Friday, September 29, 2006

Hitchhiker's Guide...

Remember Hitchhiker's Guide? There was a character in one of the books, I think it was in "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish", that was very interesting. He was the god of rain, and it rained wherever he was. It rained his whole life. I suppose if he lived in Arizona and not England he would have picked up on this fact very early on. Or not? Maybe he's the reason that England is England, and if he moved to Arizona, Arizona would be known as the wettest state in the Union. Hmm. Moving on.

This guy saw rain every single minute of his life and he became somewhat of an expert at it. He even assigned each type of rain a number, so he could say that it's a 49 followed by 103 and mean that it's a slight, warm drizzle that turns into a downpour with medium winds.

So, on the way to work, I noted no less than four fog types. There's something about the street that I live on, that in the morning, around 9 am, and at night, around midnight, the fog goes into overdrive and it's a beautiful thing. Today, I saw really dense constant fog, semi-dense variable fog, high fog (at the ground level there is little fog, but higher up it's dense) and wind-driven scarce variable fog. Also, and I'm not sure if this is a different type or whatever, Microsoft campus was completely free of the fog that I encountered on the road. We're higher up than the road I was on, so that could account for it.

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Hat


Hat
Originally uploaded by FuzzyGamer.

Oh sweet, sweet swag. Where would we be without you.

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Thursday, September 28, 2006

The scary world of online purchasing

While my Camry was being shipped here, I listened to a local oldies station in the rental car. This one commercial kept playing over and over:
Two people, man and woman, are talking about buying some new high-tech equipment, a TV or a camera or some crap like that. So the woman says that it would be nice to get like a Sony, but Sony's are always so expensive. The guy replies that so-and-so models cost this much, which is apparently cheap. So the woman replies, "that's cheap" and asks the guy where he found such a good deal - "not on the INTERNET, I hope!" The man replies "No, of course not. At..." blah blah blah some local store that threatens people into shopping there. That last part is no joke. The store's slogan is "...or you'll be sorry".

Anyway, point of that is that the average American is a fascinating creature. They depend on Barbara Walters for their news, are sure the government is trying to screw them over with their so-called "doctors", are terribly afraid of even looking at a computer for fear of having their soul stolen and usually have a gun in the house. They are incredibly paranoid of identity theft and giving their information away online. Get over yourselves! No one is interested in you. No one is going to go through an elaborate plan of setting up a world-renowned website, like Half.com, that has operated legitimately for years, just to steal 319$ from your savings account. Umm, I actually had someone ask me about this very issue, or buying and selling stuff on Half. Eep.

Oh, and this is sorta related, and the real reason I started this post.
I ordered a game online, on Amazon, on Sept 12, and it's three weeks later and the thing hasn't shipped yet. I'm pretty pissed. About that, but also about online shipping overall.
I don't quite understand why they bother with 1, 2-3, 5-7 day shipping. None of the shipping times ever work out (at least for me). Ordering on a Wednesday, you might as well go with the 5-7. 2-3 will not get there on time, and 1 always takes a long time in the warehouse, and they end up shipping your thing out on Friday or Saturday, so either way you get it next week. If you're ordering on a Monday, Tuesday, 1 is equal to 2-3: it'll get there around Thursday, Friday. Never ever ever order 2-3 after Wednesday. Even Tuesday is pushing it. Basically, if you want something there this week, you better be ordering Friday or Saturday. Order on Sunday, when there's no one at the office, and it'll take them half a day on Monday to sift through the orders and maybe the warehouse will be notified by Monday night. Oh, and of course order 2-3. If you don't care when it gets here, but it would be nice if it's soon (I know, weird), order 5-7 on a Thursday-Saturday.
I just bought a thing online and got 5-7 shipping. It's Thursday. If I got 1 day, the package would be shipped tomorrow or Saturday and would possibly sit in the local distribution center over the weekend. 2-3 is a rip-off at this point, as I would get the package in about 5-7 non-business days. Bastards.
Unless you have Amazon Prime - free 5-7 and 2-3 shipping - ship slowest and accept that you'll get it too late and it'll probably sit in a distribution center over a weekend.

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Wednesday, September 27, 2006

My idol?

Bill Gates' mom calls him up for dinner. He doesn't respond.

Mom: What are you doing?
Bill: I'm thinking.
Mom: You're thinking?
Bill: Yes, Mom, I'm thinking. Have you ever tried thinking?

