Arabs; five million Jews.
Think of all the Arab countries as a football field, and Israel as a pack of matches sitting in the middle of it. And now these same folks swear that if Israel gives them half of that pack of matches, Everyone will be pals.

Really? Wow, what neat news. Hey, but what about the string of wars to obliterate the tiny country and the constant din of rabid blood oaths to drive every Jew into the sea? Oh, that? We were just kidding.

My friend Kevin Rooney made a gorgeous point the other day: Just reverse the Numbers. Imagine five hundred million Jews and five million Arabs. I was stunned at the simple brilliance of it.

Can anyone picture the Jews strapping belts of razor blades and dynamite to themselves? Of course not. Or marshaling every fiber and force at their disposal for generations to drive a tiny Arab State into the sea? Nonsense. Or dancing for joy at the murder of innocents? Impossible. Or spreading and believing horrible lies about the Arabs baking their bread with the blood of children? Disgusting. No, as you know, left to themselves in a world of peace, the Worst Jews would ever do to people is debate them to death.

Mr. Bush, God bless him, is walking a tightrope. I understand that with vital operations in Iraq and others, it's in our interest, as Americans, to try to stabilize our Arab allies as much as possible, and, after all, that can't be much harder than stabilizing a Roomful of supermodels who've just had their drugs taken away.

However, in any big-picture strategy, there's always a danger of Losing moral weight.

We've already lost some. After September 11 our president told us and the world he was going to root out all terrorists and the Countries that supported them. Beautiful. Then the Israelis, after months and months of having the equivalent of an Oklahoma City every week (and then every day) start to do the same thing we Did, and we tell them to show restraint.

If America were being attacked with an Oklahoma City every day, we would all very shortly be screaming for the administration to just be done with it and kill everything south of the Mediterranean and East of the Jordan.

OMG! Who should we blame for this?

2010-06-02T14:04:00.002-04:00

http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/109701/placing-the-blame-as-students-are-buried-in-debt

A whole NY Times article about a student wanting to place blame other than where it belongs: squarely on her shoulders. Personal responsibility, bitch. Did you really think four years at NYU with a degree in religion and women's studies would get you any sort of decent job that would allow you to pay back over $100 grand in loans?

More LOST explanations, for the slow.

2010-05-24T13:37:00.002-04:00

The Polar Bears - Seriously, stop asking about the damn polar bears. They explained them. The bear cages that Sawyer and Kate were locked in? Yeah, those were for the polar bears. Somehow they escaped when the Others drove out the Dharma Initiative. Dharma was running experiments on them.

The Hostiles - People that Jacob dragged to the Island before Dharma got there. Why were they hostile? They were protecting the Light for Jacob. And possibly killing people at the behest of the Smoke Monster. Otherwise known as the Others.

The Smoke Monster - Jacob created him when he threw his brother down into the heart of the Island. How? Who knows? It was never explained why the brother became a monster while Jack and Desmond did not. Maybe it's because he was evil at heart? Maybe Jacob willed it?

Many of the strange happenings are connected to the strange electromagnetic energy of the Island. It was never explained. That's the kind of show LOST was. It wasn't about giving the answers to every strange event, it was about the characters. Besides, just about any explanation they could give would disappoint some portion of the viewers. Life is better with a little mystery.

LOST series finale - explained

2010-05-23T23:43:00.003-04:00

Already seeing massive complaints from people that do not get it.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

They did not all die when the plane crashed. Everything that happened, happened. The "flash sideways" is a sort of limbo that they go to when they die. Christian Shepard explained it: Not everybody gets there at the same time, but we all die. Jack died next to Vincent in the bamboo after he saved the Island. Hurley and Ben and Desmond are all left on the Island, and Sawyer, Miles, Lapidus, Richard, Claire, and Kate all leave on the plane. They all live after the show ends, but eventually they all find each other in the church when they die and move on together to the afterlife.

No, the whole show wasn't a dream. No they weren't all dead in the beginning. No, the Island wasn't really hell.

Still working on the nursery...

2010-03-30T20:36:00.004-04:00

Three quarters of this thing is done now. Just waiting on spring break next week to finish up.

OBAMA SENSE

2010-03-25T13:16:00.002-04:00

I'm coining a new phrase: OBAMA SENSE.

It's like common sense, except it is actually the diametric opposite.

For example - spending a shitload of money when you actually have no money, and in fact are in debt up to your eyeballs: it's just OBAMA SENSE, duh!

Or - Having the government take over health care to better manage the nation's welfare, like the massive success we've had with Social Security and Medicaid: It's OBAMA SENSE!

You can use it so many ways. It's just OBAMA SENSE to wear a t-shirt and shorts in a blizzard! Don't stop at a gas station when the fuel light is on! Duh, use some OBAMA SENSE!

Maybe I can get the FUBO guys to buy this idea. :D

Health-care, et. al.

2010-03-22T21:59:00.002-04:00

From my response to a forum post elsewhere:

Washington himself cautioned against having political parties for this very reason. My party, your party. It's all BS. They're not your party, they get fed by big business and in turn feed big business. You don't mean squat to them except as a source of income from taxes and a way to get to power. Politicians are swindlers, and you have been swindled if you swallow their Kool-Aid. Democrats and Republicans are Pepsi and Coke. Two similar flavors that are super bad for you that hide behind superb marketing.

