My new "stack" icons

Aren't they sexy?

I got them from here. There aren't that many to choose form, but they beat having to make them on your own ;-)

I don't normally keep the dock that large, but I did it for the purpose of the screen shot.

iWeb - my review on it

Today I decided to test out "iWeb".

You can see the page I made using iWeb on this test site:
http://dig.knight47.com/iWeb/Testing_iWeb.html

Give that page a read for my short and simple review on iWeb.

Got Game

"Got Game" is a great read for anyone that is either into video games or knows someone that is, or if you just want to know more about the benefits video games have on the work force.
If you haven't already read it, I'd recommend you do. You can probably find a copy to borrow at the library, but if not you could get it at most book stores.

I'd check the library first; that way if you don't like it, you didn't waste any money.

PCs are not only Windows!

Since when has the term "PC" become associated with the Windows operating system?
PC stands for "Personal Computer", any computer that qualifies as a PC is a PC.
A Macintosh is a PC.

To qualify as a PC, the following three conditions must be met:

1, small enough to fit inside your home.
2, affordable enough for the general public to buy.
3, easy enough for the average population to use.

Years ago, a computer was too large to fit in the home, they were very expensive, and they were so complicated that only someone in the field of computer science could use them.

A PC is what everyone uses today. It doesn't matter the manufacture or operating system!

Windows is SOFTWARE. A PC is HARDWARE.

Mac is both software and hardware. The software is the operating system (such as Mac OS X). The hardware is the PC (iMac, Macbook, Mac Mini, etc.)

I'm tired of people saying "Do you use a PC or a Mac". THEY ARE BOTH PCs YOU MORON!

The "Mac vs. PC" commercials don't really help, they feed into the publics stupidity by actually associated the term "PC" with the Windows operating system.

The creation of the PC started in 1971. with Palo Alto and Xerox.

Some would say the first PC was the Xerox Alto in 1973, but it never sold. Kept tucked away in a storage room, it had the potential to be a PC if it had only went into the market.

Apple actually had the FIRST (affordable) PC with the Mac. Xerox created the GUI and came up with a pointer device, Steve Jobs was invited to Xerox PARC and saw these things going on and put them into a computer he was working on, which was code-named "Lisa". (Being a paper copy company, Xerox didn't understand what they had. They thought the GUI wasn't going to sell. If they had only understood, they might have been the Apple or Microsoft of today).

The Mac came out on Jan. 24, 1984. There were computers in the 1970's which met two of the three requirements to be PCs (they were small and inexpensive), such as the Apple II and the Commadore64. But you still needed to know some command lines to take full advantage of them.

The Macintosh was undoubtedly the first affordable personal computer (PC).

Windows on Mac

Well I finally got around to installing Windows on my Macbook Pro via "Boot Camp". Now I don't need my Dell desktop at all, I can run all my Windows applications and test code in IE7 via my Mac.

_____

On a side note: I just noticed that I've blogged more than double the amount I did last year.



Last year I thought blogging was just a fad, so I wasn't really into it. But blogging is actually a great way to get your voice "out there".

Internet Explorer on Linux

After some tweeking with the terminal in Linux, I was able to install four different versions of Internet Explorer. I then searched for various colors of the IE icon online, to help tell at a glance which version was which. Here is a screen shot of my desktop on my Linux computer.

The four versions I installed are: IE5, IE5.5, IE6, and IE7

Other than testing purposes of websites, there really is no reason to ever use Internet Explorer. It is a horrid browser. But as long as people continue to use it, I'll continue to test my various sites in it. IE7 on Linux is a little buggy, but the other three versions of IE that I have installed all work the same way they do on a computer running Windows.

Dell sucks!

So after ONLY ONE YEAR, the graphics card in my Dell XPS computer breaks. So for a few days I was without my Windows machine. I bought a new graphics card and installed it just a few minutes ago, and now the computers works again.

Here is a picture of the old graphics card that came installed on my Dell, the one that died after only one year.

I can't sleep

It's 1:40 AM and I can't sleep, so I'm going to do something different this time. Normally I blog about my opinions to various things, such as my Highlander movie review, and my reasons why a certain distributor on Amazon is evil. But this time, I'm going to blog about what I've been up to lately.

For the couple of weeks, I've been editing a movie I shot with a group of people for a film class I'm taking. I have used a mix of different computer applications to do this, but the one I've used the most is Final Cut Pro. I also bought a MacBook Pro recently just so I could use FCP.

