Rei's Random Stuff

Moved

2008-10-11T13:22:00.001-04:00

My blog has officially moved to www.belongstorachel.com

Um...

2008-08-19T22:19:00.003-04:00

Well, it's been a while. I registered a new website and I'm going to turn that into my tech and personal blog. So probably no updates here for a while.

9 Unhealthiest Summer Vacation Destinations

2008-05-11T10:01:00.002-04:00

On Newsweeks website they published 9 Unhealthiest Summer Vacation Destinations. Who made the top of the list?

Detroit.

1. Saddled with some serious problems, Detroit tops our list of vacation destinations to avoid this summer. The last thing you want to worry about on your vacation is your safety, but it would be hard not to in Motor City. According to the , Detroit had 418 murders in 2006 (the most recent year for which data was available), the highest rate of any American city. It also ranks second highest for violent crimes and fourth highest for robberies. Another strike against Detroit? Of all American cities Detroit has the fewest sunny days.

Transparent Desktops

2008-05-10T21:32:00.004-04:00

I was looking for something cool to do for my machine that I got Fedora installed on and I found a link to flicker. Ok so they're not really transparent, but it's freaking funny. Check out these images on Flicker.

Only took a couple years...

2008-05-04T13:07:00.002-04:00

It only took me a couple years to find out that Dell announced on August 14, 2006 that it was recalling laptop batteries because of a potential fire hazard. If you bought a Dell laptop between April 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006 you may be able to get a replacement battery for free. The link is https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/ to find out if your battery can be replaced. I submitted the form today to get a new one.

Fun game and a fun toy

2008-05-04T00:22:00.004-04:00

Dan and I went to Office Depot to get some organizational stuff. They had a couple laser pointers on the clearance shelf. So I got a laser pointer that has a line, circle, dot, hand, and arrow for (I think) $9. It is the ultimate kitty toy. I think he likes the hand the best. hehe. :D

Out of my tech saga for the weekend came this: Cyrkam Airtos. I have been looking for this link for ages. I never knew what the name was and looking it up was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It's a simple addictive game that I might have stumbled upon eventually.

Here is my tech saga for this weekend. Probably pretty boring stuff for the most part. Just FYI, I named my computers after Jupiter and it's moons.

I bought my laptop, Ganymede, in 2006 I think.... just before I graduated. My computer, Io, died about a month after I got the laptop, but the laptop was an upgrade so I just used the laptop for everything and figured I'd go back and look at Io later. That meant Io just sat collecting dust for the past 2 years.

I was mailed Io about two months ago from back home and finally took the opportunity to crack it open. I was going to take out the hard drive and put it into the old external hard drive enclosure I have (very handy thing for troubleshooting and easy extra storage). Unfortunately, one of the screws wouldn't come out and was eventually totally stripped. In an odd twist of fate, the hard drive that was in it was already destroyed by me. I accidentally let it slam on my desk causing the hard drive not to work anymore. Two pieces of hardware are going in the trash. :( At this point though, they aren't worth that much anyway.

So, I got a can of Duster, took my old computer outside and blew away dust bunnies the size of Texas. (As a side note, there was a dead bat on our porch this morning. O_o ) Once everything was pretty clean, I plugged everything in, and booted it up. I thought the hard drive went bad but it appears to just be Windows XP that was corrupted. It could still be from bad sectors, but for the most part the hard drive works.

I was going to install XP over the corrupted version, but I couldn't find the install CD (if I even have one... it came from a special offer from Microsoft through the computer science department at school, but I don't think I got to keep the CD, just the key).

I ended up downloading the Fedora 8 Live CD so I could boot from the CD and just look at the hard drive that way. I forgot a lot of the things I wanted from that pc 2 years ago, and I'm glad I didn't go with Dan's suggestion of just wiping the drive and starting over (since I lived without the stuff for 2 years already).

So now my plan is to have Io as my desktop with either Fedora 8 or Ubuntu, but I haven't been able to decide yet.

I also still have my oldest machine, Jupiter, to figure out what to do with. Jupiter was the first machine I bought with my own money. Back in the day, it was a hoss. Right now it's in a giant 4u case (server rack style case). It could probably do well as a file server, but it's taking up a lot of floor space right now in our tiny computer area.

Anyway, that's the end of my computer saga.