If you throw words around like they do in Washington, you have swallowed the bait hook, line, and sinker. Democracy. My ass. This nation has never been, is not now, and will never be a democracy. That's a bullshit, feelgood buzzword the government has been feeding the world.

This healthcare reform isn't about taking care of Americans. This is about controlling things, power, and money.

The war on {INSERT CAUSE HERE} is exactly what Orwell predicted it would be. Rally the nation to our cause! Drugs! Alcohol! Guns! Terrorists! FEAR! The war isn't meant to be won. It's meant to be continuous. And it is.

Bah. Words are worthless at this point. The sheep have long since covered their eyes and ears and started humming the Star Spangled Banner over common sense.

Nursery Work part deux

2010-03-16T21:53:00.003-04:00

Nursery Work

2010-03-15T20:21:00.002-04:00

Before:

After:

It's not really noticeable in the pictures, but the wall is actually a different color now. (Sand instead of off white)

Quick FYI

2010-03-09T18:26:00.002-05:00

Calling someone's workplace and leaving a message that implies that they do no work is slander. Should you actually cause that someone to lose their job, you can be sued for slander. That doesn't scare you? Well, think of it this way: If someone is 40, and you cause them to lose a job paying a measly $25k a year that they may have stayed at until retirement at 65, that is a base (25k x 15 years) actual damages suit of $1,125,000. It'll probably be more, assuming the plaintiff's lawyer isn't sleeping through the case, and assuming the judge will also slap you with a nice punitive damage award as well.

Don't have a million bucks sitting around? Don't worry, the court can force you to liquidate most of your assets to pay; including your house, your business, your car, etc.

Maybe you should think about that before acting like a psycho.

New to me Taurus PT92

2010-02-24T01:05:00.004-05:00

If this type of gun looks familiar, it's probably because you watch movies. Or TV. Or don't live under a rock. The Taurus PT92 has been featured in numerous screen roles, as has its older brother, the Beretta 92. (John McClane's gun in Die Hard was a Beretta 92) The difference is that the Beretta has a slide-mounted safety lever, and the Taurus has a frame mounted one. Sometimes you will see them actually interchanged between scenes in movies. In one shot the character is holding a Beretta, and the next angle shows them holding a gun that looks exactly the same except the safety moved.

The Beretta 92 is also known as the US Military M9 pistol. If you know anybody in the military, chances are they fired this gun at some point in their career, even if just to qualify in basic.

I owned a nice stainless Taurus snub nose revolver that I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with, so I basically traded it in for a semi-auto that I could shoot a little better. It doesn't hurt that the Taurus PT92 has been around forever, so that there are plenty of pre-ban magazines floating around for it. Here in NY, we can't have magazines manufactured after Sept, 1994 that hold more than 10 rounds. The PT92 has pre-ban magazines that hold 15 rounds of 9mm ammo.

Yippee Ki Yay, Motherfucker!

Taurus PT92 w/rail Horizontal Shoulder Holster

2010-02-24T00:44:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to post this up in case anybody else in the US is looking for a leather horizontal shoulder holster that fits the Taurus PT92 w/rail. I just spent the last week searching out, emailing, and calling leather holster makers looking for one, and I wouldn't wish this frustration on anybody. (That's not exactly true. Governor Patterson, I am looking at you...)

After trying Bianchi, Galco, Mitch Rosen, and a couple dozen other holster makers, I finally found one that makes the type of shoulder holster I was looking for: High Noon Holsters. Their model "Under Taker" and "Under Armor" both have holsters that can fit the PT92 and PT99 with rails. Of course, they aren't listed as such. You'll have to pick Beretta 92FS Vertec to get the right fit. (I asked them just to make sure.)

If you aren't as picky as I am, Bianchi makes a soft nylon horizontal shoulder holster called the Tuxedo that fits the PT92 w/rail. I just don't like generic nylon holsters.

Amazon vs Macmillan

2010-01-31T13:35:00.002-05:00

Look, when I was a kid, a brand new hardcover cost $15. Then it went up to $20, $25, and now a lot of them are close to $30. The whole time the publishing companies cried cost of publishing increases and inflation.

Now that they are fighting with Amazon, some publishers claim that the printing cost of the book is only 8 - 10%. Wait, why did the cost of books skyrocket if the printing prices didn't really skyrocket? Oh, right, convenient excuse to raise prices and increase profits.

Look, I'm not ignorant. I know publishers pay to advertise (some books) and have other assorted costs. But, I also know how businesses operate. Any excuse to drive that bottom line as high as it can go. Macmillan is skirting the issue that for e-books, they are really just a middle man. So sorry that you can't grab fistfuls of cash for each book sold on Kindle, but you didn't really do much to earn it. Welcome to the future. You can now join the RIAA in trying to extort people since you can't sell them overpriced product like you used to.

And Amazon? They're not completely innocent. Obviously they are in it to make money as well. But, as a consumer, Amazon's $9.99 price point looks a LOT better for a few KB of information than almost the same price as a hardcover. Why would publishers think that you would spend $25 for a Kindle version of a book that costs $27 in a book store? Oh, wait. They don't. They want you to buy the real book, because they make more money from you that way. Sure, Amazon makes more money than the publisher from Kindle book sales. Duh. They marketed it, sold it, sent it to you on a cell signal they pay for, and let you read it on a device they paid to develop and market.