This was also my first time experiencing Macintosh computers. Though I've used one of those semi-bulky, colorful "eMacs" before at a library several years ago, I've never actually owned one until now. My MacBook Pro came pre-installed with Tiger, but with a Leopard upgrade disc. Leopard has many amazing features, one of which looks cool but I haven't tried it yet since I don't have a standalone Windows disc. The feature is called "bootcamp" that let's you run Windows and thus Windows applications on the Mac. It seems cool in theory, but as I haven't tried it, I can't comment.

So besides editing the video, I've also looked for some music to add to the soundtrack. I've added some already, and someone in the group I'm working with is supposed to be getting me some more audio clips to add.

The most recent aspect of the video I've been working on are the closing credits. First I tried LiveType and then Motion (both applications that come bundled in with the Final Cut Studio package. But neither had what I wanted for the credits, they were both too "fancy", and I wanted basic, simple-looking credits. So I ended up making the credits in Final Cut Pro. The credits scroll a little too fast, so either tomorrow or the day after I'll most likely try to slow them down a bit. After all, if credits go by too fast to read, there's no point in having them. And people should be recognized for their talents in a film.

So with that all said, I'm going to try to get some sleep now. Or at least lay down in my bed, in the hopes that I fall asleep. But chances are I'll probably be up all night. I'm not really sure why I can't sleep, all I know is that it's really frustrating.

Adium

Not being satisfied with iChat for Mac OS X, I decided to look for a multi-messenger.

I found Adium, and it works very well. If you'd like to try Adium you can download it from the link below.

http://www.adiumx.com/

Final Cut Studio

I ordered Final Cut Studio last Friday online, and it arrived in the mail today. In my opinion, it works 10 times better than Adobe Premiere. However, Final Cut Studio is a Mac-only set of applications, so all you Windows users are out of luck.

two monitors are useful

After my last blog post, someone asked me why I'd want or need two monitors on a single computer. One reason you may want two monitors is if you wanted to run Adobe Premiere and Adobe Photoshop at the same time, as shown below in the pictures.

The good life

What would be better (especially for a web developer) than having all three major Operating Systems? I just bought a Macbook Pro today, so now I own the three most popular OS's out there.
Windows, Linux, & Mac
Specifically:
Windows XP Pro with dual monitors
Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) distribution of Linux
Mac OSX Leopard, version 10.5

Family Guy DVDs and seasons

One of the things that annoys me about the Family Guy DVD sets, is that after Volume Two, they stopped saying what season the episodes are from. So I'm going to list the seasons here.


Volume One has both Season 1 and Season 2
Volume Two is Season 3
Volume Three is the first part of Season 4
Volume Four is the second part of Season 4
Volume Five is the first part of Season 5

"head" earrings

I found this picture on another site, and thought it was funny. Those who aren't familiar with HTML might not see the humor in this picture; but those that are will understand why it's funny.

Highlander: The Source - sucks on Sci-Fi

As you may or may not know, Highlander: The Source is the fifth movie in the Highlander film series. But unlike the others, this was the first Highlander film in the franchise to debut on television instead of in the movie theaters, in America.

Highlander: The Source aired on the Sci-Fi Channel and I had the opportunity to watch it. This is what I have to say:

Between the commercial interruptions and the censoring of certain words and phrases, which were done poorly with brief pauses of audio, this movie was horribly done. Highlander: The Source would have been presented better in a movie theater, but Sci-Fi (owned by NBC) bought the rights to the film. They own Highlander: The Source and thus were able to make the unreasonable demand of debuting it on their channel, instead of in theaters.

Highlander: The Source was a big disappointment, and makes me sick. Also, the audio quality on the Sci-Fi Channel in general was horrid. The gamma* seemed a little off, possibly if the movie was shown in theaters, it would have had a better picture quality as well as an audio quality. But who knows, the film itself may have been that way too. We'll never know, unless a DVD comes out showing the film in it's original quality; when it was intended for theaters, before the decision to air it on TV was chosen.


* Gamma are the RGB (red, green, blue) values, which are the three colors of light that make up all the other colors. All colors you see in films are made up of red, green, and blue mixes.

I made rice

My first time making rice, yay me ^_^

My first international package

Today, in the mail from Hong Kong, was The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

This title seems almost impossible to get in the states anymore. Every store I've been to, both in person and online, either had it out of stock or never carried it. So I had to import the game from Hong Kong.

Because of the rarity of this game in the states, I've seen it sold on eBay and Amazon for double and triple the MSRP (Manufacturers' Suggested Retail Price). But I managed to get it for a little over $20 by importing it.

