Resolutions

2009 is going to be a different time. The list, ordered:

1. 

2. Finally start a bit of research

3. Spend more time outside - bike 2-3x a week, hike at least one day a month

4. Eat healthier, cook more

Anything else that must be added to this list?

Ok. On another note, chapstick is awesome. Especially this Burt's Bees business. 

Man, what is this, Calcutta? Seriously though, Orange County rocks.

Flight to austin

Vista HP 3150se Fix

So I inherited this old HP LaserJet 3150se, which does everything, except HP hasn't (refuses to) release drivers for it, even though it should be a really damn simple matter.

The fix. Quite simply:

1. Obtain and install VMware Workstation
2. Install Windows XP through it (very simple)
3. Install drivers for the printer.

A few notes -

1. Remember to add "Parallel Port" as a device.
2. Vista acts funny when you first plug in the printer, so keep the printer disconnected until you have booted XP through VMware (with the parallel port device added), then plug in the parallel cord (which should obviously be connected to the printer). This will keep Vista from hijacking* the parallel port and prompting the driver installation window before VMware has a chance to do so.
3. You can keep your XP partition very small (1.5 GB). Try not to install Adobe reader and use something with a smaller memory/HDD footprint like Foxit PDF reader.**

I usually don't write nerdy posts like this, but this has pissed off a lot of people. Leave feedback if it works/doesn't!

*: This minor Vista annoyance is nothing like using linux. Just for kicks (and with the relief that I could pull the plug with two clicks, I installed the lastest Ubuntu on VMware)

It was ok. I booted up Firefox, went to youtube. No flash plugin. No worries, I went to the Adobe website and there were four variants of the flash player installation. Whatever, I'll just go through all of them.

So I downloaded each one, and double-clicked on each of the files, which obviously didn't work. Yes, I should have looked at the instructions, but that's exactly my point. Installing a flash plugin should be intuitive. I shouldn't need some needlessly complicated command line input to do so.

And the instructions had command line steps. If this was Windows or OS X, I would have been done, very very quickly.

ergo -
Linux really is a piece of shit.

**: But, holy shit, Foxit PDF reader is a pain in the ass. So many adverts! Use the Acrobat reader if you have space, please.

Cephalic response

Yeah. Damn straight.

Test in 1 week, 1 day and I'm slowly going crazy. So, I made a batch of brownies to keep me sane. With funfetti.

Wish me luck. Lots of it. Much will be necessary.

Screw bowls.

Now, I don't even use bowls. Just straight up tupperware + rediwhip

Oh and, I have a kickass setup for my workspace now. Now.. to actually get some work done...

Phail Blog

Oxytocin

I'm trying to forget a few things/entities/people. Comfort food helps. Picture below.

Cell phones

I was in a small group session a few days ago. Silence your god damn cellphones! (That means, complete silence!)

I hate it when people set their phones on vibrate, then it goes off, and they realize that it's ringing, but they don't switch it off because hey! It's on "silent"! Maybe they think no one else can hear it.

Screw you. I can still hear that.

In other news, OBAAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

www.change.gov

Comfort food

I never thought I had one, until I found honey roasted peanut butter.


I finished an entire jar in the 2 weeks that approached Block 2 exams.


I will need another one. Someone help me out? I've got more issues than Time.

Women, school, etc.

Karmic retribution

See, I always knew it was coming, I just didn't know when. 

So it begins.

0x0eff4938

lol, youtube.

haha. there was an xkcd on this, i think.

"I'm a tag artist and you can definitely get a message out that way"

and..

"they want to help the world so they use spray paint?"

and...

"that's why I jump into the 'system' and try to fix it... the oldies stuffed up [?] the world..."

Actually, I looked at this guy's profile, he had things like "9/11 was an inside job", "Scourge of Zionism", and "THEY PLAN AND ALLAH PLANS - WHOSE PLAN DO YOU THINK WILL PREVAIL?". Also, he lives in "Islamistan." srslolz!

and....I especially like this last one:

"vote for that new black president he want's [sic] to stop the war just like i do".

Yeah. No kidding, Dave. I looked at this guy's profile too. It didn't make any sense.

Dev braves Hurricane Ike, part 2

Actually, I fled to Plano.

Here are some pictures:

Owned.

