Funny: Gamer's wedding cake

http://www.gamedailyxl.com/2006/12/11/have-your-games-and-eat-them-too/

Interesting: Winter Camping

http://www.clubtread.com/articledetail.asp?ID=49



sound fun, I wouldn't mind doing this once.

Myer-Brigs Test: INTP

Well, I'm still a INTP, good to know.

INTP - Physicists, chemists, biologists, photographers, strategic planners, mathematicians, university professors, computer programmers, computer animators, technical writers, engineers, lawyers, forensic researchers, writers, artists, psychologists, social scientists, systems analysts, researchers, surveyors. Highly analytical, they can discover connections between two seemingly unrelated things, and work best when allowed to use their imagination and critical thinking.

INTJ- 2.1% of the population. :)

• Most important feature of an ideal job: creativity and originality.
• In national sample, lowest in reporting stress associated with "School" and "Caring for aging parents."
• In national sample, lowest in coping with stress by "Watching TV."
• In national sample, ranked highest in saying "No" to belief in a higher spiritual power.
• In national sample "Leisure Activities," overrepresented in "Taking classes, going to school," "Appreciating art," "Playing with computers or video games," and "Working out/exercising"; underrepresented in "Watching TV 3 or more hours per day."
• Academic subjects preferred: science.
• Highest GPA among college persisters.
• 1 of 3 highest types in liking work environment characteristic "Variety of tasks" as well as highly favoring "Clear structure" and "Independence & achievement"; lowest of all types in liking work environments characterized by "Making the job as simple as possible."
• In national sample, among types with highest income; dissatisfied with "Future work opportunities," "Promotions," and "Job security" in their jobs.
• Highest rank on coping resources used was spiritual/philosophical - ranked 3rd out of the 16 types.
• Among the 3 male types overrepresented among substance abusers.
  
  

It is in their abilities that Masterminds differ from the other Rationals, while in most of
their attitudes they are just like the others. However there is one attitude
that sets them apart from other Rationals: they tend to be much more
self-confident than the rest, having, for obscure reasons, developed a very
strong will. They are rather rare, comprising no more than, say, one percent of
the population. Being very judicious, decisions come naturally to them; indeed,
they can hardly rest until they have things settled, decided, and set. They are
the people who are able to formulate coherent and comprehensive contingency
plans, hence contingency organizers or "entailers."
Masterminds will adopt
ideas only if they are useful, which is to say if they work efficiently toward
accomplishing the Mastermind's well-defined goals. Natural leaders, Masterminds
are not at all eager to take command of projects or groups, preferring to stay
in the background until others demonstrate their inability to lead. Once in
charge, however, Masterminds are the supreme pragmatists, seeing reality as a
crucible for refining their strategies for goal-directed action. In a sense,
Masterminds approach reality as they would a giant chess board, always seeking
strategies that have a high payoff, and always devising contingency plans in
case of error or adversity. To the Mastermind, organizational structure and
operational procedures are never arbitrary, never set in concrete, but are quite
malleable and can be changed, improved, streamlined. In their drive for
efficient action, Masterminds are the most open-minded of all the types. No idea
is too far-fetched to be entertained-if it is useful. Masterminds are natural
brainstormers, always open to new concepts and, in fact, aggressively seeking
them. They are also alert to the consequences of applying new ideas or
positions. Theories which cannot be made to work are quickly discarded by the
Masterminds. On the other hand, Masterminds can be quite ruthless in
implementing effective ideas, seldom counting personal cost in terms of time and
energy.

My results:
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/articles/mb/mbrespond.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INTJ

Take your own test: http://www.eggheadcafe.com/articles/mb/default.asp

Cool: Wii hack drum machine

http://www.bobsomers.com/2006/12/06/wii-drum-machine/

Athiestism: Richard Dawkins

Interesting: My celebrity look-a-likes

Fabio Cannavaro - Some spanish soccer player http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabio_Cannavaro


Jason Biggs - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Biggs

Boris Karloff - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Karloff

Eugene O'Neill - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_O'Neill

Steve Harris - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Harris_(musician)

Cool: Lockpicking comic

http://www.locksport.com/LSIGuide/Launcher.html

Teaches you about how locks work and some interesting ways to make tools to pick them.

Interesting: a POV golf club

http://zedomax.com/blog/zedomax-diy118-howto-make-a-golf-club-pov-training-aid/

Cool: Paintball Minigun

http://www.remotelyinteresting.com/paintball%20minigun%20page.html

Cool: 31 Texas Hold'em tips

http://www.cardroomsupply.com/31-winning-texas-holdem-strategies.html

1. First and foremost you have to remember the object of playing Texas Holdem is to win money. The best way to make this crazy game of Texas Holdem an enjoyable one is start being a winning player. A lot of people say they just play for fun but how fun is it to keep losing money every time you play.

2. Set aside a certain amount of money that you are only going to use to play poker. This is your “Bankroll”. Treat it like you would an investment account. This is going to be your number one way of keeping track of your play on the poker tables.

3. Play with money you can afford to lose. The easiest way to be a losing player is to play with money that you have no business risking, or what I like to call “Scared Money”. You will have a hard time being able to play correctly if you are consistently sacred to lose the money you are playing with.

4. Chose the right stakes for your bankroll. No matter how good you are at poker you are going to experience major swings in your wins and loses. If you are a winning player over the long haul you are still going to come out ahead. But to pull this off you are going to have to be playing at stakes that do not wipe out your bankroll when you do run bad. Here is a good site that goes into depth about how to figure out what kind of bankroll you will need to play at certain stakes.

5. You have to be able to manage your bankroll. If you do take on the task of trying to play poker for a living you are going to have to master how to manage your bankroll. When you are living of off your poker winning it essential your net worth and you have to look at things a little different. Before you think about trying this you better know you are a winning player.

6. Don’t play when you have major personal issues in your life. If you are having any major personal problems, e.g. breaking up, death in the family, or anything that can have a major impact on your ability to think clearly you should not be playing poker. Even some of the best players in the world are going to be losing players with these types of things going on in their life.

7. Don’t play when you know you are not one of the better players at the poker table. This may be the most important principle of being a winning holdem player. You might be the tenth best poker player in the world but if you are playing with the nine that are better than you then you are bound to lose. This works the opposite also. You might be an average player but if you always play with people that are worse players, than you are going to win money consistently.

8. You have to be confident in your skills but not overly confident. If you have to trust your abilities enough to believe that you are going to be able to win at a certain poker table. Don’t get overconfident though. This is a surefire way for you to let someone sneak up on you and steal your whole stack.

9. When you start to get tired quit playing for the day. Playing long poker sessions is kind of a macho thing to do. You always hear old stories about pros playing for three days in a row with no sleep. The bottom line is if you are starting to feel like you are losing an edge because of getting tired stop playing. It is going to save you a lot of money in the long run.

10. You have to stay disciplined. Discipline is the cornerstone of good poker. Many players have then know-how to play good poker but it is the ability to stay disciplined that separates the good players from the great players. This is the part of the game that isn’t what a lot of people want to hear about how to play good poker. Sometimes good poker is boring. But it is better to be winning and bored than in the action and broke.

11. Don’t underestimate your opponent. If you have never played against the opponent you are up against it is better to give him more respect than he deserves than not enough. Good poker player come in all shapes and sizes don’t judge a poker player by his cover.

