BioGeek

Tis a Bunny!

2009-11-05T08:24:00.002-05:00

No pattern, just my artistic skills and a photo of the bunny nearby.

It looked better when the bugs had not damaged the pumpkin.

SONIC!!!!

2009-06-23T11:49:00.003-05:00

Amazing, seems all the cool awesome people have their birthdays around June 24.

Today, june 23 is SONIC THE HEDGEHOG birthday!!!!
and we might be getting the presents:
http://blogs.sega.com/sonic/2009/06/22/sonic-citys-sonic-birthday-giveaway-tuesday-june-23rd-2009/

Happy Birthday to him :)

Ay Carajo

2009-06-19T08:59:00.002-05:00

I have no idea how it happened. It just did.
I was not sorry though, it brought a smile after a mistake.
But it was just weird. I rarely used it as a cursing word. It is a word my father would use for cursing, not me.... I can't think anyone in my generation would have used it.
The M word, or HP would be the cursing words of choice, but, Ay carajo?!?!

Anyhow, that is how it went. I messed up in cell culture, and even though I've been forgetting my Spanish for the past 5 years, and even though I was talking to someone in English so my brain was in English mode, I still managed to utter "Ay carajo".

Odd, amusing, not so fitting for the scenario, but still amusing.
Does this mean there is a chance for me to retain my Spanish knowledge? Although I've been asked to translate words like staplers, to which I can not come up with a translation, has the Spanish still remained somewhere safe in my mind? Do I just need to unlock it once more? Find the key?

Hopefully. Until I figure it out is back to Spanglish susmercedes :D

The little big gems of E3

2009-06-12T14:25:00.003-05:00

E3 just passed and try to regain the relevance it once had.
Seems a lot of the gaming media was happy, but I didn't get the news I wanted. (PS3 price cut ... not that it matter, I just managed to save ~200 @ Sony Style)

Not all was bad news however. Among the onslaught of news about the battle of the motion controls, I got to see two little videos that got my attention and seemed pretty overlooked by the rest.

First, is the Modnation Racers news.
What it would seem a Little Big Planet take on karting:
Who would not love that?

Along those lines, for those of us not able to get Mario Kart, and who have love Sonic since 1991. We get news that Sonic and other iconic SEGA characters will be racing as well :D WOHOO!!!!!!

Last but not least. Something that the media did not overlook at all. Obviously since this small teaser contains the most amazing Star Wars action ever seen that surpasses all of the action scenes in its movies put together and multiplied a million times. IT IS THAT COOL!

More Star Wars: The Old Republic News & Previews

Germany off my list.

2009-06-08T08:39:00.004-05:00

Off my "places to live" list... if I had one.

This is because of this news.

Apparently they want to band all violent videogames, and by the small list presented in the article, it would seem to allow only kids games in Germany.
Maybe as one redditor comment once, they are just tired that almost every single FPS makes you kill germans. Which I agree with Yahtzee U.S. developers should move on from their only conflict where it is commonly accepted they did good, and find new sources of inspiration.
But beyond the FPS, games like God of War would never be seen on German soil... at least legally. What can they achieve with this? According to the study Sytnky send to me, Germany is already a peaceful nation. What is their worried about the violent videogames?
I understand that showing off excessive blood and gore to small children is not something we want to do, I wished I had not seen "critters" when I was a kid, that thing gave me nightmares!! at laughable at that is when I see it at this age.
But banning the entire industry from their country would not benefit anyone in anyway.
After the age of the internet, everyone has access to any game if they know where to look for.
Every console has a parental control, as well as every game has a rating. It is not the industry but lazy parents that will not oversee this.

I do not think their parliament would pass such law, I also believe games are a growing for of art, but I am kind of curious about what would happen if this law came true. It would be an interesting test to see if such measure would indeed affect anything; there would be too many variables to consider when looking a few years down the road if the measurment work in reducing violence, but I admit I would be curious.

But I will observe from a far. I like to live where I can see how relentless a rising god of war should be while reviewing my greek mythology.

Soon, all will be covered

2009-05-20T07:49:00.003-05:00

Guess in a few months I will have the extremes.
Guess I've covered best and worst case scenarios :P

Tina Fey great geek writing

2009-05-18T20:52:00.002-05:00

Watch this short excerpt from her show

Back to regular procrastination

2009-05-05T15:05:00.003-05:00

Now that the prelim has passed, my conscience tells me it is ok to go back to procrastination.
I know that is not what my advisor would want, but, then again as a scientist she should know that almost nothing turns out as you expected it to be :P

First thing to take care of was: the purchase of BRAID and Fallout 3 for the PC. But now we have to move into bigger things, things like the PS3.

Interestingly this same day experience point posted this article reminding me how purchasing a PS3 will not be entirely used as a procrastinating tool, it has some scientific applications that would help my community. Therefore, the purchase of a PS3 would not just be a reward for the hard work, but a step forward into the path to become a better MUCH BETTER scientist.

So keep an eye for good bundles, let me know which one of the many versions since released should I be getting, and above all, what would be the best games to start with.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

2009-01-22T14:16:00.002-05:00

US Democracy Server: Patch Day

SEGA Bunny

2009-01-02T20:05:00.005-05:00

By the way, Merry Xmas and happy new year to my readers.

Now that the parties are over, I'm on parental duty for the Bunny. As so, I'm introducing her to the Dreamcast, which I think she likes. :D

Ok Maybe not as much as her food

Felicia and Morgan

2008-12-21T23:06:00.000-05:00

Lab break in San Fran

2008-12-20T15:38:00.006-05:00

As most of you know I went last weekend to the ASCB meeting in San Francisco.
My only other time where I went to such a big gathering of nerds was with Otakon, and I have to say I'm a bit disappointed at the ASCB people as I saw NO cosplay whatsoever. Otakon was way better on that front.

Anyways the trip started quite ok with a new and improved Indy airport.

there was a stop at Minnapolis where they had this amusing projector:

When I got to San Fran I was received by Stynky and Sis-in who took me to the Coit tower for a better view of San Fran... once we climbed a couple of stairs >.>

We also walk a lot around and saw ice skating, giant spiders, free bread etc. All in all, a good day. The best part was the great advice from Stynk, as he pointed out how close was the playstation store to the Moscone center :D
I did however had to restrain myself of going there the next day, as I had to be a salesman for ASCB in order to get my money back for registration (which I'm still waiting)
T-shirt selling was ok, I guess, a short visit from Chippy made it better.
Once I was done I went to gather as much free swag as possible, as always free stuff is nice yet it would've been niceR if I had won the Wii from the SABioscience seminar. After months of constantly buying their primers and staying at the moscone center till 8:30pm, I was betrayed by them as they handed the Wii to a random Berkeley student. GRRRRR
He probably already has one and will be selling this one on eBay GRRRRRR
Life is so unfair!.

