Avatar deux
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Over the weekend, I caught a movie that I've been aching (really, aching) to watch, Avatar. Not to be confused with some air bending cartoon, this was the big release by James Cameron, a movie that took a long time to make and bring to the big screens.

Sure, there were financial issues, as well as technology ones as well. James Cameron being James Cameron, he just built new crazy hardware and came up with software to go with his vision (stereoscopic 3D and God only knows what else).

There's even a video game (for the PC, consol and maybe even the iPhone) but since I don't own either one of those (no gaming PC, sadly) lets not go there.

The movie was an amazing feat for the eyes. Seriously. Even if you're not a Sci Fi fan, this movie looks pretty as hell.


This is from the game, instead of the movie, but you get the idea.

On to plot and nit-picking!

The movie reminded me so much of the wild west. Cowboys ride into the new frontier, find gold, silver, diamonds what have you, and start to mine the hell out of the local geography. Just so happens that you've got a bunch of semi-peaceful, tree hugging religious indigenous people on the same plot of land. So what do you do? Pretty much blow them out of the sky.


Hey, come back here, we just want to be friends.

(I love the tech and weapon arsenal in the movie by the way, just love it!)

At one point, the humans even decide to use a space shuttle to act as a bomber. Why? Why?
If you asked anyone to commit to using a vehicle that's specially designed to get off the planet safely, and probably costed a bajilion dollars as a simple bomber, you'd get laughed out of the military academy! Just stay back, and lob missiles in over and over, job done. Don't go in with ground troops, you don't want anything left alive, shot the jungle up first! Jebus, if I had to take over one more godforsaken jungle country . . . .


The only grainy screenshot from the actual movie, ha ha!

Minor gripe, if you log off your Avatar, and it goes 'dead' like that, how does it stay alive? What keeps the Avatar unit biologics going? Sure, Autonomic nervous systems can keep it breathing, but what about nourishment etc? Huh? Riddle me that Mr Science Space guys!

Edit:
Found a good gameplay video on YouTube, just thought it would be great to share it out.



But I jest. The movie was great. A little long, but an amazing movie nevertheless.

Six thumbs up (watch the movie, some animals have 6 legs).

Dav out
The Internet is for ....[not available in your country]
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

The Internet is such that you should be able to find anything (well literally anything)on it. The powers of Google knows no bounds!

So imagine my surprise when I tried to load a link to a YouTube video that someone sent me, and was told that I could not view it, since its not available in my country.

Wait, we're on the Internet, but we're still being restricted by countries?


No, seriously, I'm on the Interwebs, whats this country stuff about then?

We're supposed to come together as a global village, one mankind and all that, but someone thinks its better to sort and group us by our physical location.

Proxy server's to the rescue!

Dav out
Lists
Sunday, December 13, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Updated my lists of things to accomplish. Best accomplishment so far, has got to be Paintball. I've been yearning for a game of paintball ever since I saw an advert for it over here, but I never had the chance (or the funds) since all the places that had them charged an arm and a leg.

We had a company sponsored game of paintball, and I must say, this game just looks easy. Cardio. Seriously, do some cardio or something a few weeks before you even get into the paintball field. Oh, and it does hurt up close. Not as much at the start, and then it starts to bruise and hurt some more. I got hit on the knuckles and the back of my hand, and it actually drew blood. I'm not trying to scare you, but this is an extreme sport for a reason.


Did someone order a big can of pain?

Back to the list. Sorted the one's I've completed down, and left 'Take over the world' as the last item. I'm pacing myself here.

Dav out
Surrogates envy
Sunday, December 13, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I took the evening off on my busy hectic weekend to catch the latest flick from Bruce Willis, Surrogates.


This sir, is a movie poster.

The movie is basically about how science comes up with a way for humans to remotely control robots remotely. The technology then advances; I'm sure with some suited guy in a corporate office the size of a basketball court, into technology that lets everyone strap themselves into a control couch and instead let their surrogate robot body go out and live life. Living life via a robot. Life. Robot. I digress.

Am I the only one who thinks that technology that allows humans to remotely control, sense, feel and manage a humanoid robot has gone to waste, just because we have the crazy need to play a real life version of the Sims?

I can come up with at least a hindered hundred uses of the Surrogate technology, of which only 1 is showcased in the movie. Surrogates in the military, brilliant, that was my first choice.

But what about space exploration? It makes so much sense! Having people here on Earth remotely controlling a robot on the Moon, building our first real off-world habitat.


Get lost bub, this is a job for us robots, see?