Pulling all Macmillan stock from sale was a pretty douchey move overall, but I get where Amazon is coming from. Hi. We're Amazon. We'd like it to go this way, and if it doesn't, well, we'll see how you like losing sales from the largest online market in the world for a few days. I'm sure that will press home the point. We'll see how it actually works out.

Why I liked Pandorum

2010-01-24T14:28:00.003-05:00

I usually don't read reviews of movies before I watch them. I find that reviews tend to bias my watching of a film, and I'd rather make up my own mind. It's after I watch the film that I like to casually browse some reviews and just see what others think.

Avatar was interesting because it is so popular and so huge that there seems to be a big chunk of people out there that hate the film just because it is popular. (See my previous blog about the story originality complaints as well...) I had seen the previews, and since I try to keep abreast of upcoming movie news, I had known about Avatar for a while. But I didn't read any of the press before going to see the movie, because I only wanted my own prejudices to effect my viewing. Therefore, unsurprisingly, I loved Avatar. I figured that I would like it just because I like pretty much everything James Cameron has ever done. Reading the reviews after seeing it, I was shocked at the number of people that cannot seem to get past the "lack of originality" or who just seem to hate it because it is popular.

Pandorum was different because I have only seen previews of the movie. Sci-fi? Check. Looks interesting? Check. OK, I want to see this. I have never heard of the director. I like Dennis Quaid, but - let's face it - he's been in some pretty shitty movies in the past. I vaguely remembered seeing Ben Foster in something, but I couldn't recall what it was or if he was any good, so that added no baggage. I watched Pandorum with only the hope that it would be a decent sci-fi movie. I loved it. Reading the reviews after watching Pandorum, I had to laugh. Still a high percentage of people who think it is unoriginal - GASP! OH EMM GEE! The plot has been done before? No way! Surely not in our thousands of years of history! - but there were a lot of people who didn't like other things. Things - for the most part - that were reasons I loved the movie.

Thing number one: The movie doesn't explain everything!

You have no idea how much I like this. This is probably the one thing that absolutely sold me on this movie. I love when a film assumes that the audience is smart enough to make the connections on their own and doesn't need to be hand-held through long exposition scenes just to know what is going on. Pandorum gives you exactly as much information as you need to put together what is going on in the main plot, and leaves hints and clues all over for you to pick up on about why this is all happening and how. Why does the agricultural crew member not speak English? Where do the monsters come from, how does the Corporal figure out who was who at the end, and where did the crew go? The film never directly answers these questions, but they give you enough bits of information to figure out an explanation on your own.

Thing two: Originality.

I know, I discuss this ad-nauseum. Here's the thing with unoriginality: EVERYTHING is unoriginal if you want to look at it that way. Yes, everything is derivative. Somebody already used all the elements separately in something else. Great, have a field day hating anything and everything because it has all been done before.

To me, the B (and sometimes even A) movies that pretty much copy every element from another movie and think that you won't notice if they add a twist or two are unoriginal. Hey, let's make Aliens, but we'll make our beasts look different. And, instead of a reactor going critical, it'll be the planet is going to explode because the core is unstable! And they won't be space marines, they'll be, uh... space paratroopers! Yeah!

I liked the story behind Pandorum. I liked that although they may have borrowed elements from many different places - and everybody does this, so no complaints there - they put them together in a way that made sense and pushed the story along.

Thing three: The acting.

I'm going to keep this short. I thought the acting was good. Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster were totally believable as crew members who woke up to a nightmare and had to figure out a way to fix it. The rest of the cast was spot on as well.

Thing 4: The special and visual effects.

A lot of people complained about these, but I thought they were well done and not overused. Actually, if I had to use one word to describe them, it would be reserved. Enough to convey what needed to be conveyed, but not overblown and ridiculous. Nothing exploded for the sake of a cool explosion, nothing threw lens flare all over the screen in every other scene. In fact, I think the filmmakers should give Michael Bay some lessons.

So aside from being well done sci-fi (something that is rare enough to be a treat when it comes along), Pandorum was also just a good movie. I'm not sure how well it did in the theater, but hopefully - like Pitch Black - this will find a big audience now that it is out on DVD and BD. I know I would love to see more stories in this setting.

Story Originality

2009-12-19T14:38:00.003-05:00

I saw Avatar for the first time last night. I went in expecting to enjoy it, and I did. I am a big James Cameron fan, so I pretty much knew I would like it, but I didn't know how much I would like it. I REALLY liked it.

So, after seeing the movie, I came home and looked up what critics were saying. For the most part, professional film critics like it. Film students and internet film buffs seem to despise it, wishing it to fail just because.

The biggest complaint I have read? The story is unoriginal. Newsflash for the uneducated, young, and ignorant people: NOTHING UNDER THE SUN IS NEW. Yes, Avatar has a plot that is similar to Dances With Wolves and at least a dozen other movies. There are no new plots out there, people. Read some books and you will find that everybody reuses the same plots. Why? Because there are only so many stories to tell.

Do yourself a favor and read a half dozen Shakespeare plays. Now you know the plots to 90% of movies ever made. The Taming Of The Shrew? Othello? Romeo and Juliet? Even movies that are not direct copies of the plot use large chunks of it. Why? Because Shakespeare himself didn't invent these issues and plots. They are stories from when men started to tell stories, passed on down the time line.

