Half-News

World AIDS Day - December 1, 2005

2005-11-30T22:17:00.000-08:00

Today's event is not really history, but rather a worldwide day of rememberance. World AIDS Day is the international "day of action" for remembering those who have died and who still suffer from AIDS and HIV. I could spend 30 minutes trying to explain what AIDS is and the long history of it, but I would rather try and persuade you to remember this day by presenting you with interesting, even horrifying facts about the virus, and by relating famous people to the situation of hundreds of thousands of normal people around the world.

First, some facts about AIDS:

1. About 1,200,000 people are living with AIDS in the world and 300,000 of them may not know it.

2. The percentage of males with AIDS is much higher than that of females (70/30)

Find more facts here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/onap/facts.html

Secondly, here is a list of some famous people you may have heard of who have or had AIDS or HIV:

Freddie Mercury Arthur Ashe
Magic Johnson Isaac Asimov
Liberace Sgt. Leonard Matlovich

I am sure you have heard of Isaac Asmiov and Magic Johnson, hopefully Freddie Mercury, Arthur Ashe and Liberace, but the last is an unknown guy, who apparently fought for gay rights to fight in the military in the Vietnam War. I thought that was interesting.
List of HIV+ People

Last, I wanted to point you over to the World AIDS Day official site:
worldaidsday.org

technorati tags: AIDS, World AIDS Day, HIV, AIDS Day, Red Ribbon

November 28, 2005 - This day in HIstory

2005-11-27T21:26:00.000-08:00

I'm starting something new that most of you will probably find stupid, mainly because we do it at school. We started doing a "this day in history" thing in American History, with Sharbel, and I hear that Dr. Bailey does it for them too. But I think alot of it is important, there are some stupid ones that really seem quite inconsequential and I'll try to stay away from those. But major battles, etc. I think can at least be observed.

Here's today's (I'm choosing from a Wikipedia list at: November 28

South African Airways Flight 295
South African Airways Flight 295, called the Helderberg, took of from Taipei, Taiwan, on it's flight to Johannesburg on November 28, 1987. The flight, carrying 140 passengers and 19 crew members, first had trouble as they were flying over the Indian Ocean. A fire in the Main Cargo hold disabled the plane and caused it to crash, killing all passengers and crew members aboard the aircraft.

Src: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Airways_flight_295

New Video iPod!?!

2005-10-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

Many rumors are quickly flashing about the net over the new release of a possible video iPod. Apple is quietly sending out invitations to ANOTHER event next week. The video iPod is expected to coincide with the announcement of a new update to the iTunes software, to include video downloads in the music store.

This new release would certainly put all other video capable mp3 devices to shame. Of course, neither Michael nor Alan would be too pleased by this release, as it would probably be difficult to remove the DRM restrictions on any video bought from the iTunes Online Store, and place the video on another device.

Articles:
Apple Insider
Engadget
Gizmondo

this photo is most likely a fake

Also see my post on the new AIM Triton Beta on my blog.

Webmail Emerging

2005-10-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

For the longest time, webmail has been a dark corner of the internet, only used when people don't have the money to spend on a real email account, or needed an account with which to register with sites sure to send spam.

With the release of Google's beta webmail app, Gmail, all of that changed. Webmail capacity grew to an unprecedented size. But the growth doesn't stop with Gmail. Other sites around the net are doing the same thing, just with less pulicity and diminished flare.

The 30gigs webmail service gives the user an account with 30 gigabytes of space, an extreme amount compared to Google's roughly 2 1/2 gigs.

But it doesn't stop there. Mailnation provides users with a TERABYTE of space! That's nearly one thousand times the amount Google gives.

Hurricane Katrina vs. Hurricane Rita, Who Would Win?

2005-09-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

vs.
Hurricane Katrina's death toll and damage amount were no doubt astronomical, but Hurricane Rita's damage furthered New Orleans debt and flooding issues and its barometer pressure was the third highest in history in the Gulf Coast, beating out Hurricane Katrina. Both were category 5 hurricanes in the Gulf Coast Region. Which was worse?

News Update

2005-09-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Rumors of a major announcement tommorrow have been floating around. On TWiT John C. Dvorak (dvorak.org/blog) hinted at a major announcement. Is the announcement the release of the new Linksys WRT54GX2 (Wireless-G Router)? Or is it something more substantial than this, like a software release. Stay tuned for more!

Weekly Playlist for September 12-16

2005-09-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

I fell a bit behind on my last one, sorry. This is a conglomeration of songs from the MBA "Rock Band" (pep band/football band/whatever band plays at the football games).

1. Artist - Blues Brothers
Album - Original Soundtrack Recording
Song - Gimme Some Lovin'
"Well my temperature's rising and my feet on the floor / Twenty people rockin' and they wanna go more"

2. Artist - Kool And The Gang
Album - Pulp Fiction Soundtrack
Song - Jungle Boogie
"Jungle Boogie / Help and Get Down / Jungle Boogie / Boogie Baby"

3. Artist - Chicago
Album - The Very Best of Chicago
Song - 25 or 6 to 4
"Wanting just to stay awake / Wonder how much I can take"

4. Artist - Marvin Gaye
Album - I Heard it Through the Grapevine
Song - I Heard it Through the Grapevine
"Do you plan to let me go / For the other guy you loved before?"

5. Artist - Three Dog Night
Album - Forrest Gump Soundtrack
Song - Joy to the World
"If I were the king of the world / Tell you what I'd do / I'd throw away the cars and the bars and the war / And make sweet love to you"

Many of the albums listed here are not the original album the song was released on, and some of the artists may not be the original artists. If you would like a copy of the song, please email me or comment below.

Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-02T05:48:00.000-07:00

So whether we were directly affected or not, we have all been devastated by this hurricane in some way. Hurricane Katrina was a category 5 hurricane when it smashed into the coast last week. New Orleans was originally supposed to take the main hit, but Katrina veered in her path just slightly to save New Orleans from total destruction. However, that doesn't mean that Katrina didn't leave massive wreckage with New Orleans and other surrounding towns. People first sought shelter in the Superdome. I ask why they didn't flee the area. But anyways, the superdome lost part of its roof and leaked, now forcing thousands of evacuees to the Astrodome in Houston. Another effect of Katrina is that 80% of New Orleans is under water. The Speaker of the House of Representatives has made a comment of buldozing the city and starting over again. One clear effect of Katrina is gas prices. Gas prices are soaring higher than ever with no end in sight. In Georgia, the pricews have reached more than six dollars. This will leave all of our pockets near empty for weeks. One thing I ask is, despite being tqwo different types of tradgedy, which was worse: Hurricane Katrina or September 11? I'll leave that open for discussion.

RIAA Site Hacked

2005-08-18T23:38:00.000-07:00

This has to be the BEST hack EVER!! I mean doesn't the RIAA deserve it?

RIAA Website (It's fine now)
Screenshot of the hack

DIGG story

Just so you know this is an old story here's some more on it:
mirror of full web site defacement
information

google image search: riaa hacked

Xbox 360?

2005-08-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

The Xbox 360 is set to come out in time for this upcoming holiday season. But I ask, is it worth it? After reading this article, I hope you will too. Microsoft is making two different versions of the Xbox 360, a $300 version and a $400 version. The less expensive version is for sure not worth buying. Here's why. It does not come with the 20GB hard drive like the more expensive one does. This is crucial because without the hard drive, games from the previous Xbox system can't be played. That includes "Halo" and "Halo 2". The less expensive version also lacks the wireless controller capability, which is included in the more expensive model. And the new and improved graphics? Those don't come on the less expensive model either. Only on the nice model. Also included with the nicer model is a remote to allow for better use of the entertainment center. But it's not included on the less expensive model. You can however buy an external hard drive for the less expensive model for $50 or one wireless controller for the less expensive model for $50. Basically, Microsoft is selling the Xbox 360 for $400. Either keep the old model or get the full upgrade. It just doesn't seem worth getting the less expensive Xbox 360 model.

Weekly Playlist for August 22-26

2005-08-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start what I call a Weekly Playlist. I might make a podcast for it, with clips of the songs. For now it'll start out as just text an maybe pics. There will be songs on here that you won't like, because it's me picking them. But I do encourage you to listen to all of these. If you need a copy of a song, just email me or comment below.

1. Artist - Yellowcard
Album - Ocean Avenue
Song - Miles Apart
" Looking back it all just seems so far, so far away"

2. Artist - The Offspring
Album - Greatest Hits
Song - Can't Repeat
" Time rolls on / Wipe these eyes / Yesterday laughs / Tommorrow cries "

3. Artist - Fall Out Boy
Album - From Under the Cork Tree
Song - Sugar, We're Goin' Down
" Oh don't mind me I'm watching you two from the closet / Wishing to be the friction in your jeans / Isn't it messed up how I'm just dying to be him "

4. Artist - Coheed and Cambria
Album - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Feart Through The
Eyes of Madness
Song - Welcome Home
" The end, if so here we stop, / Then never again will you see / This in your life "

And those are my song pics of the week. The best musical song on there is probably Welcome Home, with its long guitar solo ar the end. The drum intro to Miles Apart is fun to play. So listen to those songs and remember to email if you want them and to check back every week for a new playlist. Next weeks will include the likes of Green Day and other bands.

What Podcasts do you listen to?

2005-08-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

With the development of rss feeds and currently podcasting, people can now download radio shows, or anything broadcasted over the net and update them automatically. Here are the podcasts I listen to:

This Week in Tech (TWiT) - Very Popular
Diggnation (Digg) - Popular
KFI's Tech Guy (Leo Laporte) - Popular
Are We Alone? (SETI Radio Show)

Check out some of these podcasts. My favorites are the KFI radio program and TWiT.

