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You Know You’re in College When…

This list was taken from The Burning Biscuit (from Digg). I’m going to cheat on this entry and just make comments on ones I find interesting. The ones that have comments are in bold and my comments are placed between within the [].

  1. High school started before 8am, but now anything before noon is considered “early”. [It still is!!! You can ask my co-workers what time I get into work. ;p]
  2. You have more beer than food in your fridge.
  3. Weekends start on Thursday.
  4. 6am is when you go to sleep, not when you wake up. [ah… i still do this on the weekends]
  5. You know many different ways to cook ramen noodles or macaroni and cheese. [this I learnt from Liam]
  6. The health center gives out free condoms, and people take them… just in case.
  7. Instead of falling asleep in class, you stay in bed. [haha. so true! why go to class and fall asleep in an uncomfortable chair and risk being caught when I can stay in my warm comfy bed.]
  8. You know how late McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Qdoba, etc. are open.
  9. You think it’s the weekend on a Wednesday and you don’t know what month it is.
  10. You can’t remember the last time you washed your car.
  11. Your underwear/sock supply dictates your laundry schedule. [I did laundry every 2 weeks – which was the point when I ran out of underwear and socks. now that I have a job, I’ve upgraded to an extra week of socks and underwear so I only have to do laundry every 3 weeks!]
  12. You check Facebook/Myspace more than once a day.
  13. You get drunk dialed on any night of the week.
  14. You wash dishes in the bathroom sink.
  15. You’ve fallen off a loft bed.
  16. You talk about beer pong like it’s a sport.
  17. Finding random people in your house is perfectly normal, and you even sympathize with them… sometimes when you wake up you have no idea where you are.
  18. Your primary news sources are the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. [what’s wrong with getting our daily news from these 2 “reliable” and funny news sources?]
  19. You open a beer at 10 am and your roommate asks you if there’s more.
  20. The standard of meals per day falls to two, sometimes just one. [i woke up too late for breakfast, and since I had to rush to class, I’d miss lunch too, and usually end up eating only dinner]
  21. Your trash is overflowing and your bank account isn’t.
  22. You go to Target or Wal-Mart more than 3 times a week.
  23. You wear the same jeans for 13 days without washing them.
  24. Your breakfast consists of a coke or cereal bar on the way to class… anything with caffeine will do.
  25. Quarters are like gold. [always needed quarters for laundry]
  26. Your idea of feeding the poor is buying yourself some ramen noodles.
  27. You live in a house with three couches, none of which match.
  28. You try to study but seem to procrastinate by eating, going to study breaks, talking to people, etc…
  29. You talk to your roommate on instant messenger when you’re both home. [why waste energy yelling across the room?]
  30. You ask people what YOU did last night.
  31. Certain things are now deemed “Facebook worthy.” When friends take pictures of you, you wonder how long it will take them to post them.
  32. You’ve seen a hit and run involving a bicyclist/pedestrian.
  33. You see people you know you’ve met but can never remember their names or how you know them. [I thought I just had a bad memory!]
  34. You sleep more in class than in your room [this actually contradicts #7, and I’m a big follower of #7]
  35. Your idea of a square meal is a box of Pop-Tarts.
  36. You’ve traveled with bags of dirty clothes.
  37. You go home to do your laundry because you’re too poor to pay the $2… or too lazy to go to a change machine. [unfortunately I didn’t have this luxury as I only went back home 2 or 3x a year]
  38. You pay $100 for a book you don’t read once, return it four months later, and get $7. [these kids need to be taught a lesson on how to buy and resell books]
  39. More than 20% of your household furnishings are made from milk crates.
  40. You recognize the meat in the dorm soup as yesterday’s meatloaf, and thus decide to eat a nice bowl of cereal – a safe bet for any meal.
  41. You use words like “thus” (see #40).
  42. You throw out bowls and plates because you don’t feel like washing them.
  43. Your beer pong table is nicer than all your other tables.
  44. It takes preparation… and 3 people… to take out your garbage.
  45. Going to the library is a social event.
  46. You wear flip flops in the shower your freshman year… you know why.
  47. You start joining clubs because of the free food. [I didn’t join the clubs. I just went to their events. *whistles*]
  48. Visits home depend on how much money you have for gas. [as Ungsunghero said, they forgot to factor in the money they’ll be receiving when they get home.]
  49. You skip one class to write a paper for another. [Ah… I’ve done this before.]
  50. You have no idea where your tuition money is going… technology fees? I think not.
  51. Bicycles don’t seem as lame as they did in high school.
  52. You stay up late to finish homework then sleep through the class in which it was due.
  53. Girls: You’ve balanced your foot on a shampoo bottle to shave.
  54. Your backpack is giving you scoliosis.
  55. You’ve written a check for 45 cents or stopped to get $2.00 of gas.
  56. Your bill in the bookstore will be comparable to tuition.
  57. Going to the mailbox becomes an ego booster/breaker. [if you knew me, I had packages coming in almost every other day. I always liked finding surprises.]
  58. Most of your T.A.’s are foreign…what’s the deal?
  59. You never realized so many people are smarter than you.
  60. You never realized so many people are dumber than you. [I don’t know about smarter, but there were definitely a lot of dumb people]
  61. Western Europe could be wiped out by a terrible plague and you’d never know, but you can recite the last episode of your favorite show verbatim. [I actually slept through 9-11 and only woke up sometime after the 2nd crash. I thought some meteoroid had crashed landed (like Armageddon)]
  62. Care packages rank right up there with birthdays. [boooo! I never got a care package]
  63. You craft ways to make any game into a drinking/stripping game.
  64. You meet the type of people you thought only existed in movies.
  65. Printers break down only when you desperately need them.
  66. Anything can be cooked in a microwave. [you haven’t master the art of cooking as a college student if you can’t figure out how to cook everything with a microwave]
  67. Two words: bike cops.
  68. You have Safe Ride programmed into your phone.
  69. Old school Nintendo… and guitar hero… are pretty much the best things ever.
  70. Going to the grocery at midnight is completely normal. [I’ve gone to Safeway at 3am so many times]
  71. You call restaurants that deliver more than you call your own family. [fortunately for me, there were about 10 restaurants next to my apartment building]