Why stop at the Moon? Heck, lets aim for Mars. Strap the largest, fastest rocket you can build on and watch that baby burn its way to Mars. We wont have to factor in issues on G-Forces or anything, these are robots for god's sake! Heck, we can even toss out O2 tanks, and a whole load of logistic issues, both on the way to Mars, and when the robots get there.

Sure, there might be a lag issue (I don't see any in the Earth versions!) but I'm sure we'll be able to iron out the kinks.


Hi, I'm a robot. I've been here toiling for years to build you a condo on Mars.

Seriously.

Oh, the movie? Eh, was not the best movie from Bruce (I get to call him Bruce, we're just that close) but it wasn't all bad. Very thought provoking in regards to humans loosing their humanity when technology that should have been used to further progress our lives gets used for an awesome MMORPG instead.

I personally couldn't live in a world where everyone looked perfect. Who would we make fun of then?


Dav out
Going back to basics
Monday, December 07, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Unbeknownst to me (I'm pretty sure its a real word) Google / Blogger secretly changed my blog posting tool to a 'new and enhanced' version.

I'm all for new stuff. I'm in IT.

But dear LORD, posting images and trying to get things to square up is pure hell.

I searched about, and voila, found the setting to go back to the much easier (IMO) to use editor. A quick guide on how to go back to basics, below.

  1. Jump into your Dashboard. Don't click, don't browse, just jump.
  2. Go to 'Settings' and then 'Basic'.
  3. Scroll all the way down (or almost) and then locate the area called 'Global Settings'.
  4. Select the 'Old Editor' as your post editor.
  5. Life is good again as we know it!



Note: Apparently the setting is global, so every other blog you have will inherit the same settings. Eh, no big deal to me.

Dav out
I have issues with my shoes
Friday, December 04, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

No, I did not just sign up for the Dr Seuss Class for Rhymes, I really have issues with my shoes. I can never get anything I like in my size.


I'm a UK 11. Depending on the cut of the shoes, its sometimes a UK 12. I have 2 pairs of leather shoes I wear for work, but even those were from the UK.

I need a pair of canvas of loafers. Woes me, none of the local stores seem to carry any sizes above 10 UK over here.

Sure, there are some 11 and 12 UK sized shoes, but most of them are sneakers (Nike / Rebook etc) for basketball.

Call me crazy, but I don't want to be chilling out in shorts with a pair of basketball shoes on. You just cant do that man, its against the very fabric of space and time.

Also, I'm going for the sock-less look for 2010.

Wish me luck with my shoe hunt!

Dav out

PS: Do NOT like the new way Blogger pushes images into the blog, sure, there's left / right / center etc but its hell trying to format the post.
Water for you and me
Monday, November 02, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I checked out PUR Water a while back, and boy was I sure impressed by that bit of technology.

Calle has now shown me another amazing product that does the same thing, and is designed in Sweden!

Called SOLVATTEN (that's Sun Water if I got it right), it uses the sun to make water clean to drink.

A bit from the site:

What is SOLVATTEN?
SOLVATTEN makes unsafe water drinkable by using solar energy. The portable 10 liter container is a patented and scientifically approved Swedish invention. Put SOLVATTEN in a sunny place, give it 3-4 hours and the water will be drinkable! An indicator will show when it is safe to drink.



I like the concept, though the 3 - 4 hours is a bit long to wait. However, you don't need to keep buying stuff to add to your water, and that is a huge bonus.

Viva Sweden!

More info here

Dav out
Monday, October 19, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I looked for and found the other website I used before to auto generate a graph, pretty cool site here.























Same data, number of blog posts throughout the years.

Dav out

If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near. 
Charts are fun
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I woke up with this brilliant idea. I would look at the number of posts I've made throughout the year, and then put that data into a cool looking chart. Amazing! Fabulous!

Getting the data was one nightmare, lets not go there. Suffice to say, my l337 skillz (that's with a 'z' to make it hardcore) finally kicked in and I got the data into Excel.

What followed next, was a horror-show of cell selection and updates. A simple bar chart you say? Nay sir! It is a complex group of data tightly packed and presented to users in an easy to interpret and read manner.


















I give you, blog posts throughout the years!

Dav out
Meet me half way there
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

For some reason, this song has lodged itself in my brain for the past 3 - 4 days. Oddly, I'm not a super huge fan of the Black Eyed Peas. I like some of their music, but not all, some of it is just way out there for me.

For this song, I found the music pretty catchy, but when I watched the video, I was blown out of my mind. I love sci-fi, this video reminded me of sci-fi books I've read (stop asking me why and stuff!)

Black Eyed Peas - Meet me half way


Its just nice to hear someone else besides that Will I Am guy, you know?