Cool Video

2008-04-12T11:36:00.001-04:00

This video is of an elephant painting a self portrait. Very cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LHoyB81LnE

Uncyclopedia

2008-04-06T12:41:00.001-04:00

I found this by accident but it is very funny. http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
For example: "Symphonia, the Greek goddess of rock (Opera in Roman mythology) was one of the lesser goddesses born to Tethys and Oceanus. She is said to bless those who truly appreciate "a killer riff" by turning herself into a sculpture made out of stone (it is assumed marble). She is considered a lesser goddess because this happened only once."

New Orbit Gum Commercial?

2008-04-01T21:57:00.000-04:00

When did this come out?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WtHRMtftOs

I need tiny foods.

2008-03-31T21:03:00.003-04:00

Packing a bento box is tough. I need tiny foods to put in my lunch. :)

I think I'll mostly stick with either rice or salad in the bottom layer. I'm trying to come up with things to mix and match for the top. I've been reading that the general rule is 1/2 grain, 1/3 vegetables, 1/6 protein (good fraction lesson hehe). So far I have a little list. But I'll keep researching foods that are easy to make beforehand or easy to microwave in the morning. hehe :D

Btw, I tried to microwave an egg in my new heart shaped mold. The first one I tried was cooked for way too long. The max microwave time is supposed to be 2 minutes, so I put it for 1... Dan tasted it and asked if it was ok to throw it away hehe. The second try I did it for 30 seconds on high and it was pretty good. I think if I did it on a lower power setting it might be a little better.

I'm going to try one more time for Dan if he still wants one. :)

It's just too cute.

2008-03-05T22:54:00.002-05:00

I can't stop watching this and I don't know why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HNHFoZ2hW0

I'm ordering a pink Walkie Bits :D. Walkie Bits was voted one of the best inventions in 2005 by Time magazine. It's a tiny turtle that walks... ok sounds simple. But you can tap on it's shell to program it's step pattern, it can sing, walk fast or slow... It's just cute. lol

Another weird toy from japan... Cubees. They are interactive little squared animals that when stacked sing together. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOO9dJ1hgBk

One last thing... Insane Japanese Tourism Ad!

Onigiri

2008-03-03T21:51:00.002-05:00

Onigiri is typically called a rice ball in the states. It's easier to make than sushi (depending on what you use) and if you're a big fan of rice, onigiri is awesome. Here is an easy way to make onigiri.

Here's how I do it.

Disclaimer: I'm not a cook. I don't write recipes and I don't measure anything so this is just a rough guideline.

I use:

Canned tuna (in water, not oil)
Mayonnaise
Rice
Nori (Seaweed sheets)
Plastic wrap

Start cooking rice.
Let rice cool enough to not burn my hands
As rice is cooling, drain tuna as much as possible and mix to my liking with Mayo (try to pry the cat off the counter)
Cut seaweeds strips out.. about the width of two fingers (onigiri's a finger food after all)
Put plastic wrap over a bowl, scoop out enough rice to make a thin layer over the bottom of the bowl
Fill with about half a tablespoon of tuna. (take cat back off the counter and ignore the constant meowing)
Either put more rice on top or fold the rice over the tuna so it is not showing through the rice.
Lift the plastic wrap out of the bowl and shape rice with hands. I like the triangle shape b/c it's the easiest to shape with your hands. I don't press too hard, just enough to get the rice to stick together.
Take a strip of seaweed and wrap it around the bottom. Sometimes I wrap the whole thing in seaweed, but some people don't like that.
Now just repeat for however many onigiri I want to make. :D (and do my best to keep the cat out of the tuna. =^.^=

Sometimes instead of using tuna, I use canned salmon. Once, I tried cream cheese and canned crab, but I used too much cream cheese and the canned crab tasted funny to me. I've tried umeboshi. Umeboshi is a traditional filling in onigiri and it's a pickled plum. It was odd. One of those things I probably won't have again.

You could use anything salty or that goes well with rice.

Probably when I get my bento box I will be making onigiri a lot to take and eat for lunch b/c it's one of the few things I can cook. lol

Tea eggs?

2008-03-03T20:49:00.002-05:00

Right now I'm looking for a Bento box (Japanese Lunch box) that I can take to work and use in the microwave. I'm probably going get this one. I'm hoping it's not too small. I have no idea what I would need. Anyway...