Owned.

You can see some ambulances if you squint. Actually, just their lights. Actually, just one light.

Did Hurricane Ike bring some illegal mexicans? (that is a U.S. Border Patrol truck, escorting larger 18 wheelers (one is seen off in the distance).

Piotrr braves Hurricane Ike, part 1

SIGHZ

There's a hurricane heading my way. 

Brain Test Online (http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex)

Part 1

	Angles
	This task tested your ability to identify the angle of a line by matching it with its twin. This is a spatial task, which looks at how you picture space. Your score: 19 out of 20 Average score for men: 15.1 out of 20 Average score for women: 13.3 out of 20 What does your result suggest? If you scored 0 - 12: You have more of a female brain. Scientists believe that people with a female brain find it more difficult to judge the slope of a line because they're not wired for spatial tasks. In past studies, 65 per cent of people who scored in this range were women. If you scored 13 - 17: You found this test neither hard nor easy. This suggests your brain has male and female traits when it comes to spatial ability. If you scored 18 - 20: You have more of a male brain. On average, men outperform women in this task and those with more mathematical knowledge tend to score quite high as well. In past studies, 60 per cent of the people in this range were men. Interestingly, men's testosterone levels fluctuate through the seasons and studies have shown that men's scores are lower in the spring, when their testosterone levels are at their lowest. Do our cave dwelling ancestors offer us any clues about why men and women score differently on this task? Find out more.
	Spot the difference
	This task tested your ability to identify which objects changed position. You lost points, if you incorrectly identified objects. Your score: 43% Average score for men: 39%  Average score for women: 46%  What does your score suggest? If you scored between 0 - 33%: You may have more of a male brain. Scientists say men tend to under perform in this task. The corpus callosum, the part of the brain that links the right and left hemispheres, is a fifth larger in women. This means women can process visual and other signals at the same time more easily than men. There is also a theory that oestrogen levels in women give them an added advantage in spatial memory. If you scored between 34 - 66%: You may have a balanced female-male brain. If you scored between 67 - 100%: Those with a female-type brain generally score in this range. Your ability to remember where objects are may serve as an advantage to you when you're trying to find your way around places. You're more capable of recalling landmarks to get from one place to another. Find out more about our spatial abilities.

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	Part 2

Hands

You said your right thumb was on top when you clasped your hands together. Right thumb on top: This suggests the left half of your brain is dominant. Many studies have tried to establish whether there is a relationship between handedness and brain dominance. Some scientists believe that if you are left brain dominant, you would be more verbal and analytical. Left thumb on top: This suggests the right half of your brain is dominant. Some studies theorise that as a right brain dominant person, you may excel in visual, spatial and intuitive processes. However, these theories are debatable and leave much to be said about the small percentage of people who are ambidextrous. Find out why right-brained people may be better fighters and artists.

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	Part 3

Emotions and Systems

This task looked at whether you prefer to empathise or systemise. Empathising Your empathy score is: 3 out of 20 Average score for men: 7.9 out of 20 Average score for women: 10.6 out of 20 What does your result suggest? Empathisers are better at accurately judging other people's emotions and responding appropriately. If you scored 15 and above, you are very empathic and would be an ideal person to comfort people in a time of crisis. Women in general are better at empathising. Systemising Your systemising score is: 15 out of 20 Average score for men: 12.5 out of 20 Average score for women: 8.0 out of 20 What does your result suggest? Systemisers prefer to investigate how systems work. A system can be a road map, flat pack furniture, or a mathematical equation – anything that follows a set of rules. A score of 15 and above suggests you're good at analysing or building systems. Men in general are better at systemising. Scientists are keen to learn more about people who score high or low on both tests. They want to find out whether or not empathising and systemising are linked. Is a possible to make yourself more empathic? Some scientists claim that our empathy and systemising abilities can be traced all the way back to prehistoric times. Find out more.

Eyes

This task tested your ability to judge people's emotions. Your score: 10 out of 10 Average score for men: 6.6 out of 10 Average score for women: 6.6 out of 10 What does your result suggest? If you scored 0 - 3: Do you think you're good at judging how another person is feeling? Your score suggests this doesn't come to you quite so naturally. If you scored 4 - 6: Your result suggests you have a balanced female-male brain and find it neither easy nor difficult to judge people's emotions. If you scored 7 - 10: Your result suggests you are a good empathiser, sensitive to other people's emotions. Women generally fall into this category. Professor Baron-Cohen at the University of Cambridge says that people usually perform better than they expect to on this test. Men often think a person's eyes are sending signals of desire when that's not the case at all. Find out more.

