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Survey

2007-06-20T19:09:00.000-04:00

1. Are you in a relationship?
Nope.

2. Do you hate more than 3 people?
Yes. Julie Guill at least three others I'm sure.

3. How many houses have you lived in?
Not counting apartments, 5.

4. What is your favorite candy bar?
Hershey's Special Dark

5. What are your favorite shoes?
Flip flops.

7. What was your least favorite subject this year?
Haven't taken classes in 2007 but I'm sure I'll hate my Statistics class at Purdue this fall

8. What was your favorite subject this year?
I'm sure my Machine Design class at Purdue will beat the Statistics class

9. Do you own a Britney Spears CD?
No.

10. Have you ever thrown up in public?
Like two months ago when I vomited at a bar AT the bar into a half cup of beer because Misha made me do a shot of vodka (and I knew I would throw up). I proceeded to leave the cup and my feet next to the bar, walk to the other side of the bar and order another beer. Puke and rally bitches.

11. Name something that's always on your mind.
Sex.

12. What is your favorite music genre?
Depends on my mood and time of day.

13. What is your sign?
Scorpio.

14. What time were you born?
9ish at night.

15. Do you like beer?
Unequivocally so.

16. Have you ever made a prank call?
I can't recall any one time but I'm sure I have.

17. What is the most embarrassing CD you own?
Ace of Base.

18. What are your favorite colors?
Blue & White

21. Summer or winter?
Summer.

22. Spring or fall?
Fall is Penn State football season.

23. What is your favorite color to wear?
Green.

24. Pepsi or Sprite?
Coke

25. What color is your cell phone?
Silver

26. Where is your second home?
Michigan

27. Have you ever slapped someone?
Outside of in-jest slaps, no.

28. Have you ever had a cavity?
Two when I was young.

29. How many lamps are in your bedroom?
1

30. How many video games do you own?
Four but I'm selling my Xbox 360. Anybody want to buy it?

31. What was your first pet?
Freckles, my Brittany Spaniel.

32. Have you ever had braces?
Even had head gear. I was hot.

33. Do looks matter?
Absolutely. I'm not kissing a pig no matter how much personality she has.

34. Do you use lipstick?
Nope.

35. Name 3 teachers from your school?
Mitchell, Day, & Moll.

36. American Eagle or Abercrombie?
Abercrombie

37. Are you too forgiving?
Yes.

38. How many kids do you want to have?
Unsure if I want them.

39. Do you own something from Hot Topic?
Nope.

40. What is your favorite breakfast?
Belgian waffles.

41. Do you own a gun?
No but I want to buy a Browning over-under double barrel shotgun.... and a Glock 22.

42. Have you ever thought you were in love?
Yes and I was.

43. When was the last time you cried?
Don't know.

44. What did you do 2 nights ago?
Got drunk and made out with somebody I shouldn't have

45. When was the last time you went to Olive Garden?
Three months ago with Samantha.

46. Have you ever called your teacher dude?
Yes.

47. Have you ever been in a castle?
Yes, Neuschwanstein in Germany.

48. What are your nicknames?
Snyder, Snyd, Le Snyd, & Hugs.

49. Do you know anyone named Bertha?
Nope.

50. Have you ever been to Kentucky?
Not that I recall.

51. Do you own something from Banana Republic?
Yes. I love that store but nothing ever fits through the shoulders for me.

53. Have you ever called someone Boo?
Yes.

54. Do you smoke?
On occasion with booze present.

55. Do you own a diamond ring?
Nope.

56. Are you happy with your life right now?
It could be better. It could be worse. I'm content.

57. Do you dye your hair?
Nope. But I've thought about it... to get rid of the grey.

60. What were you doing May of 1994?
Laughing about John "One Nut Kruk" Kruk's one nuttedness.

61. Do you own a Backstreet Boys CD?
I made a compilation disc for work once. But it got ruined.

62. McDonalds or Wendy's?
Burger King.

63. Do you like yourself?
More than I used to.

64. Are you closer to your mother or father?
Mother.

65. Favorite feature of the opposite sex?
Calves

66. Are you afraid of the dark?
Nope.

67. Have you ever eaten paste?
Don't recall ever doing it, but I'm sure I have or will in the future. I take stupid dares.

68. Do you own a web cam?
Nope.

69. Do u like anyone?
Yes.

Gas & Stupid People

2007-05-16T22:49:00.000-04:00

So May 15th came and went. Thank fucking god. I'm referring to the National Do Not Buy Gas Day and more importantly to the annoying emails and text messages I got all weekend. You know the one I'm talking about.

“Do not buy gas on May 15, 2007. In April 1997, there was a ‘gas out’ conducted nationwide in protest of gas prices. Gasoline dropped 30 cents a gallon overnight… There are 73,000,000-plus Americans currently on the internet network, and the average car takes about $30 to $50 to fill up. If all users did not go to the pump on the 15th, it would take $2,292,000,000 out of the rich oil company’s pockets for just one day. So please do not go to the gas station on May 15, and let’s try to put a dent in the Middle Eastern oil industry for at least one day.”

First and foremost ... "Internet network?" Uh... that's like saying Yankees fans are a nuisance irritation. The Internet is the network fuck nuts.

Second... 73,000,000 American on this internet network? With a recent Pew research study stating that 77% of 18-29 year olds, 75% of 30-49 year olds, 58% of 50-64 year olds, and 22% of 65-death year olds are on the net. My guess is any kid old enough to play Nintendo is on the net, coupled with a population of over 300,000,000 people, the number should be around 150,000,000 or more for people on the "internet network."

Third, let's assume 73,000,000 Americans are on the net and we get all of them to not buy gas on May 15th, it's not going to cost them $2.292 billion. Why? Ok, so who reading this blog actually fills up their tank every day of the week? Um... not me. I have a normal commute, a midsize sedan, and I fill up about once a week. Let's put that me as the average. So, I drive about 15,000 miles a year and I average between the city and highway about 24 mpg (about 20 in the city, and 31 on the highway). Doing simple math, I use 625 gallons of gas a year. My tank holds 16.4 gallons but I typically fill up with about 1.5 gallons left so lets say I refill every 15 gallons. That means I refill 41.67 times year or every 8.75 days. For sake of an argument I'll round down to 8 days. So using this math, only one in eight people will fill up per day. So 73,000,000 people just became 9,125,000 and $2,292,000,000 just became $365,000,000 -- A big vast difference.

And now here's comes the biggest flaw of logic. The oil companies are not actually losing $365,000,000. Why? Because you'll end up just refilling the day before or day after this "boycott." The monthly average will still be the same and the oil companies are just laughing at you. And I say "boycott" in quotations on purpose. A real boycott requires actual sacrifice. Re-arranging the day you buy gas is not sacrifice. Sacrifice is moving closer to work, riding your bike more, buying a more fuel efficient vehicle. "Boycotting" for one day may make you feel better but it doesn't actually do a damn thing.

And to people who say "but lets just boycott Exxon-Mobil," you're foolish as well. You see gas prices are at $3 a gallon because of the laws of Supply & Demand. Gas prices increase because the cost of a barrel of oil increases. That is because the demand for the product has increased. Exxon-Mobil and other companies do not control the cost of oil. And to others who say they make too much. Yes they made about $36 billion last year on a total revenue of $328 billion. $36 billion sounds like a lot but that's simply only 11%. Most companies like to have a profit of 10-12%. That's normal for a good, stable company. 11% is not ridiculous. In contrast, Citigroup profits were 20.5% (24.64/120.24 billion), Altria posts profits of 15% (10.41/68.92 billion) and yet people don't complain about corporate profits when buying Kraft Mac & Cheese.

And more importantly adjusted for inflation, the increase in the cost of gas has risen steadily since before the time of Jesus. I believe adjusted gas was most expensive in 1981, not now. So stop complaining. Here's a chart of the last 35 years adjusted for inflation:

(Ignore the red circles. I made this chart for another article about GM's stock price in relation to gas prices. You can find that here)

Sure there's a steep climb since 2003 but hmm... haven't we been fighting a war in the area we get our oil from since 2003? Hmm... maybe that's it and not the oil companies fault. That's like blaming Hershey's when they raise prices because the price of Cacao from South America skyrockets. Or let's of course ignore the fact that this decade has seen an enormous middle class surge in India, China, and other third world countries. Take a look at the auto industry. Everyone is investing in China (where GM (mainly Buick) is #1 and VW is a close second) and India many times more than in any other part of the country. A growing middle class has meant another enormous surge in the demand for oil. Get a clue you idiots.

Furthermore, "boycotting" the figure head company in a market doesn't do shit. Let's say we all boycott Exxon-Mobil and nobody buys their gas. Sure the demand for their gas will drop, supply will go up and their prices will fall. But nobody is buying their gas so it won't matter. But here's the kicker, with Exxon-Mobil not selling any gas, every other company will be selling more. These companies will have the same supply but have an increased demand and thus they will raise prices. This problem will escalate until people realize the problem and start buying gas at Exxon Mobil again and the market will settle back down. Point of the story, you'll end up paying more during the boycott for no gain.

The root of the gas problem is demand. Demand is going up every year. The only way to decrease demand is to lower your usage but people don't want to do that. Therefore I suggest that we bomb China, India, Canada, Northeast Jersey (just because), Sicily (because I'm sick of people telling me how cool they are because they're Sicilian -- guess what... I don't care) and Ohio (who really lives there anyway?). Eliminating these areas and others will decrease demand, increase supply, and lower the price of a barrel of oil on the open market. Or we could reduce our consumption... but then again that's not exactly the American way.

Either way though, stop stuffing my inbox with stupid boycotts that have absolutely no chance of doing a goddamn thing.

Oh, and I bought gas on May 15th just in spite of all you dumb fucks.

Stupid people make me lose faith in humanity.

Traffic

2007-01-31T20:41:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of Autoblog, I have a video to share with you all today. It's a video of soldiers somewhere in Iraq navigating traffic. Enjoy.

Shocked? Well, think of it this way. If they stop and sit in the traffic, the soldiers become a sitting duck target for an idiot with an IED. So... would you want to be polite and sit in traffic? Nope? Neither would I. I mean... it's not a polite thing to do and probably pisses off a lot of Iraqis but if it keeps you AND them alive I suppose its understandable. It's saves them because many more Iraqis get killed when IEDs go off in urban areas than soldiers do. I'll put it to you this way... would you want to be in your car stuck in traffic in front or behind a US Military HUMVEE? Once again, neither would I.

Besides, think of it this way. What would you do if you saw a speeding HUMVEE behind you with a 0.50 caliber machine mounted on it, and blaring it's horn? Personally, I'd pull over before he tried to bump me off the road.

My favorite part has got to be when the driver bumps the bus. Of course... isn't this what bumpers are for... you know... bumping?

Dumbass

2007-01-26T18:47:00.000-05:00

Just another piece of evidence proving that you can be a dumbass and still make lots of money in the music business. Akon, or otherwise known as Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (yes, that's his actual name), is just a giant dumbass.

You'd think that a rapper putting an album out would double check what he was saying so he didn't sound like an idiot but no, not Akon. You see, in his latest song Smack That, Akon mispronounces the name of Lamborghini's newest car, the Gallardo. Here's the lyric.

I feel you creepin', I can see you from my shadow.
Wanna jump up in my Lamborghini Gallardo.
Maybe go to my place and just kick it, like Taebo.
And possibly bend you over.

Instead of pronouncing it correctly as Gui-yar-do, genius Akon says Ga-lar-do. This wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that he owns one, drives it daily and tells everybody about it. It's an orange one to boot. Doesn't he know that all Lamborghini's should be yellow? At the very least though, you'd think that the local Lamborghini dealer would have "smacked that" and made him say it right when he was buying it. Guess not.

Get a clue Akon.

Decisions

2007-01-24T16:31:00.001-05:00

So now that I've graduated, its time to think of what to do about grad school. Should I start immediately? I think that's pretty obvious. I'm not married. I don't have any kids and well, I have too much time on my hands right now. So, it's definitely time to go back to school.

The problem I'm having is not where to go but what to study. I know I eventually want my MBA maybe with a Management, Finance, or Economics focus but that's down the line. Right now, I want to go back to school for something technical. The obvious choice is a M.Eng. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, but is it?

I just started my career and have no idea where its going to go. I spoke to my supervisor about this and when he asked me where I saw myself... I didn't have an answer. Hell, I don't even know if the aerospace industry is where I want to stay let alone if I want to stay in test engineering or move to reliability, design, manufacturing, or into engineering management.

So without knowing all of this, how can one choose a program to study? Areas that I'm considering are Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a custom Engineering Science program that focuses on Quality, Decision Making and Engineering Systems. The E. Sci degree is interesting and could be useful but wouldn't an MBA with a management focus cover all of this? So that keeps making me lean back to Mechanical Engineering. But, do I really want to do that?

The question that I keep asking myself is "will an M.Eng. be marketable for me." The reason I doubt its marketability is because I definitely see myself going into project management. I don't see myself being a lab rat my entire career but being a lab rat is something that I can see myself enjoying for the next ten years.

I think any of the choices I'm thinking about are good so it all comes down to making a decision and sticking with it.