Along the way I found Tea Eggs. Basically you hard boil eggs, crack the shells a bit, then put tea in the water and let the eggs soak it up to create a marble looking egg. Here is a simple recipe. I don't drink enough tea to have any idea what that would taste like. I'm asking you tomorrow Sara!

Frozen Grand Central

2008-02-23T07:01:00.003-05:00

Here's a funny video by an improv group in Grand Central Station.

Boy with the Incredible Brain

2008-02-08T17:05:00.000-05:00

An amazing video about a savant.

Ebaumsworld.com

2008-01-26T19:35:00.000-05:00

I had started to write a lot about this site since I was on the subject of YTMND (since ytmnd was once, or still is, at war with ebaumsworld). But this video sums everything up pretty well.

The song was written by Lemon Demon (aka Neil Cicierega) who is both very strange and very talented.

YTMND.com

2008-01-26T17:50:00.000-05:00

YTMND stands for Your The Man Now Dog. It's a site where people will post an image or animated gif, an audio clip (sometimes very short clips just repeating), and usually large 3d text. A lot are pretty dumb, but some are pretty funny. It's definitely not safe for work, and I wouldn't recommend it at all if you are easily offended. Here is the one that started it all.

Here are some not so offensive funny or interesting ytmnd's:
The Emo Song
Tom Cruise Kills Oprah
Tighten up the grapfix?? <-- parody of a real commercial.
How to Prank a Telemarketer
Picard Song
Cosby Bebop (Parody of Cowboy Bebop's intro)
The Ultimate Suffering
*~A Tiny Glimpse~*
Arnold shares his deepest feelings
Breakup Letter, Dramatic reading
Safety Not Guaranteed (There's been a LOT of parodies of this one. For example: Temple of time)
Lindsay Lohan doesn't change facial expressions

Anonymous declares war

2008-01-26T07:59:00.000-05:00

The cyber terrorist group Anonymous has declared war on Scientology after the 'church' had the video of Tom Cruise's ramblings on Scientology pulled from youtube.com.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JCbKv9yiLiQ

moar funny pictures

While I'm on the subject of Scientology, here is a link to the South Park video that was pulled from the air.

Steampunk'd

2008-01-22T20:24:00.000-05:00

Ever heard of steampunk before? Apparently he name comes from a play on the name cyberpunk. Think of the movie The Time Machine. Steampunk can cover anything from stories, movies, even items that go for the feeling of the 1830's through 1900. There is a video of a steampunk enthusiast moding a Laptop. I'd love to be able to customize something like that (even if I wasn't going for that style)

gro.ceryli.st is voted down.

2008-01-21T21:24:00.000-05:00

I asked some more peoples and no one liked it. Oh well. lol. I guess I will wait until I get at least some part of the program written before I go naming it.

gro.ceryli.st?

2008-01-20T12:28:00.000-05:00

I could register the domain ceryli.st and do a domain hack (like del.icio.us) to make it gro.ceryli.st

Dan says it's too complicated and people won't get it. >.<

It would be 35 euros, which is about 50 USD. I'm wondering if I should just wait until I have more of the site written before I spend some money on the domain.

Pet Plant Shop & Monitor Mirror

2008-01-19T23:18:00.001-05:00

I bought a pet plant cactus from thinkgeek.com and ended up giving it to my boyfriend for Christmas. It was so cute, (I hope he doesn't kill it) I saw the website on the packaging and had to check it out. For an interesting inexpensive gift, you should check it out too. :)

Speaking of Think Geek, for some reason these monitor mirrors are hard to find on the site.

WTF?!? Speed Racer movie?

2008-01-19T21:38:00.000-05:00

http://www.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK//video/trailer/me60811758/

O_o

I guess it's meant to be stylized like an anime... which would figure since Speed Racer is from Japan (the Japanese name is "Mach GoGoGo"). It just looks strange....

Some neat stuff to buy!

2008-01-19T18:49:00.000-05:00

When my mom went on a cruise to the Bahamas, she brought me back some nail polish that changes color in the sun. It is very cool! I went to Hawaii recently and a store was selling the same brand of nail polish so I bought a couple more colors. I just painted my nails with Reckless. I'm considering buying one of the color changing rings. They have a very nice simple design, which I like and color change part pushes the geek factor up. See how much UV you're getting from your fingers!