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	Part 4

Fingers

We asked you to measure your ring and index fingers. Your ratios came to: Right Hand: 0.97 Left Hand: 0.97  Average ratio for men: 0.982 Average ratio for women: 0.991 It's thought that your ratio is governed by the amount of testosterone you were exposed to in your mother's womb. The ratio of the length of your index finger to the length of your ring finger is set for life by as early as three months after conception. Even during puberty, when we experience intensive hormonal changes, the ratio stays the same. Men generally have a ring finger that is longer than their index finger, which gives them a lower ratio than women, whose ring and index fingers are usually of equal length. Studies have found that men and women with lots of brothers generally have more masculine finger ratios. Find out what other things scientists think our ratios may tell us.

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	Part 5

Faces

This task looked at how you rate the attractiveness of a series of faces. The images you looked at were digitally altered to create slight differences in masculinity. Your choices suggest you prefer more masculine faces. Highly masculinised male faces possess more extreme testosterone markers such as a long, broad and lower jaw, as well as more pronounced brow ridges and cheekbones. Interestingly, women's preferences are said to vary across the menstrual phase. A more masculine face is preferred during the 9 days prior to ovulation, when conception is most likely. A typical 'attractive' female face possesses features such as a shorter, narrower, lower jaw, fuller lips and larger eyes than an average face. Are you surprised at what researchers think they can learn from your answers?Find out more.

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	Part 6

3D shapes

This task tested your ability to mentally rotate 3D shapes. Your score: 8 out of 12  Average score for men: 8.2 out of 12 Average score for women: 7.1 out of 12 What does your result suggest? If you scored 0 - 6: Do you find yourself having to physically rotate a map to point in the direction in which you're travelling? This might explain why you scored in the lower range in the 3D shapes test. Twice as many women as men score in this category. Previous studies suggest that those with a female-type brain or with an arts background fall into this range. If you scored 7 - 9: In past studies, 50 per cent of the people who scored in this range were women and 50 per cent were men. If you scored 10 - 12: Are you an engineer or do you have a science background? People with these skills tend to score in this range. Past studies have concluded that people in this range have a more male brain. Nearly a third of men who took this test got full marks, whereas less than 10 per cent of women managed the same. Find out why.

Words

This task looked at your verbal fluency. Your score: you associated 0 word(s) with grey and you named 0 word(s) that mean happy. We are assuming that all the words you entered are correct. Average score for men: 11.4 words total Average score for women: 12.4 words total What does your result suggest? If you produced 1 - 5 words: You are more of the strong, silent type with a male brain. You probably find it easier to express yourself in non-verbal ways, preferring action rather than words. If you produced 6 - 10 words: Most people in this range have a female-type brain. Women are said to use both sides of the brain when doing verbal tasks while men mainly use their left side. Studies have shown that girls develop vocabulary faster than boys. This difference in brain power is caused by levels of pre-natal testosterone. Find out more .

Ultimatum

This task asked you how you would divide money. If you had to split £50 with someone, you said you would demand £30 So far on the Sex ID test, men have demanded 51.6% (£25.80) of the pot and women have demanded 51.0% (£25.50), on average. What does your response suggest? Sex differences are small in this task. Demanding less than 60% of the pot (ie £30) is more typically female. Demanding more than 65% of the pot (ie £32.50) is more typically male. Scientists believe that people with lower testosterone levels tend to take fewer risks so they are probably more willing to keep less for themselves. Those with higher testosterone levels tend to drive a harder bargain and are less compromising. Men's testosterone levels fluctuate over the seasons and are at their lowest levels during the springtime. This is said to influence their bargaining power. Find out more about the role of testosterone.. My commentary: sigh @ preferring more masculine faces, but yeauz @ math ability! Too bad I'll need it less and less.  Also, ignore the words part. That was dumb. Apparently, zomgzyeauz != happy.

