The Torgo Blog

Metroid Trilogy for Wii?

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:30:00 +0000

I ran across this by chance when looking for something like this... Which I would guess mean it wasn't by chance...

http://n-europe.com/news.php?nid=11753

I still think the Metroid Prime Trilogy is one of my favorite set of games ever released. I tried to re-play it, but after being spoiled with the Wii Control from Metroid Prime 3, I just can't do it...

I really hope this is true... Because it would be the coolest thing ever...

Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:23:00 +0000

I haven't posted much in a while, busy life... I figure I'll use this post to cover much of what has been on my mind lately...

Politics
I'm not paying much attention to the elections this time around. I pretty much don't care who wins as long as it isn't Hillary. I have a belief that she's putting on an act and is a person who would convert us to communism the moment she's elected. I've been saying she makes Bill Clinton look like Rush Limbaugh...

I'm planning on boycotting the Olympics this year in all forms, all be it I've never much watched any of it anyway. But I really dislike the political runnings in China...

Entertainment
I'm replaying Zelda Twilight Princess for the Wii... I think it's just a really well made game... I like how long it is...

I think Super Smash Brothers Brawl isn't so good of a game... I've been playing it little by little, but it just doesn't feel right to me...

I've kind of set aside Super Mario Galaxy, though I haven't beaten it yet. I've been playing trying to get every star possible rather than to progress quickly though the game. I think I just overloaded myself a little.

I started replaying Metroid Prime 3, though I set it aside for Zelda. It was a good game, but I still feel it could have been oh-so-much better. I tried replaying Metroid Prime (the original), but had difficulty. I guess I got spoiled on the Wii controls for MP3. I kinda wish Retro would re-release Metroid Prime & Metroid Prime Echoes on a Wii disc with the same control system as MP3.

I beat Lost Via Domus (game based on the Lost TV series) and felt it kind of empty. There were a couple things in the game I enjoyed, however, like seeing behind the wall of the Swan & seeing what was causing the electro magnetic disturbance.

I'm anxiously awaiting the next episode of Lost, and am kinda bummed that it's not going to show for a few more weeks...

I wanted to go see Be Kind Rewind, but its apparently no longer showing in theaters (at least not any near where I live)...

I'm very anxiously awaiting the release of Metal Gear Solid 4... I started re-playing both Metal Gear Solid for GameCube (Wii) and Metal Gear Solid 3. All be it I've set them aside for the first mentioned replaying of Zelda Twilight Princess...

I've been trying to search for information on future games, with little tangible result...

Metroid Dread was a game announced a long time ago for the Nintendo DS. Believed to be another 2D Metroid, it was announced in a gaming magazine but never seemed to see the light of day. Scanning in a certain area of Metroid Prime 3 revealed the message "Metroid Project Dread is nearing completion" or something to that effect. Being Metroid Prime Hunters for the DS was announced the same way, it made it seem like this was a confirmation the game was coming, but seemingly not so says Nintendo. In there words there are no 2D Metroid games in development. This still leaves open an unlikely possibility: The Super Mario brothers remake (New Super Mario Brothers) is a 2.5D game (a 2D side scroller using 3D renderings for all characters & objects). The 2D denial could be a ruse to cover up a 2.5D Metroid Dread... Again, unlikely...

Very little info is out about the next Zelda game for the Wii. Rumored to have been in development since 2006, it may in fact be nearing release. The only info I found on the game turned out to be an April Fools joke (apparently an old one) showing artistic renderings for various other games seeming to show a futuristic Zelda. Only info I could find that may be real is that Retro may be contributing to the next installment and it is believed to be a first person style game. This would seem to explain an announcement made by one of the Zelda developers that Twilight Princess would likely be the last of its kind...

Diablo 3 seems to secretly be in development. There appears to be info on number of projects, and with all current projects (most recently StarCraft II's announcement) accounted for, Diablo 3 is likely in development. It will likely be some time until an announcement is made, however, so I'm not holding my breath on this one...

Halo 3's ending seems to more than show opening for a next game. At least, the best ending you can get. Of course the separation of Bungie and Microsoft leaves the question open when will it be developed and who will be making it? Halo 3 did seem very short to me but of all the games I've played online, I feel it is the best... All be it I'm not very good, but I do get lucky sometimes...

Rumor is Netflix may be looking into streaming their online movies to the XBox 360. If they do that would be awesome (assuming they don't charge a per-download fee).

Other Stuff
Adobe Photoshop Express is now online, so go sign up. I've not tried it yet but I will be in the near future.

Logitech SetPoint drivers for their mice & keyboards are (is?) buggy. Logitech seems to push the blame on this issue regularly though. One problem I found was that when scrolling in Outlook 2003, if I'm scrolling in the preview area, both the preview area and emails list scroll at the same time. Logitech places the blame on Microsoft here, and says it's not their drivers. I have successfully been able to prove this isn't entirely true, however, because I upgraded my mouse from a different Logitech mouse which required their Mouseman drivers. Interestingly enough their own mouseman drivers and mice don't exhibit this issue, meaning the SetPoint drivers are playing a direct role in the problem (all be it's possibly not the only)...

My birthday just past and I'm now an age old 31. All be it due to my medical conditions I feel closer to 61...

I'm likely going to be getting a new car soon. This time around it will be a Honda Fit. My current car (which I'm keeping) is a Honda Insight. I have a thing for Hatchbacks...