So, no Wii, guess I'll spend most of the time at the Playstation store,
or the apple store,
or the lush store... erh... that one was only for a min though :P

Anyways gel is about to finish run, so other honorable mentions for the trip goes to Chippy and her taqueria tour in San Fran, Sis-in for the amazing soupand BDBioscience for my new poster tube.
I'll be uploading some pics where appropriately.

ASCB so far

2008-12-14T18:53:00.004-05:00

Interesting... I think, I'm not sure though, the second day I'm here and...well.

I'm not at the moscone center, I'm at the apple store trying to make the most out of my stupid previous repair.
Long story short, I failed... obviously it was a loooooooooooong shot, but anyways, the SABioscience exhibition with a chance to win a Wii is at 6:15pm so it seems I can stay here a bit longer :P

P.S. EEWWWWWW the apple store wifi is slow >.> and I did not find the sony store... for now :D

Design of GOO

2008-12-04T21:46:00.002-05:00

Posted on their blog.

Design Tour - World of Goo from David Rosen on Vimeo.

Probably you didn't watch the entire thing. But if you did, he forgot to mention the importance of "-the sign painter" .
It was a cute, hilarious mechanic to help you navigate and figure out the individual challenges.
Since I have no idea how to edit such good videos, just buy the game from their site and experience the wonderful GOO.

Post turkey day lag

2008-12-02T17:35:00.009-05:00

Sadly I'm no longer blogging from cool Pennsylvania.

The days of good food, awesome people, new sightseeing are over :(
It was a very enjoyable vacation that started with a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong 8 hour ride there. It was probably more since Ohio decided to throw some traffic jams and see how we handle it, and once we overcame the Ohio challenge, Penn decided to snow on us.
However we made it, we passed the individual state tests and we made it in one piece and a car smelling like curly fries (better than starving).
I have a mixed up timing in my head for the specific activities for each day (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) so until the girl clarifies I'll give you a brief summary of the experiences in not the exact time table as they happen.

The Incline. A trip up the mountains that surround the rivers of Pittsburgh.

we later went to see a first glance of Pittsburgh downtown where we found an insane amount of ginger bread houses followed by contemplating ice skating people in hopes of some people falling.

Mad Mex with a meeting the Father who saved the day with his mighty phone GPS that got us back on track after a small detour. I miss my GPS :(
Anyways dinner was good, at least mine :P and I get to hear her sister random spanish sentences and his father tales of amazing camping.

Turkey day was at the mom's house with a twenty something pound turkey which I'm still eating, followed by a desert party at a Italian neighbor friend who made the most magnifiscent deserts and let me play with two cute puppies who work in tandem to be petted, as the smallest one stands on top of the bigger one so I can reach him :)

A visit to the zoo, zoo, zoo, how about you, you you.
Petable Kangaroos decided to not come out until global warming makes winter weather more like Australian summer. Guess I'll have to come another time. However the mesmerizing display of medusas was hypnotizing.

Melting Pot to meet family friends, who interestingly one of them seem a grown up version of still childish silly me.

And finally the trip back home. I think we made a good time as I was told to slow down several times :P

All was good, all is well, I can't wait to go back home and keep on working with the leftover.

overdue post of the WoW expansion launch

2008-11-26T12:33:00.006-05:00

Just a picture taken at around 10pm the day of Wrath of the lich king release day.
Even though I was playing this a year ago, I would never go to the midnight event! Its too cold

OH wells.

In a brief update: I'm BLOGGING ON PENNSYLVANIA WOHOOO!
More news later on.

MAC Death Aftermath

2008-11-14T13:44:00.004-05:00

So the mac is back, there were a few replacements "upgrades?" done and it is now working well but yeah... I'm not a good person with backups so all my info is gone, I'm also surprised the claim nothing was recoverable.
Sadly the backup of my pics are a lower resolution images on facebook, my pictures I had saved on yahoo where trashed when yahoo setup flickr >.< I only have the Canada trip saved on picassa.
What about work data you say?
I always keep all my work in Purdue's PCs. Even if I work on the mac I eventually transfer the final files to their PCs.

So in the end my life has changed as follow:
-My memories have been downgraded to lower resolution.
-I'll have to revisit libraries... for the audiobooks I lost.
-I have no longer KeyNote or Pages. (Open office here we go)
-On the next laptop I shall have extended warranty.
-I managed to steal them a new Startup Disk (or so they say it will eventually arrive).
and finally:
-I am debating what my next computer shall be. No matter the computer I should be backing up. If it was windows base I might have more resources to fix it myself, and if I can't I have more choices near by to fix it.
If it is Mac I will probably have to resort to mailing it, depending where I'll be, and instead of saying goodbye to my earnings on repairs I should say goodbye earlier on warranties. The Mac service was prompt and good yet it still bugs me that I couldn't fix it on sight... and the PRICE!! ,and my PCs never died so horribly (But this could be more of a desktop vs laptop issue).
Maybe I just have to learn more about Mac troubleshooting, cause it will eventually happen no matter what Stynky and their adds say.

Or should I go Linux? Problem is, there is even LESS games for that plataform :P

MAC IS DEAD

2008-11-10T09:47:00.006-05:00

A normal afternoon, just browsing the web before the one to one meeting with my boss.
All is fine, until the rainbow circle of Mac stop-poking-me-let-me-think appeared.
5 minutes later the Mac stop responding at all, the option apple esc doesn't work to force Firefox to close.
10 minutes later I decide to force a shut down. After restart I see for the first time a Mac blue screen of death. Not the same as windows, it can not start, has a question mark in a folder telling me it can't find the hard drive to boot.

It won't boot from a cd.
It can not be recognized by other macs via firewire.

2 days later I have to call in for a repair box ... and I'll have to say good bye to over 300 something bucks.

UPDATE: 11-11-08 The box has come, and my MAC is on the way.
UPDATE 11-13-08 I've received my mac, smells like new but I have lost all my data. (I think I lost some audiobooks for sure, I never back up that >.<)

World of Goo

2008-11-06T13:39:00.003-05:00

Recently I've been playing WORLD OF GOO. This little gem came to my attention after the escalation of the DRM issue in gaming. It lacks any DRM, and if you purchase it from their site you get access to windows and mac versions (Linux coming soon) without having to buy a game individually for each platform.