Hour of no Power

I was going to write about my preceptorship episode, right after I came back from
the anatomy lab practical, but in that short break where I went to my apartment
for food just before the practical started, I realized I had no electricity.

So I went to the office and talked to the manager and she asked me if I had been
paying my bills, with that look on her face like I was the type that skimped on
paying bills. (lame.)

My reaction - what bills? I hadn't gotten one. (I thought it was weird that they
had told me the apartment would bill us for electricity.)

Apparently, I'm supposed to get my own provider. So I called
TXU/Dynawatt/Amigo energy (lol) and they said the earliest they could do
it was on Monday, and that too for $40. (lamer.)

I've transported some of my food out, but no doubt some of the rest will
probably spoil. Oh well. The worst thing is - no internet! Sigh.

Also, no air-conditioning, but I have feeling my apartment stays relatively
cool because the units above and below me run theirs' like crazy.

Yeah, it was still pretty hot. Last night, I slept en nu* and it was surprisingly
comfortable! Now there's a sight you wouldn't forget.

I woke up, struck the buddha pose:

... and felt like a male model.

Lame.

lol. I should be getting my power back on Monday or Tuesday. Preceptorship
episode to come later.

*: Totally butt nekked.

Ralph Feigin

http://www.texaschildrens.org/AllAbout/FeiginBio.aspx

You know, I didn't know him personally, but I saw the procession today, and I can see TCH from my window - I can feel its energy everytime I look outside my window and I know Feigin had a big part in making TCH the fantastic world renowned hospital it is today.

We were told today that one of us might be the next Feigin. I hope so. I am quite envious of those who were able to meet him. Baylor and Texas Children's have a large shoes to fill.

As a tribute, I will attach this to the post - Feigin's rules.

1. It's the people that make the difference.
2. Do what's right for the patient. We'll do the paperwork later.
3. Be diligent.
4. Live with the spirit of inquiry and innovation. Come to a discussion with the concept that we can do something better tomorrow than what we are doing today.
5. Live with the spirit of generosity.

It's always sad when the good doctor passes away.

http://www.texaschildrens.org/DrFeigin/default.aspx

My Lenovo Adventure

So. Tuesday morning. I throw my Lenovo into my backpack and throw a CD in there as well. Except the CD wedges itself between the screen and the keyboard and knocks off the F2 key.

Pictures of the knocked out F2 key. Very disappointing to look at. 

Here is a side angle shot:

So 20 minutes into class, I log onto the Lenovo support system, submit a warranty request ("my F2 key has fallen off") for a new F2 key. Literally 4 minutes later, I get a voicemail saying that the replacement part is being shipped out. 

Wednesday (today), I pick up a package. 

Why is the box with the replacement part so big?

Because it has a brand new full-size keyboard inside! (complete with very thorough installation instructions). 

Took about 7 minutes to install. 

5 screws in and out

A full-size keyboard exchanged

Awesomeness reborn.

Kickass!

While it's great that Lenovo has such great service, this was more of a public service announcement toward mentally crippled laptop buyers to convince them to get the longest warranty period they can afford. 

I love my Thinkpad. 

Mariott.

Damn that picture is small (click for a bigger one). So I haven't posted for a while since I don't have DSL from my apartment, and besides BCM, almost all of my (grounded) internet access has been at around 150-250kbps, which is slower than my phone, which is totally lame, since I usually get 260-300kbps on the fucking highway at 70mph.

Supposedly AT&T is coming tomorrow to fix my line and I'll be at 6/768 (awesome).

*: See the following posts:

http://piotrrcola.blogspot.com/2006/10/sickness-and-regret.html

http://piotrrcola.blogspot.com/2005/05/omgwtf.html

I have peed 4 times before noon and twice after. TMI? Deal with it.

**: I tried to find a word that started with "b" would make brownies as awesome sounding as "kickass kookies".

CWIP

Pronounced "see-whip"

I've started something new. Well, first I started my lame-ass version of the US Navy Seals exercise regiment (http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/seal.htm) - mine only consists of pushups and crunches. I'm pretty sure I can do the minimum amount of pullups too. 

In any case, I've come close o the recommended amount and I feel like I've reached a limit on muscle mass. So, enter the Controlled Weight Increase Program (CWIP!). 

