Aion Legion: Discord

So for those of you who are going to be playing Aion, I am starting a legion (Discord) for Elyos on the Nezekan server. Feel free to come join us =)


Update: We have changed to the Yustiel server due to Nezekan being changed to a GMT+10 server.

Where were they when I was younger?

I saw this synopsis on Slashdot and couldn't resist sharing:

"In Manhattan this fall, a batch of lucky sixth-graders will start at Quest To Learn, the first public school in the US with a curriculum built around playing games. They'll play Spore and Civilization, board games such as Settlers of Catan, and learn 3D modeling in Maya and Google Earth as well. Each semester concludes with a two-week 'Boss Level.'"

Cloves

So yesterday, I went to buy a pack of cloves.  7-11 was out and said that they didn't get any in their shipment.  I went to Pauls' Cigars, and he said that they can't get them anymore; all they can get is the new clove cigars (see pic).  I bought a pack and halfway through the first one went over to Timber Valley Tobacco.  She said people have been calling for a couple days asking if they had any cloves left.  She's a clove smoker too, so asked me to step outside and try the two she still had in stock and let her know which one to buy.  She ended up giving me a pack of Splash (free) since they tasted a little better than the others.  She said that the are required (federal) to get rid of all their stock by the 22nd.  No more vanilla, cherry, clove, etc.  Well, except Menthol is allowed -- I mean come on, Phillip Morris isn't stupid enough to hurt their own revenue stream.

I have come to two conclusions from this... 1) The US Govt just created a brand new black market. Yay us.  2) As of the 22nd, marijuana is more legal than cloves.

Now, for those of you thinking "well good riddance smokers" let me show you why we like cloves so much.  This is from Djarum's website:

Djarum Kretek recipe

Casing Flavour compound:
(per 100 parts tobacco)
maple sweet: 0.2
chocolate: 0.2
licorice: 0.4
plum casing: 0.3
coffee: 0.35
dried nangka: 0.35
dried fruit: 0.15
total casing flavours: 1.95

the casing flavours are water-soluble and suspended in:
humectants: 0.7
invert sugar: 0.5
water: 5

Top Flavour Compound (Top Dressing):
Havana: 0.8
Manila: 0.4
Strawberry: 0.3
Pineapple: 0.35
Pisang ambon: 0.25
Clove enhancer: 0.25
Pruimen: 0.05
Aniseed oil: 0.3
Cassia extract: 0.3
Salak cider: 0.1
Vanilla: 0.2
Orange: 0.25
Total top flavours: 3.55

A top-secret sauce containing, among other things: 
cinnamon
jackfruit
banana
vanilla

UPS: Ubiquitous Packaging Slayer

I have talked to all of my friends about these issues in the past, but I figure it is time to blog about it.  I mean, this has happened for *every single package* I have received from UPS for the last... what? 6 years?  Not, in most cases (and sometimes very surprisingly) the contents themselves survive the decimation of their containers...  Even the case of wine survived the fist-sized hole in the side of the box.  Sometimes, as with Autumn's shop, they refuse to ever deliver to the door and I always have to drive to BFE to pick up my package.

This time, I had ordered a box of Caffeinated Root Beer.  Take a look at the pics and tell me if you'd like to try drinking it.

Escher for Real

I came across this site today and thought I would share :)

Datto ZR1000

While trying to find a good option for remote backups of my computer today, I came across a cool product.  As a ZFS fan, the Datto Z-Series definitely caught my attention.

They also have a web UI you can log into (demo/demo) to see the interface.

It's a little out of my price range at the moment; but if I ever start my own business up again, I will definitely be looking into this.

Emotiv EPOC Update

As many of you know, I ordered my EPOC awhile ago and am anxiously waiting for it.

Here's the latest update:

Dear Malachi,

Thank you for licensing the Emotiv SDK.

We regret to inform you that the recent typhoon across East Asia has caused unforeseen and unexpected factory delays resulting in the delay of your SDK headset shipment date.   We have just been advised that the SDK headset will be shipped to you on August 31.  We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause and would like to reaffirm our commitment to getting the headset to you as soon as possible.

We thank you for your patience and support to date.  We look forward to working with you in the coming months.

Regards,

Emotiv Customer Service Team

Emotiv Systems Inc.

News from the Net

We all know the concept of history repeating itself... maybe we need to start looking at 'junk dna' as the history that is bound to be repeated?

Now that smoking is being banned everywhere, it appears that attention and memory will be impared in schizophrenics.

Score one for the lobotomy that is the Patent Office. They let M$ patent XML-based word processing documents... 

Feds get a taste of why we have been fighting their new requirements

Everyone knows of the advantages of duct tape... but what about Scotch tape?

How about an automatic pancake machine?

Newest toys you can buy for me

Google Android Developer Challenge #2 is underway

News from the Net

In a blow to the DIY and hardware hackers out there (isn't that how most people get started in electronics?) a man now faces 10 years in prison for modifying console game hardware.  This gets back to my view that if I buy it it's mine and I can do whatever the hell I want with it.  Sure, I may void the warranty, but 10 years in prison?

