It seems to be that time again... like the once in a lunar cycle time that I make a new post. And this one is a special request from Greg for me to post the following grievance against the movie theater candy boxes:

Notice the disproportion between the Skittles™ box, the Skittles™ bag, the actual amount of Skittles™ candies, Greg's hand, and my crotch. What a shocker. I mean the amount of Skittles™ the bag. They stuff a regular bag of Skittles™ within a big box to sell it to you at the theater for 4x more. Although I do remember warning Greg...

We should start a petition to stop this kinda stuff. Or something. Maybe. I just like typing Skittles™.

• [ARTICLE] Obama's in town! - Oh wait. I didn't hear about it. I signed up for the news alerts, the emails, the Facebook fan page, the whole deal (just not the texts... i'm not that insane). And I didn't hear a word about this until the night that he was in town. Thanks, Obama team. But don't worry. I still got your back.


• [VIDEO] I'm a Marvel... - That one, this one, and my favorite. There's a bunch more in the related videos but those are just the highlights. These are kinda like those small gems of an internet series that you stumble upon randomly.


• [VIDEO] Michael Phelps acting like a douche - Total douchiness. Cough.

phe lps... the dou che?... f.. t... ?


This site has no affiliation with Skittles™ or Mars©, Inc. Sorry. I just wanted to write Skittles™ again. Skittles™.

Sooooo I might be going to NYC this Thursday. Meaning I will be taking a bus at midnight Wednesday [well technically Thursday morning] and riding all the way there. Sooooo. Who else wants to come? :D

Do worms get itchy?

Found this somewhere.

I know some people already have their schedules. I got mine today from Mrs. Cox.

So let's post them.

A1 AP Statistics Ranz
A2 IB TOK Smith
A2 Study Hall
A3 IB Latin 7 Arble
A4 IB Biology II Walck

B1 IB Music II Hughes
B2 IB English 12 Conover
B3 IB 20th Century Topics Ludford
B4 Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow Gantt

Yes yes, I know. I did drop calc. I expressed doubts to Mrs. Cox today and she reminded me that politics, philosophy, nor music required me to even go near calculus, if nothing else, not in high school. Plus, I really want to give those piano scholarship auditions the attention they deserve. And we're trying to get the debate team to travel more. Bottom line, it wasn't worth killing myself over.

I am still awaiting the prize for first schedule post last year.

Extended essays? I've heard of some people getting extensions?

Back to work on it, I suppose.

Opening ceremony was awwwwweeesome.
Got a bit dull towards the end.
It was also kind of ridiculous how the Chinese singer was totally under-dressed to represent his entire country before the entire world. He work some grey pants and fucking black t-shirt. Just a plain black t-shirt. Maybe I could forgive him a little bit if it had a collar, but that was ridiculous.
Well either way, looks like China is in the spotlight. That opening ceremony truly was awesome. Best one evar? Possibly.

Anyone watch the March of Nations?
That was great.
Sucks that Taiwan was only repping with their Olympic flag :(
Also.
Best fail ever.
On international television.
China is the last one to walk.
Yao Ming leads his country with the Chinese flag in his hands. He waves with his hands the bright, blazing pride of the mainland Chinese people. A shining icon of his country. Beside him walks a 9 year old. Survivor of the devastating earthquakes that destroyed an elementary school. The boy has a great story. He managed to survive and escape from the rubble. After he reached safety, he went right back in and saved two more of his classmates. Why? Because he was the class leader. It was his duty. Another person the Chinese can proudly stand behind. He holds two flags in his hands. A small Chinese flag and Olympic flag. Just one thing.
About the Chinese flag.
What about it?
IT IS ATTACHED TO THE POLE UPSIDE DOWN.
O how I wish I had a picture.
Man.
Someone is going to be in trouuuuuuuuuuble.
I really want to hear the story behind that one.
Maybe the little boy is secretly a Chinese rebel and swapped the flag right before they went out. A declaration of war against the Chinese government broadcast throughout the entire world. It was his rebel faction giving Hu Jintao the finger in front of the world.
What an exciting story that would be.
Regardless of whatever.
Taiwan ftw.

So I'm back from my summer camp at Cornell. It was all a jarring experience, I must say. It takes quite a time adjusting from "college" life to life back at home. I still haven't fully adjusted yet, and its so weird not having to walk all over the place. I think the one thing I'll miss the most about camp is how close you were to people. For six weeks, friends were just a few feet away across the hall. Now they're a 10-minute car ride away. 10 feet next to me are... parents. Hurrah. I think I also must have gained 10 pounds while I was there. They're not lying about that freshman 15. I fit into pants now that I used to have to wear a belt for. And now I can't wait for college. Just which ones to apply to... as part of my rehab for getting back, I've just been looking at colleges and reading stuff on Collegeprowler. Its not a very effective rehab solution for coming back from a summer college. I need to catch up with people.

But other than that, its good to be back.

Except for the extended essay.

But other than that, its g

And the Calculus homework that was due yesterday that I'm going to turn in Monday. (bets open for how much surace will penalize)

But other than that, its good to be back.

• [ARTICLE] 5 Scientific Theories That Will Make Your Head Explode - Surprisingly, the #1 theory on that list doesn't really make my head explode - it makes a lot of sense. #5 and #3 are just nucking futs, though.


• [VIDEO] Overreaction - Kinda like how I felt when I ran over that bird. Only she's exponentially more annoying.


• [VIDEO] Guttural sounds - You've probably seen this already, but this always cheers up my day. WHEREISSHE WHERARSDAHLDUHG UALUEALUEALUAELUAE??

jo ker ...ftw?

Four days, and we'll be in school. I'm sure it'll start off like any other year. A bunch of crap to sign the first day, classroom requirements, going out the day after to re-buy supplies, and oh. English test on the second day. Yeah. It'll be like any other year.

Wouldn't it be interesting to compile a biography of yourself purely out of content found on the internet? In my case, I think it'll be pretty easy. It is also pretty frightening how easily someone can find out information about you. One of my worst fears would be a teacher finding out about this site (search this site for references to "davis") or something like that. Mmm, Parth, the model child-molester student. This site is relatively safe, though. Google my name and you won't find a reference to this site. Oddly enough, Henchen is pretty popular.

Enough rambling. This was originally supposed to be a post discussing the current state of the web, but really. I've got to read half of Scarlet Letter still.

• [VIDEO] Juniors' ingenious prank - You rarely hear about a Junior-year prank... well, now you do. Genius! We need to pull a prank this year. That doesn't involve spray paint.


• [ARTICLE] 7 Great Men In History (And Why You Should Hate Them - Terrific bits of insight into important people in history who we all know and love. But should we? This becomes a personal question of whether or not the pros outweigh the cons in our eyes. Sure, TJ was a pioneering proponent of democracy, so should we judge him based solely on that and overlook the fact that he did his slaves? FDR's leadership brought us out of the depression and paved the road to victory in WWII, so should we weigh in the fact that he married his cousin and cheated with his secretary in our opinions of him? Which brings us to a point that could be raised today. If Clinton were a great president, does it really matter that he did it with an intern?


• [VIDEO] Jimmy Kimmel explains what Miss Teen South Carolina said - I'm sure everyone's seen the clip of the girl rambling on and on about things such as the Iraq and South Africa and other random important hot-topic keywords and everywhere like such as. But Kimmel'll break it down for you.

te cm obo wl ftw

Math is awesome. So is Jessica Alba. Indeed

Octopods. I decided I would register a new AIM handle today because I wanted one without a long string of numbers in it. "5756" isn't exactly the easiest number to remember. If you don't know the story behind my current screen name, it was made during fourth or fifth grade as a joke to spoof some other guy's screen name - dude5567. It worked pretty well. dude5567's mom is a whore. Remember that. And since then I've probably much stuck with dude5756. I'm pretty sure I had another one before that but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. I think I actually started out as an MSN kid, but then everyone used AIM. Oh, I also one with "wizard" in it for about a day. Then "wizards" all of a sudden were "gay" and "dudes" were so much "cooler."

Back to octopods. I couldn't get the one I wanted, dococtopi, so I tried "octopie" and stuff but none seemed to work. I tried octopods as a joke - what do you know. At least it'll be easier to give out than "5756."

But please don't message me on octopods. I created it just so that giving it out would be easier. I don't like the idea of having more than one screen name - I feel a bit dirty already knowing that I have two. If someone could explain to me the purpose of multiple screen names (at this point in lives, at least... work/family/friends SN's - thats a different story), they can win a prize. Do we really need to clutter up our contacts lists with three (or more!) of you (i'm looking at you, parth)? I for one miss cook e crumb 918, brownequeen917, and one who is weird. Although not xXnpOgipiNoyXx. No more names like that, please. I'm glad we're all most of us are out of that phase in our lives.

Keeping your old screen names makes keeping in touch easier. There's just something about that Rosalyn didn't understand.

• Great Scott! - Marty!


