Well, minor updates. I’m a new uncle. My sister had a beautiful baby girl named Baily Mae, and my birthday is next week.
I won’t make a promise that I probably won’t keep, but if I get around to integrating my smugmug with wordpress, then I’ll post pictures/galleries of Baily
I’ll be doing something this Saturday, the 20th, weather permitting. If you have my cell/email and want to go, let me know and I’ll give you the details that I have.
-B
Happy Holidays everyone.
So, the death count of people that I consider friends or family is up to four this year. How sad. I’ve had 3 friends (Alex, Daniel, and Nate) and one uncle (Uncle Nikos) die this year. RIP to all my beloved.
Now for the rest of you, go out and BUY A HELMET. I don’t want to loose anyone else this year…I think it would be too much 
So, last friday I purchased a 2003 Toyota 4runner Limited with the 4.7l v8. It’s “Galatic Grey” with grey leather, heated seats, and the 10 speaker stereo, which is pretty decent for a factory system. I love it, it can go over speed bumps no problem and will go off road.
To make room for it, I had to sell my 325i. I actually miss the car already. I posted it on craiglist and it sold within 6 hours. I guess I’m happy for that, but I’m definately going to have to get a new one sometime in the future.
The CSS didn’t translate, so I’m going to have re-design the look of the site. It’s currently at the default look and feel –it won’t stay this way forever. Though, I’ve been so busy and not updating much recently, I hope to have this done within a week or so.
If you get any site errors please let me know, and thanks for bearing with me through the upgrade process!
-Brian
Not much of an update after so much dark time (sorry, I’ve been busy at work and thus and pretty boring).
Kittie is currently in the hospital at St. Vincents, in room #761 if any of our friends want to stop by and say hi. The doctors don’t know what’s wrong with her, but she’s on a 24/7 iv, up to hourly dosages of dilauded
She can’t really talk because her throat is SO infected/swollen, and she can’t eat/drink anything.
The most I’ve really heard from the doctors is,
“I would -not- want to be you..”
.
She’s been there for about 3 days now, so lets all hope she gets better soon!
Went out Wed night for Eric’s bachelor party. We had a few drinks (litterarlly, 2 or 3) to start the night off, then went to SyCart for go card racing. It was totally awesome 
. I am definately doing that again. After that we took Eric downtown to CC Slaughters, then Boiler Room, then Barcode, then the greek cuisina. Awesome night, up untill the end, when at 3am, my ride ran out of gas about a mile from my house.. it was a crappy walk.
All in all, it was a good night though.. I had enough fun to offset the walking home to get a gas can….
Pictures in the gallery!
So, I went to Fry’s this weekend and picked up another tv tuner card my MythTV box. It was a new retail version of the WinTV PVR-150 that now includes a grey remote (which looks different from the grey remote that the 250 comes with) — Anyways, I was having some problems getting the 150 to work with the IVTV 0.4 drivers, it kept getting detected as a WinTV PVR-250. After looking at lspci -v I relized I noticed that it was being reported mostly correctly, but the 150 had a device id showing of unknown device 0003, where as the 250 was shown correctly as a 250.
0000:01:01.0 Multimedia video controller: Internext Compression Inc iTVC16 (CX23
416) MPEG-2 Encoder (rev 01)
Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc.: Unknown device 0003
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 11
Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable)
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2
I went into the IVTV 0.4 drivers source directory and grepped 0003, finding a reference in ivtv-cards.c. Upon futher inspection, it was listed under the device id listings for a 250, which would explain why it was being detected a such. I removed it from the 250 section and added it to the 150 section, and now it works great! Below is the area of file I changed, with the only change being removing the line {PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×0003}, from the 250 section up above it into the 150 section.
static const struct ivtv_card_pci_info ivtv_pci_pvr150[] = {
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×8801},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×8003},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0xe807},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×0807},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0xe817},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0xc801},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×0801},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×0009},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×0003},
// New Hauppauge vendor ID?
