Remikz

2011 Game Releases

2011-01-13T09:32:00.001-08:00

Grown Up Mario

2010-04-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Awesome of Mario and friends...all grown up, badass version!

Throwing Money Away

2010-02-21T15:24:00.000-08:00

Literally throwing money away.

Realm of Empires

2009-12-23T17:43:00.000-08:00

Haven't written a game review in a while, but here goes!

Lately I've been playing a game called Realm of Empires. Yes, it is a Facebook game, but it's not as lame as you'd think.

It can be categorized as a MMORTS (Massively Multiplayer Online Real Time Strategy game...what a mouthful). Like all Facebook games, you play this through your Facebook account in your web browser of choice. The gist of the game is you start with a small village and set out to take over the entire realm. In order to do so, you must upgrade your village (silver mines for money, barracks for infantry, stables for cavalry etc.), produce units, form alliances, and take over neighboring villages. The realm consists of NPC villages that players can take over or plunder for silver, and of course rival player-controlled villages.

Overview of a typical village.

There are usually 3 realms running at once, each with a different start date. This way newer players can start on the newer realms without being at a huge disadvantage to the more well-established players in the older realms. So if you want to play with your friends, first make sure you are on the same realm!

The scope of each realm is ever-growing - the first player on the realm starts at coordinates (0,0), and as new players join, they are assigned villages outwards in a circular fashion. If you look at the overall map of a realm, it is basically a circle composed of many points, each representing a village.

Map of a couple villages.

Once you've picked a realm and your first village has been established, you'll likely want to join a clan. Not only is joining a clan highly recommended, it is borderline mandatory. Without a clan, any of your neighbors can attack and invade your village without fear of any repercussions. You need a good-sized clan, preferably close by, not only for protection, but also to coordinate offense. Note that once your last village has been taken over, it is game over! You'll have to re-register on the realm, and start from scratch.

As far as benchmarking your progress in the game, there is a ranking system for both individual players and clans. Each village is worth a certain number of points depending on the upgrades that the village has. Combat units themselves are not worth any points, but can be used to take over villages that will add to your point total. Clan rankings are also based on points, which is simply the sum of all the points of the individual players in the clan. This provides a competitive nature to the game, for those of you out there that like to "win" at a game. In most other Facebook games, you are just playing by yourself, passing time in between class or work. But in RoE, you can actually become highly ranked, lead a top clan, and feel fully immersed in the game.

Combat is fairly simple - each unit has a defensive value and an offensive value. The outcome of a battle is determined by adding up all the offensive points of all the units that the attacking player has sent, and comparing it to the sum of the defensive points of the units stationed at the target village. Whichever side has more points wins. Winning by a larger margin ensures that more units on the winning side survive, so it is in the best interest of each player to have a "landslide victory." Villages can also be upgraded with walls and towers which modify the defensive value of the troops stationed there. On the other hand, siege units are available to counteract the effects of the walls and towers. Once a village has no more defenders left, the attacking player can send "governors" to commandeer the village.

As far as Facebook games are concerned, this is definitely one of the best ones out there.
For starters, a lot of the other Facebook games are mostly geared towards individual play. Some of the Facebook games that I'm familiar with are Mafia Wars, Restaurant City, and Farmville. All of these games are considered "single-player" games, since they require little or no interaction with other players. Of course they offer incentives for inviting other players to the game as a way of making their games more popular, but in the end, you can be quite successful playing the game by yourself. However, in order to be successful in RoE, you must join a clan and coordinate with your clanmates. The game has a built-in private messaging system as well as forums for each clan. The clan leader can designate other members to be diplomats, inviters, forum admins, etc. This introduces a social aspect to the game that many other games are lacking.

The game is also relatively simple. Some of the other browser-based MMORTS games I've played require you to do a ton of calculations on how many farms you need to support how many units, upkeep rates, and other annoying things. However, RoE buildings and units are all very straight forward. There is still a variety of buildings and units that require you to have an overall strategy, but you don't have to be extremely detail-oriented and nitpicky to succeed. The game also does not require a lot of time to play. In fact, the motto of the game is "15 minutes a day." Granted when you are planning a large-scale attack, you'll want to be around more to see how the attack is going and whether or not to make modifications to your attack, but for the most part, 15 minutes a day is enough to keep your villages operating. Of course, more active players that participate on the clan forums and plan for future wars will likely spend more than 15 minutes a day.

The draw of the game is the persistent world, climbing the ranking ladder, and the "high" value of each village. After you've logged out of your Facebook, your villages continue to operate, carrying out whatever instructions you left for them. It is always refreshing to log on and see that your villages have grown while you were away. But on the other hand, your villages can also be attacked while you're away, so you might be inclined to check up on your villages more often if you feel like your neighbors might be a threat. Climbing the ranking ladder can be achieved in 2 ways - managing your villages effectively and accumulating a large number of villages. Both add to your point total, and as you know, more points means higher rank! Lastly, you grow quite attached to your little villages. You can name your village whatever you want (as long as it is not offensive), and they continue to grow every day. Sure, you only put in "15 minutes a day," but once you've been playing for a while, you'd hate to see all that time and effort wasted. Remember, once you've lost your last village, you're literally "dead." You have to start all over from one meager village. So when attacking, or being attacked, quite a bit is at stake. This all adds up to a lot of fun, as long as you're the one winning!

However, some of the drawbacks to the game are that it is very difficult to catch up in a well-established realm. Once some players / clans are ahead, newer players will have a tough time competing with them. They can quite literally steamroll your villages (if they feel like it is worth their time to). If you wish to remain competitive, I'd highly recommend starting in a new realm. The oldest players are generally the highest ranked as long as they remain active. Also, the consequences to losing villages are rather harsh, but keeps the game exciting. Lastly, sometimes you just want to play the game, but there's nothing left to do! There is quite a bit of downtime while your villages are upgrading and your armies are training. But don't forget, the game was designed to be played in 15 minutes each day.

Pros: Simple, Multiplayer, Social, Competitive, Takes Very Little Time, Abundant Room for Strategy

Cons: Downtime in Between , Dying Sucks, Difficult to Catch up

Overall, I highly recommend this game if you have 15 minutes a day to spare.
Look me up on Realm 6, "Academy of Kings."
My in-game handle is remixnzza, and I'm part of clan LEGENDARY {LDT}.

Harley-Davidson Motto

2009-11-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

"Harley-Davidson, converting gasoline to noise since 1903, with a byproduct of horsepower." - Some guy at my work.

Right Way to Play Gran Turismo on PSP

2009-11-19T16:56:00.001-08:00

That Geico Commercial

2009-09-25T13:21:00.001-07:00

O_O

Taylor Swift Rapping ????