Speaking of which I just had my insight taken in for repair, and I once again asked them to replace a set of parking lights that have been burned out for the past couple years (I have previously requested they be replaced 3 separate times to no avail). I got a call that evening saying the found every light was working perfectly. This left me believing for about an hour that I had gone insane, and that the lights I've been asking them to fix were never lights. I later found this not to be the case, as the owners manual told me how to take them out myself (a very quick look was all it took), and I ended up replacing said lights, which after having been burned out for 2 years now work perfectly. This literally means there are parking lights on the Honda Insight that the repair center at a Honda dealership have no idea exist, and apparently cannot manage to locate (they're behind a big orange reflector near but separate from the turn signal). I called them back to inform them of this (thinking I was doing them a favor, I specifically made the effort to speak with the guy who told me all lights were working fine as opposed to his manager or something), and was met with disbelief, and apparent disdain... I honestly can't understand why he didn't believe me. You'd think if I had some ulterior motive, I could find something more significant to have a problem with after paying over $1000 for the visit. Said lights cost me all of $3 and change to purchase... And I did express, other than the sub $4 lights, my repair was great... Also, for the record, I do have the receipt for the new lights and matching set of burned out parking lots in my possession. I did get a call back from the dealership on the repair as a whole, as they always call and ask afterwards how the repair went (customer satisfaction survey). The call came a couple hours after my call to tell about the lights ironically. I would have expressed complete satisfaction if it weren't for the response I got when I called about the lights (saying something like there was a small issue but I already called and took care of it). When I informed the woman as to what happened, they offered me a ton of stuff for free (according to her, the stuff she was offering normally costs around $300) but I explained at the time I wasn't looking to get anything for free... Honestly my biggest concern was for the next time they go out, I'd like them to be able to have them replaced without issue (every previous repair I had they gave me checklists indicating all parking lights were working normally). The right side light was very hard for me to reach and literally took about 20 minutes for me to get back in place, so next time I would very much prefer to pay someone to replace them then have to do it again myself...

Whelp, sorry about that little rant at the end. I guess that's all I have for this post. I'm sure there are more things I meant to put here but I can't remember any of them anymore...

What Happened?

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:48:00 +0000

If you tried accessing my site over the past week you might have had a little problem viewing it...

Something happened with my host which kind of broke my site...

The fix I'm implementing (I'm not done as I'm writing this) is to rename all files from .html to .shtml, which is the one sure way I found fixed the issue...

Hopefully soon everything will be up an running... I've made it so if you try to access old URL's using .html it will redirect you to the right file... If you get a 404, then I probably haven't converted that file over yet... Hopefully I will be full done soon...

Mythbusters Plane On A Conveyer Belt & Why They're Wrong

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 07:18:00 +0000

[update: read below to see why I'm wrong]
I just finished watching the plane on a conveyer belt myth (I had TiVo'd it) and am rather disappointed.

There was one key problem that they tested the myth improperly.

That is the whole myth revolves around the plane staying in place relative to the surroundings off the conveyer belt.

You see, when you see the plane take off, the plane is moving PAST the road cones. This means the plane is NOT staying in place and that the plane is traveling faster than the conveyer belt is going backwards. The easy way to see this is that the only way it should have passed those cones is if the plane had already taken off.

For the myth to have been properly tested, the plane should not have moved in relation to anything off the conveyer belt (including the cones it passed). The ONLY myth they busted was that the plane could take off on a moving conveyer belt so long as it could speed up faster than the conveyer belt is going backwards, which is obvious... Assuming the car Jamie was driving was going 25 MPH, and the plane needed a relative speed of 25 MPH to take off normally, then all the plane would need to do is speed up to 50 MPH... Relatively it is still moving forward in relation to the air (and road cones for that matter) around it at 25 MPH and would take off...

This isn't the myth they were given to test, but they didn't seem to understand that... The myth is if the conveyer belt matches the speed of the plane going forward AT ALL TIMES (not the take off speed but the actual speed of the plane at any given second), so the plane stays still in relation to the ground around it, will it take off? The answer to this myth is obviously no.

Perhaps the only argument between people who disagree is a misunderstanding as to what people arguing... I would have never doubted a plane could take off while on a slow moving conveyer belt assuming it could relatively overcome that speed, but if the conveyer belt matched the plane's speed at all times, the plane couldn't get off the ground...

[update]

Okay, so my first comment here proved me wrong on this issue. I had a complete misunderstanding of what was happening, and the comment made here made it clear in a way the episode did not.

The conveyer belt has ZERO effect on the plane, or rather, an infintesmal effect on it. So if you ran the conveyer belt at 100 MPH, the plane would completely ignore the belt. That is because the wheels have no effect on the plane, they free spin and the propeller still pulls the plane forward. Ideally if you got the conveyer belt to go fast enough, it could have an effect on the plane, due to the friction the wheels cause. But we're probably talking speed of light type speeds for the conveyer belt to have any effect. But I'm kind of right on one issue. You see, the plane can only take off if the conveyer belt is long enough for the plane to take off normally. So if you put it on a treadmil, the plane would just fall off the end...

The Cold Medicine Wars Continue

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 18:12:00 +0000

I had posted a while back about the last time I tried to buy cold medicine, I ended up having to put my name & address into a book which as far as I know has me permanently on record for the date & time I bought the stuff.

Well, it turns out California is nowhere near the worst. You see, I went to Oregon for Christmas, and my wife started to develop a cold. So I searched the cold medicine available on the shelf and could not find the Alive Cold & Sinus (the only cold medicine I trust), so I went to the pharmacy counter...

As it turns out, in Oregon you now need a prescription to buy non-prescription medication! Being its Christmas time the only place a tourist can really get a prescription would be in a hospital. And being the price of an emergency room visit, its not exactly economically viable...

The worst part about this whole situation is the medication itself isn't the problem, its the fact that a chemical in the medication can be used for illegal purposes. Being this is the full justification, the road we're on is one where you will eventually need a permit to buy table salt... You see, salt contains 2 primary ingredients, a highly volatile substance that explodes in contact with water, and a highly toxic gas. Two very dangerous chemicals indeed, either of which can easily cause death...