But I fell in love with it because of actual gameplay and atmosphere. If you see the video from their site you will have a feeling about the music, and how it feels as if you are in some Tim Burton type of world. Some how odd yet familiar and a little bit magical.
Gameplay is fairly simple. Link the Goo balls until you reach the exit pipe trying to get as many of them through it; a little reminiscent of lemmings.

I've been having a lot of fun, the music and level design always have me smiling (The sign painter who gives you hints is hilarious), it is a really amazing game and you should give it a try. It was developed by an independent group, has no official publisher, it is only $20 (granted is a really short game, but re playability is quite high) and you will make the world a much much better place if you get it. Trust me.

Sonic Team

2008-10-26T21:51:00.012-05:00

Nope, not the developers of the Sonic games, but the main team from the genesis era carved in pumpkins!!!

That is right, I finally got into the tradition of pumpkin carving thanks to the lovely guidance and geeky encouragement from the girl.
She actually found this sonic, tails and knuckles patterns and by her mom's wise advise: An entire MASTER CARVING KIT.

Now we were quite aware that with our lack of experience, it was going to be quite a challenge, so we just bought one pumpkin and decided to get Sonic in it.
After a surprise messy start, we managed to clear a nice top, and tape the pattern into the pumpkin. With the help of the pounce wheel from the kit, we managed to pass a pretty clear image of Sonic, into the pumpkin's skin.

I know its barely visible, but trust me. There is a sonic face in that pumpkin.

After quite some work, and surprisingly ZERO CUTS (hello kitty band aid of mine was a prior misadventure) we managed to make quite an amazing job.
Our supervisor was so proud of our work, that we had to test it immediately. Problem was with such a bright day the only dark place we thought on testing it was...

I was so excited and motivated by this amazing first attempt, that decided on getting two extra pumpkins. One for Tails, one for knuckles. And so I went and bought... THREE pumpkins (It was decided she will now carve Hello Kitty).

This other two required quite a great deal of work, maybe cause of exchaustion, maybe cause of the need to finish before desperate housewives, maybe cause it was just not meant to be, the other two don't look as bright as the first one. However I think it was a very VERY good job, and thus I will displayed them proudly.

While I was carving these two new ones, and begging for her help on the peeling parts, she managed to carve an amazing Hello Kitty without any patterns, follow by cooking of pumpkin seeds, chicken soup, and watch entire episodes of scandalous TV.
Don't ask me how, she just manages to multi-task like no one I know, or will ever know.

I'm feeling lucky.

They saw death, I saw love

2008-10-23T16:38:00.007-05:00

And I thought I was the one that had lost faith in human nature.

Anyways, we went to our Wedensday International movie night. This time I was so busy, I didn't had any chance to read anything about the movie before hand. But at the very beginning I knew it was going to be on my top list.

The movie was REPRISE. A movie about two upcoming writers in Norway.
I knew from the very beginning I would love it, as the narrator interrupted the flow of the movie to tell us what would've happen if...
The "what if" was so crazy exaggerated and unpredictable that remind me of Amelie's imagination. I loved it and the "what if" was a recurring theme, which at the end of the movie when people discussed it, it seem a common understanding to everyone that every happy "what if" was never real, and the sad darker ones were.

What bother me the most was a special scene where one of the protagonists comes up with a way to make sure his love interest will finally fall in love with him.
Later on in the movie he uses the same trick (at kind of bad times with not so happy conclusions) yet, it was always a reminder of me that THEY were in love, and that THEY always had this little secret to make sure the other person would fall in love for one and other.
But noooooooo, for everyone it meant death wish and suicide just because things were not working as flawlessly as we wish love was.
WHY? OH why was that the general understanding of it.
I was apparently the only one that exit that movie wishing to use that same trick, and tell my grandchildren how after all this time the trick kept working.

Am I the only one that still believes in Truth, Beauty but above all Love?

Go see the movie please, and tell me.

P.S. yeah, yeah, I took freedom off the Mouling Rouge reference, cause... well... Freedom doesn't come for free ;) (Bonus points for catching that last reference)

WTF?

2008-10-21T08:37:00.003-05:00

I still have no idea whats the purpose of the above sticker. I just found it near a bus stop.
Reminiscent of our "Juan Valdez logo" but... what is it mocking? how? why?
Give me answers people.

Chocolo regains sight

2008-10-14T11:52:00.009-05:00

I'm a terrible parent.
I grew accustom to Chocolo's condition, and carry one as usual not noticing his gloomy perspective on life:

However an amazing research scientist develop a synthetic eye, fully functional for him, and care for his surgery:

His recovery was a success:

and now with his sight back, he has thank the kind scientist that made it all possible, and started a new life with new friends:

LIFE IS SO MUCH BETTER KNOW.

SC II will be released over 3 years >.>

2008-10-11T09:49:00.004-05:00

Starcraft II will be three games released hypothetically one/year. (read on IGN)
Advertise as following the dream of giving players choice, I know they just want to squeeze as much money from me as possible.
Well sorry Blizzard, I guess my RTS needs will be fulfilled by RA 3 until the last Protoss campaing of SC II comes out.

ITS COMING BACK!!!!!!

2008-10-07T16:48:00.003-05:00

How come there is no official webstite?!?!
Another game to be added to the list of "If I had a Wii".

If you have an extra 30mins to remember the good old punch out days, here is an amazing youtube video:

The future should be IMPULSE

2008-09-25T21:24:00.001-05:00

Penny arcade talks and jokes about SecuROM.
But as much as I like Steam, I prefer IMPULSE for the future digital distribution.

Now go help Stardock!!!

I stop being a ninja for a day to become:

2008-09-19T17:41:00.002-05:00

You are The Cap'n!

Some men and women are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any scalawag who stands between them and unlimited power. You never met a man - or woman - you couldn't eviscerate. You are the definitive Man of Action, the CEO of the Seven Seas, Lee Iacocca in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. You're mission-oriented, and if anyone gets in the way, that's his problem, now isn't? Your buckle was swashed long ago and you have never been so sure of anything as your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off his head if he shows any sign of taking you on or backing down. If one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones' locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed - a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.

What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

FSM is on my side ^.^

2008-09-18T13:07:00.004-05:00

Heaven should offer more than BEER and Stripper factories. Or am I demanding too much?

What say yee Pastafarians?

Still Alive ... yes it will never get old.

2008-09-17T10:05:00.001-05:00

Specially when done in new artistic ways like:

Portal - Still Alive typography from Trickster on Vimeo.

short SPORE update

2008-09-14T17:04:00.004-05:00

Just some news on the mainstream media:

Copyright row dogs Spore release
Did 'Spore' copy protections backfire on EA?
Spore And The Great DRM Backlash

The winner was BBC on how fast it published the news.

