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My Brand New 2003 Silver Echo Sedan [541 replies]
Why I Hate Microsoft Visual Basic 6 [372 replies]
The Complete First Season of Alias on DVD [606 replies]
Family Guy May Return to Network TV [1750 replies]
Wireless Internet and No Laptop [1234 replies]
Spiderman 2 Trailer is Released [2690 replies]
Penguin Warehouse, Inc. [585 replies]
A Computer Scientist and Engineer Joke [311 replies]
Wil Wheaton Has a Weblog [511 replies]
Brad Pineau
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Posted by Brad Pineau on October 1st, 2003 at 8:55 am AST [12746 views]
Well, I'm sure you all know that PEI was pummelled by Hurricane Juan. I didn't get any pictures taken myself, but I've composed some links and thumnails of the most awesome and shocking photos taken. I'll keep adding more as I find them.
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Posted by Brad Pineau on October 3rd, 2003 at 12:13 am AST [12342 views]
After reading several positive reviews for Skype, a Windows application that allows you to talk to your friends over the internet for free, I decided to download it and test it out myself.Turns out it is awesome. Even using a cheap $16.95 headset, the sound quality sounded really decent. I was getting a little feedback, but I'm guessing it's because of my cheap headset.
Making the call was really easy too - all you need to do is add your friend to your Skype contact list, highlight their name, and make the call. As long as you have some sort of microphone, you can use this program to call any of your friends that also have the program installed.
If you haven't already downloaded Skype, I say do it now.
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 5th, 2003 at 2:47 pm AST [2783 views]
The next handheld video game system to hit the market is the Nokia N-Gage. While Nokia is new to the video game industry, the N-Gage is looking pretty cool. Not only is it a gaming system with graphics as equally impressive as the Gameboy Advance, but the N-Gage is also a tri-band mobile phone, MP3 player, FM Radio, and a personal assistant with email, internet browsing and instant messaging.The Nokia N-Gage website has lots of goodies... especially the featured games video.
N-Gage should hit the shelves in Canada sometime in October. Save up your money for this puppy.. it's gonna cost you around $400 ($299 USD). A little steep? Maybe... but you'd be the coolest geek on the block.
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 6th, 2003 at 1:52 pm AST [10207 views]
Radical Entertainment, the Vancouver based developer of games such as The Hulk, Dark Angel, and Simpsons Road Rage, is now looking to fill more than a dozen game developer positions.Radical is going all out in search for the best employees... they are offering incentives suchs as seasons tickets to hockey games for the Vancouver Canucks, a fully equipped gym, a kitchen stocked with free food, passes to local ski slopes, and a "competitive relocation package".
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 9th, 2003 at 10:20 pm AST [5329 views]
Being a Survivor fan since the 1st season, I've seen about every episode, and I've got to say that the seventh season of Survivor is turning out to be one of the best.Tonight's episode was especially awesome. Not only did we get to Rupert sport a new dress, but we see a mutany (the Drake tribe decide to throw an immune competition to kick someone out) and 2 backstabbings (2 members of Burton's alliance decide to vote him out). And on top of all this, we see an angry Jeff Probst at the tribal councel (he suspected that Drake threw the challenge).
If you haven't been watching this season, I suggest you at least catch the next episode. I think you're going to see the underdog Morgan tribe (who have lost every single challenge this far) turn themselves around... especially now that they have Rupert catching them fish.
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 9th, 2003 at 11:34 pm AST [7714 views]
One of the biggest pains about living in an apartment building is having to put up with loud neighbors.
When we first moved into this apartment building, we had vacant apartments on all sides, mainly because we moved in May, which is the end of the year for UPEI students. Now that the new semester has started, our building is full... and we've got the most annoying neighbors who moved in next door... we call them "The Girls of 302".
I think these girls listen to music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And they have their bass turned up to the max. The music just pounds through the walls, and it is very very annoying.