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, 0×0270, 0×0801},
{0, 0, 0}
};static const struct ivtv_card_pci_info ivtv_pci_pvr250[] = {
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV15, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×4001},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×4009},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV15, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×4801},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×4801},
{PCI_DEVICE_ID_IVTV16, IVTV_PCI_ID_HAUPPAUGE, 0×4803},
We all know how much the RIAA sucks, and finally, a non-no-name band is sticking it to the RIAA too.. Havey Danger..the band that put out ‘Flagpole Sitta‘ in the mid 90’s (Yes, I saw the at Big Stink, along with Green Day and Crystal Method… so ya see, they can’t be that small, even if you’ve never heard of them:P ) has put out their new cd ‘Little By Little‘ completely free, in MP3 and OGG format. This is the ENTIRE cd, in high quality, not samples, not previews, and not select tracks. They are offering it completely free via direct download, and bittorrent. They are asking that if you like the music, that you donate, or buy the physical cd. I know I like Flagpole Sitta, and while I’m still downloading the album, I’ve already donated $5, just to stick it to the RIAA and PROVE that they’re not needed, that people DO buy music and are willing to pay for it, at a reasonable price. Harvey Danger doesn’t even ask for a specific amount, just that you contribute.
So everyone, go download the album, and give them whatever you think is fair, and stick it to the RIAA while you’re at.
Bittorrent Links:
Little By Little – MP3
Little By Little – OGG
Today is apparently the ‘no fucking way’ day.
As you can see from this BoingBoing article, the Japanese now have a live lobster vending machine that apparently. It costs 100 yen for 1 try (think, arcade claw machine) and apparently 500yen for 6 tries. This is less than $1 and $5 respectively… holy lobster batman!
If you want to know more about crazy Japanese vending machines, check out this site about Japanese vending machines
Apparently, hurricane Katrina loosed something a bit more dangerous than we all originally thought.
From The Guardian
It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Experts who have studied the US navy’s cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying ‘toxic dart’ guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet’s smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.
‘My concern is that they have learnt to shoot at divers in wetsuits who have simulated terrorists in exercises. If divers or windsurfers are mistaken for a spy or suicide bomber and if equipped with special harnesses carrying toxic darts, they could fire,’ he said. ‘The darts are designed to put the target to sleep so they can be interrogated later, but what happens if the victim is not found for hours?’
I’m thinking about switching away from my current gallery software and moving everything to Flickr. If any of you have opinions on Flickr, let me know. If there’s anything you like or dislike about my current Gallery software, please let me know that as well.
(J, I know what you think about Gallery, no need to unleash a torrent of furry on me 
)
Check out the gallery, I uploaded about 15 new pictures..
So, I was just informed that my friend Shayna was robbed in Rome. Got all her money and passport.
Sucks.
I think she had travelers checks, so at least she should be able to recover the money, but loosing your passport in a foreign country sucks a big one.
So, I was cruising home late last night when BOOM@#&*^ …what’s that smell? Burning rubber? I pull over and my tire is completely flat, I look up the road and see what caused it.. a nice big fat rock that someone so kindly left on barns (most likely while walking home drunk — Wally has done that before) SO, I get my spare out and get ready to jack up the car..and I notice that I didn’t get the tire iron. I go back to the trunk and look around for it… ‘…where the hell is my tire iron?’ …no where to be found. So I had to call Speeds Towing (thankfully my insurance covers roadside service) to come change my tire because I was missing my tire iron and can’t get the wheel off without it. Anyways, I check out the wheel and it’s completely destroyed, no way to salvage it at all.. about 5″ along the outer edge was all bent in. So I had to get new wheels. I couldn’t replace just that one because the previous owner had had them chromed.. they were more or less unique (who chromes stock wheels anyway?). BMW wheels are also overpriced, compared to a lot of the aftermarket wheels. So, I went to America’s Tire Co. and they took pretty good care of me. They actually took a wheel I was looking at and put it on my car so I could see it in person, which I think is pretty nice, they didn’t really have to do that and a lot of companies wouldn’t. He knocked $3 off each wheel (which isn’t much, but was still kinda nice) which brought the price down to $130/wheel which is really good. He also bought two of my tires for $20/each and threw in new lug nuts, valve stems and caps for free; they were good valve stems too.. nice metal ones, not that rubber cheap ones that a lot of places use.
So, there’s a good side and a bad side. This used all the money I had put aside for the bike, but I do have a nice set of new 17″ wheels and tires. I had needed new tires too..my front ones were bald and about ready to blow out anyways.
