Picacho Peak

Jen, her brother Jeff, her dad Bob, and I hiked Picacho Peak this last Saturday. All the way to the top. Oh. My. God. That is one brutal hike. That was one of the hardest and most challengins hikes I've ever been on. But I hauled my new Pentax all the way to the top, and managed to get some great photos! Check 'em out! Oh and BTW, I'm about 1/3 of the way done with my first book review, Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash". Look for it in about a week or two. :-)

New toy II

Hooray! It's finally here! I got my new digital SLR! For those not in the know, that's a camera. :-P I'm so excited! This is the first camera I've had since high school, and my first digital camera EVER! It's not the top of the line, but it has more than enough for me right now. Plus it's a bit smaller and lighter than the big professional-grade cameras like the Nikon D200 or the Canon 30D so it should travel much better. Which is good for Japan. Expect to see some great shots from over there!

I uploaded my first batch of pictures onto my Flickr account. Just click the little photostream thingy in the sidebar. If you want information about ISO, exposure, shutter speed, etc. let me know and I can pull the metadata from the pics.

Update: Josh pointed out to me that Flickr saves the metadata when you upload the pictures. Sweet!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2007 to all! We had a kick-ass party at my parent's house. Pics to come.

All I can say is, Meghan...for shame. ;-)

Panic! At Jobbing.com Arena

Since I seem to be on a blogging binge lately, I totally forgot about some concerts I've seen/I'm going to see. First off, last week we saw "Panic! At the Disco", along with "Cobra Starship" and "Jack's Manaquinn." Now before I talk about this concert let me repeat something I said in a previous post. "Unwritten Law" is the worst live band I've ever seen. Period. I've seen high-school bands perform better. "Cobra Starship" came in just a little, tiny bit above "Unwritten Law." And that's really all I can say about that. They don't even get a picture. ;-)

"Jack's Mannequin" is a different story. Ok, ok. Their cover of U2's "With or Without You" probably caused cancer in at least 30% of the audience, but the rest of the music was pretty damn good. They had the soulfulness of "Train" without all the whining and touchy-feely lyrics, mixed with the edgier sounds of "Acceptance." If only the lead singer could decide if he wanted to sit or stand while singing and playing the piano. He had a sit-down piano, but he would half-stand to sing and ended up looking like he was having a seizure. When he sat his twitchy, flailing ass down it was much better and less epileptastic. Other than that, their music was quite good.

Which brings me to "Panic! At the Disco." Hands down, one of the best live shows I have ever seen. The sets were amazing! They did this whole circus theme (but dark and Victorian-looking) that was just awesome. They even had dancers that were acrobats and tumblers. Very cool. As for the music, it was stellar. "Panic" is one of the most musically talented bands I've seen in a long time. I can't even describe what their music is like, it's just so unique. Not to mention that have incredible stage presence. They did this really cool percussion number that was part "Stomp" (they had trash can lid cymbals and everything) and part drum-line. After that, they played a sweet cover of Queen's "Killer Queen." Wow. Damn good show indeed.

Today I'm going back to the same place (Glendale Arena, aka Jobbing.com Arena) to see "AFI", "Taking Back Sunday", "Plain White T's", and a few others. Show's called the "How the Edge Stole Chritmas." Should be a good one. I saw "AFI" last year at KFMA day (where I saw the Worst Live Band Ever the previous year) and really enjoyed their show. I've been itching to see them again. Should be fun! Check Josh's blog/Flickr feed for pics. He's into all that "photography" stuff. Wait...I used to be into that too. Damn.

Update: I too seem to be into all that "photography" stuff. I figured out what I hadn't been: I had no camera! Would've thought, eh?

Tremble mortals

Behold the mighty Cylon Snowbot!



Yes that's a sweeping Cylon eye. Yes it also makes scary Cylon sounds. And yes, it's being powered by my Xbox 360. That's right: The Xbox 360 is Cylon technology. w00t.

Now if only I can get it to make me a Number Six...



God I love Battlestar Galactica.

A foreword

I love literature. Ever since I was little I've always be reading something. Be it a book, a magazine, the newspaper, hell even cereal boxes. I liked comic books to a limited degree, but they had too many pictures and not enough words for my taste. Given the choice of "X-men" or "Of Mice and Men", I'd take the latter every time. This love of books was one of the reasons I decided to do an English minor. I figured as long as I enjoy reading and to a certain degree, writing, I might as well get some sort of recognition for doing things I like to do anyway.

