Neon Boy and His Parody

Here is the original video for the Neon Boy.



Couple of things are wrong with this kid other than the fact that he is a total toolbox. Most cars today have 4 or 6 cylinder engines with transmissions that do not benefit from a double clutch. This is due mostly to the lightened clutches and flywheels that are in use. Also, his wimpy Neon engine does not have enough torque to effect a torque steer as is mentioned in the video by the videographer. Not to mention the fact that he shifts slower than Casey does, and Casey's tansmission is automatic.

"It pulls so hard again, and it's the drive wheels, ya know?"

Dur, I wouldn't think the rear wheels on your front-wheel-drive vehicle would do very much pulling...

This video made me laugh so hard. When Brad got his Integra, we, for some reason, decided to make a video similar to the Neon Boy one but with a definate mocking tone to it. The nice term for it would be a "parody". Here it is below.



To top things off, we later found out that the Neon Boy got in an accident and totalled the Neon. He now has a Pontiac Crossfire. Neon Boy made us laugh once again, his antics with his Crossfire on snowy roads were indicative of his suspected low intelligence.

I have 5 biology articles to review, I tell you, "good night".

World of Warcraft Economy

I like exploiting the economy in World of Warcraft.

I have not posted for a while, so I thought I would drop you a line while I waited for my application to finish scanning the Auction House in the game. It is very important to know what price certain objects are going for or have gone for in the past when I am about to place items up for auction. This application that I use scans all of the auctions currently up and saves all of the information to a database on my computer. Whenever I move my cursor over an item, it provides me with all auction house data for that item that I have collected. It tells me how many of those same items are currently for sale, what the average starting bid is, what the average buyout amount is, how many of the auctions for that item have been bidded on, what I can sell that item to a vendor for, and suggests prices if I were to place the same item up for sale. This information has provided me many chances to corner markets, create monoploies, and exploit the needs and banks of other players looking for essential items. This is just about all that I do in this game anymore. I do not kill anything, I do not complete missions or quests. My character earns almost no experience at all. I spend almost all of my time researching the current economy and trying to find opportunities to make money.

The currency is set up thusly: 1 gold = 100 silver = 10,000 copper. In other words, it is based on values of 100.

Last night, I purchased a rare armored vest from another player for 25 gold. After researching the item, its market, and its uses, I put the item up for bid at the Auction House with an initial bid price of 75 gold and a buyout price of 90 gold. 2 hours later, the item had sold at the buyout price. Folks, that was a 360% return on my investment. I need 110 gold to purchase a horse and get trained to ride it when my character reaches level 40, and I have been at level 28 for weeks now. I have done the same thing with a couple of other items, but none have been so lucrative as this one.

I really love diving into the economy of these MMO's. Something about it is more satisfying than reaching the highest level possible with my character.

Brad and I, when we played Star Wars Galaxies, actually had meetings with other guilds to specifically discuss the economy on our server and how we proposed to fix it. Some people might find this pretty nerdy, but I enjoyed it. I know Brad did, too.

The economy in World of Warcraft is noticeably more simple, but there are larger amounts of idiots participating in it when compared to that of Star Wars Galaxies.

I regularly purchase all of the available auctions for a certain item and then place them all back up for auction again right away at seriously inflated prices. We are talking 300-500% increases. No laws are broken here when I eliminate competition Micro$oft style. I only choose items that I know that people will need and that are in short supply.

It is funny to watch prices fluctuate. I once flooded the auction house with light leather, a commodity that many people use for low level crafting professions. About half of the total auctions that I put up sold, and all of the new auctions that other people had put up since mine had prices 40-50% of what they had been. The price system for light leather has not yet returned to what it was before I broke it down so expertly.

In summation, taking financial advantage of people in games is really fun.

Firewall, The Review: Reloaded

So, I saw Firewall.

You should too.

Classic Harrison Ford movie. It had good action sequences. There was intrigue, suspense, and danger. Think of Clear and Present Danger with an "Air Force One-esque" storyline minus the President. Harrison Ford's character gets into a bad situation and then takes matters into his own hands. A premise for a story that has certainly been used before, but it is a good one.

Most importantly, the most that I could nitpick about the computer side of things was whether or not they would be able to get on a wireless network in certain parts of greater Seattle. That is it. Pretty good if you ask me. I bet you won't, though. Not that it matters, my review of this movie will not be read by more than 4 people anyway, including myself.