Microsoft's Entry into AJAX Development

2005-08-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

Web develpoment has come a long way in the past decade. One of the most exciting forms of development is AJAX, or Asynchronous Javascript and XML. This technology, although not new, is just now coming into being with help from the most influential companies in the game. Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft all use this new technology on their corporate websites to allow users the highest of quality when they use applications built with this system. Sites that use AJAX include Flickr, Google Maps, Gmail, Microsoft Virtual Earth, and Microsoft's Start.com. AJAX is not a language, but rather a usage of currently applied languages in order to create more interactive web applications. The AJAX technology allows the developer to create pages which do not need to be reloaded and use only the data it needs to perform the function chosen by the user. The Flickr photo page uses ajax to create slideshows and to manage user's images. The Google Maps site uses AJAX to retieve map data in real time, allowing for a quicker and more functional application. Gmail uses AJAX retrieve data without reloading the entire page, creating a fully functional web application, able to compete with the best of the desktop applications. Microsoft Virtual Earth is perhaps one of the most ambitious AJAX applications, created to compete directly with Google Earth, a downloadable Desktop Application.

Ajax web applications are literally changing the way we use the internet. More and more sites you visit on the web use this technology to make the experience of the user more contained. The further development of applications using AJAX on the web could prove to be a threat to desktop applications which rely on computer space and speed to run.

As internet connections get faster and bandwidth charges decrease, AJAX applications will become more and more useful.

Wired

You Say You Want a Web Revolution

02:00 AM Aug. 05, 2005 PT A programming technique called AJAX enables software developers to create powerful programs that function independently from the PC's operating system. Will it wipe out Windows? By Ryan Singel.

Digg

Microsoft's beta RSS reader start.com adds roaming - DIGG

AJAX becomes your average desktop interface - DIGG

3 major sites '"hacked" by "Fuxz"

2005-07-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

The hack a day, luxist, and autoblog websites were all "hacked" today. The pages appear to have been up at least an hour ago. Each website has been reported on seperate digg stories. Other sites "hacked" recently include img-host, IP chicken, and Spreadfirefox

Digg Stories:

Luxist
Hack a day
Autoblog
Spreadfirefox
Img-Host
Ip Chicken

Please email me if you discover another site "hacked" by the same culprit.

Silence for London Bombing Victims

2005-07-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

I assume that all of you have already heard about the terrorist Bombing in London this past Thursday. At the end of this post are some of the best sites on the web to research the happenings. Three bombs rocked the London Underground, and a fourth destroyed a city bus in the city's center. At least 33 people were confirmed dead and 45 with critical injuries. More than 700 are believed to have been affected with minor injuries. I'm sure after experiencing an attack on their own soil, many European nations will realize the importance of bringing an end to the terrorism which appears to still be fighting strong.

Today, people all over the European union paused for two minutes at the strike of noon to remember those who had died in the attacks. The four suspected suicide bombers, Shahzad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain, Mohammed Sidique Khan, and Lindsey Germaine, were all British Nationals.

Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said this in his speech at the G8 summit conference:

"It's important, however, that those engaged in terrorism realize that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world. Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilized nations throughout the world."

Links

Coded Arms

2005-07-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

Coded Arms is the latest release for the PSP gaming system. It came out today and so far is the first and only first person shooter game for the PSP. The story takes place inside an old computer database that was designed for military combat training. The project never quite got off the ground and so was left there for many years. During this time period, bots and soldiers multiplied within the system. Now 'hackers' are trying to go in and fix the system. This is your job as a 'hacker'. The gmaplay is pretty good for this game, however it does not live up to all of the hype about this game. The PSP was forced to adjust the controls because of the lack of a second analog stick. Now the X, 0, triangle, and square buttons act as the second analog stick. As you go through levels, you to try and kill all enemies, collect all of the hacks, and make it through all of the stages of the levels itself. As you go through these levels, you will pick up new weapons and upgrade keys, a certain number of which is required before you can upgrade your weapon. You can increase your health as you gain experience too. Considering that this is the first first person shooter game out for PSP, it is not all that bad, but it has a long way to go before it can live up to games like SOCOM and Medal of Honor. Overall, I would give Coded Arms a B rating for decent graphics and decent gameplay.

Farewell

2005-07-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

Knarf the Outlaw is gone. That is all, with due respects.

Google Acquisitions

2005-07-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

I really hadn't realized how impressive Google's acquisitions have been in further advancing their hold of the coolest and latest web technology.

Most recognizably, Google acquired Blogger, which is now and very successful tool although, not greatly integrated within any Google page.

Second, Google acquired Keyhole, the mapping software which eventually became the basis for both their online mapping tools and Google Earth.

Third, Google just recently acquired Dodgeball, a mobile phone service which notifies you either when friends are near or when a person with similar personality traits is around. Although this program is only active in around 22 cities, it seems like a very intuitive and almost futuristic tool. Obviously, I wouldn't use the dating feature. But just think if one day you were just sitting in Starbucks or maybe just in a mall somewhere, and you receive a text message saying (ex.) "Jim is at Street St. and Road Av. 10 mi. away." You could call Jim and ask him if he wants to join you in whatever you are doing.

Kid Killed for His iPod

2005-07-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a kid was walking in Brooklyn with three of his friends. He was wearing his backpack and carrying his iPod. One of them asked him for his iPod and when he refused, they knifed him. Not only did they knife him, but they took his backpack and his iPod and ran off. Now they are being accused of robbery, murder, and weapons possession.

War of the Worlds VS. Batman Begins

2005-07-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

There are a few things I want to say before I get to the article. Firstly, if you have not seen the movie and want to as well as be surprised and not have major spoilers thrown in your face, I would encourage you to not read the review below, just keep reading this paragraph. Secondly, there is less and less posting here, and I think we should get more posts as well as more contributers, as only three of us are very active at all. Please get anybody possible to contribute. Thirdly, there is nothing to say besides what I said above, but stop reading now if you don't want major SPOILERS!!!

Ok, the movie was pretty good. I saw it this afternoon, and was the second movie that I saw this week. The other one was Batman Begins. They were both good and both had their strength and weaknesses. Basically, Batman Begins was about an average rich crimefighter taught in the way of the league of Shadows, a kind of samurai society (Yes, it is random, but Batman is a swordfighter). He tries to save his hometown from evil guys letting fear gas loose in the city, which makes people delusional and everything to them looks scary. There is a lot of explosions and fear-related scenes, but what was awesome was that Batman actually has no superpowers, just a lot of guns and stuff. The plot was actually the movie's forte, and not even Spiderman could compete with the complex plot, flashing back to Bruce's childhood days, filled with despair. With nonstop action as well as Bruce fights evil and fear, it is a great movie.

War of the Worlds had even twice the action of Batman with the suspense starting in the first 15 minutes. The characters kinda just POOF out there, and you don't know much about them, but for an action movie, the characters are actually very well made and you get to know them well, which is a good thing for an action movie. Aliens and tripods destroy all and later capture humans to suck their blood in some pretty horrific scenes, some of the best scenes this year. Eventually, the aliens are killed...but not by men...by germs. Yes, if the aliens were immune to all viruses, we would have died...

So here is the comparison...
Batman VS. War of Worlds

PLOT: B-4.5/5 (It could have been better, but was still amazing) W-3/5 (But who cares if the plot is fair as long as there is intense action, eh?)

SPECIAL EFFECTS: B-4/5 (Not perfect, but good) W-5/5 (With people disentegrating and explosions and big exterminations, it is excellent!)

VILLAINY: B-3.5/5 (Bah! The villains have no superpowers...just a toxic fear gas...) W-4/5 (Aliens...usually they would be old, but with horrific blood-sucking crushing of the human race, I will let aliens pass as classic evildoers)

ALL AROUND: B-4/5 (No superpowers, but not enough battles) W-4/5 (Tied, eh? Right. The special effects are awesome)

It just depends on what you want. If you want good plot, choose Batman. If you want action, action, and more action, choose the War. Me? I saw both. They are both worth seeing.

Octavarium

2005-06-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

Octavarium is the latest release from the band Dream Theater. This CD was definitely worth the wait. This is a must have for any Dream Theater fan or anyone who enjoys listening to music in the same genre as Dream Theater. The CD begins The Root of All Evil, where a drum beat crescendos and eventually incorporates guitar. Then the song starts with some heavy guitar riffs and later on a solo from the keyboard's, Jordan Rudess. The next song is titled 'The Answer Lies Within'. It is a much softer sound than the first track and has some very quotable lyrics in it as well. The third track, 'These Walls', also has some quotable lyrics. This song has some very interesting dynamics, beginning with a bass line, progressing into some heavy 6/8 time and involving a double bass pedal only to change instantly to some soft, melodic, and harmonic verses. The next song is titled 'I Walk Beside You'. I personally don't mind this song too much, but many people have criticized it as sounding a lot like U2. This is true, but I don't think it sounds too bad. Next is Panic Attack. This song really is a Panic Attack on all levels. It has the spastic and jumpy feel, a killer bass line, frequent double bass pedal action, and a changing time signature. The next song titled 'Never Enough' is an interesting song. It's almost techno-ish but yet heavy enough to be considered rock music. 'Sacrificed Sons' is the next song. This is a fantastic song. It was obviously inspired by 9-11 with the tragic events that occurred. It starts off peacefully and then progresses into something much heavier, much like what Last Sacrifice does. This song really captures well the emotion that many felt on 9-11. Then last is the cover song, Octavarium. This song is amazing to say the least. The CD is worth buying just because of this song alone. It has some soft melodic harmony at the beginning accompanied with a flute. Then there is a guitar solo/intro to the song followed by a heavy drum part. The song continues with a more jumpy drum line and progressing into heavier music followed by en encore at the end. This CD is so worth buying you should all go get it right now if you don't already have it.

