Patrick's Deep or Geeky Thoughts

Damn so close...

2006-12-08T08:56:00.000-06:00

Those jerks from the God Hates Fags people almost get what they deserve (with video goodness)

FireVanAlstyne.com?

2006-10-15T10:25:00.001-05:00

Ok so it looks like General Van Alstyne has unreasonably freaked out again. I want say where I got this but I got the following letter:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The following orders are directly from the Commandant. I expect them to be
complied with immediatly. I don't have furthur details at this time.

The orders are as follows:

Effective immediately, the following orders will be posted and remain
in
effect until further notice.

* Commanders will cease all planning for "Corps Brass". There
will not be a three-week event referred as " Corps Brass" this year.
(I
will determine, by outfit, and in consultation with each outfit
commander and others, when fish will receive their Corps brass.)

* All "Corps brass" insignia and "band lyres" insignia will be
removed from cadet uniforms immediately and until further notice.
"Corps
brass" and "band lyres" will be replaced with "AMU" brass.

* All outfit guidons and major command colors will be encased ( or
rolled and tied) and carried at all formations. (As an exception,
guidons and major unit colors will be uncased, unfurled, and carried
for
the march-in on Saturday.)

* "Training" of freshmen in proximity to parents and other
visitors will cease immediately. ( Example: during formations before "
step-off". Freshmen will be granted "sophomore privileges" in such
situations, and especially on " game day".

Additional orders:

* The Corps Run scheduled for Friday morning is cancelled. Outfits
will conduct normal PT on Friday. All runs will be by ability group.

* All commanders and first sergeants will assemble in the Corps
Center at 1730 on Sunday, 15 Oct for further instructions. No one is
excused. (Among other topics, we will discuss the training of the
freshmen for the remainder of this semester.)

END COMMANDANTS DIRECTIVES

In addition to these orders. I am rescheduling the Friday morning plan.In
response to the cancellation of the Corps Run, We will be having a morning
formation in Bravos in preparation for the Academic day. 0700 hours.

So yeah, as a former cadet this really ticks me off. There is nothing that could possibly merit punishing the whole Corps. I like some of the stuff that this guy does, but he way overreacts...

Will the anti-Semitism never end?

2006-07-14T21:48:00.000-05:00

So the speaker of Iraq's parliament has finally figure out what the cause of all the violence in Iraq is.

Is it Al Qaeda? Apparently Not.

Is it radical clerics and their followers? Nope.

Is it minorities who feel that the government was formed without them? Nah.

Nope none of the above. It's the Jews fault.

FTFA:

Some people say, 'We saw you beheading, kidnappings and killing. In the end we even started kidnapping women who are our honor,' al-Mashhadani said. These acts are not the work of Iraqis. I am sure that he who does this is a Jew and the son of a Jew.

Ok I know that Hitler and Nazi comparisons are pretty extremist, but I can't help but think of them with people like this guy and this genius are in charge of running the region.

Ok who ever thought this was a good idea?

2006-06-27T18:46:00.000-05:00

So Bush is urging Congress to pass the line item veto. Now Congress gave Clinton the line item veto in 1996 but the courts struck it down.

So 2 questions.
1. Why does Congress think this new bill will be any more constitutional than the last?
2. Who in their right mind thought this was a good idea?

Don't get me wrong I'm all for cutting down on pork barrel spending, but letting a president edit a law? Doesn't that kind of duck around the whole checks and balances thing that is suposed to make our government so great?

I'm mean lets face it the main problem with our government today is that the executive branch already has too much power. Bush is already effectively exercising line item veto by using signing statements saying that he (and therefore all of the executive branch) won't enforce provisions of laws that Congress has passed.

I don't really care if we some how got a president who was better than all our greatest presidents combined... I still wouldn't want him to be able to circumvent the checks and balances of our government.

I don't believe it...

2006-06-08T18:22:00.000-05:00

The HPV vaccine actually got approved while Bush was in office... There must be snowball fights in hell right now.

Oh I hope this is a joke...

2006-06-04T21:28:00.000-05:00

This is either really funny or really scary.

What to do if your child is born on 06/06/06.

This really ticks me off....

2006-05-29T21:40:00.000-05:00

Ok What the Fuck

Top 10 Signs of the Impending U.S. Police State

2006-05-29T21:35:00.000-05:00

This is pretty scary stuff... but then most of us have seen it coming for a while.... but people still won't vote or worse willing give up their freedoms to feel "safe."

Hard puzzle

2006-05-26T19:45:00.000-05:00

Ok you remember the game grow from awhile back? This is oh so much more frustrating. Warning this like an hours work atleast....

The sad state of affairs in America....

2006-05-26T18:27:00.000-05:00

Am I the only one who thinks this is just sad?

A prematurely grey soul singer from Alabama who was once likened to a drunken dad at a wedding triumphed in the American Idol finale, which drew more votes than have ever been cast for a president in a US election.

The MPAA vs. Everyone

2006-05-10T22:32:00.000-05:00

So the next time that you ship something through FedEx the MPAA might have DVD sniffing dogs looking at your package. And if they happen to think there is a DVD in your package it could be opened and searched.... hows that for privacy? (Article here.)

Nudity vs. Violence

2006-05-03T21:35:00.000-05:00

So the ESRB has changed the rating on Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion because hidden in the source code is a half naked skin for the female characters. This game is set in a fantasy world where you can kill people in an Arena, join a "Dark Brotherhood" where you kill innocents with no questions asked, a thieves guild, and just generally go around killing things. So I guess my question is are we as a society more afraid of a pair of breasts than murder? Any way I'll let you judge. Images are NSFW.
Image A Image B

It is also useful to note that you spend 99% of the game staring at the characters back or out of their eyes. There is one screen where you can see the nudity. The one shown above. It also requires a modification downloaded from the internet. Lets face it if a kid has access to the internet he has access to far worse than a pair of breasts... Am I the only one who finds the puritan attitudes in this country completely hypocritical and stupid?