• What's really happening in Darfur? - I knew I've seen Good Magazine from Eric's post somewhere before. Here's where. A very nice summary of what is going on in Darfur right now. Sure everyone knows whatever is happening is bad, but this cartoon clearly sums up the political situation in a way that everyone can understand.


• I show off my Xbox 360 game at Microsoft's X07 - That's right guys, I've been leading a double life. I'll finally admit it. Yesterday, I flew in to Canada to show off the new build of my Xbox game, WarPong. Awesome. Perhaps a little backstory is needed, though. Every weekend, I am a Canadian citizen that codes C++ on XNA for Microsoft's Xbox 360. And this is video of me showing off my game at their games conference, X07. Okay, well, not really. But this is about another guy with the exact same name as me that is the exact same age (close enough; same grade) doing the same kinda stuff I do (close enough). When I saw it, I jumped out of my seat. There are noticeable differences between us two, though. Well, difference. Mainly the hair. And the spectacles. And he can probably do calculus.

sh oc ker ftw

Today, to help anyone fight off their boredom, I have decided to list a bunch of awesome things.

Delicious
Pretty interesting stuff to read.

Speaking of interesting magazine articles...
I have not read a more captivating article in such a long time, until I read this.

You think rap nowadays is dirty? Check this out boieeeeee.

I remember one of the saddest moments in my life happened a few years back. One day my sister showed me this awesome video online and I watched it. I laughed, I cried, and I loved it. Life seemed perfect. This continued until one horrible night I searched for the video online, and it was gone. Wiped out of existence. I couldn't find it anywhere. It was horrible. I couldn't help but whisper to myself "WHYYYY!!!?!?!?!?? WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS!?!? GAHHHH!!! THERE IS NO GOD!!!112" Well recently I was looking through a random website I browse through on occasion and I could not believe my eyes. The faith has returned. All in the world is well, thanks to this.

To fight the boredom of those uneventful summer days, I frequent collegehumor.com. One day, whilst I was on there, I was reading an article which caused me to loads of laughter. I then continued on to browse through the comments when I stumbled upon this:

Zack from Valencia Community 16 hours ago

When she asks how you want your burger cooked, say steadily "As pink as you'll go. I know the meat's safe." Then look her in the eyes.

That's when I just about rolled onto the floors laughtering maozedong.


RAAAAAGGEE!!!!!
[Wait for the 2nd half for the bosses.]
Check me on this one: Did Raging Raven just totally swoop down and fucking SLICE THOSE GUYS IN HALF!?
For more details on these beastly beauties, here's a nice video in Engrish for you, from the man himself, Hideo Kojima. I love the "Halo? Gears of War?" You might have to watch it 2 or more times to fully decipher his Engrish. It's not yo momma's Engrish. This is the epitome of Engrish.

THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAA [Trust me, this has nothing to do with 300]
btw Sephiroth <3 Green Doors

Speaking of Sony and the PStriple, here's a great video to help n00bz get caught up on what's happening on the fronts of the console wars.

Nice. Now you can go medieval on any hooligans breaking into your house.

The End.

It's not always welcome,
but it always comes

I was going to write all this stuff about my feelings but emo kids made expressing yourself just seem lame. Also, I just think it's a lot easier to say "Szechuan Garden is closed and out of business now. It sucks. I hate it. I'm not happy. I'm sad and also angry. This blows. First my aunt's house, now her good restaurant." Not only does this depress me, I am also physically exhausted. Last night, at around 10pm, I went to help move everything out of the restaurant. We finished circa 2:30am. Then just sat around for a bit. I got home blah blah blah and went to sleep around 4:00am. I woke up at 6:30am to go back to the restaurant and finish moving the last of the stuff out. We finish loading the truck and drive it to Waterside [to my aunt's other restaurant] and start unloading. We finish circa 12:00pm. Not fun. Lots of heavy stuff. Lots of heat. Lots of dust, oil/grease, and cobwebs.


Dammit, I need to find a new job.





Nena usually cheers me up. But I just found out yesterday on VH1 that the song is about a war that leads to the end of the world. Depressing. Thank goodness I can't understand German. Shit.

Goldfinger totally makes the English version worth listening to though.

Flight.
Got.
Canceled.

:(

Being the bearer of secrets is an unpleasant job. Knowing important information that no one but you and few others know and being unable to share it really eats away at your sanity. It's like knowing everyone's exact time of death and you are not to do anything about it. You can't tell anyone what you can see and definitely not what you see. It's like standing around the hospital bed of a friend knowing that the shrouds he currently fights off will overtake him very soon, but you must stand there silent, among the hopeful and oblivious. Knowing of a negative future and not being able to do anything about it is a cruel torture. Ignorance truly is bliss.

I will be arriving in Norfolk at around 11pm tomorrow (Saturday, that is) night, just under 22 hours of transit. However, knowing the Norfolk connection flights, I will more likely arrive at around midnight, and home close to 1am, solidifying my 24 hours of transit. This time we're flying the Newark-Beijing direct flight from Continental, I kinda miss American Airline's stops over Tokyo, though. My dad has also told me that there will be a chance they overbook the flight (they sometimes do) and they will offer $500 and a hotel to anyone willing to give up their seat. Um, I'll take that, please. PS3, anybody?

Usually at around this time, I start missing things and thinking thoughts like "in 24 hours I will be miles away from here," and start to put my trip in a grander scheme. Right now I'm just worried if I left anything out in my house that could rot.

God dammit. The sushi I bought from New York.

• [PICTURE] Oh hai... - I IS JUST THE EASTER BUNNY, I WON'T EAT U.


• [ARTICLE] An answer too good to be... original? - A person applying for a job gets asked a very simple "screener question" (i could answer it) and shows off his knowledge by answering it adequately and very elaborately. He then gets denied said job. Why? Because his answer as too good. So much for "do your best," eh?


• [VIDEO SERIES] Penn & Teller: Bullshit! (moar here) - Bullshit! is a terrific series that, in simple terms, says the truth. They tackle modern myths and misconceptions of public about hot-button items and present facts about them, something hard to come by. Now, naturally, this show is biased and they (well, Penn, at least) voices their opinions regularly. However, how they are biased, is the proper question. They are biased towards America, thats how. Analyzed politically, the views presented by Bullshit! are those of constitutionalists, or, even moreso, libertarian (i'm not saying those have anything in common). They're against gun control, for freedom of speech (wow, you really don't meet anyone like them often, eh?), and exposed the truth about PETA. Maybe its because they're so libertarian is why I like them (although i have my own opinions on gun control..) My favorite of the series would definitely be when they debunk conspiracy theories such as the JFK assassination, the faked moon landing, and 9/11 being a government inside job. Definitely go through a few of these episodes, you'll be glad you did. Go America.

lol ftw

Coming home (if you can call my hotel room "home") from the gym today, I tried out my new in-ear earbuds I got yesterday, the Audio-Technica ATH-CK1's. They work. With my ipod only at 25% volume, the horrendous din of Beijing's traffic can be completely blocked out. Not necessarily safe, as honking still might be useful to hear, but still. Amazing set of buds. However, now that I do some quick currency conversions, I realize that I was completely ripped off, but $25 for a pair of in-ears aren't that bad. Actually, maybe it is. At least they work. Well.

Those of you with a keen eyesight will notice there is a new section of the site - Settings. Hublog Settings makes this site more democratic than ever. It allows you to change the background color to any hexadecimal value of your choice and allows you to set the subtitle at the top of the page - the old cycle of 10 or so were getting kinda old. So have fun with that. Nothing too obscene, though.

I threw this together in about an hour so there still may be some bugs, but I've had this idea of reader-changable settings for a while now. I had everything I needed to do in my head so it was pretty easy to actually write the code. I guess this is kinda a homage to the old Hublog 3-style of themes -- who doesn't miss Neo and the wisecracking flower?

Now that there're four sections of the site, the top seems to be getting a bit crowded. Maybe I'll get rid of the Marketplace link temporarily until I can figure out what to do with it, if anything.

• [ARTICLE] Beijing's traffic ban clears air - From an AP article saying how Beijing's four-day traffic ban was successful in cleaning up air quality. In preparations for the '08 Olympics, Beijing seriously needs to clean up the pollution-filled city, so for four days, the city regulated private automobiles by only allowing half them out on a given day. For those of you who scream "COMMUNISM!", know that Shanghai has been doing this for years and that no one in that city (or Beijing, for that matter, over these four days) complains - and Shanghai's traffic is significantly better than Beijing's and its air quality is significantly better as well. I, for one, did not notice a significant improvement in air quality over these four days; dust and smog still plagued the city skyline - but this is just anecdotal evidence and not fact, which this article presents. Or, wait. Does this article present fact?


