Howdy ya'll,
Its that time again, its time for another post! This post is going to be a lot more nerdy and a lot less serious compared to my last few posts.
I am happy that I don't live in Vietnam because Vietnam's Ministry of Information and Communication has put in a request to block access to online games between the times of 10:00pm and 8:00am. The government has also authorized other stiff measures in the last few months, do you know the reason why they are doing this? Its to help mitigate the apparent side effects of online gaming. I don't believe personally that online games are having that great of a side effect on us that we need to be monitored, but maybe there is a bigger problem in Vietnam then here.
Today is also the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, which was released on February 21st 1986. So many of us have played one of the many versions and off shoots and it has instilled so many great memories. Happy Anniversary and thank you for all the hours spent having fun.
So the Science Channel has bought the rights for Firefly and they will be airing all the episodes in order in High Definition. Also a physicist will appear at times and help explain the theoretical sciences behind the show's sci-fi concepts. This is awesome and hopefully this will help it gain a larger following and eventually lead to the show being picked up and new episodes being created.
Now to the most exciting and scary news of the past few days, the US Navy just broke the world record for the most powerful laser. Their new free-electron laser is the most powerful as it can burn through 20 feet of steel per second. This has led to the Navy awarding a $163 million contract to Boeing to help work on weaponizing it while also making it available to be used for on ship communications, tracking and detection. Its scary to think about what would happen if this technology got into the wrong hands (albeit people may say its already in the wrong hands). But being a nerd has made me think about all the cool things that may eventually come from this latest advancement, like blaster guns and lightsabers. I can imagine it now, having my own lightsaber and being able to protect the ones I love. I think I'm going to have a good dream tonight.
That is all for tonight, please return for another post at the same Nerd time on the same Nerd channel
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Ready to Start
Hello everyone,
Here is just a quick little post before I go to bed, its just one of my favorite songs lately and its called Ready to Start by a great Canadian band called Arcade Fire.
Here is just a quick little post before I go to bed, its just one of my favorite songs lately and its called Ready to Start by a great Canadian band called Arcade Fire.
Businessmen drink my blood
Like the kids in art school said they would
And I guess I'll just begin again
You say can we still be friends
If I was scared, I would
And if I was bored, you know I would
And if I was yours, but I'm not
All the kids have always known
That the emperor wears no clothes
But they bow down to him anyway
It's better than being alone
If I was scared, I would
And if I was pure, you know I would
And if I was yours, but I'm not
Now you're knocking at my door
Saying please come out against the night
But I would rather be alone
Than pretend I feel alright
If the businessmen drink my blood
Like the kids in art school said they would
Then I guess I'll just begin again
You say can we still be friends
If I was scared, I would
And if I was pure, you know I would
And if I was yours, but I'm not
Now I'm Ready to Start
If I was scared, I would
And if I was pure, you know I would
And if I was yours, but I'm not
Now I'm Ready to Start
Now I'm Ready to Start
I would rather be wrong
Than live in the shadows of your song
My mind is open wide
And now I'm ready to start
Now I'm Ready to Start
My mind is open wide
Now I'm Ready to Start
Not sure you'll open the door
To step out into the dark
Now I'm ready!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Sobriety/Control/Hypocrisy/Decision
Hello people of the "free" world, it is I again.
Today I would like to talk to you about something that has been a constant ongoing conversation in my mind, the possible idea of going totally sober. I have gone through stretches where I don't drink any alcohol for a couple months, partly by choice but also partly cause I am slightly allergic to alcohol. My allergies are usually kept to certain types of beer, wine, and spirits but there are times where it flairs up so bad that I can't seem to drink anything. I am currently in one of those fazes, what essentially happens is my face and neck start to go super red and they start to burn. If I try to drink anymore I can feel my throat start to tighten up a bit and that is the point when I have to stop.
Another main factor for me is simply control, I hate being out of control. Not being able to remember things or control how I am moving or acting. I may be an outgoing guy when it comes to subjects that I like, but I don't get super loud or crazily out of control. Even having one or two beers gives me that relaxed feeling which bugs me most of the time plus the main reason I would even have one is that I like the taste. Lately though when I go out I don't even have the urge to have a drink anymore, I would rather have a cold glass of water or a tasty protein shake.