Ugh

2006-04-27T20:30:00.000-05:00

So Oklahoma just passed a law banning the sale of violent video games to minors. Because parents obviously can't be trusted to monitor their children.... like in this case.

The teen was 13 on the day in February 2005 when he and several other youths were drinking, smoking marijuana and playing the ultra-violent Grand Theft Auto video game in an apartment, said Rod Brecht, the lawyer for the teen.

And it's the video game's fault that the kid shot one of his friends? I really hope that this kids parents are in the next cell over. So yes lets ban violent video games because they cause violence. Thats why my whole generation goes around jumping on people's heads, throwing turtle shells at them, and shooting at dogs when the laugh at you... (Man I hate that stupid dog).

I just wanna know when did parent's give the responsibility of raising their children to the state? What happened to personal responsibility?

RIAA Petition

2006-04-26T11:21:00.000-05:00

If you don't like the RIAA owning Congress then go sign this petition. Hopefully Congress will actually listen if enough people speak up.

I have a riddle for you....

2006-04-25T08:54:00.000-05:00

What are the two most Orwellian , worst pieces of law out there? That's right the PATRIOT Act and the DMCA. Now what do you get when you combine them?

Why the Intellectual Property Protection Act. This proposed bill gives wiretapping authority in copyright cases! And how are they justifying that? Because Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says that money from pirated Intellectual Property is being used to "quite frankly, to fund terrorism activities." That's right the terrorists are apparently stealing America's movies, music, and software and then selling it to fund themselves.... I don't know about you but I want to see some kinda proof on this one...

This bill would also "[amend] existing law to permit criminal enforcement of copyright violations even if the work was not registered with the U.S. Copyright Office." Even if it isn't actually copyrighted in this country it still illegal in this country?!?!? No it should be illegal in the country where it is copyrighted and the case should have to be strong enough to warrent extradition.

This bill really saddens me. America's copyright and patent laws are already to broad and restrictive. They are reducing Americans' ability to compete in the world market because we are two afraid of breaking the law and being sued, or now even imprisoned, for trying to invent and innovate.

Please write you Represntative, don't vote for people like Lamar Smith (I'm in his district BTW and he'll definately never get my vote even if I have to run against him myself), and just don't let the RIAA and MPAA run this country like they do today.

More Info
C.Net
PublickKnowledge.org

2006-04-15T10:30:00.000-05:00

So this idiot will have nuclear weapons in 3 years, has underwater missiles, radar avoiding missiles, and has pledged to fund terrorists (Hamas).... umm no offense to our president... but aren't we occupying the wrong country?

And you guys at the UN... what happened to "We will not negotiate with terrorists?"

I mean I don't really want to have to invade another country but if anyone deserves it it is Iran. So please leaders of the free world, get off your butts and do something.

LJ

2006-04-09T19:21:00.000-05:00

So I created an LJ mostly so I can lock some entries and that this can become more of the forum that it was originally intended to be.

It is here.

I'm just their Patrick

2006-04-03T22:51:00.000-05:00

Ok so I don't normally watch Grey's Anatomy, but last night I had five fans of the show here so I couldn't very well avoid it. (And not lose 5 friends in the process). Anyway there was this scene where Callie tells Meredith and (I can't remember her name) that they just see George as "George." They look past him and just don't really see him.

So how is this relevant?

I was talking to Rose last night and she said that is how I am like George. To all my friends I'm just a friend....

Kinda a double edged sword I guess... I get to know my friends really well and hear stuff that they tell almost no one, and I get to share in their lives in a way that few people could hope to... but on the other hand I don't get to share in their lives in other ways.

I guess I'm just angsty that I don't have someone that really sees me. I just need to keep looking for that person that we make each other's worlds stop.

Disclaimer: The preceding is not a pity party but rather a statement of my renewed resolve.
If you can read this you don't need glases.

Anna and I...

2006-03-31T17:32:00.000-06:00

So Anna and I went for a long walk last Saturday. We spent all day walking and talking about our respective love lives and how she's a cat person (even though she's allergic) and I'm a dog person and about a million other things.

Anyway I tell my mom about this walk and she asks me if I'm going to convert for Anna.
I had a coworker ask me which girl I am actually going after.
And today I had a coworker tell me that I should date Anna.

First off, Molly, before you freak out neither Anna nor I have any intention of dating the other one. And I see why people get the impression that we could be dating but our relationship just isn't like that and it would never work out even if our relationship were to change.

So I'm amused, Anna is amused, and hopefully now you all are amused too.

I guess I do have a small bit of social commentary to go along with this post: Why is it that people have such a problem with a girl and a guy just being friends? Why do they all seem to insist that just because we spend time together and like the other person's company therefore we would (and should) make a good couple?

Ok much calmer now...

2006-03-26T14:43:00.000-06:00

So I went on a very long walk with Anna. (We walked for like 5 hours) It gave me a chance to talk to her which is really good. We talked about her issues with Shera and Jonathan and my issues with Lily.

Speaking of Lily... I've decided to relax a bit. I've been in a relationship for so long that that is my comfort zone. And I've decided that I need to relax and just enjoy dating. Then if something happens... something happens.. and if not I have a new friend (hopefully).

Ok so now I'm confused.....

2006-03-25T03:17:00.000-06:00

So I got to see Lily tonight which was a good.... and bad thing.