My dad once commented that I would probably end up as an English professor one day. I knew that would never happen, but he can be forgiven this flight of fancy for his progeny as I had brought Paradise Lost as my book of choice along with me on a family ski trip. While it wasn't for a class so much as my own enjoyment (in a semi-masochistic way; it is Milton after all), it did have some practical applications: 340-year old poetry about Heaven, Hell, and Satan makes for good taunts for Counter-Strike.

With hideous ruin and combustion, down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In adamantine chains and penal fire
who durst defy th' omnipotent to arms.

Heh, very Pulp Fiction. Useful for scaring "teh n00bs", or at least distracting them long enough with words like "omnipotent" to stab them in the back.

But I digress. The real reason for this post is this: I'm testing the waters with writing some book reviews. Nothing fancy. Just my thoughts on some books I've read. It'll mostly be stuff that I like, maybe even some commentary on a series as a whole. Maybe I can also get suggestions on new books for me to read. I've been kinda slacking on my reading for awhile, partially because I've just been busy and distracted but mostly because I just haven't branched out in a while. I tend to get really focused on an author I enjoy, and while I find that focus is wonderful for absorbing the whole of an author's works, it also means that once I'm done I have trouble pulling myself out of one dreamworld and plunging into another.

You'll mostly see sci-fi and fantasy books here. That's because I like fantasy and sci-fi. Sure I enjoy the fascinating look at a man's descent into madness in Heart of Darkness or the dark, brooding musings on the nature of crime and suffering in Crime and Punishment as much as the next person, but give me the sweeping battles and rich detail of Lord of the Rings or the mind-blowing dystopian view of the future in the cyberpunk novels like Neuromancer and Snow Crash.

Will I actually manage to review anything? Maybe. But for now, has anyone read any good books lately?

MPAA Press Release -

The following comments (censored for the safety of the viewing public) appeared on a community-driven news site known as Digg.com this afternoon in response to an article outlining the new strategy of the MPAA in combating the growing threat of home theater pirates:

"I violated (CENSORED) at least 5 times (CENSORED) my family...." – mainfr4me

This kind of reprehensible behavior is indicative of what the MPAA has become aware is normal behavior for this new breed of movie pirate. The MPAA will do all in it's power to crackdown on these violations by introducing new legislation to allow the installation of equipment that will monitor all home theater owners.

All movie viewing sessions will record the IDs of all viewers, along with recording their behavior and movements in case of suspicious behavior or defamatory comments about the MPAA, it's members, or the work produced by the member studios. The data will be sent to the MPAA's Special UnderCover Knowledge Enforcement Regimental Service (SUCKERS), which will then dispatch teams to homes in violation of copyrights. Such violations include, but are not limited to, viewing of films by those not owning a licensed copy of the work, including friends, enemies, lovers, teammates, strangers, coworkers, spouses, partners, children between the ages of 6 months and 150 years, family pets (of any type that have eyes, ears, or any other light or sound sensing organs), light-sensitive plants, people from any country containing the letters A, E, I, O, U, or Y or whose name contains any combination of said letters, and pests or insects that are present within 100 yards of the theater.

Any person or object found in violation of copyright laws, will be fined a minimum of $500,000 per movie viewing. Such persons will be labeled “enemy combatants” and will be dealt with accordingly by SUCKERS teams.

The viewing of copyrighted works without obtaining a license via the proper channels is a crime and is a "gateway" to harder violations such as music piracy, removing the "DO NOT REMOVE" tags from mattresses, jaywalking, speeding, walking on the grass, drug use, child molestation, organ harvesting, terrorism, and even full-scale illegal movie downloading and DVD copying for backup purposes.

The MPAA takes these matters very seriously because if such behavior is allowed to grow unchecked, it could threaten the very fabric of society and the family values upon which America is built. Unlicensed viewing of copyrighted works not only funds terrorism (as been proven by the Independent Department In Orthodox Terrorist Studies (IDIOTS)), but actually causes cancer in puppies and is a major contributing factor to global warming.

Original Digg post

HD-DVDland

Picture of my new toy: The Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive. That's right: HD-DVD baby! I can't wait!

The great thing is it will only cost about $100-140, even though the retail price is $199. How? Behold my fuzzy math:

+ $199 -- Price of HD-DVD drive
- $30 -- Discount for getting an Amazon.com credit card
- $30 -- Money from selling the free Universal Remote that is included
- $40 -- Money from selling the free HD-DVD copy of "King Kong" that is included

Total: $99

However I don't know if "King Kong" comes with the one I ordered, so it might only be a savings of $60 rather than $100, but we'll see. Either way it's the cheapest HD-DVD player you can get! Anyone care to join me for a innagural HD movie watching session? Maybe Friday?

