I really wanted to do a real post today, but this was too cool to not show you!
It's like Kenshin, but real!!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
And With the 22nd Pick of the 2009 NFL Draft...
... the Minnesota Vikings pick... Percy Harvin!
With all the character issues hubbub that was going on the last few weeks surrounding Harvin, I'm glad to see he was able to make it in the first round. I think Harvin will do very well in Minnesota's indoor stadium. He joins a talented offense featuring deep threat Bernard Berrian and explosive running back Adrian Peterson and provides a nice "dump" option to their inconsistent quarterback, Tavaris Jackson. I think he'll be a great sleeper fantasy pick in this coming NFL season!
I am, however, a little disappointed at my Bucs pick today. The Bucs traded up to the 17th pick to get quarterback Josh Freeman out of Kansas State. I don't know much about the guy, other than that he is a physical specimen at 6'6" 245lbs, but I do know that Tampa Bay now has five quarterbacks on its roster and one proven receiver under the age of 30... I was really hoping the Bucs could have picked up Harvin! But what do I know... =)
With all the character issues hubbub that was going on the last few weeks surrounding Harvin, I'm glad to see he was able to make it in the first round. I think Harvin will do very well in Minnesota's indoor stadium. He joins a talented offense featuring deep threat Bernard Berrian and explosive running back Adrian Peterson and provides a nice "dump" option to their inconsistent quarterback, Tavaris Jackson. I think he'll be a great sleeper fantasy pick in this coming NFL season!
I am, however, a little disappointed at my Bucs pick today. The Bucs traded up to the 17th pick to get quarterback Josh Freeman out of Kansas State. I don't know much about the guy, other than that he is a physical specimen at 6'6" 245lbs, but I do know that Tampa Bay now has five quarterbacks on its roster and one proven receiver under the age of 30... I was really hoping the Bucs could have picked up Harvin! But what do I know... =)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Final Fantasy: Dissidia
YouTube Cop-out time!
Ed showed me this video a while back. Give it a chance, even if you don't speak Japanese. Personally, I think this would be an absolutely fantastic crossover for the next Super Smash Bros. game!
Ed showed me this video a while back. Give it a chance, even if you don't speak Japanese. Personally, I think this would be an absolutely fantastic crossover for the next Super Smash Bros. game!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tomorrowland is Here Today!
It wasn't long ago that I went to Disney World quite often. As is likely the case with most kids, I always loved Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom and Future World at EPCOT center.
One particular scene that sticks out to me in one of the rides at those parks is the scene where a little Japanese girl is talking with her father at her home in Japan, but her father is all the way in America. Yet, both could see each others' faces and hear each others' voices as clear as can be!
At the time, such a scenario must have truly been a vision of the future, one in which we could communicate with friends and family anywhere in the world right from our own living rooms. Suffice it to say, that dream is a reality now, as pretty much anyone can video call their friends and family through free online tools such as Google Talk and Skype!
Yet, this is but a tiny example of how far along we have come over just the last decade or so, or even the last year! Ten years ago, when I was first entering college, not many people carried cellphones, and there was such a thing as a "car phone". The internet was useful for e-mail, there was some obscure thing called "bulletin boards" where geeks could trade geeky stuff, and chatting was virtually all ASCII text (see the monstrosity in the photo below). It was slow as molasses and you could only get online at home and possibly at work. Wanted to hear music on the go? You needed a Walkman that played magnetic tapes that held about one hour of music. Needed directions to get to the hotel? You had to stop at a gas station or learn to read a map.
Fast forward ten years, and look at what we have today. Wi-Fi is everywhere, allowing you to connect online at any hotspot. Cellphones? What are those? Today everyone has some kind of smartphone, many of which allow you to connect to the internet at speeds an order of magnitude faster than the internet was ten years ago virtually anywhere in the world. Every average joe and their grandmother can now trade music, photos, and any hodgepodge of other digital media through social networks and tools such as DropBox. iPods are ubiquitous and have storage capacities ten times greater than that of my PC in 1999, allowing you to listen to hundreds of hours of your own music. The especially savvy can literally stream music out of the air into their cellphones, something I literally thought impossible as recently as 6 or 7 years ago due to bandwidth limitations. Global Positioning Systems, once used only by the military, now come standard not only on many consumer vehicles, but even on personal mobile phones!
It's incredible what our kind has achieved in such a short period of time. What is next?
One particular scene that sticks out to me in one of the rides at those parks is the scene where a little Japanese girl is talking with her father at her home in Japan, but her father is all the way in America. Yet, both could see each others' faces and hear each others' voices as clear as can be!