I honestly don't know what to do with the girl. I get the impression that she likes me, but beyond that....

She either just doesn't give me any signals or the signals that she's giving me are so subtle that I just don't pick them up. Oh well, I told her I would call her and we'd do something which seemed to make her happy... so maybe date number 2 will actually give me some sort of clue to help me figure this girl out.

Oh life is good..

2006-03-23T22:43:00.000-06:00

So yeah.... Date with Lily was really good. The only thing that subtracted from the evening was that at the end of the night I had to drop her off at the curb cause there were no close parking spots and I don't wanna make the girl walk. But I'm happy and I will be calling her at some point tomorrow to set up date number 2. :)

So at one point at the night we went to Waterloo and saw the The Hudsons. They were really good. Kinda folky/country/different. Have a great fiddle player who is really into and feels the music which I just found awesome. So yeah if you get a chance to see these guys I really recommend it.

Oh and any good second date suggestions I would appreciate. :)

I actually have a date!

2006-03-21T23:20:00.000-06:00

Yes I know you are all shocked, but I actually managed to get a date. Her name is Lily and she's pretty and seems like a really sweet girl. I'm really looking forward to getting to know her better. We're going to go out on Thursday so wish me luck. :)

Need female advice

2006-03-19T23:07:00.000-06:00

So I went to University United Methodist tonight for their youth group thing. It was alot of fun. I needed some God time.

We went to Amy's Ice Cream afterwards. Which was good. But Lily's cycling friends were there... and you know how it is with tightly knit groups like that... so yeah I definately felt like an outsider. But the really weird thing was that at the end of the night i was about to ask for her number and she tells me to get her number from Reagan... so yeah that threw me for a loop. But after talking to Derek and Anna I think it was her way of saying "I want you to have my number but I'm not the kinda girl that's just gonna give you your number" (no offense Anna) But yeah hindsight is 20/20 and I really was going to ask her for her number. So yeah how would you interpret this?

So...

2006-03-18T12:40:00.000-06:00

I like my gay friends.... but yeah two nights in a row we hit gay bars... which is good for them... but its a lousy place to pick up chicks...

Oh and don't see The Hills Have Eyes... God was that movie aweful.

Ah Austin....

2006-03-13T18:09:00.000-06:00

So I went to a "house warming" party last night. I say "house warming" since they have actually lived there since April.... but anyway. The party was hosted by this couple that didn't know very many people in Austin, so they decided to invite people from MySpace. Thye met my buddy Derek on MySpace and I was invited through him. (complicated I know)

The truely amusing thing was that I was the only straight person there. I really enjoyed myself though. The people were fun and it was interesting to be in the minority for once. A few of them are planning to get back together and I think I'm going to be invited so either someone thinks I'm cute or they actually enjoyed my company. ;)

Well I know Rose isn't gonna like this...

2006-03-11T21:19:00.000-06:00

This professor is proposing that there be a tax on Workaholism.... So yeah workaholism isn't the best thing in the world, but a tax? That makes no sense...

Ah fun times...

2006-03-07T22:33:00.000-06:00

There is nothing like a baseball game with friends... even if the Aggies did run out of innings.

Also while Anna and I were waiting on Derek and Marlana to show up I saw Thelma (one of my seniors). I hadn't seen her in along time. So that was fun.

And tomorrow I have Aggie Happy Hour... woohoo!

This frightens me...

2006-03-06T20:04:00.000-06:00

So a couple decided to pay off their rather large debt to JC Penny. Which I think most people would consider the fiscally responsible thing to do. However, this set off warning bells at the credit card company and they alerted Homeland Security. Because, their behavior was out of the ordinary... well it came a few years late but welcome to 1984.

2006-02-28T21:51:00.000-06:00

This is just sad.

Student senator Jill Edwards, according to minutes of the student government's meeting last week, said she "didn't believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce."
Well Jill, you've probably already heard this and will probably never read this blog... but it is because of members of the Marine Corps, and the Navy, Army, and Air Force that allow you to say what you did. And the fact that you said it shows that you are not the highly educated, civicly responsible person that UW (or any school for that matter) should want to produce.

HD = No More Fair Use

2006-02-24T09:46:00.000-06:00

Here is a pretty good blog post that sums this up nicely.

What this all boils down to is that the movie studios will now be able to regulate which plugs you use to connect your tv and your HD movie player.

The component cables which were the early HD standard? Analog so they will play back your HD movie at 1/4th the possible resoution (you'll get 100 more lines than DVD as opposed to 600 lines more).

DVI cables? Digital with no copy protection (even worse in the movie studio's eyes)...

HDMI (The current top of the line)? Eh depends on if your TV maker had the foresight to include all the copy protection stuff that this standard allows for... if not oh well your screwed...

So whats this boil down to?

If you want to use a first gen HDTV you're screwed (no digital/copy protected inputs).

Want to use your computer? You're screwed... unless it was built by an OEM that ensures that the data in encrypted from Disc to motherboard, decoded in the processor, the reencoded by the video card... Oh and you need one of those HDMI cables for your monitor (which I haven't seen as a standard feature on any monitors in my price range).

So yeah, I'm normally an "early adopter" but I'm not touching this stuff with a 10 foot pole. I just hope that alot of other people realize how much the movie studios are trying to screw us over and are atleast asking "Do I get lube with this?"

2006-02-21T19:20:00.000-06:00

Reason #487 to switch to Linux.

I don't know if I should be angry or scared....