GASPZORZ!!!! Bill Gates plans to counter portable consoles with XBOX portable!!!!

2005-06-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

That's right! This is the XBOX portable. It should be released at the end of this year all around the world. It was Bill Gate's ultimate plan to rock the world of gaming with real virtual gaming (since his Y2K plan failed) and Microsoft looks forward to this "apocalypctic" change to the modern world of "real-time" gaming. Keep your eyes peeled to the news, and try best you can to purchase the XBOX portable when it comes out. Current game releases include Terror and a real-time Grand Theft Auto, as well as a game in which you (really) destroy the world. Keep your eyes out, because anime's comin' to life!

AJAX(+Virtual Earth vid) and Sage

2005-06-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to offer today, as I did most of my linkage on my own blog yesterday. But I do have some info and a tip to offer.

FIRST! I just wrote a fairly extensive article about AJAX and how it pertains to this very site! Although, I dont think many of you would be too interested in that, BUT there is a video linked that displays the capabilities of MSN's new Virtual Earth program due out in early July.

SECONDLY, I have a very useful Firefox extension called Sage. Sage is a feed reader built right into Firefox. Feed readers use the RSS and XML technologies to check websites for updates simultaneosly so that you don't have to. It is VERY easy to use and can help you check your friends websites for updates (Xanga's or bloggers) and News sites such as Slashdot at the same time.

.59 Celebration!!!!!!!!!

2005-06-16T23:31:00.000-07:00

In honor of reaching 59 cents with adsense and 6 cents with the search feature, I have taken away the annoying (and not working may I add) flash menu bar from the top and replaced it with the old one. BTW can anyone else see the ads in anything but IE (this does include you, Daniel).

California Earthquake

2005-06-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

I wanted to be the first to break this news and I'll update later on what happens. As I was sitting here on my computer, watching AOTS and surfing the net, a breaking news flash appeared on my toolbar saying that a 7.0 quake had just hit off of the coast of California, potentially causing a tsunami. Some low lying areas have been evacuated and scientists are carefully monitoring sea level changes. I think this is very exciting, much like watching a movie, since it is happening in real time. The researchers must be in a frenzy watching to be the first to warn of any danger. I'll update tommorrow on what happens.

Michael Jackson Not Guilty?

2005-06-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggers!!! Where have all of the posts gone? I assume most still active members have switched over to the forum. But lets try and get some people to post and comment on here too.

Michael Jackson was acquited yesterday and declared not guilty. How can this be possible? I will say that I think this court case was not a huge deal, because child molesting, whether in the proof or not, is not a huge crime to commit. Sure, it's not something ytou see every day, but the media blew this story up far out of proportion from what it should have been. I was not in the court room and I did not see the evidence for this trial. And I didn't really follow this trial in detail either. But, even if "Jacko" is innocent, I believe that he has some serious issues to deal with and I think that he should be a good person and admit them, sort of like someone checking into drug rehab. Michael Jackson just acts too oddly not to have some issues that are not normal. Like dangling a baby over the railing up high on a building. Or denying ever having plastic surgery (it's actually in an interview I saw on TV). So, whether guilty as charged or innocent, I'm not so concerned. I just think That Michael Jackson needs some help.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

2005-05-31T07:02:00.000-07:00

The third installment in the first of the three Star Wars movies and the completing link in the double trilogy set of six was worth the wait. However, I would not rank this movie too highly. It was still a well directed movie, because Lucas is obviously a brilliant director, but I thought it lacked in a few areas. First, the movie opened with lots of amazing and well done action-packed scenes that left me thinking, "See this again, I must." However, after about 45 minutes or so of the movie, I felt that the movie began more to fulfil the plot of the six rather than develop as a movie itself. I understand the importance of explaining the plot of the whole series in order for everything to make sense, but I thought the movie need a little more developing. Also, I didn' think that the movie lived up to all the hype it got from the media. I was really excited to go see it, but afterwards I just wasn't satisfied. And lastly, I thought that Lucas failed to draw the line between futuristic fiction and futuristic things that could never happen and were stupid to put in the movie. Some of the comedic unneccssary things could have been cut out to make the plot more developed. In the end though, it was a decent movie and I'd probably give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Hot Shots Golf Open Tee

2005-05-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

So this is probably not the best article or topic, but hopefully this will get some more articles written on this blog. So, Hot Shots Golf Open Tee is a very cartoon-like game that is just good fun. While I'm sure Grand Theft Auto will be all good and fun too, not all games require violence to be fun. Hot Shots Golf is a good example of this type of game. While advancing through the game, you can unlock new characters, new items, and new courses. A big plus for Hot Shots Golf is the wifi mode. You can play in a tournament wirelessly with 18 holes and up to eight people. This would be a great party game, much like Mario Party is to the Nintendo systems. And lastly, another big plus for this game is that it's a golf game, which means that the ball play will be different everytime you play it, making the gameplay length unbelievably long. This is one of the best games for PSP currently and will be for a while.

This is INCREDIBLE you HAVE to see it.

2005-05-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/datatile/

Go to the movie

Exams and other stuff

2005-05-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, you heard it right, this post is going to be partly about exams. First, however, I would like to introduce Google's new feature (as always) and say a few things about the blog and the forum. First, THE NEW FEATURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Google has introduced a new personalized homepage which has already been revealed in Slashdot and on Google's own blog.

Secondly, THE BLOG !

I apologize for the current problems, as I had saved a template I wanted to use, which appears to have accidently been published (it wasn't done when I saved it). This will be fixed shortly, and a new flash version of the site should be up sometime during the summer.

So, to kick off the summer, I'll give you some current tech/internet stuff to think about.

First, go check out BitTorrent, although this p2p file sharing network doesn't have total "built in search" yet, the creator has released a search engine on the site, and many more can be found throughout the internet. You can find a java-based piece of software that allows multiple downloads of bittorrent files called Azureus. If you want to try out your new download, try going to systm.org and seeing the new cast by one of the previous hosts of AOTS and TSS (attack of the show and the screen savers).

Second, check out this Internet Exlporer Exploit. DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK (at the page, not this link). It should freeze the entire computer.

Third, check out the info on the new Google Earth and MSN's Virtual Earth.

Last, check out two new games, the evolution game, Spore, and the game about "what if the Roman Empire had never died", Imperator.

P.S. You can see a video demo of Spore here.

Mezmerize

2005-05-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

So, Mezmerize came out yesterday. And it's great. I'll try not to review every song, but I'm sorry if I do. The album begins with a somewhat accoustic performance of Soldier Side. Then it quickly jumps through B.Y.O.B., which stands for Bring Your Own Bombs. This keeps with the System theme of antiwar lyrics. Then they proceed into Cigaro, which is also an antiwar song. But it only appears as an antiwar song to those who actually know what the lyrics mean. Otherwise, the lyrics will leave you wondering why Serj was just singing about his cock. Next is Radio/Video, which is possibly the best song on the album. It has thrashing moments, well done accoustics, and well done harmonics. Then they play the song about cocaine which was clearly written while Darian was on cocaine. However, despite being a drug induced song, it is one of the better moshing and head banging songs on the album. Then Violent Pornography. Self explanitory. Then Question, which is another candidate for the best song on the album. And finally, Sad Statue, Old School Hollywood, and Lost In Hollywood. Both of the Hollywood songs sing about "old school hollywood baseball", which leaves me puzzled. In conclusion, everyone should go buy this cd. NOW.

More Coheed and Cambria News

2005-05-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

As a surprise to the many fans who longingly await Coheed and Cambria's third full-length album, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star V - Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness, the popular and well-known fansite Cobalt and Calcium has recently released three brand new tracks from the upcoming CD that Co&Ca played in a concert just a few days ago in Manchester, UK at Manchester Academy. The songs available for download include "Kashmire", "Ten Speed of God's Blood and Burial", and "Final Cut". While these live MP3 downloads are available exclusively to active or paying Cobalt and Calcium members, most true fans would agree the price of membership is more than worth it to hear new songs from their favorite band.
On a side note, Coheed and Cambria lead singer Claudio Sanchez posted yesterday on Cobalt and Calcium's message boards. His post was brief, but informed the fans that they are in the last leg of production on the new album, and that the next volumes of the companion graphic novel should be hitting stores soon.

Google

2005-05-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

My favorite search engine, perhaps the most visited page on the web, by far the controlling search engine on the net, Google is truly the most recognizable internet company ever. Perhaps it's the funny name, the cool logos, or just the plain simplicity of their searches. One thing is for sure, based on the current expansion of Google into other fields, soon, Google will have it's hand in nearly every aspect of our computer life. Today, I am bringing a few tips for using Google and features (yes, this will be extremely long, but brief in my opinion):

Search operators can be used to enhance search results and queries.
The most useful of these include the define: and the related: operators

The calculator can be used for all of your "calculating needs"
For those of you who are fans of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, try this search.

You can search the phonebook just be entering someones name.

You can find MANY more secrets and features scattered all over the internet.

A few more quirky things include the Google VoiceSearch.

Some of the new products in Google Labs at the moment include the RideFinder, MySearchHistory, WebAccelerator

And now, WebAccelerator, out for about 3 days, has been closed to the public (but I already downloaded it!). Making it a truly closed beta.

