Palin's speech was painful. So painful, in fact, that I dedicated a broken car wash in her name ... or rather, in the name Governor Sarah Failin'. However, it appears that's something she's actually failed at!

WOW.

I really want to see the v.p. debates on October 2. This is going to be utter hilarity! She's going to get her hockey mom arse handed to her SO HARD. XDDDDDD

She literally had nothing to say about politics, about actually being a vice president... so she just went on and on about her family, and when it came time to talk about her stint as governor of Alaska, she just outright lied about the dumbass bridge to nowhere project.

Seriously, her whole speech was all just digging a giant hole into which she pulled herself and John McCain, then pulled the dirt over their heads.

SELF-PWNED.

Oh, I leave you with this additional note from the Washington Post article about her failed business ventures ---

Palin's gubernatorial disclosure filings also reveal her involvement in another failed startup -- a marketing business which was to go by the name Rouge Cou, which evidently is a literal French translation of "red neck." On the 2005 form, Palin describes the firm as one for which she secured a license but did not conduct any business.

Yep. If you haven't already, register to vote. Your opinion counts this year more than ever.

Apparently, I found the solution to all your problems if you own a Ford.

<EvilSpork> http://www.taurusclub.com/encyclopedia/G3/963cup.JPG Yes that's a SEATBELT there uh
<EvilSpork> they think supposedly
<EvilSpork> you can use the position between the two front seats
<EvilSpork> with the flip-fold console folded back and the armrests as a back
<EvilSpork> as an actual seat
<EvilSpork> i would not fucking try it ever
<EvilSpork> I actually removed that seatbelt from ours because it kept getting tangled in the track and jamming the driver's seat adjustment
<EvilSpork> actually i found that a lot of problems on that car could be solved by removing shit
<EvilSpork> poor performance? remove the air intake silencer (which melts over time and restricts airflow!)
<EvilSpork> leaky coolant tank blowing out stinky coolant? remove the rubber seal from the cap and drill a hole in it!
<EvilSpork> stupid piece of shit burns its transmission? REMOVE CAR


So far, I have not had to remove anything from my current car in a similar manner. ^^

I did just find out how to add rear speakers, though. Surprise... the wiring is already there and stuff. All that's needed is to snap out the gray (at least on this model) oblong panels above the rear seat armrests. As an added bonus, snapping that out gave me access to push out the dent left by someone opening the door of an Excursion against my car when I went to the MSI show in Fort Lauderdale. POIT! That took three seconds and I'd been putting it off for months. XD

Now presenting... The King Amp-li-tone.

This beauty converts a pair of headphones into a horn speaker you can all gather around, stick your ears practically into the horn, and STILL not be able to hear what's going on in there. :D

... I want to get one of these and confuse people horribly with it.

Ok guys, what is an ISO standard roommate?

Apparently, my physics lab this semester is the 'experimental' lab. This means...

1. Weirdass fluffy survey at the beginning.
2. No lab manual.
3. Fee for nonexistent lab manual??
4. Half-written instructions distributed via photocopies at beginning of session.
5. No real lab reports.
6. No CAPA quizzes.
7. Mysterious grading. It's assumed that if you're there and do the lab, you probably just get an A automatically. Or do you? Nobody knows!

Buh.

I can't argue with not having the extra quizzes and the lab reports and stuff, but still... what?

I know part of what we're doing is testing a new method of presenting the lab data, since a lot of the old data analysis that was done as part of the lab reports is now impossible in newer versions of Microsoft Office. Seriously, those reports were IMPOSSIBLE to do on any version after 2000. If you've got Office 2000, KEEP IT -- it's the last GOOD version, and not all of its features are replicated in OpenOffice yet.

First day of classes.... it went pretty well. My calculus class which was about half full got turned into a multivariable calculus class with no students due to budget limitations, so the professor's going to get paid for teaching multivariable calc to nobody instead of single variable to 14 students.

...Buh.

I took another section with the same professor. Problem solved.