2006-02-20T22:29:00.000-06:00

Ok a little (overly simplified) background for the non-techies in the audience. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers or ICANN is a group that for all intents and purposes has complete control over establishing and maintaining what are called Top Level Domains or TLDs. TLDs are the .com, .net, or .uk at the end of the names you punch into your browser. They then have deals with groups called registrars. In some cases a registrar is run by the country that the TLD represents, or in cases like .com, .net, .org they available for everyone to use. Enter VeriSign... This company basically runs the TLD servers for .com and .net (the servers that tell you how to get to google.com for example). A couple of years ago VeriSign ran a program called Site Finder. What this boiled down to is if you entered a domain that didn't exist it would forward you to VeriSign's site where they would try and sell you the site and other services (and some people claimed they tracked the traffic to this site and if warranted raise the price of that name). ICANN didn't like this and order them to stop, so VeriSign sued ICANN. ICANN is trying to settle and here is where the current problem begins:

As part of VeriSign's new contract with ICANN, VeriSign would have more control over the .com TLD including a "presumptive right of renewal," meaning if they want to keep control they can without any bidding for the contract (this contract would require renewal in 2012). VeriSign will also own ALL expired domain names, be able to raise the prices of registration by 7% a year for 4 of the next 6 years (with compound interest that's about a 31% increase in cost), and access to all traffic data on domains.

So if your domain name expires it becomes the property of VeriSign who can then sell it to whom they wish (not necessarily you)...

They get to raise prices while the cost of bandwidth, storage, and computing in general is decreasing...

And they get traffic data on ALL domain names (including unregisted domains), which is as bad as Site Finder in my opinion.

The Register Article

Linux as a Desktop OS

2006-02-19T10:15:00.000-06:00

So I'm going to try to use Linux as my primary operating system again. Of course this isn't a good test of if its ready for prime time since I use Linux at work and have tried this before and each time I try it it gets easier (I think partly because Linux has gotten better and partly because I've gotten more used to it).

So far I've found 2 problems:
1) Games! They still don't work very well (even with Cedega)... I'm going to try regular Wine and see what happens with that...
2) GAIM and the current incarnation of Google Talk don't play well together sometimes. (When you IM someone it seems to prefer using their Gmail Chat window instead of their Google Talk client... It would be nice if you could choose where to send it...)

On the plus side I like my desktop alot better than windows. I've got some really fun widgets and stuff to satisfy my techno geeky self. Plus the icons (for the most part) are scalable vector graphics (svg) which means that the icons actually scale with the resolution you are using and you can zoom in on them with out them getting blury or pixilated (its a small thing but it makes the whole desktop look much cleaner).

So anyway this is probably just my first post in a series as I find stuff I like and stuff that I dislike about Linux as a desktop OS. And just for the record I happen to love Linux as a server and embedded OS, I think the desktop is really the only thing that Linux isn't great at yet.

My Kinda Girl

2006-02-18T18:25:00.000-06:00

Rose: must find cheaper lotion that makes me smell like pie

Ya know...

2006-02-17T19:26:00.000-06:00

Most people would be upset that they had to stay at work till 7 on a Friday night... I guess I just need more of a social life.

Yet something else to share with the world

2006-02-15T23:22:00.000-06:00

So here is another way to share your life with people on the internet. It's called Last.fm. Basically you instal this plug in to Media Player or what ever player you use... or you could use XBMC like me... and it tells Last.fm what your listening to... The advantage of doing this is that last.fm can then take the music your listening to compare it to what other people are listening to and it can match you up with songs or artists that you didn't know about... Kinda a neat idea. Oh and if your curious my Last.fm profile is here.

Theodore must be spinning in his grave...

2006-02-11T16:49:00.000-06:00

So Bush is going to sell off lots of national forest lands. Just because Congress didn't pass all of his budget... what happened to conservatives being the fiscally responsible ones?

Good Weekend...

2006-02-11T15:15:00.000-06:00

Last night I went out to happy hour with Kristen, Jen, Ben, and Mike. We had lots of fun at Woodrow's north... I didn't even know it existed till last night. Its a nice place off of Parmer. Then we went to Kerby Lane for dinner. It was fun... its nice to have friends :)

Today I went to Fry's and bought Disney's Robin Hood... it's been a long time since I've seen this movie... Its so great.

And the protests will begin in 5,4, 3, 2, ....

2006-02-09T19:16:00.000-06:00

Mohammed Dance

Aggie Happy Hour!

2006-02-08T23:20:00.000-06:00

So I went to my first Aggie Happy Hour tonight, and it was awesome. It was at this place called Donn's Depot down on 5th Street. I got there alittle bit early and the regulars were sitting at the bar watching Jeopardy, it was fun. Then the Aggie's stared to show up. I talked with my buddy Derek for a while until he had to leave then I met lots of really fun people. Like this girl named Sueann, who is in between jobs right now. She is in charge of the Austin Muster and somehow I think I volunteered myself for it.

Anyway as the night progressed I met this guy named Ben, and two girls who were suite mates their freshman year at A&M named Jen and Kristen. They were all class of '04 and alot of fun to hang out with. When Aggie happy hour broke up we organized a group to goto Little Woodrows down on 6th street. We sat around there for a couple of hours and talked and we decided that we're going to hang out again on Friday.

It's good to have friends....

I can take comfort in that I'm not this geeky

2006-02-07T22:11:00.000-06:00

I can see why his wife left him... wow.

I finally feel like I'm moved in

2006-02-07T21:55:00.000-06:00

I've got almost all my furniture now. You can see pictures here.

I'm still waiting on a coffee table and an end table and I need to get a table and chairs for my "dining room." Feels good to be moved in.

Mwahahaha! Excellent!

2006-02-06T18:41:00.000-06:00

How evil are you?