As far as EA responds?
None really

However Red Alert 3 will have 5 installs and no CD requirements to play.

I'm definitely getting that one. Previews are hilarious.

Of LHC and Doomsday

2008-09-11T11:52:00.004-05:00

http://www.stuff.co.nz//blogs/toonedin/2008/09/09/collider-scope/

Recently if you visit digg or reddit, several stories will pop up about the Large Hadron Collider.
Even PhDComics is running an special of it.

Those having the most fun are the half-life fans with their found "coincidences". (Freeman at site. G-man at site. Headcrabs at site)

Several comments seem to be tired about the doomsday jokes, but thank the flying spaghetti monster for them; It is because of this that now I know the biggest particle accelerator now exists near Geneva thanks to the European Organization of Nuclear Research, (CERN, acronym must make sense in one of those languages) and that it has been one day since the first beam was fired and we are all alive and well.
It will be on October 21 when the world will come to an end when the first high-energy collisions is planned. It matches my Prelim defense date, therefore I feel a certain grim dystopian future is coming on such a date.

I will be checking here for regular updates on the status of the world.
And to learn more about it I will play here when time allows.

SPORE: it has begun

2008-09-08T12:04:00.004-05:00

Yes, the uprising to the stupid Copy protection/management policy that EA has enforced upon customers of SPORE.

The People Have Spoken: ‘Spore’ Is Ruined By Its Own DRM
EA's Spore hit by DRM backlash
Spore losing the DRM Fight
Customer Reviews (Keeps adding 1 star reviews, but pretty sure to change soon, since there are not REAL reviews)

Now, unfortunately I'm not sure EA will actually listen. A similar thing had happen to BIOSHOCK, which introduce the incredibly stupid 3 installation rule also used in SPORE, and yet given how good Bioshock was, it hurt sales very little. (2K was brave enough to leave on their forums a "If you need to have your game refunded, here's how." topic for this issues)
I'm guessing SPORE might have the same effect. Though plenty of people will go ahead and download a crack version of it, the game will be good enough to make enough sales to keep EA from removing the insane rules. (I hope I'm wrong and EA will change on a later patch, but I'm not holding my breath to it. I am holding my purchase for now though)

Meanwhile good news from my favorite Game developer Stardock who knows how I like my games.

I'm in BETA

2008-09-07T18:12:00.004-05:00

Given my extraordinary knowledge of the game mechanics and having leveled up three of the different style of classes in the game. (TANK, HEALER, DPS) It was just naturally that Blizzard ask me to participate in the Beta for Wrath of the Lich King.

Or so I would like to tell myself.

Important thing is that I get to play for free the upcoming expansion pack.

Wohoo!!

You are doing it WRONG... amazon

2008-09-04T18:12:00.004-05:00

I have no idea how the recommendation system from amazon works, but I'm sure it could do waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better.

How many fans of the complex Ghost in the Shell series are also fans of Pokemon?
I would thought of them as separate crowds.
(Yes I've seen Pokemon, but I'm far from considering the remote possibility of getting the DVD set)

SPORE on National Geographic

2008-09-02T17:13:00.004-05:00

Damn you NGC for not giving me a quick code to embed your video.

The greatly anticipated SPORE game (that I've managed to avoid pre-ordering given its annoying copy-protection rules) will get some air time on National Geographic.

Or you could get the Galactic edition, but I don't think it will be worth it.

WWII as told by game chat.

2008-08-30T15:06:00.001-05:00

TOO FUNNY!!

Medals medals medals!!!

2008-08-26T10:45:00.004-05:00

Olympics are behind us, my country just went away with a silver and a bronze so we don't get to discuss much how we should be counting medals to make it into the top 10.
US gets to do so, thus leading to some articles, pictures, (That ABC is Australian, mate) but the best one so far, is a complete breakdown by the BBC into 5 different tables for the top 10 countries in the Olympics.

So how do we get our countries in the list?

I know, I know.
Australia is there in several lists >.>

Geek redecoration

2008-08-18T16:27:00.002-05:00

Curtains with ASCII art?
or
Your DNA on a frame?

Dan Dennett on evolution of virulent ideas

2008-08-16T11:34:00.005-05:00

Ignore the strange intro of the TED site. Once he starts speaking it is quite interesting.

Edit: Oh also don't get distracted at the beginning thinking about Resident Evil 4.
Zombie by parasites

Cool Japan

2008-08-13T09:06:00.001-05:00

and their amazing fountains.

Inkjet-Like Smart Waterfall Makes Animated Falling Water Show

w00t. Silver for us at the olymics :D

2008-08-11T12:45:00.003-05:00

Colombia got his first Olympic medal thanks to Diego Salazar in weightlifting.
Seems we are the best so far on medals in South America :P

Some news in english which have just one sentence mentioning it

China wins two weightlifting golds
Two more Chinese gold medals in weightlifting
Zhang continues China's goldrush

Trust me... there is a sentence mentioning us -.-

To make you quake in fear

2008-08-10T14:25:00.003-05:00

The above picture was submited to Dr Horrible's facebook profile.
Just sharing it here since the usual person in charge of keeping us up-dated on Dr Horribles news, seems kind of lazy these days.

To create your own Threat Down you can go to http://www.threatdowngenerator.com/
and warn the world about the likes of:

Turtles can fly

2008-08-06T20:31:00.003-05:00

This must be the "harshest" movie I've ever seen.
After seen the trailer I assume the usual "life can be beautiful even in the face of adversity", a common theme in "third world country" movies. Yet this one has left me in shock.
I recommend it , yet I don't think I have the courage to see any other of the Bahman Ghobadi movies.

From the first review in iMDB "A viewing of this film earlier tonight ... was immediately followed, in my case, by a trip to a bathroom stall where I stared blankly at a wall for fifteen minutes amidst a state of pure, and surprisingly prolonged, emotional helplessness"
I can relate.

The cell-phone that is just...a phone

2008-08-04T18:21:00.003-05:00

Remember when the iPhone came out, and people actually looked for something with all the functionality of the iPhone minus the AT&T phone service?

Well finally, the complete opposite is here (hooray, hurray?)

Tears shed for video game charachters

2008-07-28T07:57:00.002-05:00

WARNING: BUNCH OF SPOILERS IF YOU FOLLOW THE REDDIT LINKS.

This thread on reddit had me trying to remember which game had me so involved in their world and story that they actually toyed with my emotions.