To make a silly equation, I have an overwhelming urge to place one thing within another wherein it does not belong:



+

=
lulz.

The orientation office unblocked our storage room again, so I was able to get back there and find... voila... a pile of old Hell Opticraps. Some may be functional, but none are good enough to use anymore... therefore, I'm going to AKTIV - SCHAUM the worst of them. Yes, this will be posted to Youtube, because there aren't nearly enough videos of people destroying annoying electronics on there.

Meanwhile, I leave you all with the Inflata-Sphinx:



Yeah, I know it's a big panther-arch-thingy, but it looks a bit like the Sphinx, with a better nose... doesn't it?

Apparently, that gray crap that builds up in a washing machine when someone uses fabric softener has a name, and that name is ....

Scrud

"Scrud is the name given to the waxy build-up that can occur within any washer when fabric softener comes into contact with detergent. This build-up is not brought about by a fault in the machine. If scrud is allowed to build-up in the machine it can result in stains on your clothes or an unpleasant smell in your washer."

- Fisher & Paykel GWL11 washing machine Owner's Manual.

The day someone comes up with a fabric softener that doesn't smell like fake floral butt and leave laundry feeling like it's been deep fried, I might consider using softener. Until then, I just don't. I can't say I miss it. ^^

... so why are we waiting in line again? really, why is anyone waiting in line? we're all going the same places in the world, having at least vaguely similar experiences, and facing the same challenges. most of time, the order doesn't matter.

it just seems absurd all of a sudden. ever had one of those moments when your mind starts analyzing everything to death, including common words? wtf is up with mushroom? i can imagine some may be mushy... but the room part? i can make no sense of this.

This may not be in the form that most would normally consider, but here's a particularly nice 1980s robot in action.



It lives at a slightly weird gas station though. There was a guy doing detailing services there, or somewhere nearby, who kept downright irritatingly promoting his services, then followed me to and INTO the wash bay, asking why I wasn't just taking my bird poop-bejeweled car to him. He came up on the right side of the car when the machine was near the end of its foam bath mode, went to knock on the window while standing near its right rear arm, and... well... CLICK! WHIRR! SLAPSLAPSLAPSLAP!

Those 'pinwheel' brushes are not a dermatologist recommended means of facial cleansing.

In retrospect I should have gotten THAT on video, but I was just annoyed with him and decided to exclude him. Darn... that would have been funny, too. :P

Today's the CSO president's orientation. I know just about nothing about it other than that it's loooooong. I've heard nothing about officers' orientation under the new system.. does that exist too? o.o

I'm so tempted to steal some of the abandoned equipment down at our transmitter site. XD

I went down there today to try getting the 147.000, APRS digi, and 442.350 back on the air, and to perform some maintenance on the WRGP gear.

The WRGP stuff was in good shape, though the room's floor is mysteriously littered with dead centipedes...?

---

CENTIPEDES?

IN MY TRANSMIITTER ROOM?

It's more likely than you think!

---

I wasn't able to get into the breaker panel to reset power to the ham repeaters up at 1400', so... meh. We've got other repeaters for now. The NBC6 guys will probably have to give us ye olde reset. Hopefully the gear up at 1400' isn't all soaked or anything... it pretty much got two solid days of High Impact washdown. We'd be lucky to find that it hasn't turned into a car* up there or something.

But yeah... there are FM and TV transmitters just littering the halls there. One of the FMs is completely fried, one of them is all tube and probably is not, and... well, it just goes on and on. WTF?

I have no clue what I'd do with a 15kW FM, though. At least for now, WRGP's not going to be able to get licensed to use that much power.

Oh, you all will be pleased to know that I bitchslapped a Harris Quest. It decided not to turn back on immediately after I hit its ON button, so I gave it a nice karate chop to the FACE. That brought it promptly back on line. XD

Meanwhile... I think I've pretty much gotten the media/color management issues worked out with the solid ink printer we've been playing with here. Fun stuff.