  72. You’ve paid bills over $5… in coins.
  73. You can’t imagine life without your computer/cell phone/ i-pod. [I don’t really think this belongs in this list as so many people too are so reliant on electronics]
  74. Hoodies and sweatpants become the norm – jeans are considered “dressy” at certain occasions… like school.
  75. A canceled class is almost as exciting as Christmas. [Unfortunately, to find out that the class was canceled usually required waiting in the lecture hall for 15 minutes and deciding to leave when the professor didn’t show up.]
  76. Taking a nap in the library is perfectly acceptable.
  77. Your professors speak English… as a second language.
  78. Your teachers swear in class and no one cares.
  79. Candles in your dorm room are considered contraband, but cigarettes are ok.
  80. You take condiment packets and napkins from fast food restaurants – hey, they’re free.
  81. Betta fish are like your family.
  82. You bring back socks from the laundry room that may or may not be yours.
  83. You know what people carrying suspiciously heavy backpacks after dark are doing…
  84. The elevators take forever but you’ll wait 10 minutes just so you don’t have to climb stairs. [I never really got this. I lived on the 2nd floor and I always took the stairs. Stairs were always faster even if we started at the same time. I hate it when people take the elevator when only going up 1 floor. People still do that. The other day at work, some guy comes in and pushes the “2” button. He looks at me and explained and says that the stairs were too far away. I do have to admit that stairs should be conveniently placed next to the elevator which isn’t the case in my building, but the fact that he apologized or gave an explanation meant he knew it was just not socially acceptable to use the elevator to go up 1 floor.]
  85. Your roommate asks you to check the weather on your computer when they’re standing 5 feet away from the door.
  86. Showers become more of an issue.
  87. You press the automatic door opener instead of simply grabbing the handle when you approach a door. [They must be referring to the handicap buttons. I always found it useless as it took longer for the door to open, then if I had pushed it. And once you push the button, using force is no longer an option as the door pushes back against you.]
  88. Christmas lights seem to be acceptable all year round.
  89. Class size doubles on exam days. [Did I tell you for my Calculus class, I went on the 1st day, went for the mid-terms and went for the final. After the final, I asked my friend if the professor change his hair style. He tells me he’s had that hair style for the entire semester. Apparently my impression of what my professor looked like came from his website that he posted assignments to.]
  90. You donate plasma even though you know it’s pretty sketchy.
  91. You are no longer thankful that fire alarms are here to protect you. [those idiots in the dorms pulled the fire alarm during midterms and finals. it was annoying as heck. then there was once when popcorn was overcooked and smoke from the microwave set it off too.]
  92. You’ve bought Christmas presents from the book store and charged it to your student account so your parents pay for the gifts because you’re too broke.
  93. You begin to include ketchup on your list of acceptable vegetables.
  94. You stay on campus for hours in between classes when it’s too cold to walk home.
  95. People have to help you kick the vending machine just so you can get your 50 cent bag of chips.
  96. There’s always a “question kid” in at least one of your classes, and you really wish someone would just tell him/her to shut the hell up. [yes, the very annoying question kid. he should just stay after class or visit the professor during office hours.]
  97. You steal dishes from the cafeteria so you don’t have to wash your own.
  98. Laundry is an all-day event. [it’s not suppose to be? shoot, I must still be doing something wrong when I do laundry.]
  99. You no longer find it uncool to take naps. In fact, you quite enjoy them. [naps are AWESOME!!!]
  100. It’s illegal to drink in the dorms yet they sell an assortment of shot glasses, beer mugs, tankards, etc. in the bookstore.
  101. You find your list of acceptable napping places expanding daily to increasingly uncomfortable locations.
  102. You fill out credit card applications for the free food. [i got a free t-shirt once. I remembered it as the dumbest thing I did because I was contemplating if I should continue filling it out when I noticed it required my SSN, and I don’t really trust this guy giving out free t-shirts for credit card applications. I eventually did give him back the form and got my free t-shirt, and the Bank of America sends me a rejection letter months later.]
  103. You’ve eaten cereal out of a cup… with a fork. [Hey! There was no clean spoon! They were all dirty and piled in the sink.]
  104. Dressing up for Halloween becomes cool again.
  105. You know at least one person who has dropped his/her cell phone into a toilet.
  106. You hang multiple shirts on the same hanger to save space/money.
  107. You become increasingly annoyed with the “old” people in class – props to them for going back to college but they generally ask really, really annoying questions.
  108. You admire people’s alcohol bottle shrines.
  109. You set your clock 5-10 minutes ahead so you can potentially make it to class on time.
  110. You check ratemyprofessor.com (or something of the like) before choosing your class schedule. [I’m pretty sure each college had their own professor rating site.]
  111. You text faster than you type. [This is just sad…]
  112. You only find out a class is cancelled after you get there and sit for about ten minutes. [exactly what I said in #75]
  113. You actually start using coupons, especially those school coupon books. [I was more of a technology/online shopping coupon user]
  114. You open canned food and eat it… out of the can. [what’s wrong with eating out of a can? you save yourself from having to wash a bowl! I call that genius!]
  115. You run out of black ink and, instead of buying a new ink cartridge, decide blue is a nice substitute… adds a little flair. [Haha! I personally had a black and white laser printer, so there was only one color to begin with. But I did have people IM me when they ran out of ink asking how they can tell it to use a different color to print. Speaking of printers, I never bought replacement toner cartridges, as it was cheaper to look for a deal on a brand new laser printer and sell the existing one.]
  116. You have numbers in your phone with labels like “Sketchy Steve” and “Alcohol Guy.”
  117. The food in your fridge may or may not be older than your little brother. [I think this is still true for my fridge today… I’m sometimes to find stuff that’s been in there since the beginning.]
  118. You finish reading this and wonder how you can procrastinate next. [if I was still in college, this would definitely be true.]

