I've been working on getting my entertainment system set up how I wanted it lately. Got the wireless router and the HDTV all set up. Just yesterday, I decided to go and check if the local game store had a Wii in stock. I go there, pick out a PC game that I've been eyeing for a few weeks (Rainbow Six Vegas), and head up to the counter. I ask, "Do you guys have a Wii?" And the guy says "Yeah, we just got a few in!" I'm like "Really?" Without asking, he heads back and gets it for me. I say, I'm gonna see what other games I might want, so don't ring it up yet. He asks "Well, everyone and their mother bought Zelda with the Wii, did you plan on getting that one?" I said hellz yes. So I go and look at what other games they have. I didn't really see anything that I remember loving from my subscription to the gaming website, so I just got Zelda and the Wii, and also Rainbow Six Vegas. Throw in the $40 store warranty (I get a new one if anything happens), and this was quite a hefty purchase. But well worth it! I got a workout playing Wii Sports, and I rock at bowling. In Zelda, I've made it to a respectable place after just 3 hours over the span of two days. I do already hold a professional rank in bowling though, so that's where my time has been mainly going :D Tennis is fun, I won my first baseball game earlier today (got whooped every other game), and boxing is a major workout. I suck at golf, but that's fun as well. I can't wait to see what innovative ways to use the "Wiimote" that game companies come up with. It'll be fun. Anyway, here are some pictures of me, Mii, and the Wii!

In 4 days, any resolutions that you didn't complete last year will have to be "rollover resolutions". And if that's the case, you just feel like crap. You're like "Damnit, I should have gone to Africa like 6 months ago." And trying to squeeze in a 40-pound-in-four-days diet is pretty excruciating.

Luckily, my resolutions from last year only take a few days to complete. Like, getting and keeping my room clean. I'm on break now but I've been at it for like 2 hours. Yes, it's a f@#%@#$ing mess. Imagine if every piece of mail you got for about 18 months you just threw on your dresser instead of throwing in the trash. Then add in the deprecated hardware like old KVM switches, old video cards, etc, thrown into that mix, then also imagine boxes that you planned on throwing out a year ago, but they could also make good tables for other crap. Also, throw tons of stuff, like laptops, cd cases, other boxes, on the other side of your queen sized bed. Next, have two computer cases that won't ever be used again somewhere in your room. Throw in an already full closet, and make this room about 8 feet by 16 feet with a queen bed, bookshelf, computer desk, dresser, laundry basket, guitar and amp, and a computer chair. Yes, it is rather hard to move.

Thankfully, it'll be fully clean before the New Year if I go at it pretty diligently. Like, 2-3 hours a day. It's easy, I have off this week, and throw in some coffee, throw on some Bob Marley, have a few trash bags, etc, and I'm well on my way. It already looks like you could put an extra bed in here. Anyway, that's what I'm up to. Other things that I have to do is join a gym OR get a mountain bike, but those might be rollover resolutions. Whatever :P Other resolutions include never being late for work. It's not like I was though, but after a while I might start showing up 15-30 minutes late, just like in Office Space. Hmm, what else? I have ideas for software that I have to get done, and I haven't written any Java in 6 months at least. I have to get back into that, definitely.

I'm afraid resolutions are like wishes, where if I tell every one of them, I won't get any of them done. The other secret ones are the important ones, so I'm not gonna say.

I watched it for the first time a week ago, and I have to say, if anyone in the world were to get me it for Christmas, they would immediately be my best friend. Also, I can never have enough Bob Marley, even if there are duplicate songs (just not duplicate albums). I love "Concrete Jungle" and "War" lately.

