Portal:Prelude is OUT!

I'm posting, and I'm Still Alive.

I've been anticipating this mod for all of one week, and it's finally out! Shame you can only get it off FilePlanet. I've been waiting in line for a while now, and I've only moved ten places.

Expect a review or something once I get it downloaded.

PICAXE is Here!

My PICAXE stuff came in today. If anyone says anything bad about Advanced Micro Circuits Corp., they're wrong. I got everything at a great time, and in my hour of free time, I managed to make this little blinking light (sorry for the low quality):

Darn. (Gmod)

Garry's Mod has a virus. I've been playing Team Fortress 2 lately, but found myself wanting to go online with GMod today. I usually read the latest posts in some forums on Facepunch, so at least I found out about it before I could get it. There's an antidote out, but I'm going to wait for Garry to update it before I go online again.

Weird

You know, for having not posted for a month, my hit counter sure is high. I guess google seems to like me. Well, I am on the first page for "spore crash", "lire...fail" and "intel robot battle", which must be helping a lot.

Why, Shipping, WHY?

Why is shipping so slow and expensive? I've been meaning to get into real robotics for a while: I guess Lego's robotics kits do count, but I've always wanted to use actual microcontrollers. I decided on Atmel's AVR chips. It uses a programmer, and my favorite out of the ones I've seen, the AVRISP mk2, happens to be available at a vaguely nearby store (Digi-Key); it's in Wisconsin, I'm in Michigan. Shipping is expensive, but should've been quick at any rate.

It wasn't. While the programmer arrived in perfect condition, it took a whole week. Is shipping really that slow? I've had cross-country packages arrive quicker!

I ordered the other parts for my first robots from Jameco. Despite my best attempts, I couldn't keep my order to only items that could ship immediately. 2-4 days later, they call to tell me they've got it ready to ship.

The waiting is killing me. I'll post when they come.

Well, That Was Weird.

Whatever that computer problem I had yesterday was, it's gone now. I still have no idea what it was.

Will Spore Crash YouTube?

I want to make a prediction. YouTube will go down soon after July 17, the day that the Spore Creature Creator is released. Think about it. At least a million people will either download or buy it. One of its feature is uploading videos of your creature to YouTube. Most people will only do one short video, but I'm sure a small segment of the userbase will make hundreds of long videos. This is a ton of traffic, even without people watching all the uploaded videos. YouTube is already very, very popular, and the combined traffic will definitely not work in its favor.

Modern Ninja Weapon: MacBook Air

I need one of these. Not for another laptop, but as a weapon for self-defense. It'll definitely save me some time during the flesh and bread invasions.

On another note, Safari is telling me MacBook is spelled wrong.

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New Laptop Tomorrow!

I should be getting a new laptop tomorrow, so expect some posts and pictures. I just hope "3-day shipping" really does mean "3-day shipping"...

Holographic storage ships next month!

Everyday I find another thing I want, can't wait for and really don't want to spend all my money on. This is one of those things. Of course, I really would have no use for it, not counting showing off. I still want it though. Anyone want to give me $18,000?

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Tech News: Linux Declared 'Hacker Proof'

Linux (on a Sony Vaio) was all that remained unhacked at a hacking challenge Friday at the CanSecWest conference. Apparently it was laziness, not security that protected it, anyways.

Isn't calling something 'unhackable' like calling a boat 'unsinkable'?

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In the News: Bum Bots in Atlanta?

A man named Rufus Terrill owner of a bar in Atlanta, has created the Bum Bot 2000, a remote-controlled machine that he uses to chase loiterers, prostitutes and drug dealers away. The only question I have is whether he (or the robot) could be arrested for this.

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Why doesn't This Exist?: Curved iMac

This is yet another thing I want. I want a cubicle made of these. I could know who was walking by on all sides and quadruple my productivity!

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Cool New Invention: Gravity Powered Lamp

I want one of these. It may not save a lot of money on the power bills, but it's still pretty cool. Plus, gravity powered device may have some better uses...

Any idea if it could power a motor to turn it over? I know I could make one that falls over once it's done, for 8 hours instead of 4, but the idea I have would still need someone to let go of it.

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Intel's Robot Battle Game

I was seeing ads for this yesterday, and I have to say It's actually quite addictive. I really, really hope Intel will continue to advertise with games for all eternity. Or at least for the next 50 or so years.

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In the News: Elmo's at it again, this time with death threats.

It seems like any moving or talking Elmo toy causes some sort of trouble, from jumping off tables and shelves, to swearing at kids. One of the newest ones, Elmo Knows Your Name, is continuing this with its chant of "Kill James".
On another note, with "Elmo Knows Your Name" in stores now, are we really so far from "Elmo Knows Where You Live", which would make threats, not just to your kids, but to your whole family?

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In the News: Retailers rebrand HD-DVD players to HDMI players

Like I mentioned on Tuesday, HD-DVD is officially dead. What do stores do with the now useless players? Say they're meant for something else, of course.

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In the News: HD DVD is dead, the war is over

So HD-DVD has fallen. For some reason, I always liked it. At least it's death ends the war between it and Blu-Ray...

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