• [ARTICLE] Beijing's pollution rises in 4-day test of restricted driving - In actuality, the traffic ban had little effect on pollution! As this Washington Post reporter reports, the Chinese government fudged some of the statistics it gave to the press and pollution actually rose during the four days of testing. However, the increase of pollution levels are attributed to humid weather, not cars. The conclusion still remains the same, though: restricting driving does not have a significant impact on pollution. Or not as significant of an impact as, say, humidity. And weather.
  Why is there this difference in headlines, though? (some of the AP article's content actually admits to record-high pollution levels, contradicting its own headline) The difference exists because of journalism. Or lack of journalism, I should say. The Washington Post reporter actually did some reporting and research - they didn't tow the official Party line. Shocking in this day and age, I know. Journalism. I hope the Party doesn't read this and ban me from the country. I would like to buy another cheap cell phone next year.


• [PICTURE] Photo Taken With And Without Flash - You can really tell a difference!

joh nda vis on ftw

I had an adventure on YouTube tonight.

First, I was searching for the Headstrong video by Ashley Tisdale. Don't ask. I was REALLY bored. I find out that Tisdale actually as her own account and makes videos from time to time for whatever reason. I visited her video homepage and found a video of a girl who was playing the violin to the tune of one of Tisdale's songs. I believe it was for a contest or something. After watching 10 seconds of the video, my eyes wandered to the related links, and I found a video of an 11 year old playing Paganini. I watched the video and peed a little in my pants. I was stunned to see this young musician play something like that. Then, I looked at the related links again and stumbled upon a video of a girl jamming on her violin, providing a little bit of her own spin on a Black Eyed Peas' song. Like the Paganini video, this one was fun to watch. THEEHEHN, I look at the related links yet another time and see black people playing violin. You know, those people who look gangster with their XXXL shirts and "grillz."

Thank you YouTube and your related links.

Hey, guys! Long time no see.

Okay so maybe I'm not a Jedi.
But I am back!

Give me a ring or send me an email or summat.

At midnight yesterday [12:00AM - 8/21. Like when the date turned to 8/21] Square Enix officially opened the official US region online official merchandise store. Go check out all the official models and figurines officially sold by Square Enix and all the other cool stuff they have.

So, if you're into Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest, or Valkyrie Profile and officially licensed merchandise related to those games, then go check it out.

Right here.

I'm leaving for America this Saturday. If you guys have any last requests for things you want from China, request them now. Like, really. I'll probably make a final trip shopping around tomorrow and that'll be it. Maybe.

Every time I come back to China I go through a cycle: 1. I hate it here 2. I grow to like it 3. I miss it when I leave. This time, I'm still waiting for step 2 to happen.

Remember the my post about the arrogant white male? Funny thing, I have become like him in recent days. I'll sport my Converse bag with an NY shirt on walking speedily with an ipod going to my pocket. So American. At times I even wear sunglasses. One time I was walking home especially fast and the thought came to me: what if he just had to pee really bad? I did.

Trying out something new with the Dailies... tell me if this makes things easier or if you like them even.

• [PICTURE] Real gangstas have vines on their curtains - Uh. Yea boi.


• [VIDEO] Dude gets caught trying to videotape sex with girlfriend - Reaction is priceless. Edward is pretty screwed. Or... not. Contains language. And sex.


• [WEBPAGE] Why Firefox is Blocked - A site going on and on about how unfair it is to have extensions on Firefox that block popups. A ridiculous argument is made that "web sites exist in order to provide quality content in exchange for displaying ads." I call serious BS. Many of his arguments fall short to common sense. This website has been making the rounds around the internets lately; thought I'd share the crazy. But the most logical point still remains: if people want to block the ads in the first place, what makes you think that seeing them will make them click them?

splat te rz one ftw

Americans call it child abuse.

Never has beating small children been this funny. Ever. Seriously.

I realize that this post wipes the Official Official Schedules Post off, but the link is still in the bloober for those interested.

I have come to terms with the realization that my 'I don't want to read the books and then forget them' talk has worn its wear. Sometime this week I plan to begin reading the books. And I think that I'm going to try for Krista's idea of reading the books twice. I think that the second time I read them, I'll take the copious notes. I'm right now leaning on staying with the classes I have. Of course, the overthinking, fickle, overanalytical person that I am may change his mind. However, one of my reasons for staying is that Patrick Handley got an A in Gantt's class. Not to say I'm as talented at making up bullshit as he is, just to say that it's possible.

I purchased four packages of Maruchan noodles today. My mom doesn't buy them that often, so I have to buy them myself.

She doesn't buy them because, of course, they're fattening. Which brings me to my next discussion. I don't know how many of you I have told, but the doctor told me at my physical two months ago that I was fat. My BMI is 27, and apparently, 25 is at risk for obesity. Before we left on our trip, I ate better and exercised on the treadmill. I lost maybe 5 or 6 pounds. However, I gained it quickly plus ten more pounds on our trip. Two weeks of fast food, of course. When I got back, I tried to eat a little better, and I've already shaved off the weight I put on on the trip. However, I'm somewhat unsure about going hardcore again. I mean, I see the advantages of being fit, it's just...idk. I'm lazy. And I'd rather die eating a brownie than die maybe two or three years later while eating celery. Of course, I'm still open to any arguments. So if you have any profound [or maybe not] comments, please leave them.

Maybe...I don't really know..

Don't flatter yourself

Chocolate Rain

This guy was even on Jimmy Kimmel. What?

Speaking of Kimmel...

FLAVAAA FLAAAAV!

I started working on this game a long time ago. In fact, the file was first created on my computer February 25, 2007. That's a long time to be working on something. Back then, I was still worried about Thinkquest, so thats probably why I never really pursued finishing the game fully. But since I've had loads of time here in Beijing, I finally got around to fixing (or at least improving) the shooting mechanism which was plaguing the game. Then I got bored again for a week or two but tonight after watching some things on Everyday Shooter I got inspired to release a preview build of it. So I spent about an hour tweaking out some bugs, adding a new enemy type, adding text, and adding the generate enemy mechanism. And I give you, GrandTheftBioHaloGearCraft 4.

I kinda came up with the name by just scouring Kotaku and Joystiq for some of their latest posts; I couldn't really think of a good name. "Plain Projectile-Launcher" came to mind but that reminded me too much of "Everyday Shooter." Prize goes to whoever can come up with a cool enough name for me to use.

The controls are pretty easy - standard W/A/S/D FPS-style keys to move and hold down the mouse button to shoot. You can can also use the L/R/U/D keys if you prefer them. SPACE generates the enemies.

There are two types of enemies - blue ones and red ones. Blue ones are stupid and move around as if they have no goal in mind. Red ones, however, are smarter and will always move towards wherever you are - this encourages you to keep on the move.

Obvious bugs include the shooting rate (thats why i stopped working on this for months - and its still not fixed) and sometimes the firing angle gets messed up if you look hard enough. I had to trade off the firing angle accuracy to get the shooting rate constant-ish. It'll be fixed later, hopefully. Expect a next build... well, in a few months, probably, knowing me. Next I'll probably make an elevator simulator. Really. I've been thinking about it for a while now. I live on the 17th story and thats a long time to think about how elevators work. I have the core code spinning around in my head for how a 4-elevator system of elevators works. Think about it. Its not that easy.

Anyways, enjoy GrandTheftBioHaloGearCraft 4.

• Ai Ta - Clever, these kids these days, eh? Although I'd probably prefer to name my kid @#$! if I were to use symbols.


• "The Play" - California vs. Stanford - And this is why Berkeley can always claim dominance over Stanford.


• Keith Olbermann on Wikipedia - Keith and an editor for Wired discuss the recent problems (or, actually, publicity) related to Wikipedia. My take? Well, wasn't this obvious from the beginning? History is written by the victors. With the invention of the internet, anyone can be victors of anything. This is expected. The internet has been plagued with quasi-intellectual substance ever since the beginning - it is always up to the end user to filter through the crap and get a clear message. And this, this ability - to filter out bull - is why education always needs to be a society's number one concern. Ever wonder why education is almost certainly one of the first suppressed things in a totalitarian government? Wow, this Daily took a sharp turn.

do lph ins ftw

Today I went up to Richmond with my mom and sister and with Antonio's family to help Antonio and Niki move into their dorms at VCU. The dorm building is 18 stories tall. You can access the upper floors via stairs or elevator. The stairs are the kinda spiral-esque stairs where there are 3 small sets of stairs you have to climb between each floor. Antonio's room is on the 6th floor whilst my sister's is on the 14th. I was on Antonio's floor and decided to take the stairs up to my sister's floor. So I step into the fiery red stairwell and begin slowly walking until I encounter a random battle ascending from the 5th floor. I see this guy right behind me out of the corner of my eye, and right as I do I begin running up the stairs, skipping steps. The challenger follows. There is no backing out now, the battle has begun and I cannot lose. I am I am now passing the 7th floor and I look back and my rival is nowhere in sight, but I do not slacken my pace. I run by the 8th floor and my opponent is now fast approaching. There is no room for failure as I push on past the 10th floor with the boy right behind me. I can hear him panting as we race on upwards towards the top. We fly by the 11th floor sign and my legs begin to burn. They burn not with pain, but with an insatiable lust for victory. We pass by another checkpoint on the 12th floor and I can hear my heart pounding in my ears, drowning out the sounds of my opponent's heavy breathing close behind. We pass by the 13th floor, almost there. Sweat drips down my neck as I push my legs to their limit. They begin to burn more intensely with each stride, but there is no room for weakness in this battle. Any small screw up will mean failure. Failure for me, and victory for my opponent. There are only a few more steps and soon I can see the large number 14 painted on the wall as my rival still tenaciously trails behind me. Just 3 more steps and... victory. Pushed to the limit, I stop my body in front of the door to the 14th floor. My legs ache and my cardiopulmonary system is jumping out of my body; however this pain is nothing compared the the feeling of satisfaction flowing through my veins. I stand there, victorious, as my defeated opponent continues on up the stairs in defeat.

