In the breakroom...

As a couple of you have said (*cough*Sydney*cough*) that I haven't updated in a while. Well, you guys are right, I haven't. I suppose you would think of many reasons why I haven't posted in a while, like that I'm busy with school or I have just given up with the whole blogging thing. The real reason is that I haven't been able to come up with anything interesting in a while. I realized that after my last post on the worlds fastest production car (Bugatti Veyron 16.4), and that is why I haven't had anything new. I have actualyl enjoyed the "hiatus" from blogging because it gave me time to just read other things and not worry about blogging at all. I promise you I will have some new material (and even an "interactive game" I have thought of) for you to check back for. Make sure to check back in a couple days.

Bugatti has stepped upa a level with this one...

OMG! The Bugatti Veyron 16.4! Fastest production car ever (253mph top speed), but also the most expensive at $1.25 million. Just read about it here and prepare to drool.

Things That Piss Me Off: Part 1

I'm starting a series of posts that I call "Things That Piss Me Off". As the title implies, I will be talking about things that piss me off. I will undoubtably bring various grievenes up once and a while. For my first post on these such grievens that piss me off, CAPTCHA is on the chopping block.Have you ever seen something resembling this? It is everywhere. Whenever you try to sign up for something, or even post a comment on a blog, this blurred and distorted text is there. It was a good idea that went horribly wrong. Before I go on about how much I hate those abundent letters and numbers, it would be necessary to see what CAPTCHA is. CAPTCHA is an acronym that means: "completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart." Computers take random text, distort it, and then put it as a step on various forms on the internet as an image file. The inital idea was to keep out computers from spamming everywhere on the internet because a computer cannot see what the letters and numbers are in an image such as that. All it really did was piss people like me off. Spammers now employ people with an IQ under 90 to punch in the sequence of numbers and letters. Shoot, people everywhere are trying to find ways around it using computers, and are very close too. I would much rather find a way of having a "reputation" on the internet so that I would be not known as a spammer and completely bypass this "human recognition" test. Sure, it was a cool idea at first, and actually curbed the spamming on the internet, but then it was taken too far.

This is the kind of thing I'm talking about. Not only does this keep the spamming computers out, but it keeps the humans out as well. Not only can people with disabilities not read this, but not even someone such as myself can figure out what the hell this says. Good job computer, you got me.

Blessing to Others

As any other Sunday, I was driving home from church (around 11:00) when I realized I needed gas, so I got off the freeway at Crown Valley. When I was stopped on the offramp, I noticed a homeless man with a reflective vest (like the ones construction workers wear) who had a sign asking for a donation. I didn't think much of this man at first, and was actually searching for the lock button on my door. I casually looked around and saw that a rather old Explorer that was not in very good shape was stopped behind me. Two girls, about my age, were in the Explorer and they were waving to the homeless man, signalling to him to come to their car. The girl driving handed the man a couple dollars, and then I had a revelation. I was driving an Audi, while they were driving a beat up Ford. While I was searching for the lock button, they were searching for their purses. When I was looking away when the man was walking by my car, they were waving to him. I saw then what it meant to give. The sermon Pastor Steward gave at church 15 minutes before I was stopped on that offramp was on how to be a blessing to others, yet I did not think about giving anything to this man but a cold shoulder. I saw that I was blessed so much more than those two girls seemingly were, but it didn't cross my mind for a second to give to that poor man. I see now what it means to be a blessing to others.

Spam that you could live on...

One day I decided to check on my "spam account". I have a special email account that I use for signing up for free stuff (giveaways, magazines, and the like). It has all the storge I need and gets only the finest spam around. I logged in and found there were 1,590 new emails. Score! (oh, and for the record the last time I checked this account was 2 months ago)


I casually looked over my inbox, all of which is spam, to see what kind of stuff I could win. As I perused the vast sea of spam, I realized there is really a contest, giveaway, or "deal" for everything. You could practicly live off the stuff that is pouring in my inbox, everything from college scholarships to free gas. You need help getting a job, how about being a police officer, fashion designer, or even get paid to golf? Air conditioning broken? Get a new one for free (for a little while at least)! Sick of your old clunker? Get an Escalde for free! Need that special gift for that special someone? How about a Tiffany's "Bangel" Bracelet? Are you in horrible debt? Here is a loan, and as an added bonus, how about getting that lovely debt "erased" for good? Are your clothes tattered? Go on a $500 shopping spree! Are you hungry, but don't have any money? Here is some free food at Dennys! Don't have a laptop? Get a free Sony Vaio. Do you have a hard time staying awake? Here is your very own coffee maker! Last but not least, how about a million dollars? If you can "crack the code", it's yours!