2009-08-18T21:27:00.001-07:00

Is this for realzzzzzzzzz?

I lol'd

That Dell Lollipop Song

2009-08-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

The Chordettes - Lollipop

Lil' Shoto - EX Legs

2009-08-09T13:27:00.001-07:00

Zangief Flowchart

2009-03-31T01:09:00.000-07:00

CATURDAYS

2009-01-06T02:10:00.001-08:00

Caturdays are the best days.

Happy Holidays!

2009-01-06T02:09:00.001-08:00

Oops sorry, late on this, but happy holidays!

It's 2009! GOOOooooooooooooooooooo!

Crazy Christmas Kids

2008-12-27T02:37:00.000-08:00

Forget the Wii, its all about NINTENDO SIXTY-FOUR!

WisCANsin

2008-10-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

T-Pain f/ Lil' Wayne - Can't Believe It

"Put you in a mansion, somewhere in WisCANsin" - T-Pain

R U SRS?

Lyrical genius.

Blizzcon 2008

2008-10-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

Going to Blizzcon tomorrow!

Girl Saves Family Through GTA Experience

2008-09-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

So apparently this family was driving along in their Jeep Grand Cherokee when it crashed and flipped over 4 times. The entire family was trapped inside the car, save for 1 little girl. She was able to get loose and help the rest of her family escape the car.

This is what her mother attributed her daughter's bravery to:

"She just knew, from playing 'Grand Theft Auto.' She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up. She knew that could happen to us," Norris said.

Finally, Grand Theft Auto gets some positive press instead of the usual rampaging kids that supposedly learned how to shoot a gun by playing GTA 4.

Remikz on Boing Boing!

2008-08-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, this was a while back but boingboing.net wrote about the Kenguru Drive-In Car, and linked back here as its source!

Anyway, you can go here to check out the article on boingboing.net.

PS3 - Saving One Family at a Time

2008-08-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

A man who robbed a video game store at gunpoint Wednesday told the clerk he was doing it to save his family, the St. John Police Department said.

Police said the incident took place around 6:35 p.m., at an EB Games store located in the 9000 block of St. Charles Rock Road, about 14 miles from downtown St. Louis.

The suspect went into the store, picked out a video game and approached the counter to check out. He pulled out a small handgun and told the store clerk that his family was being held hostage and that he needed a Playstation 3 in order to have them released.

As he left the store, the suspect told the clerk to call the police, because his family needed help.

Police arrived shortly thereafter, but the suspect had fled the scene.

Oily Lips

2008-07-28T15:00:00.001-07:00

So a few nights ago, I showered, brushed my teeth, and decided to put on some chapstick before sleeping because my lips felt dry.

In the morning, my mom came into my room to talk to me. Yes, I am 22 and living at home. It's nice to get free food and laundry service. Just kidding, I love my mom, but the free food and laundry service are definitely perks.

Anyway, here is our conversation, but imagine my mom saying all of this in Mandarin:

Mom: Wake up, it's already 10, stop wasting your day.
Me: *mumble* Oh OK, I'm getting up.
Mom: You didn't brush your teeth last night did you? Your lips are all oily from dinner still.
Me: ...

I guess my mom really thinks that she raised a slob. For those of you that know me, I probably use 5 times the amount of napkins/tissue than the average person. Sorry Amazon rainforest, but I gots to stay clean.

Bathroom Design Pt. 2

2008-07-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Remember this?

Now look at this -

How awkward would that be?

Ninja Sighting

2008-07-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

June 25, 2008

BARNEGAT, N.J.—It's the case of the nonexistent ninja. Public schools in Barnegat were locked down briefly after someone reported seeing a ninja running through the woods behind an elementary school.

Turns out the ninja was actually a camp counselor dressed in black karate garb and carrying a plastic sword.

Police tell the Asbury Park Press the man was late to a costume-themed day at a nearby middle school.

The lockdown began shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday and lasted until 9:30.

Baby Burrito

2008-06-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

Worst Game Ever

2008-05-29T09:46:00.001-07:00

Bugatti Veyron X3

2008-05-20T07:58:00.001-07:00

Here's 3.6 million USD coming at you.

That Docker's Commercial

2008-05-14T18:29:00.001-07:00

This is one catchy tune. Marlena Shaw - California Soul

Bungee Jumping with Condoms

2008-04-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

Carl Dionisio of Portugal makes a successful jump, using a 30-meter-long bungee cord made out of 18,500 condoms.

Crazy bitch

Super Mario Theme - RC Car Remix

2008-04-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

So the GF brought this video to my attention. Those Chinese people must be really bored, with their internet being blocked and all. My favorite part is the security guard at the end watching the whole thing.

http://view.break.com/487616 - Watch more free videos

Say Yeah - Wiz Khalifa

2008-04-13T23:48:00.000-07:00

This is gonna be a hit. Alice Deejay + hip hop = lots of air time, especially in the clubs! Enjoy.

Flickr Deleted After Digging

2008-04-09T10:33:00.001-07:00

So about 2 days ago, one of the photos in my flickr album was submitted to Digg and made front page. Shortly after, my entire flickr account was deactivated.

When I asked flickr as to why my account was deactivated, they replied with

Hello,
Thank you for contacting Flickr Customer Care.
Flickr account "remixnzza" was deleted by Flickr staff for violating our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne Flickr reserves the right to terminate your account without warning at any time.
Regards,
Do

After visiting the guidelines page, they have a clause that says:

Here’s the deal: In most circumstances, we like to give second chances, so we’ll send you a warning if you step across any of the lines listed below. Subsequent violations can result in account termination without warning.

I received 0 warning, and my account was promptly deleted. I guess my photos were just so badass that they had to immediately delete them all without contacting me a single time.

Oh well, here's my 15 seconds of fame. The very last time I logged onto my flickr, that photo had 150,000+ views.

For now, please excuse all of the red X's on my site, I need to find a new host and update all the links.

Handicapped Stalls

2008-04-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

While using the restroom at work, I had the following musing:

We all know that you cannot park in a handicapped parking spot unless you are handicapped, but can you use a handicapped stall if you are not handicapped?

And if you do, will the police give you a shitting ticket?

Note: I did that on MS Paint, using a touchpad. Imagine what I could do if I had a mouse. If you wish to employ my services, you can contact me at remikz@live.com

Redbull and Mango Cake

2008-03-31T00:45:00.000-07:00

So the other day, I was drinking a Redbull, getting ready to study for my FE/EIT engineering exam, and decided to have a slice of mango cake. This resulted in a surprising epiphany:

Redbull + Mango Cake = Sardine

At first, I thought maybe my fridge had some left over fish, and the taste was infecting the cake, but after I took another sip of Redbull, I confirmed my suspicions.

Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake - 4 Minutes

2008-03-27T01:45:00.001-07:00

A guaranteed hit ->

Wet Towel Smell

2008-03-26T00:41:00.001-07:00

Imagine taking a nice, refreshing shower, using your favorite soap and shampoo to cleanse your body of a hard day's toil. After your shower, you are spanking clean, and ready for bed. But as you're drying your now immaculately clean body, you detect an odorous odor. What the F, your towel smells like the rear end of a donkey. You used your towel just last night, fresh from the laundry, but seemingly overnight, the towel has transformed into a pile of smelly doo-doo.

I HATE IT WHEN THIS HAPPENS.

If anyone knows how to combat this offensive attack to the senses, please let me know. And using a new towel for each shower is ridiculous. I have 4 people in my family, and if we do our laundry once a week, we would need 28 towels to last a week. Even if we did our laundry twice a week, we would still need 14 towels.

I HATE SMELLY TOWELS.

Happy Belated Birthday Blog!

2008-03-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

Oops, time sure flies. Missed my own blog's birthday! I launched the blog on 03.06.07, and now its just past 1 year old!

Team Fortress 2 - Lego Version

2008-03-17T15:23:00.000-07:00

Cool

Prevent Cancer

2008-03-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

This has nothing to do with my blog, but I'm posting this as a public service announcement.

I got this email forwarded to me from the GF about preventing cancer. I don't know how much of it is accurate, but it supposedly originated from Johns Hopkins. Also, my mom pretty much lives and dies by these rules, so not much of it is news to me, but it might be informative to some of you out there.

Cancer Update from John Hopkins:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

Cancer Cells Feed On:
a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence,Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

Cancer Update From John Hopkins Hospital

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well.Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer.

Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.

Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.

Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.

Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Old School Favorite - Sisqo Incomplete

2008-02-26T08:19:00.000-08:00

Just dug this up through imeem. Remeber Sisqo? Thong thong thong?

LOLChair

2008-02-25T17:05:00.001-08:00

lol?

They See Me Rollin

2008-02-14T13:54:00.000-08:00

They Hatin

B B B B BEASTIE

2008-02-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

This pretty much describes my past 2 weeks.

THE BEAST-

LA Auto Show 2007

2008-01-14T20:15:00.000-08:00

Mmmm so I went to the LA Autoshow back in November. Here are the pictures, courtesy of David Shao, taken with a Canon Rebel XTi DSLR. Enjoy!

BMW M5

Ferrari

Lamborghini

More Lamborghini

And even more Lamborghini

Absolute last Lamborghini

Audi R8

Nissan GT-R

More Nissan GT-R

BMW 1-Series in orange

BMWW 1-Series again

Mitsubishi Evolution

Mercedes-Benz CLK Black Edition

Lexus IS FAST

Lexus IS FASTER

Lexus IS FASTEST

BMW M3 Coupe

BMW M3 Coupe again

BMW M3 Sedan?? An extra 2 doors!

Mercedes-Benz SLR

Breakfast of Champions

2007-12-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

To fuel me through my final day as an undergraduate at UCLA, I had 2 shots of Coke and a large cream puff. Truly, a breakfast of champions.

World's Fastest Clapper

2007-11-28T00:25:00.000-08:00

Meet Kent French, the world's fastest clapper. 721 claps in a minute. Talk about a completely useless skill.

http://view.break.com/406853 - Watch more free videos

Wal-Mart's Husband Store

2007-10-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

Now Open!

A Wal-Mart store that sells husbands has just opened in Dallas, TX where a woman may go to choose a husband from among many men. Among the instructions at the entrance, is a description of how the store operates.

There are only 6 floors. It states that the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch... As you open the door to any floor you may choose any man from that floor, but if you go up a floor, you cannot go back down except to exit the building.

So, a woman goes to the Wal-Mart Husband Store to find a husband...

On the first floor the sign on the door reads:
Floor 1 - These men have jobs.

The second floor sign reads:
Floor 2 - These men have jobs and love kids.

The third floor sign reads:
Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love kids, and are extremely good looking.

"Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going...

She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads:
Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love kids, are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework.

"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"...

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads:
Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:
Floor 6 - You are visitor 3,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please.

Thank you for shopping Wal-Mart's Husband Store, please exit the building!

Missing Baby

2007-10-09T18:21:00.001-07:00

I used to love "reading" those Where's Waldo Books.

Aibohphobia

2007-09-28T08:08:00.000-07:00

ai·boh·pho·bi·a (ā'bəl'fō'bē-ə)

noun
An anxiety disorder characterized by extreme and irrational fear of palindromes (words that read the same forwards and backwards).
Sadly, the word aibohphobia is, in itself, a palindrome.

Person 1: Hey, what's your name?
Person 2: Bob.
Person 1: AAAAAAAAAAH! *Runs and hides behind sofa*
Bob: Wow.
Person 1: AAAAAAAAAAH! *Runs away and falls down stairs*

Person 1: I think you have aibohphobia.
Person 2: AAAAAAAAAAH! *Runs into oncoming traffic*

More Tower Defense Games

2007-09-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

I've come across a couple of more tower defense games to add to my original list. Without further ado, here they are! Enjoy.

And here is my original top 10 list:

Skip Work, Have Sex

2007-09-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

This article was recently brought to my attention. Apparently, the Russian government is encouraging people to skip work on Wednesdays, and instead stay home to make babies in order to help boost Russia's low birth rate. Not only that, but they are giving away PRIZES, such as cars and apartments, to couples that give birth on certain days. Talk about a sweet deal. I think it's time to pack my bags and move to Russia.

The obvious solution here is to import several large Mexican families. A couple of years down the road, low birth rate will be the least of their problems. Cough, WELFARE, cough.

Best Book Cover EVER

2007-08-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

"Hey Billy, hold my wood." - The Rifleman

The Simpsons - Anime Style

2007-08-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

Um...cool. I like Lisa's Dragonball Z hair.

Must Have for Hardcore Zelda Fans

2007-08-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

Die hard Zelda fans need to buy this HERO PACK for the Nintendo Wii. Just attach the plastic shield and sword onto your Wii remote and nunchuck, then you're ready to slay some monsters! Makes the game 10x more fun, guaranteed or your money back. OK I don't know about that guarantee but this looks like a highly efficient way of using the earth's resources, and I'd really like one for Christmas.

Too Much Time On His Hands

2007-08-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

This guy has too much time on his hands. Literally.

Fast forward about a minute in to get to the good stuff.