So, I ran up 8 stories of stairs [skipping steps] in the summer, with a sweater on. Why did I do this? Who knows. Maybe it was the vibrant red stairs, glowing with fiery passion that pushed me to battle. We may never know. Just like we may never know why people like to touch walls that say "Wet Paint" or why someone getting hit in the balls is so damn funny.
My only regret? Not shouting "OWNED BITCH" at the end.

Old classics:
-One of my favorite gaming systems, the Nintendo SICKS TEA PHOAR!
-Animals + Drugs = hilarious
Example 1
Example 2
-This isn't a classic, but if you haven't seen it yet, then shame on you.
*move away from the mic*
I mean, the man[?] was even featured on Jimmy Kimmel
O and btw, so you don't have to carve too much time out of your busy schedule, here's the John Mayer "cover."

A1 MUSIC THEORY I BOYD
A2 MATH STUDIES MAZZACANE
A3 HISTORY OF EUROPE PETYKOWSKI
A4 ENGLISH GANTT

B1 IB MUSIC HUGHES
B2 LATIN LIT FARMER
B3 BIO FAISON
B4 FOOD LAMBERT

wtf. gantt and petykowski.
wtf
wtf.

i'd ask for a schedule change, but i fear that music theory, ib music, and food lock my schedule.

as requested, post yours as well.

Schedule:
5:45am - Wake Up
5:46am - Go back to sleep
6am - Wake up
6:05-6:15am - Get ready for school
6:25-6:50am - Ride bus
6:55am - Do homework in Atrium
7:15-7:20am - Get to class.
7:20 - 2:14am - School

Post your schedules when you get them.

Do I win a prize David?

I'm feeling a bit better this time than the last time I posted, so I think I'll survive through the rest of my week here in Beijing. And I'm sorry about the increasingly frequent downtime lately; I promise I'll try to fix it. Best time to check Hublog I would say would be 9:30pm EST when I wakeup and check my messages/emails and realize it went down. Worst time would probably be between 11am EST and... well, when I wake up.

To any of the other authors, when we get our schedules, feel free to put up an "Official Schedules Post" post. And share the link around. First one to create it wins a prize.

• Man vs. Wild exposed - Man vs. Wild the popular (or so i hear - i don't really watch it) Discovery Channel show is exposed for what it is - a fake host who is put in fake "survival" situations. He frequently stays in hotels during his so-called "life-threatening" trips to desolate parts of the world. This particular part was filmed near a highway. Though to the show's credit, the show only claims to show how people should behave when in a life-threatening situation, not exactly claiming that the host himself is necessarily in those situations at the time of filming.


• We're living in the Matrix - Its simply pure mathematics.


• The 6 Most Over-Hyped Threats to America (And What Should Scare You Instead) - Although this article takes the "military-might-and-size-is-everything" line a bit too much, so does America. So relatively, this article is an important read to anyone who cares about politics.

dont you wish that you were this kitten (well just the guys) ftw

And I'm proud to be Filipino.

I don't know what to call it, product placement or bloody hilarious.
Today we went to see a preview screening of Death at a Funeral. It was freaking hilarious. Go watch it. When it comes out. British comedy is just so wonderful. [Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead = awesome]

~Superbad is also pretty funny. It is full of the crude, White Castle-esque humor we Americans love so much.
~Rush Hour 3 gets a :). It was funny and everything, but storywise it was just really meh. It was like there was no real story. Well, it was still good though.


Funniest thing I have heard in a movie theater:
I was watching the newest Harry Potter movie and the scene where Dudley and Harry running away from the Dementors comes up. While they run someone in the theater shouts: "RUN FAT BOY, RUN!!!"
It was hilarious.

It rivals "They're daywalkers" on my list of hilarious comments.

Unlike the forever promised Philippines entry of ...however many years ago that was, I promised myself that, for the readers of Hublog, I would not neglect a description of the grand cross-country adventure that my family went on.

By the way, if your parents ever ask you, tell them you don't want to do it. I am so sick of my family after spending 15 days with them. Only do it if you're with your friends. You might just disown your parents/siblings.

Our first stop was Asheville, North Carolina. I'm pretty sure that we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. We stayed at about 20 of those. Don't stay there. Their wireless internet barely ever worked, and the rooms were small. Anyway, on the way there we stopped for North Carolina Barbecue. This was one of the main purposes of the trip. My dad wanted to test his personal barbecue sauce against different famed barbecue flavors. North Carolina Barbecue uses a lot of vinegar, and it was more liquidy. It was hot, so my brother didn't really like it. I liked it. Apparently, the barbecue place that we stopped at had been stopped at by the likes of letterman, billy joel, and connie chung. The next day, we saw the Biltmore Estate. It was breathtaking. The man was a huge fan of European art. Any one of you guys that has taken art history would have been elated. However, they didn't allow pictures. This doesn't stop people like Mrs. Reich, but my parents stopped me when I tried to take pictures.

Our next destination was Nashville, Tennessee. Their barbecue was a lot like my dad's in that it was sweet and think. We stopped at Vanderbilt University on our way to Missouri. It had a lot of gothic elements, and lots of trees. Kinda old looking. And it's in the city. I wouldn't mind going there, i guess.. I got one of their shirts. Speaking of which, money was sort of an issue. My mom said that each of us had a cap of 50 dollars that we could spend on souvenirs. Kinda hard when a shirt is like 15 dollars. However, I spent my money on buying you people stuff and just spent my mom's money on stuff for me. I have like 4 mugs, 4 shirts, and a whole bunch of other things.

St. Louis was...kinda scary. It was one of those cities where it's huge, but there aren't that many people...and there are some run-down parts...It was scary. However, we did see the Arch. That thing was over 600 feet tall. And they made me go to the top in a little white pod. I was scared. Legitimately. We stayed on the observation deck for a few minutes, then went back down. The city looked nice at night, I guess.

Oklahoma was...bleak to say the least. Not much there. And their barbecue was...nothing exceptional..I did get a mug and a horse figurine from Oklahoma.

In Texas, we stayed in the nicest hotel room after the Flamingo room, which I'll get to when I get to Nevada. The hotel gave us free Mexican dinner. This was where I discovered that I really like guacamole. Anyway, we say Dealey Plaza in Dallas. For all of you who don't know, that's where JFK was shot. we stood in the grassy knoll and on the street and everything. There was also a museum that we stopped at. My family rushed me at the gift shop, just like every other gift shop experience of the trip. I only got like a few coins and some red pens from the gift shop there.

We stopped then at Roswell, New Mexico. Pretty normal town, except for the International UFO Museum and Research Center. It was...comical to say the least. And interesting, of course. However, I did do quite a lot of shopping there. And I watched an interesting documentary on rods... Anyway, everything there was themed in an alien way. Even some of the coke machines in the city has aliens on them. And there was an Arby's sign that said 'Aliens Welcome.'

We stopped in Arizona for the Grand Canyon. I don't know if you've ever seen pictures of it, but it's larger than you can imagine. It's like a mile down. It was insane. And we got there in time for the sunset, so we got grand canyon sunset pictures. The next morning, we hiked down about a fourth of a mile, then my sister complained, so we went back up.

Then, we headed up to Nevada. We went to Las Vegas three years ago, but this time we got to stay at my uncle's room at the Flamingo. I don't know about you non-Filipinos, but Filipinos, my uncle used to be the general manager of Goldilocks. His parents own Goldilocks. My relatives own Goldilocks. Coincidentally, relatives on the other side of my mom's family own Christine's bakery. Anyway, because he was manager for so long, he was able to act out his gambling habit with his wife. So when he goes to a hotel, he gets one of those rooms at the top of the hotel. This room was amazing. The bathroom had pink lights, a tv in the mirror, and power drapes. It was amazing. Tito Mendre, our uncle, took us to a fancy Italian restaurant and then gave my parents tickets to the Faith Hill concert. My dad had never heard of her. I wanted to go in his place so bad, but Tito Mendre really wanted him to go. Nevertheless, I enjoyed Las Vegas, as expected.