Ugh... school sucks.

Help

2007-01-23T15:44:00.000-05:00

Here are two great Dilbert cartoons that succinctly illustrate how I feel when people me to help them with their computer problems.

People who ask for help and don't want to learn annoy me the most. If I'm going to help, I expect you to pay attention and learn something because I don't want to help you again for the same reason. The "I don't care what happened or how to fix it... just do it" attitude and mentality pisses me off. If you knew how you broke it, you wouldn't have broken it in the first place. Get a clue.

Residence

2006-12-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

Come January 2nd, 2007, I will be a resident of New Haven, CT and I can't wait. Two weeks ago, I drove up to Connecticut to check out some places to live. Thankfully, I was helped by Misha and Vanessa who live in the area.

After the first two places sucking horribly, I checked out a third place that I had found through Craigslist. It was a gorgeous old house in New Haven, about two minutes from downtown and Yale. According to the house residents, its a $7 cab ride to the nice bars in town and only a 20 minute drive to work (of which traffic is minimal).

The best part though is that the residents in the house. Instead of the pedophiliac looking middle aged gay dude of the first place, I'll be living with two cute girls in their mid twenties who self proclaim to like to go out a lot. I can't wait. Hopefully, they'll have a lot of hot friends I can meet.

So, if anybody will be in New Haven make sure to give me a ring.

Sweetness

2006-12-19T15:59:00.000-05:00

I can now upload to a blog from within Microsoft Word 2007. This is so fucking dope. No longer do I have to deal with Blogger's crappy interface and piss poor attempt of a spell checker. It's too bad my computer at home is a Mac and I don't have my own copy of Word 2007. I definitely recommend picking up Office 2007. It's so dope with an entire new look and streamlined interface that is so much more efficient and attractive to boot.

Ugly

2006-11-26T18:44:00.000-05:00

For the past two weeks, no matter where I go I can't escape girls wearing this outfit. Penn State, Detroit, Pittsburgh... it doesn't matter. Everywhere I go, I run into girls, who otherwise would be hot, wearing this ugly ass outfit.

What the fuck is up with it and where did it come from? Sex & The City isn't on anymore so girls are no longer stealing every fashion and social idea from it so it must have been in a magazine. Most likely it was one page after a list of 101 things to turn your man on, which by the way are: 1. Feed him 2. Fuck him 3. Shut up the fuck up 4. Repeat.

But seriously, who thinks this outfit looks good? It looks fucking retarded. It looks like a mix between bad 80s fashion and Olivia Newton-John's bad girl outfit in Grease. Girls, ditch the ugly belt and switch out the red heels for black ones. You'll look much better. Or just go naked. That works too.

All girls should take fashion advice from me. I'm awesome.

Tags: Fashion

Wheels

2006-11-18T12:46:00.000-05:00

With my recent job offer from Sikorsky coming in, I decided it was time to return the Jimmy and buy a car. Let me tell you, it's hard to find a Saab in central Pennsylvania let alone a Saab with a manual transmission here. Luckily the dealer in town just picked this one up at auction and called me about it.

It's a 2003 Saab 9-3 Arc in Cosmic Blue with pretty much every option. The best part is that even though it's a 2003, it only has 24,000 miles on it. I love the color so much. It stands out from everything else in a parking lot.

The car drives like a dream. A 210 horsepower turbo 2.0L engine with a six speed manual transmission... mmm. I already have gotten it up to 120 mph on a back country road. Its so fast. I'm going to get so many speeding tickets.

Tags: Saab

Milestone

2006-10-10T22:51:00.000-04:00

Well the job search has reached a milestone for me. No, it wasn't the first interview or even the first career fair but it is another first. I got my first rejection letter today. I knew even before opening it when I saw the small, thin envelope. Oh well, I didn't want to work for Williams anyway, nor did I want to live in Houston, TX.

To celebrate, I hung the letter up on my wall with the line "We regret to inform you" highlighted in hopes that it'll inspire me to continue applying to companies that won't hire me. Hopefully, I can fill the entire door with rejection letters before I get an offer. I'm coming after your record Budura.

Tags: Jobs

Nooooo

2006-09-23T04:31:00.000-04:00

Chieh's website is no longer available. Where else can I find the mathematical formula for love amidst the ever elegant Macromedia Flash setup? Nowhere I say. I'm crying inside, I swear.

Tags: Douchebag

Stingray

2006-09-18T03:30:00.000-04:00

After a night of drinking, following the end of the Penn State - Youngstown State game, Pineapples came up with a trio of songs off the top of his head. The first was a song about Steve Irwin. The second was about Scott Peterson and the third was about Bobby Brown.

Now since I only have nine credits this semester and have way too much time on my hands, I pieced together a Stingray clip for YouTube. Enjoy.

External link for the clip.

Tags: Steve Irwin, Stingray, & Drunk

Anniversary

2006-09-11T13:38:00.000-04:00

Today is September 11th and it's been five years since hmm... September 11th. It's such a good thing that we're celebrating the anniversary because I have clearly forgotten what happened. I think it was something about planes, right?

Of course I am sympathetic for the families but lets please acknowledge what these events truly are: publicity events for politicians to show how much they care and support us -- which they don't because the middle class does not financially support their campaigns. We only elect them.

I'm so sick and tired of hearing about 9/11. It's hard to turn on any media venue without hearing about it over and over again. Hearing that we are now in the post 9/11 age. How we dodged the bullet having Bush in the White House instead of Gore and Kerry. Hearing about how the world has changed so much since 9/11. Bullshit, not much has changed. There have only been two true changes: longer lines at the airport and a pointless war that hasn't affected many of us.

So excuse me if I yawn while reading about the memorial services.

Tags: Publicity

Rules

2006-09-09T21:49:00.000-04:00

I'm in a bad mood. Partly because Notre Dame beat us today but mostly because of douchebags calling to harass me about it. The problem is that some people don't follow the rules of harassment, especially the rules of who is and is not allowed to harass me.

The case tonight was my brother decided to have his current girlfriend call me of which I haven't met yet. It would have been fine if he called me because he's family but I don't know her. I didn't even recognize the number and then she thought it was funny that I couldn't figure out who she was. Fuck you dumb bitch, stop annoying me. You go to Iona. Do they even have a football team?

So what are these rules? Here's the list of who's allowed to harass me.

My family --- family is always allowed
People who attend my school
People who attend the opponent's school
Alumni of both schools
Very close friends

That's it. No more. Here's a list of people not allowed to harass me.

People who don't go to college
People who are fans of the opponent but don't attend there
People I don't know or those I barely know
and everyone else I've neglected to discuss

Another case of why I'm writing this was last year when Michigan beat us on the last play of the game, a friend of my brother called me to harass me. He's one of those loser bandwagon "I love Michigan" fans. Such a disgrace. Such a loser. It took a lot of will power to not drive home and beat his ass.

Failure to respect and obey these rules is justification for me kicking your ass and/or never speaking to you again. And no, its not just a game. We Penn Staters live and breath college football and its not our fault that you can't understand it. And you never will. Its impossible to understand what college football means to us and its impossible for me to explain it to you. Mostly because you go to no name colleges without football teams. But you don't see me calling you every weekend harassing you about how much your school sucks. Why? Because no ones heard of it douchebag. Shut up, hang up the phone, and put the cock back in your mouth.

Tags: College Football

Tradition

2006-08-26T17:58:00.000-04:00

With all the hype about Notre Douche the past few weeks, I thought that a reality check was in order.

"You're going to hear all about the Notre Dame tradition and you know what, it doesn't mean a thing unless Knute Rockne leaps out of the ground and tackles you. Their field has one hundred yards and two goal posts, just like every other football field. When you put those black shoes on tomorrow, and you put on that jersey without your name on the back, and you put on that plain helmet on, that's tradition, PENN STATE'S tradition."

- Joe Paterno (before Penn State's 24-14 victory over Notre Dame in 1982)

Thanks Joe. This football season is going to be amazing.

Tags: Penn State, Notre Lame, & College Football

Legos

2006-07-08T11:23:00.000-04:00

If the World Cup was played by Lego-men, this would be it. Be sure to look for the naked Lego-man streaking across the field.

Update
The link stopped working so here's another version from You Tube.

Tags: Legos, Soccer, & World+Cup

Quiz

2006-06-21T20:14:00.000-04:00

A friend passed along to me a new quiz called the Hitler vs. Coulter Quiz. Given quotes, you are supposed to decide which person said it. Enjoy.

Here's the quiz.

Tags: Politics, Hitler, & Coulter

Texting

2006-06-15T19:13:00.000-04:00

Today's conversation over text messaging with my youngest sibling:

Me:

Him:

Me:

Him:

Credit is due to Depressed Writer for teaching me one of the best insults ever.

Tags: Texting, Coat Hanger & Insults

Amendment

2006-06-15T17:45:00.000-04:00

With the House of Representatives recent passing of an amendment to the Constitution that would ban flag burning and further reduce our civil liberties, especially our freedom of speech, I would like to revisit an entry that I wrote almost one year ago when this was in the news.

Link

Tags: Politics, Congress, Flag Burning, & Free Speech

Damien

2006-06-07T22:16:00.000-04:00

Born on 6/6/06 weighing in at 6 pounds and 6 ounces - six days after being induced, a couple in the UK named their child Damien in honor of their favorite movie - The Omen.

Full story here.

Tags: Satan & The Omen

Noah

2006-06-03T18:46:00.000-04:00

Tags: Noah, Religion, & Joe Rogan

Stock

2006-05-27T16:14:00.000-04:00

I was checking GM's stock price the other day. I check it every so often but recently, I've been doing it more because its been on a nice rise (from $19 to $26.50 a share) over the past few months. The market has decided to appreciate it again after GM's major plans to turn the company around. You can check out the stock here.

As I was saying, I was checking out the stock the other day and maxed out the chart (it goes back beyond 1965) and something struck my eye. It was the giant dip in 1975. This got me thinking -- wasn't the gas shortage around that time? So, I decided to dig a little deeper and found some statistics on the average gas prices for the past 35 years (the data I found was for California -- which can be found here)

As anyone can see, GM's stock price greatly decreased whenever gas prices shot up. The stock took a dive in 1975, 1982, 1992, and once again in 2006 as gas prices, adjusted for inflation, are almost at their highest. The average price of gas in 2005 was $2.47 while it was $2.50 in 1982.

I just thought it was some interesting data that I would pass on. Ford and Toyota showed similar patterns as well, although I couldn't find any data for Toyota prior to 1993.

Perhaps what's good for General Motors is good for America as the saying goes ... and vice versa.

Tags: Gas Prices, GM, Auto Industry, & Stock Market

HomeDock

2006-05-26T13:55:00.000-04:00

From Uncrate comes a story about a new iPod accessory that finally has a function that truly is useful. The item is the HomeDock Deluxe from DLO.

The new feature, a first in the industry according to Uncrate, displays the iPod's menu on your TV where you can you navigate from across the room (mainly sitting on your couch) with a remote. Additionally, you can hook up the iPod to your TV or home speaker system instead of investing in a dock and remote with little self-contained crappy speakers. Of course, the home speaker and remote features aren't new, but the TV menu capability is great.

Its too bad the device costs $150.

Tags: iPod, TV & Technology

Hater

2006-05-26T13:42:00.000-04:00

So I have a new enemy in the world of blogs. A co-worker of mine recently created a blog about how much my blog sucks. Check it out here. Personally, I think its hilarious well except for the latest entry.

DISCLAIMER: There's an image that is really, really gross on it.

Tags: Blogging

Gore

2006-05-21T14:26:00.000-04:00

Have you ever imagined what the world would be like had Al Gore been ~~elected~~ sworn in as President instead of George W. Bush? Well, a week or two ago Saturday Night Live did just that. Here's the opening bit.

Tags: Gore, SNL, & President

Ringtones

2006-05-11T14:40:00.000-04:00

I got a new phone this week because my last one died on me. It turns on but for some reason none of the buttons work. Luckily my contract was going to expire in August and I was able to sign a new contract. So I picked upp the RAZR for $80, which is pretty sweet.

The phone is awesome. It looks badass. It has a speakerphone, a camera, and most importantly bluetooth. I love bluetooth equipped phones. I had it on my last phone too. With it, I'm able to sink the address book on the phone with the one on my laptop wirelessly. The best part is that it allows you to browse the files on the phone from a computer. This allows me to make my own ringtones and put them on the phone instead of buying them for $3.99 through Cingular. It kicks ass. So, I pretty much spent my afternoon making ringtones for people. This is what I came up with:

Anybody have suggestions or requests for their personalized ringtone?

For people who have the phone or pretty much any other phone with Bluetooth and want to know how to make their own ringtones, this is how I did it:

Open up iTunes.
Export the song you want
Open the song up in Quicktime (you may need Quicktime Pro)
Trim the song down to a 20 or 30 second segment
Save the song as a .MOV file.
Import the new file into iTunes
Open the Preferences for iTunes
Change the Importing function to MP3 Encoder and set a custom bitrate of 64kbps
Find the imported file, right-click and select "Convert Selection to MP3"
Export the file
Transfer the file to your phone

Good luck.

