This blog is retired..

Topic says it all. Wordpress offers far more functionality as well as categories without having to do some fucked up work-around.

So those who actually read this, update your bookmarks to http://www.jaksplace.net

Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence

I am away from my computer right now because this game fucking owns. I pre-ordered the collectors edition which sold out pretty quick and it was well worth it.

I will post more at work tonight =)

New Blog...maybe

I am currently testing a new Wordpress Blog due to a few limitations I have discovered with blogger. For right now I will be posting on both, but eventually I think I will be ditching this one. Just a heads up =)

Videos: 3/17

Will Ferrell is George Bush
Even though I am not a big Will Ferrell fan, he does do a good Bush impersonation.

Wickedly Cool Robot
Even though this is a bit longer than it needs to be, it is still a sweet video.

Kung-Fu Clowns
This is what a commercial should be.

Video Games: NES Case Mods 4tw!

Do these guys ever stop coming up with shit?

Life Stuff: Mmmm....

Futomaki Rolls....I am stuffed =)

Videos: 3/16

Ultimate Utopia XXIII
A hilarious real-life parody on typical turn based RPGs

Tetris DS Commercial
A really cool Tetris DS commercial. It shows how much better Nintendo is now at advertising since the old NES days

Nintendo DS lite FIGHT
The DS Lite launch in Japan was their equivalent of the US 360 launch. Insane lines, massive shortages, and FIGHTS!

Kevin Smith's ISA Appearance
Total fucking hilarity from Kevin Smith as usual

Ryan vs Dorkman
A damn good fan made lightsaber battle with a nice ending


P.S: Also remember that now you can easily download any of these videos using KeepVid. No more need for greasemonkey or viewing the code of gvp files.

PS3 and PSP Info from the Sony Conference

Sony held its annual conference in Tokyo today and a shitload of PSP and PS3 information was released. Rather than typing it all out again, check out my posts on the gaming site I report for.

PS3 Information
PSP Information

I am so fucking geeked about the PS3. As usual, I will not buy the first generation of it due to the historical hardware and compatibility issues of all first gen consoles, but I will own one.

Morning News Bites

Telemarketers Work in the Nude
A study finds that one in eight male teleworkers and one in 14 female teleworkers say they do their jobs in the nude.

Good thing I never talk to these fuckers because that mental image would just fuck me up.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isaac Hayes Quits 'South Park'
Isaac Hayes has quit "South Park," where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion. However, Matt Stone responded by saying:

"This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem - and he's cashed plenty of checks - with our show making fun of Christians."

I fucking hate Scientology and anyone who I discover to be a member immediately loses any respect they once had. Isaac Hayes is now on my "you are a fucktard" list along with all the others.

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Class action lawsuit filed against music industry
The RIAA is getting a taste of their own medicine by having a class-action lawsuit filed against alleging that:

Record labels sought to shut down online music pioneer Napster at the same time they were introducing their own joint ventures to sell online music. MusicNet and pressplay "were not serious commercial ventures, but rather attempts to occupy the market with frustrating and ineffectual services in order to head off viable Online Music competitors from forming and gaining popularity after Napster's demise," according to the suit.

This is among other things in the lawsuit. As a long-time hater of the RIAA so I am all for this. I hope those fuckers get what they deserve.

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Stardock vs Starforce
A StarForce site forum moderator posts link to download pirated copy of Stardock's Galactic Civilizations II. Basically, the company behind the successful PC game Galactic Civilizations II refuses to put any kind of copy protection on their software saying that it really does nothing but piss off end users. Someone posted this on the StarForce forums saying basically that you do not need Copy Protection to be successful and the moderator responded by POSTING A LINK TO THE TORRENT FOR THE GAME!!

The supposed intention was to show "See, this game is being pirated anyway!" but came off more as "If they used our software, this wouldn't have happened". StarForce has since apologized and pulled the thread, but not before the damage was done.

For those who do not know, the company behind Starforce is the subject of major boycott and have threatend lawsuits against people who openly critize them among other things. For more information on the software itself and why people hate it, check out its Wikipedia entry.

StarForce is another one of those things that I am a long time proponent of and shit like this shows why.

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Clinton, Lieberman propose CDC investigate games
Democratic Senators from New York and Connecticut are asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate "impact of electronic media use."