So Real Even The Customers Don't Know

2007-07-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

Since I'm planning to build my own poker table, I figured I'd buy a can of Scotchguard to protect the surface of the table, and I came across this. I couldn't fit the product description into the picture, so here it is:

Product Description
The Chicago Crime Commission states that a burglar spends an average of 8 minutes in the victims home. Put the odds in your favor...hide your valuables in plain sight. The diversion safes are a unique home-security product. We offer a wide variety of personal care, household products and food containers with removable tops and bottoms.

The rest is self explanatory.

See it for yourself here.

Ferrari Made of Yarn

2007-07-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

A certain Ms. Lauren Porter from Bath Spa University knitted a complete Ferrari for her honors degree. It is supported by a steel frame, with the rest of the bodywork consisting of stitching and embroidery. Instead of doing this, she could have clothed hundreds of African children; but then again, it's so hot in Africa maybe they don't need the clothing. I guess it was a better idea to make the Ferrari then.

Real Life South Park!

2007-07-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

Came across this drawing from pockybox.de of a realistic depiction of the South Park characters. Somewhat similar to the Futurama post I made earlier.

Futurama Alternate Version

2007-06-13T22:34:00.000-07:00

Futurama is one of my favorite TV shows of all time, which is why I have to make this post. In fact, I even had to make a new television category for it, but I plan to make posts about TV shows in the future anyway. I came across this picture of the Futurama cast, but an alternative version of them. Everyone is a lot cooler, except maybe Leela. Now she's a 1-eyed pirate! But then again, pirates are pretty cool so I'll let it slide. Courtesy of MyConfinedSpace.

Japanese Tetris IRL

2007-06-10T03:56:00.000-07:00

There's apparently a Japanese gameshow where people play tetris with their bodies. It's hard to describe, so just watch the video. I found it hilarious. Thanks Christine for showing me the video - I'd like to be on this show as well. I think I could do all of them except for the jumping man one. That one's tough. I'd probably try just crawling through it as it came close to me.

Best Bathroom Design EVER

2007-06-07T23:09:00.000-07:00

Check out this bathroom design. I bet it'd be mighty uncomfortable to wash your hands...or would it? I'm sure someone must enjoy it. Whoever designed this is my hero!

The GF Wants A Dog

2007-06-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

So the GF has been clamoring for a puppy for who knows how long, and has recently decided to finally get one. She's set on getting a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. For those of you who don't know what that is, imagine a wiener dog, but furrier. A small, furry wiener dog. For some reason, that doesn't sound too appealing. Anyway, she's narrowed her search down to 2 particular furry wieners, and here they are:

FURRY WIENER A:

FURRY WIENER B:

Head on over to her xanga to vote for your favorite. She has more pictures of each, as well as pictures of their parents. Remember, xanga has a "vote anonymously" option, so feel free to vote/comment even if you don't have a xanga account.

Kermit The Frog Goes To The Doctor's

2007-06-04T23:20:00.001-07:00

Kermit wasn't feeling well, so he went to see the doctor...

I'm a NINJA

2007-06-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to be a ninja, or maybe a pirate. But a pirate ship is too dirty and cold. So I'm going with being a ninja. This flash game fulfills my dreams! Try to get as many stealth kills as possible. Use the arrow keys to move around, UP to jump, DOWN to crouch. S is for attack, and D is for defend. Have fun!

Courtesy of onemorelevel.com

Humping USB Dog

2007-06-02T02:08:00.000-07:00

Digital World Tokyo has come up with another classic Japanese invention: little dog figures that plug into any USB ports, and humps. Yes, it humps. And nothing else. It has no storage space or does anything even remotely useful. It just humps.

You can pick from a choice of 3 different breeds: Dalmatian, Labrador, or Beagle.

Here's a demo of a Beagle in action:

Head on over to Digital World Tokyo to buy your very own. $17.95 each, or $45.00 for the entire set.

Connect One

2007-05-30T01:35:00.000-07:00

Screw connecting 4, why not just connect 1:

Sucks to be that girl. From somethingawful.com.

Harbin Ice Festival 2007

2007-05-26T02:30:00.000-07:00

Every year, Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang, a province of China, hosts the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. Officially, the festival starts from January 5th and lasts one month. Ice sculpture decoration ranges from the modern technology of lasers to traditional ice lanterns. The following photos are provided by entros. The 2007 festival features a Canadian theme; it now holds the Guinness Record for the largest snow sculpture: 250 meters long and 28 feet high, using over 13,000 cubic meters of snow.

For more information, visit Wikipedia's entry on ice sculptures.

Harry Potter versus Star Wars

2007-05-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

I've always thought that the Harry Potter story line was somewhat similar to the Star Wars story line. Here's proof that the two stories are actually one and the same, with the exception of a few minor details.

Clever Marketing Technique

2007-05-23T00:04:00.000-07:00

Check out this awesome email I received, titled Viagra Improves erection, from a certain Fuck hard. That really makes me want to click the email and check it out. Or not.

Starcraft 2 - FINALLY ANNOUNCED!

2007-05-22T02:20:00.000-07:00

YES! Blizzard has finally confirmed that Starcraft 2 will indeed be made. The official website, http://www.starcraft2.com/ has been launched. It will feature the 3 original races: the Protoss, the Terran, and the Zerg. There will be:

Legions of veteran, upgraded, and brand-new unit types will do battle
across the galaxy, as each faction struggles for survival,

with both single-player and multiplayer modes, as expected. Battle.net will return, but with "some exciting new changes and features."

One thing that will be very different is that the second Starcraft will be fully 3-D. Listed under upcoming new features are:

Vibrant new 3D-graphics engine with support for dazzling visual effects and massive unit and army sizes.

This is both exciting and somewhat troubling. By 3-D, I hope they mean 3 actual axis, not just the occassional ledge that gives you some height advantage. I'd imagine that the terrain would be much more complicated to fully implement 3-D battles. I doubt air units will be able to fly at different altitudes, so the next best thing will be rolling hills and other landscape features. Hopefully, Blizzard will still focus primarily on gameplay and balance issues, not just graphics. It would be a shame if Starcraft 2 is unable to live up to its name.

From what I can gather from the FAQ, there will still be only the 3 original races. There has been no word of a new race, but the 3 existing ones will all receive new units as well as modifications to pre-existing units. So far, there have been 3 new Protoss units announced: the Immortal, Stalker, and Phase Prism.

The Immortals will be the new version of the Dragoon. It's unit description is:

The remaining dragoons have become the immortals, refitted with twin phase disruptors and hardened energy shields that can shrug off the most powerful weapon strikes - though at the cost of leaving them more vulnerable to the pinprick attacks of lesser foes. The heavily armed and shielded immortals give critical fire support to the ferocious legions of zealots by eliminating enemy artillery and ranged attackers, allowing the zealots to close in and complete their work of destruction.