This video had a very Avatar feel to it. Avatar, being this movie.



Dav out.
Cakes of moon origin
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Recently Dell (the company, not the guy) sent the sales team some Mooncakes, and I managed to get my hands on one. It was blue.

Who in his right mind would not want a mooncake that's blue in colour?






















It was filled with (I think) cheese with a blueberry inner layer and a dash of Amaretto liqueur. Suffice to say, it was deli-yummy-cious.

Dav out
Quad damage at Quattro
Thursday, September 17, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

We recently visited a new place called Quattro that boasted the cheapest beer's in town (and a great view honestly) and it was a lot of fun. We, as in people from work.

The concept was pretty cool, and I'd guess its something of the norm in other European restaurants, where there's a bar / waiting area for you to have a couple of drinks before moving into the actual restaurant for dinner and then off to the club for some music.

The area that we visited was 'Spring', since as the name suggests, there are 4 restaurant / pubs in one area, named after each season (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). I was looking forward to stepping into the Winter restaurant pub, but did not have the chance.

One neat (OK, gimmick!) feature was the rain corridor, which would simulate 'rain' every hour. They even had umbrellas on each side of the corridor for people to walk in and out of the summer shower.

View along the bar and the outside, it faces the city scape.


Pretty much the same shot, deal with it.


A shot of the pillar and ceiling. Note the design.


Zoomed in tight on the Chinese calligraphy used, Jason says it means 'Spring'.


A blurred shot of the rain corridor and some poor shmuck getting caught in the rain. (sorry blame the beer)


I also noticed that the building had super huge lift doors. These are the kind you see in Resident Evil, or even Doom (or Return to Castle Wolfenstein)


Seriously, look at them doors!


What are they trying to move? You could fit a whole car through that!

http://www.clubquattro.com/mainpage.html

All in all, a good time to be had, cheap beer (see promotion link here), not too bad finger food, good people.

Enjoy!

Dav out
R.I.P. Patrick Swayze
Tuesday, September 15, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Patrick Swayze has passed on at the age of 57.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8256033.stm

A huge actor, and a huge loss.

RIP.

Dav out
Movies I'd like to watch
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Its been a slow couple of weeks for me, so I was browsing YouTube and came across 2 movies that caught my attention.

The first, is Gamer.
Now, I just watched RocknRolla the other day, so to me, it seems like Gerard Butler is everywhere these days (mostly because a few weeks ago the movie "P.S. I Love You" also played on the telly).



Seems like a fun twist on movies based on video games. Why don't we make a movie based on a video game used in a movie! Or.... something.

Some fast paced action as per the YouTube link, lots of interesting choices of rifles so it should be good just for the action sequences.

Next up is ZombieLand.

Wait.

ZOMBIELAND!
There, much better.

It has Woody Harrelson, who's usually good in these off beat kind of comedy movies.




One thing I did notice was the break from the norm in that the zombies don't just shuffle around, they POUNCE. Take that you zombies!

Its only apt that I end the post with a classic video from the awesome guys of RvB




Dav out
Slim PlayStation 3 coming soon
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

The latest news is that the PlayStation 3 will now come out in a slimmer, sexier footprint.

From whats being thrown out on the Interwebs, seems that the new slim PS3 will also be a little cheaper when compared to the older PlayStation 3.



More comparison pictures of the PlayStation 3 slim and a few other game units here.

Though I'd wonder on what they had to toss out to make the unit so much more slimmer then the original PlayStation 3. A quote from one of the websites:

The PS3 Slim is powered by a new 45nm version of the Cell processor, which runs at the same speed as the 60nm processor in the "old" PS3 but is smaller and more energy efficient. According to company reps, power consumption for the Slim has also been cut to two-thirds, "helping to reduce fan noise," which is important.


Something I've seen (mostly with computers) is that a smaller footprint always leads to heat issues or issues with upgrade.

The one feature missing from the Slim is the ability to install another operating system (i.e., Linux)--Sony is doing away with that feature.


Woah, hold up, you cant mod / install Linux or anything else on it? Well that might be a huge issue with it comes to some gamers. I've seen the videos of having Linux on the PlayStation 3, and I must admit, it looks pretty neat. Much like having a different OS on the XBOX 360.

Wonder if I'll get one.

Reference Sites:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/08/18/playstation-3-now-299-slimmer-version-coming-september-1st/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10312144-1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_on_the_PlayStation_3

Dav out
Waking Up In Vegas with Katy Perry
Thursday, August 13, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Katy Perry confuses me. Her original stuff, IMO, was so-kay. Just OK.

