Paintball Epilogue
Jeff and I played paintball on Saturday, and it ROCKED. We played for 3 hours, I think, and each fired about 350 rounds of ammo. Ohhhh yeeeahhhh. I had 2 highlights. 1) Me and 6 other guys were pinned down behind some barrels. The enemy was in a building firing out at us, so they had lots of cover and we didn't. After squatting there for like 5 minutes I just decided to run right up to the building, and I took out 1 guy on my way there. I was flat up against the wall so they couldn't shoot me, and then at a random moment I popped out quickly and dove towards a car for cover. I took out the other guy. Later in the "suiting up" area one guy pointed at me and said "That guy was doing some crazy commando shit, diving out from the building and shooting them!". I feld hella cool 
The second time that was really fun was when I ran deep (i.e. 50 feet) into enemy territory without being seen. I stopped to look around me and to my right were 3 enemy troops who hadn't seen me. They were in plain view so I was able to unload about 30 rounds into their backs before they could even figure out that I was behind them and not in front of them (where the rest of my team was). Ohhhh they were surprised I love paintball. It's like First Person Shooter games on the computer, except you work up a sweat, spend a lot more money, and end up covered in welts! I only had 1 welt this time, though, because I only got shot 3 times in the entire 3 hour shoot-a-thon, which is waaay better than I usually do.
After that, Jeff and I went back to his place and played video games until late in the night. As luck woudl have it, I got to play on his girlfriend's computer which has a 17 inch Samsung LCD. SO I finally got to actually try out a Samsung LCD for gaming, and it was awesome. No ghosting. Smooothe. We played a bit of Call of Duty, Tron 2.0, and Age of Empires 2. They were all buttery smoothe and crisp. Now I want an LCD again. Maybe when I do my taxes and get my tax return Incidentally, I found that 19 inch Samsung 193P LCD that I wanted for $300 less than it had been anywhere else. Get it at PCVillageCanada.com, at Yonge & Eglinton.
One of the main reasons I need a monitor is so that I can use the burner in my desktop computer again. Steve Cox came up with a cheaper solution -- I could buy an external USB 2.0 drive enclosure for around $50 and take the burner out of my desk and put it in the enclosure. Then I can use it with my laptop Cool idea!
Microsoft is officially evil. Microsoft has been completely blocking any/all email from Gmail, and not allowing it to even get to hotmail users. Yahoo at least has the decency to pre-filter gmail into people's spam folders -- allowing them to find the gmail if they want to. This totally isn't cool. They're breaking the internet by doing that! Why are they doing it? Because they want to make switching to Gmail unappealing, so that they don't lost hotmail customers. They want people to believe "I never get mail when people send it from Gmail, so Gmail must be crappy and broken", when the truth is that Hotmail is crappy & evil. Arrrgh!
Yesterday, the first privately funded sub-orbital mission into space was successful (BUT you must be using IE6 or the video won't work). Incidentally, the main investor in this ship is Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder. Perhaps that's why the video only plays in IE 
I want this phone! It's triband, so it'll work in europe & croatia, and it's orange! yay! AND it takes SIM cards, so I can use my existing HT (hrvatska telekom) sim in it!
If you aren't already, it's time to get signed up for the GOP-NYC protests. According to this article on GuerillaNews.com that's where the US Military & Police will be testing out their next generation stun guns which have the power to "incapacitate crowds of people by sweeping a lightning-like beam of electricity across them" (made by Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems (XADS)).
In other news - it was only a matter of time. RSS and BitTorrent are now being used together. You can now subscribe to RSS feeds of bittorrent files. What I'd like, though, is for BitTorrent to let you specify "download all torrents linked to by this RSS feed". That'd be excellent.
Sponsor Me!
I'll be doing 2 things on Saturday, 1 of which is pure fun for no good reason, and the other is pure fun for a good cause. Wanna sponsor me for the good cause?
I'll be bowling on the team "Bowling for Guatemala". Any money we raise goes to "The Caravan of Hope", a non-profit initiative (organized by a church) in response to a series of devastating earthquakes in El Salvador. 3 school buses are purchased with the proceeds, filled with a variety of donated medical equipment, school supplies, computers and other supplies, and is driven (by volunteers) ot Guatemala and donated (bus and all!) to the communities there!
Before and after that I'll be playing Halo at Simon Racciopa's "Halothon" lan party, where there will be 7 xboxen, several video projectors, tvs, food, and fun. That requires no sponsorship.
Last night I was invited to a "Preview Screening" of a new Book Television show called "ScrAtch", which is about the "indy" scene. Not Indiana Jones -- independent media. Ian Daffern (the director/producer) was there, and we had chicken wings, and beer. Why was I invited? Because I'm in the show's opening credits (well, my computer screen is), and I'm (personally) in the 'bumper' after the 2nd commercial. A bumper is the little blip of video that leads you back into the show after a commercial. It was cool to see my room and me on a TV show Ian did a great job and this pilot episode is something to be proud of.
I got an email from my friend Sacha yesterday. He is the most graphically inclined person I've ever met, and he has a BenQ 17" monitor - and he loves it to death.
Here's a little list of requirements I've put together for purchasing my LCD monitor:
Must have: no ghosting, preferably sub-25ms response time, replacement if dead pixels are present
Should have: dvi input (digital), 700:1 contrast ratio (500 is ok)
Note: a dead pixel is a single dot on your screen that remains black even when the screen is on.