What?? WHAT?!? You want to waste $90 million of the taxpayer's money to make the CDC investiagate video games??? You don't think the CDC would have more important things to do like, I dunno, investigate disease and cures to help mankind?

What the fuck are these people thinking? Oh I know! Basically, everytime one of these fuckheads make a proposal to ban or limit video games, it gets shot down primarily because they are unconsitutional, but also because there are no studies that prove without a doubt that violent media affects children. So they are hoping that with this study, they will get results in their favor so they can do "SEE WE TOLD YOU!!" and get these bullshit laws passed.

I really hate our government and it is things like this that show how fucking incompentent the people in charge really are. Once again, I point all gamers to http://www.videogamevoters.org/. If we do not take a stand and do something, we have no right to complain when shit like this happens.

Best Flash Game Evar!

Mega Man vs Ghost N' Goblins

This is a wicked flash game that is amazingly well done. It combines two of my favorite NES series into one game. It is as hard as the classic Mega Man titles to boot!

Two More NES Mods

NES Mods are all the rage these days (See here and here). Well I came across two more cool ones I had to share.

The first is a wicked mod called the NEStation, which is a NES made to look like a PS2 (Complete with controller).

The second is turning an NES controller into a card reader.

Goddamnit, I want to mod my NES!

Videos!

Pacman Invads a University: This is just flat out hilarious. I was almost in tears hearing him shouting WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA!!

Live Action Legend of Zelda: This one is really only funny to people who have grown up playing the classic Zelda games. They did such a good job and the fight with the dragon is crazy heh.

Video Game Voters Network

http://www.videogamevoters.org/

Video Game Voters Network

The Video Game Voters Network exists to empower Americans who play video games to take action against threats to this entertainment medium and to stay informed about the latest issues that could affect our choice in video game entertainment. Video games are a modern form of entertainment entitled to the same creative and free speech protections afforded by the US Constitution to older media such as movies, music, and books. So join the Video Game Voters Network and speak up for games and gamer rights.

Take A Stand, Protect Your Games!

Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Joe Lieberman (D-CT), and Evan Bayh (D-IN) recently announced that they will introduce "The Family Entertainment Protection Act," which would regulate the sale of certain video games throughout the country.

In the past year, Michigan, Illinois, and California have all passed laws to ban the sale of certain video games to minors. So far, courts have blocked these laws from taking effect. But anti-video game forces are pressing forward. Gamers must stand up now and take action. Government does not regulate access to or the sale of movies, books or cable TV, and it should not regulate video games.

The computer and video game industry has a widely praised self-regulatory system including Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings, advertising and marketing restrictions, parental education, and console manufacturers are now introducing parental control features that will be available in the next generation consoles. Moreover, every major retailer has a policy to ask for ID before selling games to minors. The effect of legislation seeking to regulate games would stifle constitutionally-protected creativity in a medium that is at the cutting-edge of innovative entertainment.

Please take action now and tell your Senators not to co-sponsor or support "The Family Entertainment Protection Act."

Excellent idea and I applaud Doug Lowenstein and the ESA for this intiative!

Jack Thompson is a cockbite

Why yes, it has indeed been some time since I posted about one of the people I hate most on the earth. This is not due to his lack of stupid actions, this is simply due to the fact that he does them so often, it isn't really entertaining anymore. However, he has recently done some things that I thought were quite interesting, even for Jack Thompson.

It all started when he E-mailed Wikipedia demanding (not asking) them to lock his Wikipedia entry because it contained:

"a number of false, defamatory, and actionable statements about me. As an aside, you all don't even have my date and year of birth correct, and it goes downhill from there."

Now, admittedly, I can understand his anger and his response. Wikipedia is the most popular Wiki on the internet and could have possibly had some false information. However, he takes it a bit too far when he continues that he demands he has access to:

"the real names, addresses, and phone numbers, and any other verifying information, regarding anyone who has posted anything about me at Wikipedia, as they will be defendants. You have thirty days to comply with this demand. The Seigenthaler experience shows that you must provide me this information."

He is potentionally asking to have hundreds if not thousands of people brought to court as defendants with this. However, it does not end there!