Then she comes out with new stuff, and yeah, some of it is catchy, and if you look back in the blog, I did say somewhere that she sounded like Alanis Morissette. Alanis Nadine Morissette. Not everyone agrees, but yeah, that's the internet for you.

All of a sudden, this song (Waking Up In Vegas YouTube link) seems to be all over the air waves, and I'm smitten. I'm into the song. Its uh, on, like Donkey Kong for me.

The music video is pretty funny and related (I love related music videos, random ones annoy me) and the song's lyrics are funny but still not all that bad.



Bit of an odd choice for the lead male though.

So viva Katy Perry, and here's hoping you wake up in Vegas with someone that looks like her, eh?

Dav out
Semi Pro bow chicka wow wow
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

The usual funk set in with work and stuff, so I fired up the old movie USB drive (my DVD player lets you plug in a USB drive and plays practically everything - go LG!) and watched Semi Pro.

Before I go on with the general movie review, read this for a reference to 'bow chicka wow wow' if you're not really a RvB fan.

I'll give you a good 10 minutes to wrap your head around that bit of urban knowledge.

Back to Semi Pro (IMDB link here). Its funny that I used the word 'funk' earlier, because this 2008 movie is set way back when the funk was really funk, 1976. Sure, its over the top, but what do you expect when you have Will Ferrell in it? His portrayal of Jackie Moon is pretty crazy, but the entire movie just didn't hit the mark for me.

Gasp! Teh HORROR! A Will Ferrell that didn't quite deliver?

Yes. When you compare Semi Pro against Step Brothers, you'll see what I mean. Semi Pro just seems pretty cliché in which you have a down and out sports team, you bring in a loner who wants to play for all the wrong reasons but cant, and in the end, they all come together to win something.

Sure, there are some Ferrell moments, and yes, this movie is still worth watching, don't get me wrong.



I'd say this movie sits in that grey area that Blades of Glory is in, its good, its funny-ish, but not quite up to the mark.

Just don't say that to Will Ferrell. Have you seen the man? 6' 3½" tall, able to bear hug people to death. Damn, that's not someone I'd want to mess with.

Dav out
Mona Lisa mugged
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Ok so I tend to skew the blog title post a little. Sue me. Wait, don't sue me.
I was reading the BBC as I usually do and came across this interesting article.

It seems that a lady (see: Deranged in the dictionary) chucked a mug at the Mona Lisa painting. A direct cut and paste from the BBC article:


Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was completely unscathed, as the ceramic mug smashed on bullet-proof glass surrounding the painting.


Bullet proof glass, ftw!



I guess it was a smart move putting in the glass, seeing as how this isn't the first time someone's tried to tag the painting.

Is acid etching still considered tagging?

Dav out
My achilles' heel is my Achilles' heel
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Original Blog post: [20/07/09]

I've been having issues with my Achilles heel recently. I don't know if its due to the heavy driving that I've been doing (its my right foot / leg) or if I've hurt it in someway.

Only real exercise I get would be walking but that's about it.

Just in case you're wondering, I'm not talking about this:



Its more along the lines of this:



Looking up some physiotherapy I can do at home to make the pain go away. The pain isn't something major, but its there and it tends to wear me down after a while.

Someone needs to do something about all this squishy gooey human bits and replace it with some simple to service medical grade steel.

Dav out

Edit:
I received in total one (1) complaint about the original Achilles photo. Replaced the image with an edited one (sorry, way too lazy to find a program to pixelate it and make it look like a professional job)

Link to original uploaded image here.

This post takes the blog to all sorts of new PC heights!


Dav out... again
Surfer, Dude. Like, dude.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I caught Surfer, Dude (the movie) the other day. It started off fine. I'm one of those people that are ashamed to say that I kind of like Matthew McConaughey. His white teeth does seem a little freaky, even more so in this movie since he's pretty tan and everything.

I am sad to inform you dear reader, NOT TO WATCH this movie. I come across as a doomsayer when I say that. But no, really, this movie was pretty bad. Really bad.

I had no idea what the producer's had in mind when they made the movie. I was half expecting some form of surf-off between McConaughey and his rivals or something cool like that, but there wasn't any. Maybe the producers were worried they might accidentally rip off Surf's Up or something, I don't know.



Half a surfboard out of 5 surfboards for this movie, bro.

Dav out
Union, and not the SQL kind!
Monday, August 03, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Another gold nugget from Mossy (Green Molasses Dragon).

Apparently, unions have such a control over things over there in the US of A. When a company wanted to accommodate waterless urinals (I'm shocked there really is such a thing!)to receive some green sticker or another, they were blocked by the Plumber's Union since waterless urinal's would mean less work for the union.