The funny, or hypocritic thing is that I worked almost 2 years as a bartender at the Great Bear Pub in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada and now I am currently employed at a liquor store in Port Moody. So when I am working I am constantly around alcohol and I see the effects it has on people, albeit not as bad as when I was bartending at a neighbourhood pub. The potentially hard part for me is that I need to know about my product so I can sell it, I have accumulated a lot of knowledge from my years in the industry, its just all the new products especially wine that I need to learn about. The odd shift I do have some tastings of products but lately I make sure its only 1/8th of an ounce and if its wine I swirl it around and then spit it out so I get the flavor with minimal alcohol.
Ok, so after many years of spotting thinking and hard times learned I have finally come to a decision. I am going to go 99% sober. No more beer or wine or spirits when I hang out with friends or at my place, the 1% of alcohol will only be the small amount of alcohol that I consume in tastings at my work. Will I be sober for the rest of my life? I highly doubt it, I will probably have the odd drink for super special occasions like a glass of champagne at my wedding. There will be times where I will be tempted, like when I go to Comic Con or even next weekend when I go down to Seattle with two hot girls and my best friend. Its just something that I feel I need to do to live a long and healthy life where I am always fully in control of my life and destiny.
This will be an ongoing internal discussion that will probably last for far to long. If you have any comments or suggestions or anything don't hesitate to write it down below.
Have a good night and May the Nerd be with you.
Today I would like to talk to you about something that has been a constant ongoing conversation in my mind, the possible idea of going totally sober. I have gone through stretches where I don't drink any alcohol for a couple months, partly by choice but also partly cause I am slightly allergic to alcohol. My allergies are usually kept to certain types of beer, wine, and spirits but there are times where it flairs up so bad that I can't seem to drink anything. I am currently in one of those fazes, what essentially happens is my face and neck start to go super red and they start to burn. If I try to drink anymore I can feel my throat start to tighten up a bit and that is the point when I have to stop.
Another main factor for me is simply control, I hate being out of control. Not being able to remember things or control how I am moving or acting. I may be an outgoing guy when it comes to subjects that I like, but I don't get super loud or crazily out of control. Even having one or two beers gives me that relaxed feeling which bugs me most of the time plus the main reason I would even have one is that I like the taste. Lately though when I go out I don't even have the urge to have a drink anymore, I would rather have a cold glass of water or a tasty protein shake.
The funny, or hypocritic thing is that I worked almost 2 years as a bartender at the Great Bear Pub in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada and now I am currently employed at a liquor store in Port Moody. So when I am working I am constantly around alcohol and I see the effects it has on people, albeit not as bad as when I was bartending at a neighbourhood pub. The potentially hard part for me is that I need to know about my product so I can sell it, I have accumulated a lot of knowledge from my years in the industry, its just all the new products especially wine that I need to learn about. The odd shift I do have some tastings of products but lately I make sure its only 1/8th of an ounce and if its wine I swirl it around and then spit it out so I get the flavor with minimal alcohol.
Ok, so after many years of spotting thinking and hard times learned I have finally come to a decision. I am going to go 99% sober. No more beer or wine or spirits when I hang out with friends or at my place, the 1% of alcohol will only be the small amount of alcohol that I consume in tastings at my work. Will I be sober for the rest of my life? I highly doubt it, I will probably have the odd drink for super special occasions like a glass of champagne at my wedding. There will be times where I will be tempted, like when I go to Comic Con or even next weekend when I go down to Seattle with two hot girls and my best friend. Its just something that I feel I need to do to live a long and healthy life where I am always fully in control of my life and destiny.
This will be an ongoing internal discussion that will probably last for far to long. If you have any comments or suggestions or anything don't hesitate to write it down below.
Have a good night and May the Nerd be with you.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Comic Con 2011 Ticket Debacle
Sorry everybody for not blogging the past week, just have been super busy.
One major thing that happened that made me both super happy and mad had to do with Comic Con and Ticket Leaps. So as some of you may know, most years Comic Con does what is called a "soft release " where they release tickets for next years Comic Con without announcing the date. I like this approach because true fans that really want to go would be checking daily to see if they are on sale. This year they decided to change it up and announce the date beforehand, well that has caused some major problems because twice the tickets went on sale and the ticketing company that they used was so overwhelmed that the system shut down. Its ironic how a convention run by nerds couldn't figure out their internet problems. Finally after a huge delay they announced the new date with a new ticketing company, for some reason unknown to me they used a company called Ticket Leaps, who in their mission statement said to be a small company. How is a small company going to handle over 100,00 people hitting their site at the same time?