Then, we stopped at our first California location, which was Fresno. Not many people, and the temperature was nice. In fact, Northern California was beautiful. Nice, calm, and a cool temperature. Then, we headed to Yosemite. It was even more beautiful than the grand canyon. I can't really describe it in words. It was just so beautiful. We also saw some sequoias. They really are as large as they say they are. Oh yeah, and our guide's name was Wilson. Wilson Yang. This guy was hilarious. You know, the way William Hung's hilarious. I got a picture with him after our tour.

Then, we stopped at our second California location, Milpitas. It's a suburb of San Jose, which is part of the greater San Francisco area. We finally got to stay in a home. My mom's high school friend Tita Nancy and her husband Gerry Watanabe took us in. Their kids, Darren and Nikki, were fun and welcoming. They took us to San Francisco for a day. The city was...well, I understand the 'I left my heart in San Francisco' shirts. And it wasn't as gay as I thought it was. We ate lunch at a wonderful sea-side restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf. Then, we went to Chinatown. It was...well..anyway. I took pictures of two stands that reminded me of last summer. We didn't go to Alcatraz, just looked at it from the place by the Golden Gate Bridge. Then, we went to a Dave and Buster's. They didn't have ddr. They had NX, the cheap knock-off. I could still do it on normal difficulty, but I would have prepared ddr any day. Then, we left Tita Nancy and Tito Gerry. Oh, i forgot to mention that Tito Gerry went to Berkeley. He said that it had a nice campus.

Lastly, we stopped at our final driving destination in Riverside, which is part of the greater Los Angeles area. Let me tell you, driving in LA is crazy. Their freeways are seven lanes each side. And they're all backed up. We stayed with my aunt and her family. They used to live here, but left before freshman year. Kuya Justin, my cousin, got both of his ears pierced. It was fun hanging out with him, though, after two years of not really talking. Charlene, their daughter, is about 2 now. She was both cute and hilarious. She loved it when I 'picture'd her' as she liked to put it. We went to Knott's Berry Farm. Man, I'd never ridden rides outside of Busch Gardens. They had rides that went reverse upside down, a hulk-esque ride, and one of the rides that drops you straight down while you're in a chair. Then we had a pseudo-party for my sister. My godfather came with his family, as well as one of my mom's college friends.

We then spent all Saturday flying back. I hate flying. Too many people. We stopped in Phoenix and Chicago, then flew to Norfolk. We brought back plenty of Goldilocks, but my mom gave most of it to her friends. In Chicago, my sister enjoyed her 14th birthday. I don't know if any of you watch that show 'Little People, Big World,' but the guy was at the Chicago airport. We had just finished lunch when I noticed him at a magazine stand. My sister freaked out, and after about 15 minutes of my mom convincing her, she asked for a photo. The guy was there with his dad and his sister. She was so excited that she started crying. My sister, that is.


The journey was exciting, and I've got souvenirs from all of the places we went to.

Lots of free time, naturally, while we were traveling. Which means lots of thinking. I'd really like to work at Atlantic Mart next summer.

We took around 1000 pictures. Since I've got a flickr pro account, they shouldn't be a problem, although I need to renew it in early September. Here's the link for the cross-country collection. You can pick which set you want to look at. I've only uploaded maybe 60 or so. I got lazy. I'm going to try and add some every day, though, so maybe I'll finish by the end of August.

cross-country collection

If I come back to Beijing next year, it will be with you guys for the Olympics. I hate it here as it is. The circumstances I don't feel comfortable talking about right now and other things have made me into a person I'm not. At times, I feel as if I just want to hit everybody I see. I am not sure what it is, but something here just makes me angry. Sometimes I intentionally do things just to spite my dad. I just don't know what it is. I hate myself as well when I'm like this. There is just a bad vibe. However, I believe saying this now will make me feel better and hopefully things will improve. Some of my relatives will be flying down here tomorrow and hopefully I will calm down and not be too much of an ass to my father as I have been lately.

I might be getting sick as well. Physically, not mentally, but that too, I guess. Terrific, eh?

• Why it's awesome to be a male - List of 100 things that make us awesome.


• Harland Williams on Conan - He's a funny man. One of Conan's best interviews that I've seen.


• The Impotence of Proofreading - Remember how much teachers make? He's back.

cal ien do ftw

Waking up and waking up my computer from sleep this morning gave me quite a surprise.

2:16:41 AM pedro6216: bad gateway
2:16:43 AM dude5756 (Autoreply): hmm. i seem to have idled.

3:46:39 AM keiamriaconchica: btw blacktop is down
3:46:39 AM dude5756 (Autoreply): hmm. i seem to have idled.

Anessa wrote something on your Wall.
To see what Anessa wrote, follow the link below:
http://hs.facebook.com/n/?profile.php&id=1571640109#wall

Sonia wrote something on your Wall.

Matthew wrote something on your Wall.

Thanks,
The Facebook Team

And the actual wall posts themselves,

Anessa Caalim wrote at 5:46am daweed, theblacktop's down agaaain :[
Sonia Chen (Ocean Lakes High) wrote at 8:01am Dawei, blacktop is down (still) since anessa already mentioned it!
Matthew Gabriel Veland wrote at 8:17am if no one has brought it to your attention yet, hublog's down.

And finally, the almighty email my server dispatches me everytime it goes down,

This is an automated email to inform you that one of the processes inside the Ruby on Rails Container associated with grid service 10306 (theblacktop.com) has just been terminated because your RoR Container has run out of available RAM.

All in all, thats nine different notifications about my site going down. I'm not really annoyed by this, but I actually find it kinda funny. I've narrowed down the restart mechanism to simply one command-line line now. Before I had to log in to my server's control panel as well. What I think I'm going to do is IMPLEMENT A SECRET PLAN so that the server can be restarted when I'm asleep. We'll see how this works.

Oh and I forgot to mention this in my last post, but I changed the fonts around. It should be easier for Windows users to read things. Like them? These fonts are about equivalent to what the old fonts looked like on my Mac.

I think I'll take the time now to share some statistics on the site with you guys. And creep you guys out with how much Google Analytics can track you.

See that? Thats you. Somewhere on that plot of traffic in the last six months, you're on there (i've blocked my home IP from being included in the statistics). Click on the image above for a fuller breakdown of traffic since last September, when I started tracking the site with Google Analytics.

8,472 visits - Not bad, that breaks down mathematically into about 26 visits a day. Considering our low number of visitors, that further statistically breaks down into each one of us visiting about 1-3 times a day (see "Content Overview"). For reference, most people visit at 10pm EST (9.90% of all visits) and the least visit at 3am EST (.48% of all visits). Its funny to see how the visits just start climbing starting at about 3pm (6.04%), peaking at 10 (9.9%), and then slowly tapering off til 1am (1.59%).


25,339 pageviews - Thats a lot of freaking pages. About 77 a day.

2.99 pages/visit - My guess would be going to the front page, checking comments on a post, Bloober.

5:36 average time spent - Clearly offset by authors. When I'm not writing a post, I don't think I spend more than a minute or two checking up on things. Probably longer if I comment or Bloob, though. I spend maybe half an hour on a post (although this one has taken me a long time). Matt leaves his post-writing windows up for days. This "author-leaving-post-window-up-for-days" theory is further supported by the fact that between the hours of 3am and 4am, the time spent is EXACTLY the same at 3:29.


26.82% bounce rate - A bounce occurs when you only visit one page. Nice to know 75% of the time, you check more than one page (probably main + bloober, if i were to guess, see "Content Overview") Interestingly enough, the most bounces occur at 3am. I can't figure out why this is so.


23.67% new visits - This should be lower by my estimation, but you'd be surprised by some of the queries on Google that point to my site, and that people actually follow. But as you can tell, most visits (65.14%) are direct, meaning "theblacktop.com" is typed into the address bar. A referring site is a site that links to my site thats not a search engine - hs.facebook.com is the highest. I think I know why. The top search engine referrers are interesting, though. It seems a bunch of people want to know Matt's birthday. But oddly enough, upon my further analysis of the data, it seems this is one person who visited 117 times to check up on Matt's birthday.


Content overview - Basically, homepage, then Bloober. Maybe occasionally the Market to check up on things (it hasn't changed in a while). Most people visit 2 pages per visit.


Browsers and OS - Firefox freaking dominates this, as it should. IE needs to drop. Although I guess when visiting in school, there is no choice. I don't know why Safari is so high, only I use it - Mike uses Camino. I think its because my hotel here changes IPs very frequently and I've only set my stats prefs to block one of the hundreds of IPs.

Other - Other random tidbits include that most users have a Cable connection on Cox with a resolution of 1024x768 (which, is a pain in the ass to develop for when you're on a huge 1680x1050 screen..) who have visited 201+ times each. Is this kinda creepy for you guys? I kinda enjoyed writing this up. Maybe I'll do it again sometime. Reminds me kinda of the Math SL1 IA.