He has now sent Game Politics (One of my favorite sites out there) an E-Mail saying:

From: Jack Thompson [mailto:xxxxxxxxx@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 1:25 PM
To: dennis@gamepolitics.com; Aaron McKenna; Curt Feldman; Tor Thorsen; Brendan Sinclair; mattsaunderson

Subject: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. You're next, Mr. McCauley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(attorney)

Jack Thompson, Attorney
Land line: 305-xxx-xxxx, Cell: 305-xxx-xxxx
xxxx South Dixie Hwy, Suite 111
Coral Gables, FL USA 33146 xxxxxxxxx@comcast.net

Dennis McCauley responds quite aptly by saying:

I can say that I resent the hell out of its implications and that neither this site nor its editor will be bullied or silenced.

It can also be noted that several game websites including Gamespot and TwitchGuru were CCed on that E-Mail so it will be interesting to see how this turns out. My disdain for this idiot is well known and therefore I will not say anything other than what is above.

As an interesting coincidence, I happen to be wearing my favorite T-Shirt today:

Captain N Coming to DVD?

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/nes/captain-n-coming-to-dvd-159832.php

I am the producer of the DVD line of DiC titles at Shout! Factory, beginning with the recent COPS: The Animated Series. For the past couple of days, I’ve been going around the net researching Captain N: The Game Master, because I will, in fact, be producing it for OFFICIAL release (so, PLEASE stop any and all bootlegging you may be working on) later in the year.

I’d like to clear up a few things that I’ve noticed posted here and a couple of other sites. For starters, Shout! isn’t owned by Sony. Sony is our distributor, so for a small percentage, Sony stocks retailers with our product. Shout! Factory is owned by Richard Foos (the founder of Rhino), his brother Garson, and Bob Emmer.

Secondly, regarding Captain N’s masters…

I’m dealing with DiC even as I write this and the masters are in excellent condition. There’s virtually NO difference between a production master and a broadcast master when you’re dealing with animation. The major difference is that a broadcast master has several minutes of black where the commercials should be. Therefore, the masters I’m working with look as good as any that were “destroyed” when Disney took over.

I’m actually in the process of putting together a list of possible special features. While the lists I receive from people are in no way guaranteed extras— because as people have mentioned, Captain N isn’t a show on which most companies can spend a LARGE amount of money and expect a return—, I would very much like to hear what the fans are looking for.

If you’re interested in throwing out suggestions, please do so here. Do not email me, as I’m working on far too many projects to look and answer a ton of emails from fans. But I assure you, as you can witness in other forums around the web, that I will check back and respond here OFTEN.

Thanks in advance and tell all your friends that the Captain’s finally coming to DVD!

If this is true...FUCKING PWN!!! I still have a few of these on VHS and even though they are hokey looking back on them, I still fully enjoy them. I also own the Legend of Zelda Animated Series and upon watching it again, still loved every minute. I WILL get the Captain N DVD as well as the Super Mario Bros Super Show that comes out this month.

Damn I love those things

I fucking used to eat those things like crazy...

...shit, now I am hungry.

Every Mortal Kombat Fatality...

...in one 23 minute video.

Totally wicked =)

Gotta Love the Christians

http://objectiveministries.org/

(March 10, 2006) Sometime yesterday, our prayerbook was compromised by hackers aligned with a terrorist organization known as "YTMND". All entries -- approximately 4,000 in total from over four years -- were lost, as well as our settings. We apologize to all our guests who left us kind messages and prayer requests. Your entries are now in Heaven with Jesus.

For the last few days, the YTMND terrorist organization has been probing our site via their goons and stealing our intellectual property to misuse for their anti-Christian hatecrimes. Christians did not create the Internet to be used for mindless websites containing nothing but a stolen image and offensive repeating sound file. Those sorts of misuses are a violation of international copyright treaties, newly enacted provisions of the Patriot Act, and at least two of the Commandments.

Please join us in praying for these misguided souls that they may see the error of their ways and repent their sins before they resort to violence.

Ok first of all, there is this little thing called Fair Use so no law is being broken. Also, throwing the word "terrorist" around like this kind of shows how ignorant you idiots really are. As far as the commandments...BWHAHAHHAHAHAH...ok to continue.

(March 11, 2006) It has been brought to our attention that the YTMND website is well known in non-Christian circles as a manufacturer and distributor of "Internet memes".

Memes were first proposed by infamous Evolutionist and militant Atheist Richard Dawkins in his anti-Creation polemic The Selfish Gene as a way to infect society with Evolutionism through commercial jingles and the like. Recently, memes have been used on the Internet to lure youths into mindlessly repeating key phrases such as "Oh Really?" and "All Your Bases Belong To Us" -- phrases designed to break down individual thought and condition the subject to accept faithlessness and Humanistic rule.