Well the day came and I was online minutes before the starting time, and guess what? The site was already over capacity! So over the next 2 hours I went through torture trying to get Comic Con tickets for this summer. This included refreshing my page countless amounts of times, waiting until I can get in, and when I got in I found out that the 4-day passes were already sold out. Great, now I have to buy 4 single day passes, so I selected the appropriate tickets and then had to refresh that page about another 100 or so times to advance to the next page. After refreshing over 1,000 times in an hour and a half span I finally breath a sigh of relief as I receive confirmation that I have successfully acquired Comic Con 2011 tickets.
So after all of that I am for sure going to Comic Con this year, I only wish I was able to get a 4 day pass cause instead of registering once, I have to now register every single morning. Oh well, I know I will have a great time cause it is COMIC CON, the biggest comic book convention in the world. Now the rest of the planning (flight, additional hotels, car rental, costumes) can begin. :)
One major thing that happened that made me both super happy and mad had to do with Comic Con and Ticket Leaps. So as some of you may know, most years Comic Con does what is called a "soft release " where they release tickets for next years Comic Con without announcing the date. I like this approach because true fans that really want to go would be checking daily to see if they are on sale. This year they decided to change it up and announce the date beforehand, well that has caused some major problems because twice the tickets went on sale and the ticketing company that they used was so overwhelmed that the system shut down. Its ironic how a convention run by nerds couldn't figure out their internet problems. Finally after a huge delay they announced the new date with a new ticketing company, for some reason unknown to me they used a company called Ticket Leaps, who in their mission statement said to be a small company. How is a small company going to handle over 100,00 people hitting their site at the same time?
Well the day came and I was online minutes before the starting time, and guess what? The site was already over capacity! So over the next 2 hours I went through torture trying to get Comic Con tickets for this summer. This included refreshing my page countless amounts of times, waiting until I can get in, and when I got in I found out that the 4-day passes were already sold out. Great, now I have to buy 4 single day passes, so I selected the appropriate tickets and then had to refresh that page about another 100 or so times to advance to the next page. After refreshing over 1,000 times in an hour and a half span I finally breath a sigh of relief as I receive confirmation that I have successfully acquired Comic Con 2011 tickets.
So after all of that I am for sure going to Comic Con this year, I only wish I was able to get a 4 day pass cause instead of registering once, I have to now register every single morning. Oh well, I know I will have a great time cause it is COMIC CON, the biggest comic book convention in the world. Now the rest of the planning (flight, additional hotels, car rental, costumes) can begin. :)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Online TV Piracy
Hello my fellow bloggers and bloggettes,
As some of you may have heard or have seen, the US government went ape sh*t today on some of the biggest streaming and P2P download sites. As of this moment 5 sites have been seized by ICE, Homeland Security Investigations of the USA, with the sites either being totally removed or their front pages are plastered with the the US homeland security seal with the whole paragraph on unlawful distribution of copyrighted materials. The thing is most of these sites either stream or embed videos from other sites who have copyrighted the material, these sites are just passing it along. Wouldn't it be better for the US to go after the copyrighters instead of the streamers? Better to chop the tree down at the base, trimming of the top won't stop the main contributors. One of the craziest parts of this is that the biggest site they took down was rojadirecta.org and its associate site rojadirecta.com but they couldn't shut down the three other sites that company runs. The crazy part is how do the US have authority to shut down 2 sites that are owned and run by a company in Spain who went to court there twice and won both times the right to have their site. Here is the full list of sites at the moment that have been shut down because of the US government:
rojadirecta.org rojadirecta.com channelsurfing.net
atdhe.net firstrow.net ilemi.com
It should be interesting to see if other streaming sites are shut down in the new few days and if any of the sites that were shut down end up starting up again whether it be with the same domain or a different one.
As a nerd who is constantly online searching for shows or anything, this caught me off guard and it makes you think just how much Big Brother is actually watching you. Its kind of scary when you think of it.
Thunder... THUNDER... THUNDER-NERDS, HOOOOOOOE!!!!!
UPDATE: Another site has been found to be shut down by the US government, strikegently.com is now gone.