Oh God. Maybe I won't do it again some time.


I'll post dailies tomorrow or something. This was enough work for one night. I basically did all my chem homework today and yesterday. And I actually read the textbook. Kinda nerdy, but I liked it. Now I just gotta read Scarlet Letter. I haven't made it past the introduction.

I've always known They Might Be Giants as the people who wrote the Daily Show theme song, but I've never really explored the rest of their music thoroughly. It surprises me how much their styles change. One minute they're hardcore guitar, the next they're polka, and the next they're swing-ish. Very adaptable, I'd say. You should definitely check out some of their songs. They are pretty alternative, so not everyone may like them. They might still be indie-ish enough for you to not have heard any of their songs.

The gym I go to here in Beijing basically throws in one CD and plays all their songs in a continuous loop. So naturally I have a bunch of Chinese songs stuck in my head. I managed to look up one of the songs, and its actually quite a popular pop song: Tong Hua. I'm sure a bunch of you guys may recognize it. I've actually been listening to a more techno cover (it is at a gym, after all), but the original is quite nice as well. The sub-story in the song is quite bittersweet.

I think I really enjoy writing. This may be a reason I keep this blog running. I've always wondered at whether or not I should be a journalist when I grow up (working for wired or engadget sounds pretty cool to me), writing columns here and there. I think that might be a nice job to have. But I'll probably never pursue it. A Journalism major in college is not exactly what I had in mind for the next eight years of my life.

Wow, this post is so littered with links its kinda starting to resemble one of Eric's. I'll post short Dailies.

• Stop - A warning.


• China to send teenaged internet "addicts" to camp to be cured - Symptoms? Depression, fear, unwillingness to interact with others, panic, agitation, online gaming, porn, and cybersex. Wait a second. Isn't this standard for anyone 14 and older? I guess they're set out to cure adolescence. Good luck.


• Yason Bornidentity - This may require a little history.

gu il ler mo

One night at work, someone called in to make a reservation at the Hibachi Grill. I asked the usual: what time and the number of people. Then it got to the name of the party. There was some slight hesitation and the man said "The reservation will be under the name Morecock." Judging by the tone of his voice it seemed like he was saying "go ahead, laugh it out," so I guess he's gotten used to it. At first I didn't fully comprehend the hilarity of his name. I thought "Maybe it's spelled differently than I think," but then he went on to spell it for me. "M-o-r-e-c-o-c-k." I wrote it all down like any other name and hung up. Then I said to myself "Damn. School must have sucked for him."

Everyday the housekeeping person comes to my room at around 11-12. It seems that everyday I just happen to need to use the can at the exact same time. So I have to turn on the "Do Not Disturb" light cause it would be awkward having to say "I'm taking a dump, come back at another time," especially in Chinese. And therefore, I force the cleaning lady (today it was a guy) to come back to my room on her (his) second run. Which makes things equally awkward. "My work day is longer because of you" probably runs through the mind.

Its been raining pretty terribly here for a while. I hope things clear up.

As promised, I've been researching the cause of the 502 Errors this site experiences so much, although I've basically known the cause for a while now. I shall see what I can do to fix it. In the meantime, if you notice its down, fire me an IM or message on Facebook, I'll see to it in the morning, if it happens while I'm asleep (and you're awake).

You could also text +86 135 2295 1821. For this or any other reason. I can get international texts. Try not to do it in your afternoon though, it would bother me and my dad greatly.

I haven't done one of these in a while and I kinda forget how it goes.

• JK Rowling on even more Harry Potter crap - The first time I tried to read this article, I only made it about halfway through, its that long. Basically covers anything post-Book 7 that you could ever possibly want to know. (hint: there're spoilers.)


• Kevin Smith owns you - Kevin Smith, a recent speaker at Comic Con, lashes back at someone in the crowd who asks a question. Priceless, I'd have to say. (note: swearing.)


• Girl's boyfriend fries laptop in the oven - I would have probably shot him. And then shot myself. Who the hell keeps a laptop in the freaking oven? Get a drawer and a lock or something.

OWNED! ftw (hint: nasty)

Can a guy get an in-store job at Victoria's Secret?

Now wouldn't that be awkward?

Other than how Alex Ung's brother says "What the hell!?" the title is also a clever play of words on the fact that it hailed yesterday.

Seriously. What the hell.
Hail in the fucking summer.

Hail + Hugeass thunderstorm + riding in a car with fogged up windows and a driver that got 3 hours of sleep = holyshitwe'regoingtodie.

Sorry about the long downtime, but I was away at a mountain resort without internet for the whole weekend.

I hope you're still out there and reading.

Don't quit on the site, even with its downtimes. I'll fix it.

I'm losing my voice. Maybe my cold is coming back.

Christ.


Went to Steven's and hung out all day. Played some Mahjong, Katamari, and this little girl took videos of Steven's ass.

Yeah.

Weirdass day.

Still losing my voice here.

I didn't have any time to think of anything all that good but I'm celebrating the fact that I got a random IM from someone that is not virus-laden with a link to some oddly formated site (omfug3448xs3.rydel8.com/pills).

2:44:37 PM qt4everoxo421958: ayye yo sexy
2:45:01 PM dude5756: hi.
2:45:10 PM qt4everoxo421958: what the fuck is upp mayunn
2:45:39 PM dude5756: whoisthis
2:45:44 PM qt4everoxo421958: brittany
2:46:18 PM dude5756: can you tell me my horoscope
2:46:28 PM dude5756: the paper boy didn't deliver and i'd really like to know.
2:46:49 PM qt4everoxo421958: wtf
2:46:56 PM qt4everoxo421958: i dint kno you were a homo
2:47:56 PM dude5756: can you or not?
Could not send because qt4everoxo421958 is not available. (2:47:56 PM)
2:47:59 PM dude5756: i'm dying here.
Could not send because qt4everoxo421958 is not available. (2:48:00 PM)
2:48:03 PM dude5756: bitch.
Could not send because qt4everoxo421958 is not available. (2:48:03 PM)

Celebratory.
School starts in about a week and I haven't even touched my government homework or really gotten very far on the Aeneid.
Called AppleCare today and I'm going to have to send my Macbook in for repair because the palmrest area looks like someone took a leisurely defecation break over it. I just took some pictures for proper documentation. I'll put them up later. I dunno if I can live without this machine for a week or two, how long the repair is supposed to take. I mean, I have my Windows desktop as a backup machine but all I really use that for is Continuum, which I don't even play that much anymore. All my files and music and important stuff (9legged, etc) are on this computer. Oh well. I'll live. I guess.
I don't know if I'm really sick. Its that I feel under-the-weather (if thats what the cool kids say these days) yet I can do everything I do normally. Advil Cold+Sinus each night doesn't really help, either. Time to bust out the Nyquil tonight, I guess. We'll meet again in three days. After I wake up.

I've never really tested out the effects of Nyquil+Jetlag.

And oh what the hell. Here are some dailies for you, taken straight from my dugg diggs.

1. Conan on Charlie Rose - A full HOUR long interview with Conan O'Brien. Who, as some of you may know, is why I stay up til 12:30 at night. Funny man, the best late night talk show host ever. I doubt any of you will watch this, but I liked it. Tough luck. Its #1.


2. The top 100 most viewed pages on the English Wikipedia - #5? List of gay porn stars. That was yesterday. This statistic site has been running for less than 100 hours so the list changes dramatically even every day but right now, "List of gay porn stars" is still at #10, above the Kama Sutra, and the lists of "big-bust models and performers" and "female porn stars." And some things that really should be above the list of gay porn stars but aren't include: "C programming language" (26), "Grand theft auto (series)" (29), "Pink Floyd" (41), "YouTube" (59), "Led Zeppelin" (70), "Lost (TV series)" (91) (i might have contributed a lot to this being #91...), "People's Republic of China" (94), and "Religion" (99). Maybe all Wikipedia users are godless liberals that promote AIDS (south africa @ 49) and science contradicting the bible (solar system @ 19).


3. Having fun at the set of Lost - Some kids in Hawaii (where all of lost is filmed) happened upon an unsecure set. Lucky, lucky, bastards. Link to a blog with a link to a flickr photoset.

or ig ami ftw

Here's how jetlagged I am. I fell asleep at maybe 3am two nights ago, woke up yesterday at 4pm. I fell asleep at maybe 4am last night, and I wake up at 7. Ridiculous. Crazy. Absurd. I'll probably eat my ramen then sleep on the couch. Here's my schedule anyway. Comment what classes we have together.