Common plot themes that tons of movies use:

Industrialized, "civilized" men attempt to bring "civilization" to the "backwards" indigenous people. They may be the good guys, but usually are portrayed as the aggressors who are exploiting the natives and destroying the environment. (Avatar, Dances With Wolves, Fern Gully)

Man and woman marry/fall in love/have a child/become friends... Man or woman is from a race/species/sex/family that others in society do not approve of. Strife follows. (Othello, Enemy Mine, Romeo and Juliet)

And the list goes on.

A plot cannot be original. The way you tell the story can, and I think Cameron did an excellent job with Avatar.

Natalie Blanchard - Depressed or not?

2009-11-27T13:59:00.002-05:00

STORY

Apparently this woman lost her insurance money for claiming to be depressed and then posting pictures on Facebook of vacations and parties.

Here's my take: Depressed or not, if you are capable of attending parties, going to the beach, and watching male strippers, then your lazy ass is capable of going to work and holding down a job. Period. Plenty of people suffer all sorts of ailments and still have to work. Suck it up and deal with it.

Deck the Halls

2009-11-23T13:29:00.003-05:00

I went with my wife and her family to the Deck The Halls wine tour on Seneca lake this weekend. We got to visit a bunch of wineries and taste their wares. A fun time was had by all.

Fantastic Day + Walther PPS

2009-11-10T02:50:00.000-05:00

This has been one of the best days in recent memory. I got laid off today, which sounds horrible, but is actually awesome. 2 months of sitting on my ass, and then I am starting school again. I think I am working towards eventually opening my own firearms shop.

Then, right after I get the good news, the sheriff's office calls and tells me my coupon is in. I go pick up my new baby, and come home to find the two magazines I ordered for it in the mail! And as a bonus, the Dunkin' coffee and donuts tasted fabulous today!

Walther PPS .40 S&W with 6 round magazine.

Walther PPS with 7 round magazine.

I used to (until Friday) work with computers. But IT just isn't the way is used to be. Everyone is downsizing to increase their bottom line (read: screwing the employees so that the bosses/shareholders can buy another Mercedes), so IT folks need to wear 15 hats to keep their ever dwindling salaries. Now, if you can't program, create web pages, fix hardware, and learn every damn OS, program, DB, and network protocol on the planet, you can't find work. And employers want you to get certifications that cost big bucks, that they won't pay for.

So, I am done with that s**t. I am going back to school for business. If I can't work out my own business plan, at least I will have knowledge to get me a job outside of the IT sector. Plus, I love taking classes, it's just a few hours a day to be a "full time" student, and I can laze around for 18 months. More time to shoot.

Now, excuse me, I am going to request a reloading press for Christmas this year.

SWG server closings.

2009-09-15T21:34:00.003-04:00

I realized I write some of my best stuff in forums.

SOE announced that they would be closing down several Star Wars Galaxies servers in October. One of them is the server I played on, Lowca. Blues News has a nice discussion going on. I had to chime in. (The first part is another poster)

like tens of people suddenly crying out... then silenced on the 15th of the next month.

It was fun. Then we asked for content, and they changed systems instead. Then we asked for content, and they gave everyone Jedi. Then we asked for content, and they tried to make it a 3rd person shooter. Then most people gave up and moved on, and SOE has been trying to figure out WTF went wrong.

It's like the prequels. We asked for more awesome Star Wars, and Lucas gave us Gungans instead. Then we asked for more awesome Star Wars, and Lucas killed off all the coolest character in the prequels, had Darth Vader build Threepio, and had Natalie Portman fall for a whiney bitch. Then we asked for more awesome Star Wars, and laughed at the end of Revenge when Vader tries his best Charlie Sheen imitation.

Nigerian government demands apology from Sony

2009-09-09T22:15:00.002-04:00

STORY

Sony should respond thusly:

Dear Nigeria,

We sorry for portray your country as home for lawlessness and infamous scams. We be happy to pay for advertising portray untruthiness of said portrayal in the amount of $2 Million US dollars. We send check for $4 million, you cash and send back $2 million.

Having a good day!
Sony

Looser VS Loser

2009-09-07T14:09:00.000-04:00

New blog, by yours truly. Hopefully this will help some of the dumbasses out there.

Yar, man cave!

2009-08-31T23:23:00.003-04:00

Man cave! No women allowed, yar!

No, I don't like orange at all. Why do you ask?

Sibling love!

2009-08-31T22:31:00.002-04:00

A while ago, my long lost biological sister found me. Luckily for me, she is witty, funny, and seems very nice. (And someday we may even meet!)

Fortunately for me, I have a younger brother that I grew up with. He's AWESOME.

Jeremy would respond like that because he is a gun toting asshole just like his dad

Feeling the love, bro! Feeling the love!

Of course I could be petty and point out all the times I tried to help him out, only to have him stab me in the back. I could point out how he would sponge off of his friends and even fuck over his own mother to get what he wants, but I won't do that.

I'll just sit here and laugh and know that life stuck him exactly where he should be.

POOTRAP!

2009-08-26T19:44:00.001-04:00

New WoW races

2009-08-12T10:32:00.002-04:00

As reported @ WoW.com , the new expansion should feature the Worgen as the new Alliance race, and Goblins as the new Horde race.

