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June 29, 2008

New MP3 Player, New Car

So yeah, I got my new MP3 player, and it is an iPod. I didn't have very much hesitation in getting one, considering $199 is a decent price. Almost every other MP3 player with the same features cost the same.

I have to say, the audio is a whole lot better, and there's a better set of equalizer settings on this thing. It has an extra 3GB memory, and it's flash instead of a hard drive, which should be a major improvement. I did buy a 3-year plan from Target for it, since my last one lasted for approximately 2 years I don't want to end up spending another $200 anytime soon. Also, the video quality is GREAT. It does require 320x200 resolution I believe, but considering the screen is so small, it doesn't hurt as much. (For $100 extra, you *could* get the iPod Touch with 8GB, which has a bigger screen, but I really got this for the MP3 playing ability.)

Also, it looks like iTunes doesn't suck anymore. I still have to get used to putting shit into playlists and not being able to organize them via folders, but it isn't so bad after all.

Yes, my old MP3 player is still having its seizures. I'm trying to think of how to dispose of it. Considering July 4th is coming up, I might just strap some fireworks to it and blow it up. I might as well destroy it, it isn't fixable.

The car? Isn't mine. My parents replaced their old piece of crap Chevy Nova and now drive a Chevy '07 Cobalt. The car drives very well, only has around 30k on it, and seems to be in good condition. It is still under their 100k mile warranty, but I'm thinking that the 100k mile part is just the major parts of the car.

I'm disappointed with my dad since he didn't even look at the Carfax report, which they offer for free if you ask, nor did he try to haggle. Even so, they did offer him $1300 for his trade in (the car would take more than $1300 to fix, and I doubt even after that it would really be worth $1300).

One last thing, I won't be at the national convention in Dallas. Since my car was stolen and I'm saving up for a new one, I don't want to miss a week of work and lose $350 (plus nobody I know is going except for my parents, so no point in going). I'll be at the state convention, though. I get weekends off, so no sweat on being able to go again this year.

June 19, 2008

Dead MP3 Player

So, I woke up this morning, and on my way out the door, I grabbed my MP3 player. It's a Creative Neeon, which has reached its End of Sale a while back (I bought it when it was being discontinued by Wal-Mart, if that tells you anything).

Well, I turned it on, and it freezes at the Creative logo (the first thing you see when you turn it on), followed by weird beeping noises and the sound of it trying to read its HD. This pissed me off, resetting it didn't fix it either.

So I got home and looked up possible solutions. Two came up, one saying just connect it to the PC and "safely remove hardware" it. The other would be to reinstall the firmware on it. Well, neither of those are possible because it halts on the Creative logo when I hook it up to the PC. The computer never recognizes it either.

Long story short, I'm fucked, this piece of shit has quit on me. I've opened it several times before to clean the shit that builds up between the screen and the screen cover (usually water gets in it, mixes with the dust, etc). The warranty would be long gone anyways otherwise, and apparently Creative has this thing where they just "offer to sell you a new MP3 player for 20% off.

I'm thinking about getting an iPod Nano. $199 for the 8GB version isn't really that bad, and I'll be free from HD-based MP3 storage. I sacrifice voice recording/playback and built-in FM radio, but considering I can't stand listening to Rock 93.5 (more like Emo 93.Ijustslitmywrists) and I really didn't use the voice recording function but once or twice. On the upside, I get video playback, which is awesome.

My two qualms with Apple is that they tend to charge an outrageous price for their products, which are typically inferior or sub-standard products to begin with, and iTunes. I can't really knock the price of this MP3 player. My Neeon cost me $128, and this one has more memory (and not a hard drive) and plays video for $71 more. It is also smaller, and I do like the interface.

What I can't stand is iTunes. I never had a problem with Quicktime, except that Firefox won't fucking work with it even after reinstalling it MILLIONS of times. I have, on the other hand, had plenty of problems with iTunes. Apple doesn't give a shit about Windows users so they don't fix the bugs with it. It runs slow, often freezing up for a good while, and is just generally shitty to begin with. It angers me almost as much as current-day WMP (fuck that, stick to WMP classic), and trust me, I hate WMP 10 and beyond with every fiber of my being.