If you get the chance, give it a go. Go and see it. This was an excellent movie. I enjoyed it. If you know what kind of movies I like, then you should have a good idea about whether or not you will like this movie.

Han Solo is an actor!?!?

Firewall.

I have been waiting for this movie to be released for a couple of months now.

Harrison Ford is my favorite actor. He was a major character in 2 of my favorite trilogies: Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Last Crusade, #4[w00t!]), and the original Star Wars trio (the good ones), episodes 4, 5, and 6. This does not include the countless other films he has been in that were excellent as well. A few on this list include: K-19: The Widomaker, Air Force One, Clear and Present Danger, The Fugitive, Patriot Games, Witness, and Blade Runner.

I will be viewing this film when it first plays in my local cinema at approximately 7:30pm MST. Look for me to post my thoughts and feelings regarding this feature-length film after I return home later this evening.

There is no doubt that my review will be biased in two ways. First, as previously discussed, my favorite actor stars in this movie. Second, my above-average understanding of computers and networks and how they operate will work against the film as I will mentally note any fallicies or errors regarding these subjects and, specifically, how they are protrayed on the big screen. If a faithful depiction of computers and networks prooves to be the exception rather than the rule, then you will see me note such an occurance as well. I sincerely hope that happens.

These propensities will most likely result in a favorable recapitulation of the photoplay, but I encourage you to return and see what I have to write about it.

Edit: I just noticed that the color scheme for the Firewall poster is almost exactly identical to the colors on my website. Coincidence? I think so...

This Stupid State...

I hate the state of Idaho.

Brad's latest blog post succinctly surmises my feeling regarding this matter.

"I don't have any doubt now, no indecision."

As I've often complained in previous posts here, the people in this state are complete imbeciles, people whose mental acumen is well below par. I get grouped with them on a regular basis in my classes at school, so I know what I am talking about. As I was walking back to the Student Union Building today (getting a loan check from the financial aid guys), I was saddened and dismayed to witness the most redneck event I have ever seen with my own eyes. Upon approaching the double doors on the north side of the building, I noticed, and was intrigued by the fact, that there were a large amount of Hot Topic robots congregating near the doors. You know the ones I am talking about, do not pretend not too. The ones that have no individuality, purchasing pre-saftey-pin-covered multi-useless-zippered pants, black t-shirts, clips, chains, whips, spikes, etcetera, so that they think they look like social outcasts, oppressed by the "inadequate" present government. SO, anyway, I saw two guys standing outside the doors discussing something between themselves. A pudgy young Hot Topic robot female promptly exited the building and prceeded to walk directly at one of the guys. I was not close enough to hear the whole of the conversation, but the end of it was "... I can't believe you said that about me!" The female robot then proceeded to slap the male robot and then she stomped angrily away. The un-slapped Hot Topic male robot then exclaimed "No, she did not just do that!" I immediately began laughing out loud, right in front of them, as I walked through the doors. I could not help myself. Inside, the female robot was exchanging high-fives with some of her other white-trash, Hot Topic, female friends. "You go girl!" No white person should ever say that, seriously. It does not work.

The whole ordeal lasted no longer than 30 seconds, but I came away from the experience feeling like I had just viewed a lifetime of Jerry Springer shows all at once. I was chuckling to myself about it the entire way to the financial aid desk where I collected my loan check. I left the building utilizing the same doors, but the area was distinctly less saturated with "poser". The normal light hippy aura was back and everything had returned to normal. Freaks browsing for porn on their laptops in public, middle-aged white women dragging those friggin' stupid backpacks on wheels that make 120 decibel noises when the wheels hit any sort of crack in the floor no matter how invisible the cracks are to the naked eye...

I sound like a serial killer on the verge of snapping with this post.

But, I digress.

Due to a "senior moment", my economics teacher upped my macroeconomics test score by four, making it a 92% instead of 88%. Sweet deal. I did not study for this test either. Judging by my performance, I need to spend some time studying next time.

Work is calling my name, but the shower is screaming it, so it gets my attention first.

Enjoy this post. Read it over and over. Muse it's possible deep meanings, then realize that I wrote it.

Have a good night, all.

Freakin' Idiot

I am a moron.

I made a joke to somebody I barely know and should not have. Looking back, it was too crude and certainly unnecessary for the conversation to continue. Hindsight is always 20/20, right? Why I let my sense of humor take control of me like that is something that I need to look into and address. I pressed buttons that I did not know existed, but this does not excuse my behavior.