12. Play good starting hands. This is probably on of the first rules you learn when a player is learning how to play correctly. It is also one of the quickest ways for a bad player to become a good player.

13. Try and figure out what your opponent is holding. The more you play the easier this task will become. Once you hone this skill though it is a nice weapon to have. This is one skill that some people are born with and some people develop and some people never can get it down. But it is one skill set that separates the good, the bad, and the ugly.

14. Bluffing can be a great asset but don’t overdo it. Everyone loves the bluff ; it is one of the greatest weapons you are giving in poker. It is the fact that you can win without the best hand that makes poker so great. It is also a weapon if not used correctly can cost a mediocre player a lot of money.

15. You have to be able to change gears. By changing gears I mean you have to be able to change the way you play consistently so that a good player does not figure out what you are doing. If a good player figures out a pattern in your play he will be able to exploit it very easily.

16. You have to be selective and aggressive. This goes hand in hand with being disciplined. This also is the heart and soul of winning at Texas holdem. Being a calling stationis one of the worst things you can be in poker. The best thing about raising or being aggressive is that it gives you two different ways of winning the hand. First if your opponent can decide to fold whether he has the best hand or not and second if he does call you still may have the best hand against him.

17. Figure out your opponents betting patterns. Some poker players may have very obvious betting patterns and the sooner you figure out these the sooner you are going to take all of his money.

18. Learn how to counting your outs in a giving situation. Your outs are the number of cards that can take your losing hand and turn it into a winning hand. The only way you are ever going to know how to make the right call or not is to know how many outs you have left in a deck and know what kind of odds that gives you at winning the hand from that point on.

19. Calculate your pot odds. Pot odds are the size of the pot relative the size of your bet. You want to be able to figure out if it is worth the size of the bet you have to call to win the size of the pot out there. If you are consistently putting money into a pot that you are not getting the right odds to call you are going to lose money in the long run. Sure you may get lucky and hit that miracle card every once in a while but sooner rather than later you are going to go broke. Here is some great blog on the conection between math and poker.

20. If it is obvious that you are not going to win the hand fold. There is no way to through small amounts of money away when you know you have no chance of winning the hand.

21. Keep your head when you are on the wrong end of a bad beat. Poker is a game of skill with a huge luck factor involved. This luck factor can really test your nerve some times and if you let bad beats get to you too much you will never be able to play at your best. One way to keep your sanity when you are on the wrong end of a bad beat is to try and remember all the times you have gotten lucky when you shouldn’t have and realize it is just part of poker.

22. Start keeping detailed records of your poker play. One of the easiest ways a player can improve his game is to keep records of his play. Make sure you record every day no matter what the results. You want the truth not what you think is the truth. So many people think they are winning players but if they ever sat down and tallied up their wins and loses they would quickly find out that they lose more than they win.

23. Keep track of the day, date, and the time you where playing poker. You may find out that you win more when you play longer sessions or vise versa. You will need to build up a large sample of data to start to see trends in your play but you can be sure that after a while you will see when you are playing well and when you are playing poorly.

24. Keep track of what stakes you are playing. By keeping close watch of how you do at different limits you may find out that you do much better at certain limits than others.

25. Make it a habit of writing down your results right after you are done. This will give you the best chance at remembering all of the critical details that could help you evaluate your play later, and it will also deter you from trying to forget those losing sessions.

26. Use some type of software to keep track of play. Try to keep as many details that you think can help you evaluate your play, e.g. net winnings, type of game played, where you played, what the limit was, and you can even keep track of how you were feeling at the time you played. The ability to find any weakness in your game can be a huge asset. You can use a excel spreadsheet or some other software designed for keeping track of your play.

27. Discuss your play with your close poker friends. This is a great way for you to get a better understanding and possibly be enlightened by another way to look at the game from someone. You may want to watch out from who you are taking advice from though. You better sure they are good players. But anytime thinking about the game is time well spent.

28. Get yourself some of the better poker books . There are literally hundreds of poker books flooding the market right now. Some are garbage and some are worth their weight in gold.

29. Teach someone else how to play winning poker. Sometime the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else. They may ask questions that you may never thought of. It may make you learn the game better yourself.

30. Participate in Poker Forums. There are some great poker forums out there that discuss anything you want to know about poker. These places are great best some of the greatest poker minds hang out on them and they are more than willing to help you out if you have questions regarding the game.

31. Keep learning. The day you think you know it all about poker is the day everyone else is going to start getting better than they already are than you are getting ahead of you.

Google:Writely

http://www.writely.com. You can write your document and such, and then save it as a word, pdf, etc.. Kinda cool.

Hack: ATM hack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmW_4R81jVU

Ok, this is just stupid, why would make a secret pin to access the atm, especially since they probably could used switches inside the machine instead of some software program to tell what bills are used.

Funny: Worst Hacker Ever

http://www.crisscross.com/jp/forum/Worlds_worst_hacker%25_IRC_t%20ranscript/m_422436/tm.htm

Cool: MMC drive from a floppy connector.

http://uanr.com/sdfloppy/

very simple, just put a spacer in, and everything is nicely done.

Cool: XBox 360 Lap Top

http://benheck.com/Games/Xbox360/x360_page_1.htm
A very intersting article with a funny comic. (I think the store is probably Best Buy, they are a bunch of idiots at those stores).

Hack: wget - unix style

Source: http://www.lifehacker.com/software/top/geek-to-live--mastering-wget-161202.php

"First, create a text file called mp3_sites.txt, and list URLs of your favorite sources of music online one per line (like http://del.icio.us/tag/system:filetype:mp3 or stereogum.com). Be sure to check out my previous feature on how to find free music on the web for more ideas.

Then use the following Wget command to go out and fetch those MP3's:

wget -r -l1 -H -t1 -nd -N -np -A.mp3 -erobots=off -i mp3_sites.txt
That Wget recipe recursively downloads only MP3 files linked from the sites listed in mp3_sites.txt that are newer than any you've already downloaded. There are a few other specifications in there - like to not create a new directory for every music file, to ignore robots.txt and to not crawl up to the parent directory of a link. Jeff breaks it all down in his original post.

The great thing about this technique is that once this command is scheduled, you get an ever-rotating jukebox of new music Wget fetches for you while you sleep. With a good set of trusted sources, you'll never have to go looking for new music again - Wget will do all the work for you."

How To: Make a M80

Source: http://www.i-hacked.com/content/view/13/48/

Here are your materials:
1-3/4" Tubes & Plugs (3/4" ID, 1/8" Wall, 1-3/4" Long)
Flash Powder
"Visco" Safety Fuse (Available at local gun stores, miliary surplus stores, and online)

Pretty much self explantatory afterward.

Interesting: Demographics for websites

Source: http://adlab.microsoft.com/DPUI/DPUI.aspx

You can use adCenter technology to predict a customer’s age,
gender, and other demographic information according to his or her
online behavior—that is, from search queries and webpage views.

So you enter a website and get back predicted demographics. So on this blog, I get .55 males, .45 females, about 47% of my visitors are 24 and under, mostly under 18. Hmmm, am I that kid-ish?

Interesting, if you look up google, you get 1.0 females, 0.0 males.

