Dog Nightmare

I've got a few people in my class at school that are always watching youtube/online videos - I got a forwarded link to a video that made my jaw drop - maybe it will do the same to you. Enjoy:

The Real Reason Obama delayed the Digital Switch

You may have all heard about the delay for the mandatory switch from analog to digital TV broadcasting. What you don't know is the reasoning. Watch this for the real reason!

Blake Builds a Computer

As my first post, I'm going to go out on a limb and try to emulate the one and only Spoon. In an effort to honor his extreme and aw-inspiring computer/technology/tin-foil-covered-antennas-on-top-of-rain-tree-to-get-free-HD-season-5-of-24 intelligence, I've decided to build my own computer from the ground up. Here's why:

1. Because we don't have a desktop and my wife has to go to King County Library system to check her e-mail during the day (i take laptop for school)
   
2. Because it is an amazing learning experience
3. Because I'm sick of buying computers with generic components that last shorter than a rally in the stock market. Here's my specs: Gonna be sweet - eta 2 weeks:

Here's the breakdown:

Processor/Motherboard - $280.00 Free Shipping

Case - $70.00 Free Shipping

Memory - $55.00 Free Shipping

Video Card - $32.00 + $7.00 Shipping

Case Fan - 2 x $2.00 + Shipping



Most recent photo of me.....



Hard Drive - $60.00 Free Shipping

CD/DVD Burner - $26.00 Free Shipping

Keyboard & Mouse - $45.00 Free Shipping

Monitor - $175.00 - Free Shipping

Speakers - $90.00 - Free Shipping


TOTAL: $837.00!!! Not bad!

175 Lives

Most people that do this stuff are doing it for pure profit and have nothing else to live for. This is Travis Freaking Pastrana. Winner of how many gold medals in the X Games in how many different events? The first to ever do a Double Backflip on a motorcycle. He literally decides he's going to do an event and he wins it. Anyone who respects my opinion as a friend, as a man, as a 'logger' or in any form will watch Nitro Circus. It's basically Jackass but with talent and more adrenaline. This latest installment includes Travis doing a rodeo 720 INTO the Grand Canyon where he then does 2 flips after he's off the bike and throws his chute within 100 ft of landing. Yeah,he deserves your TV rating people!

Why Our Economy Sucks

The following video is back from early 2007. If only people had listened. I don't know why, but people who over-spend infuriate me. Chris Parnell says exactly everything I've wanted to say. Steve Martin is priceless.

[Consumerist.com] "SNL offers a revolutionary debt and money-management program. Chris Parnell teaches Steve Martin and Amy Poehler the secret to financial success. It's all detailed in a new book called, 'Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford.' Every debtor in America should read it."

We Are All Witnesses!

I am not a full on Lebron believer. I think he's really good but to be calling someone the king before they have ever won an MVP or a title is a little ridiculous. To give someone credit for what their potential is defies all that makes sports what they are. It's about what you do in the game that defines you and not about what the predictions are. However, after seeing this game by LBJ I must admit that he is starting to deserve his titles. We are all witnesses!

Pinto's Last Stand

Last night I had to say good bye to a very dear friend, Pinto Jueve. Sadly, he officially announced his retirement from the wires of Xbox Live. He was always living on borrowed time and finally, 'the master of the house' called him home. So as I was waiting for this guy to come over to buy my Xbox I turned the lights down low and the volume high for a final game of Call of Duty. What happened next is all true. The identities have been kept the same for glory purposes.

It's 4 v 4 on the smallest map - Shipment. Usually a blood bath of mayhem where no man can hide from flying grenades and random bullets. For all of you that have played, as the game was counting down to begin....8....7....6... I started to feel nervous, like this is my Senior year of high school and I knew that this was going to be it. 5...4...I select my weapon of choice the M16 3...2... the colors fade from black and white to game colors.....1.... Domination.

From that point I don't know what happened. My hands had a mind of their own as I started to slaughter the enemy before me. Like the 300 spartans, I slaughtered enemies without number (ok, 7) and I called in the heli-copter. I am sweating bullets (remember the high volume and dark lights... it felt real) and then I see a 10 kill streak and realize I haven't died yet. Is this a message from the Xbox gods? Should I keep the sticks? It's too late, the guy will be coming any second.... I continue my slaughter when my gun is out of ammo. That's where it goes Rambo. I literally took my pistol and went charging into the fray...... I get shot in the leg but not before I put the guy down... kill #13. I steal his gun and ran back to my hideout... Kill 14..15...16...gun goes out of ammo...(my highest kill streak ever was 17 so this was horrible time to run out of ammo) I did what a true solider would do, I ran buck naked (pistol out of ammo) into the fray and grab someone's gun, turned around... kill 17...18...19... The Army and the Marines just called my cell phone requesting me for a special mission.... Kill 20...21....and then it happens. I am surrounded by 2 guys and a gun that is almost out of ammo. Like the super hero that has to choose between the girl and the civilians, I could only get 1 before the other got me.... 22 Kill streak before I even died once.

That my friends was done without the use of Performance enhancing drugs, no game genie codes, and no regret for taking a human life.

At that moment, my craigslister walked in with his black high top boots (This kid looked like he would go Columbine if you know what I mean and told me a story about HAVING to play Street Fighter 4 this weekend and then I realized that retiring my online avatar was a good thing.... Good night Pinto Jueve, it was a good run and an even better ending.......