The more I dwell on this event, the more terrible I feel about it. I would give all of my computer equipment to be able to take it back, but alas, I cannot. Those of you who know me should understand how much this means to me, considering I am willing to give away what is essentially my life (computers) for the opportunity to take back what I said.

Brad, as my best friend in the world, I hope you know and understand that I would never do that intentionally. I am morosely adamant about that fact. I hope you forgive me, and I sincerely hope for the chance to rectify the situation promptly. Let me know at any time if there is anything you would like me to do. I will start movies late tomorrow night if it means I can do anything for you two while I am at work.

Lastly, to the one I wronged, I wish to apologize profusely. Give me the chance to apologize to you. Brad has my phone number, please call me any time that you wish so I can speak with you directly.


Edit -
I received a call from Brad's phone at approximately 12:50am and got to apologize directly to the person I offended. I believe all is well now...

Grey Matter

So, today I went to Health and Wellness class and had my body composition measured. It was done using a method involving electrical impedance. Basically the device sends an electrical signal through my skin and then measures the resulting current to determine the amount of body fat I have. This method is not very accurate. I ended up getting a -4.1% reading. Technically speaking, it is not possible to have a negative percentage of body fat. The real question is why the engineers of this device even allow it to generate negative percentages. It should just display an error message and instruct you to repeat the measurement process. Continuing on, I went ahead and calculated my body fat in pure poundage using a positive version of the previously mentioned percentage. I weigh around 165. 165 * 0.041 = 6.765. In essence, less than 7 of my 165 pounds are fat. The lowest percentage recommended for me was 5% body fat. So, 165 * 0.05 = 8.25 pounds. I need to gain 1.485 pounds of fat to be at the minumum recommended healthy body fat percentage. One pound of fat is approximately 3000 Calories. 1.485 * 3000 = 4455. One Calorie is equal to 4.184 Joules of energy. 4455 * 4.184 = 18639.72. A Joule is equal to the amount of energy measured as one amp of electrical current passing through an electrical circuit with one ohm of resistance in one second. In other words, one watt-second. A 100-watt bulb uses 100 watts per second. (18639.72 / 100) / 60 = 3.10662. That small amount of fat that I need to gain to be "healthy" is enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for over 3 minutes. In conclusion, I took this way too far...

Also, I got my Physics "exam" back. I missed one question which resulted in a score of 92%. I was immediately miffed, but then I realized that I spent approximately 0 minutes actually studying for this test. It is okay.

In Biology today, no one in the class knew how E. Coli was transmitted. I got to say "fecal matter" aloud in class. Then I was asked to explain how poop gets into our food. People looked at me like I was a freak, which was flattering. I bet, judging be the looks on some of their faces, that most of them go home and totally overcook any meat they eat tonight out of fear.

I'm done.

Physics Strikes Back

I had to take my first exam in Physics class today. Well, assuming that the puny little quiz I had to take could be considered an exam like my professor said it was. 12 multiple-choice questions in 15 minutes, open book. If you look up the word "easy" in the dictionary, it should contain a description of my test today. I swear, there is no reason why I should not get an "A" in this class. Some of the other people in there will totally blow me away if they end up with a passing grade.

I am seated at the back of the class and recieved my test paper almost last. I was the second to turn mine in. I then had to find a way to kill the approximately 12 remaining minutes of testing time. In complete silence, the professor paced through the aisles to keep us from cheating I guess. Not that we would need to, what with the textbook right in front of us ready to be searched. I did not even crack my book open. No need to. If you had been paying attention and taking the chapter tests online then you should have been well prepared for this test. We shall see if I did well or not, but there was only one question I did not recognize, so I feel pretty confident right now.

Tax Monies

I filed my taxes today. I was hoping for a large sum of cash to be returned to me, but I was half-disappointed when I saw what I should be recieving.

• Federal tax return = $645
• State tax return = $294
  

Now, do not misunderstand me here. I think $939 is much better than, say, $0. It is just that I would have liked to see more. Then again, don't we all? I am sure that I will be able to put this money to good use. I have no plans for it yet as I will most likely use it to pay for things that I need. Fun, fun.



Action bills. That's right. I just need me some night-vision goggles now.

"I'm still alive, I'm just real depressed."