Interesting: Fake ID Generator

Source: http://dev.allredtech.com/fakename/

Interesting, this thing makes a fake first and last name with an address, phone number, maiden name, and birthday. Here is an example of one:

Horacio Mcalister
772 Ash Street
Pacifica, CA 94044

Phone: 650-355-6003
Mother's maiden name: Fiducia
Birthday: February 5, 1981

Interesting: Make Notepad confuse...

Source: http://www.wincustomize.com/articles.aspx?aid=117870&c=1

This is interesting, notepad has trouble with this.

Here's how to do it:
1. Open up Notepad (not Wordpad, not Word or any other word processor)
2. Type in this sentence exactly (without quotes): "this app can break"
3. Save the file to your hard drive.
4. Close Notepad
5. Open the saved file by double clicking it.

I guess some people also get simplified chinese characters instead of blocks.

To geeky for me: Ethernet cuff links.

Source: http://geektechnique.org/projectlab/651/geek-chique-how-to-make-cuff-links

Well, I guess if it's an emergency, I might do it.

WTF: House rejects Net neutrality rules

source: http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6081882.html
Just another reason to hade republicans. I hope this gets past some how, it would suck to pay just to access free websites like google.com.

Interesting: Making of Halo 3

Should be nice to see, on XBox 360 graphics. I just have to get one. :(

Interesting: 50-State Economic Freedom Ranking

Source: http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2006/05/50state_economi.html

So California, and New York are at the bottom, while Colorado is at the top. The thing is, California and New York are a better market place. I don't know if this actually has any weight on how a state is sucessful in economics. Personally, I think economic people are usually idiots who don't know shit, and are clueless about their jobs. Anyway, when it comes to economics, I would say I kinda take the side of the republicans, a little. Free open markets are great in spawning sucess, as long as there are guildlines to protect the workers, which isn't a republican thing. I, however, totally disagree with government interfering to much into business. In other work, I don't like when the gov't pays Fortune 500 companies, with large tax breaks and incentives. Heck, if most people didn't have to pay any taxes, we would be all happier also. My question is though, if these companies do collect taxes, but don't pay them back to the state and/or country, then don't we, the people, deserve to get our money back?

Funny: Hate to read this resume

Source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-05/20/content_595970.htm

Student drafts 100-page resume(China Daily)Updated: 2006-05-20 11:29

A student from the University of Yangzhou has spent 100 days producing a 100,000-word resume, Yangtze Evening News reported.
Duan started writing the resume in January and spent two or three hours every day on it till late April. The resume included Duan's work and study experiences during the past four years, as well as his personal opinions on society and life.
Duan was confident that his 100-page resume would attract human resources managers' interest.

Good: ABC's TV shows have been seen 3 million times

I'm glad that television stations have started showing some good content on their website now. So if you missed the last episode of Lost you can view it online. ABC isn't the only channel that lets you watch other shows online. Comedy Central has been doing this for years, and Cartoon Network lets you view the upcoming week's show every late friday. This helps free up time for me, when I know nothing else is on, I can watch my shows and get more done.

A few years ago, the idea that television content being broadcast over the internet was a pipe dream, now it's reality and is working great for us people who can't be glued to the television every second. Hope other stations catch on. :)

Resource: http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-05-18T195403Z_01_N18317321_RTRIDST_0_TECH-MEDIA-DISNEY-ABC-COL.XML&archived=False

Cool: Wii tennis

So, there has been a lot of news and enthusiasm about Nintendo's Wii product, especially with E3. Well here is video showing off their tennis game.

Weird: 3D Body Modifications

Every new generation has always freaked out the pervious generations somehow. This was done with music, politics, tatoos, piercings,etc... So, I always wonder what would be the "thing" that might be too far, and putting me in that old category. Well, this defiently is very close to it:

Body Modifications
Putting implants under the skin to change the shape of it. For example:

(I choose this one, because -- well -- I'm a guy)

source:http://sickflash.com/3d_body_mod.html

Interesting: Net Neutrality FYI Video

http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/307

For thoughs of you not informed on the net neutrality issue, here is a video explaining it.

Interesting: Machiavelli Test

The Machiavelli personality test has a range of 0-100
Your Machiavelli score is: 66
You are a high Mach, you endorse Machiavelli's opinions.
Most people fall somewhere in the middle, but there's a significant minority at either extreme.

Take the test: http://www.salon.com/books/it/1999/09/13/machtest/index.html

I'm just suprised that I'm am even that close to his views. Oh-well, I knew I had some great evil thoughts in my head.

Interesting: Trying to get a refund on a video game...

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/bi/confessions/archives/008833.asp

It's an interesting read, and brings up a good point. If the software is flawed, to where it is not usable, then you should be in the right to get your money back. It's the stores fault for not keeping up with the times, and not considering these possibilities. I'm glad he won the battle, unfortunately that war is not over for others.

Funny: Taco Town Tacos

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=16975

The skit was funny, but I would have never dared to make and/or eat it.

Cool: The 3 Variable Funny Test

So here are my results:

the Prankster
(38% dark, 30% spontaneous, 15% vulgar)
your humor style:
CLEAN COMPLEX LIGHT


Your humor has an intellectual, even conceptual slant to it. You're not pretentious, but you're not into what some would call 'low humor' either. You'll laugh at a good dirty joke, but you definitely prefer something clever to something moist.

You probably like well-thought-out pranks and/or spoofs and it's highly likely you've tried one of these things yourself. In a lot of ways, yours is the most entertaining type of humor because it's smart without being mean-spirited.

PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Conan O'Brian - Ashton Kutcher

Cool: South Park

Well, of course Comedy Central banned the image, for some strange reason. America isn't Europe, people here are more civilalized (smirks).

Well I was watching Fox News, well actually I was clicking through the channels and saw that they were talking about South Park's non-airing of the prohet Muhammad. This christan, dumbass, was on there saying that it is hypocritical that they can make fun of christians, but not of scientology and muslim. I then thought, this guy is an idiot, and doesn't know what he is talking about. They ridcule scientology, anyone who knows why Chef is died (now alive), knows that.

He then also said that people should give respect to religions like christianity, islam, etc.. I think that is just total bullshit, oh it's ok for these communities to make fun, and be violent of gays, atheists, etc.., but when the tables are turn, they try to play the "Christian's Bashing" card. They think that everyone is after chrisitans or something, but it is the other way around. It is just a few of us, that actually stick up with what we believe, and don't take that religion bullshit of how our lives should be run.

Then I almost started laughing when the guy said, Chrisitans believe that people should have freedom to do as they please. So the guy just counterdicted himself on tv, and anyone who isn't christian can clearly see that this isn't true. Chrisitianity tries to control people by using a imaginary creature called GOD.

I believe that Trey and Matt are correct, and if you aren't allowed to show the stupidity of religion, then people think it is alright. I think that Matt and Trey should get a website and put the whole episode up for people to view if they want. I don't know if comedy central, has the whole rights or not. I want to see the episode uncut, maybe they can some how accidently leak the episode and knowing the internet would spread like wild fire.

How To: Make your own macro lens

http://www.kevinponds.com/2006/03/31/howto-homemade-reversing-variable-length-extension-tube-macro/

So basically you have two lenses one is used to reverse the other, then you just extend the len's distance.