Now I'm gonna go download the API and fool around with it. Check out these sites:
www.spreadfirefox.com
http://del.icio.us/uthater

The Kingdom of Heaven...deserves an Oscar

2005-05-08T17:19:00.000-07:00

..for bloodiest movie. Ok. This afternoon I saw the movie Kingdom of Heaven. It was simply amazing! The plot was worth giving an overview of. Basically, it starts with a man named Baileon(sp). Baileon is a blacksmith at a town in which he is hated. He has just finished burying his suicide wife when he begins to work at the forge. His father comes up to him…and says he is his father but had left his old mother. The father tells him he is the baron of Jerusalem and that the son should come back with him. Baileon refuses and the father leaves. The local priest comes to tell Baileon basically how stupid he was to reject his father’s idea, and then makes fun of Baileon for his sucide wife and how she’s going to hell. Baileon then takes a still-burning sword in the forge, stabs the priest, and throws him into the forge, where he dies screaming. It was very cool. He then follows his father to his troops where they are attacked by the villagers for killing the priest. This is very violent and lts of people die and one guy gets a knife through his throat…really nasty. Anyway, they win and go to a town where they sail to Jerusalm…on the way, the ship wrecks and everybody dies…except for Baileon..he lives. At Jersusalem, he meets the king who is a leper and covered by this really cool silver mask. The king is good but the person who is supposed to become king, Guy, is bad. On the way to another city, Baileon is attacked by muslims and he fights one-on-one this guy and ends with him slicing his head off. The king declares war on the muslims and everybody is happy. There is this cool scene with the masked king slapping a man…and then he gets sick and dies after a battle in which the Jersalem people al die…except for Baileon, but then is backed up by about 20000 men…so they enter the muslim city. They form a slight peace and then the king dies and Guy becomes king and has Baileon executed, but Baileon takes a single mask and slaughters the killers to death…really cool. So Baileon tells Guy not to fight the Arabs…but he does and gets his head chopped off when he takes his army to fight. He gags up blood and it is really nasty. They then hang his head on a stake. Baileon keeps his defense at Jerusalem. The Arabs come at night with a LOT of people. They launch a bunch of fiery rocks from about 200 ballistas…about 3000 fireballs to be exact in this cool scene. Basically, to be short, lots of blood is spilled and a literal 1 1/2 battle scene takes place with bombs, fireballs, swords, and cool strategies. Finally, Baileon surrenders and the muslims are happy. They all live happiy and then Baileon goes back to live at his town…and the muslims are happy, and the Crusaders are frickin mad that Jerusalem fell. While I would have liked the Arabs to be killed…they won, but it was still amazing!!!! You should all go see it..but it is R, and very violent, so be warned. As for sex scenes, there are none. Just killing! It will be good, but the trailer for Star Wars looks good, and very cool. Still, blood is pretty cool!

Randomness

2005-05-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

So I've just arrived back from the AMAZING 3 Doors Down concert. It was some good stuff. But ANYWAY. I want to encourage you all to run over to our new forum which administrator Daniel Smith (Echomaster) has so kindly set up for us.

http://s11.invisionfree.com/Half_News/index.php?act=idx

So, I've decided to share with you tonight, some of the best links I can find on a sight called:
OLDNEWSBABY. Does this sound stupid to you. Well it should. But nonetheless, this sight is used to save links that you find so that you can access them later (or prove to your friends that you found it first) on any computer. The following are either funny or useful links (i will specifiy):

http://www.imaginarygirlfriends.com/: For those of you who are to stupid to find a real girlfriend
http://www.2flashgames.com/: Just another flash games archive
http://litterkwitter.com.au/: This is just stupid
http://www.theuncredibles.co.uk/: For those of you who actually saw the Incredibles
http://www.treemessage.com/ & http://artpad.art.com/gallery/
http://www.oc88.com/: Some more games

Below this are some other links thrown together either from my search or from g4:
www.blur.com
airport monitor (monitor airtraffic from major airports in real time)
Google News displayed REALLY cool
Diagrams of Airplanes (good for seating arrangement)
What do you want to do with your life?
BABY NAMES!!!!!
del.icio.us

My favorites of all of these links are Blur, for it's incredible quality and del.icio.us for it's literally endless list of useful links to find new pages. Really, del.icio.us is far more useful than OldNewsBaby.

I'm out for the night guys. And CHECK OUT THE FORUM

The Chronicles of Narnia

2005-05-03T15:52:00.000-07:00

As many of you may have heard, it has recently been released that Disney is producing a movie of C.S. Lewis's book, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe this classic tale of fantasy combined is adored by a fan base spanning the world over. My first reaction was very negative, thinking that the only possible way that the film could be good would be with another production similar to that of Lord of the Rings. BUT I researched further to find the WETA, the visual and special effects company that graced the screens with it's wonderful interpretation of the world of Lord of the Rings, is bringing a newer and stronger approach to the world of Disney. This film promises to be breath-taking not only with it's brilliant supspense and story line, but also with it's amazing and flawless graphics. The age of effects companies such as WETA has truly brought on an incredible evolution to the movie screen and will certainly continue to advance bringing more lifelike and spectacular creations to a screen near you.

Is AFI Back to Work?

2005-05-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

While it seems that AFI has not done much in the past few months than release a lackluster compilation album and a cover of a Nine Inch Nails song, there might be slightly more on the way. As of March 2005 AFI is continuing their work on their new LP, which still remains unnamed. The band says that they are incorporating more 'rock elements' in the new CD, also claiming to have a more 'cold-pop' sound with a touch of electronica.
Also on the way in 2005 is AFI lead singer Davey Havok's new fashion line entitled Glitterboy, said to be available in May 2005 at Hot Topic stores everywhere.
According to Davey Havok, AFI's new album will be available late fall/early winter 2005.

Rubber Metal...the world of tomorrow????

2005-05-01T15:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I was reading a magazine in the library today and read about some new material that scientists have created to make things with called rubber metal. Rubber metal is steel, only this steel can be compressed into any shape or defaced as much as being destroyed or even smashed, and within a stupendous thirty minutes, this metal can shape into its original form, like rubber. Thus the name “Rubber Metal” comes to be. In Japan, tests of this pieces of durable magic steel are bein released for cheap prices as small little cubes and within the month, a car factory in Japan will test a car made of rubber metal version 2. The first attempt failed miserably when the car smashed into a cube, basically and completely destroyed the dummy….but within minutes was a full car. Still, the use of this metal originally ensured your car’s safety…not yours. This new kind is supposed to be so much better, but we will see. What are your views on this new invention. Will it be scoffed at, or will it succeed. Some engineers are saying future airplanes will use wings out of rubber metal that can compress into the side of the place and then decompress to give more room at the airports for more planes. This does not sound safe, but your views are better than mine. Does this sound practical and safe? Could it be the world of tomrorrow, or could it be the downfall of a stupid idea? We will just have to wait and see.

Important Notice to Everybody!!!!

2005-05-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

We need to post more!!! Please dont slack off!

Coheed and Cambria Have Returned

2005-04-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

After a well-deserved break and a tour, Coheed and Cambria is now currently back in the studio in Woodstock, NY with producers Michael Birnbaum and Chris Bittner working on the follow-up to their 2003 release of In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. The new cd, which is entitled Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star V - Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness, will be Coheed and Cambria's third full-length album, but not the last. Claudio Sanchez, lead vocalist and rhythm guitar of Co&Ca, has revealed that after this release the band will head back into the studio to record Volume Two and later the conclusion to the saga, The Bag On Line Adventures of Coheed and Cambria, a prequel to the first CD, Second Stage Turbine Blade.
Claudio has also hinted that Good Apollo will be a much more personal album than the last two: "We now see the story from the writer's perspective, and how the writer's reality is going to affect the outcome of the story. [This record] is probably the most personable Coheed record of them all. There will be songs about things that happen on a normal day for someone that drives them to a point of destroying something they love. And then of course there will be long epics that kind of go back into the concept, and now we see it from the character's perspective and how the character takes dealing with the writer. It's like, 'Wow, none of this really exists. It's just a story and you have to do what the writer says.' It's going to be pretty interesting." The new CD will have 13 tracks, including the song entitled "Ten Speed of God's Blood and Burial".
Coheed and Cambria have been working on their new CD since Valentine's Day and we should expect to see it in stores this fall, along with another companion graphic novel.

Find Coheed and Cambria Lyrics!

Popular Science, Internet Explorer, and RiVo

2005-04-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

Ok. That was a funny picture. Enough with the funnies and on to the serious business. I was reading my issue of Popular Science a few days ago and was reading about a new radio invented by the same company as TiVo. This radio is called RiVo and is able to record live radio for not much cost a month. The issue here is similar to Napster's issues in the past. The courts argue that this is unfair because the recorded songs, shows, etc can be loaded onto an MP3 format and they argue that this is not righ. However, my own argument that was not in PS was this...there are many tape and voice recorders these days that can load onto an MP3 format, so if RiVo is not legal...then no recorders these days are legal! What are your thoughts on this issue?
Also, there is serious problems with internet explorer, so if any of you use IE, use Netscape, Firefox, or Safari. Internet Explorer is quite bad...see below pic (another funny)

Yes, another good laugh...so to celebrate that good laugh...

Ok!Ok! I will stop with the stupid pictures already!
Another interesting thing that I found in popular science was that people seem to be criticising Michael Chrichton's newest book, State of Fear, which by the way, is a very good book if you have not yet read it. They think that the issues covered were not studied well enough and that Chrichton's research was not all correct and was just to scare people. I thought it was a good read, and seemed well-researched (besides the boring parts) What are you guys' views on these points...and don't forget to change to something other than IE.
Until next time,
Echomaster

A Weekly Joke Topic!!!