No, really. Plumbers.
Making sure they had work to do.

http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2006/04/03/daily32.html



Of course, this discussion came in regards to the blog post I made earlier, Ecorn-No-Micks - :)

More info on how a Waterless Urinal works here --> http://www.zeroflush.com/how_it_works.php.

Dav out.
Tron 2 is coming to town
Monday, August 03, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Many of you might not even know of a little movie called Tron. It was way back when computers were new and exciting (1982)and fun!



I'm pretty sure Walt Disney studio's got a little burnt on that one, but Mossy just told me that they are coming out with Tron 2. How awesome is that guys?!

.... Guys? Hello?

:(

Tron 2 trailer link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk8_P9nCUT8


Dav out
Ecorn-no-micks
Monday, August 03, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Economics, on a smaller scale.

The President of the United States notices that his brick wall has broken down next to the White House. Being the proactive POTUS (thats Secret Service talk right there) that he is, he calls in 3 contractors. One from Russia, one from China and another from India.

All 3 contractors look at the wall, and the Russian contractor gets out some measuring tape, takes some figures in his notepad, makes a few calls to his suppliers for material costs and says to the Prez, "For you, USD$1000!". So the Prez replies "How did you come to that price?"

The Russian says "Simple. USD$700 for material. USD$100 for labour and USD$200 for me."

The Prez nods, and mentions for the Chinese contractor to give it a go. The Chinese contractor pulls out a tape measure, takes some notes, and right away has an estimate, "USD$700. USD$500 for material, USD$50 for labour, and rest, for me."

Impressed, the Prez now looks at the Indian contractor, and motions for a quote. The Indian contractor looks at the wall, and then at the other 2 contractors and says, "USD$2700."

Shocked at such a high sum, the Prez says "Wow, how did you come up with that? You didn't even measure or check with your suppliers? It's way over the other 2 guy's quotes!"

The Indian contractor beckons the Prez over and whisper's "Simple. USD$1000 for me. USD$1000 for you, and we hire the Chinese guy to do it for us."


[Note: Found it in an email]

Dav out
Ember burns bright
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Original Post Date: July 20, 2009

I caught the movie "City of Ember" a few weeks back and I totally forgot to blog about it!

IMO, it was an amazing movie. The look and feel of a city built underground for hundreds of years and slowly slipping into decay was captured quite well.

Acting was good too, and the fact that Murray played a role that left him low key, but still entertaining.

If anything, I felt that the movie was a little too short for my taste. For people that have read the book, I'd like to hear from you on what were the major differences between the movie and the book, as I'm sure someone has taken 'a creative free hand' in making the movie.

I've never read the book, but the movie sure does make me want to read it!
Book URL here.

IMDB Link here --> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970411/

4 light bulbs out of 5!



Dav out
Sidetracked
Saturday, July 25, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

A good friend of mine is moving in to his new condo apartment, so I thought I'll get him a nice housewarming gift. He had no beer glasses / mugs, and IKEA does some really nice ones, so off I went to IKEA, beer glasses in mind.

Half way there, a cousin calls me up, fair enough, lets have a beer while I'm at it eh?

I get to IKEA, 20 minutes to spare, and I get myself a trolley, because everyone knows those plastic sacks IKEA offers as a carry bag is a trick for you to drop your glass ware and pay for it.

Found these cool looking glasses, at a great bargain.



I see something else that catches my eye (ohhh shiny!) and I leave my trolley for ONE MINUTE. I get back, start to push the trolley through the maze that is IKEA. Honestly, the guys that designed the shop floor are geniuses. You are FORCED to go through every area of the store before you can get to the checkout. Took me about 10 minutes just to navigate through. Just as I'm about to reach the check out counter, I look into my trolley to make sure the glasses are ok.

But oh NOES readers! ITS NOT MY TROLLEY! 2 pillows, a wok, and some plates. I've been foiled! Somehow or another, I picked up someone else' trolley by mistake.

Long story short, I had to rush back to get the glasses, this time I hugged them to my chest and ran through to the check out counter.

Of course, after that, I needed a beer. German beer restaurant to the rescue!





The Bavarian Bierhaus made a good stop over and the beer always tastes great.

Washed down a farmer's Schnitzel, perfection on a plate. And in a glass!

Dav out
Your search for Koi is over
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I lost some code when I updated the photo blog's template, so I've had to add the Google Analytics code back to the blog. Today when I fire up Analytics, its working fine, but I've only had one hit for it. Looking at the search page and term, seems like someone was looking for "amazing koi".