Along with this entry, I’ll link you to this recent Little Gamers comic strip: Chocoate Dinner. Being grown up rocks!

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Checks?

So I was reading an article over at Consumerist: Check Fraud Is Alive, Well, And Preventable, which talked about check washing, where you use water or some chemical to dissolve regular ink off a check, and write a new amount and maybe even a new payee. They then suggested the use of a “secure” ink instead of a regular ballpoint pen to prevent this.

This got me thinking. How often do people use checks these days? Back in the day before credit cards and eChecks, I can see this as common scenario. I mean once in awhile I still see someone at a supermarket or Costco take out their checkbook to write a check. Speaking of which, apparently if you want to use a check at Costco, the check has to be in the card holder’s name. However, they’ll accept debit/credit cards that are not in the card holders name which I found interesting.

Anyway, back to the original topic. When I see people whip out a check, it always surprises me why in this day and age they’d want to use a check and not a debit card per se. I’ve always seen checks as inherently flawed due to the fact as long as someone has your routing number and your account number (both available if they get ahold of a copy your check), they can then produce their own checks with the same information. There’s some verification these days, but not everyone does it. Also, all it takes for me to link accounts is a routing number and an account number. Some financial institutions have a secondary check where they make 2 small deposits into the account you want to link and make you verify you’re the account owner. A long time ago, I thought I’d open a bunch of checking account and link them all to PayPal and make them deposit tiny amounts. However, that plan was scrapped after I decided how much effort was needed to just make a very small amount (similar to the scheme where you get those coupons/rebate forms that have 1/100 cent value and cash in. KACHING!)

Anyway, in this age and time, I only write checks to people I’m familiar with and trust. Everything else, I do bill pay/eChecks (where the bank transfers the money or mails the check for me). I don’t think I’ve ever used my bank card as a debit card either. The last check I wrote was to Derek since we were splitting a huge order and the amount was not a friendly figure. Before that it was probably back in college and I don’t even remember what anymore. Maybe to link my account on ING Direct?

I have 6 check books (3 for Washington Mutual and 3 for Bank of America) and have not completed one of those checkbooks yet. I got them when I first opened my accounts which was right before I went to college.