But with Serenity, it's one of those movies... i.e. a movie... so you expect it to start to get stupid or boring, or looking for parts of it that you would not like to watch again, and that would make you think it sucks, plus it was based on a TV series that tanked. So you're like "Alright, when is it gonna suck... Come on, any second now.." And the credits start to roll at the end, and you're like "Wow, it didn't suck. Not even a little bit." Unlike recent blockbusters like The DaVinci Code (They just could never escape), War of the Worlds (That little girl and the insane dude in the basement of that house ruin it for me. Can't watch it again), and practically every movie.. they just have parts that make them unwatchable after the first time. There are a select few though... I have a few, like Contact. That movie never sucks. Plus it puts me to sleep like a baby when I don't plan on watching it all the way through.

People have to make better movies. Of course, I'm about the least impressed person ever. Nothing affects me. In effect, everything sucks. Not that I could do it better, but why does everything have to suck?! Alright, time to head over the parents' place for more Christmas Festivities.

That's the new politically correct way to wish someone nothing but good times and good fortune during the time between Dec 24 to Jan 2. Copyright 2006 Jason Connell, of course.

I am off this week. And on Jan 2, I start a brand new job. I will probably be hanging out with Jim and Kate all week. It's gonna rock. I may need to eventually go out and get new clothes because this new job is one of those business casual places, and all I've been wearing to work for the past year or so is jeans with holes in them, T-shirts, sneakers, and the like. I like those places, but I know I'm going to like this new place also. Just like I loved working at Aramark even though I had to shave every day. That's the worst. Especially since I've devoted myself to making myself as low maintenance as possible lately.

For instance, I don't have to brush my hair anymore, since I've just about no hair. I've been looking at how one might never have to brush their teeth again, as well as shower. I'm sure it's possible through genetic manipulation, like how they make seedless watermelons. Of course, that won't benefit me :) There'd have to also be a supplement to help out those whose genetic code is already written... Stupid hard coded stuff... God should have made that configurable.

NOAT's proudly presented entry into the Gingerbread House contest in Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada...

Yes, it's wired for the internet.

Ahh, making a mockery of everyone's hard work and talent is always entertaining. Other people actually tried, and theirs just aren't as good... to me anyway. Fantastic job NAOT!

Classic

So close. Tonight I ordered a bunch of stuff from Amazon.com and J&R Music World. Christmas is funny... You almost always know what you're going to get, you just have to wait until Christmas to get it. For instance...

My Mom likes to make sure that stuff she buys actually fits before she gives it to us. So, I tried on one of my Christmas presents last week.

I mentioned to my Dad that he should get an iPod, and he confirmed that he'd like one for when he works out. So, I said "Well, don't buy it, Santa might bring you one." So my Dad knows what he's getting.

Zatko's girlfriend told him she ordered a Wii, but days later, way after it was already supposed to have been there, I ask... "How's the Wii?!" He says "I don't have it yet." Well, the exact words are below in the Quote of the Year post. It seemed suspicious, but then he told me his girlfriend probably hid it and decided to give it to him for Christmas instead. So I called him a sucker.

However, my bro-.... errr... Pollyanna.... has NO IDEA what he's getting. Heh. I can say "My brother is my pollyanna" since I have 5. Brothers, not pollyannas. It's awesomely hilariously funny.

And, of course, my Mom has no idea what she's getting from me, for the simple logical fact that I have no idea what I'm getting her. I searched the internet far and wide with no luck yet. I think I only got to page 2 anyway. Definitely didn't make a dent.

I was watching this item on Amazon.com for about 4 days now, and it was fairly expensive, but not expensive compared to other items of the same type. Then, Amazon.com said to itself "If we lower the price, this dude's gonna buy this thing." And you know how websites talk to themselves, right? Through AJAX. It's common knowledge. So, the website heard this from itself, and said "F@#% it, let's lower the price and get rid of this item, we'll still make a fortune off of it." So, after a few moments, I log in and check my cart, and it always alerts you of price changes of items in your cart since the last time you checked. It said "The price of that thing you need and want has lowered to a price where you might think you are stealing it from us." And I said "Where in the hell is the checkout box?!" Seconds later, it was purchased, and shipped overnight for a total of $3.99 extra. That's my Amazon Prime membership at work again. That is, again, Amazon making me think that I'm stealing. I should go to confession. It shipped tonight, it should be here tomorrow.