An inventor came up with an alternative to bifocal lenses.

xkcd is being released in book form.

Back to the Future III -- here we come.

Someone tried to plant a fake ATM at Defcon.  Of course, the DoD and USAF were there to recruit people.  Maybe that is so you can work for IBM.

Oooh! Ohh! I soooo want to do this! You can send up your own satellite for $8000.  Is it OK if my satellite accidentally decides to turn and take off into the solar system???

You know how every other commercial on TV is that Cash for Clunkers bit? You know the one - where Toyota for example brags how 25 of their cars qualify for the Clunker discount.  Anyways, looks like the program ran out of money and is being suspended -- so don't let them fast talk you into signing anyway.

If you live in the UK, it looks like the government may be putting cameras into your home so they can enforce that your kids eat right and go to bed on time. 

Looks like the electric company wants to take away the $17/mo advantage I would get by installing a $45000 solar panel system.

Some recent proof that the DoJ cronies from the RIAA are now in control.

How about a car for the blind?

Cyberpunk anyone? Oh wait, this time it is Monsters.

Some more proof that the patent office should be abolished... Someone just patented podcasting.

Hmmm, is this the OK to not follow the rules?  Wouldn't that then be following the rules in itself? So...

Sea route through the Arctic is now open for business.

Sun's entire JRuby team is quitting.

eCigs banned in Oregon

So it appears that clove-flavored eCigs aren't an option either...  The Oregon Attorney General is banning them.

News from the Net

I know, I know... some of you (ahem, Will) feel that I have been shirking my duty to distill the latest news to you on a regular basis.... I'm working on it ;)

Creativity Potentially Linked To Schizophrenia

Gene Causes Memory Loss Before Age 60

For boys who had been through the juvenile justice system, compared to boys with similar histories without judicial involvement, the odds of adult judicial interventions increased almost seven-fold

A breakthrough in OLED technology that reduces the ultra-thin lights' energy consumption by 75%

A radioprotectant that all but eliminates acute radiation sickness even in cases of lethal doses of radiation in tests on rats and monkeys, when injected up to 72 hours after exposure.

Pull out your 3d glasses (the red/blue ones not the polarized clear ones) and start doing some home movies :)

Scuba divers off the Californian city of San Diego are being menaced by large numbers of jumbo squid.

Developing ultrasound blasts to disrupt enemy sonar may sound more like a submarine arms race than animal evolution. But, believe it or not, some moths have done just that to evade hungry bats

For those of you with kids in the Beaverton area, Party in the Park returns Saturday, July 25

South Africans plan to set aside 67 minutes of their time in community service as a symbolic tribute to anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela on his 91st birthday

Wells Fargo

Since I already have a beef with Wells Fargo for refusing to send my bills to my billing address (wtf is it for then?), I literally laughed out loud when I saw this bit of bad publicity they were getting:

From Slashdot:

Extreme economic problems require extreme solutions, and Wells Fargo Bank has come up with a good one. They have decided to sue themselves. Wells Fargo holds the first and second mortgages on a condominium that is going into foreclosure. As holder of the first, they are suing all other lien holders, including the holder of the second, which is Wells Fargo. It gets better. The company has hired a lawyer to defend itself against its own lawsuit. The defense lawyer even filed this answer to the complaint, "Defendant admits that it is the owner and holder of a mortgage encumbering the subject real property. All other allegations of the complaint are denied." On the website The Consumer Warning Network, Angie Moreschi wrote: "We've apparently reached the perfect storm for complete and utter idiocy by some banks trying to foreclose on homes."

Don't you want a company this smart being in charge of where you live?

Jury of Peers?

So let's start with a quote from Wikipedia:

The definition of obscenity differs from culture to culture, between communities within a single culture, and also between individuals within those communities. Many cultures have produced laws to define what is considered to be obscene, and censorship is often used to try to suppress or control materials that are obscene under these definitions: usually including, but not limited to, pornographic material. As such censorship restricts freedom of expression, crafting a legal definition of obscenity presents a civil liberties issue.

So tell me how a California couple can get prison time for "a felony charge of conspiracy to distribute obscene material through the mail and over the Internet" to Pennsylvania.

First of all, why are Californians being subjected to Pennsylvania law? By that logic, every single person on the internet is committing some crime since some places that read their emails/blogs/posts/etc do not allow free thought (say, China for instance).

Secondly, how can there be a such thing as "federal obscenity statutes" when even according to Wikipedia, the definition of obscene differs between communities or even individuals in a community. I think this is just the type of thing Wikipedia warned of with "civil liberties issue". By this token, I think Oregon should send to prison everyone on the internet that posts a non-liberal comment... anything religious or right-wing should do. Maybe we should start with U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, of the Western District of Pennsylvania for violating Oregonian perceptions of decency.