This disturbing connection between the attack on our prayerbook and the forces of Evolutionism leads us to suspect that one of Dawkins' followers could be manipulating YTMND -- which is mostly comprised of disaffected youths -- to put their "meme" theories into practice and target our site for intimidation. It may be that YTMND members have been turned into mindless Dawkinsian "robot vehicles", blindly following the meme-programming of the emerging Atheofascist movement.

The attack, disturbing as it was, may be a blessing from God -- an opportunity to do His service by helping youths imprisoned by YTMND meme-control to escape back into the fold of Christendom. Satan picked the wrong site to mess with.

OMG!! All your base.. was designed to remove my ability to have individual thought and to condition me! Oh wait, isn't that what religon does?

"Satan" is messing with the wrong site eh? Well, I highly doubt that the ultimate evil of your tiny little universe would even bother noticing your little shitty site much less launch an all out "attack", much less through YTMND.

For those who do not know, YTMND is best described by its Wikipedia entry:

YTMND, an initialism for "You're The Man Now, Dog!", is a website community that centers on the creation of YTMNDs, which are pages featuring a juxtaposition of a single image, optionally animated and/or tiled, along with large zooming text and a looping sound file. YTMND is also the general term used to describe any such site.

An example of one is my personal favorite. Some are funny, some are shit and some are downright hilarious. Either way, these religious zealots are fucking morons.

Don’t use your credit card to pay taxes

Good and interesting post off of LifeHacker as always.

The biggest problem is that when you pay your taxes by credit card, the charge comes with a 2.49% surcharge to third-party companies that process the transaction. Most people find this charge a surprise because processing surcharges are usually not allowed by credit card companies. This surcharge effectively wipes out any bonuses that the credit card companies offer and often means you’ll lose money even with the added promotion incentives and if you pay off your credit card on time and in full.

Originally came from http://soundmoneytips.com/article/7518 but I got it from Lifehacker.

Saturday Video Link Dump

Steroids: Gaming's Ugly Cheat Code: A pretty funny video about the dangers of using Steriods to gain that "edge" in gaming.

Suicide of Drakedog: This is just a painful video to watch. This guy is a max level with uber gear and he just deletes all his shit then deletes his character. If this does not make you wince in pain, then you have never been truly addicted to an MMORPG.

Chris Bliss the uber juggler: Jesus christ this guy can juggle. I am a good juggler and can do many things so I can really appreciate the skill this guy has.

The Cat Jet: Got a stinky cat litter box? This is how to fix it.

Chuck Norris reads his own "Chuck Norris Facts": If you have never read any of the Chuck Norris facts, just google them. It is a well known fact that Chuck is a really nice guy (of which I can confirm) and this just shows it.

Guy with two guitars: Talk about skillz with guitars.

Total Geek Earrings

I want these. I do not care how gay they make me look. I want them!

Howard and Nester!!

Some has managed to gather and post every Howard and Nester comic online! I grew up with these. I remember getting a new issue of Nintendo Power and flipping immediately to the Howard and Nester comic of the month.

Something else to keep me from doing work at work - yay!

Personal Update

Just thought I would post about how things are going as this blog has recently turned into where I post all the cool shit I find (which, judging by feedback is more popular anyway).

I finally finished Shin Megami Tensi: Digital Devil Saga today. Between part one and part two, I put in over a hundred hours on this fucking game (Remember it is one game).

The ending...sucked ass. It really pisses me off when you got a great story going and then fuck it up at the end. Oh well, they all cant have endings as great as Final Fantasy X or Metal Gear Solid 3.

On the PC side, I am currently addicted to Doom 3. After working my way past the initial boredom, I found out what many people have known since it came out, it really is a good fucking game.

This was actually the third time I attempted to get into the game. The first two times I got fairly bored after about 2 hours. However, after completing Quake 4 and re-watching Doom twice (after which I still stand by my review), I had a hard-on to play the game.

While the enemy AI is not as good as Quake 4 or F.E.A.R, when you play it as intended (at night, with no lights and 5.1 surround sound), it really is freaky as hell. There have been quite a few times that I have jumped and yelled out "Mother fucker!!!" when something scared the shit out of me. Only a handful of games have successfully done this (F.E.A.R, Silent Hill series, and System Shock 2 are all that come to mind).

