Shouzer

I think Steve Jobs and Apple might be losing their “magic”. I have nothing at all against their current products–I think most of them are great. The iPod still isn’t as functional as many other players, but it also doesn’t cost 3x as much anymore.

Today Apple announced the iPod Hi-Fi. It’s basically a small stereo system that you have to plug your iPod into in order to get it to play. In other words, it only plays music that’s on an iPod. Price? A smooth $349. That’s just crazy. I find it hard to believe that there’s going to be a lot of people who really jump for their credit cards when they see that sucker.

I got a 36/40 on my Psych exam. After the curve, that’s an even A, which I’m certainly perfectly happy with. The only grades I have in that class are three exams, so I was a little worried going into this. After all, if I had fucked it up, I more or less ruined my chances at getting a good grade for the semester. But I owned that shit, so there’s no reason to worry. Fo shizzle.

It’s really strange to see how corporations have taken over government. Look at this and tell me it’s not ridiculous. Baiscally, if you buy a blank CD in Canada, you have to pay a tax on it that goes straight to the Canadian RIAA–whatever it’s called. The tax is so steep, in fact, that only 30% of what you pay goes to anybody else.

It’s supposedly to make up for the money they lose due to people copying CDs and things like that. Seriously, though.. How do politicians get manipulated enough to actually pass that kind of shit? And who decides where the money should go? Software can be copied. Games can be copied. Maybe some of the money should go to Rockstar, because they lose money when somebody copies GTA.

Oh wait, they’re evil. Yeah, I forgot about that. So while the recording industry deserves this money (they don’t, but that’s another issue), Rockstar doesn’t. I guess porn companies probably don’t either. I mean, they’re immoral, right? So the law just doesn’t apply to them like it does to everybody else.

I just don’t know the last time I saw something in the news regarding the government, or any government for that matter, and felt good. That’s more than a little disheartening. What do you guys think?

I happened to catch this over on /. and just thought it was hilarious. Basically, H&R Block messed up their state taxes by something like $32 million. Heh. For some reason I doubt they’ll mention that in their commercials.

i know that this place likes to touch on political issues from time to time, so i thought this might be of interest. i just found a google video like for a free download of a 9-11 documetary dvd entitled 9-11: Loose Change. i know nothing about it at all, but it might be worth a watch. i mean, it’s free.

Link here

This is pretty sad. I’ve posted on it before, actually, but just seeing a concept card makes me sick. Hm, religion is printed on there, too. Yeah, I suppose that would make profiling easier. After all, that is what we want, right?

Here’s what I said about it before. Everything I said there still stands. I’d also like to throw out a quote from Thomas Jefferson: “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” Ah, but what would Thomas Jefferson know?

Watch the Video

I have only gotten this video to work in IE. Fyi, it’s not porn; it’s from the Daily Show.

first off, im not linking to articles by marc stein and john hollinger on this subject because they require espn insider acces, and im not linking to the press release on the francis or the milicic trade because im lazy.

i say magicians when referring to the front office of the team because they did what other teams have recently lacked the testicular fortitude to do – admit they were rebuilding. let me break down each trade and show you what i mean.

Magic Outgoing: Kelvin Cato, 2007 first round pick (protected from 1-5 turning into unprotected in 2008)
Magic Incoming: Darko Milicic, Carlos Arroyo

This was the first sign that the rebuilding process was at “T minus 0″. First, look at what they got. Everyone knows what Darko is the whipping boy from the loaded 2003 draft that featured LBJ, Melo, and Flash. But the kid is barely 20 years old. His skills are raw, but there’s a reason that some GMs said they would have taken him before James. If he turns out to be even half the player that people thought he could be in 2003, then the deal is a steal right there. They also receive Carlos Arroyo, one of the best international players basketball can give you. While his game hasn’t yet taken off in the NBA, he is only around to provide insurance for budding star Jameer Nelson. So even if Arroyo doesn’t start, he’s one of the better backup PG’s around. What did the Magic give up? Cap relief in Cato’s expiring contract and a draft pick. But here’s the kicker – it’s for 2007, meaning they get to keep their pick this year. Giving up their present pick would have but a road bump in the rebuilding process, but holding on to it, especially considering how many ping pong balls they will have come lottery time, this pick should be top 5. Incredible.

Magic Outgoing: Steve Francis
Magic Incoming: Trevor Ariza, expiring contract of Penny Hardaway.

