Things I Want 1.0

Westinghouse 42" LCD I like to play video games late at night. Aimee has to wake up very early for work. My gaming TV backs up to our bedroom wall. Not good. I need a second high def TV to take upstairs for late night gaming. LG Motorsport Pro Long Tube Headers w/ Cats

They'll add 30-35 rwhp and hopefully add a mean sound too. I don't really need this, I just kind of want them. Maybe I'll wait till my warranty expires. Besides, they are very expensive. Apple MacBook I'm getting a little tired of tinkering with Linux. Really I just want a decent text editor for Ruby/Rail. Is TextMate really worth $1500 though? It doesn't even have an outline view. Apple Mac Mini Might as well get a Mac for home too. :) Apple iPod Nano (classic) Funny thing, I've never actually owned a portable mp3 player (for very long anyways). My car radio has an aux input that I'd like to use. Might as well stay with the Apple theme, right? Am I the only one who doesn't like those new fatty iPod Nanos? External DVD Burner It just makes sense. Burning DVDs isn't a common task for me, especially on multiple computers. What I mean is, most of my DVD burning happens on one computer, so why bother getting a DVD burner for all of my other computers? I do, on occasion, need to burn a DVD on one of those other computers. Also, if I'm going all Mac, I don't want to spring for the Superdrive on all of them... :)

Newsflash: Ricers scared by V8 exhaust note!

Apparently, ricers don't know what a V8 sounds like. According to many V8 owners, revving ricers are quickly shutup when the V8 owner revs back at them.

The story goes like this. Ricer comes up on an unsuspecting V8 and revs at them to entice them into a street race. The V8 owner is way above street racing so tries to ignore the ricer. The ricer persists and finally the V8 owner revs back with his massive V8 engine. Never having heard a V8 before, or possibly not knowing that a Mustang/Camaro/(insert American car here) has a V8, the ricer is so taken aback by the brutal, intimidating sound that he (or she) shuts up and minds his place.

"Well we were at a light and he starts revving his fart muffler(or lack of muffler). well i started to intimidate him with one fast 5000 rpm rev. this was funny (big smile). THAT SHUT HIM UP. (thumbs up)"
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=31650

"He revs his engine at me so I rev mine back (B&B Bullets on a C6 A6) and man it was funny. His face looked as if a Frenchman slapped him with a white glove."
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1840663

"So i came down in the stang and did a nice rev which shut him up."
http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/kill-stories/46776-does-get-any-better-ricer.html

I have failed to compile a complete collection of quotes, but rest assured, I have heard this same story too many times to count.

So there you have it. Ricers are scared of loud, deep notes and only rev at cars that they expect aren't going to rev back with said loud, deep notes. Also ricers are ignorant of which cars are equipped with V8s producing these notes and often rev at them by mistake.

If you can't detect it, this post is dripping with sarcasm. I think it's ridiculous that these people actually think other people are "scared" of their loud exhaust.

Better Rails Migrations

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Better AppConfig Plugin for Rails

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Nvidia Woes in Linux - (K)ubuntu Feisty

I've been tooling around with Compiz-Fusion in Linux. It's pretty neat, but my old graphics card wasn't up to the task so I bought a cheapo $28 fanless Nvidia GeForce 6200 128 MB AGP. There are some interesting caveats to getting an Nvidia card working in Linux, particularly (K)ubuntu.

If you install the drivers from Nvidia's website (which I suggest because those are always the latest and most up-to-date), you have to disable the module that is packaged in linux-restricted-modules-common:

sudo vim /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common DISABLED_MODULES="nv"

Then be sure to remember to delete any files in /lib/linux-restricted-modules/:

sudo rm /lib/linux-restricted-modules/.nvidia_new_installed sudo rm /lib/linux-restricted-modules/.nvidia_legacy_installed

Those hidden files are created if you've ever installed Nvidia drivers from the (K)ubuntu repositories, but for some reason, they are not deleted if you uninstall (as in the case when before you install from Nvidia's website).

Then just run the Nvidia installer, reboot and you should be all set.

Many thanks to adamk in this thread.

The Orange Box Rocks!!

With the disappointment of Halo 3 still in the forefront of my mind (damn thing cost $60), The Orange Box came at a great time to get that bad taste out of my mouth. For those who don't know, The Orange Box is a collection of five Value games (Half Life 2, HL2: Episode One, HL2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress), recently released on Xbox 360. The five games have previously been released for PC some years ago.

I played Half Life 2 on the PC in 2004 and it was awesome then and it's awesome now on the 360! In fact, it puts to shame most 360 games in the graphics department and definitely in the gameplay and fun factor departments.

Unlike Halo 3, Half Life 2 is a very submersive game. The environments are very interactive. The people not only talk, but react to you (try throwing some trash at them). The game won awards for it's ground breaking physics engine. Almost every object in the game can be picked up and thrown around (that gets really fun once you get the gravity gun). The "puzzles" are short, creative and rewarding; they usually show off part of the in-game physics capabilities. The pace of the game is also excellent; the levels never get repetitive or boring.

Speaking of physics, Portal is a trip. I'm not even going to bother explaining, so just watch this embedded video:

I beat Portal in one sitting (2h 50m). It was really fun.

I don't have much interest in Team Fortress. Online, competitive gameplay is too stressful for me.

Half Life 2 easily makes it into my top 5 video game list.

Dyno Tuned the Vette

I got my car dyno tuned at 21st Century Muscle Cars. John Page (the shop owner) is very friendly, accommodating and knowledgable. Kenny K., who did the actual tuning, is extremely friendly and owns his own C6 which he modified (headers, cams, etc) and tuned himself.