2005-04-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

I am starting a new kind of topic. It seems that lately there has been a lacking in humor, so I am here to change that! First of all, look at these insane pictures that I found!

If you have not noticed yet, I am Republican.
Anyway, here are some funny sites to visit. One of these Brandon had posted a few months ago, but this is just a revival of it.
Bob Saget is Lord of All!!!
Accept Christ for your Free PS2!!!!
Tell me what you think of these jokes and funny pictures. Until next time,
Echomaster

Poll

2005-04-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

Should we periodically post on here articles that are not true such as the Inquirer does? We would still keep this a legit news blog, we could just throw in articles that were fake every so often. Yes or No?

Shermerhorn Dies at 75

2005-04-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

I know this isn't a very important matter, but Kenneth Schermerhorn, the conductor for the Nashville Symphony, died yesterday morning at the age of 75. He had been conductor for more than 20 years and the new symphony hall being built downtown is named in his honor. His favorite piece to direct is Beethoven's 9th. He has been said to know this piece so well that even though it is over 250 measures long, he knew the whole thing from memory.

The 265th Pope. What's Different?

2005-04-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

Joseph Ratzinger was elected Tuesday night as the new Pope. The crowd cheered loudly for this new Pope. Joseph Ratzinger has chosen the name of Pope Bendict XVI. This makes me wonder, could anyone choose to have any name when elected Pope? I'm not sure. But that would be pretty cool if you could. Joseph is from Germany and so selected the name of Benedict because of his location and added the number to make himself feel old. This man has held positions prior to this that easily make him a suitable candidate. He has been a Cardinal since 1977. He has been the dean for the College of Cardinals since 2002. And now, he has been named Pope at the age of 78. This makes me wonder, if the previous Pope died at the age of 84, will this one last any longer? I hope so, but this topic really doesn't matter that much to me.

Armstrong to Quit After Tour VII

2005-04-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

We all remember the fantasy-like the story of Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France after his miraculous fight against cancer. His amazing comeback and amazing recovery as well as his determination helped him to win that race. And here, several years later, he has won several times. Shocking news has now befallen us. From the source of CNN.com, I have just heard that this legend on a bike will be doing the tour again this year, marking a career spanning more than 8 years. He announces, "I might win, I don't know." He also has announced that sadly this will be his last year. We will all remember Lance Armstrong for his amazing efforts at winning the Tour de France for the past six years. Let's all root for him on his 10th and final race through France.
Until next time,
Echomaster

Factual Errors Corrected:

Number of tours raced altogether

signature

Number of victories

Name

Excess Commentary

by administrator Echomaster, April 20, 2005 @10:33PM

The media/Iraq/oil

2005-04-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

It would appear thet the media loves to exploit all the killings of a few soldiers in Iraq. I do not like people dying over in Iraq, but some sacrifices are necessary. The media makes the situation seem much worse than it actually is. A little over 1000 troops have died. Listening to the media, a person would assume thousands of people have died. Also, I find it distressing when the leader of another country tells Bush that he is a war-mongerer. President Bush is/was defending this nation's interest, but some people would rather just sit back and watch while part of the country is attacked and destroyed. A few people would argue that the Twin Towers were a legitimate target, but that was part of the civilian population. While not existing in the world, the most reasonable target would be a military institution. Another argument: some citizens would also disagree about how the U.S. is trying to "capture" some of the world's oil. However what these people do not see is that Alaska has almost more oil than the Middle East, and if the U.S. wanted oil we would take over Russia, which has the world's largest supply of oil. The U.S. would be a much more unified nation if the media would stop over exaggerating some/most of the facts about the situations they present.

ADMINISTRATOR NOTICE

2005-04-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

The site was down for a brief period today as Daniel added a link to the top scrolling marquee. A few problems occurred with closing tags and such, giving the entire blog a scrolling appearance. I am sorry for the inconvenience, the p0roblem has been fixed.

Another Poll....Best Movie to be Released

2005-04-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided that we should all have out opinion on this argument, and I will say everybody can participate in this poll, even visitors. Just post/reply which movie you think will be best of the summer 2005 movies. The choices are
1. The Kingdom of Heaven
2. Star Wars III
3. Hitchhikers Guide to Galaxy
4.....others...I just cannot remember which.

2005-04-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

Echomaster - On the DS

I wanted to take a little interesting turn here at the blog today. I propose a debate between me and Brandon concerning the PSP vs. DS. I will take the DS side, which is kind of pitiful since I like it very much. I would like Brandon to post an argument-type reply topic going against what I say. Hopefully this should be fun. Here goes,
I think the DS is one of the better systems out there and I do have the evidence to back this up. While the PSP prevails in graphics, we must all admit to the fact that its 4 hour battery life is nothing compared to the DS amazing 10 hour battery life. They are both equal in wireless capability, but although the PSP can currently browse the web, I think that the DS can eventually. The DS does not need a memory card, which is good, and has the touch screen to make things interesting sometimes. Nintendo Is known for making games with good replay values, and Sony lacks there a little with the exception of Sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank. The DS has a built in microphone, and also Can play the famed GBA games. The PSP can play movies, but the downside is it drains power like hell and cannot play DVDs but you must buy movies separately. They are both good systems, but the pros for the DS outweighs the pros for the PSP.

Brandon Titus (Brandon) - On the PSP

The PSP is an all around great machine. It handles music, video, games, internet, and eventually may have wordprocessing and email. Although Nintendo has been long known for providing the best handheld and at one time console gaming devices, Sony has definitely beat them here. I will hit several major topics which should be compared with the two systems.

1. SCREENS-
* PSP:4.3 inch with 24-bit color capable of displaying millions of colors (unparalleled)
* DS:Two simultaneous screens, bottom screen is touch sensitive
* RESULT: (about equal in WOW factor)

2. WIRELESS-

+ PSP:Wi-Fi 802.11b, capable of ad-hoc (PSP - PSP) or infrastructure (wireless hotspot) connections
+ DS:Wi-Fi 802.11b (must have software, not yet available), capable of ad-hoc with only one game needed at times
+ RESULT: (PSP is able to connect to the internet, but DS only needs one cartridge at times)

3. CONTROLS-

+ PSP:Same as PS2 controls, analog (joy) stick, kind of cramped
+ DS: Same as gameboy
+ RESULT: (PSP overtakes DS because of shoulder buttons and analog/joystick)

4. GAMES-

+ PSP:UMD holds 1.8 gigabytes
+ DS: Cartridge holds 128 megabytes
+ RESULT: PSP well beats DS. For a comparison, GTA 3 and Vice City were under 1 gigabyte

5. BATTERY LIFE-

+ PSP: 3-4 hours on game play, 2 or so on DVD
+ DS: 6-8 hours on game play, (no DVD)
+ RESULT: DS has twice the battery life of the PSP

I conclude that the PSP is better than the DS, simply because it has FAR more capability (graphics, hard drive, game space, videos, internet). The DS is a must have for Nintendo loyalists, but the PSP should prove to be the more entertaining system.

The Pope

2005-04-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

Ok. This is looking good guys. Keep up the good posting and I have said this on many occasions, but make sure you comment on things. Firstly, I just wanted to say I am sure you all heard about the pope who died yesterday (interestingly while I was in the bookstore…..well nevermind that) Anyway, just to say it, the pope is dead, as well as Terri Schavio.

PSP

2005-04-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I was the first one to play the PSP. Brandon was the first to get one. So I'll be the first to review one. With all the hype and excitement over the new release from Sony called the PSP (Playstation Portable), I was sure I really wanted one. Until I played one. This little machine is basically an entertainment center at your fingertips, literally. The first one million sold come with Spiderman 2 on UMD, which is that little disc in the picture. I checked that out and, it's impressively the whole movie on that little disc. Not to be without games, I quickly went out and bought Spiderman 2 and Twisted Metal: Head On. Both of these I would say are excellent games. The graphics in Twisted Metal are not quite as good as Spiderman 2 graphics because I felt at times in the game like I was watching the movie they were so good. This is indeed a revolution for handheld gaming. Twisted Metal is so far though probably my favorite of the two because it will make a good wifi game and is exactly as I thought it would be. One thing that I would criticize about this handheld though is that even though the controls may be exactly like a Playstation 2 controller, they are a little bit small and close to the edge and can strain your hands after a while. Despite all this, I can't put mine down. PSP is definitely worth every penny.

Alive or Dead, Terri Schiavo?

2005-03-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

Terri Schiavo, now 41, suffered in 1992 from what they believe was an unbalanced amount of potassium in her body. This caused a lack of oxygen flow to her brain for only about five minutes. However, now she is near brain dead because of this. When this occurred, her husband at the time was supposedly reported her legal guardian. He as her husband and legal guardian wants her dead out of 'mercy'. In 2000 he went to court with a successful petition to have her feeding tube removed, which afterwards was re-inserted. This was due to the passing of 'Terri's Law' which gave Jeb Bush, Florida's governor, the power to decide. This in 2004, however, is viewed as unconstitutional and so is overturned. Now the current issue is that her feeding tube has been removed since last friday and she will likely not have it re-inserted again and so die very soon. Her family has tried appeals to this, but so far has had no luck. So my question is, should she die for not knowing anything and being brain dead, or should she be kept alive for the hope that she may, without being able to express it, wants to be alive.

The strangest suicide that you will ever see.

2005-03-26T15:09:00.000-08:00

At the 1994 annual awards dinner given by the American Association for Forensic Science, AAFS President Don Harper Mills astounded his audience in San Diego with the legal complications of a bizarre death. Here is the story.

On 23 March 1994, the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound of the head. The decedent had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to commit suicide (he left a note indicating his despondency). As he fell past the ninth floor, his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the decedent was aware that a safety net had been erected at the eighth floor level to protect some window washers and that Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide anyway because of this.