As some of you may have heard or have seen, the US government went ape sh*t today on some of the biggest streaming and P2P download sites. As of this moment 5 sites have been seized by ICE, Homeland Security Investigations of the USA, with the sites either being totally removed or their front pages are plastered with the the US homeland security seal with the whole paragraph on unlawful distribution of copyrighted materials. The thing is most of these sites either stream or embed videos from other sites who have copyrighted the material, these sites are just passing it along. Wouldn't it be better for the US to go after the copyrighters instead of the streamers? Better to chop the tree down at the base, trimming of the top won't stop the main contributors. One of the craziest parts of this is that the biggest site they took down was rojadirecta.org and its associate site rojadirecta.com but they couldn't shut down the three other sites that company runs. The crazy part is how do the US have authority to shut down 2 sites that are owned and run by a company in Spain who went to court there twice and won both times the right to have their site. Here is the full list of sites at the moment that have been shut down because of the US government:
rojadirecta.org rojadirecta.com channelsurfing.net
atdhe.net firstrow.net ilemi.com
It should be interesting to see if other streaming sites are shut down in the new few days and if any of the sites that were shut down end up starting up again whether it be with the same domain or a different one.
As a nerd who is constantly online searching for shows or anything, this caught me off guard and it makes you think just how much Big Brother is actually watching you. Its kind of scary when you think of it.
Thunder... THUNDER... THUNDER-NERDS, HOOOOOOOE!!!!!
UPDATE: Another site has been found to be shut down by the US government, strikegently.com is now gone.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Career/Comic Con Costume
Howdy fellow Nerds and Non-Nerds,
Were you one of those lucky people who always seemed to know what they wanted to do for a career? Or are you part of what seems to be a growing group of people who can't decide on a career. Well don't worry cause I am also with you. I believe more and more people now a days have a harder time deciding on what they want to do because they have been exposed to a greater array of potential jobs. Technology has improved our lives and made us more efficient in our every day lives but its one of the main reasons for the increased indecision. More specifically the internet is the main cause of indecision in people, go back say 40 years ago and you will see that the accessibility of knowledge and up to the second updates didn't exist. When you grew up you knew what kind of jobs were available in your specific region and maybe country, and people were more inclined to decide at a young age so they can start on their career as soon as possible and start a family. Take my family for example, I am a 24 year old student living at home trying to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life. My dad at the age of 24 was finished school, working full time in his career, married and had a newborn son (me!). It just goes to show you how times have changed.
Today I have so many ideas on what I want to do as a career but I can't decide on what path to go. The internet has opened my eyes to careers that I haven't even heard of before, and has helped me increase my career ideas list. Technology has also opened up many careers for me cause I love technology and have thought about doing something tech related.
Here is a list of careers that I am thinking about getting into:
Marketing for video games or movies or fashion
Dietition
International Business
Movie Production (behind the scenes stuff)
Prosthetics/Orthopedics
Web Developer
Fashion Designer
Motion Capture Technician
Computer Technician
Firefighter (doubtful cause of bad knee)
Personal Trainer (side job)
Entrepreneur
Maybe its just I have a love and a passion for so many things in life that I can envision myself doing all of these jobs. I'm just worry that I will pick the wrong direction and have to back track and start all over again, especially as so many people are a lot farther ahead in schooling than me. Any of you have any suggestions on what I should do? Whether its on my list or not let me know what ya think.
Were you one of those lucky people who always seemed to know what they wanted to do for a career? Or are you part of what seems to be a growing group of people who can't decide on a career. Well don't worry cause I am also with you. I believe more and more people now a days have a harder time deciding on what they want to do because they have been exposed to a greater array of potential jobs. Technology has improved our lives and made us more efficient in our every day lives but its one of the main reasons for the increased indecision. More specifically the internet is the main cause of indecision in people, go back say 40 years ago and you will see that the accessibility of knowledge and up to the second updates didn't exist. When you grew up you knew what kind of jobs were available in your specific region and maybe country, and people were more inclined to decide at a young age so they can start on their career as soon as possible and start a family. Take my family for example, I am a 24 year old student living at home trying to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life. My dad at the age of 24 was finished school, working full time in his career, married and had a newborn son (me!). It just goes to show you how times have changed.
Today I have so many ideas on what I want to do as a career but I can't decide on what path to go. The internet has opened my eyes to careers that I haven't even heard of before, and has helped me increase my career ideas list. Technology has also opened up many careers for me cause I love technology and have thought about doing something tech related.