I loved to see I wasn't the only one that was sadden by Shadow of the Colossus and the horse... it is amazing since I only played for 10mins but still the ambiance in that game made it so perfect that I was immediately attached to those in game.

Another of the comments I relate as well was the ending of Half Life 2 episode 2... which hopefully Stynky will finish one day so I could say more about it.
I'm not sure if it would have the same effect as shadow of the colossus, cause I think you really have to play through the first episodes to really get the most of it... so Stynky stop procrastinating and finish it.

Finally I had to add a comment for Baldur's Gate... for some reason I seem to be the only one genuinely enraged by the death of my dear friend Khalid. The game did great on creating party members who, given their unique personalities, you would actually end up caring for.

Any games that managed to do similar for you?
I wonder if adding Rome Total War after the death of Kanmi The Conqueror is valid.
After all his memory leaves on through my name in this Blog... I really honored such an amazing Leader that manage to take Elephants into the streets of Rome... how Hannibal should have done so.

YAY Deadlines

2008-07-26T08:21:00.002-05:00

Now finally I will get to work.
Someone has read my crappy proposal and realized what a bunch of mediocrity it was and now I will be working with progressive deadlines starting with this Monday.

Wohoo, now I'm working... oh wait ... I'm blogging...craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap.

Dinosaur sprinkles

2008-07-23T20:27:00.001-05:00

Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles
Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles
Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles
Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles
Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles
Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles
Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles Dinosaur Sprinkles

Turtle Race? Grad School Race?

2008-07-18T20:02:00.004-05:00

http://jalansutera.dagdigdug.com/2008/02/04/rabbit-vs-turtle-who-will-win-the-race/

Slow but steady?
Why is it that a small success, a turtle step closer to my goal, puts me a bit at ease at the incoming Prelim in 2 weeks?

Today was a busy day, started with lab meeting at 8am
Followed by tissue immunohistochemistry
Continue with Cell culture plating for our new imaging system collaborator.
very VERY brief lunch
Supervised one of the kids doing RNA extract and cDNA preparation.
Finally prepare the media for MY experiment (yes, none of the previous one relates to my projects)

And when I was done I said to myself. "Thats it, today I write a good amount for my prelim" Never actually set the record straight on what a good amount was, but the thing is, while trying to rewrite my Abstract... I found a commentary that it is going to be my copy paste for the introduction. It has already some nice graphs that I can modify to put it in my proposed model.

I didn't wrote much but for some reason I feel this little finding as an excuse to tell my self "I've moved forward, for today it is ok, now lets go have some dinner"
No sense of guilt is with me while I procrastinate now making this post AND getting ready to go home.
Why is that?

The Sinestro Corps War

2008-07-16T19:22:00.004-05:00

The "sneaky" BIG event of DC comics this year, as the REAL BIG event was suppose to be Final Crisis, which so far never got any great reviews.

Anyways, I got the Corpse War in an impulsive act after one of my "no-particular-reason" stop in Borders. After all... what is ~$40 after spending more on a date/night that lead only to friendships ... again... but getting of topic.

I'm here to tell you that I enjoyed this comic book, though was almost pushed away from it at the beginning as this post will cover and a later one will cover the goodies.

Although I would like to think I know a good share of the DC universe, this comic really challenged it. I did expect it, like it happen on Infinite Crisis, however Infinite Crisis in its core books was relatively good at explaining why the incidents that were taking place were happening, however, whoever edited the Hardcover collection for The Sinestro Corps event, really assumed Green Lantern Mythos nerd would pick it up.

During the entire first book we are jumping from a big battle to the next one with almost no direction of what has come to generate this encounters... and "Oh my god" do they really expect me to just swallow that Sinestro has all this power and allies all of a sudden with little explanation whatsoever? This is the Hardcover ... I know they want me to go running buy more tie-in books, but they should do it cause I want to know more of the details or particular situations/battles/character etc of the story, not because I HAVE TO HAVE THEM TO UNDERSTAND THE BASICS OF IT.

Now that thats out, this was the main issues with the first volume of the Hardcover, there is no much intro, you are just thrown into the big battle assuming that you know all the previous drama Hal Jordan has gone with the Corpse and that several of the most powerful evil guys in the DC Universe have mysteriously joined forces.

I'm going to also pick on the artist.
There was a clear intention to show this is war, so it is going to be chaotic and bloody, but I'm not sure if its my Rome Total War influence or what, but just having pages after pages of random people mutilating random people was not really adding much to the sens of war. I'm not sure why, it will probably be just me, but I like it more when you can properly tell how is the battle ensuing, like a well trained legion!

But, this was a necessary evil, because the second volume is totally worth it and I will tell you why... on a later post. :P

See ya then

2 years later.

2008-07-14T16:20:00.004-05:00

It is done:
Dimerization of the Papillomavirus E2 Protein Is Required for Efficient Mitotic Chromosome Association and Brd4 Binding

And the only figure that actually has a result I remember recording, is the last one of microscopy...all the gels are from Jon.

At this pace my next paper would be in 7 years >.>

Oh well, such is the price of biology non reproducible, incomprehensible, anti-P.I-hypothesis results

Intro video to Empire Total War

2008-07-13T12:34:00.012-05:00

Total war is a respected and well known series of video games that fuse Real Time Strategy with Turn based strategy gameplay.
Although I've heard the series, it wasn't until ROME Total War that I fell in love, or should I say fell into the addiction, of the game.

The Real Time Strategy part of the game, where you could control thousands of units while in full 3D environment able to zoom in and out to quite and extense, made the wars (battles fell short to describe what the experience was like) feel pretty epic.
The leader of the army will give you a speech at the beginning of each battle.

During this battle you can pause but the real Turn based part of the game lies when you have an overview map of all the lands/empire/nations in play, which in the case of Rome was Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. In here you not only move armies, but have to deal with the economics and politics of your mayor cities, while moving spies and diplomats to wherever they are needed.
Battles are very large scales, having different parts of your armies dealing with entirely different situations.

Rome was incredibly addictive and the creators later came on with Medieval Total war II, a game which although looked amazing; given the expansion moving on to the Americas without an army I would like to support (I would like a south american faction), never managed to make me buy it.

The latest installment which you can see the intro video below, has got my interest again. We are introduce to the new Naval battles while still maintaining the epic open battlefields in land, and the political/economical management that might lead to revolts.

The video does a great job at giving you a glimpse of how it will be and what has me intrigued for quite a while... it will be the first of the series where the entire world is in combat...as seen on the end of the movie.

Given the time period I will have some conflict on which faction to play and support, but this video and some news that will be coming from E3 have definitely got me thinking about the series again.