Oh, by the way, it's the HDTV that is a prerequisite for the Wii and PS3! 26" 1300x768, HDMI, ATSC tuner built in. Got good reviews, but again, I don't need the best TV ever, it's replacing a 16" TV. Now I have to buy Christmas presents...

I haven't emptied my spam folder in about 2 weeks.

Zatko55: actually i don't have it. i just told you i had it to make you jealous

Me: didn't work sucker

Me: every night i pretend I'm playing the Wii when I go and have my brother pitch wiffle balls to me and I have a wiffle ball bat. it's very convincing that I'm actually playing the Wii, but really I'm just playing baseball :(



All you hear like that from now on are just cheap imitations.

Today, I'm going to make it even more of my routine to not use Office software that needs to be installed on my computer. To kick this off, today I created an online spreadsheet at Google Docs. I find it to be very convenient for my purpose, which is updating a client on the hours that I've worked on the current project. I added them as a "viewer" of the spreadsheet, and it's golden. Only problem was that it doesn't currently support Safari, the default browser on the Mac, so I had to install Firefox. Which is fine by me, except that I have two browsers installed. Oh well.

Also, I'll be using the word processor found at that site. That can be convenient for getting my ideas into English format, which could then be shared with anyone, but more importantly, I don't have to use the excuse "Oh, that document is on my computer at home... sorry." It also happens to be a great place to keep my resume.

Only thing is "Lock-In". We all hate it. Buy a song on iTunes and you can only play it on Apple stuff and with your account (lest you strip DRM from it). Buy a PS3 game and you can only play it on PS3s. Buy a car and you can only drive it on the road and within the limits of the law. That kind of stuff. It sucks. But oh well. As long as I can export it. That would be a good idea for Apple too. To be able to "export" purchased songs into another form of DRM, if you were to switch. It goes the other way as well. Buy songs on xyz, export to Apple format. Just recently, the cell phone companies allowed you to carry over your phone number to another provider, this wouldn't be much different (not technically, of course). Freedom is great.

The future is upon me. I got the wireless router last night, hooked it up, got WPA security working, and hooked my Mac up to it. It works. It supposedly transfers at 300 Mbps, which is 3x faster than 100 base T... without wires! That's crazy. I hooked my PSP up to it with no problems, downloaded the new update released yesterday in record time, and that rocked. This paves the way for the PS3 and Wii, which both have wireless. Before any of those, though, I have to get an HDTV. Not a big one though. If I can find 23" or 26", it's enough. It will replace a 16" TV.

Today I had a side job to go to. It was fun. Some of the worst written code I've ever seen. It could lead to more, if I do a good job.

Tomorrow, there is a gathering at Jim's parents' house, which of course means that Jim and Kate are back from Japan!! After three years. And Seamus is coming to America!! He hasn't been here yet! That's crazy-whack-funky. They will be going to the UK really soon though, within the month. Of course, while they're here, I will probably be drunk the whole time. I'm definitely looking forward to that.

With my extra income from the day's hard work, I ordered a wireless router, which couldn't come fast enough. I'm starting to embrace the future a little. I now have 3 things that use wireless (2 laptops and a PSP), and will eventually have no less than 5 things, when I get the PS3 and Wii. Beaner will be connecting to the router with his Mac as well, so there could be 5 things connected at any one time. Mainly, I'm getting it because I don't want to use my neighbor's with my Mac (as I've stated before), and the wire I have for my Mac is about 5 feet long, and it has to use up most of that length travelling from where my router is, around my desk, and onto my bed, where when I finally get to use it, I have to leave the Mac in one single spot, can't lean back on my chair comfortably and use it, etc, etc. It's a "wireless-N" router, meaning it's got 3 antennas and support for the future 802.11n I guess. Good times.