Papercraft

2008-01-15T20:22:00.000-05:00

I really want the printer to be working at home. And finding the scissors would be nice to. I don't think we have any glue either. :(

I want all of this for these reasons:
Canon 3D Papercraft
Paper Crafts | YAMAHA MOTOR

Yummy recipe

2008-01-15T19:42:00.000-05:00

No idea where my grandma got this, but it's one of my favorite desserts. :D

Blueberry or Cherry Dessert Mothers recipe

1 can pie filling
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 stick margarine
8oz + 3oz cream cheese softened
2 pkgs Dream Whip (prepared)
2 T sugar
1 C chopped nuts (pecans or any)
2 C powdered sugar

Soften margarine to room temperature. Combine flour and
sugar. Mix in margarine and press into 9x13 cake pan.
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let cool. Mix powdered sugar
and cream cheese. Mix in prepared Dream Whip. Spread in
cooled crust. Top with bluberry or cherry pie filling.
Chill. Over night is best.

Funny Video: Belgian Farting Pig and How Movies Should Have Ended

2008-01-14T21:06:00.000-05:00

I think one of my friends posted this one our forums a while back. Guaranteed to get stuck in your head at least for a day.

I decided to add some other videos that I thought were funny.
Movies and how they should have ended: Spiderman 3 Lord of the Rings Superman
I love the cafe chats between Batman and Superman. lol

healthyrecipeproject.com?

2008-01-13T21:17:00.000-05:00

I have many ideas constantly floating around in my head, but probably none as easy as this one could be. What I want to do is create a website dedicated to healthy eating, all for free and mostly user submission. I'd want to have users be able to create their own weekly/monthly menus but make it easy as possible. Not only would a person be able to submit recipes, the program would be able to create shopping lists based on plans for meals that people pick. It would be able to rate recipes by difficulty of cooking so anyone who's a noob to cooking would still have a chance at eating healthy. I'd want it to be able to exclude recipes for things the user doesn't like (bell peppers bleh!), or foods that a person is allergic to or can't tolerate. I'd want the program to automatically decide if the recipes picked are varied enough to get the right amount of nutrition from week to week.

Of course, everything will be written in Ruby on Rails. Also I hope to blog all my progress.

My main issue is finding all the information on the food itself, such as Calories and nutrition information. Although, from a quick search there has been other places with the information. I just need to find out if it's OK to use it.

Even if someone has already done something like this before, I think it would be a fun project just to learn more about RoR.

I told my boyfriend about my idea, but he hated the domain name I quickly came up with. So... I guess I need suggestions (and opinions are always welcome). lol

Free Rice

2008-01-12T23:41:00.000-05:00

I thought this was an amazing idea. Freerice.com uses the money from advertising done on their site to buy rice to feed the hungry. All you do is play a vocabulary game. Very cool.

The addiction is over: Life after WoW

2008-01-12T21:46:00.000-05:00

I put a lot of hours into World of Warcraft. I bought it about a month after release and logged 284 days of played time (6816 hours). I had 4 level 70 characters; Hunter, Priest, Mage, Druid, a 64 Warrior, 46 Rogue, and 3 level 35's: Warlock, Paladin, and Shaman. I had planned to level them all to 70.

The beginning of the end was when I got a job. With my priest as a healer, I had been raiding the high end content that many don't have the chance to get into. When I got a job, it conflicted with the raiding schedule. I don't miss it. The thing I hated the most was that I felt tied down. I couldn't just play the game when I wanted, I had to be there from 7:30pm to anywhere from 11pm to 1am Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Of course as a raider I had to spend time in the game getting materials together so that I could be prepared. I don't miss that at all.

Everything was redundant or a letdown. Gathering materials is dull, trying to make money is boring, leveling all my characters was an interesting endeavor at first, but that again got too redundant. I would try to do instances but they were usually more trouble then they are worth. So when my account was up for renewal on Dec 24th, I didn't renew it. Before I canceled my account, I didn't do what most people do and delete all my characters. At first I thought I might renew my account after the Christmas/New Year was over, so I left all my character's gear, but I gave all my gold to my boyfriend just in case I didn't come back (he spent all of it not long after I gave it to him >.<) .

WoW was a good way to kill time when I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. I had so much of my time taken up by the game that's now free... my biggest issue is... I don't know what I want to do anymore. I thought about playing again just to kill time or help out my boyfriend since he still plays... But I don't really want to go back. I figure right now, a blog is a good way to kill time. :)