Hey, I'm all for that. I'd love a Worgen character. Actually, I'd probably start a new Worgen and transform one of my older characters into one as well. (Go, go paid character customization!)

Do I believe the rumor? Sure. They have only had Halloween masks for playable races so far, and these are now in as Halloween masks. They also have confirmed with their sources. And let's face it, when Draenei and Blood Elves were leaked before the BC announcement everyone called shenanigans. Those ended up being the real expansion races. I guess we'll all find out for sure ina couple of weeks when they announce it at Blizzcon. (Come on, Ozzy is playing. Bark at the Moon? Worgen? You know it's true.)

I'd go there!

2009-08-12T10:23:00.000-04:00

see more Fail Blog

Dream Theater Setlist Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, Progressive Nation 2009 | setlist.fm

2009-08-11T14:07:00.001-04:00

Dream Theater Setlist Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, Progressive Nation 2009 | setlist.fm

Shared via AddThis

Pimping the GSG-5

2009-08-08T21:47:00.003-04:00

Ordered a claw style mount, which I installed my Walther PS22 sight on. Also installed 2 of 4 H&K push pins that replace the cheap screws that hold on the furniture.

Seattle Bank Teller Loses Job After Thwarting Heist

2009-08-04T10:57:00.002-04:00

STORY

A disclaimer before I bitch about this story: I think this guy is an idiot. From the story:

Nicholson, who could not be reached for comment Monday, told The Seattle Times it wasn't the first time he had pursued a thief, citing past experiences with shoplifters at retail jobs in New York and California.

"It's something I almost look forward to," Nicholson said. "It's a thrill and I'm an adrenaline-junkie person. It's the pursuit."

Basically it sounds like he wants to be Batman or he's in the wrong profession entirely. He could have gotten people killed for his "thrill" and deserves to be fired.

HOWEVER, the police quote in the story really pisses me off.

Seattle Police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb:

"It really doesn't matter if you're a bank teller or a citizen walking down the street. Generally speaking, it's best to be a good witness," Whitcomb told FOXNews.com. "And quite honestly, this is also true for people who are off-duty police officers too."

In the event of a crime in progress, Whitcomb urged citizens to get a description of the suspect, especially of his or her clothing.

"It's best to help the people who are on duty, to help them catch the person," he said. "There's just so many bad people out there and there's so many variables."

Just days before the bank incident, Whitcomb said a clerk at a local convenience store in Seattle was killed when he tried to stop an armed robbery in progress.

"Would that have happened if the clerk just let the guy take the cash? I don't know," Whitcomb said.

Because Law Enforcement doesn't ever want to stop something bad from happening, they just care about catching the criminal afterward. It's safer for everyone EXCEPT THE VICTIM. So, if I am walking down the street and see a guy beating an old lady for her purse, I am supposed to make a mental note of what he looks like and let him do whatever he wants to the old lady. Then, after she dies from her injuries, I can point the police to the guy who did it so he can be punished. I'm sure the old lady is very grateful. No, wait, she's dead.

Serve and protect my ass.

Mr. Hawk was not happy.

2009-08-03T17:32:00.005-04:00

He was sitting in a tree between 81 South and the PA Turnpike entrance. Screeching. Loudly. Repeatedly. I decided to snap his picture because, frankly, I was bored as hell and had been sitting in traffic for 3 hours. Sorry, I don't have a great zoom function, but he's in the middle tree. Squint. He's there. I swear.

P.S. Click on the pictures for a bigger view.

Tiffani Thiessen is busy!

2009-07-31T11:34:00.001-04:00

Tiffani Thiessen is Busy from Tiffani Thiessen

Nice. For some reason, however, her mannerisms and voice remind me of Amanda Tapping.

Gun Control

2009-07-30T16:20:00.002-04:00

Found this today while I was reading some firearm forums. This is where we are headed already.

You're sound asleep when you hear a thump outside your bedroom door.. Half-awake, and nearly paralyzed with fear, you hear muffled whispers. At least two people have broken into your house and are moving your way. With your heart pumping, you reach down beside your bed and pick up your shotgun. You rack a shell into the chamber, then inch toward the door and open it. In the darkness, you make out two shadows.

One holds something that looks like a crowbar. When the intruder brandishes it as if to strike, you raise the shotgun and fire The blast knocks both thugs to the floor. One writhes and screams while the second man crawls to the front door and lurches outside. As you pick up the telephone to call police, you know you're in trouble.

In your country, most guns were outlawed years before, and the few that are privately owned are so stringently regulated as to make them useless. Yours was never registered. Police arrive and inform you that the second burglar has died. They arrest you for First Degree Murder and Illegal Possession of a Firearm. When you talk to your attorney, he tells you not to worry: authorities will probably plea the case down to manslaughter.

What kind of sentence will I get?" you ask.

"Only ten-to-twelve years," he replies, as if that's nothing. "Behave yourself, and you'll be out in seven.."

The next day, the shooting is the lead story in the local newspaper.. Somehow, you're portrayed as an eccentric vigilante while the two men you shot are represented as choirboys. Their friends and relatives can't find an unkind word to say about them. Buried deep down in the article, authorities acknowledge that both "victims" have been arrested numerous times. But the next day's headline says it all: "Lovable Rogue Son Didn't Deserve to Die." The thieves have been transformed from career criminals into Robin Hood-type pranksters. As the days wear on, the story takes wings. The national media picks it up, then the international media. The surviving burglar has become a folk hero.