But in the end what is really happening here is that the average joe pays the ultimate price. Those who need the chemicals out of the medications for illegal purposes will continue to get it unabated. Those who need the medication to keep them from feeling so sick are left to suffer without any recourse. The only people hurt are those who follow the law in the first place...

Apple Actively Discriminating Against .Mac Users

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 17:29:00 +0000

I discovered something yesterday that is really astounding to me.

Apple put forward an iPhone Dev Center with one caveat: Its available to any Apple ID holder who is NOT using a .Mac account. Upon trying to log in an error comes up:

.Mac accounts can no longer be used as Apple ID accounts for this application. Please create a new Apple ID using a different email account to access this application.

This is rather ironic on so many levels. First and foremost, .Mac users are actively paying apple $100 a year for use of things such as their email accounts. Essentially this boils down to Apple discriminating against those stupid enough to pay them money. Not only that, but if I sign up for some service such as Hotmail, one Apple has actively used to contrast the availability of the .Mac service, I can get in with NO problem. None of these even include the fact that Apple still actively pushes the .Mac service forward, coupled with the fact that Apple builds in a lot of features only available to .Mac members...

Secondly, the fact that Apple is discriminating against ANY email address is plain wrong. A couple weeks ago Microsoft drop support of all .Mac accounts, only to re-establish those accounts later saying it was a "mistake". Many people, however, saw this as an active attack against Mac users. What does it mean when Apple PURPOSELY does this to its own users???

Next is more of an annoyance issue. As it turns out, Apple's online Apple ID system is NOT designed to allow use of more than 1 Apple ID. If I'm logged into their discussion forms, and I click logout, I get automatically logged out, as you would expect. If I then try to log in with a different Apple ID, by clicking Login, I end up being logged in automatically as the last account I was using. Apple is actively telling me I can only use the service if I sign up for a second Apple ID, yet their own site does not allow one to get around using 2 Apple IDs.

Last, but certainly not least, is account juggling. The problem is, I can no longer use a single Apple ID on Apples site, period. The fact is that I cannot abandon my long living Apple ID. The reason for this is multifaceted. First off, all my iTunes purchased songs were purchased using my .Mac Apple ID. With all the money I have invested, closing that account is NOT an option... Secondly, I've also made several purchase on Apples site using my .Mac Apple ID. The least of which is the .Mac account itself, which I pay a total of $150 a year for, as I also buy extra bandwidth & storage space on top of the normal $99 account price. Lastly is that all software I purchase online I do so with my .Mac address. This helps me more easily keep track of shareware purchases as it allows for easier recognition & sorting...

When It is all boiled down I cannot abandon my .Mac Apple ID. Which oddly enough should in itself be good for Apple, because it helps ensure I will continue to pay them for the .Mac service...

But the bottom line is, with this new restriction, Apple is actively telling me I'm less important than every person out there who has an Apple ID without a .Mac account. Apple is basically giving me a very strong incentive to cease paying them money, one that when you boil it all down makes no sense to being with...

Missouri Officer Threatens To Create False Charges

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 22:37:00 +0000

In yet another case of cops grosely violating the rights of citizens, A police officer in St. George, Missouri threatens to make up charges against an innocent citizen telling him "You want me to show you what a cop does?".

This time the entire thing is caught on tape, so Sergeant Kuehnlein can't exactly back his way out of this one.

Just another case of police overstepping the rights of citizens. All be it his statement made it seem like this is fully justified as a normal thing, which unfortunately seems to be the norm among police officers.

Ebonics & The Ghetto Handbook

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:05:00 +0000

I'm a little stunned over an article concerning a cop being suspended for handing out a Ghetto Handbook. Titled "Wucha dun did now?" the so called handbook appears to factually list slang type Ebonics terms and gives an accurate definition of what they mean.

The article listed a couple terms and their definitions. These terms and definitions outlined in the article do not appear to be written in any type of a derogatory fashion. They appear to be very factual dictionary style definitions.

The thing that confuses me is this: A number of years ago, activists were demanding that Ebonics be deemed a recognized actual language apart from English. There was uproar as to weather or not it should be qualified as such, but the proponents were primarily activists of African American descent.

If activists wanted the language to be recognized, why in the world would they have a problem with an Ebonics To English dictionary being created? To me this would seem like the recognition they were looking for from the beginning.

Essentially speaking, the problem boils down to this: You cannot expect to have Ebonics recognized as its own language, while at the same time complaining when someone creates a guide to help understand the language you are fighting to have recognized.

This is basic hypocrisy on its surface.

School Bus Caught On Fire

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:10:00 +0000

I had to make a trip home from work this morning because I forgot my timecard. After getting it (and some breakfast), I headed back to work.

I ended up being stuck in traffic, from what I could see was some type of fire on the conejo grade. When I got close I snapped a picture. I didn't see any students in the area, so I assume the bus was empty at the time (there isn't many places to go on the grade, either up or down along the freeway, as there are no other streets or sidewalks that travel over the grade).

At any rate, I snaped the following picture. Its a bit distorted due to the lens protecter in my iPhone case. I removed it after this.

At any rate, I got a full shot of the bus itself. It was pretty much out by the time I got next to it.

NASA Fixes Y2K Bug In Climate Software

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:02:00 +0000

If you were to ask NASA 2 months ago what the warmest year on record is to date, they would have stated 1998, seeming to show Global Warming as a modern and real issue.

Someone wondering why some ominous data was apparent in the graph released by NASA reverse engineered their algorithm, and it interestingly turns out that NASA's software was suffering from a Y2K type bug.

NASA was contacted and they proceeded to quietly fix the error, and released new data. That data shows the warmest year on record did not occur in 1998... It occurred in 1934.