In short, they are Dragoons with twice the firepower, and big shields. They're probably meant to counter the Terran Tank, since the Protoss lacked any real siege units in the first Starcraft. They only had Reavers, which were decent when used in conjuction with Shuttles, but were still no match for Tanks. The Immortals will have big shields to counter the Tank damage, but it appears that these shields will be ineffective against small melee units such as Zerglings and Zealots.

The Protoss will also get Stalkers, which look like mechanical Zerglings, but act more like mechanical Hydralisks. That can teleport. Stalkers will have

the ability to instantly teleport or 'blink' from one spot to another. ... The deadly particle disruptors mounted on the stalker's carapace are equally adept at crippling targets on the ground or in the air.

The only teleporting in the first Starcraft came in the form of Arbiters. This will make it interesting because Stalkers will be able to get around choke points, as well as attack a base from the back and go straight for the workers. I doubt they'd be too strong, or they might be very expensive to build; otherwise I'd see a lot of cheesing with these. It also depends on the range and speed of the teleporting.

The last unit revealed at this time is the Phase Prism. More teleporting! It seems that the function of the Phase Prism is to field units quickly. Units spawning from a gateway will appear at the location of the Phase Prism instead of outside the gateway. I can already see many sneaky tactics that can center around the Phase Prism. A Phase Prism can fly into the rear of a base just outside of the enemy players view, and slowly teleport units over until a good sized force is there. Or, they can be used to assault small islands that only have anti-air defenses. Missle turrets don't work very well against zealots. Phase Prisms can also serve as mobile pylons. They are able to deploy themselves and power cannons and buildings. I don't see this as being incredibly useful, but if Phase Prisms are relatively easy to be built, they may be used in photo cannon rushes, another cheesy tactic.

The big question on everyone's mind: When will Starcraft 2 be released? Unfortunately, they have not released a date, but rest assured, I will be first in line to buy it, not to mention beta test for it.

I'll leave you guys with a few screen shots from the game, which I'm sure most of you have seen.

Chinese Shadow Theater

2007-05-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

Chinese shadow puppetry has been around for over 2,000 years. Check out this awesome video showcasing their skills. Head over to wikipedia to learn more.

10 Fastest Cars of Spring 2007

2007-05-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

Everybody loves fast cars, so here are the 10 fastest as of Spring 2007, along with some specs.

Note: Ranking is based on 0 to 60 mph acceleration time. It may not be the most accurate way of deciding whether a car is "faster" than another car, but it is the most convenient. The power to weight ratios are also listed for reference.

10. 2006 Ford GT

0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.8 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.16 hp/lb
Engine specs: 5.4-liter V8; 550 hp
MSRP: $149,995

9. 2002 Pagani Zonda C12 S

0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.7 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.20 hp/lb
Engine specs: 7.3-liter V12; 555 hp
MSRP: $325,000

8. 2003 Ferrari Enzo

0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.6 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.22 hp/lb
Engine specs: 6.0-liter V12; 660 hp
MSRP: $1,000,000

7. 2006 Porsche Carrera GT

0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.6 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.15 hp/lb
Engine specs: 5.7-liter V10; 605 hp
MSRP: $484,000

6. 2007 Lamborghini Murciélago LP640

0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.4 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.18 hp/lb
Engine specs: 6.5-liter V12; 640 hp
MSRP: $350,000

5. 2006 Mosler MT900S

0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.1 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.27 hp/lb
Engine specs: 5.7-liter V8; 600 hp
MSRP: $189,000

4. 2006 Koenigsegg CCX

0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.1 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.32 hp/lb
Engine specs: 4.7-liter V8; 806 hp
MSRP: $600,910

3. 1998 McLaren F1

0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.0 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.29 hp/lb
Engine specs: 6.1-liter V12; 680 hp
MSRP: $1,307,000

2. 2006 Saleen S7

0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 2.8 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.26 hp/lb
Engine specs: 7.0-liter V8; 750 hp
MSRP: $585,000

1. 2006 Bugatti Veyron

0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 2.5 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.23 hp/lb
Engine specs: 8.0-liter W16; 1,001 hp
MSRP: $1,357,000

Deals of May 2007

2007-05-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

Total Solar Eclipse - 2006

2007-05-15T04:45:00.000-07:00

Click for full-sized image. Well worth the click.

Spiderman Speed Painting

2007-05-10T17:47:00.000-07:00

Since we're on the subject of Spiderman, here's a cool video of Manlio Noto drawing Spiderman using Photoshop 7. Somewhat similar to the Mona Lisa post I made earlier.

Spiderman 3 - Third Time's Not Always the Charm

2007-05-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't felt this excited about a movie in a while. The last movie I actually wanted to line up for was probably the re-release of the original Star Wars, since I wasn't around for the original release. Actually, I hadn't been born at the time, but that's besides the point. I ended up watching Spiderman 3 on Friday night with the GF.

This time around, Spiderman faces Sandman, Venom, and Goblin. Impressive lineup, eh? No, I'm not Canadian. It stars the usual Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spiderman, Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, and James Franco as Harry Osborn / Goblin, along with new additions Thomas Church as Marko Flint / Sandman and Topher Grace as Eddie Brock / Venom.

Here are all of the movie posters that I found. I'm not sure if all of them are "official," but most of them look pretty good.

Peter Parker pretending to be Superman.

Constipated Venom.

Bug eyed Spiderman.

Hmm...black or red?

Definitely black.

The glint.

The spider.

My favorite poster: black on black Spiderman.

The movie picks up where Spiderman 2 left off: Peter Parker is still riding his little moped by day, and web slinging by night. All is well for the first 10 minutes of the movie. Then Marko Flint breaks out of prison, is shot by radiation and turns into Sandman. At the same time, the alien symbiote lands on earth, and hitches a ride to Peter's shabby apartment on the back of his moped. Harry Osborn starts using the green gas that his father was so fond of, and becomes the New Goblin. Do I smell a fight?

Here are a few things that stood out from the movie that I want to talk about:

Why is it that when Peter Parker bonds with the symbiote, he becomes EMO? The symbiote is supposed to trigger aggression in its host, not emo-ness. He wears his hair in classic emo style, and expresses his anger through dance. Right, that's real aggressive. The only redeeming act of aggression is when he pushes Mary Jane onto the floor. I'd definitely file wife beaters under aggressive. With all this talk of emo, I really do think its time for Nemo to make his second appearance.