EDIT: (8/2/2007)
After further inspection, what was shipped was counterfeit. I'm still deciding if I should take actions against the shipper, or just let it go. Since it was only $20, and that's pretty much pocket change, I'm probably just going to chuck it up to bad luck and keep searching for a retailer that sells the game. Since this bootleg copy randomly freezes, it's completely unplayable.

J.C. Penny charges too much

Today I went to Marty's to buy some new shoes. I found a nice pair of Asics on sale for $29.95 (original price $59).

When I arrived home, I saw the same exact pair of Asics shoes in the J.C. Penny catalog for $96. 40 dollars more expensive then what I was able to find elsewhere.

True, stores can charge any price they want, but to charge $40 more is outrageous for the exact same item you can find cheaper. I'm surprised they stayed in business as long as they have, charging such prices. You'd think people would shop somewhere else, but I suppose they don't know better.

Free hat and shirt!

So the guys responsible for making Spider-Man 3 gave me a free hat and shirt today. As well as a notebook and some stickers.

Here's a picture of the hat and shirt on me!

Anti-piracy ads on DVDs annoy me!

Here's the deal, I BUY a LEGAL copy of a DVD, and yet I have to site through an anti-piracy advertisement every time I want to watch it! It would be fine if I could skip over it, but I can't. This image that I found online says it best:




I just wish they would CEASE AND DESIST these advertisements in our LEGALLY BOUGHT AND OWNED DVDS. Stop the madness people before EVERYONE on this planet stops buying DVDs altogether as a protest.

My opinion of Darwin

Everyone knows the name Darwin, but very few know of Wallace.

Alfred Russel Wallace got it RIGHT when he said "The better adopted survives". What Darwin said was "The strongest survives", which is obviously wrong. You can be as strong as they get, but not well adopted to your environment, and you'll die.

I wish more people would take an interest in Wallaces' work. His published studies rivals those of Darwin, but yet it's Darwin that gets all the credit.

It's time Charles Darwin takes a back seat to Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace is the one that should be recognized for the theory of evolution, and not Darwin.

Total lack of support from performancing

There is an extension for Firefox called performancing. I tried it out for about a month to see what it was like. Since I recommend certain Firefox extensions I've had good experience with, on my site.

I found a bug in this extension and posted about it on their support forum on February 8, 2007. It was never answered, but that's not the point of this blog post. The point is they totally removed the Firefox support section of their support forums. There used to be a section called "Performancing For Firefox" which has been removed.

According to this article performancing is becoming dead. It seems like all support is being cut off.

If you want to download this Firefox extension to try it out, go ahead. But be warned that it is my opinion that no future updates will be made, and no support will be given if you run into a problem. Hopefully this doesn't happen though, because this extension does show a lot of potential if it was just better supported.

A frame for the poster

If you recall my other post about the MUA prize well I finally bought a picture frame for the poster. I couldn't find a smaller frame that fit, so I took what they had.

More Unprofessional acts of CoreFusion

After my last blog post, several members of staff at CoreFusion came to my blog and left SPAM comments. I deleted the SPAM comments they left, because they were very offensive.

The comments contained foul language and were full of lies. Apparently CoreFusion couldn't handle the truth about them coming to light, so they tried to SPAM me.

They might even start trying to discredit me on their own sites/blogs, but they are the ones that discredited themselves with their SPAM comments.

CoreFusion is unprofessional

People ask me all the time for a few different hosts I recommend (at least 3 or 4 so they can compare).

So I took a look at CoreFusion to see how they were. Well based on the rudeness I saw from some of the administrators of that hosting company by looking around their support forums, I would NEVER recommend them.

Anyone that is considering them, I would highly suggest looking into different hosting. I took this screen shot from one of the threads on their support board. As you can see from the screen shot, someone by the handle "HLFusion" was very rude to two posters on the site.

Administrators represent the integrity of the sites they administer. Because of the unprofessional way "HLFusion" responded to these two people, I can only conclude that CoreFusion is a unprofessional hosting company.

Saw IV

Recently I discovered while browsing IMDB (http://imdb.com/title/tt0890870/) that there is a new Saw film in Pre-production.

The plot summary could have been better written, but if this new movie is anything like the first three then it should be most enjoyable. I loved the first three Saw films, the directing in them was amazing. And the twists of each film was genius.