Your attorney says the thief is preparing to sue you, and he'll probably win. The media publishes reports that your home has been burglarized several times in the past and that you've been critical of local police for their lack of effort in apprehending the suspects. After the last break-in, you told your neighbor that you would be prepared next time. The District Attorney uses this to allege that you were lying in wait for the burglars.

A few months later, you go to trial. The charges haven't been reduced, as your lawyer had so confidently predicted. When you take the stand, your anger at the injustice of it all works against you. Prosecutors paint a picture of you as a mean, vengeful man. It doesn't take long for the jury to convict you of all charges.

The judge sentences you to life in prison.

This case really happened.

On August 22, 1999, Tony Martin of Emneth, Norfolk, England, killed one burglar and wounded a second. In April, 2000, he was convicted and is now serving a life term.

How did it become a crime to defend one's own life in the once great British Empire?

It started with the Pistols Act of 1903. This seemingly reasonable law forbade selling pistols to minors or felons and established that handgun sales were to be made only to those who had a license The Firearms Act of 1920 expanded licensing to include not only handguns but all firearms except shotguns.

Later laws passed in 1953 and 1967 outlawed the carrying of any weapon by private citizens and mandated the registration of all shotguns.

Momentum for total handgun confiscation began in earnest after the Hungerford mass shooting in 1987. Michael Ryan, a mentally disturbed Man with a Kalashnikov rifle, walked down the streets shooting everyone he saw. When the smoke cleared, 17 people were dead.

The British public, already desensitized by eighty years of "gun control", demanded even tougher restrictions. (The seizure of all privately owned handguns was the objective even though Ryan used a rifle.)

Nine years later, at Dunblane , Scotland , Thomas Hamilton used a semi-automatic weapon to murder 16 children and a teacher at a public school.

For many years, the media had portrayed all gun owners as mentally unstable or worse, criminals. Now the press had a real kook with which to beat up law-abiding gun owners. Day after day, week after week, the media gave up all pretense of objectivity and demanded a total ban on all handguns. The Dunblane Inquiry, a few months later, Sealed the fate of the few sidearm still owned by private citizens.

During the years in which the British government incrementally took away most gun rights, the notion that a citizen had the right to armed self-defense came to be seen as vigilantism. Authorities refused to grant gun licenses to people who were threatened, claiming that self-defense was no longer considered a reason to own a gun. Citizens who shot burglars or robbers or rapists were charged while the real criminals were released.

Indeed, after the Martin shooting, a police spokesman was quoted as saying, "We cannot have people take the law into their own hands.."

All of Martin's neighbors had been robbed numerous times, and several elderly people were severely injured in beatings by young thugs who had no fear of the consequences.. Martin himself, a collector of antiques, had seen most of his collection trashed or stolen by burglars.

When the Dunblane Inquiry ended, citizens who owned handguns were given three months to turn them over to local authorities. Being good British subjects, most people obeyed the law. The few who didn't were visited by police and threatened with ten-year prison sentences if they didn't comply. Police later bragged that they'd taken nearly 200,000 handguns from private citizens.

How did the authorities know who had handguns? The guns had been registered and licensed. Kinda like cars.

Sound familiar?

WAKE UP AMERICA; THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT IN OUR CONSTITUTION.

"..It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.."

––Samuel Adams

If you think this is important, please forward to everyone you know.. You better wake up cause your new president is going to do this very same thing over here if he can get it done. And there are stupid people in congress and on the street that will go right along with him.

The reason you don't bring your luggage to a safari

2009-07-30T08:31:00.000-04:00

Roof Luggage in Safari Park - View more free videos

More range fun!

2009-07-28T18:51:00.003-04:00

My new GSG-5 .22 rifle, and my Taurus 617. Love them both, but .357 Magnum rounds in that revolver STING! Time to order some ribber grips from Taurus to soften that slap.

You know someone is an idiot when...

2009-07-28T13:54:00.002-04:00

...they give you a "fact" but then when you ask them to prove their fact with a link or some sort of evidence, they link Google and tell you to find it.

People should be required to pass a course in debating before they are allowed to post on internet forums. You don't state something and then try to pass off the burden of proving your statement to the person you are debating. That just means you don't know, you didn't research it, so your statement is bullshit until YOU can prove otherwise.

Snubby!

2009-07-27T22:13:00.002-04:00

Taurus 617. 7 round .357 magnum revolver in stainless steel.

Range day!

2009-07-19T01:58:00.003-04:00

Silly dog

2009-07-18T11:12:00.002-04:00

Ammo

2009-07-18T11:03:00.003-04:00

Left to Right: 9mm, .40 Smith and Wesson, .40 S&W hollow point, FN 5.7x28mm, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, 5.56x45mm

XD-40 - finally!

2009-07-13T20:44:00.005-04:00

I've been waiting to buy this gun for over a year. I tried it out in Maryland last year, and I have been trying to get my NYS pistol permit ever since. Well, it finally came in on Friday and on Saturday I rushed out to Timber Creek sporting goods and purchased my favorite pistol. (Only because they were closed Friday night. Friday I purchased a revolver that I have to wait to pick up.)