Here is a pic that used 4 lens extension:

Cool: Oragami

http://www.langorigami.com/art/gallery/gallery.php4?name=coopers_hawk

These oragami(s) are very nice, should check this out.

How To: Debunk Junk Science

One of my favorite things to do, when I'm bored and it's 4am in the morning is to watch infomericals. I love watching the fake excitment and the lies that spew forth from the tv. I play this little game, called catch the lie. Once I see one lie, then I feel happy to know that the informericial is all bull shit.

Well here is a list of reasons not to believe junk science from http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i21/21b02001.htm

1. The discoverer pitches the claim directly to the media.
2. The discoverer says that a powerful establishment is trying to suppress his or her work.
3. The scientific effect involved is always at the very limit of detection.
4. Evidence for a discovery is anecdotal.
5. The discoverer says a belief is credible because it has endured for centuries.
6. The discoverer has worked in isolation.
7. The discoverer must propose new laws of nature to explain an observation.

Now this list doesn't go into the other informercials like exercise bikes and food making products.

Exercise equipment: Well my friend's mom use too buy all those exercise equipment seen on tv, shes an arobic exerciser. We would try this stuff out, most of the time the product is made out of cheap plastic and would probably fall apart if I used it everyday for a week. A good rule of thumb, don't buy any equipment you see on tv, for at least 1 year, by then it would probably be gone and something new, usually an improvment on the old would be out. They always try to tell you that you can take a normal exercise routine and throw it out the door, because this can get the job done in 15 minutes, LOL. Of course, anybody who doesn't work out, if they just take 15minutes a day to work out would improve slightly. My best workouts I've done at the gym would take 1-1 1/2 hours, because I would work multiple groups, targeting them. The best way to know that you are working a muscle is to target it, not work all of them. If you can't spend the time, don't expect great results, but working out 15 minutes a day, can aleast burn off that candy bar or soda you had for lunch. 100 calories in 15 minutes per day would result in 36,500 which is approx. 10lbs a year.

Food making products: Why in the hell would you want a product that only makes one thing? Common, Grill Cheese sandwich makers? WTF??!!!! Most of the time all you need is a pan to do this work, here is a hint how: TURN DOWN THE HEAT. Most people don't know how to cook, because they turn the heat up to high. It's not fast food!!! Second thing to look at is, how often would you use it? How often do you use your george foreman grill? My best bet it is just on your kitchen counter, collecting dust. Cheap Products are the next thing to look at, because products are small and cute on tv, is not a good reason to get it. Most of the time, these things are cheap plastic that falls apart after a few months. Cute = cheap most of the time.

Well there is my rant on informercials. :)

Cool: Disco Bar

http://thediscobar.blogspot.com/

You should see this, unless you're my dad then don't because you'll probably end up wanting it. It cost about $750 for the guy to make it, dang. I'm always amazed how people can just spend that much cash, I hope I could someday.

Atheists identified as America’s most distrusted minority

http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=releases&-lay=web&-format=umnnewsreleases/releasesdetail.html&ID=2816&-Find

I always find it funny when people say, us, atheists are less trusting because we don't follow a religion. If anything we are more morally justified, then any religous person on earth. Religion is based on old beliefs which supports salavery, killing, beating your wife and children, and other unmoral beliefs in today's society. As time changes some old beliefs are found to be unmoral and unjust.

We, Atheist, are more morally just, because we see life as not infinite, but finite. We understand how precious life is, while someone believing in GOD has less care what they do on earth as long as they get into some utopia type state, like heaven.
Anybody with common sense would know that uptopia is not reachable. What about racist, sexist, etc... people who follow the bible, but do all they can to stop others they don't like from sucess. Is there a place in heaven for them? I can't stand country music, what if I am in heaven next to somebody who loves listening to country music. Of course this is off subject, because nobody really knows what it would be like up there, now do they?

We, Athesit, believe that people should have freedom, and anything that takes away another person's life or freedom is the worst aspect possible. Unlike religous people, we think for ourselves. We don't follow beliefs blindly set forth from more then a millenium ago. We challenge and question everything, we use logic and common sense to figure things out for the common good of society.

I personally would never want to harm another person's life, culture, etc.. I know that if you take away from a group of people, like the poor, then it would end up getting back to you. I'm not talking about karama, but everybody is connected somehow. If we, the people, try to ignore a fact like there is a very large group of americans living on less then $15,000/ year and basic living expenses rise every year, THEN it is only logic that some people would die, or result to stealing to survive. Everything in life in connected and has an effect. People interconnecting with each other is one giant Dynamical System.

Now in their study they said that atheist make up 3%, which I think is either a lie or very wrong. I would go as boldly say that about 1 in 3 people that I have meet are atheist. Either they are truthful to themselves and say they don't believe in god, they are agnostic and don't care either way, they only follow religion to be on the "safe side" (very stupid) even though they don't believe in god, or they lie to themselves and try very hard to try to believe.

Lego Aircraft Carrier

http://www.ezprezzo.com/crazypics/lego_aircraft_carrier.html



Hey, I still love legos, I believe it's the best toy on the market for children. It allows them to use their imagination in developing and building things. You also have to learn to improvise, since you don't have every piece.

It's not gender specific. Heck if more girls had legos when they were small, even if all they built was lego doll houses, I would bet they would be better at mathematics and engineering.

The best way to learn, in my opinon, is through progressive learning. You learn from your mistakes and you also end up exploring. It is basically a double edge sword, you end up learning one way or the other.

Keypad Test

How fast can you go?

First time through I got 110.

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=16374

I of course, I'm one of those weird rare gamers that use the numpad and mouse instead of the traditional wasdx buttons on the keyboard.

Tagworld

http://www.tagworld.com/andrusw

So this is like friendster and myspace. It is growing and changing alot with new improvements. I still can't figure out the music player yet, but I put up my links, pictures, and comedy pages.

William Andrus in Japanese

So here is a stab at what my name would be in japanese, assuming I get it right and the pronouncations correct:

William:
ウィりアム
In romiji: wi ri a mu
pronounced as ( wee-lee-ah-mu )

James:
ジェームス
In romiji: je - mu su
pronounced as ( jay (short pause) moo sue )

Andrus:
アんドラッ
In romiji: a n do ra tsu
pronounced as ( ahn doe rah tsu )

What country should you be living in?

Which country should you REALLY be living in? The United Kingdom You have pride in yourself and pride in your country. You believe that history and culture is an important factor to the future of your country, and that traditions and values should be upheld. You love your scones and tea, and reading soppy romance novels. The UK is where you should be...

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

How To: Make prison alcohol

http://modifiedliving.com/pruno.htm

By the sounds of it, neither option is worth trying out in the real world.

Funny: Man Dates Women on Internet for 6 Months... But when they met, he found out it was his mother!

http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/news/wwn/20051209/113414040002.html

I know my pychology was right, bascially every man looks for what seems to be the perfect women based on the women in his life when growing up. Of course this just took it a little to far. LOL

How To: Flame Thrower Exaust Pipe

http://www.tnga.org.nyud.net:8090/Tech/flame_throwers.htm

I always thought these looked cool, but I would be afraid of burning somone's legs off while driving around.

Hack: Fedex Kinko's Smart Cards

http://www.mal-aware.org/2006/02/28/fedex-kinkos-smart-cards-hacked/

Video of it happening: http://www.securescience.net/exploits/ssc_expresspay_vuln.wmv

I've always found it funny how a company denys their faults. I hope, at least, they fix this problem.