Tags: Ringtones, RAZR, Bluetooth, & Cell Phones

Roast

2006-05-11T11:33:00.000-04:00

The White House Correspondence Dinner was a little while ago. This year Stephen Colbert, the host of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, was the guest speaker. The character Stephen plays is one similar to Bill O'Reilly except thats its a very satirical take on him. Colbert's character is a staunch Republican who believes every word the President says and thinks that any criticism or deviation from what the President says is pretty much equivalent to heresy.

So it confused me when the committee chose Colbert as their guest. Why would they pick someone who's TV show blatantly skewers the administration? Did they not get it? Did they not understand that he would harshly lampoon them and the "liberal media" during the entire speech? I guess not. I suppose they thought he would go easy on them. Well, they were wrong and I was right. Well, except that I expected Colbert to mention how he hates bears and their "liberal bear agenda," a favorite topic on his show.

Colbert shredded the administration. He mocked the press and even took a shot at the First Lady and her reading initiative. His speech was the talked about for days after the event. Republican and Democrat talking heads couldn't understand why Colbert went where he did. They were disgusted that he didn't make it softer and more respectful, especially since the President was sitting about three feet away.

But how can you blame Colbert? He's famous for doing exactly what he did that night. The committee knew who he was and booked him anyway. Shouldn't the outrage be not on Colbert but instead on the committee that selected him. Of course not, there's no public figure that represents the selection committee. It's just easier to go after Colbert and it's ridiculous.

But, such is life in the public punditry that are the 24 hour news channels. Because they have a lack of material to report, they comment relentlessly to their base on three topics a day, repeating them over and over again.

Personally, I loved his speech even though it was awkward for the location and audience. I found it hilarious. You can check it out here. The other highlight of the night was when Bush was accompanied by a Bush impersonator for a speech. You can check that out here.

There were two lines that I really enjoyed. The first was when Colbert urged Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, "and reality has a well-known liberal bias." The other was when he said that the recent shakeup in the administration was not simply rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic because "this administration is not sinking , its soaring." He went on say that it was rather rearranging deck chairs on the Hindenberg.

Tags: Politics, Stephen Colbert, & Satire

Dumb

2006-05-11T00:48:00.000-04:00

I'm dumb and I mean that in the strict definition of the word. I'm just unable to speak sometimes except not because of some physical abnormality but rather that I'm just stupid sometimes and can't think of what to say.

Typically I have no problem speaking with the ladies. I, by all means, have no "A" game, it's more like a "C" game. I have sporadic success but mostly because I rarely have any interest beyond lust. It's not because I'm just looking for a lustful relationship but rather because I rarely find somebody I'm truly interested in. Also, when I don't care a lot, I'm not worried about screwing it up.

The problem is that when I do find someone that I'm truly interested in, my "C" game gets downgraded to near failure. I get nervous. I overthink. I worry. I blurt out inappropriate comments. Ok, I blurt out inappropriate comments no matter who I'm taking to so that's a bad example. The point is that I'm just never myself and that's obviously a bad thing to be.

Everyone's solution to this is always "well just stop caring" or "pretend to be a dick... girls love dicks" and the sad truth is that both remarks are probably right. When you don't care or rather relax and not worry about everything you do and every word you say your true self comes out. Unfortunately that's easier said than done and I haven't been able to master that skill.

This all came up because I've liked somebody since well about October. Over the past few months I've rarely seen her but recently I've been seeing her a lot. And, by a stroke of luck she'll be in town this summer.

But my conundrum has surfaced once again. When I see her I just become an idiot. I get nervous. I become worried. I stumble over my words. I have long awkward pauses. I say stupid things. I don't take any chances. But the worst of it is that I can't read her. I can't tell if she's interested or not. I can't decide if I should make a move or not. Of course, I think that is half of the problem... the trying to read her part. I'm too worried about trying to read her instead of being myself and enjoying the time. I should be just taking my shot and seeing how I do because it is better to try and fail than to not try at all. But, I'm just a wuss.

This was supposed to be cathartic but it wasn't. Oh well. Such is life.

Tags: Women, Dating, & I am dumb

Graduation

2006-05-07T15:11:00.001-04:00

My brother Doug graduated this weekend from Michigan State where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Crop and Soil Science. As for his future, he's leaving on Tuesday for New York City where he's taken a position as an Assistant Superintendent at Wykagyl Country Club. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Playing quarters Friday night at Rick's
Obligatory brothers picture
Family photo in the gardens
Doug in front of his major's building
Walking in
That's Doug in the middle. Check out his buddy next to him. His girlfriend created a golf course, pin included, on his hat
Doug about to walk up
Receiving his diploma
Zoomed in version
Dinner afterward at Old Chicago
Tags: Graduation, Michigan State, & Photos

Vanity

2006-05-05T14:31:00.000-04:00

I really don't like vanity plates. No matter how creative or funny they are, I don't like them. I tend to make fun of every one I see and think the people who have them are lame.

For one thing, they probably (I'm not looking up statistics) cause accidents. People tend to tailgate cars with vanity plates in an attempt to read and figure out. I include myself in this group. It is impossible to ignore the tendency of attempting to comprehend the gibberish that is a vanity plate. We should be focusing on driving down the road instead of trying to figure out that YTOK BUG means the Y2K Bug. Mind you, I saw this on a model year 2000 VW Bug. Lame.

Well, I was driving up to Michigan State to party with my brother Doug before he graduates tomorrow and I came across this on a Volvo station wagon:

For those who don't understand, GRFNDOR is supposed to represent Gryffindor, one of the four houses within the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the crappy Harry Potter novels. I can't think of a better way to alert the world to the fact that you're a nerd and enjoy sub-par literature that was written for children. Oh, the car had a second bumper sticker plastered on the side window saying something like how the car was protected by magic.

People amaze me.

Tags: Nerds, Harry Potter, & Vanity Plates

Knight

2006-05-03T22:51:00.000-04:00

This guy has way too much time and money. Too bad the interior isn't tan like its supposed to be. Personally, all I really want to do is sit in it and push the turbo-boost button. But seriously, where can you buy the instrument panel for this thing? Who makes it?

Tags: Knight Rider, eBay, & Hasselhoff

Feeble

2006-04-28T10:38:00.000-04:00

On April 5, 2006, The Onion posted a story about Bush, his regimen of prayer, and its results called Critics Blast Bush For Not Praying Hard Enough. Excerpt from the article:

President Bush, already facing the lowest approval ratings in history, is coming under fire from former supporters over what they call his "ineffectual and incompetent" use of prayer for national guidance and assistance.

Despite assurances from the president that he "prays every day" for the nation's interests both at home and abroad, the mounting crises of recent months---escalating gas prices, the botched Dubai port security deal, ethics scandals, and the rising death toll in Iraq---have left many unimpressed with the effectiveness of his devotion. [...]

While newly released portions of White House prayer logs show that Bush's praying has actually gone up in recent months, critics are seeking to subpoena the documents in their entirety to determine the strength of those prayers. [...]

Susan DiDomenico of the National Prayer Task Force said her organization is seeking "full disclosure" of any and all prayers Bush may have skipped or manipulated to seem more effective or holy.

So that brings up the question of God. Perhaps it is God's fault. With Bush saying that he prays hard, could it be that God just isn't listening? But that wouldn't make sense as Bush is supposedly the God-appointed savior President for us all. Could Bush have done something against God's wishes prior to 9/11 to anger him? Maybe it was the stolen election that Katherine Harris masterminded.

Tags: Overlord, Bush, Prayer, & Ineffective

Cheese

2006-04-28T00:22:00.000-04:00

So my brother's friend, Mark, is graduating this semester from Western Michigan University with a bachelor's in Business Administration. Thats all fine and dandy but the point of the story is the gift that his parents are getting him. It's not a handshake or a frame for his diploma. It's not a new expensive laptop or even a car. Those gifts pale in comparison to the one he's getting.

His parents will be giving him a check for $225,000. Yes, that's not a typo. The soon to be pampered alumnus is getting close to a quarter mil. From what my brother said, his sister got the same thing when she graduated from Michigan State University a few years ago. She, like he is expected to do, bought a house with the money.

Must be nice.

Tags: Spoiled, Graduation, Western Michigan, & Scion

eBay

2006-04-24T01:30:00.000-04:00

Is there someone in your life that you want to get a gift for so that they can truly know how you feel about them? If so, do you often find it hard to find that perfect gift?

Well, look no more. An item on eBay is up for auction that will without a doubt perfectly express how you feel about that special person in your life.

Here's the link

Tags: eBay, Gift, & Feces

Oprah

2006-04-23T12:17:00.000-04:00

After catching a few minutes of Oprah on Friday where she attempted to get the audience to feel sorry for the heir to SC Johnson fortune and the granddaughter of billionaire Warren Buffet, my interest in writing about how much I hate Oprah resurfaced with a vengeance.

So, I googled "I hate Oprah" for some ideas that I could supplement my post with in case I forgot a few reasons for my hatred and I found a rant that was near perfect. Without question, my favorite line from it was I'm not saying that Oprah is Hitler or McCarthy - I'm saying she's both of them combined. Allow I generally discredit and disapprove of comparing anyone to Hitler because of Godwin's Law but I just couldn't pass this up. Enjoy.

I Hate Oprah
by: Brandon [Last name unknown]

I think a lot of people would beat around the bush with this one, so I am just going to come out and say it: I hate Oprah Winfrey. Maybe hate isn't exactly the right word, but somehow I would feel like less of a man admitting to the whole world that I am afraid of an aging, perpetually dieting, vegetarian talk show host. In reality, we should all be afraid.

Oprah Winfrey is a modern demagogue. She's like the soccer mom's Mussolini, prescribing what to wear, what to read, who to vote for, and even what to eat. The truth is, I just don't think that I, nor anyone else, really comprehend the limits of her power. And just think, ten years ago she was nothing more than the female equivalent of Geraldo Rivera - make that two Geraldo Rivera's. Or maybe she just ate Geraldo Rivera - it doesn't really make a difference. Oprah's rapid climb from talk show host to saint can go unnoticed no more. I volunteer to take the rap. I will accept the hate mail. I will shoulder the anger of thirty million women in the United States. I will do whatever it takes to get the word out: "I hate Oprah and you should too!"

Let's consider some of the facts. Okay, some approximations of the facts, but you'll get the idea. Nobel prize winning authors usually see their publication increase in the hundreds of thousands, at most, after winning the prize. However, if an author gets his or her book on Oprah's book list, he is guaranteed a spot on the New York Times' best-seller list. She is neither a respected author nor a respected literary critic, but Oprah speaks and millions read. And it seems like a simple observation, but when you consider the historical influence of what we read, the social ramifications of Oprah's guidance become clearer. During the Red Scare, people were branded communists based on what they read, and Hitler recognized the power of literature and focused much of the Nazi effort on censorship; so clearly, at least according to history, what people read has an effect on their social and political views. I'm not saying that Oprah is Hitler or McCarthy - I'm saying she's both of them combined.

Really, everyone has to recognize the power that Oprah wields over one of the most powerful voting blocs in the United States. For soccer moms, Oprah is Buddha and Jerry Springer all wrapped into one; she entertains, but at the same time she remains focused on the salvation of the soul. Everyday, hordes of women gather around the tele-pulpit and pray to the gods of Oprahism, people like Kevin Aucoin and Cindy Crawford, contemporary dieticians and designers; all capitalists posing as prophets on Oprah's multi-national stage.

No matter who you are, Oprah is not like you. The fact that she can convince you that she is should make you even more afraid of her than I am. I'll probably have my legs broken by angry mobs of women sent by Harpo Productions tomorrow, but today, I hate Oprah…and I'm sticking to that.

As great as I think the rant is, I think it clearly omits two of my prized reasons for hating Oprah (although the piece may have been written before both events). The first is the whole deal with Oprah giving away Pontiac G6s to everyone in her audience. She made no attempt to explain that she had not purchased them or that GM had donated them. So afterward, every soccer mom in the nation was talking about how great Oprah was for giving away the cars. She didn't give people shit.

Number two is the whole James Frey debacle. She invited on the show to explain the fiasco but all she did was publicly condemn him. Her purpose, as South Park recently outlined, was to fix her image. The fiasco had made her look bad because she recommended a book that was fluffed which according to many, made the book better.

Ugh. All I can say is "Oh, Minge!"

Tags: Oprah, James Frey, Minge, & Egotism

Jungleland

2006-04-23T11:47:00.000-04:00

Depressed Writer has written a fictional piece called Jungleland that I recommend everyone read. It's truly, in my opinion, a great story.

But, of course you're going to ask the question, "Do I really want to read a 20 page paper... I don't know if I'll like it." Well allow me to help. Do you like stories with drug use, Bruce Springsteen references, gratuitous sex scenes, the game of spin the bottle, the horror that is New Jersey, and shit getting blown up? If the answer to every question was a resounding "Hell yes I do" then the story is for you.

View it online

Download the PDF

Enjoy.