Its interesting to note that many Global Warming theory advocates were spewing this data right and left before (and the originator of the flawed data became visible due to his accusation that the Bush administration was trying to silence his data), however upon release of the correction both NASA and the same advocates have been inexplicably silent... If it weren't for the fact that an outsider discovered the bug in the first place, it would have most likely have never even been detected...

If Global Warming theory advocates are truly unbiased and only site facts, as all of them claim to be doing, then why be so silent about anything that might call in to question many of the arguments? The only logical reason is the pure and simple fact that those professing Global Warming theory are at the very least just as biased as they try to claim those who discount the theory are.

Mobile iPhone Post

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:30:00 +0000

This is a first test post from my iPhone.

Though it was activated yesterday, there is a small problem with my
AT&T account... For some reason, T-Mobile hasn't let go of my phone
number (though they should have). The current result is that I can
make calls, but I can't recieve any...

So all calls go STRAIGHT to voice mail... With any luck this will be
fixed by today...

What NOT To Do In An 'Exit Only' Lane On The Freeway

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:29:00 +0000

A short time ago, on my way to dropping my wife off at work, I was driving in the slow lane with a exit only lane to my right. The exit only lane was basically on the down slope of a grade that serves as an extra slow truck lane on the way up... However, less than a quarter mile after the top of the grade (easily within visual distance) the lane ends as an exit only.

So, at any rate I'm driving in my lane (the actual slow lane directly to the left of the exit only lane) behind a car, and I slowed down a bit to allow a white car to come in from that exit only lane. I proceed to signal and look in my right side mirror to see a very large red truck I had basically passed a short time ago... I was going around 65 MPH, the speed limit & the truck, I saw was driving at my same speed, a few car lengths back from my position. I looked forward again to make sure I had a clearing, and I did, so I looked back again, to see the same red truck, a tiny bit closer. The distance change was negligable at this point, so I proceeded to start my entrence into the lane, looking forward again to see where my car was going.

I then looked back again only to see the truck was now practically on top of me. Essentailly indicating that after several seconds of having travled at the legal speed limit, in a lane that was to the right of a slow lane, he made the conceous decision to floor it. This decision was made after several seconds of him traveling at the speed limit, at a distance back, with my signal on the entire time. The thing was, I had looked at him in the same spot after physically passing him and waited an ample amount of time to determine if he would speed up. Leaving me no logical way to determine he was going to floor it and go from 65 to 80 in a matter of a second or two.

The moment I saw him on top of me, I held my car where it was to avoid a collision. I was about 12" over the lane line, and right at that moment he logically honked (logical only in that since he had already floored it, and he hand no way of knowing if I had seen him at that second, it was the only thing he could do to avoid a collision after the fact).

As he passed me he engaged in some kind of gesture seeming to indicate I was doing something wrong. Apparently he doesn't seem to realize it is not courtous, logical, safe, or even legal to exceed the speed limit, several seconds AFTER someone legally indicated a need to enter the lane, in an exiting lane to the right of a slow lane. I also don't understand how he expected me to know that after an ample time following my signal, giving him ample time to see what I was going to do, while he continued to travel at the posted speed limit, I should have logically determined he was instantly going to floor it.

Too many people make lane changes without signaling. In fact in the state of California as of a couple years ago, you can in fact get a $25 ticket every time you make a lane change without signaling. Unfortuantly this ticketing rarely happens. Signals are put on cars for a simple reason: Its the easiest way for a driver to tell the people around them what they are doing.

Another problem is that thoes who don't use signals often have a habit of not bothering to look for others who are. I've had happen, on more than one occasion, situations where I would signal a need to change lanes only to look over at a car to the oppisite side of the lane I'm entering the same spot where I signaled to enter, only they didn't bother signaling and they didn't bother to even look to see that I had my signal on.

The last problem that happens, and is done as a conceous decision direclty directed against others, is that when people do signal, others behind said signaling driver couceously use that as an idicator that they should speed up significantly faster than they were traveling before the singal came on, solely because they somehow feel they are more important than the driver (and seemingly that they own the road so it sould be logical that everybody on that freeway should know exactly what they are going to do before they do it). Logically this is stuipid, because it is much easier for a driver located physically behind someone who has their signal on has a much easier time of compensating than a driver who needs to be able to both see where he is going in front of him, while also trying to see what is going on at the exact same time behind him. Especially considering the fact that the only thing the person who uses the mirror has to go on is what the car is physically doign at that moment. The person twards the rear of them not only has a constant view of the vehicle, but also has direct knowledge of the drivers intent based on the signal being on.

Interestingly enough when the red truck exited the freeway in front of me made a right turn after the exit without signaling... Secondly after making his right (a right I had to make as well), I changed lanes to the left lane and he stayed in the right lane. This essentially means had he remaind behind me he literally would have ended up in the exact same place without any additional delay had he remained behind me.

The thing about driving is, we are all trying to do the same thing. I will always let a signaler in front of me if it's within reason to do so. If I'm travling at a higher rate of speed than the signaler to begin with, and the distance between our cars isn't that great, I obvosuly won't slow down. But if my speed is even relatively close, and or there ample distance to slow down before hand, I will usually make the extra effort to let them in. In the end, if everybody did this, driving would be a more plesant experience for everyone.

For the record this is the second time I've encountered someone doing this exact thing on the road... The last time was several years ago, and following that I was also left shaking my head wondering what that driver had to proove.

Libby Pardon & Liberal Hypocrisy

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:23:00 +0000

It amazes me how so many Liberals have such short term memory. They're chastising Bush for pardoning Libby, and yet these same people defend the ridiculous and seemingly criminal pardons Bill Clinton put into effect right before leaving office.

He pardoned convicted felons for NO other reason than they paid him a bunch of money... Apparently this get out of jail for a large some of money doesn't bother Liberals... This was OK... Here's a piece of a statement made by Bill Clinton when trying to defend his own pardons:

..Article II of the Constitution gives the president broad and unreviewable power to grant "Reprieves and Pardons" for all offenses against the United States...