I'm looking to get back to making silly comics.. and when I do... I'll have the ability to make nice prints with that. The color kicks ASS compared to inkjet... it comes out like a magazine page, but not all smudge-o-matic glossy or flimsy! Woot. I'll do some aging tests to see if I'm going to need to find a way to UV coat prints from that (read: leave one taped to a tree for a few days).

Someone actually e-mailed me last night asking whether Blue Neon is still in the works. The answer is, yes, it is. Yay.

* Severe Mindfuck Warning: Watch that whole movie, and your brain will shit bricks.

I hereby declare this to be the broadcast automation system of the new millenium.

Double repeater failure.

EOC radio room made of fail.

No really good communications plans.

Yep.

If this were a severe storm, I'd be like... crap.

Since it's such a weak storm, though, I'm just like LOLWUT.

Also, from the LOLWUT department... I found out that the state of programming software for a Yaesu FT-7800R is a sad one. There are two, and only two, options:

1. G4FHQ's FTB7800. From what I've heard, it's got a good interface, the guy who writes it provides excellent support, and it works quite well. However, the only thing the trial version will do before you buy it for $18.50 is to let you read, view, and edit data from the radio... but not to put it back in there.

2. RT Systems' ADMS-2K. RT Systems is ... um... special. They're the publishers of the "official" programming software for certain Yaesu, Icom, and Kenwood products. However, their software has a bad user interface, is unreliable, and has copy protection that makes the software completely unusable, after you've paid quite a bundle for it. From personal experience with their IC-W32A software, I can assure you all that their products are broken right out of the box, and they will provide NO support or refunds. RT Systems' cables are pretty good --- that's all I can say for them.

I think I'm just going to be buying G4FHQ's software one of these days.

By the way, the FT-7800 programming interface works with an Icom CI-V adapter pinned out to the right pins for GND and PTT on the FT-7800's DATA jack. This is a PS/2 connector -- chop up your least favorite keyboard or mouse!

Rainfall so far: Unknown. Rain gauge blew over. XD Radar: 2.5-4 inches.

Winds so far: Estimated 35 mph gusts. This is not even tropical storm intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Magic Smoke: Almost released from one FT-7800R. I connected the head unit to the radio unit with a random 6-pin RJ14 cable I found in a box... but one end was on BACKWARDS! An offensive smell was emitted from the head unit as the radio merely made thumping noises. No Magic Smoke came out.

Next to me here, I have the sweetest girl there ever is. <3

Now presenting: Broadcast engineers creating lulz.

 _    ___ _____ ___    ___  ___   ___ ___  _   ___ _  _ ___ _____ _____ ___ _ 
| |  / _ \_   _/ __|  / _ \| __| / __| _ \/_\ / __| || | __|_   _|_   _|_ _| |
| |_| (_) || | \__ \ | (_) | _|  \__ \  _/ _ \ (_ | __ | _|  | |   | |  | ||_|
|____\___/ |_| |___/  \___/|_|   |___/_|/_/ \_\___|_||_|___| |_|   |_| |___(_)

Also, anyone who plays the "everbody panic" card on the mere tropical thunderstorm we're getting early this week is going to receive my silly engineer wrath! Note to self... create fake NHC color enhanced radar loop page that ends in YouTube Poop-like sequences. XD

Well, I just got home a little while ago...

Anyone else notice that it seems a great effort is being made to ensure that nobody can get anywhere throughout southeast Florida lately?

Up in Broward tonight, all the traffic lights were out of sync. I mean... maliciously out of sync. They would be green for maybe 3 seconds, and stop the flow of traffic at every light. Down here in Miami-Dade, the same is true, AND we're losing a pretty huge chunk of our public transit.

Cut from SouthFloridaTransit... and yes, I got this a bit late!

There is a public meeting schedule tommarrow (8/12/2008) at 6:30p at
the W. Dade Regional Library located at Coral Way (SW 24 St) and SW 94
Ave on the SERVICE CANCELLATIONS, effective: Sunday, Novemember 16,
2008, of routes:
1
52
56
57
73
136
224
240
287
344

- Joseph Esquilin

Here's the worst case scenario for November. It is not etched in stone. The county commission will vote on Sept. 2nd. Contact your local commissioner and tell them to adequately fund transit.