I went to my shooting range right after I picked up my gun, and fired off 150 rounds. I wished I'd had more, I could have shot all night. New range, and I love it compared to my old one. I'm still working on dusting off my pistol skills, but pretty much every round hit the target. I'm psyched!

Montour Falls

2009-07-12T13:23:00.005-04:00

The three WoW amigos!

2009-07-06T12:29:00.002-04:00

Joke

2009-06-22T15:21:00.002-04:00

What's the difference between a prisoner, a prostitute, and an American citizen?

A prisoner gets bent over and fucked.

A prostitute gets bent over, fucked, and gets paid for it.

An American citizen gets bent over, fucked, pays for it, and then pays for other people that got fucked that couldn't afford it.

New kitty!

2009-06-13T23:29:00.003-04:00

We adopted her from the Humane Society today. We named her Chiana. (Notice a trend with the pet names?) She's a Maine Coon/Tiger mix, and she's about 6 months to 1 year old.

Little Robins

2009-05-31T12:16:00.001-04:00

They get so big so fast!

2009-05-30T10:39:00.001-04:00

Flame War - Awesome

2009-05-27T18:11:00.000-04:00

Robin

2009-05-21T18:28:00.001-04:00

Someone decided to make our porch their new home...

Last Picture of Sly the cat

2009-05-21T18:20:00.003-04:00

STAR-15 in action

2009-05-21T18:18:00.001-04:00

Yeah, still no idea why Adobe insists on making this 4:3, when it was filmed in 16:9...

Priest in compromising photos admits two-year affair

2009-05-11T22:16:00.002-04:00

STORY

How dare he?!? He should be molesting little boys, not sharing the love of a woman!

Seriously, one of my many problems with the Catholic church is their idiotic tendency to cling to things that make no sense whatsoever.

Sly the cat - 1995(?) - May 9th, 2009

2009-05-09T16:54:00.002-04:00

Busty women, unite, or fatties, shut up!

2009-05-08T12:07:00.002-04:00

Fox News brings us this story, on busty UK women appalled at having to pay more for their bras.

Busty Women Protest Extra Charge for Large Bras in U.K.
Thursday, May 07, 2009

Print LONDON — Busty women have banded
together to battle Britain's largest clothing retailer over a surcharge for
extra-large brassieres.

Frustrated with failed attempts to convince
Marks & Spencer to drop a 2 pound ($3) extra charge for sizes DD and larger,
the women plan to take their fight to the company's annual meeting.

"They aren't listening to customers, maybe they'll listen to
shareholders," said Beckie Williams, a founder of Busts 4 Justice who has
purchased a share of M&S stock so she can attend the meeting. "People think
it would be great to have big boobs, but it's an emotional issue, it can make
you feel isolated, and shopping at Marks & Spencer can make you feel like a
freak when they charge you extra."

The group, which has grown to several
thousand members via Facebook, seems to have tapped into a reserve of
resentment.

"Women have kept this to themselves," Williams said. "The
outpouring has to do with women venting their frustration."

The issue is
important for M&S, which has long sold mid-priced underwear to a large
segment of the British population. The venerable institution is positioned
between high-class lingerie shops like Rigby & Peller (which has the queen's
imprimatur) and bargain-priced chains like Primark.

The company says the extra engineering and material needed for a
large size bra justify the markup, but the women say the policy is unfair,
especially since clothing stores do not charge more for extra large pants,
socks, or men's briefs.

The issue has simmered for nearly 10
months, but erupted several days ago when M&S officials publicly rebuffed
calls to change policy, prompting several female columnists to complain.

Prominent TV personality Ulrika Jonsson wrote Thursday in the Daily Mail
that the M&S policy is misguided.

"There aren't enough negative
adjectives to describe how much I hated having big boobs," said Jonsson, who
recently had breast reduction surgery. "So the suggestion that I'd have to pay
over the odds for a bigger bra is not only appalling; it's deeply insulting."

Britain's cleavage-friendly tabloid press jumped into the fray Thursday,
with The Sun taking an editorial stance against the extra charge. The newspaper
quoted some of its Page Three girls — who usually appear topless in the popular
feature — denouncing the surcharge as discriminatory.

The newspaper
illustrated its article with photos of prominent, bikini-clad show business
personalities who would have to pay the surcharge if shopping at M&S.

M&S spokeswoman Jessica Harris said in a
statement that it would be impossible to cut prices on large-size bras without
reducing quality.

"At DD and above, the weight of a woman's breast
requires additional support, fabric and structure in a bra and from our years of
experience we know it's critical not to cut corners on this," she said.

The conflict has given other retailers a chance to cut into
M&S' traditionally strong hold on the British underwear market. A number of
specialty online retailers are offering larger size bras — winning praise from
Busts 4 Justice — and the retail chain ASDA is emphasizing its "one price for
all" strategy.

"Why should bigger busted women be
penalized?" said Leah Watson, spokeswoman for George, the in-house ASDA brand.
"Obviously the majority of women can't choose their shape. People who are
shopping on a budget shouldn't have to pay more to look good or to feel good."

She said the company loses money by selling oversize
bras for as little as 4 pounds ($6), but does not want larger women to be
charged extra.