And yes I didn't try to get this it is my actual result.

Another A&M grad making us all look bad...

2006-02-05T13:17:00.000-06:00

So this A&M grad who was appointed to NASA decided to take the Big Bang is just an opinion stance. All we need is media attention about how our grads don't know their science.

I'm also kinda upset that this guy gets a science appointment without a science background. He was in the "war room" of an election campaign.. it seems like he'd be more at home in the presidents spin group... not in a science position. But then again Bush's administration doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to science.

So where are all the cute geeky women?

2006-02-05T10:38:00.000-06:00

This was a cute comic but I don't think I've ever actually met anyone like the girl in the comic. Don't get me wrong I know cute geeky women, but their geeky about stuff that I'm not really interested in... so where is this fabled woman that is a geek like me, that is attractive, and finds me attractive... I seriously doubt this more and more hypothetical woman exists...

Wow

2006-02-03T20:19:00.000-06:00

Just wow....

In the most expensive Turkish movie ever made, American soldiers in Iraq crash a wedding and pump a little boy full of lead in front of his mother.
They kill dozens of innocent people with random machine gun fire, shoot the groom in the head, and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison - where a Jewish doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv.

Bush's antiscience agenda

2006-02-01T20:44:00.000-06:00

So in last nights state of the union. Bush stated

Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research, human cloning in all its forms, creating or implanting embryos for experiments, creating human-animal hybrids, and buying, selling or patenting human embryos.

This basically implies no animals with human genes. Which forbids research like this.

Or creating embryos? Creating embryos could probably lead to some very interesting research. However, since Bush already wants extracting cells from aborted fetuses... so if we can't get embryos from children that were aborted for whatever reason (they're dead shouldn't some good come out of their death?) and we can't create new sources of embryos... I guess we're supposed to fall behind the rest of the world in medicine as well as technology...

Ah Bryan... gotta love that town

2006-01-31T20:56:00.000-06:00

I wonder how long till this happens with ipod's.

Our broken education system and a place to sit

2006-01-31T20:21:00.000-06:00

So I got my couch today. Its nice and comfy and pretty. I ACTUALLY HAVE FURNITURE NOW!!!!! :)

Anyway they were delivering it, and having a very hard time getting it through the door. So much so that they put a small ding in the wall and messed up the paint some. So the delivery company said they would take care of it. The delivery guy was making a note of it on his paperwork and he wrote "Whole in wall" and asked if I wanted something else put on there and I said how about requires paint and spackle. He got as far as "re" before asking me to write it for him... How sad is that?

I wanna paint my future house like this

2006-01-29T21:31:00.000-06:00

http://www.2loop.com/3drooms.html

How cool is that?

Love is complicated

2006-01-28T11:33:00.000-06:00

Why does love have to be so complicated? So I have these three friends lets call them Friend A, Friend B, and Friend C.

Friend A thinks I should hook up with Friend B.
Friend B thinks I should hook up with Friend A.
Then comes Friend C. She thinks I'm perfect for both Friend B and herself. And she thinks I'm hopelessly in love with Friend A.
To further compicate this situation two of these friends live 10 hours away.

Ok yeah most of you can probably figure out who all these friends are. But yeah... why is my love life so complicated?

Banned Xbox commercial....

2006-01-26T19:22:00.000-06:00

Funny and for some reason banned? XBox 360 commercial....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnpGtHq7Z0U

Shuffling Music is fun

2006-01-23T23:09:00.000-06:00

Where else could you hear Ravel's Boléro back to back with Insane Clown Posse's What Is A Juggalo?

XBMC rules

2006-01-23T21:27:00.000-06:00

So I finally got all my music ripped to my home PC. Now I'm using Xbox Media Center to stream it from my PC to my Xbox over the network. it sounds absolutely awesome on my sound system.

So next steps to get a better home theater system:

Get my DVR fixed/finished being built
HDTV baby
New Center Speaker
New Subwoofer
New Reciever

Sometimes I hate being a techno geek/audiophile/videophile it gets really freaking expensive. So anyone wanna go HDTV shopping with me in a month or two?

A little pissed....

2006-01-21T16:46:00.000-06:00

So apparently my sales person at the furniture place was lying. I won't get my furniture for another week... I hate lying sales people.

Next, I deposited a check on Monday. It still hasn't hit my available balance yet. Atleast Wells Fargo isn't charging me overdraft fees. But I now have a -$5 balance which means they've started to decline my debit card. I should have $3000 something in my account but they are dragging their feet. Oh well at least I get paid via direct deposit on Friday so I will atleast have money in the account by then.

On the bright side I have a nice rug in my living room now and I've wired up my speakers. So I have surround sound again.

Yay!

2006-01-20T20:36:00.000-06:00

I got to log in at work today.

Molly and I got to catch up on stuff.

Good day thus far.

Sweet I get a goofy hat! Is that better than goofy hair?

2006-01-18T23:28:00.000-06:00

I'm Eponine!
Spunky, resourceful, and fearless, I don't take a lot of guff from the world, and sometimes I'm kind of freaky. Secretly, though, I just want to be loved in spite of my attitude and my goofy hat. Which Les Miserables Character Are You?

But the actual character yeah I think fits me abit... I don't think this description quiet does her justice though... Oh well off to bed.

Big suprise here....

2006-01-18T21:53:00.000-06:00

You scored as Engineering. You should be an Engineering major!

Mathematics

100%

Engineering

100%

Chemistry

83%

Psychology

83%

Philosophy

83%

Biology

83%

Anthropology

75%

Journalism

67%

Sociology

67%

Theater

67%

English

58%

Art

58%

Linguistics

42%

Dance

33%

What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3)
created with QuizFarm.com

Money good....