Routes to be eliminated: 1, 28, 42, 48, 56, 57, 75, R, 238, 240, 243, 246, 267, 287.
Weekend service: 32, 73, 75,
Headway reduction: 2, 24, 33, 37, 40, 51, 54, 62, 71, 93, B, H, K, M, 248.
Re-alignments:
2 discontinue north of 84th street.
3 discontinue south of Omni.
8 discontinue east of Brickell
9 discontinue south of Omni.
12 remove Civic Center loop
16 discontinue south of Omni.
21 discontinue north of 79th street.
22 discontinue south of Flagler.
24 discontinue east of Brickell
40 discontinue west of 117th av.
51 discontinue Omni leg
54 short turn every other trip at Okeechobee
93 discontinue south of Omni
95 eliminate trips from Miami Av
97 minor re-alignment
B discontinue CBD trips
C discontinue south of Omni
E discontinue west of Golden Glades
H discontinue Skylake section
K discontinue north of 193rd street
M discontinue South Pointe loop
S discontinue south of Omni
120 discontinue south of Omni
249 minor re-alignment.

- BusProwler.


Any bets on how long it'll be before it becomes necessary to just friggin' dike out trustworthy, wonderful old mdta.html?* I'm guessing another year of such mismanagement and our public transit will be gone for good.

* mdta.html is a hack used to quickly access schedule info, as a workaround for broken html and forms on the MDTA website.

i saw a cd lens cleaning disc at cvs which claimed to clean and demagnetize the player's lens. pesky plastic lenses... always getting magnetized.

Rane is awesome. XD

Why's that? Oh, here's why - the PI-14 Pseudoacoustic Infector.

I'll need a 33 1/3 hz, 119 volt, 12 KW power supply, though. Anyone know where to get one of those? XD

(Even if you have no clue what I'm talking about, read the specs on the PI-14. It's hilarious.)

This last weekend was, of course, Yasumicon. I had a great time there, despite a few little issues with management. I refuse to comment further.

I think I probably bounced all the way through the showing of Batman: Gotham Nights.

So, imagine my utter SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE when this shows up in my inbox:

Stern's new Batman pinball machine!

OH DEAR ERIS. This looks AWESOME. XD

The software's not complete yet, so a lot of the really cool features it will undoubtedly have ... just aren't there yet. This is typical in pinball development; a "whitewood" [no artwork yet!] model is built and play-tested with simple features, then a next to finished prototype with art will be tested, sometimes being placed on location at an arcade or cafe or something in Chicago. After some observations and comments are collected on the game design, the final development work is finished, and full production begins.

I love the idea of having the game turn off all its lights but the city skyline! Pretty... and eerie. Hopefully, this will not have the old Stern Whitestar system weirdness of having all the general illumination lamps controlled by the same pansy-sounding relay. There's a reason Williams used Triacs. XD

I can't wait to find one of these babies in an arcade somewhere around here. Since it's Stern, which was somehow once related to Sega (I can't even remember how), Gameworks is bound to have them once they ship. Wheee.. ^_^

How to clean your microphones

No, there is no excuse for having slobbery, *stinky* microphones. CLEAN YOUR MICROPHONES!





I'm not a germophobe or anything, but literally get goosebumps and shudder a bit on the mere thought of nasty mics. Eeeeewwww.

It gets really funny sometimes to analyze commercials for Axe and Tag products.

First, a new one:



The message? Axe will give you brutal, mechanical scrubbing with abrasive pads, delivered by a bunch of ladies who all look alike on trapezes or some shite.

Second, well, I don't even need to link to a video for this, because you've already seen it: Use this body spray, and you will be killed or mauled by throngs of silicone-enhanced girls.


The bottom line: Don't use this crap. Pew. ^^