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Tuesday, September 26, 2006

The Family Guy Game

Yeah, there's a Family Guy game coming out. Imagine that.

I have to say, this is the ugliest game that I want to buy.
Pics and Review - GameSpot Link
Here's some pictures. The game is done with cell-shading (of course) to produce that animated feeling, but the screenshots I've seen look ugly. Maybe it'll improve if you're looking at animation, not just stills.

I gotta say, the people making the game know a thing or two about Family Guy. Some classic moments from the show are represented in the game: Peter locking himself in the car, the ambulance feasting on a gazelle, the peg-legged sea captain, Death makes an appearance and, best of all, Stewie has another sexy party.

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Monday, September 25, 2006

And the parade continues


And the parade continues
Originally uploaded by FuzzyGamer.

Pineapple and mango. On the house. The house that Bill built.

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No - no words. No words to describe it...

Poetry! They should've sent a poet. So beautiful. So beautiful... I had no idea.

This e-mail was sent to people in buildings 16, 17, 19, 25. I'm in 17.

Buildings 16, 17, 19, 25
Kitchenette Closures - Installation of Starbucks Coffee Brewer Equipment
October 9th – 13th
4:00 AM - 2:30 PM (Pacific Time)
Duration: 5 days (Mon – Fri)

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Saturday, September 23, 2006

People...

...and why they suck.


People. Don't you just, sometimes, wanna just...[handwaving]. Anyways.

People, for the most part, are horrible creatures. But they are trying. What I mean to say is, we have so many faults and shortcomings. We are petty, violent, vain, insecure, illogical, self-centered and a host of other adjectives. To make things worse, we have good intentions. Yes, our "good intentions" is a quality that is perhaps the worst thing about us. How?

When a person makes a choice to punch his wife, or eat a slice of pizza or jump off a bridge, they are doing what they know is right. The proof to this is the fact that they are doing what they're doing. Don't give me crap about not being in control, being forced or not having a choice. You do what you do, consciously, because you know that action to be the correct one at that moment. You know that it's right, otherwise you wouldn't do it and would do something that is right. Equivalently, people do always think they are right. If they knew they weren't, they'd change their ideas so that they were right.

People know that the choice they made is right, and they know that what they are doing is the right action. And there lies the problem. These imperfect beings use their imperfect minds and consider information that is imperfect and mostly incorrect. A person who thinks they are right all the time has to be wrong pretty often. What comes out of this curious mix? People who are flawed in every way believe that they are right about eveything they do. You're better off giving a chainsaw to a blind guy.

Look around. Look at anything that is wrong with this world, and at the center you will find a person with a very curious outlook on the world. The war in the Middle East? Two people know they are right about something a third person has done. He was also sure he was doing the right thing. Global warming? People, all along the way, who poluted the air have done so not for fame, sometimes for profit, but always because they felt it was the right thing to do.

Is this a blanket? Can I stick anything under this explanation? Short answer: yes. Longer answer: anything with a person, or persons, as the cause can be explained simply as people being themselves. I can't say that the dinosaurs dying out was caused by a single person doing what they thought was right. That's ridiculous and that's not the way causality works. But, and this is sorta important, in order to understand the actions of others, think back to this. A monk set himself on fire not because he was cold, but because he knew that was the right thing to do. Some people got together and destroyed the World Trade Center. Because that was the right thing to do. If you want to understand why a person does something that makes absolutely no sense, put yourselves in their shoes and try to understand: they are doing what they know is right; just like you.

A while back I was wrapping my head around the Spanish Inquisition. Why would a person, subjected to torture and death, simply not admit to a belief in some different (or slightly different, even) deity and belief system? Why not tell them what they want to hear but keep your own religion? If you're confused, try to think of something you cherish immensely. I would use my example of books. If someone told me that I would die unless I stopped reading books forever, and told others to follow my lead, would I do it? Would you give up something so touching and important?

What's the solution? Well, it would be nice if people considered the effect their actions are going to have on others, but when's that going to happen?

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Haha

Didn't write this list, found it online. Don't give me crap if this offends you. That's sorta the point.


Things not to say in other countries...

IRELAND
Are you magically delicious or just angry and drunk?
This beer is black- did a leprechaun crap in it?

FRANCE
Can I get a side of Freedom Fries with that?
Aren’t the French just Germans who can make sauces?