The plan is to reach the upper bound of the "normal" BMI level (25) while keeping the weight training going. 

My target weight is 160-165. Currently, I've leveled out at 153, which is annoying since I'm eating a lot more (I was 148 a week or so ago). The point is, not to try anything that's sold in GNC or any of those other stores. 

I'll go the natural way. 

Which... is probably a bad idea.

Genghis Khan sells me a house

I had a weird fucking dream. I was in California, looking at houses and I drove up to this rather exotic house on top of a hill. It looked small, but it was made of marble, so eh.

I walk in, and this huge chinese guy - "Genghis Khan" comes to greet me and shows me around the house. Everything was pretty nice about it, marble everything, passive cooling, helipad, olympic sized pool in the basement, half a dozen guest rooms. Apparently most of it was underground, but light was channeled through mirrored ducts so it still felt natural.

Anyway, he takes me to the master bedroom and he says - "I like to keep things a little exotic around here" and pushes a button and the wall transforms into this huge piece of tempered glass, about a foot thick.

Behind the glass are a ton of exotic animals, LIONS, TIGERS, JAGUARS, each in their own cage. Further along the wall, I see dangerous snakes, poisonous insects, all sorts of dangerous living things. "Collections from my trip through China", he says.

I was like - "Shit... I really like this house, but I can't sleep at night. I'm going to hear fucking footsteps or something."

My friends were like "WTF? Genghis Khan is still alive?" and "OMFGBBQ YOU HAVE FUCKING TIGERS IN YOUR HOUSE" and "LIGERS!!!!"

I guess I did end up buying that house. lol Genghis Khan.

He kind of looked like that, except without the retarded hat.

Rip on line toot.

How's the new color scheme? I actually like the color orange, but haven't been able to use it for the last few years. Now that I'm sufficiently removed from the UT campus, here it is.

These two commercials kick ass.





Your son Rip is on line Toot. hahahaha!

Yep

June 28 was a long fucking time ago, huh? Well. I finally found a place to stay in Houston. Searching for a place to stay is a precarious, precarious job, especially in Houston. 

I did find a few places that were within the 650-800 price range I was looking for - Harvest Hill, Parque View, some random condo on Cambridge St. Yet they were all so uncomfortable to look at! Broken sidewalk-having shady-looking places. 

So I settled on the Maroneal. It's a small palace with an enormous rent. Oh well. I have enough space for visitors though. (Yeauz!)

I have to reiterate my comment on exclamation marks, because I recently saw some engrish/chinglish/hinglish that ticked me off. 

Multiple exclamation marks only work with one or two words, else it seems like you're shouting, aka, a complete douchebag.

Hey!!!! = Hey! (more/less)

How are you! = "How are you!"

How are you!!!! = HOW ARE YOU

Why the fuck someone might need more than one exclamation mark is beyond me. (except in lol!!! - a legitimate use.)

I was watching some show about crazy dogs and how their owners can't keep them under control and had to hire some dog trainer to come beat the shit out of these dogs. (No, it's not Caeser Milan) These dogs had their own landrovers.

...

These dogs had their own landrovers.

These dogs had their own landrovers. (and nannies. each one.)

What the fuck? Maybe this couple is bitter they can't have real children. Or maybe the Chinese baby they adopted ran away because he was only given an Accord when-

These dogs had their own landrovers.

They would take the dogs out on the town, and one of them would try to attack almost any person / animal / moving thing it saw. This is why sometimes, I like gun laws. If one of those rabid things got near me- Pop!* 

Forget the dog, train the owner.

Actually, it's unfortunate I'm not trained enough to wait for the dog to bite my hand and repeatedly press V to grab and break its neck.  

Press V, DAMN IT!, PRESS V!

Sigh. Time for more pushups.

*: Or "Tzzuit!" depending on what I was using. 

Energy, Part 1

As much as I would like to poke fun at the hilarious oddities of most of everyone that lives around me (http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/), they're not so bad, although sometimes TPTB come up with irritating legislation. We still cling to antiquated directives and laws.

If there is anything particularly damning these days, its energy policy. The current quest (campaign? crusade?) involves mainly looking for new sources / expanding reserves of oil. Should we drill into Alaska/Gulf/Saudis? Should we build more rigs? Are the bastard* oil companies doing enough to provide oil? Should we open up the strategic reserves? Should OPEC do more? (OPEC should be dismantled; its countries, invaded.)