Ordinarily, a person who sets out to commit suicide ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be what he intended.

That Opus was shot on the way to certain death nine stories below probably would not have changed his mode of death from suicide to homicide. But the fact that his suicidal intent would not have been successful caused themedical examiner to feel that he had homicide on his hands.

The room on the ninth floor whence the shotgun blast emanated was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing and he was threatening her with the shotgun. He was so upset that, when he pulled the trigger, he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window striking Opus.

When one intends to kill subject A but kills subject B in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject B. When confronted with this charge, the old man and his wife were both adamant that neither knew that the shotgun was loaded. The old man said it was his long-standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her; therefore, the killing of Opus appeared to be an accident. That is, the gun had been accidentally loaded.

The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun approximately six weeks prior to the fatal incident. It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother.

The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.

There was an exquisite twist.

Further investigation revealed that the son [Ronald Opus] had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer hismother's murder. This led him to jump off the ten-story building on March23, only to be killed by a shotgun blast through a ninth story window.

The medical examiner closed the case as a suicide.

For the record: Suicide is not, and will never be, the answer to any of life's problems, and if you consider it, you should seek professional help immeaditly, before you do something that you will be unable to regret.

Tutorial

2005-03-22T18:12:00.000-08:00

For any new posters, follow this tutorial to be able to post. Firstly, I am the administrator Echomaster. To post, just click on new post and then create a topic and then write a good article on anything. Then go to publish post at the bottom. To comment on past posts, at the top of the menu, there is an icon that says "View Blog" it will say it the bottom of a topic "created by ____/__comments" click on comments and it will bring you to a screen where topics are posted. To leave a comment, go to the box on the right, type in the topic, and press "log in and publish."
Chao
Echomaster

A Fun Spring Break Topic

2005-03-18T18:12:00.000-08:00

Interesting Movie Slip-Ups

I researched some scenes in movies that were accidental mistakes that were never fixed or edited and are hard to find but very funny to see.

In Star Wars Episode IV-
When Luke Skywalker emerges from his ship after destroying the Death Star, he calls Princess Leia “Carrie” which is the name of the actor playing Leia.

In The Fellowship of The Ring-
When Frodo and Sam are leaving the Shire to destroy the ring, if looked at carefully, a car can be seen passing by as well.
When Bilbo leaves the house, he leaves it open. When Gandalf picks up the ring, he has to re-open the door.
When Sam says that if he goes to the cornfield, it will be the farthest he has ever been and he has to take one more step…yet he is at least seven steps away!
The apple that Aragorn throws to Pippin in the non-American version has a nutrition sticker on it.

In Jurassic Park-
The T-Rex is claimed to be sensitive to motion and only attack at the sight of moving, but when he sees the lawyer on the toilet, the lawyer becomes lunch anyway although he is motionless.

From the Lost World-
The T-Rex can make a glass of water or a puddle ripple, though the T-Rex cannot make a whole swimming pool ripple.
The T-Rex magically kills all the people on the boat yet when it hits the mainland, the T-Rex has been in the lower storage area the whole time, plus the man holding the close button down (who is also dead) has held it down the whole time.

From Jurassic Park III-
Before fighting the other dinosaur, the T-Rex had blood on his face. The next minute, the blood is magically gone.

In Barney’s Great Adventure-
When Barney and his friends are in the marching band, their shadows disappear after a few minutes for no explained reason (not like little kids will actually care if Barney’s shadow is gone for a while)

Have a good spring break!! Happy Spring Break, guys and keep up the good posting/commenting!

Spring Break/InBeta

2005-03-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

First of all, I hope everyone has a good spring break and remains safe so they can come back and post! (~sarcasm~)

Secondly, as you may have noticed, a new menu has appeared on the top. There is one bug that I know of already which involves the most recent post, "UPDATE TO MOZILLA!!". The menu bar does not appear on that page, and it seems that the page does not update itself correctly no matter what I do. There is a new icon on the bottom of the page now, InBeta, which I will place at the footer whenever I change something on the site that may be tempermental. This will serve as kind of a warning that I know somethings may go wrong. If you do find a bug OF ANY KIND on this or anyother page associated with this site, please tell me by emailing me:

Enjoy your spring break!

UPGRADE TO MOZILLA!!

2005-03-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

Once again, I am reitterating that EVERY user should upgrade to Mozilla (perhaps with the exception of Daniel, since he uses Mac. Anyway, the following picture is what you SHOULD see in your browser (the website, not necessarily the toolbars or with the current posts):

The next picture is what you will see in Internet Explorer (this is NOT how I designed the site):

Mozilla Firefox can be downloaded from here.

Secondly, I apologize for the use of my personal Flickr on this site, I am using it to test our ~~hopefully future version~~ for upcoming news links. Truly, ~~I doubt I will keep this approach~~, but will instead employ my own creation to link straight to a post. The flickr idea seems nice for personal photos, but not for others. Check out my personal blog to see my pictures (after it is redesigned later this week). Also, I will hopefully have a javasript version of the panel for people to use on their personal websites, as well as to create a more compact template for this one.

Same Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional?

2005-03-14T15:40:00.000-08:00

Early this week, a California Judge ruled restrictions on same sex marriages unconstitutional. The judge claimed that if laws against the gender of a marrying couple were restricted, then so could be the race of the couple. The disagreers always refer to passages in the Bible and other "ethical" things. The constitution specifically denies the connection between Church and State, thus creating the unconstitionality of the law. The states which have laws banning gay marriage: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah, Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginial, Washington, West Virginia, Maryland, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Alaska. Or maybe it would be easier to say the ones that allow it: Massachusetts, California.

San Fransisco Chronicles
State Wide Marriage Legislation (pdf)

The Oscars 2005

2005-03-14T14:31:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know that for the past week, this board has been dull and lifeless. It's time to spring up again because of spring break this week and post good things with good comments.
For those of you who watched the Oscars this year, it was a lot different from last year hosted by Billy Crystal, eh? Yes, from the moment Chris Rock stepped out onto the stage I knew this would be the worst host ever...hopefully, and that whoever is in charge of the oscars will never, ever let him host again. His first remark was really crude... "sit down, sit down, sit your a***es down!" My mouth was hanging open! What kind of a host would go in front of a cheering crowd consisting of famous actors and tell them to sit down in such a crude way? Yes, then he proceeded to make fun of God and the President and pretty much insulted the race of white people. He did this by playing a short movie. He had filmed people in the movie theatre asking them if they had seen the Oscar nominated movies.

He would walk up to a black guy- "Have you seen Million Dollar Baby?" "No"
Have you seen Aviator? "No"
Have you seen Ray? "No"
Then he would walk up to another random black guy, ask the same question, get the same answer.
He then asked several white men the same comment and got yes from all of them. Not trying to be racist here, but I personally think that he was trying to insult the white people. Not a good thing to do at a national event. His performance was more of the role of a....hmmm......COMEDIAN! And comedians do comedy, NOT hosting! (Just my opinion!)
I thought most of the awards were boring, the music sucked, and the only funny part is when Robin Williams comes out and talks about Spongebob being a gay freak! He says so are Chip and Dale, then! Two little male chipmunks that walk nude and sleep togethers! Yes, this Oscar season was a disaster. Plus, none of the movies nominated, save Aviator, looked even decent. C'mon, they even sent a little cheap animated lady from the Incredibles to hand out one of the Oscars. I would hate to be that lady or man who received that Oscar, he/she can say " I was given MY Oscar by an animated lady from an overly celebrated animated Disney movie that was a spin-off of some early spy movie!" Well, I did not like the Oscars, so hopefully none of you watched it...but if you did, or if you didn't you can comment. (dodgeball should have been nominated...that famous little phrase "if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a dodgeball. *throws wrench*).

Atlanta Assassin captured!

2005-03-14T14:12:00.000-08:00

Before I make my comments, I would like to say that activity is low, as Brandon has said and I know we can not all post every day, but a few a week from ever person is greatly appreciated. Right now we have 5 active posters, so keep it up, but wouldn't it be great if we had more? I challenge us to recruit new posters. I think it would be a good idea however to recruit people we know, and not open the board to open discussion yet.
A few other things...
1)- I have a Mac, so I don't know how different the site looks on PC, but follow Brandon's advice and if you don't use it, please switch to Mozilla Firefox for your internet browser.
2)- It has been said, but try to post on world news and not media news (ex. reviews on games and computer items)
3)- I do have a complete archives that is updated every day (or every post) that holds every article, who posted it, and what day it was posted. It is a word document, so if any one of you need to see a past article that is outdated and no longer on the blog, contact me or Brandon and I will send the archives to you.
4)- Be active and learn basic html tags ( I already have learned it to a more extensive degree) because it makes things easier in the long run.

THE NEWS!-

I am sure almost all of you heard about the man who was in court in Atlanta, Georgia sometime Friday. I am pretty sure that it was for him apparently raping some lady...but I also heard he had stolen, but the court was for one of those two purposes (I might need to be corrected on that). Anyway, this man, named Brian Nichols, grabbed the gun of a deputy officer in the court and shot the deputies as well as the judge, and then proceeded to escape. After three days of hiding with mass seige laid to the city by police, Nichols has been caught. He is held in the prison and it is not decided what the punishment will be, either imprisonment or the death penalty. Nichols is charged with 3 accounts of murder. I will update on this case soon (I already did on the BTK case) and any comments from you guys are greatly appreciated.