During the final battle, as Spiderman arrives at the construction site to save Mary Jane from Venom and Sandman, he briefly poses in front of the American flag. Sam Raimi, the director, obviously wanted to show his support for America. While browsing the internet, I came across several blog posts that pointed this out, and from the looks of it, Raimi was getting flat out flamed for that scene. I'm not sure if the commenters were American or not, but what's wrong with showing some pride for your country? Although it was blatantly clear that he wanted the scene to stand out, Peter Parker himself is American. It fits in with the story, and its nice to see that America has heroes, even if they are only on the big screen.

The movie ended up being 2 hours and 20 minutes, which is a good length, but it felt very rushed and hectic. If you follow the comic, you know that just the storyline behind Venom is extremely long and complicated, not to mention the story behind Sandman and Goblin. Eddie Brock doesn't become Venom one day, and then goes off dying the day after. I was expecting the movie to follow the comic's storyline, but there were quite a few unexpected twists. Personally, I would have preferred the original version, which is why I felt really disappointed when so many prominent characters all ended up dead after one battle. I really wish they had devoted the entire movie on just the symbiote arc, and left Sandman for another movie. Although I've heard rumors that Spiderman is only a trilogy, making this the last one, MovieWeb reports that Marvel has confirmed there will be a Spiderman 4.

Despite these shortcomings, I do not regret the $12.50 and 2 hours that I spent waiting in line for it. It actually cost me $23.00, since the GF went as well. She claims that this one was the best one in the series, but I'm sure that's because they emphasized the love story more, and also made it a lot more light-hearted in general. I remember when comic books and computer animation were for geeks only; not that I am a geek, or was a geek. OK I was / am a little geeky, but Spiderman is my favorite superhero, so say what you want, but I really enjoyed this movie. The acting was mediocre as usual, but the plot was above average. The computer generated graphics were very impressive, and since it's straight out of a comic book, there is a definite "wow," "cool," and "weird" factor. It all rolls together into a visually, and surprisingly emotionally, entertaining movie. Make sure you go see this one!

Let me leave you with a joke:
What kind of person is Spiderman?
.
.
.
...drum roll please...
.
.
.
是白的man !

For those of you who can't read Chinese, it says "He's a white man," but when you pronounce it, it is Shi Bai De Man!

Kill the Zombies! - The Rooms

2007-05-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Kill as many zombies as you can. You get better weapons as you kill more zombies. Did I mention kill the zombies? Courtesy of Novelty Arcade.

NoveltyArcade

It's a Bird, it's a Plane, No it's a Wheel Chair Car

2007-05-07T02:49:00.000-07:00

A company in Hungary by the name of Rehab Rt. has come up with a car for the disabled, called the Kenguru. A person in a wheel chair can literally roll right in, and start driving. The wheel chair locks into place, and the car's controls are centered around a joy stick, with styling similar to the Japanese Kei cars. If this car were to come to America, it would definitely be a hit. Finally, all those handicap spots can be of good use.

Paint the Mona Lisa Using MS Paint

2007-05-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

Check out this video of Jason from Eclectic Asylum. He draws the Mona Lisa using MS Paint in about 2 hours and 30 minutes. Don't worry, the video isn't that long, it is put in fast forward. All I can say is WOW. This might be the most impressive display of art skill that I have ever seen.

Yummy, Pie

2007-05-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Check out this video of a guy who makes pies approximately 3.5 millimeter in diameter. Then he THROWS the pies at INSECTS, and captures all of it using high speed cameras. Pretty amazing.

P.S. I wonder if those pies are any good. Finally, a pie with not too many calories.

If Microsoft Made Cars

2007-05-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

I came across this funny article about Bill Gates' remarks regarding the car industry. I'm not sure if it's a true story or not, but regardless, it is quite hilarious.

At COMDEX recently, Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive, but would run on only five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced, car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again, because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. Oh yeah, and last but not least . . . you'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off!

My High Scores in Tower Defense

2007-05-02T03:03:00.000-07:00

Remember all of those Tower Defense games I posted earlier? The two that I've been playing the most are Onslaught by Gaby and Flash Circle TD by David Scott:

I just wanted to share my high scores and screen shots of my setup:

For Onslaught, I reached level 203, using the 'nuke' combo, which consists of 1 red turret combo-ed with 2 blue turrets. I just kept building damage multipliers so each nuke would kill the creeps in 1 shot. However, I started to run out of space to build the damage multipliers, which eventually led to my downfall.

For Flash Circle TD, I reached level 372. As you can see, I had so much money that I could not spend it anymore. I filled the entire screen up with fully upgraded turrets. I think I could have gotten further by micro-managing which turrets I had up against certain creep waves through selling and rebuilding, but by level 372 I was tired of the game already and was hoping to just stop. I started with splash towers at key choke points, with damage towers spread out. I built air towers for the fliers, obviously. The trick is to always try to accumulate more money in the bank. Do not overbuild, because interest is what wins the game. After a while, you will be receiving so much interest you won't know what to do with it.

If you've got tips or a better high score, feel free to leave a comment. All TD games are open to discussion, not just these two. You can find my list of top 10 Tower Defense games here.

Update: Jodan beat my Onslaught score =( He got to level 204, with an overall score of 405M.

NBA.com Needs New Web Designer

2007-04-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Am I color blind or does this not make too much sense?

Also, wow. The Miami Heat swept by the Chicago Bulls? So much for being the defending champions.

Addicted to R&B

2007-04-29T22:39:00.000-07:00

Chris recently introduced me to imeem, a website that streams music. imeem is to music as youtube is to videos. Notice the "i" in imeem versus the "you" in youtube. imeem plays full-length songs of all genre in mp3 quality, which makes it very handy for sampling songs, finding new music, and sharing with friends. You can find me on imeem here, where all of my favorite songs and playlists are shown. Feel free to add me!

With regards to sharing with friends, I'll be doing exactly that. In the past few weeks, I've come across several quality R&B songs, and I'd like to share my top 3 with you guys. imeem has the ability to embed songs directly into blogs, another convenient feature. With that said, here are my top 3 R&B songs of April 2007:

Marques Houston - Favorite Girl

Ne-Yo - Because of You

Bobby Valentino - Anonymous

Which Side is Up?

2007-04-28T00:14:00.000-07:00

I came across this picture from Dapper's flickr album:

It looks like a normal picture, but something is off. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then I figured it out:

I ended up turning my laptop upside down to figure it out. Lucky for you, I've already taken the liberty of flipping the picture so you won't have to. Cool huh?