At the time, such a scenario must have truly been a vision of the future, one in which we could communicate with friends and family anywhere in the world right from our own living rooms. Suffice it to say, that dream is a reality now, as pretty much anyone can video call their friends and family through free online tools such as Google Talk and Skype!
Yet, this is but a tiny example of how far along we have come over just the last decade or so, or even the last year! Ten years ago, when I was first entering college, not many people carried cellphones, and there was such a thing as a "car phone". The internet was useful for e-mail, there was some obscure thing called "bulletin boards" where geeks could trade geeky stuff, and chatting was virtually all ASCII text (see the monstrosity in the photo below). It was slow as molasses and you could only get online at home and possibly at work. Wanted to hear music on the go? You needed a Walkman that played magnetic tapes that held about one hour of music. Needed directions to get to the hotel? You had to stop at a gas station or learn to read a map.
Fast forward ten years, and look at what we have today. Wi-Fi is everywhere, allowing you to connect online at any hotspot. Cellphones? What are those? Today everyone has some kind of smartphone, many of which allow you to connect to the internet at speeds an order of magnitude faster than the internet was ten years ago virtually anywhere in the world. Every average joe and their grandmother can now trade music, photos, and any hodgepodge of other digital media through social networks and tools such as DropBox. iPods are ubiquitous and have storage capacities ten times greater than that of my PC in 1999, allowing you to listen to hundreds of hours of your own music. The especially savvy can literally stream music out of the air into their cellphones, something I literally thought impossible as recently as 6 or 7 years ago due to bandwidth limitations. Global Positioning Systems, once used only by the military, now come standard not only on many consumer vehicles, but even on personal mobile phones!
It's incredible what our kind has achieved in such a short period of time. What is next?
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Amazing Boy Who Sees With No Eyes
This is a fantastic, very inspiring story. The boy in the video lost his eyes early in life due to cancer, but has overcome his disability and trained himself to see using echolocation!
You can really do anything if you are determined and set your mind to it!
You can really do anything if you are determined and set your mind to it!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Parking in Good Ol' Gainesville
Another weekend in Gainesville, another adventure. This was the first time I'd ever paid $65 for a sandwich... Let me start from the beginning!
It might come as a surprise to you, but despite having lived in Gainesville for somewhere on the order of six full years, I never did get around to eating at a lot of the quaint restaurants that litter the town. My dining needs were usually satisfied by the on-campus Wendy's, and Subways. I'd only even been to the Swamp restaurant once or twice, and I'd only recently been to the famous Burrito Brothers for the first time this past year or so. Every so often we'd go a little crazy and hit up pan-asian restaurants such as Bento and Chopsticks. Sometimes, we'd go full traditional Asian at Bahn Thai or Saigon Legend. I'd also been to Gyros Plus a few times. Leonardo's was also a regular haunt of mine. As was the little place called Rhapsody (thanks Pablo for the correction!) that served the Big Ass Pasta Bowl before it closed down. Okay, so I guess I have been to quite a few unique places to eat in Gainesville!
Anyway, the point is, I'd never been to Jimmy John's Famous Gourmet Sandwiches until this past Friday. Of course, Jimmy John's isn't exactly unique to Gainesville, as it is a franchise chain that can be found in several cities all over the US. Still, it's considered one of the more popular, smaller restaurants in Gainesville. After arriving on Friday night, Cherry recommended that we check it out. Unfortunately, the closest Jimmy John's to where we were was the one on University Avenue next to UF Plaza. This is a very important distinction, as you will find out shortly!
You see, on the corner of the parking lot for UF plaza, there are a bunch of signs stacked up on top of each other indicating that the parking was only for UF Plaza. Since Jimmy John's was right around the corner on University avenue, which is in the same city block as UF Plaza, I made the assumption that the parking was meant for all establishments on that strip. Unfortunately, this assumption was false; when I turned into the parking lot from the opposite side of the street, I did not see the one that said "No Parking for Restaurants or Pubs on University Avenue". I walked by the lot again today and finally saw the sign, so I took the photo below:
Curiously, this sign, unlike the other signs underneath it, is not repeated at the actual parking spots. Had it been, I would have likely parked somewhere else. To make matters worse, the attendant was making his rounds right when we parked and headed around the corner to Jimmy John's, and didn't bother telling us that we couldn't park there! (In retrospect, this was probably obvious, since they would have been short $60 bucks if they did tell us). Still, we were pretty upset when we got back and saw the wheel lock and recognized the attendant. Despite our protests and accusations, we still got charged the full amount. Even so, it's pretty disgusting that they would trap us that way, claiming that the little sign on the corner was sufficient warning.