Dead Pixel Policies on LCD Monitors:
* Lite On, Phillips and Hitachi. All three have a zero tolerance to dead pixels but Phillips doesn't count unlit pixels as dead.
* HP will only replace a monitor with there are 4 scattered faulty pixels or 3 clustered.
* LG will replace a monitor if there are 2 within a 10cm circle.
* NEX-NEC will replace 3 lit, 3 unlit or 6 color.
* Samsung could try harder. Six dead pixels allowed on a 15", or nine on a 17", are too many.
* Sony will replace if on a 15" panel there is 2 lit, 2 unlit or 4 dead. On 17" panels Sony will replace if there are 3 lit, 3 unlit or 7 dead.
* Viewsonic will replace if on a 15" panel there is 2 lit, 2 unlit or 4 dead. On 17" panels Viewsonic will replace if there are 3 lit, 3 unlit or 7 dead.
Saving Grace
Futureshop/staples/bestbuy in-house warranties against dead pixels!! SO BUY THEIR IN-HOUSE WARRANTY!
For a brief moment I contemplated getting two cheaper 17 inch LCDs instead of a single 19 because the 17s tend to have faster response times... but I think that'd be a bit too crazy. If I can find the Samsungn 193p for a decent price, I'll get it. Otherwise the BenQ FP951. Of course, I did have a dream last night where I said "screw LCDs altogether" and I bought an Epson Digital Projector instead (same price as a 19 inch LCD monitor now!!). Thing is - I can't really picture myself programming on a 300 inch screen, you know??
$1199 - Epson PowerLite S1, 800x600, 500:1, 1400 lumens, remote, 2 year, 33DB, 4:3/16:9, 30-300" image
Good 19" LCDs:
$1099 - Samsung 193P 19, silver, 800:1,250cd,20ms**,1280x1024, 3year, analog/digital
$849 - BenQ FPT951 19, black, 700:1, 250cd,25ms,1280x1024, 3year, analog/digital
$697 - Samsung 193s, black, 700:1, 250, 25ms, 1280x1024,3year, analog
$859 - Samsung 192N 19, silver, 500/700:1,250cd,25ms,1280x1024,3year, analog
Good 17" LCDs:
$799 - Samsung 172X 17, 500:1, 250cd, 12ms, flawless for gaming, analog/digital
$575 - BenQ FP767-12 17" LCD, 12ms (Black or Silver), analog***
$629 - BenQ FP767-16, 500:1, 300cd, 16ms, adrenalinevault says ok for gaming, analog
$597 - Viewsonic VE700 17, 450:1, 260cd, 16ms (typ), analog ***
$499 - NEC LCD1715-R 17 REFURB, 400:1, 250cd, 16ms (futureshop), analog
$579 - Samsung 172N, 450:1, 250cd, 25ms, analog
$659 - NEC LCD1715-R 17, 400:1, 250cd, 16ms (futureshop), analog
Crappy but Cheap 15 " LCD:
$499 - Samsung 152N, 350:1, 250cd, 25ms, analog
My Kingdom for a Monitor!
So, I'm on the hunt for a new monitor. I was originally thinking I'd get a new 19 inch CRT, but that's paying $200-300 for something I don't really want. For the last 3 years I've been telling myself "your next monitor will be a 19 inch LCD". They weigh less and are very sharp and small. The problem is that they ocst 3 times more than CRT monitors. Yesterday I realized that Futureshop and Staples will both do financing for monitors So, I could get one for $40/month. That might sound dumb, but this month my $200/month car payments end, so it'll actually be like I'm saving $160/month by getting a new LCD monitor, right? Did I mention that I'm a master rationalizer?
Rules for LCD Monitors:
Must have: no ghosting, 25ms or less response time, 250 brightness (or higher)
Should have: dvi input, 700:1 contrast ratio or better
Has anyone got a BenQ LCD Monitor? I might buy one, but don't know if they're okay for gaming or not, and can't find any reviews of them (they're new). Right now it's a toss-up between the BenQ FP951 and the Samsung 193P.
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Rogers eXtreme!
5mbps download, 800k upload, same price as regular highspeed, but you have to buy a $80 modem. Hook me up! Rogers eXtreme page
Setup a wifi hotspot in 10 minutes!
Quote of the Day: "we fall prey to the rampages of time"
Um, i think she meant "ravages".
In an attempt to reduce my sugar intake, i bought some Splenda the other day. It's made with modified sugar, not aspartame, so that's good, i think. It tastes very similar to sugar -- far more than Sweet N Low and the others. Now when I have coffee I put in a big spoonfull of Splenda and enjoy the lack of calories Also, I bought coffee whitener to use instead of cream.
I went to the new Low Carb Grocery store across from my house today. Salsa was $8.99. I walked out.
Half-Life 2 Case mod. Best ever!
Need some icons for your website? (like print, new post, comment, arrows, etc). Here are 300 icons for your website!
Interesting quote:
"Once you're in an urban environment, it strips out a lot of (America's) technology advantages," he said. "It puts you in a fair fight. And you don't want to be in a fair fight." Full article new new US soldier uniforms, dubbed "Future Force Warrior".
Cypress Hill toinght! w00t!
(i still have an extra ticket)