I know that I will complete the game this time as I really am into it. I simply hope the ending is not a total waste as Quake 4's was. Overall, I like it better than Quake 4 but not as much as F.E.A.R. As of right now it is sitting at about a 3 to 3.5 out of 4.

I am about to start playing Demon Stone again. This is another game I played for a few hours then got bored of. However, I have recently been on a Drizzt Do'Urden kick and have re-read the first 9 books in the Dark Elf Series so I find myself in a Forgotten Realms mood. Considering the story was written by R.A Salvatore himself, I know it is a great story. I just need to get into the actual gameplay.

I am also finally catching up on my movie watching. I have had High Noon, Swingers, and Once Upon a Time in the West sitting on my desk for about 3 weeks. My Blockbuster queue is getting backed up and I need to clear it out heh. I watched Swingers today along with a few episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion so I am working my way through the backlog.

On the reading front, I am on the first book in the Halo Trilogy. I recently beat Halo (PC) and while It does not near live up to the hype that the XBox fanbois associate with it, it was a good game. So far the books are excellent and I am really enjoying them. After I read these three, I will be moving on to the World of Warcraft: War of the Ancients series. After reading the entire Warcraft lore, I really got into the story and I want to extend that with the books, which are apparently awesome.

Other than that, there isn't a damn thing going on. The new apartment is great and I am completely settled in. Work is so-so at the moment due to a major fuckup on Time-Warner's end. We told them not to do what they did and they did it anyway. However, they are suffering as much as we are because of it so at least I can get enjoyment out of that.

On that note...

Thursday Link Dump

Top 10 Geek Watches: Some really wicked watches on this list. I particularly digg this one.

Quake 3 on a 24 monitor display: Hold on, I have to go change my shorts...Ok I am back. This group got Quake 3 running on a single 24 monitor display using 12 Linux servers.

A REAL Video Game Collection: Me wants it, me wants my precious! This is a set of photos of a major kick ass video game collection. I mean, this is some wicked and expensive collecting.

Computer Chopper: This is by far, the coolest case mod I have ever seen.

Lego NES: Man, the uber NES mods just keep on coming. I wish I had half the skill all of these people do.

Classic Dirty Sega Ads: When you look at these now you have to wonder, "What the fuck were they thinking?!?" Either way, this is some crazy shit.

Famitsu Scores FFXII Maximum Points

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2435&Itemid=2

For those who are unaware, the Famitsu review crew are among the harshest reviewers in the world. EGM's "4 Man Review" style came directly from them (Sushi-X is a rip-off of Taco-X).

I sooo cannot wait for this game =)

Videos

On Set with Slither: The always charming and charasmatic Nathan Fillion takes you on a set tour of the upcoming horror/comedy Slither

Jack Black is the Lord of the Ring: Jack Black is one of those guys that I either cannot stand (Orange County) or think is fucking hilarious (High Fidelity). Luckily, this is one of those fucking hilarious times.

Ninja for Hire: Some kick ass urban parkour and more. You can see their website here.

Cat Fight: Two cats playing with each other but with the music it looks like a fight. I love cats so I digg most of these videos heh.

Some Linkage

Here are some articles and cool things for today.

Another Uber NES Hack: This time, RedWolf over at Vintage Computing (which is an awesome blog) create a DVD Player out of an NES with a video to boot!

Ahead of their time: Another great 1up feature. This time it looks back at games and hardware that were just too ahead of their time. Many of these would have worked had they come out later or had better support.

Zboard version 2: I am a huge fan of the Zboard. So much so that I bought my sister and her husband one each and both of them loved it as well. This new version called MERC Gaming Keyboard looks fucking sweet. I am going to be picking one up sometime in the short future.

And finally, to leave you with a comic..

Unreal Tournament 2007 Video

Holy shit...

Nice Home Projects

Found these two cool little projects while browsing the itarweb.

The first is a sweet little mod to put all of your "club cards" on one card. I did this and my keychain is so much cleaner heh.

The second is a pretty wicked scotch tape wallet. I will be making one of these simply because I love the idea of it.

Uh yeah..more videos

Damn the Internet and it's juicy useless video goodness!

Natalie Portman Gangsta Rap: I am sure NBC will force YouTube to take this one down as they did with the Narnia Rap so check it out while you can. I find it amazing that SNL produced two good skits in one year.