I wheels I got are Enkei DM5’s. I like them…and they grow on me more and more. I also got wider tires this time around.. went from 205/60-15’s to 215/45-17’s. I wanted to put 225’s on, but I’m glad I didn’t..I don’t think they would actually fit without rubbing in the rear. Most 3 series BMW’s can take up to a 245 in the rear, but since my car is lowered, I would have to roll the rear fenders to make that fit.
So, here’s a pic of the goods.
So, Justin finally brought in pictures of the bike he’s willing to sell me.
Here’s a pic of the actual bike:
So, today, I witnessed the most disgusting thing on the Internet. I’ve seen almost everything on the Internet, and this blew me away. I’m not going to post a link, or even describe it, because it was THAT gross. I just wanted to express my shock at seeing something on the Internet that still surprised me 
So, I saw a really cool article today, about new metal alloy’s.. I don’t normally care about new metal alloys, and I’m betting most of you don’t, but I do care about cool new ways to do things, and the enhancement to everyday products some of these things bring about.
This new metal alloy called Liquid Metal, or Metallic Glass (I think it’s produced under both names) has a molecular structure more similar to liquids, and glass then to standard metal. The stuff that’s been produced so far is 10 times stronger than the current strongest industrial steel, which is pretty strong stuff.
Article here.
So, as some of you may know, I purchased a metal sculpture on eBay (from Gensic Creative Metals) for $20 + shipping and handling. I got the base model, no extras like finish or color, because I was going to do that all on my own. The extras cost, well, extra and shipping was already going to be $40.
Here’s pictures of what I bought:
Well, that was almost a month ago. So, I emailed the guy and asked what was up, last night. He responded in a very timely manor and said he shipped it like two weeks ago, and gave me the insurance code from USPS. Well, I got an email this morning saying he just got it back, returned to sender and was wondering if I had did that because it was damaged. I said no, I never got it or returned it. He then send me a picture of how he received it back from USPS:
Anyways, he was very apologetic and offered to send me one WITH the metal finish right away. Now, I understand things do sometimes go wrong, and things do get trashed in the mail.. props to him for making it right.
Rae emailed this to me, asking that I put it up, so here it is:
BBC NEWS
Canada gives seal hunt go-ahead
Canada has given the go-ahead for what is expected to be one of the
biggest seal hunts in the country for decades.The government says the hunt is now more humane and that more than
300,000 seals can be killed this year.The seal population is reaching record levels as commercial fish
stocks are vanishing, the authorities say.Animal rights campaigners, who say the hunt is cruel, have called for
a boycott of Canadian seafood before the hunt which is due to start on
29 March.The two-month hunt takes place on ice floes off the Atlantic coast
where the seals give birth.The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said in a statement that
Canada’s seal population was healthy and abundant.“The harp seal herd – the most important seal herd for this industry -
is estimated at around five million animals, nearly the highest level
ever recorded, and almost triple what it was in the 1970s.”Large-scale hunting will be allowed to continue until the number falls
to under four million.One official told the AFP news agency: “We have to do our job
responsibly. We are looking at the middle ground, taking into account
conservation and the economic needs of the region.”Uncomfortable images
But anti-hunt activists, who say many animals are skinned alive and
die in agony, say they will press ahead with the boycott.“I think that [the Canadian government] are feeling the heat… they
can see the really serious implication of going ahead with the hunt
this year,” said Pat Ragan, of the Humane Society of the United
States.“We’re going to be encouraging consumers to enter into dialogue with
their grocery stores and their restaurants and say ‘Please don’t serve
Canadian seafood’ or ‘I won’t buy Canadian seafood until this hunt is
over’,” she told Reuters news agency.The seal hunt in Newfoundland and Labrador went into decline some 25
years ago, after images of hunters clubbing infant seals horrified TV
viewers across the world.Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4374051.stm
So, I just noticed that somehow, comment spam has been bypassing ALL my spam filters. Infact, somehow, they’ve bypassed the normal comment processes completely, as I’m not even getting comment notifications at all on these. So, I guess it’s time to upgrade to 1.5. I hope this won’t fubar my WordPress theme. If you happen to check the page over the weekend and it looks funky, that’s because I’m in the processes of upgrading
See ya on the flip side.