Another interesting point is that I never keep over $500 in any of my checking accounts, usually around the $200 range. The reasoning behind that isn’t because I don’t think its secure. It’s just that they have 0% interest, so I have no reason to keep money there besides paying bills, which I’ve already swapped over most to my ING Direct Electric Orange account.

Similarly, this article was posted a few days later: Fraud hits home — my front porch! (from Consumerist) – If you close your account because some jerk stole your student loan payment check and is trying to cash it, you might want to switch banks. Otherwise, Bank of America might helpfully link your new account to your old one so the #%@$# can still cash the stolen check.

Obviously Bank of America is in the wrong here and they should’ve done everything they could to rectify the problem as soon as possible with least amount of inconvenience to their client, but of course this is never the case. They probably made it even worse by making the client jump through hoops to resolve this problem. But that leads me to the main question of this entry. Why wasn’t he using bill pay or EFT (electronic fund transfer) to pay his student loans? I even get an extra 0.25% discount on my interest when I chose EFT. That way, a random check of yours could not have been stolen and if electronic transfer was not and option and Bank of America had to print and mail a check, chances of that being altered/forged is very unlikely given that they printed the check with “secure” ink and probably have a way to verify the check’s information.

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Missing Codecs in Firefox to Play Video in Gallery2

Update:

Instead of doing all the work below, you should first try installing this plug-in: Windows Media Player Firefox Plugin

Every once in awhile, I’ll hit a video on my gallery that requires me to download a codec, but telling it to download fails to find a codec that’ll work. If I copy and paste the URL into IE, the video plays fine. I started searching the Gallery forums.

I found this thread: Combination Gallery 2/AVI/Firefox does not display video, and it appears a lot of people are hitting this issue:

When adding an AVI file to my gallery it is recognized and ffmpeg creates a thumbnail for it. Viewing the item with Internet Explorer will result in the video being displayed.

However this does not work with Firefox. For some reason it seems that the Windows Media Player plugin in firefox does not recognize the video/x-msvideo MIME-type. Check about:plugins and scroll to Windows Media Player to confirm this.

Technically this is not a Gallery problem, but a bug by Microsoft in there Firefox support. However since Microsoft is not very likely to fix this it would be nice if someone could provide a work-around and integrate this into Gallery.

Before, I would just tell every video to use mime type: video/x-ms-wmv, however, Gallery2 supports a wider range of mime types, so I decided to let it do its own thing.

It turns out, to fix this problem, you need to associate video/x-msvideo in Firefox. Instructions provided by: Avi in firefox.

To do this, open the following file in notepad:
%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\pluginreg.dat

Search for “Windows Media Player Plug-in Dynamic Link Library” and add the bolded lines:

Windows Media Player Plug-in Dynamic Link Library|$
10
0|application/asx|Media Files|*|$
1|video/x-ms-asf-plugin|Media Files|*|$
2|application/x-mplayer2|Media Files|*|$
3|video/x-ms-asf|Media Files|asf,asx,*|$
4|video/x-ms-wm|Media Files|wm,*|$
5|audio/x-ms-wma|Media Files|wma,*|$
6|audio/x-ms-wax|Media Files|wax,*|$
7|video/x-ms-wmv|Media Files|wmv,*|$
8|video/x-ms-wvx|Media Files|wvx,*|$
9|video/x-msvideo|Media Files|avi,*|$

Increasing 9 to 10 tells it that there’s 10 mime types you should associate this plug-in with. Adding the video/x-msvideo line tells it to associate mime types of that with Windows Media Player. Afterwards, all my avi files began to play fine.

After saving this file, restart Firefox and video with the mime type of x-msvideo should play fine.

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Service Buffer

I was thinking, if I was going to provide a service that has a limit for a given amount of time (i.e. number of minutes per month, gigabytes of transfer per month), I’d provide a 1 month tolerance for you to get below the limit.

Lets say if you have a 1000 minute cell phone plan. One particular month, you went over and used 1100 minutes. If you could keep below 900 minutes in the following month, you’d wouldn’t be charge anything extra.

You’re thinking this sounds awfully similar to Cingular’s Rollover minutes, but it’s not exactly the same. Cingular allows you to save up minutes to use on a rainy day (sort of like a savings account), but what I’m suggesting is more like a buffer zone/tolerance level. It’s sort of like those fines the EU commission has given Microsoft. If Microsoft can comply with their orders by a certain date, they’d be off the hook. However, if they fail to comply by the given date, the fees will back date to when they were found guilty.

Sometimes one just can’t anticipate when emergencies might occur or forgets to monitor ones usage, but when notified, they’d try to be more careful next time. So like a warning, I thought such a system would be very user friendly.