I couldn't help myself but to Google the term "amazing koi" myself, and wow, up comes the photo blog at ranking # 1. Sweet monkeys on a stick!.



That's enough to drive traffic over and soon, on to ruling the Interwebs!

[insert maniacal laughter here]

Dav out
RIP FF and MJ
Friday, June 26, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Well, we all know by now that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson are no longer with us.

RIP.

This blog is seeing a number of RIP's this past couple of years.

There's already a number of jokes in regards to both people passing. I'm fine with that. Lets remember them for the positive influences on the world.

Dav out
Largest restaurant
Sunday, May 24, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I caught a program on tv(Discovery!) called World's Largest Chinese Restaurant. I'm not all that squirmish, but when they had a chef cook-off, and they made 2 dishes, I was pretty put off.

The first was a snake dish, which was something that looked like simple chopped snake with soy sauce. What got to me was the fact the snake parts were still squirming around on the plate. The second dish was a fish dish, which was prepared in something like 53 seconds. The fish was fried, but in such a way, that the fish head wasn't fried, and was still 'alive'. The fish gills and mouth were gaping for air, even after being fried.

Come on, that's got to be insane stuff.

Dav out
PuR-fect water
Sunday, May 24, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I came across this in the local paper, and I was completely blown away. Its a packet of chemicals that helps treat water so that its safe to drink

One packet, and you get drinkable, clean water. That is just insane stuff. What shocked me further was the cost and how cheap it was to get out into nations that needed it.

This video shows you how cool this stuff is --> Video of PUR in action.

This is indeed, an amazing invention, and the scientists working on it should be awarded some kind of prize. A car. No, a BOAT! Well a brick BBQ at least.

Dav out
Airports updated deux
Sunday, May 03, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I missed the 'Post' button on the last rant on Airports, but with the amazing prowess of the interweb, I'm able to call attention back to it.

Airports, how I hate thee

I spent, in total, 2 hours looking for a power point in the airport. Two, effing, hours.

Number of power points found: 5
Number of working power points: 0
Number of weird power point locations: 5

I had to squat next to a bathroom entrance, a fast food dumpster area, and in a long walk way, with people rolling over my feet with their trolley / pull bags.

Giving up, I walked 15 minutes to the food court, only to find a BAJILION power points littered around the area. No, really, that many. Plugging into a power point, my hot mocha in hand, I try to browse available Wi-Fi points, and there aren't any. So its either, you have power, or you have the internet, but not both.

Who designs these places? Whom. Whoooooo?

Sad day for the interweb road warrior.

Dav out
Resident Evil here I come
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

What do you do when you fire up your BBC RSS and you see that as a headline?

" 'Too late' to contain swine flu "

I'll tell you what to do. Log on to Twitter and go "zomgs we all dai soon k thx". I'm seeing that happen as we speak! Yes, the H1N1 (its what WHO wants us to call it!) flu is an issue but I think we need to look at it as a medical issue and not panic.

Panic =


Either that, or sign up for a new job.
Say hello to our new masters:



Dav out
Style vs melting point
Sunday, April 19, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I find it so weird that we in Asia have adopted the clothing style and in some way, requirements of the corporate world.

Long sleeve shirts and ties. In some cases, suits / coats.

Am I missing something here? I'm pretty sure there's some guy in Europe etc laughing himself silly watching Asians dress for corporate work in these clothes when the temperature outside regularly goes up to 33° - 35°. That's the melting point right there.

If it was me, we'd be doing business in t-shirts and shorts. Nice, presentable shorts of course.

Dav out
Drainned
Sunday, April 19, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I'm not dead. Not quite at least. The past 2 months have been amazingly draining on me, with work and then getting a viral fever that put me out for almost 6 days.

It thought me something. What that is, I don't know. But I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere for me.

Dav out.
Katy Perry sounds like Alanis Morissette
Friday, March 13, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I was listening to the radio today and came across a song by Katy Perry called "Thinking of You". At first when the song played, I was thinking to myself "Woah, Alanis Morissette! Ftw!" but when the song ended the radio DJ said it was Katy Perry.

Le Gasp!

What's going on here? Was her break up with Gym Class Heroes front man Travis McCoy that traumatic that she swallowed a jagged little pill?

Do we even care?



Enjoy the moosik!

Dav out
It can happen to you . . .
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

There's been a rise in cases of Kangaroo's attacking people recently in Australia. I'm sure someone will point out the correlation between humans trespassing on wildlife habitats and the other way around.