Being Hillary is also spouting off against Bush, she must believe that this law about pardons only applies to her hubby...

If you're going to cry foul, either be consistent or shut the hell up. Nothing shows hypocrisy more than being politically inconsistent... For the record, here's a nice long list of Bill Clinton's Pardons.

Even more interesting is that they're claiming his prison sentence was for violating national security or something like that. However, in the end he was only convicted of lying under oath. Ironically this is the same thing Bill Clinton himself did. So again, be consistent or shut up...

Chris Benoit Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 03:16:00 +0000

I was a little shocked at the start of WWE Raw this evening, watching in disbelief as the first screen of the show showed 'In Memory of Chris Benoit". It was taken very seriously the moment I saw Vince McMahon standing in an empty ring in an arena, ending the storyline which I had posted about a few days ago of the death of Mr. McMahon.

Chris Benoit has always been a favorate of mine, specifically because he was a wrestler. Plain and simple he was one of the best to ever grace the ring. There are much more well known wrestlers out there, but their abilities in this ring arguably pale to that of Benoit's. I was glad to see he was going to be competing for the ECW title, the only one that has eluded him. I now know he never made it to the event that night, and the facts of the investigation indicate the dark reason why.

Apparently its currently believed that Chris Benoit killed both his wife & son in the weekend,, then commited suicide Monday morning. This is of corse not known as fact, but it would seem likely that they have a fairly clear idea at this point. I truely can't imagine what pushed him to this, and the fact that this is why he and his family are no longer here makes this all the more difficult to except.

Well, this is all I can really type right now... I still have a lot going though my head...

iPhone - Silicon Case w/Wrist Strap Slot?

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:58:00 +0000

I'm looking for a silicon iPhone case that has a hole/slot on the side that is designed to have wrist strap attached to it...

I searched the net & found a bunch of silicon cases, but none have the added wrist strap slot. Anybody know of one that does???

Spanish Officials PROOVE They Don't Want Immagrents To Integrate

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 22:07:00 +0000

It's funny, you know. After the first immigrant rally in California, where countless Mexico flags could be seen while US flags were non-existant, Hispanic leaders made an effort to provide American flags to try to change the image that immigrants want to simply want to turn parts of the US back into Mexico.

Now those same leaders are saying it's an outrage Arnold Schwarzenegger actually said immigrants should try learn English.

Apparently Hispanic leaders think so so lowly of Americans that it is actually an insult to sudgest they should try to learn the language spoken by the overwhelming majority of our citizens.

I'm truly offended that they think so lowly of me and what language I speak.

Vince McMahon's Car Bomb Limo - Staging Proof

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 21:21:00 +0000

I've been a wrestling fan for a number of years, and pretty much never miss an episode of WWE Monday Night RAW (much easier now that I have TiVo).

I saw the video last Monday showing the "presumed death" of Mr. McMahon. Following the video I tried to determine a factual source to site this as being a stunt. I was pretty sure it was, but part of me still felt that there was something scary about the video, and I realized there was more going on than I initially saw.

I found this source, and it sited some things that I verified were in fact incorrect. I did, however, find some revealing evidence today when I watched the video another time. Undeniable proof that the event was staged, all be it very well...

The post I linked above stated a couple things. First off, it stated that what the WWE did was show live video of Mr. McMahon getting into the limo, but then cut to previously recorded video of the explosion. This is factually incorrect. If you watch the video of him actually getting into the limo, then watch frame by frame while he gets in, the camera zooms out & the limo explodes, this entire clip was done in one single shot. Of this I am 100% positive. The second thing said was that following the playing of the previously recorded live clip on RAW, they stuck the already burned up limo body outside the arena, and people came out & saw a limo that was burned on an earlier date. This is incorrect also, as people in the audience stated they felt the explosion, as well as there having been ample signs of an explosion having just occurred around the arena (namely black ash covering everything).

So, the question then becomes, is this post wrong and was everything that was seen live? The answer is NO, and I have the absolute undeniable evidence it is. This should help any of you out there even the least bit unsure rest a little easier...

The evidence is these 2 frames taken directly from the sequence. These frames literally are shown within a few seconds of each other, and for this whole sequence to be live with these frames taken into account is physically impossible.

The thing to notice here is where the two white trucks are in the background. In the first shot which is the definite live shot, the two white trucks are lined up way ahead of the white limo. The second shot shows the trucks further back, far enough so to be behind the limo. Later video shows that in fact there are 2 trucks visible in the explosion video right next to the limo, where the two in the earlier shot cannot clearly be the same ones. There is no physically possible way both of these video clips were shot live...

This, in all likelihood, points to the second half of the video being pre-recorded. Done very well, using what I use in a general term as "magician techniques"... The fact that both of these videos are not live (that one cannot be), and the fact that the most logical video to be pre-recorded is the video of the explosion itself, how does the WWE pull off both the visibility of the explosion as well as the evidence surrounding the arena? This is in fact simple: There was a limo detonated in time with the pre-recorded video of the explosion, leaving evidence and confirming that a limo did in fact explode that night...

Welp, there you go... I feel this pretty cut and dry at this point. Two other things to consider as well which goes with the fact of this being a story. The first is that no limo driver was ever mentioned, the second is that they keep using the term "presumed dead" instead of actually dead... And finally in all likelihood if this was a true video of a death, the WWE wouldn't be constantly replaying it over and over again...

Mary Jo Foley - Research Can Keep You From Looking Like An Idiot

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 19:12:00 +0000

It appears Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet didn't bother to look up a couple thing BEFORE writing a story on how Mac's next operating system looks like Vista... You see, many of the things she brought up have been fully in existence on the Mac platform for a couple years now, back in the days when Vista was still mysterious & called Longhorn...