ITALY
Is the Pope Polish? Does he have super powers like Jesus?
I could sure go for a can of Spaghetti-O’s!

POLAND
Do you hire foreigners to screw in your lightbulbs?

GERMANY
Is this bratwurst kosher?

TURKEY
Where’s the hash at?
It’s cool to recreationally slaughter Kurds?

KOREA
Can you watch my puppy for a minute, or must you people deep fry him?

CHINA
This wall isn’t so great.

ENGLAND
Did you ever get a piece of ass from that Diana chick?

SWEDEN
Do you have any normal meatballs?
Want to hear a dumb blonde joke?

YEMEN
Yemen? That’s a stupid name for a country. What’s it mean -- ‘Land Of Fanatics And Dust' ?

INDIA
You don’t live in teepees?
Where can I get a good juicy steak around here?

ETHIOPIA
After a long day of travel, I’m famished. Hey – those flies sure love your pregnant son!

CANADA
You’re like Americans without money.

SPAIN
So, this is the country that’s not Portugal? Wow.
Your women can shave if they want to, right?
Where can I get some Cheez Whiz nachos?

SOUTH AFRICA
I liked it better the other way.

MEXICO
What's that smell?

SAUDI ARABIA
Would you like to see my designs for a solar powered car?
Is it legal to beat your wives here, or what?

RUSSIA
Is it always this cold and economically devastated?

UZBEKISTAN
Can you spell Uzbekistan?

GREECE
I hear this place is a less expensive version of Italy.

AFGHANISTAN
Seriously, where is the real country… where is everything?

JAPAN
What’s Hiroshima? Is that a kind of sushi?

AUSTRALIA
How can we stop Mel Gibson? Is there a cure?

AMERICA
Was John Wayne gay?

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Friday, September 22, 2006

Yet another Friday


Yet another Friday
Originally uploaded by FuzzyGamer.

No lunch is complete without a Mike's Hard Lime

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New apartment...


New apartment...
Originally uploaded by FuzzyGamer.

...and the first item I unpacked.

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Thursday, September 21, 2006

MS Company Meeting


MS Company Meeting
Originally uploaded by FuzzyGamer.

Standing ovation for Bill!

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Quote from the Evil Empire


Pavel: did you send me anything after "hey"? communicator is wigging out on me
Suresh: na I just said Hey as confirmation of contact

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Work at MS

I just got an e-mail that was sent to our entire team. Seems one of the Dev(eloper)s is going to be out of the office on Friday, helping his daughter moving into her dorm. She's a freshman. Automatically, I thought of responding with some crude e-mail. Then, I considered this. I just finished college, and this guy's daughter is starting. There's a guy on my team whose daughter is four years younger than me. If that doesn't make a guy feel old...

And now I'm thinking about that crude e-mail. It was going to go along the lines of "I hope you don't mind that I'm asking your daughter out." Wonder what the guy would do. I mean, we know what happens when the boss is dating an employee's daughter: hillarity ensues, everyone learns teamwork and humility and Dennis Quaid makes a movie that doesn't suck. Maybe I should still write that letter...

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Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Google Maps

There is something fundamentally wrong with Google when I can get clear 1 meter-resolution images of Area 51, but University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign still looks like cat vomit.

Try for yourself.

Area 51 - Google Maps Link

UIUC - Google Maps Link

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Suh-weet


Suh-weet
Originally uploaded by FuzzyGamer.

Just for the record, I am a corporate tool.

Nah, not really. Actually, Bill threatens his employees into buying the 360. No joke. We are even forced to wear XBOX t-shirts. *Sniff*

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Monday, September 11, 2006

Note to self

Don't read Bash.org at work. Coworkers tend to stare when you can't stop laughing. It's not a good thing.

http://bash.org/?608100

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Quote by Vincent

How much clothing a girl has on is inversely proportional to the price of the car she is in.

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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Jesus Camp

So, the movie "Jesus Camp" is still on my mind. I've got a few things to think out-loud, so get a beer and join me.

The movie is about three kids, Levi, Rachael and Tory. They're all from Missouri. Is anyone really surprised? OK, on with the ranting.

List of things I actually shuddered at:

First: Levi, Rachael, Tory. In case you didn't know, Biblical names. I was going to guess that only an idiot would name their kid after a pair of jeans, but I did some research and found out that it's not an idiot, but a religious parent. Close enough.

Second: That happenin' mullet young Levi is sporting. Wow!