I hope you do so as well now :D , there is a lot LOT more in the total war series than what little details I've mentioned above.
Definitely worth checking out sometime.

Styx

2008-07-11T17:16:00.000-05:00

Oh Noes!!! they have more now !!!!

2008-07-11T16:44:00.004-05:00

RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN

Context suggested by sis-in-law

NWN Nostalgia

2008-07-10T10:39:00.003-05:00

I don't even remember how I got to this page.

I felt like re-installing NWN, download the patch... but mhe... too long.
I think I'll just use the wallpaper for a while.

Don't shoot

2008-07-08T08:29:00.005-05:00

From Chengdu Panda Base

That is not photoshop, the iranian missles are ^.^

From digg comments on this story

Purdue 4 me 0

2008-07-06T07:36:00.002-05:00

2 more friends are leaving Purdue (though dunno how much can I call one a friend when I find out via facebook updates, not by talking)
Anyways two more people are quitting PhD, and I'm still here don't know why... just like I got here, not knowing why :P

I think I should be working on a plan B, but seems I"m too lazy to look into it.

The Betamax is now a legend O.O

2008-07-02T14:13:00.003-05:00

The undergrads in my lab think they've heard it before, but knew NOTHING about it.

I was apparently supposed to feel old cause I knew about it while they didn't ... but I just felt "special" ^.^

Though I gotta say its still somewhat odd for me, kinda hard to believe, that the Betamax is not known, something someone never heard of.
They still now about vinyl, atari, camera's film, etc ... but no Betamax !!!
And I thought it lasted way longer than the HD-DVD and blu-ray battle.

oh wells.

Are there more like this? (Challenge)

2008-06-30T14:07:00.004-05:00

I saw Juno, finally, and I like it, but the most surprising thing was to find out about the following song:

Its country so feel free to skim around the middle part of the song, just after the Du du du du du du chorus.

Just in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, the lyrics of the fragment I want you to pay attention is the following:

"Du du du du du du dudu
Du du du du du du dudu
Du du du du du du dudu du

Up up down down left right left right B A start
Just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you"

IT'S THE CONTRA CHEAT CODE ON A CHEESY LOVE SONG!!!!

So, is it just me that have missed tons of gaming reference on love songs, or... is this the only one?

Spore Creature Creature trial

2008-06-28T16:27:00.002-05:00

Too few options on the trial to get me excited.

I still think the complete game will be awesome, but, slighty dissapointed at the demo.

EDIT: Argh poo... the gif doesn't show animated on the blog >.<

Vote McCain?

2008-06-25T14:47:00.001-05:00

McCain to visit Colombia

But they mispelled Colombia? ... yeesh when the democrats gonna go Clinton like and accept the damn trade? >.<

See, it should be painless

2008-06-08T14:47:00.002-05:00

Canada Concludes Negotiations for Free Trade, Labour Cooperation and Environment Agreements with Colombia

OK I don't truly understand if this is a definite "good to go" to the agreement, but anyways it seems to be going good.

Incredible research

2008-06-04T11:07:00.001-05:00

Until recently I was unaware of the following fascinating research:

OK lets see....

2008-05-20T16:02:00.003-05:00

Not much to update this days, as is common knowledge there is never anything going on in Lafayette.
But uhm... waiting for the UV lights in my hood so lets see what I can tell you.

So I went and watch Ironman, and even if the actions scenes are few and far between; I liked it.
Totally my inner child talking about this, since the only reason I have to like, is cause how cool it was to imagine myself doing what he was doing...and what do superheroes do? .... kick some butt of evil guys, and not the "grey" evil with an ideology or some fancy new evil of these days. Just pure "I'm a mass child murderer" evil.

So simple, but effective, I liked it.

Maybe I'll repeat it when my dad comes... cause seriously... what else is there to do around here? Any ideas?

The latest big thing in here was the opening of a brand new Noodles & Co. Which a) Allows for some easy "Hey they open this new place... wanna go try it sometime?" invitations, and b) well... I really really like it.
I remember the on in MD where they would serve me another plate if I didn't finish or dislike mine... but I could never ask for another one cause I always finish it >.<
I'm actually becoming a Noodles & Co junky. I go now to dinner there almost every day.
It is really a fresh new flavor to the few choices in here.
There are so few... I almost want to start cooking :P ... "almost"

Oh wells... I can't even find a good game news to blog about.
SO I leave for now.

Zai Jian Hoa Master Pearl

2008-05-08T11:01:00.003-05:00

In case you recover this site from your history.

You will be missed :')

I'll try an update if you ever join the blog community :P

While I wait for Zero Punctuation

2008-03-19T10:14:00.002-05:00

I'm gonna post another video, which I actually discover a week ago when Yahtzee used this song at the introduction of his review.
It kept coming to my head more than his hilarious comments

Now I can embed Vids from yahoo?

2008-03-18T16:57:00.000-05:00

Apparently it works :D

Starting to PANIC !!

2008-03-02T13:33:00.002-05:00

So... prelim topic is due in a few weeks.
I have ... just talk to my advisor that I should do something about circadian rythm "biological clock" and cancer.... so I guess I can't study Sonic the hedgehog gene :'(

But the actual topic on which to base my prelim... I have nothing !!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

let me repeat that:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

LOL They don't give up :P

2008-02-26T16:50:00.001-05:00

Dear Purdue Email User,

Purdue IT Webmail has been receiving complaints from our customers for
unauthorised use of the Purdue Email. As a result we are making an extra
security check on all of our Customers mailbox in order to protect their
information from theft and fraud.

Due to this, you are requested to follow the provided steps and confirm your
email details for the safety of your Purdue Email. You are to provide the
following data;

First Name:...................
Last Name:...................
Email Username : ...............
Email Password : ................

However, Failure to do so may result in temporary email suspension. Please
understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and
your mailbox. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thanks for your co-operation.

Purdue IT Fraud Prevention Unit
Purdue University

See

2008-02-24T16:58:00.004-05:00

Meanwhile in real life:
"yeah we should hang out more often"
2 months later
Nothing.

Update Your Purdue Email

2008-02-20T09:09:00.001-05:00

I received the following email:

Dear Purdue Email Users,
This message is from Purdue messaging center to all Purdue email users. We are
currently upgrading our data base and e-mail center. We are deleting all unused
Purdue emails. You are required to verify and update your email by confirming
your email identity. This will prevent your email from been closed during this
exercise. In order to confirm you email identity, you are to provide the
following data'

CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL IDENTITY BELOW

First Name:...................
Last Name:...................
Email Username : ...............
Email Password : ................

Warning!!! Purdue email user that refuses to verify and subsequently update his
or her email within Seven days of receiving this warning will lose his or her
email permanently.