World of Offline Gaming: What would happen if we did the real world like we do in MMORPG's? Find out in this hilarious video.

PSP Load Time Heaven and Hell: There was a video recently showing the atrocious load times of a certain PSP game (although the video is quite inaccurately if you have actually played the game). Someone decided to let the Internet know that not all PSP games have load times such as these and created the Heave and Hell video. It is actually pretty amusing due to his comments and the music in the video.

Final Fantasy XII Potion Commercial: The Japanese are known for their fucked up commercials. While this one does not top the list, it is still awesome simply because it is Final Fantasy. You may be wondering, "Jay, what the fuck are they promoting?". The answer is a soft drink that is based on the potions in the Final Fantasy series. I will be importing some, oh yes I will.

Stormtrooper in Akihabara Tokyo: Speaking of the Japanese, apparently they are not used to Star Wars geeks dressing up like Stormtroopers and walking around. Some great reactions there and also, does everyone in Japan have a camera phone?!?

God vs the Devil in Mortal Kombat: God and the Devil decide to play Mortal Kombat using real people in a wager for Sweeden.

Japan Votes on All Time Top 100 Games

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2401&Itemid=2

I actually agree with much of this list. However, I freely admit that i have Japanese taste in games. I am sure Americans will be pissed there is no Halo, Doom, Socom and the like.

It is a list like this that shows why the XBox and Xbox 360 are failures in Japan =)

More videos!

Do you not just love the internet? So many cool things that come across my desk it is insane.

1997 Macworld Keynote: This is the infamous keynote speech where Steve Jobs announced the partnership with Microsoft. Very interesting for computer and internet history buffs such as myself. It is also fun to see what jabs Jobs lobs at Microsoft during it and watch the crowd reaction.

Super Mario Brothers Race: Watch two people battle it out with the classic NES Super Mario Brothers while the crowd goes wild.

Real Life Simpsons Intro: While I believe The Simpons Jumped the Shark many years ago, I still found this to be awesome.

Two Great Videos

Got two good videos for you today.

First is Robin Williams on Whose Line is it Anyway. Once again, he proves he is one of the masters at Improv comedy.

Second is a great BBC documentary (BBC fucking owns anything in North America) called Inside Nintendo. It is an hour long but well worth the watch for any fan of gaming as it talks about the history of Nintendo, the legal battles they faced and even has an interview with gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto.

Test your classic gaming knowledge

How much do you know about the NES and SNES era? Take these two quizzes to find out how much you do (or don't) know.

The 8-bit Wizard
The 16-bit Wizard

Paying off your Credit Card could trigger Homeland Security

Pay too much and you could raise the alarm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Walter Soehnge is a retired Texas schoolteacher who traveled north with his wife, Deana, saw summer change to fall in Rhode Island and decided this was a place to stay for a while.

So the Soehnges live in Scituate now and Walter sometimes has breakfast at the Gentleman Farmer in Scituate Village, where he has passed the test and become a regular despite an accent that is definitely not local.

And it was there, at his usual table last week, that he told me that he was "madder than a panther with kerosene on his tail."

He says things like that. Texas does leave its mark on a man.

What got him so upset might seem trivial to some people who have learned to accept small infringements on their freedom as just part of the way things are in this age of terror-fed paranoia. It's that "everything changed after 9/11" thing.

But not Walter.

"We're a product of the '60s," he said. "We believe government should be way away from us in that regard."

He was referring to the recent decision by him and his wife to be responsible, to do the kind of thing that just about anyone would say makes good, solid financial sense.

They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522.

And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable.

And all they did was pay down their debt. They didn't call a suspected terrorist on their cell phone. They didn't try to sneak a machine gun through customs.

They just paid a hefty chunk of their credit card balance. And they learned how frighteningly wide the net of suspicion has been cast.

After sending in the check, they checked online to see if their account had been duly credited. They learned that the check had arrived, but the amount available for credit on their account hadn't changed.

So Deana Soehnge called the credit-card company. Then Walter called.

"When you mess with my money, I want to know why," he said.

They both learned the same astounding piece of information about the little things that can set the threat sensors to beeping and blinking.

They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted.

Walter called television stations, the American Civil Liberties Union and me. And he went on the Internet to see what he could learn. He learned about changes in something called the Bank Privacy Act.