CO&CA Comic and DVD

2005-03-11T20:31:00.000-08:00

So the release date for the DVD "Live at the Starland Ballroom" is coming fast. March 22nd it will be available. We hope you like it.The first Comic will finally be available in stores next month, it will be available in your favorite comic store and Hot Topic. the 2nd Comic in the Second Stage series will finally be available hopefully in April, as it's almost done! It will be available online and in Hot Topic. Comic Stores will have it in May.If your Comic Book Store does not know about the book or cannot seem to order it, tell them it's available from Diamond Distribution, and listed under "EVIL INK", Claudio's comic book company name.

Blog

2005-03-10T18:52:00.000-08:00

Glad to see the activity.

Unfortunately, the way this page is designed, it can only be viewed (properly) in a browser other than Internet Explorer. I have spent a LONG time getting the spacing the graphics out properly, and I'm sorry to say that even if I knew how to differentiate the displaying of the graphics between browsers, it would probably be a long time before I actually did it.

Nevertheless, I am researching this problem and hope to find a solution before Spring Break and fix it soon after. Either way, I suggest that you all download a new (and better, may I add) browser. On the right side is a button that says "Take Back the Web". This button is a link to the Mozilla Firefox website. I bet you have heard of this browser, and it is very popular. I suggest you download it. The advantages:

1. More true rendering of HTML and CSS
2. Better "look" (downloadable themes!)
3. Tabbed browsing
4. Very Secure (compared to the horrible security problems with IE)
5. Faster loading

If you need help installing this or have any questions about it, ask me.

Half Life 2

2005-03-09T19:51:00.000-08:00

At the Eb Games website, there are people who say that Half Life 2 is a complete copy of Halo 2. If you want to see the full reviews go to ebgames.com, search Half Life 2, click on the first link that appears, and scroll down and read the full reviews. A person was saying Half Life 2 was a copy of Halo 2 because it is a sequel and that Master Chief and Gordon Freeman are scientists. While on this topic which one is better Half Life 2 or Halo 2. Half Life usually has better graphics, but both have very short campaigns. They also have a very fun multi-player. But Halo 2 is cheaper. That is some of the information for a decision.

New Changes

2005-03-09T17:33:00.000-08:00

1. Set visible posts to 7 posts on main page instead of days.
-To see past days either contact me or just find the post in the archives link section on the right

2. Changed CSS properties to create green background.
-Tell me how you like it!
-(Figuring out how to wrap the main "context" box around the sidebar)

Hope you enjoy the new look!
The next step is to make the context box wrap around the sidebar so when you scroll down you dont get the "bottleneck" effect and to add "hover" buttons to the sidebar. After that (and the main site is done) I will introduce this blogger into my main webpage which will be revamped.

Enjoy!

P.S. Here's a fun little banner:

Spongebob Gaypants????

2005-03-07T14:23:00.000-08:00


Is Spongebob really a show that promotes nudity and people of the same sex being gay? I don't think so, but apparently people who probably just hate the sponge would use pictures, like the one above, to say to people "Spongebob Squarepants is promoting gay relationships and your kid will be gay if he/she watches him," trying to put the show out of business. My guess is that the people who originally started this argument were rivals from other TV shows, trying to lessen the porous man's support, then spread to actuality and people started to REALLY think the sea beast was gay with Patrick. True, Patrick and Spongebob, from what I have seen, act very immiture and even get married (falsely, of course.) In the picture above, people not supporting Spongebob could argue that the two are getting ready to have "fun" in the bathtub. But, for any of you who actually WATCHED the Oscars, after Chris Rock's amazing "support" of the President and his wonderful views towards the common white man, you would have heard Robin William's true, yet somewhat crude statement (and very random) about Spongebob. His point is, why worry about a sponge, even if he is gay, when there are shows for younger kids (like Telletubbies *shivers*) for example, says Williams, what about Chip and Dale, two nude squirrels that sleep together. How about Barney and Friends? I think the point here is 1) Spongebob is NOT gay. I watch the show occassionally and there is nothing wrong with it. 2) Even if a sponge is gay with a starfish, should it be more criticized then the Telletubbies, four nude....things....that hug constantly and jump around. Truthfully, I think the actors in those suits had something horribly wrong done to themselves and I cannot find how a man could be in that suit. but a news report says that ALL the telletubbies are men indeed....or were. yes, there are horrible shows going on, so i will stop here and let you guys discuss your views on this, and Spongebob. chao!

Hockey This Fall?

2005-03-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

What is going on with hockey and the NHL? Was this decision a good one or a bad one on part of the owners? The owners decided last year that the players were asking too much and so created this 'lockout'. Now the owners continue to bring up proposals and the players keep saying that it isn't enough. But when it officially goes to court, the owners have the right to say that they bargained in good faith and that the players refused, and so will then be able to set the salary cap. There is one small error in the owners plan though: they will only be able to recruit American players. This would be a huge loss to both the fans and the league as American bred hockey is clearly not as good or as competitive as World hockey is. Most players from outside of America who formerly played in the NHL are good enough to make a living in Europe playing hockey. The NHL could also lose such greats from Europe such as Hasek who is one of the best goalies of all time (Czech Republic) or even players from Canada who are also not allowed to play under this new agreement if made such as Wayne Gretzky.
Was this lockout a good move on the owners part? Clearly, I think not. This would be because hockey will not be near as exciting or attractive to many fans as it was with European players. On the upside, the Nashville Predators lost more money on the 2004 season than they did during this 'lockout season'. However, I will likely miss the good hockey that there used to be as many other fans will too.

Hypnotize Delayed?

2005-03-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

As I was very much awaiting the news of the soonest release date for a new CD from System of a Down, I found a relatively soon release in Europe. This is likely releasing earlier in Europe than America because they do so much touring over there, but I just wish they would release the CD. This is where the problem lies. The release date for Europe had been set for February 28. Brandon and I were going to preorder it from Europe, but I'm glad we didn't. This release was scheduled approximately two weeks before the release in America, and now System of a Down has delayed this release in Europe approximately two months. Because of this delay, not only will some fans be disappointed, but it will likely delay the release of their second part of this double album, entitled 'Mesmerize', into late this year instead of early fall. This may also effect the touring done in Europe because of the later album release as the tour was intended to promote the album.

Dragonmount

2005-03-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

If any of you have read any of Robert Jordan’s masterpiece series, The Wheel of Time, then this should get you excited. Over the past years, especially during the time when the “Lord of the Rings” movies first made their appearance with “Fellowship of the Ring,” people have been anticipating the creation of a Wheel of Time movie. Jordan has granted the right to make a movie out of his amazing books several times over these years, all of the attempts just to fail because of the complicated numerous plots, length of each book, and the vigorous battles that would have been difficult to recreate. From experience, these books are simply great, as I have been reading them for a while. From the time I picked up “The Eye of the World,” I have been hooked. The bad side to them are the very long length of the books, the amount of books (with number 11 to release this fall), and the much more complicated plot compared to Lord of the Rings. Yet a movie has been confirmed! This summer, a few weeks before the release of “Knife of Dreams,” the eleventh book, a six minute mini-movie will be released in 3D at IMAX theatres throughout the world based on the frightening and captivating prologue to the first book, “The Eye of the World.” This is supposed to get support for several long movies based on the books that could possibly be made, each having to be a minimum of 4 hours. Whether rumor or not, an early showing of this mini-movie was shown to Peter Jackson, who thinks he could make his next major film series with the Wheel of Time books. This time, is successful, Jackson would make as many movies as books, which will be a lot of books. The new 3D movie is to be called Dragonmount and will be amazingly good as I have read the prologue.
A Review by a Reader of the Books-
(“I stumbled onto the Wheel of Time after reading several series from Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms to the Death Gate Cycle, Lord of the Rings and Apprentice Adept series. All of these series had enormous potential, but never fulfilled their capabilities in plot, character development, and complexity. The Eye of the World immediately set itself up for big expectations with the Prologue, "DragonMount". What appeared to be a classic hero-sets-off-on-a-quest book became so much more. More than just good vs. evil, this book more closely represents what our real society is like...twisting both good and evil for the selfish good or the good of others and so on. And the best part of it is...you can never underestimate or overestimate any one character whether hero or villian. All this with a touch of satire makes this book and the Wheel of Time series one the very best ever written. Jordan has definitely taken fantasy up another few notches of complexity and vision. And so far, Jordan has lived up to the big expectations set up by the Prologue, and even gone beyond them. This would also certainly make a great saga of movies capable of being beyond that of the Star Wars saga.”)
This will be very good and I encourage all of you to try one of the books. I am currently on book book 5, “The Fires of Heaven” and I intend to keep reading the books. Just think of another masterpiece by Peter Jackson; several times better, longer, more captivating, then the already-awesome LOTR movies!

Mars Volta Album

2005-03-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

Ok guys. So before I comment for the night. I have a few things to say.

First: I know that some of you (GEORGIA! ~points finger~) Don't know how to work this. EMAIL ME. My email is all over this site AND you know it anyway. It'll take like 2 seconds of explanation.

Second: I REALLY need some help from one person to my kinda an assistant administrator. Someone who can check the posts regularly and/or knows at least something about html and/or css.

Third: I REALLY need some graphics arts help. As you can see (above) I'm not too good with photoshop/image ready myself, but I am soon going to learn how to slice, etc. and make a new design for the site. ANYONE who knows or even has Photoshop should help with this as it is VERY time consuming.

Fourth: You may notice the pictures I added in, if you would like to include pictures yourself, I have sent the html script to do this over email (the new guy, Harrison Stringfellow, didn't get this).