Tags: Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, Springsteen, & Fiction

Funeral

2006-04-22T18:53:00.000-04:00

From YouTube, a video on the demise of Apple's old operating system, Mac OS 9. Apparently with the introduction of Mac OS X (pronounced ten, not x), they held a funeral for the shitty, crappy operating system.

I think burning a copy of the software would have been more fitting. Without Mac OS 9's demise, I never would have bought my Powerbook.

I guess nerds do have at least a sliver of humor in them. Too bad Steve Jobs can't figure out that wearing black turtlenecks everyday is not a good thing.

Tags: Apple, Mac OS 9, Funeral, & Steve Jobs

Spaghetti

2006-04-22T18:24:00.000-04:00

From Uncrate, "a web magazine for guys who love stuff," comes a piece about a new sort of bible.

If you think your religion has some crazy ideas, you haven't seen anything yet. The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster ($11) is the accompanying guide to the new parody religion — born out of last year's battle between advocates of evolution and intelligent design — that worships a supernatural entity resembling spaghetti and meatballs.

Followers of the FSM, called Pastafarians, believe that pirates control global warming and natural disasters, that superstition trumps science no matter what, and that the FSM hid dinosaur fossils underground to dupe mankind. Oh yeah, and heaven has a stripper factory and a beer volcano.

You can check out the Church of the Flying Spaghetti's website here. Just like Maddox's site, one of the best parts of the site is the hate mail section.

Tags: Religion, Spaghetti, Books, & Uncrate

Methane

2006-04-22T17:16:00.000-04:00

Here's an interesting piece from GM's new FYI Blog about how they are reducing their consumption of natural gas.

One Man's Garbage is ...

Sharon Morton
GM Communications

You’d be surprised at what you can find in a great, big pile of garbage. Yeah, there’s all the usual stuff that we throw away on a daily basis. But, this garbage is actually producing enough energy to help power seven of GM’s facilities.

We are the largest direct, corporate user of landfill gas in the United States. Landfill gas is generated by rotting garbage in landfills. Our decision to use it as an energy source is a win-win situation. It’s good for the environment and also is a good business decision.

If unused, landfill gas is a waste product that is released at the landfill, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. At our facilities, the landfill gas is piped to the plant and combusted in boilers, providing a cost-effective, renewable energy source.

Landfill gas is an important part of our renewable energy portfolio. In fact, we are one of the leading users of renewable energy in the manufacturing sector in North America. Using renewable resources reduces our reliance on fossil fuels like coal and oil.

General Motors has reduced its natural gas consumption by 21 percent since 2000 and is expected to achieve its goal of a 25 percent energy reduction by the end of 2006.

The sum of landfill gas capacity at the seven GM operations using the fuel is equivalent to the energy needed to heat over 25,000 households, which represents about 1.6 trillion BTUs per year. Each landfill gas installation at a GM plant generates annual savings of greater than $500,000.

GM facilities using landfill gas are: assembly plants located in Orion Township, Mich.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Shreveport, La.; and a powertrain plant located in Toledo, Ohio. Two additional warehouse sites in Grand Blanc and Flint, Mich., utilize landfill gas by purchasing 13 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which is generated from a landfill gas-to-electricity program.

So, in other words, the garbage you throw out today might be used to help build your next vehicle.

It's quite interesting to me considering I'm from Orion Township where one of the plants is. They build Epsilon platform cars like the Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6 at this plant. I'm assuming they are piping the methane from the Waste Management landfill about a half mile or less away. I wonder if the other six plants are located near landfills as well.

Tags: Environment, GM, Methane, & Energy

Forsaken

2006-04-20T14:06:00.000-04:00

Dear Pineapples,

Why have you forsaken and abandoned me? Day after day now, I sit unused and alone in the driveway, hundreds of miles from you and I don't understand why. Do you not love me anymore? I still love you and I don't want this to be the end of our relationship. Do you not remember all the good times we've had together?

I know I'm not perfect. I know that I have my rusty spots and my engine needed rebuilt before but you stood by me then, so why leave now? I think I know the answer. You found that cheap floozy, Pontiac G6. She doesn't know what's right for you. She's only going to hurt you in the end. Don't you know that? I'm the only one that truly loves you. It's not right Pineapples.

You know what? You're not perfect either, but I still love you. You wrecklessly drive me. You're always late with changing my oil. You never wash me. Just look at me:

How can you sit back and say that you treated me with the respect that I deserve? You know you didn't. Look at that rust and dammit, I'm not in SAE so why do you still have that sticker on me. Look at my rims. Why can't you just once clean off the brake dust once in awhile? I wish I could quit you Pineapples.

I've talked with my lawyers and they agree that I should go ahead and file the necessary paperwork to become emancipated. If you are not going to come back, I need to move on with my life. I can't sit back and let you do this to me. I need to find someone who loves me for me and won't abandon me when some whore comes around. Yes, I'm calling Miss G6 a whore. She stole you away from me, she's a dirty whore.

But, I can't lie. You will forever hold a special place in my heart Pineapples. We can still work this out. We can still rekindle the magic we once had. All you have to do is try. I miss you.

Sincerely,
Jimmy

Tags: Jimmy, Betrayal, & Love

Immigration

2006-04-19T19:48:00.000-04:00

Credit to Corrigan for posting a little bit of satire regarding illegal immigration. Enjoy.

Dear President Bush:

I'm about to plan a little trip with my family and extended family, and I would like to ask you to assist me. I'm going to walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to make a few arrangements. I know you can help with this.

I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws my grandparents were required to obey when they came to America from Europe 95 years or so ago. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here.

So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Vicente Fox, that I'm on my way over? Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:
1. Free medical care for my entire family.
2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.
3. All government forms need to be printed in English.
4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking teachers.
5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.
6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school with the Mexican flag flyin lower down.
7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.
8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.
9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I won't make any effort to learn local traffic laws.
10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from Pres. Fox to leave me alone, please be sure that all police officers speak English.
11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.
12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, and don't enforce any labor laws or tax laws.
13. Please tell all the people in the country to be extremely nice and never say a critical word about me, or about the strain I might place on the economy.
I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all the people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that Pres. Fox won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely. Thank you so much for your kind help.

Sincerely,
An accepting, tolerant, but concerned, American citizen who is proud to be the grandchild of legal immigrants.

Tags: Politics, Immigration, & Satire

Horowitz

2006-04-13T22:24:00.000-04:00

Dennis and I went and saw David Horowitz speak tonight at the Alumni Hall in Penn State's Hub-Robeson Center. He was there, as a guest of the College Republicans to promote his book, The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America. I have previously opined on the book here so I intend to focus on the speech tonight. I just want to say that unlike a lot of liberals in the crowd, I tried to attend the event with an open mind and not condemn everything he said.

Allegiance
The event started off with an introduction by the president of the College Republicans for Horowitz. The interesting part is that at the end of the introduction while standing in front of a sign that said "College Republicans: Support America" the president asked the attendees to stand and pledge allegiance to the flag (mind you, there was no flag present). I found it funny. Hitler often required people to take loyalty pledges too. I remained seated, even as Dennis stood. I guess I hate America.

Theory
Horowitz begun by explaining that there is an overwhelming number of liberal professors in academia. He told the crowd that according to a study by Berkeley and Stanford that the ratio of liberal to conservative professors is between 7 and 9 to 1. Interesting thought, considering that one of the two Penn State professors he attacked has declared that he's a libertarian. Anyway, the idea that liberals outnumber conservatives in academia is no shock to me. Especially in the liberal arts.

He then theorized why liberals outnumbered conservatives. In his opinion, those who opposed the Vietnam War (liberals) decided to avoid the draft with a 2S deferment and stayed in school, earning their bachelors, masters, and ph.d. Come thirty years later, conservatives are a rare breed. It's an interesting take and actually sounds plausible.

Liberal Arts
Throughout the hour long speech, he railed against the liberal arts and their liberal professors and the ideology that these professors bring to their classes. But, what do you expect from the liberal arts? Of course, professors in the liberal arts are going liberals. Maybe I'm wrong here but isn't the Business School full of mostly conservatives? If so, wouldn't it be slightly hypocritical to omit this.

He frequently attacked sociology professors. Demanding that they should teach "both sides" of the argument. Repeatedly, he questioned the sociological idea that our society has social, economic, and racial classes. Whether or not it is true, I don't know. I have no background in the topic but as an english major, neither is he.

Double Standards
Horowitz went on attack against liberal professors. Citing examples where universities had hired professors who had been in jail and had been involved in illegal activities. He also complained about liberal professors who voiced their political opinions in public and on their personal websites like Penn State's Richards and Berube. But, here's the key point, he defended Ward Churchill. I also defended Churchill, but this is a double standard to only defend professors who speak out "in public" but not defend other professors right to free speech.

Ideology
He ranted and railed against liberals who brought their political viewpoints into their classes. Even in my engineering classes, I've seen politics in the classroom. And, in the liberal arts classes, it was even more pronounced. A few years ago I took Comparitive Literature 100, a class on sex, race and gender issues. As you can imagine, I was one of very few men in the class. It was mainly full of minorities and feminists but you know what? I expected that. Hell, even the professors last name was Castro. Although at the time, I wasn't political, I did feel that most of my opinions were unwanted. But, here's the key -- my opinions were not unwanted by the professor but rather by my fellow students. This is the key difference between the reality and what Horowitz rants about.

Effect
On some level, I think Horowitz is right. I do believe that some professors bring their politics to class but especially in liberal arts classes, I want their opinion. I, like him, just don't want them to demand they are right and as I've experienced, this hasn't happened to me. One of my engineering professors makes cracks about Bush and talks about how everyone should drive hybrids, but what is the effect? Is the system truly "hurting our children?" Is it truly indoctrinating the students? I truly don't think so. I, like most of my fellow students, have active functional brains and we have the ability to think for ourselves. We have the ability to hear a professor's biased political opinion and come out unscathed. So, although Horowitz may be correct that academia has a liberal bias, I don't see the problem. Our country is on a conservative kick and this society was educated by liberal academic institutions. So where is the problem Mr. Horowitz?

Attacks
Horowitz made some good points but he did many things that affected his message. Repeatedly, he went off-topic ranting about McCarthyism and Stalinists, and the horrible communists. Why is it that neo-conservatives always have to bring up McCarthy and defend him. Sure, I do believe that there were communists in the government but here's the difference --- I don't care. Those communists were allowed by law to be communists. They had the fundamental right guaranteed by our constitution to be communists. Horowitz also attacked people who asked questions. Much like Ann Coulter, he called people in the crowd idiots and said they were unable to hold a debate, even though he wouldn't actually answer some questions. Even if he believed that and even it was true, calling your audience idiots is no way to get your point across. The biggest detraction for him of the night was how he went on a rant against Paul Robeson (the man who the building is named after), calling him a traitor and a communist. He may have been, I don't know, but thats off-topic and only incites the people who disagree with you. He should have stuck to the topic and refrained from taking pot-shots.

Liberals
If I got anything about this event, it was that I fucking hate liberals. Don't get me wrong, I hate conservatives too, but I really hate liberals. Liberals in the audience boo'ed and interrupted Horowitz throughout the entire event. Disgraceful. You came to hear the man speak, so let him speak.

Conclusion
I'm glad I went to the event. Although he made horrible mistakes in getting his message across, some things got through and he raised some great points and questions. Although I still think he's a horrible debater (as the question and answer period proved where he called everyone idiots), he did provide some information that was insightful. I just wish he would have stuck to the topic and refrained from making lame attacks on people that were unnecessary and didn't make accusations that clearly contained double standards and hypocritical omissions.

In any event, I agree that liberals outnumber conservatives, at least at Penn State but I don't care. Professors that crack Bush jokes and slip in liberal opinions have no effect on me. Conservatives truly need to stop worring "about the children."

Tags: Politics, Penn State, Douchebag, & Horowitz

Jackass

2006-04-10T23:08:00.000-04:00

Wyclef is a jackass and must live under a rock. In Shakira's latest song, "Hips Don't Lie," he continually says throughout the song:

I never really knew you could dance like this

Um... have you never seen any of her videos? I mean she does look ridiculously hot in this one, but come on... she shakes her gorgeous hips and ass and incredible hot abs in this one just as well as every other video she has.

Tags: Wyclef, Shakira, Hips Don't Lie, & Erection

Ouch

2006-04-10T00:08:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I did this at work on Saturday morning. Holding a knife in my right hand, and an avocado in the left, I attempted to core the avocado. Except that the core was small and had gone bad, so the knife went through it and about a 1/4" into my hand. Two hours and five stiches later:

It actually didn't hurt at the time and doesn't now. In fact, the only thing that does hurt is my arm, from the Tetanus shot I had to get. Next time, I say bring on the lockjaw.

UPDATE: No, they didn't give me any fun pain medications. Why? Because I don't need them. I haven't even taken a single Tylenol. Stop asking.

Tags: Knife, Hand, & Avocado.

Google

2006-04-07T10:31:00.000-04:00

I just thought it was time for a good ole Google Bomb. From Wikipedia:

A Google bomb or Google washer is a certain attempt to influence the ranking of a given page in results returned by the Google search engine, often with humorous intentions. Due to the way that Google's PageRank algorithm works, a page will be ranked higher if the sites that link to that page all use consistent anchor text. A Google bomb is created if a large number of sites link to the page in this manner. Google bomb is used both as a verb and a noun.