Random Crap:

Fat Brit kids hunt Australia’s outback and viewers – New reality television series “Fat Teens Can’t Hunt” — a kind of “Survivor” meets “The Biggest Loser” — will see 10 overweight British teenagers sent to Australia’s outback to live and eat with remote Aboriginal communities.

Museum pays cash for live cockroaches – – A Houston museum is paying cash for live cockroaches as it seeks to populate a new exhibit. The 25-cent-per-bug offer comes from the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Judge sues cleaner for $65M over pants – The Chungs, immigrants from
South Korea, realized their American dream when they opened their dry-cleaning business seven years ago in the nation’s capital. For the past two years, however, they’ve been dealing with the nightmare of litigation: a $65 million lawsuit over a pair of missing pants. I can’t believe someone who’s job is a judge can do something so inhumane. Manning said the cleaners made three settlement offers to Pearson. First they offered $3,000, then $4,600, then $12,000. But Pearson wasn’t satisfied and expanded his calculations beyond one pair of pants. Sigh…

Spare any change? Canada unveils C$1 million coin – The Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a welcome addition to any piggy bank on Thursday — a monster gold coin with a face value of C$1 million (455,000 pounds) that it says is the world’s biggest, purest and highest denomination coin. Maybe USA should bring back the $1000 bills.

Frog juice in high demand in Peru – She’s preparing frog juice, a beverage revered by some Andean cultures for having the power to cure asthma, bronchitis, sluggishness and a low sex drive. A drink of so-called “Peruvian Viagra” sells for about 90 cents.

Robot Chicken: Star Wars Trailer (from Digg) – A first look at the Robot Chicken: Star Wars special that premieres on June 17 on Adult Swim. The creators of “Robot Chicken” will be at Celebration IV offering a sneak peek at the show. Check out the news here. Here’s the Direct link to watch video.

The Keyboard Waffle Iron (from Digg) – Because breakfast isn’t nerdy enough, I present to you the Keyboard Waffle Iron. There’s really nothing else to be said about this wonder of modern technology, but I invite you to make your best keyboard/waffle puns in comments. Come on, let’s see what you’ve got.

Yesterday’s ‘Heroes’ (from Digg) – Niki/Jessica as scream queen? Micah Sanders as sitcom moppet? Nathan Petrelli on Cruise control? Before their characters go forward, check out some of the past roles of the actors who play them. I didn’t know Sylar was in 24!

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Six Flags Discount (~50% Off)

Update: See the new updated 2008 post: Six Flags Discount (One-Day Adult Admission at Child’s Price)

Generally, I don’t post deals on my site, but since I know many of you from L.A., I thought I’d share since tickets to Magic Mountain is only $25. Deal was taken from SD.

Great saving on your Six Flags tickets with promotional code. Good for both adults and children alike and is good for multiple tickets.

The discounts depend on which park ticket you will eventually buy. The Chart Below shows all the discounts you can receive with this promotional code.

This is good for online purchase only at http://www.sixflags.com/national/index.aspx

Promo code: HOMEDEPOT

Enter promo code at the top right of the screen.

Location of Six Flags Park General admission Online Promotional admission Percentage of savings
California
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo $49.99 $22.00 56%
Six Flags Magic Mountain, Los Angeles $59.99 $25.00 58%
Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Los Angeles $29.99 $16.40 45%
Colorado
Six Flags Elitch Gardens, Denver $34.99 $20.50 41%
Georgia
Six Flags over Georgia, Atlanta $49.99 $24.99 50%
Six Flags White Water,Atlanta $35.99 $20.99 41%
Illinois
Six Flags Great America, Chicago 54.99 30.00 45%
Kentucky
Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, Louisville $39.99 $20.99 47%
Maryland
Six Flags America, Baltimore/Washington DC $49.99 $21.50 45%
Massachusetts
Six Flags, New England, Springfield $49.99 $23.00 54%
Missouri
Six Flags St. Louis $44.99 $24.99 44%
New Jersey
Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson $59.99 $28.00 53%
Six Flags Hurricane Harbour, Jackson $34.99 $21.00 40%
New York
Six Flags Darien Lake, Buffalo $29.99 $23.99 20%
The Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom, Lk George $39.99 $21.59 46%
Texas
Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio $46.99 $26.99 42%
Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington $47.00 $25.99 45%
Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Arlington $31.99 $17.57 45%

There was a rumor a few months ago saying that Magic Mountain has shut down due to gang problems. Apparently those rumors are no longer. It’s been awhile since I’ve gone to a theme park. Hopefully you can enjoy this before school lets out and the summer heat gets strong. Waiting in line for an hour or 2 is not fun. Enjoy!