Thank you for using Purdue!
Warning Code:VX2G99AAJ

Thanks,
Purdue Admin

Copyright Â© 2008, Purdue University, all rights reserved.

END

Kinda cute :D ... is it still safe to reply?:
Yeah, nice try :P

Unknown Valentine Distribution

2008-02-17T13:00:00.005-05:00

Figure 1: Percentage of my happiness due to subjects responses after treatment as a function of the expenses of the treatment. Expenses have been normalized to subject one .

Conclusions:
wth??!!!11

b_(^.^)_d /*Thumbs up*/

Bromophenol #0000A0 Valentine

2008-02-16T23:23:00.003-05:00

Yeah, so this was my geek take on Valentines :D
I treated my flowers with Bromophenol blue, cause as awesome as it would've been to put them on some water with DAPI and then see them under the UV light of the hood.
A) That would've got me fired from PURDUE
B) The Receivers don't have a hood with UV light at their houses so the effort would've been lost.

Anywas, you can't see it well on the picture, in part cause it didn't work as well as I hoped to, but, the Blue spots on the flower where achieved by letting them stand on water with Bromophenol Blue.
Misteriously one of the white roses that I just treated for 5 hours before leaving them with a note on Dee's desk, showed a lot better than the one of the picture, which was treated for 2 days!!

*shurgs, mysteries of life*.

Anyways on the spirit of the season, I wish also to trademark or copyright my geek proposal idea... stolen from: THIS STORY, and THIS PROPOSAL.
Basicly I will have her sequence the following protein motif:

Met Ala Arg Arg Tyr . Met Glu

Not sure if I should put a stop codon between them, and also I'm not putting the DNA sequence cause I don't want someone stealing my idea by just putting a silent mutation and not paying me with proper dues for stealing my proposal, and I don't wish to put the different combinations that would translate into that sequence.

See, I'm telling you

2008-02-10T09:41:00.000-05:00

Here on digg

The Orange Box is not perfect!!!, I'm gonna have to go back to WoW

2008-02-09T21:37:00.001-05:00

Well everyone was praising the orange box so much that I had to check it out. And I can testify about all the goodness that portal is. Half life 2 episode 2 seems interesting, but Team Fortress 2 is not n00b friendly :(.

I know what you are thinking... "But you are not a n00b, so what is your complain? This will actually keep n00bs away from your gaming experience!!!"
But the truth is, as Team Fortress goes, I'm a n00b. :(
The game comes without any introduction to each class mechanics. They just immediately throw you in search of some servers for games, and of course they all have a thousand mods running that I have to download, and then after an incredibly short (yet cute/funny) intro of the map, I'm thrown into the action... without any knowledge on how to make the most out of my class, and where the hell I should be headed >.< href="http://valardur.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html">didn't want me to leave, email me awaiting my return, in the meantime, in real life, I return to my real life friends and discover... no one really cares. I've discover that my only friend is my roommate, and there is only much amount of time we can hang out together before they start thinking we are a gay couple >.< href="http://www.commandandconquer.com/default.aspx">C&C3 (ZOMG how could've forgotten)
Bioshock (since I miss systemshock)
The Witcher (Cause people keep comparing it as the BG of our times, story-wise, cause as the rest goes it crashes a lot)
Word in Conflict (Innovative RTS? I gotta see it)
Spore (oh wait.... when the hell is it gonna come out? ... oh hey, look it was at NASA seminar!!!)
STALKER (FPS/RPG a Deus Ex wannabe)
Civilization IV (cause like the Final Fantasy franchise, seems I can't call myself a gamer until I play them)

And that should cover it for a while :D
And never stop believing in cake !!

Edit: OH wow this was really messed up after posting, apprently placing "d'oh faces" before links really messes up blogspot. Anyways the list is the list of games I will buy to give more money to other developers, so that Blizzard doesn't get all MY CAKE.
HA gg Blizzard !! :P

Futurama's power. Ai shitemasu

2008-02-08T17:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I saw Futurama, the episode where Leela finds the truth about her parents.

At the end there was a nice song, which after hearing I had to find out which one was it.

What I found was not only the video here, but that my story was shared by several other people. (So follow the link to the video to see the comments, also if you want to vote my comment up :D It will be much appreciated)

And the past few times I've repeated Futurama, makes me miss it even more. The show was really amazing. I've been reminded about episodes like the one about Fry's dog loyalty. Fry's brother and the 4 leaf clover, and now this one with Leela's parents.
The show hit you on an emotional level but still managed to be cool and funny, and the last time I watch the Simpsons, it was more like a "family guy" string of crazy jokes... yeah funny, but.... really?

On Fry's brothers episode, Professor Farnsworth makes a comment about the race results being changed by measuring (It was so close it had to be measure at the quantum level) ... and reminded me of a time when Homer nagged Lisa for not obeying the laws of thermodynamics with her perpetual motion machine. I just wish I could still see those type of shows on TV.

Or maybe I just have the crappy cable and I'm missing on the good stuff.
/shrugs

EDIT: Ok I just saw Scrubs, that still counts for the good TV :D

Happy New Year :D

2008-02-06T18:05:00.001-05:00

Damn, this year went like *Bam* so quick.

HA, mac fanboys!!

2008-02-05T11:51:00.000-05:00

Torvald who will lead us to the promise land said...

Just read the article here.

What is with mac fanboys burring my comments?

2008-02-03T22:52:00.000-05:00

It is well known, MAC has gaming deficiency:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWi9xAAxOWE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjpn3L3bSJQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-JdC04vBik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRcPhJx-Hcc

So upset, I'm just posting the links.

In fact, this week I'm gonna procrastinate on reddit and not on digg.

New personal best

2008-01-25T22:27:00.000-05:00

So I was gonna blog about that terp professor that came and give a talk about "Middle east where US stands and where do we go from here"... or something like that.

But there are far more important things to celebrate.

As of 10:27pm Eastern time, my comment on this digg story has hit >100 diggs... a new personal best :D

UPDATE: Saturday Morning >200diggs :D

Where are you global warming?

2008-01-20T21:22:00.000-05:00

Suuuure, you are right there in summer making me come to the lab in all my prespiration glory, but when I need to go out at -25.... you are no where to be seen >.<

Frostbites SUCKS :(

My thoughts on Cloverfield

2008-01-19T23:46:00.000-05:00

Hehe

/sigh

well I had to see it before the spoilers told me how it looked liked.

...

and I did, so mission accomplished

So when does the new year really start?