How to: Peel a potato (Japanese style?)

http://www.zonalibre.org/blog/roge/archives/090899.html

I'm not a big of the potato, even though I'm part Irish, but this is an interesting way of peeling.

こんいしわ （Ｈｅｌｌｏ）

「Ｗｉｌｌｉａｍ」です　（Ｍｙ　ｎａｍｅ　ｉｓ　Ｗｉｌｌｉａｍ）

あめりか　から　きました　（Ｉ’ｍ　ｆｒｏｍ　Ａｍｅｒｉｃａ）

さよおなら　（Ｇｏｏｄ　Ｂｙｅ）


Ｗｅｌｌ　Ｉ　ｓｔｉｌ　ｓｕｃｋ，　ｂｕｔ　ｊｕｓｔ　ｓｔａｒｔｉｎｇ．　Ｉ　
Ｃａｎ　ｕｎｄｅｒｓｔａｎｄ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｏｆ　ｉｔ　ｎｏｗ，　ｂｕｔ　ｒｅａｄｉｎｇ
Ｉｔ，　ｆｏｒｇｅｔ　ｉｔ．　Ｗｅｌｌ　ｈｅｒｅ　ａｒｅ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｌｉｎｋｓ　Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ
Ｏｒ　ｇｏｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｕｓｅ　ｆｏｒ　ｍｙ　ｌｅａｒｎｉｎｇ　Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ　（じゃぱねせ）

Ｏｈ．．Ｉ　ｇｏｔ　ｔｏ　ｒｅｍｅｍｂｅｒ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｗｏｒｄ：　Ｓｕｓｈｉ（すし）
＜＾＿＾＞

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/%7EIF2N-SZK/jcont.html　

http://athome.nime.ac.jp/

http://www.genkienglish.net/genkijapan/japanese.htm

http://www.japanese-online.com/

http://lrnj.com/

http://nihongo.fujikodesu.com/sec_en/knkj.htm#jouyou

How To: Catch a snowflake

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/
e5fb1e4e0fca9010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

Ok their steps are as follow:

1. Set microscope slides, coverslips and superglue outside when it’s 20°F or colder to chill them. Catch flakes on the slides or pick them up with cold tweezers.


2. Place a drop of superglue on the snowflake. Note: Gel glue doesn’t work. Find a brand that’s thin and runny.


3. Drop a coverslip over the glue. Don’t press down hard or the flake could tear or melt from the heat of your finger.


4. Leave the slide in a freezer for one or two weeks and don’t touch it with warm hands. The glue must completely harden before the snowflake warms up.

That sounds easy enough, where you can do this without the "microscope". (Who has a microscope, just laying around the house?) You basically need a sturdy piece of glass or a plate. You basically want to use something that is hard and would be easy to get the super glue off. Put it in a freezer and wait.

How To: Speak/Understand Southern(ers)

http://www.gagirl.com/southern/south.html

Only use in emergencies. If, for some strange reason, you find yourself in the south or meet a southerner, then be warned. Take action quickly and begin to not understand a word they say. Probably the reason they vote conservative republican, is because they don't understand logic and what we are saying.

Interesting: Mom's Genetics Could Produce Gay Sons

Resource: http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060224_gay_genes.html

This is very interesting reading.

Funny: Two Dollar Bills

http://paul.merton.ox.ac.uk/tales/money.html

Ok, so this guys tries to pay for a burrito at taco bell, with a $2 bill. They wouldn't accept it, because they didn't know that the $2 bills existed. Click on the link to read the whole conversation.

Famous Games Scenes in Lego

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skinnycoder/sets/72057594067730271/

These are great pics that bring back memories.

50! Tips which can help you in writing

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/fifty-50-tools-which-can-help-you-in-writing.html

These are pretty good, and maybe I should use them more often (probably not in my blog though)

This years Darwin Award goes to *drum roll*

Failed Frame-Up

"(19 March 2005, Michigan) "Unusual" and "complicated" is how the Missaukee County sheriff described the mysterious death of 19-year-old Christopher.
After an evening spent imbibing large quantities of alcohol, Christopher noticed a shortage in his liquor supply that could not be attributed to his own depredations. He concluded that his neighbor had stolen a bottle of booze! He menaced the neighbor with a knife, to no avail, whereupon he retired to his own apartment to brood about revenge.

Finally he figured out the perfect way to get back at that conniving bottle-thief: Christopher would stab himself and blame the neighbor!

A witness saw Christopher enter the bathroom as he called 911. He calmly informed the dispatcher that his neighbor had stabbed him. Witnesses said he looked fine when he emerged from the bathroom, but a moment later gouts of blood spewed from his chest. Suddenly he began screaming begging for help. The dispatcher heard a woman shout, "Why did you do this?" He collapsed at the door of his apartment.

Deputies arrived quickly, but Christopher had already bled to death from self-inflicted stab wounds to his chest. An autopsy determined that he had stabbed himself in the chest twice. The first wound apparently didn't look dangerous enough, so he tried again. The second time, the knife plunged into his left ventricle. This wound was plenty dangerous: he had only two minutes to live.

Christopher died in vain. His deathbed accusation of his neighbor failed, as a witness confirmed that the neighbor was not in the apartment. All Christopher got for revenge was an accidental death sentence."

http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/index_darwin2005.html

Adult Swim: [Anime] Fix going 24/7

Ok, this is cool. Adult Swim is going to be showing streaming video of some of it's shows. This would be so cool, I hope Samuari Champloo and some other anime cartoon's will end up on there. http://www.adultswim.com/williams/news/index.html?http%3A//www.adultswim.com/williams/news/articles/default.html

Funny: Spinning Suspicious Searches (if caught by the FBI)

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,70168-0.html?tw=wn_index_22

With the FBI gathering up everybody's search string, and Google fighting them. This takes a funny jab at some obviously bad search strings, and tries to portray them differently.

Interesting: Morse Code Translator

.... . -.-- / ... --- -- . --- -. . / .- -.-. - ..- .- .-.. .-.. -.-- / ...- .. ... .. - . -.. / -- -.-- / ... .. - . --..-- / .-- --- .-- / - .... .- -. -.- ... .-.-.- .-.-.- .-.-.- .-.-.- /

http://www.omnicron.com/~ford/java/NMorse.html

Which southpark character are you?

You scored as stan. you are the sensible one. you will help nearly any one who needs it and you learn your lesson every time you make a mistake

which south park character r u?
created with QuizFarm.com

High School Memories: Build a Geodesic Dome

http://www.monkeyc.org/dome/index.html
Well, I remember doing this back in Intro to Engineering class I had in my junior year of highschool. I was the youngest in the class, being the only junior and all. I remember fondly laying real close (spooning) to the only women in the class on the cardboard, for experimental reasons ^_^ to see how much room we would need. We designed the template for a hexagonal and pentagon shape cardboard, which is what we used for our geodesic dome. The top of the dome was a pentagon, then then next level was all hex, and so on.. alternating back and forth until the bottom.