It got us (as in we, the people at work) to thinking of a news article where a man managed to fend off a kangaroo (I have no idea why I spelt the earlier kangaroo with a capital "K") by punching it in the family jewels.

The only true local animal we have to boast that's not available in any other country (well, not in a bottle, a pill or powder for health) would be the Malaysian Tapir. All phear the tapir!

[Edit: Too many people asked me what a Tapir was, so I've included a wiki link! Pwn!]

Now imagine junk-punching a tapir.



Dav out
Fake monday
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

It was a public holiday yesterday, so today is Tuesday and its the first week of work. Well, some people might say the first day of the week is Sunday, and I agree with them, which is why I said 'first day of work'.

Since Monday missed its chance to cause havoc and destruction, its taken over Tuesday. So today is Tuesday pretending to be Monday. Or Monday, in a Tuesday suit.

I haven't slept much.

Dav out
Movies to watch
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

2009 seems to be a good year for movies. At least the kind of movies I'd watch.

We're talking about GI Joe, Wolverine, Transformers 2, Eden Log, The Watchmen and a few others that I might have missed.

Killer trailers here:
GI Joe
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/gijoeriseofcobra/large.html
Eden Log
http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/edenlog/
Push
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/push/large.html

What I WOULD NOT WATCH would be Dragonball. Come on guys, work with me here.

Looking forward to what Tobey Maguire does with Robotech though.

Dav out.
What?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Item

Status
Short term memory Shot
Attention span Shot
Focus Shot
Determination Shot
Mental health Shot
Physical health Shot

Dav out
Airports, how I hate thee
Monday, February 09, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I'm not a fan of airports. Not at all. In fact, I'm no fan of planes either. But I grit my teeth and go along, cause, well, you can't really drive to some of the places you visit.

This time around, I had it worse then usual.

I read the flight time wrongly. Of course, I read it forward, so I wasn't late or anything. Just early. Very early. 4 and a half hours early. I usually add on 2 hours to my flight time. My flight was around 6pm, so I added it up to 4pm. The day I was going to fly, something made me think my flight time was at 4pm, so I added another 2 hours to that, and made it to the airport at 2pm. I got to the airport, and waited for my gate to open, took another look at my e-ticket, and realised my mistake. Early, no biggy. Much better then being late eh?

So, baggage in hand, laptop ready, I went off to look for a spot to sit down and get on-line.

Did I ever get on line? This rant is too long as it is, Part 2 to come
Who bothers with CS anymore?
Sunday, February 01, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Well, over the weekend, I thought it would be a good idea to fire up my copy of Counter Strike 1.6 (CS).

Why?

Was I drunk? No, I just thought it would be a good game I'd reminisce about. That is, until I was forced to wait hours while server's dumped ton's of files that I didn't need.



Worst. Wait. Ever!

I don't understand why people create custom mods, mp3's and wad files for their server's. I don't. At all. Really.

Brb, going to go wait for that screen to finish loading.

Dav out
Red dot of doom
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Has anyone out there (besides me, of course) ever used that little mouse / touchpad replacement on an IBM laptop that looks like a red dot, feels like a bit of eraser on the top of your pencil?

How did they come up with this? This thing must have been designed by the Devil HIMSELF.

Its true. I had a loaned laptop, and it was an IBM. Being away from my normal desk, I didn't have a mouse. No problem I thought, lets just use the touch pad. WHERE, pray tell, is the touch pad? *gasp*

No touch pad.

Just the left and right mouse / laptop buttons.



I used it for 20 minutes. 20, amazingly long, finger numbing minutes. I think I have a permanent finger cramp now. Or even some form of obscure CRT.

I hate you Red Dot ™

Dav out


"I came across a saying in Arad Doman. 'The more women there are about, the softer a wise man steps.' "
My list can beat your list!
Wednesday, January 07, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I've had to explain in brief a few items on my list to a friend, namely:

  • Learn more VB or basic programming.
  • Build a killer robot.
  • Build a normal robot.
  • Attend social gatherings (but not too many, cant have the case of family-itits)

Learn more VB or basic programming

He's told me off on my choice of programming language. Well in my defence I did say "VB or some basic programming" which would include (but not something I'd want to look at seriously) .Net, ASP and maybe PHP.
Aless is recommending that I take a look at Python and Ruby. Now, usually, I'll stay away from hippy non-windows stuff, but Python does run on Windows, so I'll take a look at it when I have the time.


Build a killer robot.

Build a normal robot.
Aless has a wonderful idea on how I can incorporate both robot ideas! As you can see above, I've had to strike out the killer robot plan. But now, thanks to Aless, I can accomplish both.