OMFGSPLOSION!!!!!!! I'M F*CKING ENGAGED!!!!

That's right, Jen and I are tying the knot! I can't believe I actually proposed! I was so nervous and just kinda blurted it out, but she said YES!!! That's why she's the greatest person on the planet and I love her so much! w00000000t!!!!!!!

Midterms

I hate midterms. They're not as bad as finals 'cause you still have half the semester to make it up, but they suck because they remind you that yeah, you have to do this a second time in 9 weeks. They're also just as hard as finals, but you don't have a week of no class to study for them. So all in all, they blow.

Midterm elections are kinda like that. They're half way between the big elections, they're just as important and complicated, but they just don't have as big a run-up or have the same feel as a presidential election.

So as we near zero hour of the elections, I just thought I would let everyone know which propositions and officials I'm voting for. These two sites-a blog, and a more official site-offer some guidelines and good explanations of each proposition. They blog is definately left-leaning, but still has good information for you red-types. ;)

Propositions - Yes Votes

• 104
• 106
• 200
• 201
• 202
• 203
• 204
• 205
• 302

Senate & Congressional Candidates

• Jim Pederson (despite the crappy TV ads)
• Raúl Grijalva

Governor

• Janet Napolitano

Phew, I don't know about you guys but I'll be taking a cheat sheet in with me! Everyone who is able should get out and vote, but ONLY if you're informed about what you are voting for. Remember, the descriptions on the ballot for each proposition are written by the groups that got it there in the first place, so they always try to make it sound appealing. Your best bet is to get more information so you can make an intelligent decision.

And to finish this little post, a video of my new hero Keith Olbermann. Listen and learn:

Best Dad Ever!!!...Dad gives best gift to son! Read then watch the video

This is an incredible story...and by far makes Dick Hoyt the best dad in the world award!

"I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay For their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck."

Read the article first and then watch the video

read more | digg story

Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive shipping November 7 in the US

So sayeth Gamestop at least. Not sure if this is accurate, but it would be nice it true. Now if only we can get it for the same price as Japan...

read more | digg story

We the people

Alright, so I've been studying the new bill, along with the Consitution (i.e. what Bush calls "just a piece of paper"), particularly Article III. From what I can tell it appears that the alarmism everyone is spouting is just that: alarmism. While I find this bill morally wrong and quite frankly disgusting, there really is nothing illegal about it. So here's what I've found.

First, The Supreme Court does have judicial review power (the power to review the legality of a law used to prosecute someone. Established by Marbury v. Madison), but they will only hear a case if it's a matter of law, not matters of fact. The issue has to be that the law that was used to prosecute someone is flawed or possibly unconstitutional. You cannot take your case to the Supreme Court if it's matters of fact, i.e. "That's not my DNA on the victim!"

Also the Supreme Court can only exercise judicial review if the law is challenged by a case. It can come to the Supreme Court in three ways:

1. The Supreme Court decides to exercise original jurisdiction. This can only happen for cases involving ambassadors, or if a state is a party, i.e. Bob v. the state of Arizona. This is very rare and is usually only exercised in state v. state matters.
2. A case is appealed to the Supreme Court from a lower federal court. Not situations allow for the right of appeal. Double jeopardy is one such situation. If someone is accused of murder and is acquitted, the State cannot appeal the ruling and try them again in a higher court.
3. The Supreme Court issues a writ of certiorari. This is is an order by the appellate court to review the lower court's decision for legal error when no right of appeal exists. Four of the nine Supreme Court Justices must agree to issue the writ (known as the "rule of four")

Now, according to section 950g of this new bill, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has sole jurisdiction as the appeals court for this new military court. But in order to send a case to DC court, the convicted party must waive their right to have their case reviewed by appealing to the military court of review. Take a look:

Sec. 950g. Review by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Supreme Court

`(a) Exclusive Appellate Jurisdiction- (1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine the validity of a final judgment rendered by a military commission (as approved by the convening authority) under this chapter.

`(B) The Court of Appeals may not review the final judgment until all other appeals under this chapter have been waived or exhausted.

`(2) A petition for review must be filed by the accused in the Court of Appeals not later than 20 days after the date on which--

`(A) written notice of the final decision of the Court of Military Commission Review is served on the accused or on defense counsel; or

`(B) the accused submits, in the form prescribed by section 950c of this title, a written notice waiving the right of the accused to review by the Court of Military Commission Review under section 950f of this title.