Crush

2006-04-04T16:50:00.000-04:00

The Pet Shop Boys have released a new political pop song about Tony Blair's gay relationship with George W. Bush called I'm with Stupid. Can you guess which one the stupid one is? If you said Tony Blair, then you're the stupid one. You can listen to the song on their site. Here are the lyrics:

I'm with Stupid

Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid

See you on the TV
Call you every day
Fly across the ocean
Just to let you get your way
No one understands me
Where I'm coming from
Why would I be with someone
who's obviously so dumb?
Love comes
Love grows
every time you rise to meet me
take my hand to greet me
Love comes
Love grows
and power can give a man
much more than anybody knows

Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid

Before we ever met
I thought like everybody did
you were just a moron
a billion-dollar kid
You flew up all the way
like a hawk chasing a dove
I never thought that I would be
a sacrifice in love
It comes
It grows
and now we're tied together
everybody knows

Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid

Is stupid really stupid
or a different kind of smart?
Do we really have a relationship
so special in your heart?

Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid

I have to ask myself
like any lover might:
Have you made a fool of me?
Are you not Mr Right?
You grin
I pose
It's not about sincerity
Everybody knows

Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid

Is stupid really stupid
or a different kind of smart?
That's how you stole my heart
I'm with Stupid

Tags: Pet Shop Boys, I'm With Stupid, Blair, Bush, & Music

Inferno

2006-04-02T05:37:00.000-04:00

It's 4:30 AM in State College and I'm laying in bed and all I keep hearing is people screaming outside. Then I hear a police car intermixed with the screams and so I thought it was just a fight outside. There's a house near mine that is always having giant parties so I figure its from them. Then I catch a few occurrence's of "oh my god" and hear more police cars showing up and decide to look out my window. Well, I was correct about which house it was (on the corner of Sparks & College) but wrong about the situation as you can see.

What has happened to this town lately? Two murders, bad cocaine deals going on and now this. I hope everyone was alright.

Tags: Inferno, Fire, State College & Castastrophe

Thermodynamics

2006-03-30T17:56:00.000-05:00

A professor of mine, Dr. Cimbala, has an interesting essay on his webpage about the existence of God and thermodynamics. Although a thermodynamics and fluid mechanics professor at Penn State, he's a fundamentalist Christian who believes that Genesis is the literal truth. Funny thing is that in college, he was an atheist. Well here's the essay:

Does the Second Law of Thermodynamics Prove the Existence of God?

John M. Cimbala
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
The Pennsylvania State University

In this short article, I summarize my ideas about the second law of thermodynamics, and why I believe it points to a creator God.

This article also appears in the book In Six Days - Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation, edited by John F. Ashton, and published by Master Books, Green Forest, AR. Copyright 2000 by John F. Ashton. It is available on-line from Answers in Genesis.

A formal definition of the second law of thermodynamics is "In any closed system, a process proceeds in a direction such that the unavailable energy (the entropy) increases." In other words, in any closed system, the amount of disorder always increases with time. Things progress naturally from order to disorder, or from an available energy state to one where energy is more unavailable. A good example: a hot cup of coffee cools off in an insulated room. The total amount energy in the room remains the same (which satisfies the first law of thermodynamics). Energy is not lost, it is simply transferred (in the form of heat) from the hot coffee to the cool air, warming up the air slightly. When the coffee is hot, there is available energy because of the temperature difference between the coffee and the air. As the coffee cools down, the available energy is slowly turned to unavailable energy. At last, when the coffee is room temperature, there is no temperature difference between the coffee and the air, i.e. the energy is all in an unavailable state. The closed system (consisting of the room and the coffee) has suffered what is technically called a "heat death." The system is "dead" because no further work can be done since there is no more available energy. The second law says that the reverse cannot happen! Room temperature coffee will not get hot all by itself, because this would require turning unavailable energy into available energy.

Now consider the entire universe as one giant closed system. Stars are hot, just like the cup of coffee, and are cooling down, losing energy into space. The hot stars in cooler space represent a state of available energy, just like the hot coffee in the room. However, the second law of thermodynamics requires that this available energy is constantly changing to unavailable energy. In another analogy, the entire universe is winding down like a giant wind-up clock, ticking down and losing available energy. Since energy is continually changing from available to unavailable energy, someone had to give it available energy in the beginning! (I.e. someone had to wind up the clock of the universe at the beginning.) Who or what could have produced energy in an available state in the first place? Only someone or something not bound by the second law of thermodynamics. Only the creator of the second law of thermodynamics could violate the second law of thermodynamics, and create energy in a state of availability in the first place.

As time goes forward (assuming things continue as they are), the available energy in the universe will eventually turn into unavailable energy. At this point, the universe will be said to have suffered a heat death, just like the coffee in the room. The present universe, as we know it, cannot last forever. Furthermore, imagine going backwards in time. Since the energy of the universe is constantly changing from a state of availability to one of less availability, the further back in time one goes, the more available the energy of the universe. Using the clock analogy again, the further back in time, the more wound up the clock. Far enough back in time, the clock was completely wound up. The universe therefore cannot be infinitely old. One can only conclude that the universe had a beginning, and that beginning had to have been caused by someone or something operating outside of the known laws of thermodynamics.

Is this scientific proof for the existence of a Creator God? I think so. Evolutionary theories of the universe cannot counteract the above arguments for the existence of God. Evidence such as this helped to convince me to believe in God, and to accept His plan of salvation through His son Jesus Christ. For further detailes about my conversion to Christianity, I have written a short testimony.

That's an interesting take even though I don't support it. But dammit Dr. Cimbala, you are one of the elite science based professors in the country with numerous papers and books out on the topic of fluid flow and thermodynamics. How can you abandon the science based sect that defends the big bang theory?

Tags: Creationism, Thermodynamics, Religion, & Penn State

Speechless

2006-03-28T01:28:00.000-05:00

Holy crap. Someone allowed Sean Hannity to join the collective blog I belong to. What the hell? Whoever let him into the blog is gonna get a punch in the face. Check out his post.

Tags: Blog, Speechless & Sean Hannity

Floppy

2006-03-23T23:39:00.000-05:00

Gateway has released a brand new all-in-one computer that has expansion bays which is an interesting feature typically not found on all-in-ones. Aside from it being just plain ugly, I have a question.

Who the hell still uses floppy drives and why do PC companies still include these horrifically obselete and crappy devices? Get a goddamn usb stick. They have 500 times the capacity and don't break when bended slightly. Come on PC companies, its your chance to save $6 on every computer you sell. Idiots.

Tags: Computers, Obselete, Floppy Drives, & Useless

Bridge

2006-03-23T21:49:00.000-05:00

This is the craziest feat of engineering that I've seen in quite awhile. Just simply amazing. Sadly, its only 14 feet deep so its highly unlikely that any supertankers will be cruising by.

Tags: Holy Shit, Engineering, Magdeburg, & Water Bridge

Wireless

2006-03-23T19:21:00.000-05:00

A blog entry from Justin, an old roommate of mine, about his company's recent collaboration with GM at its Tech Center to incorporate wireless technology and sensors into cars to make them safer.

Tags: GM, Technology, 802.11p, & Safety

Rebranding

2006-03-23T16:37:00.000-05:00

General Motors has too many brands selling too many similar models. Allow me to list them all:

What's worse is that all these brands, with so many brand engineered models, have destroyed almost all of what initially made them distinct. Secondly, the stereotypical image of some brands due to demographics has severely affected their marketability. What 18-25 year old male wants to buy a Buick? None, well except for Mark who wants a LaCrosse cause he thinks he'll be taken seriously in the corporate world. Sorry Mark, you'll never be taken seriously, so the Buick isn't going to help. Lastly, the diverse and numbered amount of brands has led to consumer confusion and frustration.

Brand loyalty is established at an early but is hard to retain with GM's current portfolio. As people age, loyal owners are expected to stay within the GM family but switch to different divisions. Chevrolet is the economic choice and was designed to be the starting point for car owners. Pontiac, although initially different, has become the "excitement" division. Oldsmobile was a step up from Chevrolet and Buick was the cushy "doctor's car." Cadillac, of course was the "Cadillac of cars" and has remained as the top nameplate within the family for decades.

The problem, in my opinion, is this process no longer works. People want to remain loyal to their brand and when their brand doesn't offer the vehicle they want, even if another division does, there's a huge chance of jumping ship. A prime example is the loyalty and rivalry of Chevrolet and GMC truck owners. GMC owners would never buy a Chevy Truck and vice versa. Even in the engineering centers, this competition and rivalry still carries over from when the brands were developed independently. When I interned at GM's Truck Center in Pontiac, some people scoffed at the "Heartbeat of America" license plate I had hung up in my cubicle. It was retarded, I know.

One thing General Motors needs is a clear brand identity and more importantly brand singularity. The top three growing automotive manufacturers in the US are Toyota, Honda, and Nissan (Update -- it might actually be Kia and Hyundai but let me make my point). Look at their brands. Until recently they each had only two: the normal brand and the luxury brand. Consumers knowing if they want a luxury model or not, have a one stop shopping centers for all their needs. Now look at GM. For consumers who want to remain loyal to the General, they have to cross shop for ordinary vehicles at Saturn, Chevrolet, Saab, Buick, Oldsmobile (ok, its dead now I know), & Pontiac. It's especially confusing when the only differences between many of the cars are body-cladding and badges.

From an engineering standpoint, keeping all these brands is a money pit. Although each division now shares most of the chassis and underlying parts, all their exteriors and interiors are independently produced at five times the cost. This isn't economically viable. Exteriors and interior designs need to be standard across the board with a set design. Differences should be decor details and trim not different instrument panels for each division, although more luxurious models should be made of higher quality and luxurious materials (Buick) but the design should be fluid thus reducing engineering costs. Differing the materials on an instrument panel costs a fraction of what engineering a entire new panel would be.

Another problem of their massive branding is vehicle dilution and the marketability of sales numbers. Quickly, what is the number one selling full size pickup in the United States? It's been the Ford F-150 for over a decade by a large margin (200,000 units in the lead). But if you look closer it's not so clear cut. If you were to combine the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra sales together, the numbers would come out about equal with the F-150. By the way, these two vehicles are identical and for the most part only have differing labels. This best-selling distinction is a marketing goldmine and GM could obtain it. Every year Ford is able to advertise that it has the best selling truck in America. GM needs and could have this publicity.

Want another example? How about GM's Epsilon platform. This platform and its variants produces the Opel Vectra, Saab 9-3, Chevrolet Malibu, Opel Signum, Chevrolet Malibu Maxx, Pontiac G6, Fiat Croma and the upcoming Saturn Aura. Now here's the disadvantage once again. Toyota claims to have the best selling car in America with its Camry selling over 400,000 a year. If GM were to combine all the US models into one brand, the total would come to 340,000 cars (180,000 Malibus, 125,000 G6s, & roughly 35,000 9-3s). This wouldn't take the lead from the Camry but would put it in third place just behind the Honda Accord, ahead of the Honda Civic but most importantly on the list of best-selling vehicles in the US and I think that's a very important status symbol. People pay attention to the best-selling list just like some blindly follow the lame evaluations of Consumer Reports. The mindset is "hey, everyone is buying a Camry, so should I." Simply being on the list could boost sales in the next year. Everyone wants to buy a winner.

So what can be done? Simply, GM needs to combine and rebrand its entire line of cars and trucks to streamline their portfolio, revamp their business model and once again regain profitability. Critics have long discussed how GM needs to kill off some of its brands like Buick and Oldsmobile, which it did. But its not that simple. You can't just kill off brands because you want to, at least not without severe repercussions. If you were to get rid of Pontiac, Buick, and GMC Truck, that would mean the elimination of thousands of dealers across the nation (I'll be ignoring the issue that GM has way too many dealers during this post). The uproar and public relations fiasco would be attrocious.

Therefore, I have put together a plan that would create a better brand singularity without putting half of GM's dealers out of business (even though they should be -- Toyota has roughly half the amount that GM does).

Step Number One
Chevrolet remains as Chevrolet but stops selling the top trim levels and becomes the economic brand with its stereotype of cheap plastic interiors. It will retain nearly all of its current models.

Step Number Two
Pontiac is scraped but the dealers get the Chevrolet Sport trim level to sell. This is effectively all of Chevrolet's SS models. SS is scraped in my opinion because it makes me think of guys with mullets who drive 89' IROC Camaros and chew Skoal. The dealers retain their sporty image and Pontiac dealers thank me for not putting them out of business. The interiors will remain nearly identical to the Chevrolet with the same overall design and materials except for maybe white faced gauges and other items commonly found in Type R cars. Chevrolet Sport will roll out an entire line of upgradable performance parts to get the car enthusiast crowd interested, but most importantly manual transmissions will be available on every car (automatics will be an option too). You can't sell sport edition cars without a manual transmissions. Period. This Chevrolet Sport division will also have upgraded engines over the normal Chevrolet. They'll use the same block but will have turbochargers or superchargers to increase power. Enthusiasts love turbochargers. Its a great way to gain interest and boost power cheaply without designing a new engine. An example of this plan is that while Chevrolet will sell the Corvette, Chevrolet Sport will sell the Corvette Sport, which will be the renamed Covette Z06.