Let the Facts Speak

I ain't hatin' on women drivers, but this video doesn't speak well. Notice the clock in the lower left when the car is trying park and it just isn't working out. Watch the following video:

UPS Skeeball

UPS got caught on someone's house cams throwing their package from about 20' away. The guy comes up to the porch, decides its too far away and uses his horseshoe skills. You must watch the following video.
If you feel you've ever been wronged by UPS you can now use the twitter monitor they just setup: it's ThomasAtUPS.
If you're not familiar with Twitter, read Wikipedia.
Companies have started using Twitter to resolve tech-savvy customer complaints. Just read this story about JetBlue's twitter account finding a wheelchair faster than phone customer service.

Win the Crowd and.... Win the MVP

Shaquille O'Neal is the ultimate of entertainment. In case you didn't see it, please see below and come back to these comments. He really is a WWE Wrestler in a 7 foot body. He's one of the best players of all time and yet he comes out doing a dance with the Jabbwockeez for entertainment purposes and not to get attention. He can literally do whatever he wants and he gets away with it! Watch the following video.



I loved this dance and thought it was the best thing since...

If you like the Phoenix....

What's his deal?

Become a Screener for the Acadamy

The last Hack-of-the-Week showed you how to download and watch your favorite TV shows at whim. Now, you're going to learn how to get movies before they're released on DVD, or possibly even the theater. This is actually amazingly simple.

Important: You need to have uTorrent or Transmission installed and know how to access files you've downloaded with torrents. (If the previous statement confuses you, read steps 1 and 4 on Simplify Your TV Obsession.)


Step One: Add Shortcut

Right-click the picture to your bottom right and choose "Bookmark This Link". Make sure you choose to add the bookmark to your "Bookmarks Toolbar" (its the folder option in the 2nd drop-down box.) If you don't, you'll never remember where you put this bookmark.

Step Two: Become Familiar with VCDQuality

You should be checking VCDQuality everyday to see the releases for the day. Every time you load the page, new posts you haven't seen show up highlighted in red.

You need to become familiar with how the site is setup:

1. The "Type" column shows you what kind of release it is. The only ones you want to download are: DVDRIP, DVDSCR, R5, or WORKPRINT. (If you want to know the difference between these and other types of releases read this.)
   
2. Click and you will be shown an example of how good the video quality is.
3. If you see , the audio and video will be slightly out of sync. If you are using VLC media player you can fix the problem (PC users: "J" and "K" or Mac users: "F" and "G" will adjust the audio forwards or backwards).
4. The symbol tells you how many 700mb CD's the video fits on. This will help you later when determining which torrent to download.
5. The "Rating" column is what users have rated the video's quality. It goes Video/Audio/Content.
6. Use the search box to see if a movie you're interested in has become available. If the only version that comes up is a CAM or TELECYNC, a good quality copy is not available and you just need to wait.
   
   

Step Three: Search Your Movie

Go to ThePirateBay and search 2 things: The name of your movie and the release group.

(For example: I want to search "Scream of the Butterfly" released by the group "EPiSODE". My piratebay search would look like this: "scream butterfly episode")

You will probably get a couple results. You want to download the torrent with the most "SE".

Once the progress bar hits 100% in your torrent program, don't forget to remove it from the list and shutdown the program.

Optional: Watch It on the Big Screen
If your computer doesn't have a 50" plasma hooked to it, you probably are wondering how to watch these movies on your TV. You have 2 options:

1. Use your Xbox 360. Transfer the movie to a flash drive or a blank CD/DVD.
2. Install a program called ConvertXtoDVD and burn the movie in DVD format. Download here or here.
   

Notes:
If you have playback problems, you need to be using VLC media player. All your problems will disappear.

Now I know you're going to ask if this is legal or not. The answer is no, it is not legal. If you're afraid, go ahead and stop. But before you run to your router and rip it out of the wall, consider this: the MPAA only cares about people selling movies or mass distributing them. You're a small fish and the worst they would ever do is send a letter to Comcast telling you to stop. Comcast would then kindly give you a copy of that letter (I've never received one). Better yet, use your neighbor's wireless connection.

Man Glued to Tube for 72 Hours AP

A man from Sri Lanka has broken his own Guinness world record for longest-time spent watching television, the Associated Press reports. Suresh Joachim, who watched three seasons of "24" in Stockholm, said he drank between 25 and 30 cups of coffee while setting the mark.
—Jon Lafayette

My response to this is.... IS THAT ALL!?!?! There's no one out there who can post up for 3 days and watch. I mean, Spencer didn't you do 7 days Freshman year.

And the next article is ridiculous! Why? Because CNN is reporting this as breaking news. In the world of a horrible economy, war, politics, etc.... this is 'breaking news?' Either way, its incredible how fast he is? Maybe now he'll break the watching tv for 72 hours...

David After the Dentist

I am sure we have all been in this kid's position at some
point in our life and can relate to how he is feeling.

A "Wee" Bit of Humor

Here is a little history lesson on the wit of Winston Churchill. This story is taken form “Franklin and Winston” by John Meacham.

After the WWII, Churchill remained in Parliament though his term as Prime Minister had ended upon his defeat by Clemet Atlee, the leader of the liberal-socialist party in post-war England.

One day, during a break in Parliament sessions, Churchill entered the men’s room to find Atlee standing at one of the urinals. Churchill went to the far end of the line of urinals to commence his business. Seeing this Atlee said, “Feeling a bit stand-offish today, Winston?” To which Winston replied, “Yes. Every time you see something large, you want to nationalize it!”

Throw the Dang Batarang

I got this video from someone and just thought it was classic. Got funnier and funnier. And if you don't laugh, then its either not late enough or you're too cool for this type of thing and you should never visit the man-log again.