In his words: (Or as close as I can remember them)

You need to build both robots. Then you'll have a robot that kills, and the second robot made as a perfect replica of the killed person, to replace the person.

One word. PERFECT!

All I'll have to do is pick a target, and then build a robot, and make it look like my target. Then, build a killer robot (should be easy), send the killer robot on its way, and when the job's done, send the masquerading robot to take his / her place.


Attend social gatherings
I'm an IT Geek, as so he's kindly pointed out. We don't like going out and dealing with people. But I like food and I like some good drinks and all that warmth that comes with a good night out with people you feel at home with.
To sum it up:

X "hey lets go to that party"
D "will there be people there?"
X "well, sure, its a party remember?"
D "will there be food and drink there? Free?"
X "um, sure?"
D "I'm SO there!"


I hope, that my list can now beat your list Mr. Aless.
Never mind the fact that he's a lazy person and never updates his blog any more!

Dav out
Survival of the fittest
Monday, January 05, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I've just half way recuperated from a murder attempt involving a sore throat, the sniffles and one A/C unit set to stun 16° Celsius. If this was Cluedo, it would be in the hall, with the A/C, by the butler.

It strikes me that if you know someone well enough, you could come up with at least 5 ways to kill them. 10 ways if you use them twice!

Stay with me on this one.

Lets say you know someone has an allergy to almonds, you could maybe try:

  1. Buy some almond extract, and make some Almond Cookies. Serve. Wait. Dead!
  2. Buy some hand wash or shampoo that contains almond extract. Wash. Wait. Dead!
  3. Make a gun that shoots almonds. Shoot. Dead!
  4. Trick said person into eating almonds. "What, these? Nah these aren't almonds, these are.... Prunus dulcis!" Serve. Eat. Dead!
  5. Get bitter almonds, process its oils, take out the old chemistry set, and WHAMMO bitter almonds may yield from 4–9mg of hydrogen cyanide per almond. Buy. Mix. Insert weird chemical process here. Serve. Wait. Dead!



Of course, this is just if you were trying to go out and um, fix someone for leaving the A/C on till you developed pneumonia like symptoms.

Dav out

The skilful employer of men will employ the wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man.
2009 list-a-thon
Saturday, January 03, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

I've taken steps to post my 2009 list because that 0.2% of extra effort requires I do so!

Said list:

  • Learn more VB or basic programing.
  • Breed Koi / Japanese carp.
  • Take a few road trips.
  • Swim. Swim more then I do now.
  • Work out more. This would be in tandem with the 'swim' above.
  • Make use of that microwave. Hot water and instant noodles don't count.
  • Weed, fertilize and spruce up garden.
  • Build a killer robot.
  • Build a normal robot.
  • Go fishing.
  • More woodworking and electronics at home.
  • Try my hand at welding.
  • Work with metal.
  • Build a portable metal charcoal BBQ (you should have seen this one coming!)
  • Maybe, just maybe, build that gaming PC.
  • Attend social gatherings (but not too many, cant have the case of family-itits)
  • Fix that leak in the wet kitchen roof / wall.
  • Bake more.
  • Cook more.
  • Bake more.
  • Hug people.
  • Sample more foreign beers.
  • Get my hands on some real brewing yeast.
  • Learn to brew beer / liquor.
  • Brew mead. Been there, done that. Need real yeast.
  • Take more picturesque photos.
  • Paintball. Got to have paint ball in 2009.
  • Learn to paint with oils.
  • Take over the world
So far, that's about all I can come up with. Its late, I've only slept for 4 hours in the past two days. Time to crash. But maybe a few pages of that book before bed!

Dav out
2008 revisited
Friday, January 02, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

In comparison to 2007, the year 2008 was a wicked, wicked year.

And not that kind of wicked either. The bad kind.

People passed away. Friends moved on. Funds dried up. The list goes on and on.

I aim to make 2009 a much better year. How, pray tell, will I make it a better year?

Well, with plenty of good cheer, health and family. That translates into: "Plenty of booze". I don't believe in New Year resolutions, mainly because I know I'll break them 2 hours later. What I do believe in is making a list of items you'd like to work on, and applying 0.2% more effort to them.

I've got my list, where's yours?

Dav out
Happy Newt Ear!
Thursday, January 01, 2009 | Author: Dav
Greetings,

Just like that, 2009 creeps up to you from behind, and pounds on your head with a sock full of quarters.

Or... something like that.

I'd like to wish everyone I know (and don't know, just in case you mistakenly came by the blog)a very happy and bountiful 2009.

May the New Year bring good fortune, and health to you.



Dav out

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