Saw IV picks up right after Jigsaw's death in Saw III. Jeff must find his daughter before her oxygen supply runs out. He must uncover the tapes left by Jigsaw to unlock the clues to her location. Along the way he discovers unimaginable secrets about Jigsaw's past. And to make matters worse a character from the first film returns with a much different outlook on life. Written by Wiena Time
http://imdb.com/title/tt0890870/plotsummary

Apparently the film was announced on October 30, 2006.
The film is set for a release date of October 26, 2007.

This is a new low for Bush

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush signed a bill Thursday authorizing the construction of a fence along one-third of the 2,100-mile (3,360-kilometer) U.S. border with Mexico, but missing from the legislation is a means to pay for it.

"Unfortunately, the United States has not been in complete control of its borders for decades and therefore illegal immigration has been on the rise," Bush said before signing the measure in the White House's Roosevelt Room. "Ours is a nation of immigrants. We're also a nation of law.

"We have a responsibility to address these challenges. We have a responsibility to enforce our laws. We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility seriously," said Bush, flanked by Department of Homeland Security officials, GOP congressional leaders and Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Secure Fence Act of 2006 is one of the first steps of a tougher illegal immigration policy touted by Republicans. Its signing comes 12 days before potentially pivotal midterm elections.

It also comes the day after a CNN poll indicates that Americans prefer the idea of more Border Patrol agents to a 700-mile (1,125-kilometer) fence. (Watch how Americans say they want more agents -- 2:07 Video)

Though Congress overwhelmingly approved the bill last month, GOP leaders waited until Tuesday to take it to Bush's desk because they wanted a public signing closer to the election.

Bush boasted Thursday of other strides in immigration policy, including increasing border security funding from $4.6 billion in 2001 to $10.4 billion in 2006, and upping the number of Border Patrol agents from 9,000 to 12,000. By the end of his presidency, he said, there will be 18,000 Border Patrol agents. (Watch Bush explain why he's increasing cash and manpower for border patrol -- 4:39 Video)

Also, thousands of beds will be added at detention facilities for illegal immigrants, so Border Patrol agents can end "catch-and-release at our southern border," Bush said.

Since Bush took the Oval Office, the United States has caught and deported more than 6 million people entering the country illegally, he said.

"The Secure Fence Act builds on this progress," the president said, explaining that in addition to the fence, the bill provides for the use of advanced technology such as cameras, satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Who picks up the tab?

But missing from the law are the funds to pay for it. (Map of planned fencing)

The act provides no funding mechanism for the fence, though a $1.2 billion appropriation was approved as part of a bill the president signed this month. There are no concrete numbers, but estimates suggest the fence would cost twice that amount. The earlier bill, however, stipulates that the $1.2 billion could be used for a fence, lighting, vehicle barriers and high-tech equipment.

A poll released Wednesday by Opinion Research Corp. finds that 74 percent of the 1,013 Americans surveyed are in favor of more U.S. agents along the border, while 45 percent said they want a 700-mile fence along the border.

The CNN poll also said that 67 percent of respondents would like to see fewer illegal immigrants in the country, but 34 percent said they should be removed.

The fence bill has earned the ire of U.S. southern neighbors, as Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon this month called the proposal "deplorable" and Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said Mexico was considering taking the issue to the United Nations, according to The Associated Press.

Calderon and President Vicente Fox later ruled out approaching the international body, and Fox said about three weeks ago he was "confident" the fencing would never come to fruition, the AP reported.

The Organization of American States released a statement Wednesday from Mexico and 27 regional countries expressing "deep concern" over the fence measure. The statement further called the proposal "a unilateral measure that goes against the spirit of understanding that should characterize how shared problems between neighboring countries are handled and that affects cooperation in the hemisphere."

The measure also had its critics at home, as Mike Cutler, a former special agent with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, said before the bill's signing that he doubts the fence will be effective.

"I'm very skeptical, and in fact doubtful, that that fence will ever really be built the way the American people are expecting it to be constructed," Cutler said. "Time will tell, but I'm not an optimist."

The president for the union representing Border Patrol agents also expressed skepticism, according to the AP.

"A fence will slow people down by a minute or two, but if you don't have the agents to stop them it does no good. We're not talking about some impenetrable barrier," said T.J. Bonner, who heads the National Border Patrol Council, the AP reported.

During the signing ceremony, Bush said he was going to continue working to bolster the nation's immigration policy, including pushes to crack down on "widespread document fraud" and enacting a temporary worker plan. But he stated his opposition to granting workers quick citizenship.