Step Number Three
Buick is scraped because well its image sucks but the dealers will get the Chevrolet Special trim level or something that sounds better. This is effectively a smoother riding mid-luxury Chevrolet. It will have the same interior design except with softer to touch materials and lots of detailed accents. Upgraded sound deadening the doors, better stereo system and things like aluminum trim and higher quality leather seating. The exterior will of course have small changes too. The trim level retains its focus of being the "doctor's car." Think of Chevrolet Special to be like a Chevrolet in LT trim but better. Once again, Buick dealers will thank me for not putting them in the poor house.

Step Number Four
Saturn is scraped but the dealers get the Chevrolet Eco trim level to sell. It will finish what their upcoming Green Line of vehicles will start. Chevrolet Eco will exclusively sell all the hybrid Chevrolet models. They could also sell fuel efficient direct injection diesel engine cars because well, I want one. Yuppie hybrid cars are a perfect fit for the Saturn brand because their dealerships have the best overall feeling inside. Saturn dealerships are actually a nice experience, much unlike most other dealerships including all brands. This "feeling" is suited perfectly to the hippie liberal douche yuppies that currently buy Priuses and think they're saving the planet. Just in case you're wondering --- they're not. Regardless of what they do, oil will continue to be burned until it runs out. In fact if we all drove Prius' and decreased our dependence on oil, it would only plummet the price of oil and people would start buying Hummers again in mass quantities. Oh well, what can you do about hippies? Of course, don't get me wrong, I prefer a fuel efficient vehicle. I want a 50 mpg sedan but I'm not doing it to "save the world" and hurt the evil oil companies. I doing it because I don't want to buy $40 of gas each week. I'll take pragmatism over idealism anyday.

Step Number Five
Goodbye Saab. You'll be sold. You're a money pit and the idea of the key in a place that a cupholder should be is retarded. Adios.

Step Number Six
Cadillac will remain Cadillac.

Step Number Seven
Hummer, probably GM's strongest brand, will remain as it is.

Step Number Eight
GMC Truck will get out of the consumer business and will only focus on the commercial truck business and can continue to use its "Professional Grade Engineering" slogan ad nauseum.

Step Number Nine
Opel, Vauxhall, and Holden ... I'm not sure. In my mind they should become Chevrolet but that probably wouldn't work since some of their markets don't have Chevrolets right now. So I'm skipping over this part.

Now, in case you're wondering what would happen to a lot of the models, here's a spreadsheet of my proposed solution. I'm probably missing some vehicles but you get the point.

Now we have four brands instead of eleven. It still doesn't address the massive dealer problem but it helps. It helps because now the brands have distinct identities. Someone shopping for a sport sedan with lots of power isn't going to shop at Chevrolet Eco -- they're going to go to Chevrolet Sport. This will virtually eliminate the need for consumer cross shopping the numerous GM brands.

What do you think?

Tags: GM, Brands, Overhaul, Image, & Rebirth

Controller

2006-03-23T01:04:00.000-05:00

Well the Playstation controller that we've all grown to love or hate is being shelved for the release of Sony's new PS3. The new controller will be included when the device is released this ~~past Christmas~~, this ~~spring~~, I mean maybe this summer.

I actually like the new design. It keeps all the button locations in roughly the same spots and the new boomerang design should make it easier to hold. Personally, I always found the old controller a little strange to grasp. Hopefully, this will make it easier.

Tags: Sony, Playstation, PS3, Gaming

Chef

2006-03-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

If you didn't catch South Park tonight, you missed out. After the recent media events where Tom Cruise supposedly got Viacom to shelve the Scientology episode, Isaac Hayes quit the show because he's a hypocrite and all the hype of the season premiere -- tonight's episode lived up to the speculation.

The analogy of the Super Adventure Club, a club dedicated to hiking and molesting little boys, to Scientology was absolutely hilarious and Darth Chef? comic genius.

Chef is dead, long live Chef.

Tags: Chef, South Park, Scientology, & Satire

Bias

2006-03-21T18:46:00.000-05:00

I brought up in my last post the bias found in Consumer Reports. Their recent evaluation granting all ten categories with Japanese vehicles has raised a lot of questions within the industry. Consumer Reports recently posted a rebuttal to the criticism here. Althought its a rebuttal, one point clearly outlined the bias I was talking about.

Of the domestic manufacturers, Ford has the strongest position in the heart of the sedan market. Even though the Focus’ design is six years old, it was just edged out by the redesigned 2006 Honda Civic as our top-rated small car. We still think the Focus is more enjoyable to drive, with an excellent balance of nimble handling and a comfortable ride, but the Civic is more refined, fuel efficient, and has better crash protection. The Five Hundred is an extremely accommodating, if highly understated, car. The Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan did very well in our tests, but since they are new designs, we can not predict reliability yet. The Fusion/Milan’s decidedly lackluster IIHS crash test results give pause, as well. Likewise, the Ford Freestyle--with impressive interior packaging that offers good room for seven passengers--would have made this list, but our tested AWD model has below average first-year reliability.

That's funny. The Fusion was pretty much eliminated because it was new and reliability could not be predicted -- so it wasn't able to prove itself. But, this wasn't a problem for the new Honda Civic. It was presumed to automatically have superb reliaibility. Just as I have said earlier, Consumer Reports assumes American cars are crap and foreign cars are amazing. I'm not saying that the Fusion should have won, I wasn't involved in the testing and can't produce an objective conclusion. What am I saying is why did the Civic get a pass on reliability? This is the bias.

UPDATE: Here's an image of JD Power's brand dependability study. So, keep on buying your cheap Kia's and Hyundai's and trendy VW's cause you think GM vehicles are unreliable -- and I'll continue to laugh at you.

Tags: Bias, Consumer Reports, & Cars

Coward

2006-03-20T17:40:00.000-05:00

From a Detroit News article:

Lori Queen, a GM executive for small cars, couldn't take it anymore. In an e-mail exchange with Automotive News, she wrote that the editors and reporters who put together the Consumer Reports auto issue are "the most unprofessional group of people I have ever worked with."

She added: "They are totally nonobjective and go to great extremes to paint a picture for their paid subscription readers, who primarily buy Japanese cars.

"They don't consider price or price differences, they don't consider model mix or consumer preferences, they buy the cheapest car they can find (generally), and then base all their opinions on a limited sample."

This brutal exchange has most likely come as a result of Consumer Reports naming a Japanese vehicle in all ten of their categories and its brutal review of the Cobalt.

The reason I bring this up is because GM's CEO, Rick Wagoner, immediately telephoned the head of Consumer Reports to apologize for the comments because Wagoner, or Captain "No Balls" Douchebag, didn't have the cajones to admit that this is, in my opinion, GM's true internal opinion of Consumer Reports.

Message to Rick: Grow a set of balls and admit the truth -- you hate Consumer Reports for their biased subjective opinions. Stop taking cues from the Democratic Party with your spineless public relations and actually voice your opinion.

As a side note, I agree with a lot of what Lori Queen has said. J.D. Power has consistently ranked the Malibu above Japanese products like the Accord and Camry in terms of customer satisfaction, reliability, and quality. It also boasts better performance, power, and fuel economy yet somehow never stacks up well in Consumer Reports. A little too ironic, don't ya think?

An AutoBlog comment sums up perfectly the bias of Consumer Reports:

CR offers another source of information that one can review before purchasing a car. However, their reviews should not be considered the final word on a product. I remember reviews on the GEO Prism/Toyota Corolla twins and the Toyota would score higher on reliability than the Prism, even though the cars were built on the same assembly line.
The most likely reason has to do with the perception the owner has of the car and it could be argued that someone who has Toyota is more likely to keep up with maintenance than someone who owns a GEO (different demographics).

The cars were mirror images of themselves. The only difference was the badge on the front of the car.

Tags: Rick Wagoner, Lori Queen, Consumer Reports, Public Relations & Balls

Reform

2006-03-20T14:08:00.000-05:00

Finally, Congress is considering a reformation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act which has illegalized technology and methods to circumvent mechanisms that protect copyrighted material. In short, it makes it illegal to rip or backup DVDs just as you would music CDs.

This bill has reduced our rights with regards to the Fair Use copyright precedent that allows non-commerical copying of copyrighted material. In essence, fair use legalized the copying of cassette tapes. Because of the DMCA, that right was eliminated for DVDs because of the fear of internet piracy, which in my opinion has had no effect.

As I said, Congress has considered reforming the policy with HR 1201. If you would like to contact your reprsentative, use this website. It takes about thirty seconds to complete.

Tags: Reform, DRM, Congress, DMCA & Politics

Loyalty

2006-03-20T00:09:00.000-05:00

Andrew Sullivan debates with a reader on people's loyalty to Bush and his lack thereof to them unless they're obsequious.

He's a Republican too, just not part of the neo-conservative fundamentalist faction. He's the traditional, old school type of Republican who favors limited government, empirical debate, and fiscal responsibility. I miss his kind.

Tags: Bush, Politics, & Loyalty

Syracuse

2006-03-17T20:34:00.000-05:00

I hate you. You were supposed to beat Duke for me. My bracket is now completely screwed up. I hope you're happy, you assholes.

UPDATE: This applies to Michigan State too. You suck Paul Davis.

Tags: Syracuse, March Madness, Upset, & Basketball

Chain

2006-03-15T17:19:00.000-05:00

I was checking my account of MySpace today and saw that there were new posts on the bulletin board, which is a place that you can post messages to your friends all at once.

There was an announcement from Risky Business about his band, numerous lame surveys but the one that got my attention was a stupid chain letter from my friend Tiffany. Here's what it said:

Everyone needs to take the time and read this. Just take a break from all your other stupid bulletins about who is gonna die or if your love life will suck for 7 years and be serious and do the right thing. Repost this or you have no soul seriously. A kid needs our help so do the right thing guys and gals.

Hi, my name is Chad Briody. I am 7 years old, and I have a large tumor on my brain and severe lung cancer. The doctors say I will die soon if this isn't fixed, and my family can't pay the bills. "The Make A Wish Foundation" has agreed to donate 7 cents for every time this message is reposted. For those of you who repost, I thank you so much. But for those who don't repost it, I will still pray for you. Please, if you are a kind person, have a heart. Please, please, PLEASE REPOST THIS MESSAGE!

Chad Briody

For Christ's sake, how are people so ridiculously stupid? Seriously, who actually thinks that the Make A Wish Foundation will actually donate money for each time it's posted on MySpace? --- the answer? --- people with the equivalent brain capacity of a retarded armadillo.

Bill Gates is not going to pay you for forwarding emails with his "email tracking program." Foundations will not donate if you post bulletins online. You will not get rich by mailing $5 to the sender of the letter. You will not have eleventy billion years of good luck for mailing letters to fifty of your closest friends within the next twenty-five seconds and you will not have fantastic, mind-blowing sex within four days of forwarding a letter to people.

I like to believe that people are intelligent so why are, well mainly girls, falling for this? I don't know the answer. Also, why is it mainly girls? Are girls just less intelligent? Probably not. They must just be more prone to have a bleeding heart that wants to believe in the ridiculous fallacy that good things will happen without any hard work. Here's a tip, if you want to help out poor Chad, Billy or Sally, donate some time or money to a charity and stop wasting my time with your stupid chain letters.

Tags: Chain Letters, Idiots, Deception, Daily Life, & Internet

Pepsi

2006-03-12T04:48:00.000-05:00

Well, the Jimmy Fallon/Parker Posey Pepsi commercial has resurfaced. I remember seeing like a year ago or so, and now Pepsi seems to have pulled it out from the storage bin. Its been everywhere lately.

I love this ad. Anything that has absurd quirky public dancing and outrageous face gestures seem to work for me but its the ending that makes me love it so much. Anytime you throw someone up in the air not to come down, and you don't care... ahh, that's comedy gold!

Tags: Pepsi, TV, Commercials

Soul

2006-03-12T01:30:00.000-05:00

Hemant Mehta, a DePaul University student, recently sold his soul on eBay for $504. The winning bidder, Jim Henderson, is a former evangelical minister. Supposedly he hopes to save the soul and has asked Mehta to attend fifteen church services and write about his experiences.

Beyond my belief, Mehta, a proclaimed atheist, has actually agreed. Unfortunately, no published reports have explained how the deal went from a payment of $504 to attending church services. Wow.

Of course this isn't the first time this has happened. From what I found, another guy sold his soul on eBay back in 2002 for $16.95.

Tags: Souls, Religion, eBay, & You've got to be shitting me

MySpace

2006-03-11T22:15:00.000-05:00

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's take on MySpace.

"On the downside, they're loaded with sexual predators. On the plus side, they're also loaded with sexual prey."

Tags: Daily Show, MySpace, Society, & Internet

Facebook

2006-03-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

Since Depressed Writer is a decroded piece of crap and too lazy to join the community blog and post it himself, here's a hilarious video clip on how Facebook has affected college student's lives. For those of you who aren't into Facebook, just replace the word with MySpace. Actually I don't think that works. You can't stalk on MySpace like you can on Facebook so nevermind, you people won't get it.