Dear Blog

2007-04-27T00:35:00.000-07:00

Hello! Time for another update. Yesterday, Kenny pointed out this post on Chitika, titled "Help me, my mom is my blog's only reader!" by Darren Rowse from Problogger.net. The title itself made me want to read the article, not to mention Darren Rowse makes six figures a year from his blog(s). Here's a quote from his article describing his personal experience:

When I first started blogging, I had romantic notions of an incoming rush of traffic hitting my blog. A couple of months in I began to realize that that wasn’t going to happen. I remember the light going on in my mind one day - the rush of traffic just wasn’t going to ‘appear’. Of course there was a trickle of traffic that did just ‘appear’ - but if I wanted traffic in large numbers I was going to have to find some way of going and getting it.

For those of you that have been following along with my blog, it is now almost 2 months old; I launched it initially on 03/06/07. Luckily, the recent traffic my blog has been receiving has not only fulfilled my "romantic notions," but has far exceeded them. Perhaps my "romantic notions" are not grand enough, but I was hoping to reach 1000 unique visitors in one day by the time my blog becomes 1 year old. However, this last week blew away that goal; currently I have an average of 1,500 visitors and 2,600 page views per day. My single best day received 5,000 visitors and 8,000 page views.

I'm not here to brag about my site stats. On the contrary, I'm here to express my gratitude to you, my readers. I'd also like to thank StumbleUpon for driving so much traffic to my blog. I had a couple of my posts "featured," which lead to massive spikes in my traffic. Without StumbleUpon, I would surely be amongst the rank of blogs where my mother would be my only reader. But what's worse is that my mom isn't too good with English, so I'm not sure that even my own mother would be reading my blog.

I know that a large portion of that traffic will probably only see my blog once in their lifetime, so I'm mostly here to address my returning visitors. Seeing all of these huge numbers only makes blogging that much more fun for me. Hopefully after visiting my blog, you'll have at least smiled once, laughed once, or learned something new. Once again, thank you for visiting my blog.

Sincerely,
Michael Hwang

P.S.
Comments are open for suggestions and criticism. Please do let me know what you would like to see more of, as well as what I can do to improve this site. Feel free to be mean, I don't cry easily. Q_Q
Oh, and if you've ever wanted to comment on a past post, you can do that here too. That's you Jodan.

Blast from the Past

2007-04-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

I came across this ad for a 15 megabyte hard drive...from the 1970's! I don't think anyone should be complaining about how expensive computers are these days.

World Champion Yo-Yo Master

2007-04-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

I keep coming across these crazy videos. This time its a Japanese guy at a Yo-Yo contest. I don't see how he can even pull off some of those moves, but I guess that's why he's the world champion and I'm not.

Hardcore Ping Pong

2007-04-24T01:25:00.000-07:00

I don't play ping pong, but this video really wowed me.

DIY: Slippers Made of PADS

2007-04-23T02:51:00.000-07:00

The GF came across this post about how to make your own slippers. OUT OF PADS. Yes, you heard right. PADS. The kind that girls use during that certain special time of the month. Without further ado, here is how you can make your very own PAD slippers.

Here's a picture of the finished product. This post will teach you how to make one of these bad boys.

Step 1:
Get some pads. This may be a little harder for the guys, but just ask the GF/wife or your mother for some. Shouldn't be a problem.

Step 2:
Open the packaging and take one out. Might be a bit scary for the guys once again, but hopefully you were able to obtain unused ones, which are supposedly sanitary.

Step 3:
Fold the ends in approximately 1.5 centimeters on both sides.

Step 4:
Now slide the folded pad onto another unfolded pad. Use the built in adhesive to make sure they stay together. This part might be a little tricky if you've never used a pad before. Apparently, according the the GF, there is a sticker that you can take off, and underneath the sticker, the pad is coated with a sticky material. You can use that to make sure these 2 parts stay together. Ingenious.

Step 5:
Add additional padding to the bottom to make it nice, soft, and extra absorbent in case you are walking through a swamp.

Step 6:
Put glue on top of the previously folded pad.

Step 7:
Add flare and decorations as you see fit.

Step 8:
Wear your new pad slippers with style, comfort, and security, knowing that the ultra absorbent pads will keep your feet dry at all times.

Deals: 4/22/07 - 4/28/07

2007-04-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Sunshine: Little Miss Emo-Pants

2007-04-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago I watched Little Miss Sunshine, starring nobody in particular, typical of an indie film. The entire movie can be summed up in one word. EMO. For those of you unfamiliar with emos, here's the definition from urban dictionary:

Genre of softcore punk music that integrates unenthusiastic melodramatic 17 year olds who don't smile, high pitched overwrought lyrics and inaudible guitar rifts with tight wool sweaters, tighter jeans, itchy scarfs (even in the summer), ripped chucks with favorite bands signature, black square rimmed glasses, and ebony greasy unwashed hair that is required to cover at least 3/5ths of the face at an angle.

And since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll have Nemo describe the movie:

I have nothing against emos, but I thought the movie was mediocre at best. My roommate recommended the movie to me, saying that it was one of those "feel good movies." But after watching the movie, I didn't feel good at all. It didn't leave that warm feeling that you get after watching a chick flick; instead, it left a rather bitter feeling of hatred towards society and all of mankind in general.

Apparently, the movie received good ratings from the critics, but I thought it was a very pointless and slow moving movie. The movie is about a dysfunctional family in America, where every member of the family has one type of mental disorder or another. The father is a motivational program salesman that can't accept being a loser, despite the fact that he, himself, is a loser. The son is the epitome of emo: he is under a vow of silence until he is accepted into the air force. The daughter is under an illusion of grandeur, believing that she will grow up to be a beauty queen. The uncle is a suicidal homosexual. The mother is slightly neurotic, and the grandfather is a perverted drug addict. Nice cast of characters eh?

The whole story is just a big run around, as the family drives from Albuquerque to Redondo Beach. The little girl doesn't win the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, the grandfather dies, and the emo boy finds out he's color blind so he won't be able to join the air force. Sorry for ruining the movie, but you could see it coming from a mile away. The moral of the story is that it's OK to be a loser, and that society's rules suck. I found this movie completely pointless, and hardly entertaining; I'm mildly surprised that people would enjoy this movie, but I suppose it is somewhat unique. The fact that they made a movie about such a mundane subject in itself is unique, but I personally found the movie to be a terrible bore.

Starcraft Origami

2007-04-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

I came across these really cool Starcraft origami pictures. Starcraft and Brood Wars are definitely some of my favorite games of all time. Looks like something a Japanese guy with a lot time would do. These pictures are from gluek's flickr album.

Big armies face off
Guardians! One of my favorite end game units

Look at that reaver

Carriers! There are even interceptors if you look closely

Zerg army

Hydralisk, very versatile

Looks like a mutalisk

A scout, generally not worth the money

Tank, the reason why Terran owns

Ultralisk, my favorite origami

Posture Perfect

2007-04-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

So Jordan and I recently noticed that we have terrible posture, both sitting and standing. I just came across this article from the Washington Post that points out some common problems and easy ways to prevent poor posture.