Ok. Enough complaining etc. and onto the news:

The new Mars Volta album, Frances the Mute, was released today in CD stores and iTunes. I personally bought my copy from iTunes and am very pleased with it thus far. It consists of 5 tracks one of which is over half an hour long! I was surprised to find out, during study hall, how well known Mars Volta was, seeing as how Will Camarata, Max Pote, and Brendan Mayhew all were very fond of them. Will had apparently gone out and bought the CD in the morning, or somehow managed to get it early (which I doubt). Either way, Will Camarata had the CD, but Mr. Frost has outlawed the use of any earphones, only a day after I started listening to my iPod. But luckily, Mr. Harvey has yet to change his mind. The Mars Volta is a very strange bad, defying the standards of any classification. They have some Latin influence, while still maintaining a rock base and using new age effects.

The BTK Court Case Part One

2005-03-01T14:17:00.000-08:00

This morning, the BTK killer now known to have the name Dennis Rader went to court for the first time. He has been charged with 10 different accounts of murder and is looking toward spending a life in jail, since the original case expired in 1994, the death penalty cannot be used on Rader. The first session of the hearing lasted only five minutes, but the authorities expect for the trial to pick up in pace soon. Rader will be back to court several times, so this topic can be updated, and any comments on the trial should be posted. For plenty of information on the murders committed by BTK (standing for bind, torture, kill; a ritual Rader executed on all his victims), you can visit the CNN website. UPDATE- The first hearing is on March 6th

New Photo

2005-02-27T23:06:00.000-08:00

As you can see. As promised, I added the new image to the top. Tell me how you like it. I just found that quote randomly off the internet (I know it's not very good but I may eventually change it). Enjoy!

I'd be happy for any suggestions you may have regarding color, font ideas or text changes. Any ideas for the blog would be appreciated.

(If you would like the .gif ~animated~, .jpg, or .psd ~photoshop~ file then email me:

p.s. I encourage you to run over to my other site (linked on the side) quickly and taking a look at the game I have linked there. It is a free download, only taking up about 20 MB of space. It is not spyware or adware. The game is a shooting game much like the game worms but without the turn based playing. VERY ADDICTIVE

Are Apple Products the "It" Thing?

2005-02-27T19:07:00.000-08:00

Alright. You guys know my story with this issue, but it begs me to ask the question, "Are Apple products the 'It' things to have?" The iShuffle is the best in its market for Flash players, both in price and quality. The iMac G5 could be among the best consumer in-home computers on the market with its size and speed unmatched. Apple's program iTunes has been proclaimed the best legal music software out there and has the largest selection of songs for any legal service. And of course the iPod speaks for itself.
So are Apple products said to be the best. I currently own, as you all know, the Creative Zen Micro. This small thing holds only 5 GB of space and costs $250. The Apple iPod holds 20 GB in its smallest form and costs only $300. With it's unmatched popularity and ease of use the iPod clearly beats all competitors in its category. So, has Apple created the "it" thing or are their products just simply better on the whole?

BTK Case....closed!

2005-02-26T14:37:00.000-08:00

The horrible serial killer known as BTK was captured either today or last night in Witchita, Kansas. A 57 year old man was arrested and has been successfully identified as the notorious killer, BTK, which was confirmed to mean bind, torture, and kill. He was captured after sending several notes containing clues to the murders he had committed and even lisence plates of people he killed. Now that this man is in custody, forces will decide what exactly to do with this infamous phantom of Witchita. He also confessed to several, several other crimes that police had not even thought of him as a suspect for. More news will be posted soon on the results of the force's decisions.

Nintendo Revolution....truth or rumors?

2005-02-26T14:03:00.000-08:00

Nintendo has announced a new system, a console similar to its forerunners, the Nintendo 64 and the Gamecube, and all the way back to the NES and its predecessors. Yet it is not certain what exactly the system is to be called or what it is. Rumors are in circulation, but the most probable name and what is the most likely the true name of this mystery machine is the Nintendo Revolution. Pictures, supposedly of this system, show us that it will likely look similar in shape and form to an oversized CD player that plays disk size games. One of the more interesting rumors is a massive RPG (Role playing game) to be announced on this system by Camelot, known for its stunning and awesome GBA game Golden Sun (which is, by the way, a very great RPG), and this RPG is supposed to knock the competitors of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, out of the Revolution’s path. The RPG itself is not known, but I suspect it will be related to Golden Sun in some way or other. Another rumor is that the system is really going to be called “Nintendo 21,” although it is not certain at all. A shocking factor recently discovered is the fact that this new system might mock the DS in a way that the controller might be touch sensitive, and have other “hidden” surprises. People believe that the Revolution will not be a console, but really a computer in a box, that hooks up to the internet as well as the television. Finally, the people at Nintendo have confirmed that this mystery will be announced, at least partially at the E3 convention this summer, but they don’t know how. Lastly, a secret tipper from Nintendo has announced to somebody a thrilling secret about the Revolution in one sentence. “Touching is good….but feeling is much better.”

Tsunami

2005-02-26T11:19:00.000-08:00

As I'm sure You all have heard. The tsunami in the Indonesian area has devastated an already poor nation. In this months issue of Scientific American, an article talked about the effects of the tsunami and the problems with aid across the world.

The tsunami late last year killed 225,000 people in 12 different nations. After seeing the large effect of the tsunami, the Indian investment of $29 billion to create tsunami warning systems for the Indian Ocean in January. But is relief really enough? The only times that nations jump at providing relief support for poor nations such as Indonesia is during times of great disaster.

Day to day problems across the world kill Millions from diseases such as AIDS and malaria each year. This is the equivalent of a tsunami a month! The millennium Development Goal, signed by the UN in 2000 was supposed to fix this problem of the poor relief in developing nations. The UN general assembly pledged 0.7% of the income of the rich states to developing nations. Few countries (not including the US) have lived up to this pledge, and in mid-January, the program was cut back to 0.5% which has still not been realized.

Tsunami Facts

"A year of death and destruction wreaked mostly by humans ended with nature flexing her own muscles, to terrifying effect." When a magnitude 9 earthquake rocked the Indian Ocean, sending a speeding tsunami towards 12 different nations, the results were catastrophic. The earthquake was the largest ever recorded in the region, and the worlds biggest since the 1964 Alaskan quake. The quake started 100 kilometers south of Sumatra on the western edge of the Burma Plate. The tsunami traveled across the ocean as fast as a jetplane at about 1 foot high. The wave slowed as it approached land, and like a traffic jam, built up to enormous heights.

To display the ferocity of the earthquake that caused the tsunami. The earth's crust tightened and caused the planet to contract, creating a faster rotation of about 3 microseconds. The movement of the crust has raised worldwide sea levels about a millimeter. This original quake has the capability of also setting off smaller quakes in the next few years; quakes that could be even larger than the first.

Google Hacks

2005-02-25T21:51:00.000-08:00

This book, entitled Google Hacks, has over 400 pages of cool things you can do with Google alone. "It's not just a search engine anymore." Some interesting things it includes:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/E-mail/Mail-Utilities/GMail-Drive-shell-extension.shtml - A freeware application that makes your gmail space appear as a drive on your computer. It's never been easier to remotely access files. (With all the new invites you could have EVERYTHING on your computer on the internet!)

http://g-metrics.com/ - A site that graphs Google's results over time.

http://www.findforward.com/?t=centuryearly - Calculates a century view of keywords.

Find all these and more at g4techtv.com (screensavers) and my other blog, uthater.blogspot.com (where there are more links and free stuff posted)

Blink 182 to Break Up

2005-02-25T10:21:00.000-08:00

Blink 182 is officially breaking up and taking time off. Like 5 years off. They won't reunite until Warped tour 2009, or so it's projected. This means that there won't be any new stuff from Blink 182 until probably 2010 at least nor will there be any touring to make the wait seem shorter. Even they have been called by many a 'poser' band, they do have somewhat talent and will be missed until 2010 if they are even close enough at that point to even come back.

Bluetooth iPods?

2005-02-23T18:45:00.000-08:00



Will Apple release a product that could very well be the next big thing in mp3 technology? The release of a bluetooth version of the so popular iPod would surely turn the mp3 player markey on its head. The addition of bluetooth to the iPod array of tools would allow wireless sync with any bluetooth enabled device (all Apple laptops and some pc laptops) and wireless bluetooth enabled headphones.

Source: http://networks.silicon.com/mobile/0,39024665,39128076,00.htm
        http://sys-con.com/story/?storyid=48323&de=1

Podcast - Show Notes and Other Things

2005-01-01T19:57:00.000-08:00

Check out the podcast on the mp3 podcast button above. An iTunes subscribe button is coming soon. More info about the podcast will be added later.

About

2005-01-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

An ad-free news blog. The Half-News blogsite is an opensource news site run by several conributing members. Articles are published on a daily to weekly basis. The topics range from technology to politics. Current administrators are Brandon Titus and Daniel Smith.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Administrator Notices

2004-01-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

August 18, 2005 - Projects button and post replaced with Podcast button and post. (In preperation for podcast)

July 14, 2005- The ads have been removed and the main content section has been expanded. The podcast icon has also been added to the top right although NO LINK IS ASSOCIATED WITH IT. The menu has also been centered on the page.

June 17, 2005- The hit counter previously in the footer was moved to the top of the sidebar where the firefox download count used to be.

April 23, 2005- The Archives section of the blog has been added.

April 19,2005- The top bar of the template has been updated to reflect the most recent posts. This should NOT be used as the only means of browsing as some smaller posts were skipped.

April 13, 2005- The site experienced a brief downtime today as some template issues were fixed. The "administrator" notices tab was added to the top.

Updated by administrator Brandon most recently

Photos

2000-01-01T13:10:00.000-08:00

Administrators

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Members

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