By the way, I love the use of Electric Light Orchestra's song, Mr. Blue Sky. I've been obsessed with this song ever since it was featured in a VW Beetle commercial a few years ago.

Here's the creator's website in case anyone cares, which none of you do.

UPDATE: People are having problems with the video clip, so here's one from College Humor.

Tags: Facebook, Daily Life, Humor, & College

Forza

2006-03-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine has the sickest XBOX setup I've ever seen. He and his roommates are rabid fans of the game, Forza, which is like Gran Turismo for XBOX except that you can damage your car. Unhappy with using controllers, they built a racing setup that mimicked an Indy car.

This setup was better than anything I've ever used in an arcade. They have the F1 style chair, pedals, force-feedback wheel and paddle shifters. I've never had so much fun with my clothes on, save Penn State games and drinking and well lots of stuff. Regardless, this setup is the shit

Tags: XBOX, Dankness, & Forza

Flash

2006-03-11T20:03:00.000-05:00

With Intel's announcement and Samsung's latest product concept at CeBIT, it seems that solid-state hard drive laptops are on the horizon.

In the announcement, Intel has made it clear that NAND flash hard drives will be debuting in laptops within a year. To summarize what this is, NAND flash drives are memory units very similar to ram and usb key chain drives. They have an array of advantages over traditional spinning disc hard drives that we're used to.

The first is that they're non-volatile -- meaning they don't need power to maintain the information, unlike DRAM (the RAM on your motherboard) which purges information in the absence of electricity.

Second, they are much better shock resistance which is a great advantageous for laptops. With NAND flash, premium features such as head locking isn't needed.

Third, the amount of energy required to power these devices is an order of magnitude less than traditional hard drives. This means that batteries in laptops will last a lot longer.

Fourth, the reduced energy requirement and the elimination of mechanical friction heat greatly reduced the heat output of laptops, meaning you won't be burning your legs.

Fifth, these flash chips are similar to DRAM in that information is instantly available. With traditional hard drives, information is seeked -- rather the head has to move back and forth across the disc to access the information "sector" before transferring it to the DRAM and CPU. This means an significant increase in hard drive speeds, and the overall experience should feel "snappier." The time required to open applications and locate and save files should take much less time.

Ok, so what are the disadvantages? Well, there are two main ones. First, these chips are expensive. Second, they have less capacity than traditional drives. Current 32 gigabyte drives are running at $900 a piece, which well sucks. But over the past fews years, flash drives prices have dropped significantly and will continue to do so.

Hopefully by next year, the disadvantages will have been eliminated and I can get my eight hour MacBook laptop that doesn't keep me awake at night because its hard drive loves to "seek" every thirty seconds (it makes noise).

Tags: Laptops, Hard Drives, Technology, & Intel

ANWR

2006-03-11T12:16:00.000-05:00

Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior and one of the main proponents of drilling in ANWR retired this week. She plans to retire in the mountains of the west but has said that she's glad she is rich enough to be able to live far away from the annoying oil derricks. Ain't that some shit?

I've always been perplexed by supporters of drilling in ANWR. It's not that I'm a true bleeding heart environmentalist but rather that the benefits, by far, do not outweigh the negatives.

Mean value estimates of the amount of oil are 10.4 billion barrels. The US burns 20 million barrels a day. So, drilling in ANWR would only give us 520 days of oil. To me, thats not enough oil to warrant drilling in a national refuge area.

But then again, my campaign contributers aren't the oil industry.

Tags: Politics, ANWR, Oil, & Environment

HTTP

2006-03-11T12:01:00.000-05:00

I was updating the sidebar to include three new blogs today and I screwed up the address.

Luckily, I checked the links to make sure they worked, which this one didn't. The point of this entry isn't the mistake I made but rather what happened when I clicked on the incorrect link. The incorrect link automatically forwarded to Microsoft's website. What the hell is this bullshit? First, why do they get to receive all the screwed up links. Secondly, how did they set this up?

I can understand if I was using Internet Explorer. They could write the code to set this up but I wasn't using it. I was using Firefox. So, if anyone knows, please fill me in. Fuck you Microsoft.

Tags: Microsoft, Sucks, Internet, & HTTP

Blog

2006-03-09T18:30:00.000-05:00

Well, my friends and I are going to be pulling our resources and publishing together at a new blog, called Club 309. It's going to be much more wild and raucous. I plan on still posting any content I create for it over here as well.

Tags: Blogs

Sex

2006-03-09T16:23:00.000-05:00

Editor's Note: The following is written by Hamburger Madness

You’re at a party at your friend’s place. There’s a girl there who you’ve hung out with several times. Nice, cute, has a decent sense of humor. After a few alcoholic beverages you and said female go back to her place. You end up consummating the night of lust in her bed. Problem is she lies there the whole time produces a few moans and sighs and possibly grabs the dotted outline of where your ass is supposed to be (at least in my case). Still you’re satisfied because sex is sex and this means one less night of masturbation.

Now picture this situation the other way around. Would the female be satisfied? Most likely not (depending on how badly she wants someone in her). In fact all signs point to she’ll tell her friends how bad you were in the sack. Now this is my problem, females believe that they can just lie there and satisfy the man. Where’s the equitability in this when it is an expectation that the man satisfy the woman but not the other way around? And how did we get to this?

Now all the girls are thinking you guys can get off so easy, you have to work to satisfy a woman but you don’t need to really try to get off a man. Well sorry ladies. It isn’t all that fun when you have to concentrate to get off. But then I got to thinking it might be all the masturbating I’ve done in my life (the counter is probably close to 10000 score, give or take a couple hundred) which has probably made it impossible for me to get off easily. However, some girls are actually good in bed and I can just have fun and get off.

Some girls will scratch, bite, slap, ride, gyrate, play with, suck, and work it. And the dearth of these wonderful creatures is partly men’s fault. These girls are commonly called freaks by certain men and many guys automatically think, “she’s one crazy bitch.” So girls end up thinking, “hold back on the freaky shit or become some shriveled up hag with a uterine cyst who’s still unmarried at 43.” But not all guys think like that ladies. I’d say most guys like a girl who can have fun in bed as long as they haven’t had too many jockeys come before them (pun totally intended).

What I am trying to get to is this: ladies, please, suck his nipples, play with his balls, if you get on top, ride that thing, scratch his back, bite his shoulder, slap that ass, grind that cock, but whatever you do don’t lie there on your back and expect him to do everything. I understand guys are supposed to lead but it takes both parties to have some fun, freaky, jungle sex. If he thinks you’re some slut because you want some spice in bed then it’s his loss not yours. Guys, if you want some fun-loving girls in bed, stop calling the fun-loving ones sluts, freaks or whatever demeaning names we call them. I like these magical creatures and both sexes must ensure that they do not become extinct.

Stay tuned for my next blog: penises are not joysticks and just because it is as hard as a rock it doesn’t mean it’s made of granite and invincible to teeth.

Tags: Women, Men, Society, & Rights

Flu

2006-03-09T02:16:00.000-05:00

CNN is reporting that a nine year old Chinese girl has died from bird flu. From the article:

The World Health Organisation (WHO), confirming the Chinese girl's death, said bird flu has infected 175 people, killing 96 of them since 2003.

Scientists fear it is only a matter of time before the virus mutates into a form that passes easily among people, triggering a pandemic.

So, it's a matter of time before we're all screwed. I just can't wait until it spreads over to the US.

Tags: Medicine, Bird Flu, Pandemic, & Screwed

Foreign

2006-03-09T01:30:00.000-05:00

I decided to put together a list of my favorite foreign films for the hell of it. So, I put together a top ten list. Anything in the English language is exempt so English, Australian, and Canadian movies don't count. It has to have subtitles. Oh, French-Canadian movies are exempt too -- because they're French-Canadian. Here they are in alphabetical order.

Amelie

Amores Perros

Au Revoir, Les Enfants

Tags: Movies & Foreign Films

Hamburger

2006-03-09T00:38:00.000-05:00

Hamburger Madness has been added as a member to this blog. Hopefully he'll be adding content in the near future.

Tags: Blog & Hamburgers

Re-design

2006-03-08T15:26:00.000-05:00

A funny video from Google Video about how Microsoft would re-design the Apple iPod's retail box.

Tags: Design, Humor, Microsoft, & Apple

Rerun

2006-03-08T05:22:00.000-05:00

Two months ago, I did an entry about Loose Change, a documentary detailing how many of the facts about 9/11 don't add up. Basically, the movie says there's a government cover-up and that maybe the Pentagon and Bush administration were the ones behind it. It's crazy I know.

Well, I was searching through Google Video again last night and found a new version of the video called Loose Change, 2nd Edition. It has some overlap but this time provides a lot more evidence about how planes did not hit the Pentagon or crash in Pennsylvania.

Interesting to say the least.

Tags: Politics, Conspiracy, Terrorism, & Government

Gary

2006-03-07T21:14:00.000-05:00

I found an article from The Daily Collegian about Gary Cattell, the born-again christian who preaches every weekday outside of the Willard Building on Penn State's University campus.

Cattell is an interesting guy. Although I disagree with almost everything he says, he is someone I completely respect. Why? I respect him because he adds civilized discourse and debate to the campus and makes people question their beliefs.

Tags: Debate, Daily Life, Religion, & Penn State

Math

2006-03-07T18:47:00.000-05:00

Wayne: I wish I was a math major
Me: eww... math major... eww
Wayne: lol, it's what I'm best at
Me: you are asian
Wayne: yep, it's our forte
Me: no doubt
Wayne: why is it that asians seem to be born good at math
Me: its not that asians are better. i think its the language barrier. every teacher i had for math was russian and couldn't speak english at all. i just think people who can't speak english are drawn into math and physics -- foreigners.

Tags: Math, Stereotypes, & Asians

Replacement

2006-03-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

There has been some gossip about Rick Wagoner lately. Many think he may be preparing to resign as the head of General Motors. And why not, there are plenty of reasons for him to hang it up.

$8.6 billion lost last year
Declining market share
The Pontiac Aztek
Poor stock performance
A plummeting corporate image

So, if this is true, who's going to replace him? It definitely won't be Lutz, the "car czar." He's in no position to be CEO. He's much better off where he currently is. There's speculation that it could be Jerry York, Kirk Kerkorian's right-hand man. Kirk Kerkorian currently is GM's largest shareholder and a strong vocal critic demanding change in the company. Jerry York could be a good thing for GM, but he's not the best. I hereby proclaim that Mr. T should takeover as the Chief Executive Officer of the largest corporation in the world.

Here are the reasons why I think he's the best choice:

Have you seen the A-Team? He can build specialized cars from scratch. Should there be a strike, he could run an entire plant by himeself.
He's for education - He tells kids to stay in school. This translates into more R&D
He's for a healthy living style - He tells kids drink their milk. A healthy living style decreases healthcare costs, something currently hurting GM
He's a strong advocate against flying, which could boost car sales
He wouldn't need his own bodyguards - he used to be one for Muhammed Ali, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross
He wouldn't need a company car - He has his GMC Van
If any more deficits occur at GM, he could just sell some of his gold chains
He pities the fool aka the UAW
His experience making motivational movies could inspire the GM workforce
The street cred he gained from his 1984 rap album could be marketed toward the urban demographic
He likes the straight talk - often heard saying "Quit yo jibber-jabber"
His work as a minister could get God on GM's side

Jerry York can't touch these credentials.

Tags: GM, Mr. T, & Milk

Stuck

2006-03-06T21:03:00.002-05:00

From an automotive media event in Bulgaria, this picture is courtesy of DaimlerChrysler... obviously not Land Rover. For the uninformed -- the vehicle on the left is a Jeep Grand Cherokee and the one on the right, stuck in the mud, is a Land Rover LR3.

Reminds me of when I was interning with GM and doing testing in Death Valley. A Dodge Durango's brakes and front quarter-panel had caught on fire. The idiot driver pulled over at a gas station and parked waaay too close to a gas pump. The station owner came out screaming his head off. Luckily, the fire was put out pretty quickly by a Ford engineer who happened to have a fire extinguisher nearby (Mind you, it was caused by a bad thermocouple, not a brake issue). Everyone (Toyota, Honda, Ford, GM, Land Rover, and I think BMW engineers) had a great laugh at Dodge's tragedy. I wish I had gotten a picture.

Tags: Humor, Media, Jeep, & Land Rover

Jersey

2006-03-06T15:52:00.000-05:00

The New Jersey legislature has decided to further limit personal freedoms. They have put forth a bill requiring websites to collect the names and addresses of users in public forums -- effectively banning anonymous speech.

Now, everyone who knows me knows I hate anonymous douches but I do believe that they should never be banned. The reason? I ignore anything that an anonymous douche says. Being anonymous means you're too much of a pussy to say it publicly and put your reputation behind it. It doesn't warrant any respect and most people, I think, have the same opinion. But, that doesn't mean it should be banned. Free speech is not limited by who is saying it, so why should it be limited by who is anonymously saying it?