There are workarounds so that you can avoid iTunes, and I do intend on using those. Really, if Steve Jobs would stop being such a douche and make iTunes not suck, there wouldn't be a concern about getting the iPod. Still, I do intend to get it. It's either that or a Zune, and... no thanks on the Zune.

Apple: 1, Microsoft: 130957819027

June 16, 2008

Things That Piss Me Off About Women

Yeah, I figured I'd go ahead and slam into this topic because it has been pissing me off for a while now. There's a few things that piss me off about women. Now to be fair, not all women act like this or do this kind of stuff, but enough do to make me burst a few blood vessels.

First off, have you ever run into a girl that is overweight/obese, puts on an outward show that they are fine with it (kind of a BBW attitude), but then refuse to date anyone more than 5 pounds overweight? I mean, its great that they have self-esteem, even if in most cases it is blown waaaay way out of proportion. What makes me angry is that, even though they think THEY look fine despite their weight, they wouldn't dare date another fatty.

Seriously, what the fuck. This drives my bullshit detector off the charts. I've always had a saying that if you couldn't "date yourself", then you don't need to be dating at all. The reason behind this isn't that I have some awkward sexual fantasy with someone doing themselves, it is that if you are not comfortable enough with YOUR image (i.e., you wouldn't date someone that had the same characteristic(s) as you), then you aren't really capable of having the self-esteem to run a relationship. Think about it, insecurity is what kills most people, and not just in a relationship. People who are too terrified to do anything don't do anything, and I don't think there are many situations in which doing nothing gets you first place.

Long story short, these women are fine with THEM being fat, but not someone ELSE being fat. Hello, denial anyone? I mean really, I'm not a supermodel and I'm *fine* with that, but you don't see me turning down anyone who isn't a celebrity. That brings me to the point that this is very unacceptable behavior in guys. If a fat guy turns down fat chicks (well, I mean the few that are actually fine with dating a fat guy), then he's pretty much fucked. Or not fucked, rather.

This is what gets to me. You can be the ugliest, fattest, hairiest, bitchiest woman on the face of the Earth, but if you open your legs, there's someone there willing to bang you. Whereas if you are a "nice guy" who happens to be fat (or hell, you don't even HAVE to be fat), good luck! The hideous monstrosity will be balling itself up in its own fatfolds to roll to the nearest hotel with her "hunk" while your ass gets maced while walking down the street because you coughed as a girl walked by, and then her high-school football captain boyfriend kicks the shit out of you.

Another thing I hate? Bitchy women with nooooooo sense of humor. You'll know this one because while everyone else is having a good time, she's just fucking staring people down with a cold, heartless gaze. This is the kind of bitch that, given two people are talking about something or perhaps debating something, she'll just unleash the fucking fury and tell everyone to shut up. The kind of bitch NO ONE is comfortable being around, except for her friends, but they are NEVER comfortable around her when anyone else is around. (Who enjoys being next to someone who is waiting for the next person to go apeshit on?)

These whores have chips on their shoulders the size of Montana. They are somehow permanently stuck in PMS mode. The kind of person that makes you wonder why any man would date her, because she probably would bitch during sex, during your wedding, during any holiday event, and quite possibly even at her own funeral. Seriously, the only way to get out of this nightmare is to cut all ties to the bitch, or if that isn't possible, hang yourself in her closet. She'll probably bitch about having to drag your dead ass to the curb, but hey, you'll get the last laugh. Dumb whore.

Another infuriating trait I notice in women is the "I changed my mind" bullshit. Classic example: I was helping my brother move into his new apartment and, lo and behold, the apartment is cooled using a heat pump. Unfortunately the heat pump isn't keeping the house cool enough because this is South Carolina, our border states are North Carolina, Georgia, and Hell. Haha, just kidding, SC is Hell.