2006-01-17T18:52:00.000-06:00

So last night I got my relocation check... so I actually have money. :) So I got to actually go grocery shopping and buy some stuff to eat tonight.

I haven't been able to login at work yet so I haven't been able to do much.

Ummm last night was interesting... but having good friends like Anna and Molly makes life much better :)

Eh sorta kinda

2006-01-14T13:48:00.000-06:00

You are a Self-Discoverer

You're not religious, but you've created your own kind of spirituality.
Introspective and thoughtful, you tend to look inward for the divine.
You are distrusting of all forms of organized religion.
You especially dislike religious gurus and leaders, who you feel are charlatans.

What's Your Religious Philosophy?

I'm frappacino?

2006-01-14T13:28:00.000-06:00

You Are a Frappacino

At your best, you are: fun loving, sweet, and modern

At your worst, you are: childish and over indulgent

You drink coffee when: you're craving something sweet

Your caffeine addiction level: low

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Why do nice guys always finish last?

2006-01-14T11:34:00.000-06:00

So I went down to sixth street with Anna and her friends Felice and Adam. It was fun we had a good time. I got to relive some of my days in the Corps, trying to descretly keep an eye on my female friend while still letting her prowl for a guy. It was fun, but if Anna and I are gonna keep this up we need to work on her signalling.

Anyway at the end of the night, during the cab ride back to Anna's place she and I were talking. And her opinion that I am a really sweet and/or nice guy came up. And her comments basically boiled down to "If you were more of a jerk you would get more girls" (I'm paraphrasing here). So yeah I'm 24 years old and I still don't get this about women... they all want to marry a nice guy so why the hell don't they want to date a nice guy?

Ok it's official....

2006-01-12T09:52:00.000-06:00

I'm outta shape. It took me about 18 minutes to run 2 miles today... I just don't have any kinda endurance anymore... gotta work on it.

Bank Error in your Favor....

2006-01-11T23:22:00.000-06:00

So I get a call from a relocation agency today that is going to send me my check for relocation expenses. Apparently Dell had some policy changes because I'm getting ALOT more money for relocation than I thought I was... like I might go back and buy more furniture and still be able to pay this stuff of in a month nice.

Anyway to celebrate Anna and I went to Freebirds then came back here and watched Firefly. I've gotten Anna adicted to it, so mission accomplished there.... or maybe it was the sexy dad from Desperate Housewives that was in an episode that she absolutely went nuts over....What I wouldn't do to have that kind of effect on women.

Got my apartment pretty much straightened up and in order still have a few boxes in a closet to unpack and of course I need to get my furniture delivered. So yeah no plans really for the rest of the week. Anna mentioned something about doing something this weekend... maybe I'll actually find someone to go out with....

What does it mean to be Administrative?

2006-01-11T15:58:00.000-06:00

You scored as Peter Pevensie.

Lucy Pevensie

87%

Peter Pevensie

87%

Oreius

77%

Susan Pevensie

70%

Mr. Beaver

70%

Aslan

67%

The White Witch

57%

Ginarrbrik

54%

Edmund Pevensie

53%

Mr. Tumnus

47%

Mrs. Beaver

44%

Which Chronicles of Narnia character are you most like?
created with QuizFarm.com

Badass

2006-01-11T10:56:00.000-06:00

I just keep finding reasons to love this company.

Oh so amused

2006-01-10T23:41:00.000-06:00

So Anna's friends are convinced that I love Anna. The reasoning behind this is the amusing part. Basically her friends think that When Harry Met Sally is the gospel of male/female relationships and since at some point in the movie aguy picking a girl up from the airport means that he loves her therefore I love Anna.

Yeah makes my head hurt too.... anyway I'm amused. Anybody agree? disagree? Have a totally off topic comment they wanna post here?

Patrick's Rant 'o the Day - Texas DPS

2006-01-09T15:23:00.000-06:00

So I went to the Texas Department of Public Safety today to get a Texas Drivers license. Anyway after sitting there forever and all the other stereotypical DMV stuff I get to the counter and they issue me a temporary paper "permit" and say I will get my new license in about 3 weeks, the problem that I have with this is that they took my Tennessee license, so for 3 weeks I have no valid picture ID. These closest things I have are my Texas A&M ID, which I assume is no longer valid as I have graduated, and an expired passport.

I mean how hard is it to have a card printer in each office? I know Tennessee does it, I'm sure lots of other states do it. Heck every college that I know of prints your student ID card while you wait so why can't Texas DPS?

For those of you that have been living under a technological rock

2006-01-09T11:35:00.000-06:00

So there are two groups that want to be the replacement for DVDs. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray is backed by Sony... Now for those who aren't old enough to remember (me included) Sony tried to do this same thing back in the day with Betamax. Now this war of formats between Beta and VHS caused alot of consumers to be left out in the cold with a VCR and library of movies and tapes that were obsolete. Now Sony is trying to do this to us again! They've lived through this before and now they are busy trying to screw us all over again.

So lets see first Sony installs software on our computers that compromise security and don't even ask us before they do this (or if you did get asked they installed the stuff even if you said no).

Now they're trying to screw us over with a video format war....

Why must companies be so consuned with profit and not concerned with us?

Cable is fun

2006-01-08T21:24:00.000-06:00

So I just got digital cable. Like 300 channels or something crazy like that... Does anyone actually need this many channels?

I really want Ala carte cable so that I don't have to pay for some of these channels that I will NEVER watch.

Now I know what to get for Valentines Day...

2006-01-08T15:20:00.000-06:00

Now I know what to get my griflriend for Valentines Day. Of course thats provided that I have a girlfriend by then.