So, for those of you who plan on visiting Gainesville one day, make damn sure to read every parking sign to make sure you're actually parked legally!
It might come as a surprise to you, but despite having lived in Gainesville for somewhere on the order of six full years, I never did get around to eating at a lot of the quaint restaurants that litter the town. My dining needs were usually satisfied by the on-campus Wendy's, and Subways. I'd only even been to the Swamp restaurant once or twice, and I'd only recently been to the famous Burrito Brothers for the first time this past year or so. Every so often we'd go a little crazy and hit up pan-asian restaurants such as Bento and Chopsticks. Sometimes, we'd go full traditional Asian at Bahn Thai or Saigon Legend. I'd also been to Gyros Plus a few times. Leonardo's was also a regular haunt of mine. As was the little place called Rhapsody (thanks Pablo for the correction!) that served the Big Ass Pasta Bowl before it closed down. Okay, so I guess I have been to quite a few unique places to eat in Gainesville!
Anyway, the point is, I'd never been to Jimmy John's Famous Gourmet Sandwiches until this past Friday. Of course, Jimmy John's isn't exactly unique to Gainesville, as it is a franchise chain that can be found in several cities all over the US. Still, it's considered one of the more popular, smaller restaurants in Gainesville. After arriving on Friday night, Cherry recommended that we check it out. Unfortunately, the closest Jimmy John's to where we were was the one on University Avenue next to UF Plaza. This is a very important distinction, as you will find out shortly!
You see, on the corner of the parking lot for UF plaza, there are a bunch of signs stacked up on top of each other indicating that the parking was only for UF Plaza. Since Jimmy John's was right around the corner on University avenue, which is in the same city block as UF Plaza, I made the assumption that the parking was meant for all establishments on that strip. Unfortunately, this assumption was false; when I turned into the parking lot from the opposite side of the street, I did not see the one that said "No Parking for Restaurants or Pubs on University Avenue". I walked by the lot again today and finally saw the sign, so I took the photo below:
Curiously, this sign, unlike the other signs underneath it, is not repeated at the actual parking spots. Had it been, I would have likely parked somewhere else. To make matters worse, the attendant was making his rounds right when we parked and headed around the corner to Jimmy John's, and didn't bother telling us that we couldn't park there! (In retrospect, this was probably obvious, since they would have been short $60 bucks if they did tell us). Still, we were pretty upset when we got back and saw the wheel lock and recognized the attendant. Despite our protests and accusations, we still got charged the full amount. Even so, it's pretty disgusting that they would trap us that way, claiming that the little sign on the corner was sufficient warning.
So, for those of you who plan on visiting Gainesville one day, make damn sure to read every parking sign to make sure you're actually parked legally!
Thursday, April 09, 2009
DropBox - Your Online Storage Solution!
Good ol' Karn is always hooking me up with cool stuff that he finds on the internet. My first rave review for the day is about DropBox. DropBox is a cool little app that seamlessly creates online storage for your files. I know what you're thinking. "How is that different from plain ol' FTP?" Patience Grasshopper, for I once thought as you do.
DropBox prompts you to download a client. That is one of the things that kind of turned me off at first - I hate downloading weird stuff. But, the benefits that the DropBox application provides easily trumps the hassle of having to download the client. In fact, it encouraged me to download the client several times! I'll explain.
See, when you download DropBox, it creates a folder in your Documents folder called "My DropBox", that looks and acts just like any other Windows folder you have. In fact, you can move it somewhere else if you like, DropBox will know where it is. You drag and drop files you want to make available online into the folder, and you can make subdirectories and everything, just like the real thing.
Here's the fun part. If you download the DropBox application onto a second PC and sign in with your account, that folder automatically syncs itself. Any file you put into your DropBox previously is available now on your other computer. Still, how is that different from, say, e-mailing a file to yourself? Well, for starters, you don't need to keep a local copy of the file. What does that mean? Basically, you can open the file directly out of DropBox, make changes and edits, and save the file, all without ever having to download it to your computer and re-upload it to the web. Any changes you make will be synced the next time you turn on another computer that has your DropBox account set up on it! Plus, you can put it on as many computers as you want!
Let's say you are at a computer where you don't (or can't) have the DropBox application installed. You can still access your file online, via the web interface. Unfortunately, you can't edit your files live this way, but you can move, add, or remove files in and out of your DropBox and they will be there for you to play with when you get back to your own computer.