I enjoyed that class, one the teacher was my high school swim coach (Mr. Treubig), so that was kinda fun getting picked on by him. I remember do the egg crash test dummies, where we try to design a better bumper for these wooden cars, so that the egg wouldn't crack. We even went on good field trips, several times during the year, to places like Schwizzer Aircraft's engineering center. We also did the old marble sorter thing, we had to sort among three bins, clear, translucent, and black. We also had to design on that stupid CAD machine and print out our design.

Question: Is swimming in water or syrup faster?

http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040920/pf/040920-2_pf.html

LOL, ok this was never a question brought up to me, but I think I would have figured it out. The resistence and the power of the swimmer would equal out, just like it would in water, but then comes the dramtic player in all competitive swimmers: DRAG. With the sticky stuff clinging onto you, you would just end up pulling more of it with you.

Hmmmm, I wonder if a swimmer were to dose himself with oil, would that make him faster in water?

Catproof your Computer

This is funny, but a real program -- that protects your computer from your cat when it jumps up onto the keyboard.





Source: http://www.bitboost.com/pawsense/index.html

Hack: Email Spoofing

http://www.datastronghold.com/content/view/81/29/

This is cool and very simple to do, email spoofing this way is easy, but of course I wouldn't do anything too stupid since this way is done through telent and can easily be traced backed to you.

Here are the steps summerized:

1. Open your command window: Start Menu -> Run -> cmd
2. Find the mail server your are going to use for the spoofing: http://centralops.net/co/DomainDossier.aspx
   with the DNS records selected, and then find the lowest type of MX server. Example: mx1.company.com
3. Type in the name that was the lowest in the command window: telnet mx1.companya.com 25
   You should get a response like: 220 mail.companya.com Microsoft ESMTP MAIL Service, Version: 6.0.3790.1830 ready at Tue, 19 Feb 2005 14:44:12 -0500
4. Type: hello companya.com
   The response should be echoed back.
5. Type: mail from: theboss@companya.com
6. Type: rcpt to: friendb@companya.com
7. Type: data
8. Type your message then hit then type the period '.' then enter again.

Hack: Glowing Mouse Pad

This is a must have for any gamer that plays in the dark. http://metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/glowpad/index_eng
This and a keyboard that glows and you would be set to play at your best concentration.

Hack: Tons of Camera Hacks

http://www.camerahacker.com/directory/Hacks.shtml

Some of these would be cool to try and test out with my cameras.

I would like to try:
Building a Bicycle Camera Mount
Building a Car Camera Mount
Making a Pinhole Lens for SLR Cameras
Using auto teleconverters and auto extension tubes with manual lenses - Overcoming the Canon EOS blinking battery symbol.

New Programming Project: CSS Designer

So, I started making this CSS designer with simple options like changing background color, text color, etc... Then I looked at http://www.w3schools.com/css/ and noticed that CSS is more complicated then I thought. So I scraped the old verson, and started a new one. I already added the web browser within the program, and added my own Color Dialog, since I wanted the Hues to be grouped together. I could of just used the default ColorDialog and FontDialog, but there are too many options that are not needed for web design, and other style choices that are not available.

To do:

1. Make Font Dialog,
2. Add options for each Basic CSS and Advanced CSS design.
3. Write output to a file with an extension of .css
4. Make menu work.
5. etc....

This might take more then a week or two to make.

WTF: AT&T-"Free Ride" For Google And Others Is Over

http://www.networkingpipeline.com/blog/
archives/2006/01/att_free_ride_f.html

If you are paying for your internet service through AT&T, SBC, or Verizon. You might want to leave them, sometime soon. Even though you pay them to access the internet, they want more money from you to access websites, like Google. That just doesn't make any sense to me, but considering how the FCC are a bunch of asses, these big companies will be getting your money sometime in the future.

New Web Stie

So I started a new website to display my programs that I like to the world. I also put a about me page, my resume and a link to my blog on the main page. http://williamandrus.tripod.com/index.htm I'm only using 0.3MB so far, which makes me happy. I'm still going to keep the website to a bare minimum, so that my future programs will have room also.

Function Vs. Method a Programming and Mathematical View

I have been thinking about how Mathematics and Programming are basically the same recently, because of the use of the word: Function vs. Method. In C/C++ which is the language I started out learning in, we would call sub programs Functions. While in languages like C# and Java they call them Methods. I remember reading some place that mention that Methods was more of the correct way of describing sub programs.

I of course highly disagreed. I consider programming and mathematics very similar, where in math a function is very similar if not exact to what we have in programming. A function in mathematics can be viewed as a black box where values going in are changed and/or the output may be different. When programming all we do is take in variables and either change them or output a different variable/value that needed the use of these variables.

Now going off topic,
So recently, thanks to digg, I found this website, actually a blog, that deals with mathematics and programming concepts. I like it so far, my math isn't the greatest, since I don't use it often enough.

http://epsilondelta.wordpress.com/2006/01/29/programming-like-a-mathematician-i-closures/
- and -

http://epsilondelta.wordpress.com/2006/01/31/programming-like-a-mathematician-ii-learning-new-languages/

I'll probably check on this guy's blog more often, especially since I like to keep my mathematical sense a-live while trying to become a better programmer.

Tech Pranks to pull off in the office, Maybe

http://www.syncmag.com/article2/0,1895,1882949,00.asp I wouldn't personally suggest trying these, since they kinda go alittle too far. Hey it's your job, do as you please.

Hack: R/C Paintball Shooting Tank

http://www.rctankcombat.com/tanks/T005/

Man this thing looks so cool, I want one.

http://www.rctankcombat.com/

Funny: Freshman 15 Music Video

http://www.heavy.com/browserling.php?vchid=15&video_id=1375

Feds Want Wiretap Backdoor in all Technology

http://www.networkingpipeline.com/blog/archives/2006/01/feds_want_a_wir.html

Man this country is going to end up being a fascist country, without people knowing it. The FBI having control over what can be deemed worthy communication. I just don't see how they could stop open source and other free software. It would end up being similar to the RIAA trying to stop illegal downloading of songs. I thought the FCC improved when Powell left, but I see it is just getting worst.

"An FCC mandate will require that all hardware and software have a wiretap backdoor that allows the government to tap into all your communications.

The mandate expands the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), and requires that every piece of hardware and software sold include the backdoor.

The rule isn't yet final, but once it is, all vendors will have 18 months to comply. And in fact, says Brad Templeton, chairman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), some router makers already include such a backdoor. So your hardware may be vulnerable."

So, any hacker that finds the backdoor will have free access to you stuff. I'm sure several people will find these back doors and post the information in hacker communities. This is such a ludicrous idea with stupidity written all over it.

A good JSP and Servlet tutorial

They discuss how to setup the TomCat Server and everything else about JSP and Servlets. http://www.apl.jhu.edu/~hall/java/Servlet-Tutorial/Servlet-Tutorial-Intro.html

Google: Exec salary for this upcoming year $1 each

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6030190.html

Man google is awsome. They give their employees fun things like scooters, free lunches, toys, etc.. at the office, and now the executives only take $1 for their yearly salary. Of course they are still millionares from the stock options, damn I gotta learn what Google needs, and get a job their someday.