Anyways, his wife was complaining about it, and my brother's solution was to get a portable AC unit. The stores were sold out for a while, and all we ever heard was his wife bitching about how hot it is, why they have to pay so much for rent if the apartment is hot all of the time, etc. So, we got it this weekend finally and put it in, and guess what? First words out of her mouth: "Oh, well I didn't even want you to get that anyways."

Holy shit.

What makes it even more priceless is that she and her mom were supposed to move some furniture from their house. Keep in mind, they had to carry it from the house to the van they were using. Now, suddenly, she can't carry it and WE have to do it. Even though she complained about being "left out" of the moving process and then agreed that she would be in charge of moving this shit, WE now have to go and do it (we had already moved 90% of everything else into the apartment).

All this is about is attention. Women waffle on shit because it gives them attention. If a woman has something to bitch about, she WILL bitch about it because bitching about it gets her attention. When someone solves the problem she's bitching about, or if her bitching corners her into having to do some work, suddenly *YOU* just fucked up and now she gets to bitch about that. At this point, I get confused if the woman is enjoying being a bitch or sucking up attention as if it were the last bit of oxygen left in the room, but then I realize that it is both.

Anyways, for a good dose of lulz, you can always piss these women off. For the fatty, just make a comment about her being fat and ugly. Hell, it doesn't matter if you are fat and ugly, or even fatter and uglier, I guarantee it'll fucking ruin her shit. For the bitch, just laugh at her. Women who are bitchy demand to be taken seriously, so laugh at them. Crack jokes about them, in their face, and if any of their friends laugh, point that out. For the attention whore? Disagree with E V E R Y T H I N G they bitch about. Oh no, it *isn't* too hot. Oh, I *do* like that color. But that chair *isn't* too expensive. Then when they try to point out that their opinion is somehow more important, tell them you don't give a shit, and DO NOT elaborate on why (it might open up something else to bitch about). Make them jump on the superiority rope, then cut it loose. Someone who craves attention WILL stake the claim that they matter the most, and downsizing them will make them shit bricks. "But this one is on sale!" It sucks (don't elaborate). "I don't like this one!" So? It's the best one (don't elaborate). "Why didn't you do this?" I had better things to do (don't elaborate).

June 10, 2008

Bonesaw: Final Review

Well, I have beaten Bonesaw a few times, but just recently finished up the rest of the achievements (the ones dealing with secret rooms basically).

The game is great, that's all I can really say about it. It is a game you just have to play to see what I mean. I will say that one of the best things about this game is the secret boss, who you can only fight after obtaining all 105 pucks. He's hard as nails but once you get the rhythm down and figure out how to dodge him properly, he's killable. It is really fun, even though now I can beat him on a fairly regular basis.

Behold, the ultimate boss in Bonesaw:

The game is free, you can download it here.

June 9, 2008

WiFi Freeloaders

My internets tube was kind of patchy today, so I went on the wireless router to see what was up. Turns out that there's more devices associated with it than there should be. There's mine, my parents', the XBox, and some unknown device.

I had my wireless router unsecured just because I really never cared that much, but now it is using WPA. Feels good to ruin some freeloading bastard's shit. I know WPA isn't foolproof (neither is WPA2), but chances are the neighborhood I live in doesn't even have one person smart enough to get around it.

And yes, my connection is doing much better now. Not sure what the hell they were running, but it was slowing down my connection pretty bad. It was a pain because an old laptop my dad has needed to be upgraded to SP2 in order to use something other than WEP. Go figure.

June 8, 2008

Obama vs. McCain: 4-8 More Years of Crap

The only way I could enjoy this election year is if Hilary ran as an independent, simply because it would be hilarious to see the Obama supporters explode over it.

I really don't want McCain in office. I don't give a shit about these party-line voters saying "BUT HE'S BETTER THAN A DEMOCRAT RUNNING OFFICE". No, he IS a Democrat running for office. The only difference between him and a Democrat is party affiliation and support from the far left. If a majority of Republicans are stupid enough to want someone who has conflicted with his own party on a regular basis, then they deserve to lose the election. I can deal with 4-8 years of a Democrat president if it means the Republican party would nominate someone I could vote for.