Even back when a gallon of gas was less than a dollar (late 90s?), oil was still a big concern, of course, not for us. Remember the "you who murdered a hundred thousand iraqis to save a nickel on gas" quote from Air Force One? By then, the pillaging had already continued for nearly fifty years - the British and Americans started pissing off the Middle East around the same time. 

Also around the same time, the booming American economy led to the height of impudence - SUV's and pick up trucks. Pick-up trucks were, at times, an essential accessory to many people, and a 100 years after the Model T (21 MPG) was introduced, with its friction-loving design, the most efficient pick-up truck, so called "efficient" ones still get around 20 MPG. The Prius fares a little better, at a little over double the Model T's (and this model is recent phenomenon).

In comparison, we didn't even have mainstream color TV until the mid 1940-1950. It's gone from that, to 1080p with 7.1 surround, the kind of picture you can taste. In retrospect, why are we even using gasoline? 

So we continue our dependence on oil (and that's the problem, not a dependence on foreign oil) while building dreadfully shitty vehicles. And people wonder why gas can get to $7 a gallon in 2 years. Because we export these shitty designs! Export to developing countries that strip it down (aka, no airbag) to build a vehicle that's cheap and accessible by their rapidly expanding middle classes. 

I like this one, because it is particularly pungent now: 

http://www.snopes.com/humor/jokes/autos.asp

Had Gates actually said that, they (GM) would have laughed at him and responded similarly, and he would have been ridiculed for years. Until now, that is. 

Nice going, asshats. (GM)

Domestic automakers like GM and Ford, with all their money and assets failed to envision developing countries' growing demand of gasoline. As a last ditch effort, the two companies tried to patch things. Ford licensed Toyota's HSD for its Escape hybrid (yay knobby piece of shit design!) and both companies started development of FlexFuel, an idea that tries to solve the "problem" of dependence on foreign oil. 

Too bad Ford sucks. Toyota should pull this agreement they have with Ford, and let it sink completely. As for FlexFuel, well, it's not taking off. (Not like hybrid vehicles, anyway). Even the Model T was "flexfuel", how is this idea new? Finally, take a look at the FlexFuel vehicles in the US: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flex_fuel#United_States

See a pattern?** Since you idiots lucked out on innovation this round, just follow the Japanese for a while.

Snopes calls the automotive industry's response to Gates a "stinging rejoinder". Hah. Maybe you should have made that V12 car that cost $50 that got 1000 miles to the gallon. I would not have minded its engine randomly turning off twice a day. 

For the record, my WinXP machine has crashed 4-5 times total, my Vista machine is still running great. 

*: Rigs cost money.

**: Mostly domestic vehicles.

You're god damn right.

So I figured out how to break into the airport in San Fierro, and now, I only travel in helicopters (provided the mission allows it). Damn straight. My first one (pictured above) got stolen though. Sux.

The problem is, all this gaming has gotten me FATTT. In fact, I haven't done crunches in a while (2-3 weeks) and I can feel the flab accumulating. Tomorrow, the crunches start.

Firefox 3

Firefox 3 is out and everyone on Digg is going crazy. Seriously? Shut the fuck up. Also:

Owned

The new developer beta also does better on the JS tests (http://webkit.org/perf/sunspider-0.9/sunspider.html). Mozilla should ditch Gecko, Microsoft should ditch Trident.

I spent an hour in GTA today trying to land this jet (http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Shamal) on a highway so I could park it in my garage. Sigh.

Another game I've been hitting up: World in Conflict. Awesome graphics. See for yourself. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDh9a2IPpLk)

I usually build up some serious defenses and then use long range bombers, but this game forces me to follow some douche's orders. Damn it. I'll settle for my (highly effective) strategy in C&C: Tiberum Wars or something. (Also kickass)

This PSU works.

Me playing GTA: San Andreas

I think, this is normally a one-car garage (or car + 2-wheeler), but I managed to fit in an ambulance and a luxury vehicle. The ambulance actually is more useful than one might think, even if it's slow. Even in the ghetto, they get out of the way when the sirens are on (Code 3!).