Still not convinced? That's okay, because DropBox isn't about to give up yet! You can designate any folder to be a "Share" folder and add collaborators (friends that also have DropBox accounts) to use the same folder. They will be able to access and edit the same file, so long as you aren't doing something to it at the same time. Think GoogleDocs, except you are working with real Office files, or photos, or pictures, or whatever you want, instead of the stripped down Google suite. What's more, any file that you put in your "Public" folder, you can create a URL that you can send to your friends that don't have DropBox, giving you a quick and easy way to distribute files you store in your DropBox.
Basically, DropBox is like one of the network share drives you probably use at work, except it uses the Internet as its server. It can come in particularly handy if you need to collaborate on schoolwork or projects and don't want to continually send dozens of copies of the same file back and forth between you and your team members. You can also use it like a virtual thumb drive that you don't have to carry. DropBox starts you off with 2GB of storage (2.25GB if you join on my referral), so it is plenty of space for you to put just about anything except for big movie files. It's seamless with your regular Windows file system, to the point that you can shortcut to files in your DropBox folder, and that your photo-flipper screensaver can access the photos you put in it so you don't even have to make multiple copies of the photos in order to be able to view them at any of your computers!
So, hurry up and get DropBox today! (of course this is also so I can get a referral bonus, but really, this thing is pretty cool!)
DropBox prompts you to download a client. That is one of the things that kind of turned me off at first - I hate downloading weird stuff. But, the benefits that the DropBox application provides easily trumps the hassle of having to download the client. In fact, it encouraged me to download the client several times! I'll explain.
See, when you download DropBox, it creates a folder in your Documents folder called "My DropBox", that looks and acts just like any other Windows folder you have. In fact, you can move it somewhere else if you like, DropBox will know where it is. You drag and drop files you want to make available online into the folder, and you can make subdirectories and everything, just like the real thing.
Here's the fun part. If you download the DropBox application onto a second PC and sign in with your account, that folder automatically syncs itself. Any file you put into your DropBox previously is available now on your other computer. Still, how is that different from, say, e-mailing a file to yourself? Well, for starters, you don't need to keep a local copy of the file. What does that mean? Basically, you can open the file directly out of DropBox, make changes and edits, and save the file, all without ever having to download it to your computer and re-upload it to the web. Any changes you make will be synced the next time you turn on another computer that has your DropBox account set up on it! Plus, you can put it on as many computers as you want!
Let's say you are at a computer where you don't (or can't) have the DropBox application installed. You can still access your file online, via the web interface. Unfortunately, you can't edit your files live this way, but you can move, add, or remove files in and out of your DropBox and they will be there for you to play with when you get back to your own computer.
Still not convinced? That's okay, because DropBox isn't about to give up yet! You can designate any folder to be a "Share" folder and add collaborators (friends that also have DropBox accounts) to use the same folder. They will be able to access and edit the same file, so long as you aren't doing something to it at the same time. Think GoogleDocs, except you are working with real Office files, or photos, or pictures, or whatever you want, instead of the stripped down Google suite. What's more, any file that you put in your "Public" folder, you can create a URL that you can send to your friends that don't have DropBox, giving you a quick and easy way to distribute files you store in your DropBox.
Basically, DropBox is like one of the network share drives you probably use at work, except it uses the Internet as its server. It can come in particularly handy if you need to collaborate on schoolwork or projects and don't want to continually send dozens of copies of the same file back and forth between you and your team members. You can also use it like a virtual thumb drive that you don't have to carry. DropBox starts you off with 2GB of storage (2.25GB if you join on my referral), so it is plenty of space for you to put just about anything except for big movie files. It's seamless with your regular Windows file system, to the point that you can shortcut to files in your DropBox folder, and that your photo-flipper screensaver can access the photos you put in it so you don't even have to make multiple copies of the photos in order to be able to view them at any of your computers!
So, hurry up and get DropBox today! (of course this is also so I can get a referral bonus, but really, this thing is pretty cool!)
Monday, April 06, 2009
New Stuff Yay!
Cherry came down for the weekend because I had a ton of work to do on Saturday. My MBA class had to turn in our draft for our country analysis, our second major homework assignment, and take an online quiz all by Saturday night. We were able to do it, amazingly, although our final submission was made with just 25 seconds to spare, as you can see in the screen capture below!
On Sunday,we decided to run a bunch of errands. We headed to Office Depot first to get some ink (finally) for my printer, which, for the past year or so, has been nothing but a scanner. We also picked up a webcam - those things are so much cheaper now than they used to be and have all these neat little filters that you can play with! Next, we headed over to the beach to try the famous pizzeria, Bizzaro's. I am not sure why Bizzaro's is so popular. The pizza, while good, is, in my opinion, not that much different from the other local pizzeria's in Melbourne, like Leaning Tower of Pizza or the late Peppe's. I think what really sets this restaurant apart is its beachside location as well as its true-to-their-NY-background rude attitude towards customers! It was pretty interesting. "You! Whaddya want? Hey buddy! No plastic!"