Top 10 Tower Defense Games

2007-04-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Since I've quit playing more serious games for the most part, I've discovered tower defense games to be a good, casual alternative. Here are 10 of them to waste your time on:

Check out my high scores here!

I've updated my list to include 4 more tower defense games.

Elephants > The Moon

2007-04-18T00:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Christine for this:

The Moon" />

I wonder what Regis said after that.

Deals: 4/15/07 - 4/21/07

2007-04-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

Mmm Moisturizer

2007-04-17T01:21:00.000-07:00

My mom just got me this:

Shiseido Men: Moisturizing Emulsion Fluide Hydratant

No I'm not gay, I'm just going to have really soft skin.

Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix 2007

2007-04-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, David, Jeff, and I went to the 2007 Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix. It was my first time being at a real race, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Let me tell you, it was INTENSE, an attack on all the senses: I could see the cars racing at 140 MPH, I could hear the screaming engines, I could smell the burning rubber, and I could feel the heat emanating from the track. The only thing I couldn't do was taste the cars, but I doubt that would have been a pleasant experience.

We ate lunch at the local CPK (California Pizza Kitchen), which was right by the track. The Long Beach track isn't really a track, in the traditional sense. The track consists of normal, everyday surface streets with barricades on the side. We were lucky enough to get a table outside, thanks to David's coworkers, so we were able to eat pizza literally 30 to 40 feet away from cars going 100+ MPH into a turn. It was hard to keep the food down.

With that said, here are a few of the pictures we took with David's Canon Digital Rebel XTi (you can find more in my flickr album):

Check out the rest in my flickr album.

Payback

2007-04-13T07:01:00.000-07:00

Red-light-running officers, firefighters to pay up, from WFAA.com, a Dallas news station.

I just came across this headline and thought that it rather ironic. Note my previous post. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the article:

"We have had some officers simply on routine patrol running red lights," said Lt. Sally Lannom."
"I'm in a squad car; I can do what I want."
"So, starting April 15, officers and firefighters who improperly run red lights will have to pay a $75 dollar fine."

Unfortunately, this article is from Dallas, so it may be a local rule only. Also, what's with the measly $75 fine? That's a discount of $295 compared to what I paid.

Deals 4/08/07-4/14/07

2007-04-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2007-04-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

It all started during spring break. Chris and I were hanging out at my house, when we decided to go and get some boba at Life Plaza, the Arcadian hang-out place of choice. As usual, Chris volunteers to drive; back at UCLA, Chris drives me everywhere. And I mean everywhere, whether its to the gym or to get food. But this time, since we're hanging out in Arcadia, my hometown, I figure that I should drive him around for a change. He says that he really doesn't mind driving, but I insist that I drive for once. The GF was also at my house at the time and needed to go home for dinner, so we all hop into my car and I start heading towards her house. The rest of the story involves a red light, a right turn, and a police officer. Long story short, I received a ticket for not coming to a complete stop at a red light prior to making a right turn. If you want to read the full story, I believe Paul has it all documented over at his blog.

After I get home, I do a Google search on the violation code that the officer has given me, and find out that the ticket is approximately $270 in California. To my surprise, the official ticket comes 3 weeks later with the bail set at $370. I suppose living in a safe and fairly nice area comes at a price; the city needs to get its money from somewhere, namely drivers who don't know all the technical traffic rules but are extremely safe otherwise. Such as me. Those of you who have ridden in my car before know that I drive like a 80 year old grandmother, minus the slow reflexes and seat position. Although, this one time I did try moving the seat all the way up just to see what it feels like. It was rather uncomfortable. Despite the appearance of my cars, I obey all the speed limits and traffic rules, that I know of. With that said, I'll be going to court sometime in May, as well as to an 8 hour traffic school session. Funny thing is, if I had only let Chris drive my ass around once again, all of this could have been avoided. Moral of the story: always let Chris drive. Good times.

A few days after the previous incident, another stroke of misfortune hit me. My car, the very same one that I got the ticket in, would no longer start. Turns out the starter died, and with the car in my driveway blocking the other car, a new adventure begins. Jordan, who prefers to be called Jodan, came over under the false pretense that we were going to the gym. Little did he know, instead of working out at the gym, he was about to get a workout on my driveway. I recruited Jodan, Wing (the GF), and Richard (my brother) to help me push my car. We attempted to swap the working car that was in the garage with the broken car that was stuck in the driveway. My driveway is fairly steep, maybe a 60 degree gradient. We had no problem getting the car out of the way. Now with a clear path between us and the parking spot, we attempted to push the car up the driveway. We planned to gather momentum on the flat surface street before going all the way up the driveway. I clearly recall the GF remarking,

"This isn't so bad, we can make it."

as we were gathering speed for the uphill climb. With that, I shouted

"GO! PUSH PUSH PUSH!"

as we went full speed ahead up the driveway. We pushed my 3,009 pound Acura 3.0 CL all the way up a whole 4 feet before we lost speed, and started to slide back down the slope. I abandoned my post and leaped for the handbrake, pulling it just before the car slid onto the street.

It goes without saying that I ended up calling a mechanic to come replace the starter. The price, after labor, ended up $270. Unlucky number two hundred sleventy. OK that one's a little far out there, but I had to try. Here are a few pictures of the cause of my troubles:

Lastly, onto my most recent, and most horrific malady. I've been debating whether or not to blog about this, but since I am here to entertain you, even at my own expense, I will. Dear reader, I recently developed a large and painful bump on my butt. Yes, my butt. This bump could be anything, ranging from an infected pimple to an insect bite. All I know is that it hurt like hell whenever I did anything, such as sitting. The feeling is much like a tooth ache, where your brain is constantly registering pain. The only difference is that the pain is coming from your rear end. It's times like these that I wonder, "Why, God?" Life becomes miserable in general; food doesn't taste quite as good, games don't seem quite as fun. Most of this is due to the fact that almost everything we do requires us to sit. Not something I want to be doing now. After excessive application of Neosporin, my butt is much better now. Hopefully nobody looks at me funny after this story, or suspects the worst whenever I shift in my chair.

But even after my series of unfortunate events, I must say that I am still quite happy. Plenty of good things have happened along the way, I just didn't write about them, because we all know that misery makes better blogging material. I read somewhere that everyone has an "equilibrium happiness point," meaning that even after something good happens or something bad happens, people will generally return to their natural state of happiness. I'm a happy person; I believe in happy endings. Good friends, good music, good food, and good work outs make everything better.

This weekend I'll be going to the Long Beach Grand Prix, so stay tuned for pictures, lots of it.