Third: The idea that Levi, Rachael and Tory discovered Jesus. Lets look at this one in depth.
Levi - his father is a preacher and an employee of the US Army. Levi was "saved" at 5 years old and has been preaching ever since.
Rachael - home schooled all her life. Trying to convert her neighbor and plans on being an international missionary.
Tory - home schooled as well. He father, a former US Marine, went to Iraq for religious reasons. She's 11 now, but already very vocal against abortion.

Is there something cropping up in here? Do these poor kids have something in common?

Saying that a person in the Bible Belt has found Jesus is saying that I found water in the bathtub. That's where it is! If a person, without the "help" of missionaries or the very effective brainwashing of their family, can find Jesus, on their own, then that's something. The fact that after years of Jesus being thrust at them these kids have taken up arms in the "Christian Army" should not come as a surprise to anyone.

Religion, unless arrived at of your own volition, is nothing but brainwashing. Have you noticed that Catholic societies create Catholics, Muslim families create Muslims, predominantly Hindu countries create more Hindus? Atheists come from everywhere, however. Hmm, something to consider.

Sure, people convert. Ever hear this joke:
A rabbit "attacked" president Carter. The LAPD was sent in to find and apprehend the fiend. The LAPD went into the woods and half an hour later they dragged out a grizzly bear by its hind feet. The bear didn't have any teeth left and both its eyes were swollen shut. And it was screaming over and over: "All right! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"

Fourth: The movie also had Becky Fischer saying that Palestinian kids are being sent to camps too, ones where they hand out grenades. It's curious that she knows enough to mention something that's remotely true, but more interesting is the fact that she can't draw the parallel between the evil done by "them" and the evil done by her. I find it incredibly fascinating that a very religious person can admit that there are equally religious people on the other side of the fence. That there are Muslims (or whoever) who believe in their point of view just as strongly as she believes in hers. She is certain that she is right. So, isn't the other person just as certain? Isn't there an issue at hand? Or am I missing something so fundamentally simple as "my belief is right because it is mine"?

"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it." - George Bernard Shaw


Good ol' George never fails to deliver his point. Now, the recipient just has to sign for it.

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Steve Irwin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin

Some of you might have heard this: Stever Irwin died in Australia. Sad. I didn't watch his shows, but he was hillarious on South Park (of course I know it wasn't him!).

Steve Irwin, sucks to be you. And thanks for everything.

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Sunday, September 03, 2006

Hahaha

Khaha.com + Winamp 5 + Streamripper (records streaming music as MP3's) + CD Burner + a car that plays MP3 CD's = two days of stand-up comedy on one disc!

I've got 49 hours of stand-up recorded on this computer. Now, all I have to do is wait until my car gets here, burn the collection onto a disc (it's 683 MB) and I will have non-stop, maybe always-new, always awesome stand-up for weeks! If I drive my car half an hour a day, that's three months of continuous stand-up without once changing the disc. Insane! And entirely awesome!

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Discovery Park


Discovery Park 10
Originally uploaded by FuzzyGamer.

This is one of the pictures I took at Discovery Park.
Flickr sorta sucks, so I can't blog multiple pictures at once. Here's a link to the "Discovery Park" set. Enjoy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64247897@N00/sets/72157594267315822/

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Saturday, September 02, 2006

Disgusting!


Disgusting!
Originally uploaded by FuzzyGamer.

That's just sick!

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Discovery Park and "Snakes on a Plane"

Today, I woke up at the very late hour of 8 am. I was supposed to wake up at 7:30. So, I cried, ate breakfast, got dressed, showered, and went out. First on my itinerary was the Discovery Park. Let me tell you, getting there without a GPS talking lady is harder than expected. I don't know the streets around Seattle (M$ is in Redmond), so I, of course, got lost. Actually, getting lost is no biggie. It's fun. Just make sure you don't stress out and you're not bleeding too much. Then you can be lost as long as you want. Make a little adventure out of it. Count how many people you almost run over. Then, try and beat your record. Anyway.