The reason I voted for Bush is that I believed that staying in the war would help stabilize Iraq. Unfortunately, Bush has been fairly inept at it (nice to send a surge now after the war has been going on for YEARS), and I do believe McCain isn't going to make it better. At this point, if someone isn't going to step in with the intent on finishing it fast, then yes, maybe we do need to pull out. No point in sending troops to protect green zones. Unfortunately, I don't like the idea of just "pulling out immediately", and I really do not approve of Obama wanting to chit-chat with Iran.

Both candidates don't give a shit about illegal immigration. Neither will really solve the problem with surging oil prices, and in fact will only make it worse. Not one has the mindset needed to finish the war with a decently acceptable outcome.

Seriously, don't vote for these losers. Vote independent, write in someone, or just abstain. The Republican party died in the 90s, the Democrat party died many years before that. Either way, expect a load of horse shit for the next 4-8 years.

June 4, 2008

Shit Happens, Again...

Ok, the blog and site has been down for a long time now. Sorry about that, I knew about it around the time it first happened, but I figured it was temporary and forgot about it being down. Go figure.

I'll recap on the stuff that's gone down recently.

I got the car from my relatives. Pretty sure I went over this already.
Went to the Nile concert with Potter, it rocked.
Got an XBox 360 and GTA4.
Still have my $12/hr. job.

What sucks is that my car got stolen. Yep. I've owned the car for not even 2 months and some thug bastard smashed the windshield, hotwired it, and drove it off. I had liability only, so I got nothing out of it. It really sucks ass when you walk out of the house to head to work and the only thing in the parking space is shards of broken glass and a wire stripped and cut on the pavement.

All of my cars so far have had over 160k miles on them. I've lost one to being ran into while parked, lost one from coolant system breakdown, and now I've lost one to a thief. The worst part is that I *didn't* pay a dime for this car, my aunt and uncle did. That's right, my relatives bent over backwards to help my ass out and they're the ones that got that effort wasted. Lots of other things in that car were gifts from friends and my brother as well.

The worst part about having a car stolen is that every time you see the same make/model being driven down the road, you look to see if it is yours. Quite frankly, I drove a car that these thug bastards pimp out (i.e. ruin) with their drug dealing money. I'd rather see it joyridden and torched, or scrapped at a chop shop, than to have some bastard stripping the VIN plate and getting to drive it.

The other annoying part is that I think it is quite obvious that I can't own a used car. Either it'll get totaled and I get nothing for it (or get >$1000 for it), it breaks down and I get nothing for it, or it gets stolen and I get nothing for it. I'm not going to pay for full coverage on a car that I'll only get a few hundred bucks for if I lose it.

Long story short, I'm saving up for a 2008 Toyota Yaris, 2-door liftback with manual transmission. Great gas mileage, going back to a 2-door with lots of leg room for the driver, and it is a new car. The warranty means if it breaks down, my ass isn't left out to dry. If it gets wrecked, I actually get enough money back to get a new car. I'll have Lo-Jack installed (with their Early Detection system, so if it moves an inch without me in it, I get a call and they get the cuffs), not to mention that full coverage will be on the car so even if it is stolen I'm golden.

Regardless, with all the options and everything it is going to cost $14k MSRP, minus whatever I can haggle, plus the cost of Lo-Jack. In other words, it'll probably cost $14k at the end of it all. I have a good bit saved up right now, and I intend to save up until I can at least pay two-thirds or more on the down payment. If I can get the monthly payments to $250, the insurance will cost approx. $146 on top of that (I already got a quote from State Farm), then another $100-$200/mo for the student loan I still need to pay off. This keeps my bills in a safe spot because even if I have to go back to a full-time shit job like PW again I can still pay that shit off.

And by the way, the fucker that stole my car better hope I never find him. I have no qualms about serving time if it means I get to smash his teeth on the curb American History X style.

Wish me luck. At this rate, the Law of Averages is on my side at least.