That's right. Get out of the damn way. I have a crack delivery to make and the po-po's are on my tail.

But seriously. I'm saving lives. Savin' lives and hittin' them ho's.

http://music.aol.com/video/just-feel-better/santana/1439748

I have never seen Santana look so Mexican.

Flexfuel is bullshit.

I am back

I am back from my vacation and the jetlag has just subsided. Coming back, I began with fullfilling all my craves over the last 3 weeks - a few litres of sprite, Dunkin Doughnuts munchkins, bbq chips. On this latter one, I was too lazy to go to the store so I found a 3 week old package of original (blech!) flavored chips and dipped in bbq sauce. Poor man's bbq chips. Sigh.

But the ultimate crave will start being fulfilled tomorrow when my new gaming platform arrives. I already have a 9800GTX to stick in there, and it's going to come with 3GB of RAM so I needn't worry about anything. I will game like crazy. The only thing that really worries me is that I'm going to increase my carbon footprint with this new desktop. Damn it, I am so spoiled.

I'm actually trying to finish one level of each Mario Galaxy and Medal of Honor everyday on the Wii, while watching ER/Smallville/Greys/Naruto/BSG/Lost/etc.

Updates soon

Enjoy

3 more hours of tests

2.5 hours left until the English final (of which, 40% I have done, since there is a take home essay due at the beginning of the final)

Prediction of grades this semester:

BIO377: A

BIO377W: A

JPN320L: B

E314V: B

PHY362L: C

What a shitty semester! Someone bring me cookies. (Seriously, I'm running out of food.)

I charged my iPhone for the "last" time. Next time I charge it, undergrad will be over. Next time I charge my laptop, I be done with English classes for the rest of my LYFE.*

But nothing compares to the awesomeness of being on my last charge cycle of my Thinkpad here, ever.

Nothing. 

I'm down to the last final days here. The squirrels stare me down, half of them having recognized me and the crows inch closer when I have food. It's time to leave Wankthorpe behind. 

*: Set for lyfe!

Battlefield

I am currently looking into buying a gaming computer for some serious action. Quad Core 2.4 Ghz, 2-3GB of RAM, and a 8800GTS card (omg Red Alert 3!!)

Should be good enough for crazy gaming all summer. I am going to make up for the last four years and hole myself in my room trying out all the latest FPSs, and probably throw a clot or something.

After finishing my last Japanese final, I realized there IS one thing I'd miss a lot. I kind of miss it already, and it's worrisome to think that if I don't keep these skills up, I'm going to lose my conversational ability. The Japanese teachers remembered birthdays, that I like rainy days, that I like curry*, etc. No other set of teachers on campus have gotten close to being that awesome or that personable. I will be visiting them if I visit austin.

There's a lot of glamour in learning Japanese, which may be a little misplaced since I found it relatively easy (much easier than Spanish). I know Indian people that took Hindi (lol) and Chinese people that took Chinese (lol).

Honestly, in most cases, you should know how to read your own language. I'm not going to preach and say that I can read Oriya perfectly, but I have gotten damn close (you can master reading it in a day).

I can partially understand Chinese people wanting to take Chinese (logographic writing systems are difficult to master), but reading Hindi is much much easier to master, so you're basically taking the class to learn vocabulary (since most people already know how to speak it in that class, i.e. grammar is covered), and you can learn vocabulary on your own.

So the whole quest to take Hindi to get A's makes you kind of a douche.

Opinions?

*: This one could have been a stereotype.

Approaching those lasts...

In less than a week, I will be gone from this armpit-of-a-town, and I'm coming down to the last things I'll ever do here.

1. Last time I'll charge my toothbrush (done)
2. 2nd to last time I'll charge my iPhone (done)
3. Last time I'll eat meat (done, unless I go out)
4. Last time I'll be in an undergraduate class for credit (done)
5. Last time I'll take a Japanese final (today)
6. Last time I'll do laundry
7. Last time I'll see some people (lab people that come in and out, etc)
8. Last time I'll ever party in austin? (don't know about this one)
9. One of the last few times I'll cross Dean Keeton*
   
10. What else?

It's pretty awesome, except for I still have two finals and a take home physics test that's going to bring me down to a C in 362L.

End already. I wish to return Home to Plano.

*: I thought he was named after some Dean once.