Here is a list of careers that I am thinking about getting into:
Marketing for video games or movies or fashion
Dietition
International Business
Movie Production (behind the scenes stuff)
Prosthetics/Orthopedics
Web Developer
Fashion Designer
Motion Capture Technician
Computer Technician
Firefighter (doubtful cause of bad knee)
Personal Trainer (side job)
Entrepreneur
Maybe its just I have a love and a passion for so many things in life that I can envision myself doing all of these jobs. I'm just worry that I will pick the wrong direction and have to back track and start all over again, especially as so many people are a lot farther ahead in schooling than me. Any of you have any suggestions on what I should do? Whether its on my list or not let me know what ya think.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Gretzky/Gym Pet Peeves
Hello all of my most loyal slaves, it is your ruler Jefafa again. I know I am a few hours late but I would like to wish a happy 50th birthday to the greatest hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky. 99 turned 50 yesterday and it made my reflex on just how awesome he was and how many of his records will probably never be broken. I hope Gretzky lives a long life because he is a Canadian icon.
Now on to a subject which has been bugging me a bit lately, the gym. As my friends and family know, I am a fairly healthy guy. I try to live a healthy lifestyle where I eat the best I can and work out multiple times a week, not only to look good so I can attract a future mate, but so I can live a long and healthy life. My goal is to live till I am 100 years old or even longer. If I keep my healthy lifestyle and with advances in technology I think it is attainable. Now onto the gym, there are some "quote" "unquote" rules of working out at the gym which some people don't seem to be following. Probably my biggest pet peeve is how some people think that cause its the gym that they don't need to wash their clothes that often. Well after a couple trips you should, I don't know how many times I have been trying to bench press and I get a smell of the person next to me and I almost drop my weights. PLEASE WASH YOUR CLOTHES!! Two other pet peeves of mine are people who don't put the weights away properly, I know it my take 2 extra seconds for you but it makes it even longer on me and I end up being at the gym a lot longer than I wish to be (especially if the stinky people are there). Also with the topic of grunting, I understand a little bit of grunting for that last rep or two. But why do some people sound like they are dying? I don't need to hear you from across the gym.
Sadly this year I screwed up my quasi new years resolution. Most years I take a few weeks to a month off of weightlifting 5-6 days a week and go down to 1 day a week. I do this to give my mind and body a rest and recuperate. Usually I do this every year in January and June cause that is when the gyms are the busiest, January cause of new years resolutions to work out and June cause the start of summer. This year I decided to take a break the last 3 weeks of december because of finals and the holidays, so in January I started up again with what seems like a 50% increase of people at the gym. No matter what time of the day or night you go the gym is currently busy, even at 10pm at night. I'm just counting down the time until people break their new years resolutions and stop going to the gym, should happen in a matter of days.
Goodnight (or good morning) to everybody and May the Nerd be with you! ;)
Now on to a subject which has been bugging me a bit lately, the gym. As my friends and family know, I am a fairly healthy guy. I try to live a healthy lifestyle where I eat the best I can and work out multiple times a week, not only to look good so I can attract a future mate, but so I can live a long and healthy life. My goal is to live till I am 100 years old or even longer. If I keep my healthy lifestyle and with advances in technology I think it is attainable. Now onto the gym, there are some "quote" "unquote" rules of working out at the gym which some people don't seem to be following. Probably my biggest pet peeve is how some people think that cause its the gym that they don't need to wash their clothes that often. Well after a couple trips you should, I don't know how many times I have been trying to bench press and I get a smell of the person next to me and I almost drop my weights. PLEASE WASH YOUR CLOTHES!! Two other pet peeves of mine are people who don't put the weights away properly, I know it my take 2 extra seconds for you but it makes it even longer on me and I end up being at the gym a lot longer than I wish to be (especially if the stinky people are there). Also with the topic of grunting, I understand a little bit of grunting for that last rep or two. But why do some people sound like they are dying? I don't need to hear you from across the gym.
Sadly this year I screwed up my quasi new years resolution. Most years I take a few weeks to a month off of weightlifting 5-6 days a week and go down to 1 day a week. I do this to give my mind and body a rest and recuperate. Usually I do this every year in January and June cause that is when the gyms are the busiest, January cause of new years resolutions to work out and June cause the start of summer. This year I decided to take a break the last 3 weeks of december because of finals and the holidays, so in January I started up again with what seems like a 50% increase of people at the gym. No matter what time of the day or night you go the gym is currently busy, even at 10pm at night. I'm just counting down the time until people break their new years resolutions and stop going to the gym, should happen in a matter of days.
Goodnight (or good morning) to everybody and May the Nerd be with you! ;)
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