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VG Cats – Lost Post

***
THIS POST CONTAINS EXTREMELY VULGAR LANGUAGE.
THIS POST CONTAINS EXTREMELY VULGAR IMAGERY.
YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.
***

I so got this image from Upsidaisium the other day:
vgcats - jesus christ

It’s a post by the artist(s) of VG Cats complaining about how people keep sending him porn of Aeris (the pink cat) in his comic. This post is no longer available on his site, but it was awesome:

RE: Jesus Christ!

What the fuck is with you people? I don’t care! Stop sending me your Aeris porn. Honestly, I’ve seen the normal shit…But a penis? Seriously, what’s so fucking appealing about a pink cat with a cock the size of your arm?!

I just don’t understand. I’ve done NOTHING to sex up Aeris. She has smaller tits than Leo, she has no ass and she’s certainly not “womanly”. I don’t know what to do. Should I get rid of her eyes? Or will you sick fucks go “OMG SOCKETFUCK, SOCKETFUCK, IT’S AWWWWRIGHT~”.

Also, that cameltoe was a freakin’ accident, alright? It’s a dot for gods sake! A dot which just happened to be on her crotch. Sure, there were some other details but I had to be realistic. Given the tightness of her paints, it’s only natural that the old girl pokes through.

If you’re wondering which comic strip the “dot” is referring to, see VG Cats #217: Wardrobe‘s bottom left panel. I honestly never noticed such a thing before, but like the FedEx arrow, I can’t help but think about this whenever I read any new VG Cats comic strip. Something is very wrong with me.

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Fan Resonating Voice

I’m not sure what the correct word here is (in regards to resonate), but what do you call the effect when you talk into an electric fan and it makes that robotic choppy voice? Who hasn’t done that when they were small. It was so cool back then! I guess it’s still somewhat cool today.

Anyway, I was watching Lucky Star and I saw this clip (large and small versions respectively):
lucky star - fan resonating voicelucky star - fan resonating voice

Konata goes over to visit the twins Kagami and Tsukasa and seeing how there’s a fan and that they’re maybe 10 years old, Konata goes “ahhhhhhhhhhhhh” into the fan making that resonating sound. Kagami basically calls her immature. Awhile later, Tsukasa wakes up and does the same thing. Kagami as her older sister says, “Not you too!” Konata says it’s the normal thing to do. Then their father chimes in and says Kagami was doing it earlier in the morning.

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Canon PSC-1000

Just got my case for my new digital camera today. It’s a Canon PSC-1000 (grey) made specially for the Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital ELPH. After searching online for a good deal since this is a “urgent” and “needed” purchase, Derek and I decided to get it off eBay. It was $42 shipped for 2 making it $21 each.

Amazon.com did have it, but it was going to be $26.xx + tax, making it almost $29 shipped. I did find it cheaper in a couple places, but they were either “shady” or not in stock.

The case comes in 2 colors: grey and burgandy. One of our requirements was that it was grey. I’m not much of a red/burgandy guy. Another requirement was that we needed it ASAP as I carry my camera with me everyday (in my backpack), so I didn’t want to get it beat up or scratched.

After searching high and low, the 2 cheapest reputable stores I found it at was:
JR.com – $17 shipped (using $10 Google Checkout sign-up bonus)
Adorama – $19.50 shipped (when ordering 2)

However, Adorama gave me an estimate of 4-6 weeks before it would be in stock and I didn’t even bother with JR.com

Here are some pictures of it:
canon psc-1000 powershot sd1000 casecanon psc-1000 powershot sd1000 casecanon psc-1000 powershot sd1000 casecanon psc-1000 powershot sd1000 case

Here’s a couple pictures of it with the camera inside the case (taken with my Samsung SGH-t519 camera phone):
canon psc-1000 powershot sd1000 casecanon psc-1000 powershot sd1000 case

It was shipped from Rancho Santa Margarita and took only 3 days to get here via USPS First Class (Monday to Thursday). If I had ordered from Amazon.com, it would still have taken 2 days (Monday to Wednesday), so I’m happy with the overall shipping time. If you’re interested, check out Hobby Monster. Then again, California to Washington isn’t that far.

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Mike Gravel

There’s been a lot of buzz with Mike Gravel and Ron Paul recently in the news. Both have been very controversial candidates and with big news outlets not allowing users to vote for either and actually deleting user comments that mention Ron Paul, people have been striking a storm over the net.

I first came across this video on Digg: Sen. Mike Gravel at SC Debates 04/26/07 – Former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska … Former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska won Best of Show at the Presidential Debate in South Carolina. http://petulantrumblings.com Full debate footage available at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18296908/

I’ve got to say, despite being a bit crazy, I really like this guy and his positions. From his website: Gravel 2008:

The War in Iraq
Immediate and orderly withdrawal of troops followed by aggressive diplomacy

Iran
Senator Gravel firmly opposes a military confrontation with Iran and advocates a diplomatic solution to the current situation.