"The more I'm on, the scarier it gets," he said. "It's scary how easily someone in Homeland Security can get permission to spy."

Eventually, his and his wife's money was freed up. The Soehnges were apparently found not to be promoting global terrorism under the guise of paying a credit-card bill. They never did learn how a large credit card payment can pose a security threat.

But the experience has been a reminder that a small piece of privacy has been surrendered. Walter Soehnge, who says he holds solid, middle-of-the-road American beliefs, worries about rights being lost.

"If it can happen to me, it can happen to others," he said.

That is such bullshit. I have never been a fan of Homeland Security but this just takes the fucking cake.

Three wicked NES case mods

Here are some wicked NES Case Mods that have come out recently. This seems to be the newest trend and I think it is fucking awesome.

NES Home Theater PC




NES Alarm Clock



Mac-Mini Inside an NES



I wish I had half the skills of these guys heh.

Daily Funnies!

Note: If you do not know, this is in relation to Jim Lee signing on for DC Comics for an MMOG.

My fucking truck

Well, the truck finally died. The thing is 11 years old with 160k miles on it. It has been with me through 6 or 7 six hour trips as well as a 12 hour one day drive. It has been a good truck, but it finally said "Fuck you Jay - Fix me now".

I have been without my vehicle since Monday. As stated in an earlier post, I had to drop $450 dollars on Saturday to get some work done on it. Well, it turns out there was more than meets the eye to the original issue. I will now be dropping another $500 to get it completely repaired. For those counting at home, this is roughly $950 bucks in addition to security deposit, paying the movers, and first months rent. All told, I have spent about $2700 in less than two weeks. This has not been enjoyable to say the least.

This means that my plans to go to Japan this summer are now a dream as well as my plans to upgrade my computer this month. Needless to say I am fairly fucking mad but I have no outlet for my anger as all of the expenses are legitimate. I suppose what upsets me the most is the fact that this happend all at once and it happend AFTER I moved. What this means is that until Friday, I have NO transportation as I no longer have a roommate. Had this happened 3 weeks ago, I could have made it to work and do some errands by borrowing my ex-roomates vehicle. Now I am fucked and stranded and forced to use two sick days (Remember, I have Thur and Fri off normally) when I am not sick.

Do not take this post as me asking for sympathy. When my friends ask me "What is going on!" or "How are things going?", I always point them to the blog. So since this is a huge event in my life (something that is not very common), I felt the need to post about it. I am well aware that there are people far worse off than me (My parents for example) and I am fairly lucky in that I had a nice nest egg saved up so I am by no means broke.

Anyway, I really do enjoy my new apartment. That is good considering I am stranded here all week. Because of this fact, I have been catching up on my gaming. I finished Quake 4 and have moved on to Doom 3. I have attempted to complete Doom 3 multiple times before but always got bored. After playing Quake 4 and watching Doom (Fuck what everyone on the internet says, I loved this film as did all my friends), I have a new appreciation for the game. Playing it at night with 5.1 surround sound helps as well.

I am also still working on Shin Megami Tensi: Digital Devil Saga 2. I took a break from it during the move but have logged in about 6 hours these past two days. I should have it beat tomorrow night and I can then move onto Demon Stone.

Anyway, I have to head out. I have a long walk ahead of me as I have to go to the old apartment to finalize everything as well as stop at the bank.

Videos for your viewing pleasure

So I have been gathering some cool videos for ya and here they are.

Wicked Trampoline Stunt: Caution - do not try this at home.

Wicked Backflip: Caution - do not...fuck it, if you are stupid enough, try it and be sure to send me the pictures.

Ask a Ninja Hamster Dance Remix: If you have never been to Ask a Ninja, you need to go now. It is a fucking hilarious video cast. This is one of the fan made videos that is just fucking awesome.

Ask a Ninja Bl**ped Remix: Another fan remix for Ask a Ninja. This time, someone took it and it made it appear as if the Ninja is a foul-mouthed bastard.

Bob Saget sings "Danny Tanner is not gay": Speaking of foul-mouthed bastards, anyone who only knows Bob Saget from Full House or America's Funniest Home Videos has not seen the REAL Bob Saget. This video is grade-A classic "fuck you" Bob Saget.

Amazing Yo-Yo video: This guy is just incredible.

A talking cat: I swear this cat is fucking possessed or something.

That is it for now. Enjoy =)