`(b) Standard for Review- In a case reviewed by it under this section, the Court of Appeals may act only with respect to matters of law.

`(c) Scope of Review- The jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals on an appeal under subsection (a) shall be limited to the consideration of--

`(1) whether the final decision was consistent with the standards and procedures specified in this chapter; and

`(2) to the extent applicable, the Constitution and the laws of the United States.

`(d) Supreme Court- The Supreme Court may review by writ of certiorari the final judgment of the Court of Appeals pursuant to section 1257 of title 28.

Once in the DC court, the case will then be reviewed and if the issue of constitutionality is valid, then the case can be appealed to the Supreme Court where a ruling can be made. Note that at any time either the DC court or the Supreme Court can reject the case. The Supreme Court can also review the case by exercising their power to submit a writ of certiorai. Again, only if this is a matter of law.

Now 950j states that

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter and notwithstanding any other provision of law (including section 2241 of title 28 or any other habeas corpus provision), no court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider any claim or cause of action whatsoever, including any action pending on or filed after the date of the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, relating to the prosecution, trial, or judgment of a military commission under this chapter, including challenges to the lawfulness of procedures of military commissions under this chapter.

That first phrase "Except as otherwise provided in this chapter " is critical. What this is saying is that other than the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Supreme Court, no OTHER courts may challenge the decisions of this military court. This is perfectly legal as the federal courts are given power by congress, and congress can limit their scope and jurisdiction. They are simply limiting the appeals to a single court. In other-words, you can't appeal to the court of appeals in California or Washington.

Congress has no power to limit the Supreme Court's jurisdiction, short of passing an amendment to the Constitution (which would never happen). No matter how much Bush flails and whines and complains and makes new courts, the Supreme Court has the power to overturn any lower court, including military courts. This is part of the checks and balances. The check against the Supreme Court is that they can only make rulings if a case is challenged and brought before them.

You can disagree with a law passed by Congress while still agreeing it's perfectly legal. I despise this bill and I'm not sure it's entirely legal, but we will see. Making certain kinds of torture legal and suspending habeus corpus for detainees is wrong. If the US wants to be a world leader, we have to hold ourselves to higher standards than everyone else. Part of that is how we treat our prisoners. By giving even "enemy combatants" the same legal rights as citizens, giving them a fair trial, and treating them as human beings, we can prove to the world that we are truly better than those that hide behind religion as an excuse for killing.

By ordaining torture, suspending the rights of those we capture and continuing a pointless and morally reprehensible war, we are saying that we care more about ourselves then about the rest of the world. And selfish leaders always do more harm than good.

All your rights are belong to us.

This is just getting worse and worse. First there's the wiretapping bill (which thankfully looks like it will die), now this. There's a lot of uninformed opinions on this one, but the gist of it is that Congress has approved military tribunals for "enemy combatants", with no rights of habeus corpus, and no limits on detention length severity of punishment. In fact the bill specifically states that no Federal court has the power to hear habeus corpus cases!

This effectively gives the Executive Branch judical power over anyone they label a terrorist, with no oversight by the 200+ year-old US court system. And US Citizens? Yup, they are also included, though they retain their habeus corpus rights.

We've never done this before. The terrorist that bombed the WTC in 1993 was tried in a Federal Court. The guys behind the Oklahoma City bombing were tried in a Federal court. Now they fall under this new category where everything is controlled by the military, which is part of the Executive Branch and answers to the President. Which means one branch is now judge, jury, and executioner.

I hate the current state of this country. Every day the people of American let more and more of their rights be eroded and taken away, all in the name of security. You know what's really frightening? This has happened before. In the 1940s. In Germany. Care to take a guess of whom I am speaking? Correct. Hitler set up the People's Court to handle those accused of political criminal offences. It was established after a terrorist attack on Germany known as the Reichstag fire. It had the appearance of a court, but it nothing more than a facade to facilitate the elimination of people that Hitler deemed troublesome. Most were executed or imprisoned, including people as young as 17 and college students who distributed anti-war material.

How long before a direct attack on the Bill of Rights itself? "We can't have 'terrorists' pleading the 5th, so we better get rid of that one." Or "If we have a public trial, it might be a terrorist target so we better have the trials in secret." Or even "Ah hell! We KNOW their guilty! They're TERRORISTS after all! So let's just skip the whole trial thing and kill 'em."