A1 - PE, Knott
A2 - Go'tv - Watson
A3 - MathSLI, Thompson
A4 - Study Hall - STAFFSTUDYHALL (?)
B1 - APVergil, Earles (pronounced earl-lees)
B2 - Chem, Meyer
B3 - English, CAMPER!
B4 - Int. Orchestra, Hughes

As Eric has said, that O'hare-ORF flight is always hell. Its always a frightenly small plane that holds about 40 people max that gets delayed on the runway about 30 minutes because there are always about 5 planes ahead of it. The last 3 times I went through that Chicago-Norfolk route, that happened. Last night was no exception.
I spent about 18 hours in the air, and 30+ total hours in transit to get back to America. I'm not counting staying in a hotel in Beijing and driving to the airport. That'll be maybe 48+ hours of total transit time. I was awake for most of it. Which sucks.
A few bite-sized points for you to digest:
- I had gotten over my cold about the time I left but now I think I have it again.
- 5 hours in Narita are a whole lot better than the 5 hours in O'hare - which should have been 3 hours.
- Weirdly enough, I had a flight attendant on the Chicago-Tokyo flight that looked like a cross between Francis and Christina when I left, and had the same one going back. Eerie how things come full-circle like that.
- However, the crew going back was so much worse. The crew going there was sort of like "Welcome to Tokyo, where society is so much nicer and more polite than the States." The crew going back was more like "Welcome back, bitch."
- First point. We were third from last on that plane. Second point. They were handing out papers before the flight and a black lady had our row. Hardly any African American ladies in Asia, I saw maybe one male businessman. Third point. When she was handing out papers, I said, "The Wall Street Journal, please" and my dad wasn't paying attention but he said that he wanted to read it so then I added, "Two, please" (notice "please"). But she said, "Uh, no. Why don't you two just share cause I don't have that many" in the rudest way I've ever encountered. I mean, really. She was rude. Fourth point. I had an aisle seat and was stuck next to the air conditioner. Probably where I got sick.
- One of the worst flying experiences I had in my life. Actually, probably because I've only been on maybe less-than 20 flights in my life, the worst flight in my life.
- The ORD-ORF fight was maybe a bit better. It was delayed for maybe 2 hours or so. There were usually 3 seats in each row, I had the second row, which only had one seat with a hugeass storage closet next to it. And, the further back in the cabin you go, the warmer it is. So I was freezing.

In Asia, you see every Asian you knew and you thought you knew. I had a flight attendant that looked like Christina, half the guys looked like Eric Ma, half the girls looked like Jessica, all the guys with long hair looked like that Government teacher, and all the white people looked like Matt's dad.
The taxicab ride back was... entertaining. Sorta. We had this white kid who brought up an interesting conversation. He said an Asian girl just moved across the street with a white husband. I was like "well what do you know. you'll never see that in asia." And he talked about them for a while. And then, he said, "Yeah, I have an Asian wife too" or something like that. He went on telling how his dream was always to sail to Asia and meet some "master chef" (master chief? - whoops, gay reference - haven't played that in a while) and then run away with his girl. He didn't get stationed in Japan or Hawaii (where, my friend, there are NOT asian girls, only half-breeds. plus the ones in japan are so much hotter) so he kinda quit the Navy and went to Norfolk where he said the Asian community was thriving. So, in his words, all was well cause he "ended up with the Asian chick."
You never hear that kinda stuff in China.

Schedule. Woo hoo.

A Day
English - Davis
US Gov't - Watson
Art History - Reich
Chemistry - Meyer

B Day
Latin - Earles
Math - Mazzacane
PE - O'Connell
Study Block - Patrick

Sorry to anyone I may have offended with the whole Asian vs Caucasian female thing. I meant to say older women. Maybe 18-20. Younger people are alright. Just, when I was at the airport, all the women I saw [20's -30's] were scary. Maybe O'Hare just has a lot of creepy people. You never know.

Right now. I don't really have a cell phone. It's out of batteries. The charger is somewhere in my Aunt's house in Taiwan. My parents were like "forget it, just use your sister's old one." which she can't find... So yea. I guess you could leave an urgent voicemail, but don't expect me to get back at you too soon. So if you are in a life threatening situation, don't call me first. I will be glad you considered me, but yea.... I may not be able to thank you. Cuz you might be gone. You might be dead. Since it was probably a life threatening situation.

Ever seen Saw? Pretty good movie. Wow, what great twists. It was like "Ha, I totally know who it is." Then they even go to show you the face of a guy for like half the movie and you are like "Ha, it is him!" Then in the end, it all just falls in place. Then the poor guy is left to die screaming in the credits. Sad. Pretty brutal movie. The asian guy actually dies before the black guy. That's a first. Sorry. I think I still have some cultural transition issues. America still sucks to me. I might grow into it after a while. Ha. Grow into. Ever listen to Russell Peters? "She may be a little big now, but in the future, you'll grow into her." Tap some bong! Ha. Alright. Enough of that.

Eddie Murphy's movie. Coming to America. Where he's the African prince. I know you've seen it. He goes to work at this fast food place then falls in love with this girl who's like "=o you're a prince" and stuff like that. If you haven't seen it, go out and rent it or something. I'm not saying its good or anything but there are many cultural references in America that reference that movie. Like this title. Coming to America. Yeah. I'm going to America. I can see the Statue of Liberty already. Or whatever the little Italian guy said.
Packed a whole bunch of crap tonight. We're going all out in bags. 3 luggage, 4 carry ons. Thats a lot of crap. I hope they don't notice the insane amount of DVD's I brought back... Last time it was okay but this time theres like 10x more. I'll catelogue them later and have you guys bid for them. I got everything from the Godfather to Finding Nemo to Crash. 2 for a dollar make you hollar. Just kidding. It'll be more than two for a dollar. But it'll still make you hollar.
And thats about it. I'm going to Beijing tomorrow then the day after going to Tokyo, then O'hare, then finally ORF. Funny name.
I'm kinda sick right now and I thought I'd be able to read much of the Aeneid on the plane but I guess I'll just be sleeping. =\.

Back in the states. Arrived in ORF, as they call it, around 10:30 PM. Yea. I am not really in the mood for making a really long update, so I won't. I'll just say that camp has provided me with a lot of stories. Don't drink with crazy kids named Juliah Ma, alright?

I would just like to say, America is totally different compared to Japan/Taiwan. In a bad way. Well whatever. Japanese people are really focused on neatness, quality, and manners. Well, from what I've seen in Taiwan and Japanese airports, I would like to say I prefer Japan and Taiwan better. Service in America is horrible. In restaurants and stuff. Another thing is in the airports. Half the time, people who are working [security, restaurant people, etc.] are talking with other people. It is also very chaotic and security is constantly shouting. In Japan the security is quite efficient, neat, organized, and very polite. Another thing I don't like about coming to America. The population changes. So many big white people. In Taiwan, 95% of the female population is hot/kinda attractive/cute. In the US 95% of the female population is just plain scary. Maybe it is just because asian people naturally look kinda young and stuff while white people look really old.

So what did you guys do all summer? What's your school schedule?

This is now being posted much later than it actually happened. It is being written as it is happening. Now, I introduce, Mental Notes. Copyrighted little nuggets of nifty information my ADHD readers can digest easily.

Monday, 8/14/06, 15:53, Shanghai time
- Stay at a 5-star hotel when in China. It is very much worth it. A 5-star here is about only 25% of what it would cost in America. I feel rich.
- Check if internet is free at 5-star hotel. Its not.
- I haven't watched news in English in such a long time. Theres a ceasefire?

Tuesday, 8/15/06, 0:02, Shanghai time
- The elevator in this hotel plays a tune when it opens and it doesn't stop until it detects something walk inside or it closes. Very cool.
- There are too many people in Shanghai. Too. Many. People.
- The high here yesterday was 39 degrees Celsius. Thats 102.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Thats CRAZY.
- Even with so many people, the traffic here seems better than Beijing. Probably because its got five subway lines opposed to the three in Beijing. Even with so many lines and so many cars, they are crowded. I almost got pushed over because 50 people were trying to exit the car and 50 people were trying to come on. Don't even think theres a "oh, you first because you're getting off and theres no room on there right now anyway for me to get on" rule. Cause theres not.
- Many thieves here. We almost got robbed three times tonight, possibly because we look like tourists. My dad having a camera in one hand and a shopping bag in another didn't help.
- Things here are incredibly cheap. I got a fancy suit and then got it tailored for about 25$ and I got a nice jacket for about 20$. And more DVD's.
- Got a bunch of little souvenirs. You'll be proud.
- Its kinda late; we stayed out and saw Shanghai at night. Its a pretty cool view.
- Theres a freaking flashlight beside my bed.
- Yeah. Stay at a 5-star hotel. Its worth it. Huuuge bathroom, CNN international, and flashlights. Yeah.