Playing with JSP

So, I've started getting into a little JSP. I still like ASP.Net and C# a whole lot more. Most of my problem is trying to understand some of the errors when they happen, they are some what encrypted. I downloaded Eclipse, didn't like it at all. They make compiling a little tougher then it needs to be. It seems that I always need to have a package name for the programs to run, which is stupid and smart at the same time. To get JSP to run in Eclipse I had to install a plugin: BEA Workshop JSP Editor. There is a free version for the JSP Editor to be used within Eclipse for download at: http://www.m7.com/downloadNitroX.do?banner_bea_bea. Working with Visual Studio.Net has kinda spoiled me. I expect a quick and easy setup and access when programming; however working with JSP has found to be more of a nuisance. Working with these two packages does make life a little easier now, but still not quite as good as VS.NET.

How To: Pinball Coffee Table

http://www.instructables.com/ex/i/E1997D9CD7601028931A001143E7E506/?ALLSTEPS

So, this is cool and would go good in my dad's house with the slot machines.

How To: Shinny Ball of Mud

Source: http://bitsandpieces1.blogspot.com/2006/01/
how-to-make-shiny-ball-out-of-mud.html

So this is cool, don't know if it works, and don't plan on trying it anytime soon.

"How to Make Shiny Dorodango

Pack some mud into your hand, and squeeze out the water while forming a sphere.
Add some dry dirt to the outside and continue to gently shape the mud into a sphere.
When the mass dries, pack it solid with your hands, and rub the surface until a smooth film begins to appear.
Rub your hands against the ground, patting and rubbing the fine, powdery dirt onto the sphere. Continue this for two hours.
Seal the ball in a plastic bag for three or four hours. Upon removing the sphere, repeat step 4, and then once again seal the sphere in a plastic bag.
Remove the ball from the bag, and if it is no longer wet, polish it with a cloth until it shines."

Knoppix 4.0

So, I downloaded and got the newer version of Knoppix yesterday. I'm sad to see that the development folder is smaller, but everything else is very cool. I'll go check out whats different from the DVD vs. CD. If the development is on the DVD then I will attempt to download the 3.8GBs. Ughhh, maybe paying for the DVD to be shipped might better.

The games work a little bit better. GAIM works, fianlly, YEAH. It is very cool how I can see how long I have had AIM. I've been a memeber since Thu Sep 24 13:10:54 1998. WOW, it has been awhile. <^-^> I would like to try out the tv-card later and see if I can get it to work with broadcast.

Google: says no to DoJ search request.

I just keep loving google, for what they stand for, their philosophy of simplicity, and their expansion into other areas. Of course, the reason that Google said no is because of the amount of data that would have to be transferred over, but the request in my opinion is for ridiculous reasons.

"Google has refused to comply with the subpoena. A motion has been filed this week by US Department Of Justice to force Google to hand over the data. In particular, the Bush administration wanted one million random web addresses and records of all Google searches for a one week period. The government apparently wants to estimate how much pornography shows up in the searches that children do. Here's a thought. If you want to measure how much porn is showing up in searches, try searching for it yourself rather than issuing privacy alarm sounding subpoenas. It would certainly be more accurate.
Getting a list of all searches in one week definitely would let US federal government dig deep into the long tail of porn searches. But then again, the sheer amount of data would be overwhelming. Do you know every variation of a term someone might use, that you're going to dig out of the hundreds of millions of searches you'd get? Oh, and be sure you filter out all the automated queries coming in from rank checking tools, while you're add it. They won't skew the data at all, nope.95

Moreover, since the data is divorced from user info, you have no idea what searches are being done by children or not. In the end, you've asked for a lot of data that's not really going to help you estimate anything at all."

Source: http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/19/_doj_search_requests.html
Source: http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060119-060352

Reinforcement Learning Tic Tac Toe Game

Well, I finished my first version of my Reinforcement Learning Tic Tac Toe Game. I made a Yahoo Briefcase so people can collect from it, if they wish to try it out.

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/andrus_wj/
lst?.dir=/Reinforcement+Learning+Tic+Tac+Toe&.view=l

Of course, you'll need a Yahoo account, I guess to download from it, however, if you want, email me at andrusw [at] gmail.com, and request the program.

In the next version I expect to add some computer vs. computer play, where the different techniques of Reinforcement Learning can be used against each other.

Free: e-File sites for your fun with your friendly IRS momements.

http://www.irs.gov/app/freeFile/jsp/index.jsp?free



So it is beginning to be that time of year to file for some (hopefully) returns. I wish everybody a happy tax day, and a lower tax bracket. <^__^>

Urban Myth?: Smoke Detectors, Antiques, and Surplus Lanterns = Radioactive Device

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=340

So a boyscott uses a smoke detectors, antiques, and surplus lanterns to make a radioactive device? He uses americium-241 from the smoke detector, and after some other simple house hold items, he ends up with neutron gun and some scared people at the EPA and the NRC.

Cool: Oragami CD Case

Try it herehttp://simonlooker.com/images/instructions.pdf

-or-

PDF: http://www.merrimack.edu/~thull/CDcase/cd.pdf
GIF: http://www.merrimack.edu/~thull/CDcase/cd.gif

I always need extra cases for CD's now I can put my crappy CD's in these orgami CD cases, and save the hard jewel cases for my more precious CDs.

Funny: Street Fighter Ultimate Fighter Edition

Interesting: How to detect a two-way mirror

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blmirror.htm

1) Pressing your finger against the mirror would look different compared to the two-way mirror.

2) The molding of the mirror, is that like a window.

3) Hitting and making a sound, where a two-way mirror would sound like hitting a window.

4) Turning off the lights in the room, or cupping your hands while looking through them, to cut out the light from behind you, would reveal the other room.

Hmmm, good to know.

Funny, but true: I'm A Programmer, Not A Computer Guy

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/01/13/213613.php

This is so true, but even though I'm not a "computer guy", I still know more then the average person would. This gives me great power in bull-shitting an answer out that could satify the normal non-computer personel.

His analogy here is funny:

""Did you watch the Raiders game?"

"No, I don't follow football ------"

"What do you think of the new quarterback?"

"Really, football's not my thing. I don't know."

"I thought that you said that you're a sports fan?"

"No, I said that I watched tennis."

"Right, so what did you think of the penalty called in the Raiders game?"

"I watch tennis."

"Why would they call a penalty like that?""

This reminds me of two quotes:

"Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes." - Professor Edsger Dijkstra

"Beware of programmers who carry screwdrivers." - Brandwein, Leonard

Interesting: Oprah's Favorite Non-Fiction Book A Lie????

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/jamesfrey/0104061jamesfrey1.html

One of Oprah's favorites books:

In "A Million Little Pieces," a crack-fueled Frey runs down a cop in a small Ohio town and a wild melee ensues. The Granville Police Department report on the 1992 incident tells a markedly different story.

So basically Smoking Gun is researching his statements in the book, and finds it full of lies. Frey's lawyer then sends Smoking Gun a Cease and Desist, because smoking gun can't find any proof that Frey is telling the truth, and that Frey has a lot of money to lose with movie deals, etc.. If they come out with this story, then Frey would basically sue for the potential money lost, but I'm thinking if they sue, then they must show proof. Now they state in their letter that their are witnesses, but where is the paper trail?
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/jamesfrey/freysides/singerfrey1.html

How To: Reverse Engineering

http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/sigmil/RevEng/index.html

Read it, while you can and it becomes illegal or something. <^-^>

Cool: Draw Ball

http://www.drawball.com/
This is cool, there this, huge black round circle, just go pick a empty spot and draw some graphitti. (Hint: Remember to read the agreement/disagreement)

Here is the location of what I have drawn: http://www.drawball.com/6heew7

How To: C# and ASP.Net Menu

Ok, so I figured that I start putting some of my personal programming feats up here on my blog. Recently, I have been working on a simple menu system. I wanted to do something similar to the menu system that is on MSDN, but they use an xml file which would make me do more work. Here is how I got my menu system:

I made small square buttons with text either a + and - to represent a menu that can be expanded and colapsed, or a * for a menu button that can't be expanded.