National Initiative for Democracy
Empower Americans and turn every citizen into a lawmaker by enacting a national initiative.

A Fair Tax
Eliminate the income tax and replace it with a progressive national sales tax – Fair Tax.

Global Warming/Climate Change
We must reduce America’s carbon footprint in the world by passing legislation that caps emissions and improve energy efficiency while generating energy from low-carbon sources.

Universal Healthcare Vouchers
A National Health Care Voucher plan will provide health care for all Americans.

I’m shocked. I actually agree with every stance he has on the above issues. I personally think that income tax is unfair and if the government needs more money, it should raise sales taxes. Xyon and a couple of us has discussed this to some extent and if you search the web, you’ll noticed that the IRS has been unable to provide any evidence that supports income tax is legal. We’re just paying because they’re “big brother”.

I’m really starting to like this guy. Many say he doesn’t have a chance at office, but this is the first man that’s willing to stand out and say the truth. Others as he mentioned are just doing the political dance around the main issues.

Here’s an additional video that I really enjoyed: Mike Gravel for President! Straightening out the Media (from Digg) – All too brief example of speaking truth to media.

Random Crap:

2xav – a new comic from Below the Mean. Punchline: What have you been doing for the past 3 hours?! Watching 9 hours of lecture.

Spider-Man (Marvel) and Superman (DC) discuss the state of their respective film divisions in this take on the Mac/PC ads. Let me know what you think! These are some hilarious sketches done with Superman and Spider-Man action figures. They’re parodying the Mac ads which show PC on one side and Mac on the other. He’s made 4 additional videos which also introduce the Hulk and Batman:

Magicians sue over revealed tricks – A group of Japanese magicians sued TV broadcasters on Tuesday for revealing closely guarded secrets behind a series of coin tricks, a news report said. Forty-nine magicians are seeking $16,000 in damages from Nippon Television Network Corp. and TV Asahi Corp. for airing shows last year that revealed how magicians perform tricks involving coins, according to Kyodo News agency. Haha! Now they just have to prove that they own the tricks. ;p

Confused by your neighbours? Then Ask a Mexican! – Why do Mexicans use their car horns as a doorbell? Why is Mexican television so obsessed with dwarfs and transvestites? Why do they park their cars on the front lawn? Do Mexican children get tamales at Christmas so that they have something to unwrap? What is it about the word “illegal” that Mexicans don’t understand? The chances are that you will know the answers to some of these questions if you live in the United States and read the wickedly funny “Ask a Mexican!” column syndicated in more than a score of weekly newspapers across the country.

Good samaritan canoeists get $85 tickets – Canoeist Dennis Bohrn and his companions were stunned when they saw a woman jump off the Perrine Bridge, her body landing near them in the Snake River. Many in the group were crying by the time they managed to reach the woman and paddle her body to shore. So Bohrn was shocked when an officer walked up and instead of thanking or comforting the group last Sunday, wrote out a couple of $85 tickets for failing to have life jackets on board either of the two canoes.

Tiny terrier dies after saving 5 kids – A plucky Jack Russell terrier named George saved five children from two marauding pit bulls, but was so severely mauled in the fight that it had to be put down, its owner said Wednesday. That’s why dogs will always be greater than cats.

Scientists: Emergency resuscitation procedures may be the killing blow (from Deadlock) – Today’s life-saving techniques could be killing potential survivors, a Dr. Lance Becker from Pennsylvania suggests, in an article written by Newsweek’s own Jerry Adler. In an emergency room, in a desperate situation where paramedics are trying their hardest to get the flatlining patient’s heartbeat back, they might be doing more harm than good.

The real Computer Monster (from Consumerist) – Another great one from Henson and Oz. Parodying the Cookie Monster, this is the Computer Monster which eats electronic parts. Wait till the end for the surprise.

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Random Crap

15 ways stores trick you into spending (from Consumerist) – Ever notice how you can go to a store to pick up just one thing and then, by the time you get to the check stand, you have five or six things in your cart and a bigger bill than you had anticipated? The list is in my opinion pretty much common sense. That’s why retail stores are so much about will power and people who purchase online don’t often have this problem. Unless of course if you browse deal sites all day long. Like this weekend, I purchased a new KitchenAid knife set ($54 shipped), some software (make $13 after rebate shipped), leather case for my Canon PowerShot SD1000 ($21 shipped), a photo color printer (make $4 after rebate shipped). See why my wallet cries every night?

Woman ‘tricked into sex’ by penis cream treatment (from Digg) – A Syrian-born airline pilot allegedly tricked a schoolteacher from Haverfordwest into having sex with him by pretending he had to administer ointment on the end of his penis, a jury heard yesterday (Tuesday).

