i really enjoy [url=http://www.grouphug.us]the group hug website[/url]. today, i happened to stumble across [url=http://grouphug.us/confessions/843900145]this confessional[/url] and though this is a serious thing, i think it’s hilarious how it was ended.
“I’m about to cheat on my boyfriend who lives 3000 away. I don’t even know if I can call him my boyfriend, but I kind of feel guilty about sleeping with my best friend. Not that guilty though.”
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Daily Archives: April 2, 2004
throbbing headache
after last night’s xbox adventures, i ended up staying up later than i should have and i woke up earlier than i should have today. as a result, i currently have a headache that i’m trying to fight off. go away headache, go away!
i was still determined to leave the apartment early instead of getting more sleep because the idea of leaving the office at 7 today was completely undesirable. i’m not sure what else i would do in the afternoon, but it is nice to be able to have that choice to not do anything.
i actually wanted to go to blockbuster and sign up for the game freedom pass and start playing xbox games. maybe i’ll do just that.
for lunch today, i had soup and a sandwich…and i also decided to get an italian soda which i added some cream to. mmmmm. so good. i think that i might have to pick up some club soda to make some of this stuff at home.
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nikon d70
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nelson bought the [url=http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond70/]nikon d70[/url] and brought it over last night to poker night. it definitely is of a higher build quality compared to the canon digital rebel, but it was hard for me to use the camera because i’ve only been exposed to canon cameras all my life. but the basics were pretty easy to pick up.
nelson was telling me about one of the problems with the camera out-of-the-box was that the color tone from the factory are uneven. apparently, there is some kind of color tone fix that people have been using, but the images from his camera that i looked at were fine.
the lens that came as part of the kit is impressively wide and reasonably fast. i wonder how good the optics are, the images that came out of the camera felt a little soft, but i’m not totally convinced that i was taking pictures in complete focus.
if i wasn’t so heavily invested in canon gear, i think that the nikon d70 is currently the best digital SLR in the sub-$1000 range. the shutter is definitely softer sounding than my 10D. it sort of reminds me of a 1D shutter.
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xbox
last night my xbox received a little boost. it now boasts a 200GB hard drive and a little new hardware. the install process is actually drastically more complex than i thought it would be. the actual hardware install is a pretty delicate process which requires hands far more steady than my own. but even after the hardware is installed, the software setup is actually quite a bear as well.
it turns out that the only way to get certain things for a modchip’d xbox is via IRC. you have to go to a specific IRC server, look for a specific IRC channel, type a specific thing in that channel to get the ftp information that will then give you access to the bios for the modchip that you need to flash into memory.
once that is done, you then have to find another utility that will install the dashboard for the xbox and prepares your new hard drive for the new applications on your xbox. that utility was a little bit easier to find as there was a bittorrent file for it.
then you have to construct your own BIOS for the xbox.
then you have to create a dummy filler file because the xbox dvd drive has trouble reading small files burned onto media, so you make a 100MB dummy file, add that to your image and then you can burn your bootable bios flashing CD.
then you flash this new bios into the xbox.
are we done yet? no.
then you have to burn the CD that contains the other software that preps your newly chip’d xbox for its new life. insert that CD, format your hard drive with their utilities, and then finally, you are able to do something meaningful.
sheesh.
anyway, the process started at 7:30pm. there was a small mishap during the hardware install which required pulling the header pins out of the circuit board we just put in and finally resorting to using wires to get the thing working. we took a long break and then finally around 1AM the whole process was completed.
crazy…but cool.
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no april fool’s day jokes…
yesterday was april fool’s day, but i did not have an elaborate gag set up for the day, nor did i really play any pratical jokes on anyone. the joy that i used to get playing jokes on others is just not there anymore. i’m not sure what happened. there were a few april fool’s day jokes that may have gone a little too far in the past so i’ve decided to tone it down and just let the day pass by.
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