A lot of people are already thinking this is one of the worst trades in history, but they’re looking at it on face value. It’s like me giving you 200 dollars for a share of Google when it was only at 100, and then watching it climb to 400+ in a couple years. Sure, you ripped me off at time=zero, but at time=2, who’s the sucker? That’s what rebuilding is all about. A lot of teams just don’t understand that. But what is the actual value of this trade for the Magic, you ask? Why, I’ll tell you. First, they get rid of 3 things: Steve Francis’ 3-year overpriced contract, Steve Francis’ whining, and Steve Francis’ incessant need to hog the ball. Dwight Howard was never going to mature with him around – Charles Barkley actually said that last week. That’s addition by subtraction. What physical aspects did they get in return? Trevor Ariza, a good-looking rook last year who got parked on Larry Brown’s bench this year, and the contract of Penny Hardaway, which comes off the books this summer. Earlier in the week, Orlando shunned a deal which would have given them Jamal Crawford (a legit talent) in this trade also, smartly, because they just didn’t want the liability on their accountanting records. Now, with Grant Hill’s contract expiring in 2007, the Magic have, by far, the most amount of cap space to throw at free agents. No, they won’t be getting Lebron, Carmelo, or Wade, but they could make a run at Nowitzki, Pierce, or Carter. Or maybe two medium stars. Plus, they can resign their young guys for the long term, solidifying their stance in the future.

The Magic cleaned their slate this week of everything that they didn’t think had a big future. It just makes sense. I think they’re my favorite team.

the nba trading deadline! ok, ok, i know the majority of you probably weren’t aware of this exiting event, but i forgive you. wipe that tear from your cheek. there’s still time to buy into the hype; the deadline isn’t until thursday! i’ve been wanting to do sports related stories regularly here for quite the time, but i just never have. and i’ve wanted to break down the darko trade for days, but i’ve been waiting. i don’t believe the darko trade was isolated, and i don’t think it would be right to disect without first waiting on the second trade that orlando has up its sleeve. a certain stevie franchise should be on the move tomorrow or the next day, and then you’ll see my thoughts. but first, i wanted to remind you how much me and the other 6 nba fans in the world get gleeful this time of year. why, i even posted about it two years ago. it’s just a great time when teams actually let their fans know what direction they are headed. are we making a playoff push? or are we rebuilding? do we need one more piece? or can we get prospects for veterans? it’s just a fun time of anticipation and speculation. albert and i might even go up and see a bulls game next month. speaking of the bulls, i expect that tim thomas’ expiring contract will for sure get moved, with a chance of ben gordon heading out of town. ah, the nba. it’s FAN-tastic.

i should have figured microsoft would have come up with my own idea before me. oh well. at least they didn’t kill me and take my idea like tim robbins did in antitrust.

I had my first 2 finals today, and I’ve only got 1 more to go.  It’s tomorrow night at 6.  The 2 today were not bad at all.  Neither of them were true finals in that they were not cummulative.  Both were also open book and open notes, but that really didn’t help as much as you might think.  Still, for having 2 back-to-back finals today, I’m not as brain dead as I expected to be.

I’m sitting in the library right now trying to get some studying done, and there’s this fucking douche sitting near me who will not quit his incessant coughing. Every other god damn second, he’s clearing his throat. When that doesn’t work, he coughs for about 10 seconds. That obviously doesn’t quench his thirst for being the most annoying dick on the planet, so he proceeds to get a drink from the water fountain. I didn’t know somebody could actually be loud when they get a drink, but this fucker manages it.

I’m literally having to pack my shit up and go down a story, because I just can’t stand to be around this noise. I think I can actually say that I now know the sound of evil.

Today was huge for me.  First, I finished class for the quarter.  That’s right, no more boring lectures for 2 weeks.

More importantly though, was the ChallengeX breakthrough.  We finally got the 2 electric motors spinning the rear wheels under the full control of our hybrid vehicle controller.  Basically, we have a huge state machine that controls our vehicle.  It is my job to make sure that controller talks to everything else.  We have had communication with the 2 motors for about a month now, but today was the first time we implemented the controller itself.  We had to build a bunch of circuits to handle the pedals and other driver inputs, and then establish communication with those.  Then, it was finally time to put the power to the wheels.  It was absolutely amazing to realize something I have been working towards all year.

…and the late night talk show hosts have something to say.

I just wanted to be the first to wish all you single guys a happy Valentine’s day.  This is the greatest day of the year to be single, and you should celebrate it.