Thursday, March 29, 2007

Tech envy

Ok, I've just seen my friend's new computer. His processor puts mine to shame, along with his monitor! Actually, I don't really care too much about his computer, my drooling is pretty much over his monitor. The dude got a 24" widescreen Ultrasharp lcd. It literally looks almost as if it would be twice the size of my paltry 17" lcd.

Sigh. I refuse to buy anymore computers from Dell, but I guess I wouldn't mind getting one of their lcds. I don't know if I necessarily need something that big, but I wouldn't mind getting a 22" at least. I see those going on sale sometimes, so that would be better justified.

The only way I would upgrade to a new computer so soon is if I see that the new video card replacement I get won't work in my current system.

Blundering worker bee

Today's quote: Hardly, my Lord. It's just an eye. The gods saw fit to grace me with a spare.

Well, I'm off to a blazing start at my new workplace. In my two weeks here I've managed to 1) forget the password to my computer (after just changing it thinking I needed something less predictable) and 2) set off the building alarm.

In my defense, I had emailed for a personal alarm code 2 days earlier, but the person didn't get back to me until I'd already left work the afternoon before I set it off. So that was more a case of bad luck and timing, since the guy who normally shuts off the alarm by 6:45 is on jury duty.

But nothing really excuses my noobness is the computer password matter. I'm not one of those people who uses the same password for everything. I pretty much have a different password for most things. So, I guess the noggin was a little full when I decided to add another one to the list. The third day I got here I drew a blank as to what it was, so I had to ask my boss for my password to be reset. Of course, I felt like an idiot.

I wonder what they'll think of me when I have one of my hiccuping fits.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Girls + video games

Today's quote: The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.

I've been at the new job for two weeks now. It's really great to be a part of the gainfully employed working force. Hell, it's just nice to have somewhere to go everyday. It was starting to get embarrassing telling people what I did all day when they asked. "Um, I wake up whenever I want, and then start playing WoW. It's how I got my rank 13 title."

I always get mixed reactions when people hear that from me. Some people, like my sister, think that I've been hit with the "loser" bat and don't want to have anything to do with me. Others, mostly guys, think that it's pretty cool. I was at the UPS store a couple of days ago to return a defective video card that I'd purchased for the BC expansion. The box wasn't packaged yet, so the guy saw what I was returning.

UPS Guy: Is that your video card?
Me: Yep.
UPS Guy: Is it for any game in particular?
Me: Yeah, I play WoW. (trying to not blush embarrassedly)
UPS Guy: Wow. You have officially beaten the stereotype.

I do remember one instance of talking to a gaming store employee. We got into a rather heated debate over the virtues of WoW vs. Guild Wars. I've tried both, and I found Guild Wars lacking. Granted, I'll admit that I didn't try it beyond a couple of weeks, but overall it was not as multi-faceted as WoW is.

Anyway, the guy was a total advocate for Guild Wars. We were arguing for about 20 minutes, with my friend as an amused witness. So far, I see that WoW has surpassed 8M subscribers, whereas Guild Wars has posted over 2M games sold. I'm just going to point out the fact that the number of people playing Guild Wars is not likely to be the same as the games sold, since it's not based on a subscription service like WoW is. I know of plenty of people like myself who bought Guild Wars, only to discard it a little later in disgust. Too bad I can't go back to that gaming store and visit the guy.

Friday, March 23, 2007

American Idol, a popularity contest?!

I've been back to watching American Idol again. I'd missed the last season due to some upheavals in my life, but since everything has settled down I get to start this year's season with no qualms.

So far, I've been pretty disappointed with who has been kicked off the show. Antonella has lasted far longer than she should have, and everyone pretty much agrees that she probably got this far mostly on her looks. (She has been offered a contract from the creator of Girls Gone Wild to host the show.) Personally, I really hated to see her get one of the coveted spots over another girl who had been praised on her final audition as "the best we've seen today." Those final auditions are the ones right before they make the last round of cuts before voters start getting a say in who gets to stay.

Now, we are confronted with yet another anomaly who still exists in the remaining contestants. Not just that, but he has made the top ten, which means he will be part of the official American Idol tour. You've guessed it, I'm talking about Sanjaya Malakar.

I'll admit, the kid seems really cute and nice. He does have a nice voice, but he just isn't in the same league as a performer compared to most of the other contestants. Unlike the rest of Washington, I don't feel obligated to root for him just because he's from Federal Way. I have no problems backing Blake, since he's a fairly polished performer. Since he's from Washington as well, I'll be putting my money on him instead of Sanjaya.