Point 1 says that the new Leopard desktop looks "a lot like Vista's sidebar. Now, I have Vista, and it's desktop looks different, period. The so called "side bar" she's referring to is Mac's dock, which is directly equivalent to the Windows Task Bar, which has NOT changed in Vista... Vista does have their "gadget" sidebar, but this is equivalent to Apple's Dash Board, which exists in Mac OS 10.4 that came out 2 years ago (long before Vista)...

Point 2 talks about the instant search, which in Mac OS X known as Spotlight, which has also existed since the launch of Mac OS X 10.4, 2 years ago... How could this be copying Vista when it was publicly released 2 years before it??? Also, the cover flow was put into iTunes before Vista shipped... This was actually a technology that Apple bought from a party that developed it long before Vista had their so-called 'flip'...

Point 3 says QuickLook is equivalent to Thumbnails. This couldn't be further from the truth. Thumbnails existed in Mac since the old days. QuickLook allows you to fully view and interact with a file, including a multi-slide presentation. You can view and READ an entire file in a thumbnail view... You're just blatantly stupid here Mary...

4. Leopard is not an ONLY 64 bit version of the desktop... She has this TOTALLY WRONG HERE!!! Leopard is a combination 32bit + 64bit OS in ONE!!! In other words, you install 1 version of leopard, and it's both. I had to buy a 32bit version of Vista, which is distinctly different from the 64bit... In order to get 32bit & 64bit versions of Vista I need to purchase 2 distinctly different versions of Vista... If I don't know which one I need, then I've got a 50-50 chance of buying the right version for my PC... With Leopard, on the other hand, 1 disc & 1 install contains both, IN ONE! Mary's statement here is blatantly factually inaccurate...

Point 5 covers core animation, the ironic thing was she stated something so far from the truth here, she hasn't a clue. Core Animation has existed for a very long time on Mac OS X. It to date has been and is being used by a great deal of Mac developers. The thing is, Apple has continued to expand the capabilities here. Core Animation is taking yet another step in pulling off some unbelievable graphical feats in real time, and what Apple showed was simply another evolution in the highly used graphical tool...

Point 6 seemed pointless to even list. Apple was kidding around with the Solitaire angle, and that was evident in the guffaws of the crowed (I was chuckling myself)... Apple knows some people need Windows for some tasks... I run Parallels Desktop on my system and love having a Windows task bar at the bottom of my Mac desktop. That said 90% of the time I spend working in Windows is literally spent maintaining Windows (virus & spyware scans, windows updates, etc). I own a copy of both XP Pro & Vista Ultimate, and really rarely use either...

Point 7 is Mary declaring something she cannot factually backup. I have just as valid as an argument saying that Mary is so jealous of Mac OS X, so much so that she's willing to blatantly lie to 'defend' Vista... Spaces is not unique to Mac, and has existed in the Linux circle for many years. Apple has taken the feature and added a lot of improvements over what Linux offers, but in the end it's a tool only for those who choose to use it. Most likely I will not, but time will ultimately tell...

Point 8 is utterly retarded, Dashboard again has been around for 2 years now, wasn't Vista just recently released???

Point 9 has an interesting side note, yes Microsoft had this technology for a while, but there is one big difference. iChat is free, Microsoft Live Meeting is a professional level application that costs to use... iChat can be used by any one at any time...

The one argument against her point 10 is pretty significant, Time Machine is available in the one and only version of Leopard. Vista backup is fully inaccessible in the lower versions of Vista (while ironically these impaired versions cost more than Leopard). To get the functionality you have to pay big bucks... Time machine is also easier to use, and won't confuse any non-experienced consumers...

Welp, that's pretty much a rundown of ALL her points, most of which (as you can clearly read) are in fact blatant lies and misinformation. What are you missing Mary? A whole heck of a lot, obviously...

[update]

Apparently she posted a follow-up following her article stating that she was not trying to accuse Apple/Leopard of copying Vista, but simply trying to state the items listed are available in Vista regardless of the fact that Vista copied to get them... I think this is bull, as can be judged by her original wording of point 8:

Dashboard with widgets. Isn?t this like the Vista Sidebar with gadgets?

In essence what she is now claiming is "Didn't Vista already copy the Dashboard widgets idea, making the fact that Leopard is going to have it totally irrelevant anyway?" In a sense she's now trying to say Apple shouldn't have bothered saying it since Vista had already had it. This is STILL invalid because of the fact that Apple was primarily demoing the new feature of Dashboard allowing users to turn live sections of web pages into dynamic widgets. This is a new concept to Mac OS X and is also something Vista does not have. So even giving her the benefit of the doubt that her follow-up is truthful, the validity of the post is still fully invalid...

The Good, The Good, And The Good...

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 18:29:00 +0000

Well, it's been an interesting few weeks for me lately. Not to say my life has been problem free but there were a number of upshots that have made me feel fairly good overall...

The first is that I can safely say that my back surgery was very successful. The leg pain I was experiencing is almost completely gone, and the couple of times I have noticed it since left me questioning weather or not it was even the same pain (with RA, pain isn't an unusual thing). But I've been functioning almost completely normally, though I'm still a bit weak & need to rebuild some muscle... I am scheduled for my first physical theropy session this afternoon...

Last week I was, of course, left extatic when the Ducks won the Stanley Cup. Their first win since their becoming a team 14 years ago. I've literally been a fan since day 1 (they did loose their very first game), and as such have been waiting for this victory for a very long time...

Today I also experienced some excitement, listening to the Apple keynote. I happened to find a site broadcasting audio, all be it at very low quality... Some exciting things were debiewed, something that always leaves me in excitement...