In case you were wondering, all of that was within the first 40 emails that came within the last 2 weeks. You may wonder where I'm going with all this. It seems to me that the world today is desperatly trying to get as much out of the suckers in our society. There are so many rules in the fine print that no-one would be able to redeem any of the things advertized in the email. The victim gets nothing, but the advertising company gets your personal information that they can sell to other advertisers, only leading to more junk mail (both snail mail and email). It is sad to see these kinds of shananigans in this day and age, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. This is just sick.

Most (if not all) of these are scams, but then I got to thinking. There actually is a possability that you can live on contests. Yes, I said live on contests. It has actually been proven on a Japanese television show. Now, this is one of the most inhumane shows that has ever existed, but it proves a point. No-one should ever subject themselves (or others) to this kind of treatment, but it is an interesting study. Nasubi (you can read about his show here) was the poor guy who "won" the spot on a new Japanese TV show. What followed was something worse than torture, but proved that you can indeed live on contests and giveaways. Here is a summary of what he won during his captivity:

2 vacuums, rice (4 times, 35 kg), shoes, a watermelon, a cutlery set, ice cream, chocolates, natto (twice), bicycle, television (no antennae in the apartment), a globe, stuffed animals, dental care products, videos, pickled egg plant, a poster of Hirose Ryoko, free tickets to the Spice Girls movie, a coupon for a free English lesson (twice), headphones, a CD Rom, videos, a huge box of potato chips, duck meat, a barbecue, several unidentifiable varieties of Japanese snacks, a belt, some sexy women's underwear (which he tried to wear but couldn't put on), Matsutake mushrooms, steak, a tent, an attache case, a set of tires, a photo book, golf balls

Oh, and if you want any of those emails, you know how to get a hold of me.

Barcode Art

Yeah, art out of barcodes. It is pretty cool.

I feel kind of bad about posting 2 random (aka crappy) posts when you are anxiously awaiting my amazing posts. To all, I'm sorry.

Moment of Zen...

I'm writing another amazing article, but it is going to take some more time, so here is something to hold you over. Here is your moment of zen...

Windows is Live, Baby!

As you know, Google has been taking over the internet by putting themselves into everything from the ubiquitus Google search to their forays into online video hosting. And all of this is free. Not to be overshadowed, Microsoft is trying to essentially copy Google's very successful idea of a simple personalized homepage that loads extremely fast and has what you really want on it (called Windows Live). Microsoft is upping the ante by having another service (called Office Live) integrate with the Microsoft Office suite to bring it into the internet.

It sounds cool, but really isn't. Sure the homepage looks and feels about the same as the already awesome Google version (with a few more doodads you can put on it for Microsoft products), but to utilize the Office capabilities, you have to own the Office suite. That doesn't sound like something to complain about, but when you see that it isn't free (not even close, with the basic version running around $150 and the cheapest version, student and teacher, running around $130). Now, a lot of computers today come with office, but for those computers that don't have Office or don't have a realativly new version, this will be a turn off. It is a worthy effort at trying to curb Googl'es coming dominance, but I just don't think it will work. Oh, and I forgot that to use Office Live, there is an add based version or a subscription service that you have to pay for. Now how did you know Microsoft would try and make a couple bucks off of this?

There are certain things I like about Windows Live, particularly the new web based email app, but I'm not all that impressed with the idea of Office Live, mostly because you would have to pay for it or suffer through adds to use it. You can check out the beta of Windows Live, which is apparently live here.

Comical Thievery Close to Home

Now, before I go on, ponder this question: What kind of thief goes into a restaurant to make a pizza? Ok, on to the story:

When I get home from school, I try to hit up some of my favorite websites before I really buckle down and do homework. I check my email, read some of my favorite blogs, and then just peruse the news. Well, it turns out I didn't have to look too far to find this story. It was posted today (considering it happened today) on Reuters "Oddly Enough" section that is on my personalized google homepage. Apparently, a thief decided he wanted something to go while he was stealing the safe to Sonny's (yes, in San Clemente), so he thought he would whip up a pizza. He never got to eat the pizza because a late night employee came by, which forced the burglar to flee (taking the restuarants safe with him) and leave his pizza in the oven. The police are still looking for him, but they have a tape of the "midnight chef" in action and will most likely make it public.

Oh, and to answer the question: A very hungry thief.