Yesterday I was listening to the radio going over the results show, where the hosts were discussing the fact that Stephanie was kicked off. She has proven herself to be a fairly solid performer, definitely possessing a good all-around quality. The radio host said, "This proves it, American Idol is based not on talent, but on popularity."

Well, no freaking duh! The very first season of American Idol has already proved that -- Justin Guarini made it all the way to #2 probably on the merits of his bouncy curls and winsome smile. The guy was nowhere in the same league as Kelly and some of the other singers, but he made it all the way to the runner-up position.

I'm not really sure what it is about Sanjaya that has gotten him this far. Perhaps, it is as someone on the radio said: he's like a cute puppy that you keep encouraging with "you can do it!" Maybe he is also getting some support from Indians, since he's pretty much the only non-white/black to be on the show ever. We don't count Paul Kim, who was the first to get voted off this season. My brother thinks it was due to his bad idea of performing without shoes. Who knows.

I think A has it right, that they should change the voting system from voting for your favorite, to voting for who should get kicked off. This way, the contestants who figure as second or third choices for a lot of voters won't get the boot simply because they didn't get enough voting preference. Of course, they probably wouldn't want to condone that sort of attitude, since that would have a fairly negative association. It's more acceptable for a show like Survivor, where the whole premise is that the people are pitted against each other in a literally cutthroat competition.

What website would you like to see?

Today's quote: Valentine's Day is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap.

I'm trying to come up with an idea for a website with some other people, but we're a bit stumped as to what the subject matter should be. So far, some of our tentative suggestions have involved WoW, and celebrity gossip.

Of course, the problem with both of those is that there is already a slew of websites out there devoted to either of those topics, and probably provide more in-depth coverage than we'd be able to offer.

We need to find a niche. Any suggestions?

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Britney, Britney

Today's quote: Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

It's sad to see the smoking ruins of Britney's career. I remember when she was on top of the world, being one of the first to spawn the teen pop queen scene.

Where did it all go? Today, she is saddled with a number of atrocities: a hideously unattractive bald head, two kids, possible bankruptcy, an imminent divorce, and a recent stay in a rehab facility. Actually, what am I saying? The divorce is probably the best thing that has happened to her since breaking up with Justin.

I was listening to the radio, and the show's question of the day was "If you could pick one celebrity to have neutered or spayed, who would it be?" Most of the flood of callers picked our lil miss here. What I find funny is that people don't consider the fact that Kfed himself has any number of children out there by different women. If anyone should be neutered, it should be Kfed, since he obviously doesn't know the meaning of birth control.

Something about this whole chronicle of events reminds me somewhat of Whitney Houston's downfall via her ex-husband. One can only imagine how either of these women would have fared without the evil influence of their men.

Friday, March 16, 2007

The lengths I've gone to...

Today's quote: From the moment we enter this life we are in the flow of it. We measure it and we mock it, but we cannot defy it. We cannot even speed it up or slow it down. Or can we? Have we not each experienced the sensation that a beautiful moment seemed to pass to quickly, and wished that we could make it linger? Or felt time slow on a dull day, and wished that we could speed things up a bit?

You have all noticed the recent spate of garbage posts on here. Sad to say, I succumbed to the advertising devil in hopes of earning a little money to pay off a bill or two a month. I have not held a true job in over a year now, barring instances of working for a couple of weeks here and there on temp assignments. I thought the most inconvenience it would pose would be trying to find enough to fulfill the word requirement. The initial description assured people that they wouldn't find themselves writing something bad, like text advertising porn or something.

It may have not been that bad, but I started to experience doubts when I received an assignment on diet pills. Ok, most people know that you should be extremely careful with them, and that you have to be really strict in order to have a chance at maintaining any results that did come about. I tried not to be overly positive about it. But then I received an assignment for another diet pill that was a clear rip-off from Red Bull (Red Bullet). I decided then that I did not want to be a part of anything endorsing this sort of possible health hazard. I'm probably paranoid, but its nature is too dubious for me to continue.

Well, I finally got a job! Ironically, despite my decision to leave law school, I find myself writing for a company that publishes textbooks on real estate law. I get to help write the text and do all the other fun stuff. So far, the initial work I've been exposed to has reminded me of Property with Kurtz. Who knew I'd have to see "fee simple absolute" again?