I was expecting to dyno at 390 rwhp stock and gain about 5 rwhp from the tune. Instead I dyno'ed very low for an LS3 (364 rwhp) and gained 30 rwhp from the tune. Apparently my LS3 C6 is an anomaly and came from the factory pig rich (AFR for the first dyno run was below 10.0), which accounted for the low horsepower.

Most LS3's are 390 stock and gain 5 from a tune. I was about 365 and gained 30 from the tune. Either way, end result is 395 rwhp... so I shouldn't be too concerned, right? Right??

Btw, for you non car people out there, 395 rwhp means my car makes about 445 horsepower. Hell, let's just call it an even 450... :)

2008 Sub $100,000 Test Drive List

Corvette C6 Z06

Test drive? Hell, I might even own one of these someday.

Porsche 911 Carrera S

I'm not really a Porsche fan. I think they are kind of ugly, somewhat pricey for what you get, and a bit overrated by the magazines. Still, I want to see what all the hoopla is about. Btw, I would have put the 911 GT3 on this list instead, but it is $7,500 over budget.

Lotus Exige S

I will probably never own one of these because they make terrible daily drivers, and I'm not wealthy enough to have a $60k car that is strictly a toy. Still I'd want to test drive one just to see what a true, dedicated track car feels like.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X

What, I can't have a ricer on the list? This car has garnered so much respect from rags, as well as the enthusiast community, over the years that I'm curious to try out it's latest incarnation. Also, I have little experience with AWD cars, so I want to see what that is like.

Honda S2000

Owners seem to love them. I've never heard a bad thing about an S2000 from an owner, instead they rave about them. The car is very high strung with very little torque, so I'm curious to see what makes them so good.

Honda Civic Mugen Type R / RR / Si

This is the car I love to hate. :) How can people call it a sports car? It's FWD for crying out loud! It's chassis' primary design function is that of economy! You can't just take an economy car, slap a bunch of performance parts on it and call it a sports car! Still, it has somewhat of a cult following... that has to count for something, right? I just want to test drive one so that my bashings have more credibility, ha!

Saturn Sky Red Line

I have a weird obsession with this car. I know it's not that great of a performer, but I love it's edgy design. They always catch my eye and it takes me a second or two before I realize what they are. Some would argue that it is a sporty little roadster because it's based off the same platform as the Pontiac Solstice.

Ford Mustang GT500 KR

Though I've kind of lost interest in drag racing, I'm still a Mustang fan. I wanna see what this car has on my previous beast. Also, I have read some articles that say it can keep pace on a road course, though I speculate it's via sheer horsepower.

Is a Mac really worth it?

I've been toying with the idea of getting a Mac for a while now. I'd like both a MacBook as well as a Mac Mini. I'm not a normal computer user, so these would be the upgrades I'd get for each of them:

• 2 gb memory
• 7200 rpm hard drive
• Superdrive (aka a dvd burner)

Both the MacBook and the Mac Mini come with 1 gb of memory via two 512 mb sticks. Guess how many memory slots each one has? You guessed it! If you want to upgrade to 2 gb, you can't reuse any of the memory that originally came with the machines.

You cannot add a Superdrive a la carte. You must order the higher end model of each machine to get it.

The 7200 rpm hard drive is about a $100 aftermarket upgrade.

So all said and done, that $500 Mac Mini is looking more like $800 and that $1100 MacBook is looking like $1500.

Now I can upgrade my current computer to have a much faster Core 2 Duo processor than either of those Macs, along with a video card that easily beats them, for a grand total of $400.

"Yeah, but OS X has the best, most badass, eye candy interface ever!" Ehh. Check out this video of what is going to be included in the default installation of (K)ubuntu Linux (released in 10 days).

So now I gotta ask myself... is TextMate really worth $400 to $1100?

Halo 3... meh.

I got Halo 3 a few days after it was released. I bought it from Gamestop and the clerk there asked me what version I wanted. I kinda just stared at him until he started to explain. There is the normal version which is just the game. Then there is a special "limited edition" which comes in a tin case and cost $10 more. And then there is the "legendary edition" which comes with the pictured helmet and costs $130. I was offended for two reasons:

1. The clerk had the audacity to assume I am a big enough nerd to even consider either special edition, especially the "legendary nerd" edition with the helmet on a stand.
2. That MS is such a money grubbing piece of shit that they are charging over $70 for a plastic helmet which adds nothing to the gaming experience.

I guess that's what really pisses me off about Halo 3. It is so over-hyped and over-marketed that it's a massive success, despite the game actually being mediocre.

How is it mediocre, you ask? Let me rattle off a short list...

• The graphics aren't that great. I feel like I'm looking at a PC video game 5 years ago.
• The character animations are even worse. Their movements are so unnatural and "jagged". Walking up and down stairs, their feet don't properly fit the steps. When people hold their hands up to their faces, you can tell they aren't really touching.
• I can't tell when I'm hitting an enemy. Gears of War had blood spurting and Resident Evil 4 had enemies recoiling in pain. Halo 3 has almost nothing. Same with death animation in Halo 3, very weak. Sometimes I waste ammo on an already dead enemy.
• The gravity hammer is nothing near as cool as the chainsaw bayonet.
• Overall, the weapons aren't very satisfying (especially the shotgun, where is the feeling of brute force??).
• I don't know, it just doesn't have the polish that Gears of War has or Resident Evil 4 had (at the time).

I honestly think MS paid off a lot of reviewers in it's ultimate hype campaign. Check this out though, my friend Adam sent me this review, which I think is pretty good. :)