We first resorted to pounding on the walls to get them to stop. (*sigh* I feel like an old man.) Pounding on the walls never worked - they either ignored us or pounded back. So then my girlfriend started calling the apartment landlords, and complaining. That has worked everytime. However, about an hour ago, the girls of 302 starting up with the music again. It was especially annoying because I was trying to watch Survivor. Zoe called Art, our landlord, and complained again. His repsonse, "302, eh? Ok." And since then, the music still continues. It appears as though the landlord hasn't done anything about it yet.
So now here's the problem. Pounding doesn't get them to stop. Calling the landlord doesn't get them to stop. What the heck can I do to get them to stop?
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 10th, 2003 at 12:05 am AST [5478 views]
What's the difference between an engineer and a computer scientist?
An engineer thinks there's 1000 bytes in a kilobyte, and a computer scientist thinks there's 1024 meters in a kilometer.
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 10th, 2003 at 11:55 pm AST [8159 views]
This post is moreso directed to those to actually know what trackback is... for this who don't know, this is pretty good explaination of what it is and how it works (and it has pictures).
To sum it up - trackback gives you the ability to see when others are talking about you, and linking to you. However, this only works when the other user wants to use it. So if I wanted to let someone know I'm writing a post about one of their posts, I get their trackback URL for that post from their site, and then my weblog will ping their weblog when I create my post, and my newly created post will be added to their post's trackback list. Simple eh? =)
My weblog system currently does not support trackback. I have always considered building the support in, but I've never really felt like it was worth it. So I'm basically asking if it's worth it or not.
Should my weblog support trackback, or is it just one of those fancy pants features that no one really uses? Comments? Suggestions?
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 11th, 2003 at 11:32 pm AST [4701 views]
Tonight I saw Quentin Tarantino's newest Writing/Directing masterpeice, Kill Bill. Without a doubt, this movie had the look and feel of Tarantino... it had a story flow similar to that of Pulp Fiction, the violence and gore like From Dusk Till Dawn and Reservoir Dogs, and an upbeat and wacky soundtrack expected from a Tarantino film. Also to note, this film took the Tarantino genre to a whole new level with an awesome Matrix-like action seqeunce. For those who aren't familiar with Kill Bill, the storyline is about an assasin called The Bride who awakes from a four yeat coma, and seeks revenege against those who tried to kill her.
The story is split up into two "Volumes". The first Volumne is the film currently in theatres, and the second is set to hit the big screen in 2004. I was never really a big fan of movies that left you hanging at the very end, and continued into the sequel, but I felt pretty satisfied with only seeing Volume One of this story.
I recommend seeing this film.. but I'll warn you though, expect to see a lot of blood. And I mean a lot of it. That being said, I give the movie 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 15th, 2003 at 7:12 pm AST [4837 views]
Over the weekend, I started reading The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit is like a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's an adventure story about Bilbo Baggins and his thirteen drarvish friends, who embark on a quest for treasure. Wrapped into the story, we get to see how Bilbo first came upon the Ring, and we are shown the background to a lot of references used in the Lord of the Rings.I thought that this book was an awesome read. So much so.. that I finished the book last night. I just couldn't put it down. Having never read any of Tolkien's books before, I really felt that it had the feel of the Lord of the Rings movies. The differences I really noticed was that there were a lot of songs in the book, and I felt that the Elves were protrayed much differently than they were in the Lord of the Rings movies. In The Hobbit, they seemed like jolly folk, who sang and danced and had no worries in the world... while in the movies they were stern and very serious.
My plan now is to read the Lord of the Rings books. I think I should be able to get through all three books before LOTR: Return of the King is released in theatres this December. That being said, I can't decide if I should actually read the third book or not, before going to see it in theatres. Does anyone have any opinions on this? Would I enjoy the movie more having not read the third book? I know I really enjoyed seeing the first two movies having no prior knowledge of the story. But it would be really cool to know the story, and then see it play out on the big screen.
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 16th, 2003 at 7:13 pm AST [4621 views]
To celebrate the release of SoloKeep 2.1, Solostar Software is giving away ten free copies of SoloKeep 2.1!To enter your name in the drawing, all you need to do is add your name to the Solotar Software mailing list. Enter now!