So here is an example of one of my buttons that represent this:

<asp:button id="Button_Project" runat="server" tooltip="Click here to view my programs" borderwidth="1px" size="Smaller" backcolor="Transparent" names="Garamond" bordercolor="RoyalBlue" height="15px" width="15px" borderstyle="Solid" forecolor="RoyalBlue" text="+"/>

I then put another button to the right of this with no borders. I didn't want to use a label, so that the user can also click on the name to have the menu expanded.
So here is the button that looks like text to the right:

<asp:button id="Button_Projects" runat="server" size="Smaller" backcolor="Transparent" height="20px" width="53px" borderstyle="None" forecolor="RoyalBlue" text="Projects"/>

Now when any of these buttons are clicked, I will want to expand and show the inner menu options. To do this I made a string variable, in this case ProjectsBR, to expand within the aspx file. This is done by:

<%=ProjectsBR%>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

I use the spaces to represent a shift to the right, so that the inner menu options look like a tree.

In the aspx.cs file I assign the global variable:

protected string ProjectsBR;

In the Page_Load function I have the following:

if(this.Button_Project.Text == "+")
{
ProjectsBR = "";
}
else
{
ProjectsBR = "<br>";
}

If the button's text is a expanded then I want brackets, else I want nothing.

So on the aspx file I have several more buttons that represents the inner menu. These button's visiablility are set to false, so that they don't show unless I ask them to. So, when the button is pressed, I change the text to either + or -, then show or hide the buttons, and set ProjectBR to the necessary string value.

private void Button_Project_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
if(this.Button_Project.Text == "+")
{
this.Button_Project_ASP.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_ASP2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_C.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_C2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_CGI.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_CGI2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Csharp.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Csharp2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_DB.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_DB2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Java.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Java2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Misc.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Misc2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Paper.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Paper2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Python.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Python2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project.Text = "-";
this.ProjectsBR = "<br>";
}
else //if(this.Button_Project.Text == "-")
{
this.Button_Project_ASP.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_ASP2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_C.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_C2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_CGI.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_CGI2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Csharp.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Csharp2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_DB.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_DB2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Java.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Java2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Misc.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Misc2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Paper.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Paper2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Python.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Python2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project.Text = "+";
this.ProjectsBR = "";
}
}

Thats' basically it, all in a nut-shell

Flickr Account

Created a Flickr account to hold some of my favorite pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14521699@N00/

Go check it out, and comment on them if you want.

Funny: Accident Feature

Accident Feature
Originally uploaded by coolnewspics.

Anyone who has been to Utica, NY knows how bad the drivers are there. They are worst then Colorado drivers. I saw this pic, and just made me laugh.

Hack: Quick Vibrating Lockpick

http://www.inventgeek.com/Projects/lockpick/lockpick.aspx



This is a very cool, and simple project, plus it is very cheap. ($9 - $15)
Just get your self a Oral B Hummingbird toothbrush, lockpick, and a 9V battery and plug.

WTF?!?!: anonymous annoying not aloud anymore.

Source: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6024695.html

"It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.

In other words, it's OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. "

Man, that just sucks. Why should we use our real names?? I don't see the harm of some anonymous people, expressing their inner feelings without recourse.

Hack: Use old Saves for Xbox 360

http://www.xboxhacker.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=83&Itemid=2

Interesting, but since I have no Xbox 360, this isn't useful for me yet.

Cool: Use Cooking Oil instead of a Fan for your PC

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/09/strip_out_the_fans/


Click on the image to view the picture

How To: Add Google Map to your website

Source:

1)Get Google Maps API key, which is free at http://www.google.com/apis/maps/.

2)Follow the instructions to "Sign up for a google API key". You'll need a gmail account, and to enter your domain name. If you need an invite, just comment to this blog entry with an email address. I'll delete the comment afterward.

3)Get the google script to help you:

<script src="http://maps.google.com/maps?file=api&v=1&key= [YOURKEY]" type="text/javascript"></script>


<div id="map" style="WIDTH: 500px; HEIGHT: 400px">
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
window.onload = showMap;
function showMap()
var map = new GMap(document.getElementById("map"));
map.addControl(new GSmallMapControl());
map.centerAndZoom(new GPoint(-122.1419, 37.4419), 4);
//]]>
</script>

In the CDATA the first two lines tells IE to wait before loading all the images.

"The [third] line instantiates the map and assigns it to the map div. The [fourth] line adds the little pan and zoom controls. Finally, the [fifth] line centers the map on a point and sets the zoom level."

4)Change the values to your default map:
Ex:
http://maps.google.com/?ll=45.484206,-122.499447&spn=0.031833,0.069523
then change: map.centerAndZoom(new GPoint(-122.499447, 45.484206), 8);
the last number is the zoom level.

5) To add a point just add the following javascript:
map.addOverlay(new GMarker(new GPoint(-122.499447, 45.484206)));


I like this simple tutorial, I see how I can write a php or perl script to make my site somewhat interactive. Of course I would also need to read up more on google api when I get a chance, so I could connect the dots, etc....

Greeley, CO

Looking at Microsoft's Windows Live Local, it is interesting to see how the place looked before our house was even built on the location:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=40.411351~-104.793558&style=h&lvl=17&scene=1915335&sp=adr.1740%2070th%20Ave%2c%20Greeley%2c%20CO%2080634


There are no houses, just mounds of dirt. Alot of the businesses haven't even developed. Greeley, CO is one of the fastest booming cities I have personaly seen. This of course isn't saying much, but it is still just an amazing site to see how much construction is being developed around here. Everywhere I look there are new homes being built, new freeways, new businesses, etc...

Funny: Student using F5 attack against school.

http://www.wkyc.com/akron/akron_article.aspx?storyid=45721

"Police say the student, created a website which connected to the school's system.

When enough users logged on and hit the F5 button, it overloaded the school's system."

I just find this more on the funny side. I guest this is the dummy version of DOS attack. LOL

I still don't think the student should get into to much problems, it's hard to take this serious IMHO. Hey maybe this was his way of getting on one of the MTV shows that dealt with high school pranks.

Interesting: Plug and Pray???!???!!!

http://www.plug-pray.org/ENG/Home.html

"For all eventualities -
Plug'n'Pray kits are equipped
with everything you need
to get converted quickly. Feel
free to choose the most suitable
and convenient religion for you!"

Cool : 18 Tricks to Teach Your Body

http://health.msn.com/menshealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100119940&GT1=7538#1



Number 17, I know well from my swimming days in Highschool, so I know that one is somewhat old. 10 extra seconds without breathing defently increases your speed in the water.

Hack: Emulating magnetic stripe cards

http://www.valhallalegends.com/docs/magcards.htm

"Human" by Carpark North