Notice the sections I highlighted in red. Women are complaining it is "unfair", however it costs more to make the bigger bras, and retailers that are selling them at the same price as smaller bras admit they are losing money. Basic economics, people. Shit like undercharging is why companies go under. (Or need to be bailed out)

Notice the green highlighted section. Recent studies have shown that women do have bigger busts, on average, than they used to. The reason? Women tend to be fatter, on average, than they used to be. Don't like the extra charges for all that breast fat? Get off your fat ass and exercise! I know, some women have bigger breasts just because of genetics. But a large (pun intended) majority of women with huge breasts have huge breasts because they are overweight. Don't tell me that is something that you can't change and shouldn't be charged for.
(And yes, I do agree with charging ridiculously overweight people for two seats on a plane or a bus. You would too if you ever got jammed in next to one on a 12 hour flight.)

Fired for private My Space discussion

2009-05-04T11:06:00.002-04:00

According to this story on CNN, two restaurant employees were fired after managers "got a hold of" the password to a private discussion group and didn't like what they saw. The employees are now suing, although lawyers say they don't know how the law applies here.

Well, civil crime or not, this clearly falls under the cyber crimes laws.

"Unauthorized access" entails approaching, trespassing within,
communicating with, storing data in, retrieving data from, or otherwise
intercepting and changing computer resources without consent. These laws relate
to either or both, or any other actions that interfere with computers, systems,
programs or networks.

Regardless of the fact that they possessed the password, the managers were not authorized users of the group, and thus have committed a crime.

Aw yeah, Stargate style!

2009-04-25T20:27:00.001-04:00

Gander Mountain, Dave Henderson, and the Binghamton Shootings

2009-04-25T11:22:00.002-04:00

Out local paper, the inept and - quite frankly - shitty Press and Sun-Bulletin posted an article today about the Gander Mountain employee - Dave Henderson - who was fired for running his mouth to the press about the Binghamton shootings.

In a nutshell, Henderson called the paper and told them that he recognized the suspect as a former customer. Gander Mountain proceeded to suspend and then fire him for talking to the press. Corporate policy at any place I have ever worked or been aware of is that only designated PR folks at the corporation are allowed to speak to the media. Every employee handbook I have ever read states that quite clearly, and implies dire consequences for those breaking this policy. Henderson was surprised by the move, which clearly implies he was ignorant.

Now, the reason I am agitated has nothing to do with the article, but rather with the completely ignorant mass of humanity that lives in Binghamton that decided to crawl out of the woodwork to add their commentary.

MsCommonSense83 wrote:
The First Amendment doesn't give him the right to shoot off his mouth duing a police investigation. His interview could have hurt the families.

Actually, yes it does, you ignorant bitch.

repairman wrote:

Well anyone knows that if you want a good gun you can get one from one of the other retailers who "care" about their employees and their reputations enough to check out the loose canons wanting to buy a gun. Whereas it seems here it is all about corporate image and this guy had the gall to tell the truth. Well if they had such a good corporate policy maybe they should have set in place some red flags about customers that posed potential problems.

Gander uses the NICS check, just like every single other fucking FFL dealer in the state. The guy had no flags raised on his paperwork, so Gander legally sold him firearms. I have no idea how you think they can "tell" he is a "loose cannon". Perhaps you're just such a fucking genius that you know by looking at people, but the rest of us are not as mentally well-endowed as you.

Bingoland wrote:

Nevertheless, I'm grateful for the information he gave about how easy it was for Jiverly to buy and trade guns when everyone knew he was a loose nut. This sounds like a place that would sell guns to Charles Manson so his information was valuable, even though he had to "take a bullet" himself.

If Manson had bought before his criminal acts, then yes, they would have legally sold him firearms. Just like you, or me, or anybody else that has not been proven guilty of a crime. So many of you dumb fucks are crying about the 1st Amendment while ignoring our right to be innocent until proven guilty.

musepd wrote:
So Gander Mountain is sensitive in issues like this. Too bad--then they shouldn't be in the business in the first place. Mr. Henderson was honest and straightforward. Now that's a terrible combination to have in an employee, isn't it?! Well, good luck Gander, you are going to need it. And Mr. Henderson, if I were an employer I would hire you on the spot!!

And because you are such an ignorant fuckbag, your business wouldn't last very long. IN this day and age of sue first, ask questions later, companies are damn well going to be paranoid about their image. Any company that lets its employees do whatever they wish isn't going to be a company very long.

my3boysmylife wrote:
Ii ususaly don't comment on these things but when I read this article I thought "HOW could somebody be fired because they spoke about this to ssomebody?" I am sick and tired of people getting fired for nonsense. This is America. It is still the place of free speech. I don't care what anybody said, he should not be fired for that. I don't know these people but I am tired of it all. This world is losing thier minds. And gander Mountain has lost more customers.

You're right. This is America. Perhaps you haven't lived here very long. Let me spell it out for you: The almighty dollar rules. Fuck you, fuck your rights. It's been proven over and over that politicians mouth reverence for the constitution while fucking your rights up the ass. Open your eyes. Until that shit changes, your freedoms mean just about nothing in the face of money.

So many people bitching about how this isn't right, and yet when it comes time for elections, 50% of Americans sit on their ass and trust others to do what is best for them. Ignorant dumbasses.

I write letters, I get involved, I try to get the word out about what is going on so that we don't all lose our rights to an increasingly facist government. Sometimes, however, just seeing how fucking stupid most of my fellow Americans seem to be makes me think you all deserve to be trampled on.

My two favorites

2009-04-25T11:13:00.003-04:00