The draw will be held on November 1st. All winners will be contacted by email shortly afterwards.
What is SoloKeep, you ask? SoloKeep is a Windows application that stores all of your passwords in one convenient spot. Whether it be website login information, FTP accounts, or your unix passwords, SoloKeep will remember them all so you don't have to. SoloKeep will protect your passwords from others by double-encrypting it, and with password protection.
Download SoloKeep 2.1 now.
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 21st, 2003 at 1:17 am AST [5968 views]
The newest freeware release from Solostar Software, SoloGen 1.0, is now available for download. SoloGen is a password generator that can create completely random and near impossible to guess passwords for you to use in your various applications and website logins.SoloGen is the same password generator embedded in SoloKeep 2.1.
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 21st, 2003 at 1:36 am AST [2815 views]
Today after work, I stopped by the Cash Converters in Charlottetown looking for deals, and wouldn't you know it... I found one.They were selling the first season of Alias on DVD for only $24.99. I've never watched the show on TV, but I'm a die hard DVD collector, and I love buying TV series on DVD. Still, it was a risk to buy a DVD set of a show I've never seen, but I love TV shows that carry on the storyline from episode to episode... so I ended up buying it (along with a home renovations book for $2.99).
So after watching the first 3 episodes, I've got to say that it's an awesome show. I had known that it was about a secret agent or something, but not a double agent - which makes it all the more cooler. Plus, there is 22 episodes in total in the DVD set (there is only 8 episodes in my OZ first season DVD set), so I still have plenty of Alias to watch.
So if you're channel surfing some night, and you happen to swing by an episode of Alias, I recommend staying a few minutes.. it's actually quite a good show.
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 23rd, 2003 at 10:31 am AST [62633 views]
Thanks to Scooter for the heads up... you can now watch Family Guy, Futurama, and I think even The Simpons online, at SaltWaterChimp.com. It's a very decent stream too... using the NSVPlayX video stream by Nullsoft.
As awesome as this is... I've gotta ask... is this legal? How can this site stream these cartoons for free?
Also, if you want to help bring back family guy, head over to Petiton Spot, and sign the Bring Back Family Guy petition.
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 25th, 2003 at 1:54 pm AST [53677 views]
A couple of weeks ago, I ordered something from Half.com, and I choose for it to be shipped via the ground method (any faster method would have cost me at least $65 more).
Well, the item was shipped from Ohio, and I was given a USPS tracking number. A few days later, I checked the status of my tracking number, and it said the item was accepted and signed for in Michigan.
Three days ago, I got an email from Half.com saying my item has cleared customs, and I was given a CanadaPost tracking number.
Since I first received the tracking number by email, the status of my item has yet to be updated on the CanadaPost site. When I go to check the status, I get a message saying:
If your item was sent recently, the status may not yet be available. Please allow one business day and try again.
Three days later, and my CanadaPost tracking number still wont work. And when I check my USPS tracking number, it says my item is still in Michigan.
What is the point of tracking numbers if they aren't accurate? To me, a tracking number should tell you where your package is NOW, not where is was a few days ago.
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 30th, 2003 at 1:36 am AST [6645 views]
According to this article, Physicist John Cramer of the University of Washington in Seattle has created a WAV file depicting what he beleives the Big Bang sounded like. He was prompted to carry out the research after an 11-year-old boy wanted to know what the Big Bang sounded like for a school project.
It's news like this that really makes you wonder if scientists really know what they're talking about. I'm sure they have research and evidence to support their theories... but who's going to challenge them?
Posted by Brad Pineau on October 30th, 2003 at 7:42 pm AST [44305 views]
I have compiled a list of what I believe will be this years Oscar Nominations. The names in bold are my predicted winners. Please note that these are my predications of nominations and winners, not necessarily the nominations I would choose myself. The list may change slightly, depending on what movies come out in the remaining two months.
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