Our next stop was Ross. Believe it or not, we went to Ross for the sole purpose of replacing Cherry's SunPass battery. That's right. The turnpike employee told us for some reason that we could replace the battery at Ross for free. Ross, the discount clothing outlet. We were as surprised as you probably are now, and for good reason! Because, as we found out, Ross doesn't replace SunPass batteries! Instead, we headed over to the mall to get the battery replaced at Radio Shack. Some good did come from that side-trip, however! I finally picked up the last remaining copy of Okami for Wii at Gamestop! This amazing game won Game of the Year at IGN.com - it is a Zelda-esque adventure game from Capcom. You play as the wolf incarnation of the Shinto Sun Goddess Amaterasu from Japanese lore as she tries to rid ancient Japan of a terrible curse. The whole game is drawn a beautiful art style reminiscent of traditional Japanese art on rice paper, and the game takes that aspect one step further with its signature game mechanic, the Celestial Brush, which allows you to pause the world, converting it into a canvas, paint an object, and have that object come to life! If you have a Wii, do yourself a favor and get this game!
Finally, I got my last new toy for the week today after work. Using the handy $40 coupon from the FCC, I went to Target and picked up at digital converter box for my television. For those of you who don't know, my house has been without cable ever since November of 2007, shortly after we moved in. For the longest time, I watched fuzzy analog TV. Fortunately, 2009 came around and the government had decided to try to encourage people to make the transition to digital broadcast signal. So, I tried it today and was very pleasantly surprised at how clear it is, as long as you are able to get the signal! For the most part, all of the channels I am interested in are available - NBC, ABC, Fox, and CW18. I get some 15 other channels too, but as long as I have those three, I get most of the shows I care to watch as well as most of the football that is on TV... as long as it's not on CBS. Hopefully, CBS will one day broadcast strong enough for me to pick up their signal too!
On Sunday,we decided to run a bunch of errands. We headed to Office Depot first to get some ink (finally) for my printer, which, for the past year or so, has been nothing but a scanner. We also picked up a webcam - those things are so much cheaper now than they used to be and have all these neat little filters that you can play with! Next, we headed over to the beach to try the famous pizzeria, Bizzaro's. I am not sure why Bizzaro's is so popular. The pizza, while good, is, in my opinion, not that much different from the other local pizzeria's in Melbourne, like Leaning Tower of Pizza or the late Peppe's. I think what really sets this restaurant apart is its beachside location as well as its true-to-their-NY-background rude attitude towards customers! It was pretty interesting. "You! Whaddya want? Hey buddy! No plastic!"
Our next stop was Ross. Believe it or not, we went to Ross for the sole purpose of replacing Cherry's SunPass battery. That's right. The turnpike employee told us for some reason that we could replace the battery at Ross for free. Ross, the discount clothing outlet. We were as surprised as you probably are now, and for good reason! Because, as we found out, Ross doesn't replace SunPass batteries! Instead, we headed over to the mall to get the battery replaced at Radio Shack. Some good did come from that side-trip, however! I finally picked up the last remaining copy of Okami for Wii at Gamestop! This amazing game won Game of the Year at IGN.com - it is a Zelda-esque adventure game from Capcom. You play as the wolf incarnation of the Shinto Sun Goddess Amaterasu from Japanese lore as she tries to rid ancient Japan of a terrible curse. The whole game is drawn a beautiful art style reminiscent of traditional Japanese art on rice paper, and the game takes that aspect one step further with its signature game mechanic, the Celestial Brush, which allows you to pause the world, converting it into a canvas, paint an object, and have that object come to life! If you have a Wii, do yourself a favor and get this game!
Finally, I got my last new toy for the week today after work. Using the handy $40 coupon from the FCC, I went to Target and picked up at digital converter box for my television. For those of you who don't know, my house has been without cable ever since November of 2007, shortly after we moved in. For the longest time, I watched fuzzy analog TV. Fortunately, 2009 came around and the government had decided to try to encourage people to make the transition to digital broadcast signal. So, I tried it today and was very pleasantly surprised at how clear it is, as long as you are able to get the signal! For the most part, all of the channels I am interested in are available - NBC, ABC, Fox, and CW18. I get some 15 other channels too, but as long as I have those three, I get most of the shows I care to watch as well as most of the football that is on TV... as long as it's not on CBS. Hopefully, CBS will one day broadcast strong enough for me to pick up their signal too!
Thursday, April 02, 2009
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