Gene explains why people are night owls – A genetic mutation called the “after-hours gene” may explain why some people are night owls, it is revealed in Science journal today. I so must have this gene! I’m typing this at 4:52am.

German thief betrays himself to get free beer – A German phone thief led police right to his front door when they called the stolen mobile to say he had won some free beer and he willingly gave his address.

Legendary ‘Hogzilla’ to hit big screen – Hogzilla, a near-mythical monster hog that roamed south Georgia, is about to get a little bigger.

hogzilla
That’s one giant hog!

Porn dominates Saudi mobile use (from Digg) – Up to 70% of files exchanged between Saudi teenagers’ mobile phones contain pornography, according to a study in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom.

Only another 5,500 calories to go … (from Digg) –

A Swedish university has replicated Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me junk food binge under lab conditions. The early results are surprising, says Marten Blomkvist.

…

Well, at one Swedish university, a group of students are getting the chance. At the University of Linköping, the Spurlock experience is being replicated under clinical conditions. In February, seven healthy medical students in their early 20s spent weeks stuffing themselves with hamburgers, pizzas, milk shakes and 200g bacon breakfasts – all on the university’s tab. A second group of subjects are just now hitting the junk food. Physical exercise is to be avoided. Bikes are out. To discourage walking even the shortest distance, free bus passes have been issued.

…

The students managed to gain between 5-15% extra weight over the month. They felt “tired and bloated”, especially during the first week, but there seemed to be no signs of the mood swings towards the end that the rather despondent Spurlock reported.

Final results from the questionnaires will be released at the end of the study. But judging from the provisional results, no one suffered anything like as much as Spurlock. One of the most shocking scenes in the film is when his three doctors urge him to abandon his experiment after getting the results of blood tests which show that his liver is so badly damaged it looks as though it is the result of heavy drinking – “You’re pickling your liver!”. While Nyström and his team also noted “significant” changes in the liver, relating to the liver enzyme levels in the blood, and the content of fat in the liver, the changes were “never even close to dangerous”.

Japanese patch measures pet stress – Wondering if your dog or cat is stressed? Just stick a special patch on the bottom of its paw and you’ll be able to tell, according to a Japanese company. Reminds me of those flat heat sensor things that measure your stress by the color it changes to when you put a finger on it.

Pipe cleaners are the new sexy (from Digg) – With that in mind, it’s no surprise that nobody put me in charge of the “Really Cool 3-D Video Game Pipe Cleaner Sculpture” department. Someone over at HumorMe has, thankfully, filled that spot. Those pipe cleaner models are actually pretty cute.

Indian groom too drunk to wed, so brother steps in – Villagers at a wedding in eastern India decided the groom had arrived too drunk to get married, and so the bride married the groom’s more sober brother instead, police said on Monday. … “The groom apologised for his behaviour, but has been crying that word will spread and he will never get a bride again,” Singh said by phone.

Feeling Cingular (from Consumerist) – Check out the Feeling Cingular music video. Watch as the tragic story of Feeling, the spurned Cingular customer, trying to find his missing, depressed speaker, Most Blown 2 after his other speaker Most Blown 1 was killed by Cingular/ATT’s GSM RF interference. Ever experience your speakers going tk tk tk tk when your cellphone is next to your speakers and is about to ring? Well, this guy made a pretty cool video of how his cellphone blew out his speakers.

Incredible monitor setups (from Derek) – So many LCDs! *drools*

The voice of Pikachu (from RayAlome) – this is awesome! The Japanese voice of Pikachu!!! She even sounds like Pikachu in real life!

9 things I learned about the world according to anonymous stock photo models. (from Digg) – The list is hilarious. The ones I enjoyed included:

  • Attempts to portray sincere parent/child relationships always seem creepy.
  • Kids love manual labor.
  • That one-handed, one-knee laptop bullshit is the preferred way to get real work done.
  • Random-ass white dudes should be placed all over your corporate website for no fucking reason. – Ungsunghero said instead of “ass”, it should be replaced by “douchey prick“

Inmates take swipe at toilet paper cuts – One side effect of the policy could be that toilet paper will become a new form of currency among inmates.

Duck penises show “arms race” between sexes – An exception is ducks — especially mallards. Although mallards pair off to mate, females are often raped by stray males. Yet studies show that these rapes do not pay off for the males. “Even in a species where 40 percent of the copulations are forced copulations, the ducklings still are mostly sired by the mates,” Brennan said. … What they found surprised them — corkscrew-shaped oviducts, with plenty of potential dead-ends. “Interestingly, the male phallus is also a spiral, but it twists in the opposite, counterclockwise, direction,” said Yale ornithologist Richard Prum in a statement. See what real duck genitals look like in this article: Duck genitals locked in arms race (from Digg).