2008-01-18T17:13:00.000-05:00

Cause apparently it hasn't started for me.
I just came from labeling my flask as
1/18/07

Now the look
1/18/** 08

So, have you guys already adapted to this fancy new year?
When is the media date where this sort of mistakes no longer happen?

Just curious

Wonder if my Mac will be able to handle it

2008-01-16T12:17:00.000-05:00

spore-coming-to-macs-in-2008

However reading from here and someplace else I can't remember... is not really a port. The game will run as it would run on windows, but another program will be behind the scenes making it understandable for a Mac. Which leads me to believe its gonna run a lot less smooth :(

Oh wells

I'm no root

Warfare findings

2008-01-13T13:47:00.000-05:00

A Short Discussion of Caeric Weapons
by Kian Gxi

Circa 25870 P.H

The Lupus alliance had gather on the shores of Thunnus. The greatest meeting of armies the world had ever seen.

Recent findings of the Felidae coalition's gear can be found here

On a related story

The Only Moment We Were Alone - Explosions In The Sky

2008-01-09T21:03:00.001-05:00

I was recently introduced to this band. I love this first song.
like pretty much "Your Hand in Mine" ... and then I noticed any of their songs are waaay to similar :P

Still worth hearing them IMHO.

Also not much else to blog about, since research is just getting worst and worst.
So Enjoy !!

Back to normal procrastination

2008-01-05T19:12:00.000-05:00

187 my best score so far :

http://www.nekogames.jp/mt/2008/01/cursor10.html

Happy New Year :)

<(^.^)>

2007-12-30T10:08:00.001-05:00

Would be nice that my offline friends acted like my online ones :)

Sorry I was AFK :P

2007-12-18T17:39:00.000-05:00

Who cares about this blog anymore, but, if you were wondering what happen...

http://www.actiontrip.com/comics/at_comic241.phtml

lolz

As if it wasn't that similar enough

2007-12-04T23:13:00.000-05:00

>.< oh well ... the amazon will still be there in a few years... right? >.< ... right?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Sir David Attenborough: The Truth About Climate Change

2007-10-12T09:22:00.001-05:00

What happen just before 1900s?
Isn't Al'Gore house a massive pollutant?

Should I do a proper post with research rather than this lazy one as a resurrection?

Look at the graph before 1900s something massive happen and it gets my interest more than the current nobel news :P

Yikes

2007-08-20T10:40:00.000-05:00

6 Biology students are now out :(

This is getting scary... they are accepting more students than last year but same labs with even less funding

History of the Middle Finger

2007-08-13T17:25:00.001-05:00

A friend in facebook (one of those that i saw once and thats it) posted the following story:

--
Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future.

This famous English longbow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew" (or "pluck yew").

Much to the bewilder ment of the French, the English ! won a m ajor upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew!

Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodentals fricative F, and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute!

It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird." IT IS STILL AN APPROPRIATE SALUTE TO THE FRENCH TODAY!

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing!!!!!!!
--

However wikipedia does not mention it... so I guess its not true :P
Does mention another salute though.

Mhe still interesting so I'm posting it to save for later

Good old days of proper insults

2007-08-04T12:26:00.000-05:00

Yeah, as a gamer we know all about the "trash talk" ... but to be attacked in such a way as the ones summarized here on digg; those are priceless.
Deserve this posting

Quick update

2007-07-21T09:10:00.000-05:00

I hate hate hate hate moving

I bought jet grind radio :P

I hate hate hate moving

I'm looking fwd to semester to start so I can get an excuse to get out of the lab :P

I hate moving

Parents visit and presents

2007-06-28T08:51:00.000-05:00

So, lets see what I can post before boss starts running around the lab.

So last weekend my parents visited given the special occasion ... and no its not about the longest day on summer... and so I got to see them again.
Which is kinda funny, at the beginning you start laughing at parents being parents again, mom arranging everything and overall telling you what to do... then it gets kinda annoying again :P
I'm such a bad son.

Anyways back on track they visited me, and got to see the University... unfortunately it was a rainy day so we didn't do much walking.

That is the building I'm working at the moment.

Hey I took a picture with my mom also and I can not find it... so I will post about her on the this one.

Taken at Bubba Gump restaurant in Chicago. Yes expensive, but heck... its my b-day :P
I order one of the kids drinks that lets you keep the drink :)

So we also took a tour though the river was pretty nice... and then we had to go shopping :(

Anyways on my way back I got cards and a cool presents from my Bro and sis-in-law YAY.

Grim Fandango, one of the greatest games of all time metabelieve it ... which I thought it was point and click but I have to control my character through Gamepad or numpad... its odd.
Anyways just the voices that they have are funny.

My brother plan was to keep me from WoW... but my new best friend, who I've never met, although rumor has it that might change, decided to give me the expansion :P

Now I have to play both to keep everyone happy :P

Now... to find time for ME and play Company of Heroes... :P

Too many :P

So much to do so little time... in the morning

Give me a min u'all

2007-06-24T21:05:00.001-05:00

Hehe ok, thanks for the emails, I have so many to replies that will take a while.
So I will update a little bit later

!@#$%^&*()

2007-06-19T10:47:00.001-05:00

I don't want to keep cursing... but i can't beliave it happen.
Don't know how my stupid backpack open and my mac fell to the floor... the sound was horrible enough, and worst was when I open it.

#$%^&* I'm so pissed off right now... GRRRRR ... apparently buyin a new screen its gonna be over 500 ... half the price of a new one... GRRRR

ARGH

Finally

2007-06-15T10:50:00.000-05:00

well not really, don't see things changing, but this interesting article on digg

Though truth be told... I didn't finish reading it :P

gotta love these part

"The rational way to understand this is that ordinary, oppressed Americans are in a deep psychological state of self-delusion. Despite all the empirical, objective evidence of a failed government, they fail to see rebellion opportunities. Many still believe they live in the world’s best democracy."

"Why is there insufficient pain for revolution? This is a deadly serious issue. What is historically unique about America is that even the most oppressed and unfairly treated people are distracted by affordable materialism, entertainment, sports, gambling, and myriad other aspects of our frivolous, self-absorbed culture. Even failed school and health care systems do not drive people, paying enormous sums to fill up their SUVs, to rebellion. So, Americans are aware of their oppression, but the power elites have successfully drugged them with a plethora of pleasure-producing distractions sufficient to keep them under control."

NuMArt

2007-06-13T10:22:00.000-05:00

Nope I was not looking through a telescope, but through a microscope.

How do I copy right this picture as mine?

Back in Black Google

2007-06-11T07:43:00.000-05:00

Hmm so he is against Google street view?
I thought the outside was public space.