Discovery Park is beautiful. They've got this three-mile path around it, it's very cool. Going counter-clockwise, you get to see the sights first and then, when it warms up in the afternoon, you finish off the rest of your walk through shadowed forest. The views are simply amazing. I don't have my card-reader right now, so I'll come back and upload the photos tomorrow. Some of the photos were taken at great risk to myself. Well, not really. Part of the path is on a cliff, underneath which there's a bit of land and then the water. Well, the cliff is pretty tall, and you're not supposed to go to its edge. Something about unstable ground breaking up and you falling 500 feet. I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. So, I took some pictures and videos from the "restricted" points. It's scary. I'm semi-scared of heights, and this was pretty terrifying. The walk through the shadowed forest was very cool. I haven't been in a forest like this since Russia, and even that was different. There's this in Moscow. It's huge and it's insanely fun. But it's sorta flat. I mean, sure, it's got something like a gorge, but that's probably it. Discovery Park is much more varied, like the rest of Washington. A note on going there: wear a nice pair of shoes. My feet started hurting toward the end. Not fun.

"Snakes on a Plane". I give it a C+/B-. It delivers what it promises: there's no shortage of snakes on the plane. It also tries to gross the audience out (actually, there were only half a dozen of us, oddly). I think it succeeds on that too. There's enough situations to make you say "eww" and "come on, that's just sick". The little Chihuahua (I'm being repititious) gets eaten. That was actually funny. But the movie had a lot of scenes with people being bitten in eye, the lip, a bite-wound being cut open and, something that no one who watches the movie will forget, the first kills. The first kills, true to the horror genre, are of the amorous couple joining the mile high club. The third kill was a guy going to the bathroom. Any guesses on where the snake bit him? So, yeah, gross out covered, what's next? Oh, yes, the "story". It has more holes than a wicker chair. If you can get a crap-load of snakes on the plane, why not a bomb? Why bother with a highly traceable and a very uncertain method of killing the guy when a bomb is so much simpler. How exactly do you send an e-mail from that Treo when you're over open water between Hawaii and LA? There's more, but they're full of spoilers. Of course, I expected this of the movie, but I still went for two very good reasons: (1) Sam is in the movie; (2) The movie theater I went to wasn't playing Crank. They're playing "Beerfest" and "The Devil Wears Prada" (first one sucks, the second one shouldn't still be there), but "Crank" is not good enough for these bastards? Whatever.

The most memorable line in the movie (there's not many good lines to choose from) was of course Sam's: "Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!"

Maybe tomorrow I'll see "Crank". Or, just do what I normally do and wait until the movie is no longer popular and I can get the aisle all for myself. Whatever.

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Friday, September 01, 2006

The world has gone mad

I've been watching trailers online and ads on TV for two movies: Crank and Crossover.
Crank is an action flick that removes the final barrier, the story, and has a hitman do anything and everything to keep up his adrenaline, including killing people, undergoing electro-shock and getting it on in public, with Amy Smart, no less (a perfect reason to see the movie).
Crossover is street basketball. My assumption (from the TV ads), is that there's some competition, someone's pride is hurt and now "it's on". Oh, and there's a community center that needs to be saved.

Anyway, watching these two compete on TV, I figured they'd both score pretty low with the critics, Crank coming in at around 30%, and Crossover at maybe 50%. (Ratings are those used by www.RottenTomatoes.com: a ratio of positive to negative reviews, with 50% meaning that half liked it and half didn't.)

Well, I was terribly wrong. And I am vindicated in wanting to see Crank. Crossover: 0%. Crank: 77%. Not kidding here. 46 critics all hated Crossover. Whaaaa? Oh well, I guess it's a bigger piece of crap than I gave it credit for. I just assumed it would be another brainless "Bring It On". Well, it's worse than that. Yeah, apparently, that's possible.

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...

There's not many ways of saying how I feel right now. I want to vomit.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/jesuscamp/trailer/

It's a trailer for a new movie coming out, "Jesus Camp". I just watched the trailer. And it's scary as hell.

Ever seen those videos of little Iraqi or Iranian kids marching with AK's or grenades, screaming how they're going to die for their belief? These are the same kids, willing to take their belief and die for it, if they aren't able to convert the rest of the world to their side. They're just doing it in the name of Jesus. But it's the same thing.

Religion, to me, is an appendix. It's evolutionary un-necessary. Religion may have helped early societies stay together and all that, but in this day and age, we don't need it. You wanna believe in an imaginary caprenter in the clouds? Go for it. You wanna spend your free time talking to yourself? Enjoy. As long as this appendix is healthy, keep it, I don't care. But when it gets to this point, where you are declaring a war, brainwashing 5-year old kids, that's when the appendix has inflamed and you've gotta tear it out.

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