Furthermore, who is going to perform a background check to see if the given name and addresses are real. How many George W. Bush's living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave will they see? Also, the only solution that I can see for the website operator is ... "Oops, my server hard drive crashed."

Thank you New Jersey to limiting our speech. What's going to be next Big Brother? The Internet is the single greatest device for free speech and anonymous speech and it should continue that way. New Jersey, you're a collective idiot.

Tags: Politics, Government, New Jersey, Liberties, & Internet

McClellan

2006-03-05T23:06:00.000-05:00

I actually feel sorry for Scott McClellan. Oh I know, I know, he's a giant douche paid to lie to the White House press corps day in and day out but I truly do feel sorry for him. Unlike Ari Fleischer, you can see the pain in his eyes as he gets roasted by the media.

No matter how cold one might be, lying to the press every single day has to take a toll on you. You know he hates his job. How could he not? You know that no one in the press corps respects him -- he lies to them everyday. You know the administration doesn't respect him -- they make him lie everyday.

Here's to you Scott. May you be able to repent and recover after your term is over.

Tags: Politics, & Media

Bankruptcy

2006-03-05T22:51:00.000-05:00

An interesting article on how bankruptcy could be good for General Motors. It briefly discusses it's problems and rightfully lambasts the unions that have put a stranglehold on it and it's supply chain (Delphi and others).

Tags: Business, GM, Cars, & Bankruptcy

Earthlink

2006-03-05T19:40:00.000-05:00

Have you seen Earthlink's current commercials? I'm talking about the ones with dwarfs, giants, fairies and such characters. I don't know about you, but these commercials are just downright eerie.

But then again, what can you expect from a company that has been claimed to be just a front organization for Scientology? The company was founded in 1994 by Sky Dayton and Reed Slatkin. Both are very vocal members within Scientology. It's been claimed by outsiders and insiders that they scan and filter user emails, block certain information, and promote Scientology within their organization. All of these actions are of course legal but nonetheless reason enough to never use their service.

Tags: Internet, Religion, Scientology, & Television

Response

2006-03-05T15:25:00.000-05:00

Moderate Islam has finally shown itself to the world. A recent public display in Bahrain, an island nation in the Persian Gulf, has shown that moderate muslims greatly disagree with the people who use Islam to justify their terrorism.

One of the chants used during the protest, "No Sunni, No Shia, We are all against exclusivists (terrorists)" is very uplifting and a giant step forward in the world of extreme Islamists. It's a giant step towards what westerners has been demanding -- that rational and moderate muslims speak out against the terrorists. So, why haven't I heard much about this in the mainstream media?

Tags: Politics, Islam, Terrorism, & Media

Lesbians

2006-03-04T14:56:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of my brother Dan's friends. I think they're nice girls but they need to cut this shit out. They know they're not lesbians. We know they're not lesbians. So, what the hell is the deal?

Being drunk and hooking up with your best friend at the bar isn't hot. It's a lame attempt at getting noticed by guys. These two are very attractive girls with great personalities but they don't need to resort to this kind of tacky stunt. Personally, it's not a turn-on, but rather something that makes me lose my respect for them. Just because it catches my attention, doesn't mean its a good thing. Plenty of bad things catch my attention -- car accidents for example.

Stop being fake lesbians. Either go all the way and dive into some bearded clam or stop altogether because you're making yourselves look cheap, easy, and desperate. Stupid bitches.

Tags: Women, Rants, Lesbians, Society

Outsourcing

2006-03-03T14:41:00.000-05:00

I found a Jib-Jab animation about Wal-Mart and outsourcing here. Enjoy.

Tags: Cartoons, Economy, Politics, Wal-Mart

Counter

2006-03-02T02:11:00.000-05:00

I finally got my hit counter to work correctly. Before today, the hit counter would only increment if you viewed the main page. If you accessed the site via an RSS feed or accessed anything but the main archive page, it wouldn't register as a hit. I couldn't get it to work because I had placed my counter on the sidebar, unlike Pineapple, who placed his on the footer.

The footer displays on individual pages and the main page but certain sections of the sidebar do not. So I had to reconfigure some fo the html code. And no one is still reading this anymore.

Tags: Blogs, HTML, Nerd, & RSS

Nader

2006-03-01T22:20:00.000-05:00

Ralph Nader, consumer advocate extraordinaire, took aim at the automotive industry again this week. And by automotive industry, when it comes to criticism, just like the media, Nader only means GM, Ford, and sometimes DCX because, as you all know -- Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are perfect.

Nader claims that the Big Three (which would actually include Toyota as the third but he doesn't mean that) have created a "dark age" in the industry because of a deliberate neglect of innovation. He gave no examples for this claim.

Next, he went on to talk about big losses for Ford and GM lately and is amazed that no one has called for the head of Wagoner or Ford. Good point. I've wondered the same thing.

Then, he moved onto a lame attack of SUVs. He lambasted the Big Three for relying on the higher profit margins of gigantic "profitable junk" as their market share diminished. I'm sorry but how is this a problem? People wanted SUVs. The Big Three built them. SUVs were bought. That's how capitalism works. Corporations follow market needs. If you want someone to blame SUVs for -- blame the people who bought them. Besides how is this a domestic issue? Foreign automakers have been coming out in full force with large, fuel inefficient ugly SUVs the past five years. Where's the outrage for the "profitable junk" that they make? Oh right, you won't see it.

Now the ever popular argument that domestic cars get poor fuel economy. He made the claim that the domestics have neglected to improve fuel efficiency. Well, with the exception of the Prius (which is the ugliest thing this side of an Aztek and handle worse than SUVs), so has everyone else (the Honda Insight is not a car -- its a tricycle with an engine). As for hybrids in general, everyone is scrambling to get the technology out. Ford has a hybrid midsize SUV, and GM will have a hybrid car, SUV and truck in the next year. Nissan still doesn't have one either.

Also, I'm sick of the assumption that foreign automakers have better fuel economy in normal vehicles. But, I guess if you repeat a lie enough, people will begin to believe it. Here's some proof against this lie.

So, where's the article that says foreign automakers have neglected innovation? Oh thats right, you won't find it because they are the darlings of the media. By the way, GM has had hybrid technology in its buses for quite sometime. Secondly, like a lot of people, I have reservations about hybrids because of their batteries. Will they last the lifetime of the car? If they die, how expensive will it be, because it'll be out of warranty by then? How much of an environmental impact will these batteries have when they are disposed of? Batteries are horrible things for the environment, but don't tell Cameron Diaz that. She might shit herself. But, I digress.

The last thing I want to bring up about Nader is the statement "Our government has the authority and the tools to move [innovation] into the assembly lines and the dealer showrooms." I'm sorry but that's a horrible plan. I believe in a free market. I believe that the market should dictate what corporations produce, not old hippies that think they're enlightened and know better because they drive a Prius. Mr. Nader, if you want government controlled industry - please move to China.

Tags: Chevrolet, Media, Nader, Politics, & Toyota

Dodge

2006-03-01T20:35:00.000-05:00

My dad sent me a supposedly cancelled Dodge television advertisement. Check it out here. Thanks dad.

Ash

2006-03-01T10:32:00.000-05:00

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Yes! I can't wait. Only forty days until certain sects of Christians can blame Jews for the Romans killing Jesus.

Now here's a question. Why is Lent referred to as forty days? Its not forty days -- it's forty-four. It's only forty days if you do not include Sundays. Why would you not include Sundays? Silly Calendar.

To celebrate the day, here are four things I won't be doing:

My parents will not approve and someone will probably tell me I'm going to hell. Eh, its hard to get me worried about hell when I don't believe in it. Should I be wrong, at least it'll have a nice barbeque.

Tags: Christianity, Jesus, Race, & Religion

Libertarian

2006-02-28T22:48:00.000-05:00

I found a new political quiz called the World's Smallest Political Quiz. As its name implies, its small. Its only ten easy and straight forward questions. So much simpler than the six-page, sixty-one question Political Compass test that has questions that you have to Google to understand.

Tags: Libertarian & Politics

Hannity

2006-02-28T22:11:00.000-05:00

I actually like to watch Hannity & Colmes. I like to get a wide variety of opinions and well as I've stated many times -- yelling at the TV can be cathartic after a long day in class.

Although I do typically disagre with every position Hannity has, do not let that interfere with my next point. Everytime Hannity is debating with someone that he does not agree with, he tries to disregard them by telling them they have an agenda.

Sean, are you kidding me? Of course they have an agenda and so do you. Every person in politics has an agenda. That is the sole reason they are in politics. They want to create change for the better. Why would we want people in politics who did not have an agenda. What would they do -- sit on their hands and just agree with you all the time?

So, how is this a) insulting and b) able to disregard their position. It's not, you're just a douchebag and it makes you look foolish. Wait, I take back the douchebag comment. That would put Alex on the same level as Hannity and thats not fair. Alex is worse than him.

Tags: Debate, Hannity, & Politics

Stereo

2006-02-28T17:02:00.000-05:00

Apple released a new product for the iPod called the iPod Hi-Fi. Basically, it's speakers and a dock for the iPod. Available for $349, the device has two 80-mm wide range speakers and a 130-mm subwoofer that can supposedly fill the room with sound -- similar to the Herbie Hancock Bose Stereo. It comes with a remote so that you can operate your iPod from around the room and it has the option to be powered by six D-cell batteries so it could be used outside.

(Note: There's a removable grill for the speakers
but I couldn't find a picture.)
Overall, I think it's a pretty slick new product but it has a few glaring missing features. First off, it doesn't have audio out ports. I'm positive that I'm not the only one that would like the option to plug the dock into a home-theater system. A 5.1 system would have a vastly superior sound. Secondly, it has no video output for your television. Newer iPods have photo and even video functionality now. Why not add the ability to view them on your TV? You can already do this with a cable hooked up the iPod, but that would require removing it from the iPod Hi-Fi. More importantly, if I want to use the remote to operate the iPod, I'd like to be able to see what I'm selecting. An output to the TV would allow you to do so.

In conclusion, it's a nice product -- especially for using outside on the patio, but I wouldn't consider it without the features I outlined.

Tags: Apple, iPod, Music, Technology

Statistics

2006-02-28T13:55:00.000-05:00

Just a sample of statistics from the blog over the past thirty days. I wonder how many of the Internet Explorer hits were actually Firefox with Internet Explorer cloaking turned on. Additionally, my statistics engine didn't register certain people that I know check the site. I wonder how many people cloak their IP address.

Tags: Blogs, Internet, & Stats

Taxes

2006-02-27T00:55:00.000-05:00

Apparently H&R Block screwed up their own taxes and has been reported to owe $32 million in back taxes. They should have just used TurboTax. It's guaranteed to be 100% accurate.

Tags: H&R Block, Taxes

Anonymous

2006-02-26T16:02:00.000-05:00

I think its a safe assumption that people who read my blog know who Alex, the anonymous douchebag, is. In case you don't, I'll give you a quick recap.

Alex the anonymous douchebag went to Penn State. We met during the summer of 2001 when he was in a class of mine and started to date my friend, Colleen. Since the end of that summer, he's held a ridiculous grudge against me. Now, five years later, he still hates me and spends a lot of his time posting on my blog about how much I suck. Here's a brief list of why he hates me:

A friend of mine dumped him
I made fun of him because he claimed to fall in love with this friend after only two weeks
He assumed she dumped him for me
I urged my friend to get a restraining order against him because he started to stalk her
I'm better looking than he is
I don't live in Ohio
I have friends
I let a friend of his give me a blowjob in Lot 80

So, as I said, he spends a lot of his time posting irrelevant comments on my blog in an attempt to piss me off.

Recently he's been employing a clever new trick. He's been posting on other blogs under my identity to make me look bad. On one blog, he wrote "I hope you fall on the motorcycle going 60" and on another he wrote "I think that everyone born should be sex slaves. I think that you should be my sex slave as well and bend over and take it nice and hard". Tasteless? Soul-less? Yes, Alex has these qualities and many more.

The process is actually pretty easy. While posting a comment, you select "other" instead of "anonymous." Once selected, you type in the name and website of the identity you want to pose as. It's pretty slick but nonetheless an ethically void trick -- and I'm pretty sure it's illegal to make disparaging remarks while posing as someone else. Character Defamation comes to mind. Libel does too.

In any event, his actions have made me question my decisions on comment moderation and restriction. Should I moderate his irrelevant comments? No, I've decided to be the bigger man and let his word speak to his character. I respect free speech even when its hateful. Should I restrict comments to registered users? No, he would just create a profile called davesucks and use that to post. Moreover, many people leave relevant and meaningful comments on my blog and I'd be missing out on those. So, the desired effect does not outweigh negatives. But what do I do about his libel? Well, what can I do? I can't moderate his comments on other blogs. All I can hope to do is educate my friends about what he's doing.

Jealousy and hatred lead some people to do horrible things -- like waste their time trying to disparage others in an attempt to make them feel better about their own shitty life.

Safe

2006-02-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

Hero

2006-02-22T16:19:00.000-05:00

If I taught elementary school, I would model my class rules after this teacher. Awesome.