Tuesday, 8/15/06, 22:56, Shanghai time
- They had street vendors selling bootleg copies of the two seasons Lost. Very cool. I grabbed one for about 21RMB, about maybe 2.50$. The quality isn't that good, but its not totally terrible. Very watchable. Good deal.
- The hotel here has a live piano player playing every so often. Very nice. But I'm sure you're very tired of my ejaculating all about this hotel by now. This is my third day writing this but probably your fifth minute of reading this.
- Shanghai is one of the best cities in the world, I must say. The traffic isn't too terrible, not nearly as bad as Beijing. Shopping here is easy, there are more subway lines than Beijing, and the skyline is pretty damn nice. And there have been more English-speaking people here than I've seen so far on this trip. Probably 2/3s of the time when you go out to eat, you'll bump into someone speaking English. Hell, probably 2/3s of the time when you go anywhere, you'll bump into someone speaking English. Someone white, nonetheless.
- Sanitation here isn't too terrible, either. Its not as good as VB or anything, but the city's sanitation as a whole is about as good as a street with less-than-average sanitation in NYC. Very cool.
- There are still too many people. TOO MANY PEOPLE. You cannot imagine how crowded the subway is. I think I already said this yesterday. Yeah. I did. I also mentioned theres no "getting off first" rule, but, actually, there is. People just don't give a shit.

Wednesday, 8/16/06, 23:26, Shanghai time
- Leaving Shanghai tomorrow; can't wait to come back. I hope I'm coming back next year before Hong Kong.
- This city is amazing. You need to come here at least once in your life.
- Got to sleep. Going on Maglev tomorrow, whoo.

Thursday, 8/17/06, 18:38, Xi'an time
- Went to ride the Maglev today; check my Youtube for videos and such. They'll be up later.
- Flew to Xi'an, a city in western China. Its got Qin's tomb, the tomb where all those soldier statues or whatever they are are.
- Wifi actually works here. k. Time to surf

Thursday, 8/17/06, 22:13, Xi'an time
- I don't know why I keep typing the timezones. As I found out today, the timezones for the entire nation of China is the same. Near Pakistan? Tough luck. Still dark at 11am in the morning.
- We're staying at another 5-star hotel in Xi'an, for the amazing price of 30$ a night. THIRTY freaking dollars. You can't even find a Motel 6 for 30 bucks in the US. Yet here there's internet, a safety deposit box in your room (that doesn't work - this is our second one), and HBO/CNN Int'l. The beds though, like all other ones in China, are still hella hard.
- Went to a sort-of city square today with a fountain show a la the Bellagio. It had cheesy music arrangements, but the worst had to have been their rendition of the third movement of Mozart's K.331, Alla Turca, as some call it. Jesus it was terrible. I took video of it. Check it out on Youtube now. Or maybe later. Depends on when I post this really. I'm writing this on TextEdit and theblacktop.com is still down. I have to fix that site.
- I'll be back in the States in a week.

Saturday, 8/19/06, 21:17, local time
- I'm back at my grandparent's house. Went to Qin's tomb, Terra-cotta, yesterday.
- The guy who discovered Terra-cotta is still alive and well and is signing books at a store there. 120RMB gets you a book and his signature. But I have to go on the record and say that guy is the rudest son of a bitch I have ever met. People were trying to take a picture of him and he jumped out of his chair, and shouted, "NO PHOTO! NO PHOTO!" When he went to sign my book, he kinda opened it with a mean face, signed it, then threw the book back at me. Later I guess another guy was trying to take a picture, and so he held up this plaque that was in front of him and almost hurled it at the guy. Like I said. Rude.
- We basically had our own chauffeur yesterday. We called a cab, and then the guy we got was a n00b driver so he got his l337 brother to bring us tourists around. He basically took us 1hr out of the city to Terra-cotta, then back, all for 100RMB, about 12.50$. Practically used him the whole day. We stayed about 45mins at a place before T-C and the about an hour and a half to two hours in T-C. And the guy stayed the whole time. He also took us to the airport today at like 0630 in the morning for 120RMB. Its cause Taxi's are incredibly cheap in Xi'an and those two trips alone (incredibly cheap by themselves, mind you) would have probably been a week or more in normal fares.
- The guy that drove us gets a lot of kickbacks though. He made us stop at a Jade store in the middle of nowhere and was saying how the Jade there was the best ever. And the people inside treated us like we were the only customer they had all day. Then he kept offering to drop us off at places we didn't want to go. And then tried to get us to eat at this one place. He gets plenty of kickbacks through those places; I guess its cuz he so leet.
- I'm going to be leaving here in about five days which gets me a bit sad. Its the last time I'm gonna be in this house ever because my grandparents sold it and a lot of good memories from since I've been a wee little kid of like, say, 3.
- Good times. Good times.
- What also gets me kinda depressed is that just a few days before I leave, I figure out whats wrong with the air conditioner. I pressed the "save energy" button accidently a while back, like when I first came here, I guess. That kinda stuff gets to me.
- Christ; I sound like that guy in Catcher in the Rye. God, I guess what I was saying back then still is true.

SORRY ABOUT THE CURSING. AND THE CAPITAL LETTERS.


BUT

WE'RE BACK!!!!!

Holy Christ. I'm now going to vent about how much DreamHost sucks. Feel free to skip the next paragraph if you want. And excuse my god damned french. And the capital letters. PLX.

Dreamhost SUCKS ASS. On August 11th, Dreamhost upgraded their Ruby on Rails version and didn't give me an email, notification, or anything. They didn't give me SHIT. They're just like "oh we're gonna upgrade and not tell anyone OLOLLl!!!!! ROFLMRAOL!!!" And guess what? RAILS BROKE! Everyone with a Dreamhost account, their site DIED. What the hell kind of service is this? I spent the next week scrambling to find out a correction to this. It was entirely scary. dispatch.fcgi, a vital file in the operation of this site WOULD NOT START. Its like you bought a car and when you drove it home and went to start it the next day the engine WAS GONE. So thats how bad things were. Even in the "do-this-if-all-else-fails" command ("killall -9 ruby" - it even sounds scary) failed. It basically said "HAHA ROFALMO YOU CAN'T STOP IT CUZ IT AIN'T RUNNIN', BIIITCH." The technical jargon version of it was a bit nicer, though. So what do I do? For the first week or so I went to the Dreamhost wiki page on Rails thinking it would help me. Christ was I wrong. I spent the next week just going in circles. The entire structure of that page is freaking screwed up. Instead of updating the page, they just put things on top of it. Some sample categories are, "Quick Start Guide August 2006" without "Possible gotchas," "QuickStart Guide 12-01-05" with "Possible gotchas," "Installing Ruby on Rails," "Creating an application," "Troubleshooting." What do I go to? Theres two quickstart guides, all with good information. Although some blatently contradict each other. "6. Make sure the shebang location (#!) of ruby in the railsapp/public/dispatch.fcgi** file is either #!/usr/bin/env ruby or #!/usr/bin/ruby. Note that the actual path to ruby is /usr/bin/ruby, but /usr/bin/env ruby will work independent of where ruby is installed (and as such will work on your local copy too) NOTE I found it imperitive to set my shebang to #!/usr/bin/ruby1.8" makes no sense at all. So that didn't help. Then I want to Shanghai. Beautiful city. Possibly the best in the world. But more on that in a later post. I came back yesterday and started working again on getting this to work today. I went to the forums and find out a lot of freaking people are having the same problem. So I sign up. But the password they emailed me DIDN'T WORK. So I got a replacement password. Which DIDN'T WORK. I had to copy+paste te freaking password. By the time I did that, I already figured out the problem because some very helpful people in the forums had already had a discussion that all I needed to do was change "1.1.2" to "1.1.6" in a configuration file. A goddamn NUMBER crashed this site. If Dreamhost just would have sent me an email "hey, we're upgrading to 1.1.6 today, be sure to change your config files" it wouldn't have been so bad. I probably would have just complained a little of how slow access to the server here is. Which didn't help. Telnet'ing my site is as slow as the second coming of Christ. I type a letter and about one second later it shows up. So this would have probably been fixed twice as fast if I were in the States. But they didn't send that email. And here we are.

Now I'm gonna go play some damn Tetris to get my mind off of how suckular Dreamhost is. I'm switching permanently to Mediatemple (the hublog.net host - much more reliable) after this term ends for both 9legged and... future plans. Think of this as a standard little teaser for whats coming ahead with a retarded smilie at the end. ;)

So;. yesterday was warped tour. as krista said, i rotated between her group and gabby's group. i took off work and got there at around 10:45...so i was alone for half an hour before meeting up with gabby and her sister, then we met with ashley at the front gate. over the course of the day(i left at 7, right after hellogoodbye) i saw valencia, which i liked, armor for sleep, which i didnt...the academy is...whose frontman is a plant-look-alike. and i think i saw lots of other bands..including bits of nofx, anti-flag, scary kids scaring kids. oh and i also saw i am the avalanche. gabby said they were like motion city soundtrack, which was at the same time, so i trusted her. however, they arent that similar, as i am the avalanche screams. but i had seen motion city soundtrack before, so...other than that...i then saw hellogoodbye, with whom i am infatuated with now. other stuff happened, but im too side-tracked to remember.

"The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous."
-V for Vendetta



hello, i miss you quite terribly...

Today I figured out that developing for Dashboard Widgets, an OSX feature, is insanely easy. What I didn't know though, was how frus