Sorry this was just too funny had to share.

Got my furniture.... in 2 weeks

2006-01-06T16:00:00.000-06:00

So I went to furniture row and bought furniture. Its all really cool stuff, the only problem being I won't have it for 2 weeks (better than the 6 to 8 weeks at anothre place I looked). So as it stands now I only have furniture in 1 room of my apartment and my bedroom and living room are empty. But in two weeks I'll have a full apartment with nice furniture.

Pat Robertson Act 3

2006-01-05T20:11:00.000-06:00

For those that missed the first two acts.
Act 1 - Robertson say that we should assassinate the president of Venezuela. I guess he thinks there are 9 commandments.
Act 2- Robertson says that God will ignore prayers from Dover, PA since they voted out the school board that added Intelligent Design to the curriculum.

Now onto Act 3. Robertson's latest idiotic tirade is about Ariel Sharon's stroke. He says that this is God punishing Sharon for "dividing God's land."

I guess I have 2 questions.
1) How can this man call himself a Christian?
2) Why do people watch this shit?

I'd really appreciate your thoughts. :)

Movie attendance on the decline....

2005-12-31T17:41:00.000-06:00

So movie attendance has slipped 3 years in a row. The nice thing about this article is I don't see anyone pointing the finger at piracy. They're looking at hey maybe dealing with the sticky floors, screaming kids, and ringing cell phones doesn't make me want to go to a theater. Or maybe I don't want to see the 40th James Bond movie or Rocky 27. I guess the real question I have is why can't the record industry come to the same conclusion? Oh record sales are down it must be because of piracy not because radio stations play more commercials than they do music, or that they play the same songs 57 times a day, or that maybe people don't want to hear Brittney Spears sing Christmas songs or buy a greatest hits album from an artist with 2 or 3 CD's other than the greatest hits CD? Nope its piracy's fault lets sue dead people, little kids, and most importantly our own customers.

Finally! A Useful Flowchart....

2005-12-31T16:52:00.000-06:00

Survival Guide to Drunken New Year's Eve Sex

2005-12-31T12:53:00.000-06:00

In the year 2006 I resolve to:

Sleep my way to the top

Get your resolution here

Well if you can't find a member of the opposite sex in your own species...

2005-12-30T17:40:00.000-06:00

you can always marry a dolphin like this woman did.

I feel sorry for the dolphin since it had to marry a lower life form.

I pray this is a joke!

2005-12-28T18:38:00.000-06:00

From the article. "Crystal Sky is also planning a movie based on the venerable arcade hit Pac-Man. However, Paul wouldn't divulge any details at this time."

Come on this can't be anything more than a huge steaming pile of crap.

Ah Wikipedia

2005-12-28T14:43:00.000-06:00

For those of you that don't know, since I've been home I've been doing a lot of wikipedia editing. But I found something that I thought I would bring to the attention of Molly and Anna. Just to show how much I love you both I thought I would tell you about an article that there is a delete debate about now, Yankees Suck. Granted I voted for delete but I thought I would let you two get in on the discussion if you want, plus it just makes the Red Sox look like they have an inferiority complex :)

My Grandfather

2005-12-24T11:12:00.000-06:00

So just an update on my grandfather. He's still in the hospital (5 months now). But he got his feeding tube out yesterday. So he isn't dragging around any tubes anymore. He is also able to walk abour 30 feet at a time which is atleast enough to get him from the bedroom to the bathroom when he gets to go home.

I'm just really relieved since 2 months ago my parents were calling me daily telling me how he was going to die soon. And now it looks like he'll get to got home in a month or so. Its sad that he isn't going to get to come home for Christmas, but atleast he'll get to come home sometime soon.

I love it. The Flying Spegetti Monster made Wired.

2005-12-22T09:11:00.000-06:00

Article is here. The FSM wikipedia article is here if you've never heard of it.

Ah stupid representatives....

2005-12-22T08:48:00.000-06:00

So a couple of representatives have reitroduced the so called "Analog Hole" legislation. This bill basically outlaws DVR's or tuner cards for computers (the things that let you watch TV on your computer). The basic argument goes someone can take a digital signal (i.e. a DVD) convert it to Analog (any output of your DVD player) and record it back to digital (with the DVR or tuner card). For those of you that never hooked a DVD player up to a recording device, let me tell you what happens. The output is scrambled and garbled and generally looks worse than those scrambled porn channels. Because the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (and some regulation by the DVD player manufactures) already took care of this. Besides that Digital to Analog back to Digital kinda defeats the whole point. Its so much easier to take a DVD and some software and convert the DVD on the computer digital to digital. And basically that's what pirates are doing not this "Analog Hole" bullshit. Basically Hollywood is scared of TiVo and the like because your going to be watching your favorite TV show instead of that crappy remake of a remake that was only made 5 years ago but they have no fresh ideas movie.

So I'd recommend writing to your senators/representatives and let them know that this is a really freaking bad idea and we will come after them (or atleast not vote for them anymore) if they take away a legitimate technology and entertainment.

I'm amused (and only slighty depressed... thats a long time)

2005-12-22T08:31:00.000-06:00

Bush Backwards

Seriously even if you don't like the clock below check the website... they have countdown keychains! How funny is that?

Top 11 Ways Geeks Were Naughty This Year

2005-12-21T20:15:00.000-06:00

11.	Used GOTO
10.	Recommended the use of Internet Explorer
9.	Programmed Robosapien to steal
8.	Scratched strangers iPod Minis when they weren't looking
7.	Started a flame war because they were bored
6.	Uploaded mislabelled MP3s of Wham!
5.	Didn't ground themselves before working on a friend's PC
4.	Used genius for evil, not good
3.	Voted for clichÃ© entry in Fark Photoshop
2.	Told user that the 'Any Key' was the big button on the case marked 'Power'
1.	Recommended review at Tomshardware.com

From bbspot.com.