And of course for the next few weeks I have a couple of things I'm really looking forward to...

At the end of this month me & my wife are going to visit some of her work associates at Lake Casitas, and I decided I should pick up some stuff & have my mom ship me my old fishing pole so I can spend some time fishing while I'm there. The last time I went I was young enough that I was not required to have a license (which is required for people 16 and older). Being older, I'm more likely to enjoy the 'relaxing' aspect that is necessary to truly enjoy the experience...

Also, as of today, were less than 30 days away from July 4th. One of my favorite holidays of the year. I've previously posted both some photos & a video from past years. It's pretty much always a lot of work, and causes me a lot of stress (it's hard to get barbiques, food & tables transported when your car is a two seater & has limited space in the back), but in the end it's always been worth it...

There's also a list of other minor things... I finally got a DS to replace my dead GameBoy Advance, I'm likely to get an iPhone 11 days from now assuming all goes well financially up to then & while in the hospital my regular doctor looked at a couple issues concerning me and said they weren't anything serious.

Of course, truth be told I do have some things on the horizon that may not end up being so good... The biggest of which will be seeing how much of my surgery and hospital stay my insurance will cover. But in the end, its nice to focus on the positive and not spend time worrying about problems you currently have no control over...

Surgery Successful, Sort of...

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Sat, 19 May 2007 00:29:00 +0000

On the 11th of this month I went in for back surgery in order to repair a collapsed L5 S1 disk in my back. It caused a nerve to be pinched which has been creating severe pain throughout the back of my right leg, most notibly when sitting down.

Following the surgery my surgeon stated he felt that the surgery was a complete success and that my pain should be 100% gone. Unfortunatly, since returning home I've noted that the pain is not copmletely gone as of now, and may even be as bad as before the surgery. Right now my primary hope is that this is caused by inflamation following the surgery, but being my back itself is almost completely pain free (compared to my hip surgeries this took no time to heal), but the leg pain is as persistant as ever...

If this doesn't fix it, I'm not sure if I have any other options. The downfall would be pretty severe, as prior to the surgery a 10 minute or longer drive was the equivalent of severe torcher to myself... It could easily end up costing me the almost normal life I've lived since being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. No more trips to Vegas, no more July 4th's in Filmore, no more movies at the movie theater...

At any rate, if you're reading this and are of the praying type, I would greatly appreciate remembering me durring your next prayer session.

LA Cops Cross The Line At Rally

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:40:00 +0000

Now it's no secret I'm against illegal immigration, and I do not like the pro illegal immigrat rallies (as this is the most accurate description as to what they are). In all, I usually am against most forms of protests. That said, I saw disgusting video of cops in action at one of the rallies this week, and it clearly shows cops will beat anybody upside the head solely because they have an operunity to...

The video shot on scene clearly showed reporters being beat, even after clearly identifying themselves, solely because they were there. The only excuse? They weren't moving fast enough. Now I don't know about you, but I'm physically handicapped. I could easily myself get beat soley because I am physically disabled. Interestingly, the video shown also clearly shows kids being covered by parents while rubber bullets were fired...

But in the end this simply ends up as yet another notch on the long list of signs that cops can't be trusted on any type of regular basis.

The bottom line is, if any police officer was given a choice of helping out a citizen who is truely in need, or going after & punishing a minor offence, the police will always go after giving the punishment at the cost of screwing over the citizen in need.

And on top of that, if a police officer had the ability of overstepping the line knowing he wouldn't be caught or punished, the cop will always cross the line.

And incodents like this continue to show time & time again that these two points are true 100% of the time.

Back Surgery Soon

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Fri, 04 May 2007 00:05:00 +0000

For several months now I've been experiencing some pain in my right leg, especially when sitting & driving. I learned after an MRI that my L5/S1 disc is compressed on the right side, thereby causing a nerve running into my leg to be pinched...

The pain has been pretty bad, and is actually some of the worst I've ever experienced, even taking into account all I've been though with rheumatoid arthritis & the two hips I had replaced (plus the severe infection and everything that went along with that).

Apparently the surgery it is a fairly minor procedure, just cut a small hole and grind some bone away. I should be home the following day & back to normal within 2 weeks... overall this will be quite a relief for me... But I still have a few days until then, so more painful driving experiences are going to occur...

NAB Conflict of Interest

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:09:00 +0000

I ran across a story today regarding the Sirius & XM Merger. The page included a table which lists the NAB's (National Association of Broadcasters) reasons for opposing the merger. Of course, the truth his, their only real reason for apposing isn't listed... But here are their points... Keep in mind my responses are from the perspective of a Sirius customer, as I've subscribed for over a year now.

They have no 'relevant' competitors

This one makes me laugh... You see, the real reason the NAB is opposed to the merger is that THEY are satellite's biggest competitor!

Lower prices? Unlikely at best

This isn't relevant either. You see, satellite radio, which currently costs $12.99/mo is competing against FREE radio, the very one the NAB represents. The fact is, if the price is increased, I'll be canceling my account. It wasn't easy to convince my wife that $12.99 wasn't a big deal. If the price goes up, I'm moving back to free radio... Ironically, a possible price increase would be a big boon to the NAB, so their biggest fear is in fact that one won't occur, as it currently costs $25.98 to do that. Most customers who are considering would buy twice as quickly if they could get the best of both words for one low price...

Loss of innovation and jobs

Ironically this usually occurs more often when a company can't keep itself afloat. Combining the two companies will likely eventually incur the loss of some jobs, but I'm sure the employees who work for either Sirius or XM would rather have a merger, as this will make a stronger company with the ability to stay in business longer.

Monopolies don't improve service

This is hardly a fact (not that it's even applicable due to the NAB being the competitor), and the truth lies into another merger the NAB opposed. EchoStart & DirectTV were going to merge, but the NAB prevented it. So I ask, what major innovations has either company made since then??? In fact, both my phone company and cable company now provide more services than satellite TV...