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Somebody set us up the sex bomb!

A little g33k poetry courtesy of Bash.org:

WallJam7: roses are red
WallJam7: violets are blue
WallJam7: all of my base
WallJam7: are belong to you

Breathtaking hi-res Okami Wallpapers

Who knew a video game could be this beautiful? These are works of art! I'm tempted to print a few out with a super high-quality photo printer and get them framed.

read more | digg story

Geek/Nerd/Dork quiz

Modern, Cool Nerd 56 % Nerd, 78% Geek, 34% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd. Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)! Congratulations! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Professional Wrestling Love & Sexuality America/Politics Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 57% on nerdiness You scored higher than 97% on geekosity You scored higher than 56% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

What are they teaching those ASU girls?

Via Overheard In the Office:

Coed #1: He had told me not to do anything special for his birthday. He said to forget he was having a birthday at all. But then he came over, and I could tell that he was down.
Coed #2: Because it was his birthday, and he was thirty.
Coed #1: Yeah.
Coed #2: And he's dating an eighteen-year-old.
Coed #1: Shut up. So then we had sex? And it wasn't, like, the most amazing time, but I faked it. But, like, really over the top? And he was happy the rest of the day!

University & College Avenues
Tempe, Arizona

Honda Fit Tetris Commercial

Honda + Tetris = Awsome geek commercial goodness



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It's Showtime...

...and it's about FUCKING time too. Recently Apple sent out invitations to the press to attend a special keynote address by Steve "Reality Distortion Field" Jobs at the Paris Apple Expo. The invitations simply read "It's Showtime."

Apple has been slacking on product announcements for awhile now. Sure the Nano was cool and the transition to Intel was a much-appreciated speed boost (and one step closer to unifying personal computing), but we haven't seen anything truely exciting or ground-breaking from the Cupertino folks in a long time. iPod Hi-Fi? Nike+iPod? Fun, but please; these are toys.

To be fair, Josh does have a Hi-Fi and while I still think it's overpriced, it does sound pretty damn good, even on batteries. But the point is that nothing really new has come out of Apple for awhile. So when rumors started swirling about a special event on Sept. 12th, the Mac forums lit up with rampant speculation and wild claims. Everything from a Windows Media Center killer, to the iTunes Movie Store, to the fabled "widescreen iPod" and even the near mythical iPhone is being touted as the big announcement.

Well if you filter out all the craziness, most people agree that this is the most likely list of things being introduced:

• Updated iPod Nano - Up to 8GB, metal shell, multiple colors (wait...where have I seen this before?)
  
• iTunes Movie Store - Kinda self-explanatory, but own or rent?
  
• Core 2 Duo - Replacing of the Core Duos with Core 2 Duos in the iMac and MacBook lines
• 23" iMac - Better, faster, stronger
• Mac Mini Refresh - Core Solo getting the axe, Core Duos for both models
• Updated 5th gen iPods - Same price point, but with 40 and 80GB drives
• And one more thing...

Pretty good lineup for a special event. Just about everything seems to be revolving around making a Mac and an iPod the center of your music AND movie experience. But still, nothing revolutionary right?

Wrong.

On Sept. 5th, with no warning, annoucement, or fanfare (and completely surprising, well, EVERYONE), Apple released all new iMacs with Core 2 Duo processers, added a 24" iMac that is HD-capable (i.e. 1080p), reduced the price of the two smaller models, AND refreshed the Mac Mini line while keeping the same price point. Whoa. Oh and did I mention that the 24" iMac is now VESA-compliant? Meaning you can mount it on the wall like any modern plasma or LCD HDTV. And at 24", it's ready to be a prime HD-capable entertainment device.

It's interesting to note that every previous annoucement of new or updated Intel-based Macs was done at either a special event or a normal expor like MacWorld or WWDC. Which begs the question: What could possibly be happening on the 12th that an update of TWO entire computer lines, AND the introduction of a completely new model was deemed too minor to warrant sharing the stage with this unknown annoucement? Whatever it is, it's BIG. Like possibly the biggest thing Apple has done since, well possibly the iPod.

I mean when you have a special event to introduce a battery-powered boombox and an FM tuner and NOTHING ELSE, stiffing the new 24" iMac of anything less than the full Steve Jobs-black-turtleneck-and-jeans treatment means that something is happening that has been in the works for a long time. Something that could be incredible. Something that should have EVERY company in the ENTIRE digital entertainment business SCARED SHITLESS.