Ok 11 for those non computer science people out there. The first thing you're taught in most computer science classes today is to never use GOTO. Number 3 (Fark.com) has photoshop contests and people frequently reuse ideas like thesquirrell with dangling nutsack or Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars saying "It's a trap" and if these actually win (or get any significant number of votes) people bitch. #1 Tomshardware.com reviews computer hardware and for the most part has kind of degerated into "Eh, the gave us the hardware. Lets recommend that everyone buy it even though its total crap."

So yeah I thought they were funny and needed to be shared. :)

Moving and The Buy Anna a Hearing Aid Fund

2005-12-20T18:05:00.000-06:00

So I moved in to my new apartment yesterday. With the help of Anna and Derek, thank you both and Derek I still owe you dinner. The apartment is really nice, I'll be posting pictures when its more organized and actually has some furniture in it.

So onto the Buy Anna a Hearing Aid Fund. While Derek was helping me move the heavier stuff in, Anna was on the phone with Molly. And she grabbed a swifter and started cleaning. Derek and I come in and I was like "Awww she's cleaning. How sweet." I'm not exactly sure what she heard but it was something offensive because she flipped me off. Then later she was opening the door for us because we were carrying big, heavy stuff. This one time she didn't for whatever reason and so Derek was like "Hey, where'd the door girl go?" except Anna heard "Hey, where'd the door bitch go?" So anyway I'm collecting funds to get her a hearing aid so that she can actually hear maybe.

2005-12-18T13:49:00.000-06:00

Fun puzzle thanks Anna.

Here is the solution:
0111000001101001011100000110010100001101000010100
1100011011101010110001001100101000011010000101001
1000100110000101101100011011000000110100001010011
0010101100111011001110000110100001010011011000110
0001011101000111010001100101011100100000110100001
0100110110101101111011101010110111001110100011000
0101101001011011100000110100001010011100000111001
0011011110111000001100101011011000110110001100101
0111001000001101000010100111010001101111011100100
1101110011000010111010001101111000011010000101001
1001110110010101100001011100100000110100001010011
0010001101001011100110110100000001101000010100111
0010011010010110111001100111000011010000101001110
0110110001101110010011001010110010101101110

You can decrpyt it here.

Oh yes!

2005-12-17T20:30:00.000-06:00

Holy crap! A Fraggle Rock Movie!

Schroedinger's cat

2005-12-17T19:28:00.000-06:00

So for any of you that never understood the Schroedinger's cat story. Here it is Dr. Suess style. Yes, I'm a dork and already got it the theory at least the basics.

Graduated!

2005-12-16T16:00:00.000-06:00

Woohoo I just graduated. I got a 3.5 this semester. Gor power hooked up at my new apartment. My parents are here. Man life is good. Now I just need to find a girl and I'll be all set.

Done!

2005-12-15T18:55:00.000-06:00

Done done done done done done!

I got an A on my project so either an A or B in that class.

I just got approved to move into my awesome new apartment.

And congrats to Rose on her new job.

Great week. :)

Oh and I graduate tomorrow morning.

Finally!

2005-12-14T15:45:00.000-06:00

So Bush finally admitted that we went to war on bad intelligence, and is taking responsibility for the intelligence problem. This is all I've wanted him to do since we didn't find WMD's in Iraq. This is turning out to be a really good day.

I'm amused

2005-12-14T15:31:00.000-06:00

"Gmail is temporarily unavailable. Cross your fingers and try again in a few minutes. We're sorry for the inconvenience."

Almost done!!!!!

2005-12-14T15:08:00.000-06:00

Woohoo just took my last final ever! Just have to turn in my project tomorrow. :)

Wow, a dumber guy than the Iranian president....

2005-12-14T10:56:00.000-06:00

Wow, this guy has gotta be the dumbest person on the face of the planer. He claims he has the right to "chastise"the Jewish people. But he's actually saying that the Jewish people caused the AIDS virus, ebola, and the 9/11 attacks, I think that crosses the chastise line. Granted is this trial worthy, I dunno not in this country atleast but I don't know Canadian law about hate speech, but any way thought I'd point out the moronic behavior.

Apple holding back the music biz.

2005-12-13T22:26:00.000-06:00

The most logical reason, the one I'm not hearing in the article, is that the vast majority of music that has come out lately sucks.

I wanna know when the RIAA will accept that its their fault that their sales are so freaking low. If I was a group that sued my own customers, gave my employees (in this case artists) a penny on the dollar of my profits, and keep promoting horrible products... I think I would look in the mirror when looking for the problem, but thats just me.

And also when did a 0.44% drop in sales start a panic?

Wow what a great mom...

2005-12-13T10:19:00.000-06:00

So this mom left her baby out in an unheated car. The thing that makes this really unique is that it was at a strip club at 3AM. Man, definately mom of the year material.

Cool Idea

2005-12-12T22:22:00.000-06:00

I think this is a pretty good idea and a little more practical than naming a star after someone or that kinda thing. Granted it is sorta tree huggerish.

Coffee as art?

2005-12-11T01:00:00.000-06:00

Wow this had to be difficult. Wow the things you find on the internet.

Ok I'm a dork...

2005-12-09T21:14:00.000-06:00

So I was looking for some information about A&M yesterday. And in order to find it I had to look at about 10 different websites. So I started an Aggie Wiki. Yep I'm a dork.