But the real truth is in this bottom line: The NAB was the biggest opposer to satellite radio's creation in the first place. They lobbied to block the FCC from approving it's creation.

Now you tell me, does this sound like a company who is out to protect the public interest? The truth hurts, as this proves with zero argument that the only thing the NAB is trying to protect is their own monopoly. If they had a viable way to destroy Sirius and XM, so they come out the only form of radio, they would do so in a heartbeat...

All Way Stops - Too Confusing For The Average Driver?

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 21:57:00 +0000

After getting off the freeway on my way home today, the intersection which I make a left thorugh had red flashing lights. This, as all drivers should know, indicates an all way stop.

All way stops are relatively simple in concept, as all drivers should know. That is, first come first go...

It amazez me, however, how people try to shortcut any thinking when they get to one by looking at one other car that gets to go 'before' them, then uses that single car as their own personal indicator. The problem with this, however, is if that one car goes out of turn, then a chain reaction of going out of turn begins to occur...

That's exactly what happened here.

When I pulled up in a left turn lane, I did a quick sweep from left to right. I saw one car approcing from the left, two going straight in the oppisate direction, the opposing left turn lane clear, and 3 cars then just beginning to move in the 3 right lanes (two left hand turn lanes, one right/straight lane) . This situation was simple, since the 3 cars on the left had not yet cleared thier move into & though the crosswalk, I was only supposed to wait for the two on comming cars to clear and the left car to clear, or a total of 3 cars being able to go before me. Welp, that didn't quite work the way it should have.

You see, upon the 3 cars completely clearning from the right, the two on comming cars went though the intersetion, followed by a turn from the car on my left. That was my turn to move, however the next 3 cars on the right seemed to think they somehow superseeded me (even though I was long stopped prior to them even being physically capable of reaching the first car point in their lanes). Then a 4th car, for some reason, followed on the right even though he wasn't even close at that point. I proceeded to turn after him only to see the oncomming car stopping after trying to enter the interseciton, then the driver pointing in front of him and shaking his head, seeming to indicate it was his turn. Only problem was, I was MORE than stopped when the car in front of him, as well as the car in front of the car next to him were stopped, so obvously it coudn't possibly have been his turn before mine. My guess? He looked over at the cars on my right (his left) when the car in front of him cleared the intersection & he stopped. Had the cars on his left gone properly in turn, it would have been his turn. but, as I mentioned above, they went out of turn, which lead him to appear certain it was his turn when it clearly couldn't have been...

But in the end it just leaves me really pissed. There was ZERO qustion that I was supposed to go before this guy. Again, I was stopped at the intersection BEFORE the car in front of him had even started moving. But because nobody can seem to keep up with whats going on around them, because they figure looking at a single car is a foolproof method of keeping track of their turn, people are led to making a misteak if the person they're relying on has made one.

So next time you come to an all way stop, either keep track of all the cars in the intersection properly, or be willing to give up any ability of accusing others of making a misteak. Because if you take the shortcut and then are led to believe someone else made a misteak, the only person you can really only point your finger at is yourself...

Cold Medicine Criminal

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby T.) — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:55:00 +0000

One of the most ridiculous things going on in California (if not other states) is the place we've reached when it comes to buying cold medicine. That is, I now officially feel like a criminal every time I try to purchase some...

The first ridiculously annoying experience I had was in the middle of a 12 hour drive when my nose got stuffy & I wanted to pick up a box of Alive Cold & Sinus. I went into a Longs Drug off the freeway (in an obviously unfamiliar area), and proceeded to ask if I could get some cold medicine. The answer, surprising to me at the time, was no. You see, the pharmacy was closed... So I essentially could not buy an OTC cold medicine because the pharmacy wasn't open... So much for OTC...

I ended up having to drive around to find a grocery store, and ended up going into a Vons. I found the cold medicine aisle, but instead of boxes of cold medicine they had little paper cut outs. Maybe the paper was meant to dissolve in water & then I drink it? At any rate, I took the cold medicine paper cutout to the checkout line. I then proceeded to block several people from checking out for around 10 minutes. They couldn't complete my transaction until I got the box, you see, as they needed the physical box to ring it up (and they had already rung up a few other things that I picked up). So finally they got me my cold medicine, and I officially felt like a criminal for trying to buy it, as I managed to piss several people off who were in line behind me...

Fast forward to today, when I needed to pick up another box, as both me & my wife have stuffy noses. I ended up going into a CVS Pharmacy & went to the pharmacy counter. That walk was a waste of time because they actually keep the medicine at the front counter. The irony here is that if you want to pick up a prescription & some cold medicine, you have to check out twice... So much for convenience... So at any rate, I went to the front counter & said I wanted a box of cold medicine, I realized at this point how lucky I was that I knew which one I wanted, because it's not really possible to read the boxes & compare when the boxes themselves are kept behind the counter, right next to the cigarettes... Only problem is, buying cold medicine is now worse than buying cigarettes. You see, once she grabbed the box she handed me a large note book. In that note book I was required to right down my name, address & contact information, along with MY SIGNATURE! So now I'm on file for life because I bought a box of cold medicine!!! Talk about big brother...

Of course now I'm stressing out wondering what in the world is going to become of my signature in that book. Am I going to end up in a federal database somewhere? Are they now going to put me on a watch list? If I apply for a job, will I be rejected based off of a purchase of cold medicine on the morning of March 14th, 2007???

What are we coming to? Is this criminal like treatment really doing a whole lot to curb the crime it's supposedly there to help enforce?

Whats next? Soon you will have to submit to a background check and a 10 day waiting period in order to buy a can of air freshener, as they will have to ensure you don't plan on using it for huffing...