"We must face the reality that million of illegal immigrants are already here. They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. That is amnesty. I oppose amnesty," he said.

"There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation, and I look forward to working with Congress to find that middle ground."

CNN's Kathleen Koch contributed to this report.

Source: http:/www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/26/border.fence/index.html

Wearing a heart on my hand

A few days ago I received a cut on my hand. The scab that formed, surprisingly is in the shape of a heart.

Unusual markings on my back

I noticed today that I have some unusual markings on my back. They look like scratches, but I don't remember ever getting scratched. Was I abducted by Aliens? Are the scratches demonic? Are they natural or supernatural? I don't know for sure.

MUA Prize

Recently I came in 4th place for a MUA (Marvel™: Ultimate Alliance) prize.
I won a comic book, some post cards, and a poster.
Below is a picture of the prize.

My views

These are just some of my personal views on things

Animal Rights:
Why kill an animal when you can grow food (food from plants)? Why is a pet considered your property, and not just a member of the family? How come no one considers it a crime to go out into the woods and shoot a deer or duck? If it's murder to kill a human, it should be murder to kill an animal. After all, human is a species of animal too.

Schooling Issues:
In schools there is no time for what you're curious in learning. You are forced to learn what a teacher tells you to learn. That is no way to learn at all! Schools are run like prisons. When schools were first invented, they were used as a way to inform people about upcoming political candidates so when you vote you'll have a better understanding on whom to vote for. Since this isn't the case today, schools are no longer needed. Yet they are still used today as a tool for brainwashing us into conforming to the ideas and behaviors of others. Homeschooling or Unschooling are much better ways to learn than Compulsory schooling.

Body Image:
People are so obsessed with body image these days. And with the laws to "cover up", it's no wonder. If you believe that God created us in his image, then the body is perfect just the way it is. If you're fat, skinny, tall, short, pale, etc. it shouldn't matter. Accept who you are and don't be ashamed about your body. This is why places like nude beaches and nudist camps are healthy, they teach you to accept who you are and not be ashamed about your body. If it wasn't illegal to do so, I'd walk around outdoors naked all the time, because I'm not ashamed of my body; and you shouldn't be ashamed of yours either.

Marriage:
The Government should NOT be in charge of marriage. From as far back as when marriage first existed, it was a religious thing. Then over the years Governments have taken it over. Requiring you to have a license and be "legally" married. Now, if you want to have a legally binding contract saying you are committed to one person, that's fine. But don't call it marriage. Give marriage back to religions, take it out of the power of the Government who had no moral right to take it in the first place. Legally binding contracts should be kept to civil unions, not marriages. You should be able to be married under your own religion without it being "legally binding".

Gay Marriage:
Again, keep marriage a religious thing and not a Government thing. Some religions are all for gay marriage, should the Government have the right to say "it doesn't matter, we're the boss and you can't get married"? NO! Government should NOT have the right to do that. If you're gay and you want to get married and your religion isn't against it, then you should have the right to get married. Paganism, the oldest known religion, doesn't have a problem with gay marriage. Hundreds of gay marriages are performed each year in Pagan churches in other countries, yet in America this is a problem. Especially now that G.W. Bush is president, since he is anti anything that isn't Christian. He gives Christians a bad name.

525,600 Minutes

Recently I bought the movie RENT on DVD. If you never seen it, I suggest watching it! I never seen the musical, because tickets always seem to be sold out, and although a movie isn't the same as a live show, this movie was quite enjoyable.

One of my favorite songs in RENT is called "Seasons of Love", and once you listen to it you'll understand why. The lyrics to the song are below:

Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes,
How do we measure a year?

In daylights—in sunsets,
In midnights—in cups of coffee,
In inches—in miles,
In laughter—in strife.

In five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes.
How do we measure
A year in the life?
How about love?
How about love?
How about love?
Measure in love.

Seasons of love.
Seasons of love.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Journeys to plan.

Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes.
How do we measure the life
Of a Woman or a Man?

In truths that she learned
Or in times that he cried,
In bridges he burned
Or the way that she died.

It’s time now—to sing out
Tho’ the story never ends.
Let’s celebrate
Remember a year in the life of friends.

Remember the love.
Remember the love.
Remember the love.
Measure the love.

Measure, measure your life in love.
Seasons of love.
Seasons of love.

A year is any of these measures of time:
12 months
52 weeks
365 days
8,760 hours
525,600 minutes

So the song is a reflection of a single year. What have you done this past year?

Happy (belated) New Year! It's 2007, hope everyone has a fulfilling year.