Games, Personal, Technology

Dual Sport Surgeon ZeroXR – Cars and Computers

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So… Friday was one busy day filled with projects.

After work, I made haste to visit Track Dog Racing in Dallas for Devil’s part. After paying Gary for the coil packs, I would wait for the engine to cool enough so I could just get in, change out the coils and then go home. There were a few Mazda engineer snags like tape and zip ties, but the guys out at Track Dog helped with those as I bolted in the coils. After the coils were in, the moment of truth was upon me. I was to take Devil around and make sure throttle response was stable again as well as ignition. A test run of about 5 minutes showed all systems were normal and I was relieved.

From there… I sped back home to Plano to hit up Comp USA for a few things for Byakko (the desktop computer for those confused with my nomenclature). I would pick up a GeForce GTS 250 by XFX, 4GB of DDR2 OCZ ReaperX HPC RAM, and 4 more USB ports to plug them up… This is where the real fun began.

The fitment of the Geforce GTS 250 into my Micro ATX board was a little tight but manageable. It does show how much real estate disappears when you have a graphic card that eats 2 slots… That for me was essentially one PCI slot gone. After the parts were in… it was then time to power it all up and behold the glory…

I decided to try to “benchmark” my games on fluid playback… and surprisingly… Most of my games had decided to set themselves to “High” settings and played without any choppy frame rates. This is probably the first time I have ever seen “modern” games coming even close to looking decent. Sure there was some behind the scenes tweaking with drivers and stuff, but it was highly rewarding to say the least.

The funny part is just how in common fixing up cars and computers are… The fact I got to play in both worlds was rather rewarding. Devil being back to tip-top shape as well as my computer being in excellent condition made things far more sweeter.

Games, Technology

FREE Battlefield Heroes Beta Key!

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I got one in my e-mail when I had signed up before the Curse Gaming offer came up so if anyone would like the Beta key, I’d be happy to pass it along… just leave a comment and I’ll get in touch with you.

-Zero

Personal, Technology

[Technology] Byakko’s Story – My New Project PC

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I am not going to lie… Suzaku, my laptop, nearly died a few weeks ago. I was in a panic. To think that I had just about my entire academic life in Suzaku and the damn thing almost killed all of my work with it’s possible death. I won’t lie… I was in pure fear. The Beast v7 had died a great while ago due to a bad power supply, so I really was SoL (not to be confused with my cousin Sol) without a spare WORKING machine.

It was one of those moments that I had to almost pause time and evaluate everything… The thoughts started rolling in my mind:

“What the Hell am I going to do?! I can’t afford a laptop…”

“Will Suzaku hold out until I can hole up at minimal $1,000 for a great laptop?”

“What will happen if my laptop dies?! I am not going to have a machine for college next semester!“

But then… A thought had hit me like a bolt of lightning from a brain storm…

“I have some birthday cash… Maybe I can make a budget build machine as a back up and slowly make it stronger.“

So I settled and decided to do the unthinkable… I drove out to CompUSA out in Plano and said “Let’s see what $200ish can get me nowadays…” What I found shocked me, as if Heaven smiled on me… The game plan was to take the shell of the Shuttle xPC SK41G and just throw in new parts.

So… Here were the parts I had gathered from my run (4/25/2009):

$50 – Biostar MCP6P M2+ microATX Mainboard (nVidia nForce 430)
$90 – AMD x64 Phenom 9500 Quad-Core 2.2Ghz processor
$30 – Ultra 450w power source
$40 -OCZ High Performance Dual Channel Kit: 866mhz 2GB DDR2 RAM
Total cost: $210 + tax (8.25% in Plano)

To most hardcore gamers… I know this was not “uber” but my point was to make a machine comfortable to use. The reused parts were to be the 40GB hard drive and DVD-ROM from The Beast.

So on arriving home… I feverishly tore open The Beast, cleaned what seemed to be 3 years worth of dust and dried out thermal paste and I ran into a problem. Shuttle’s xPC series uses a propretary flex board for their mainboards. I remember the words from my mouth that were uttered were “Oh… For crying out… ARGH!!! %#@&!!!” Naturally, this flex board was longer and thinner than the new motherboard I just bought.
Family had picked a bit of a scuffle with me… but resolute that buying another poor laptop would only result in me being unsatiated, I would say “I will see my project out, no excuses.” Thus… I began to plot on CompUSA’s website for a cheap case that would be adequate too cool the machine, but also not break my college student wallet. That would be were I found my new case… The Thermaltake Wings RS-100. My quest would be to buy a new shell and this would effectively mean a brand new machine.
Sunday morning… I would run at what seemed like the first light of dawn to find that computer case and bolt up my parts. The reps had trouble finding a shell and eventually a brand new Thermaltake Wings RS 100 was found! The best part was it was on sale to boot!
$40 – Thermaltake Wings RS 100 Piano Black case
Total build cost – $250 + tax
After purchasing the case… I would assemble it in haste while family picked their battles with me. I remember one point getting so caught up with family that I didn’t finish the build and was even late to work from debating with them! So I was resolute to finish it in my dorm…
Post work, I made haste to throw Byakko into my car with an old 15″ Sony Vaio CRT monitor, a Chinese-English PS/2 keyboard, and a whole lot of faith. After making the boring drive home to my dorm… I ran into an issue with the build up: My DVD drive was not being recognized. The next problem was getting Windows installed but without a CD/DVD drive.
Luckily, the web had a bunch of people making tutorials on how to fit Windows 7 onto a USB drive… so I just transposed the information to my copy of Windows. With a lot of faith… I prayed and watched my machine process everything and then… I saw the confirmation that the install had completed successfully. I was elated…
That was almost 4 weeks ago…
Since then, Byakko has had a few budget upgrades to help it breath a little easier…
$15 – Second hand 15″ standard definition LCD monitor
$50 – 320GB Seagate Barracuda 7,200 RPM hard drive
On top of that, I have dedicated it as my gaming machine… so naturally, I moved over my Saitek Eclipse back-lit blue keyboard, my Logitech G13 Advance Gamer Pad, and G9 Laser mouse. So far for $315, it’s been a grand example of a machine. I know the next upgrades will have to be the Geforce GTS 250 and widescreen LCD monitor to make my gaming & productivity a lot more tolerable.
The later upgrades from there will probably be the 4GB RAM upgrade, a Corsair 80-plus 750w power source, an additional 1TB hard drive, a few more USB ports, possibly a Blu-Ray drive and just call it complete.
I will say that for a machine on a budget… it runs like a champ! This is proof that if you want something that’s a killer value and you don’t mind doing some part recycling… you can build a nice system on the cheap.
Personal

Happy Birthday to Me!

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I would like to say that turning a year older and wiser has been the best this time around. I have been glad to have had a restful yet fun birthday this year that I dare say surpasses many birthdays in my past. When you have a quaint family style Italian lunch with some of your best friends, a sushi dinner, and just a lot of laughter from it.

Today, I unfortunately do not get to rest. I must fight through the day. I am thankful for my friends and even more so from my best friend giving me something very special to me. I can say that it’s great to exhaust the celebration out of me and fall back into reality.

Personal, Rant

Grievances against Texas A&M Commerce on Housing

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Well, I forgot to write about this a few weeks ago… but I figured it would be appropriate today. Let me catch you all up to speed on how things got to my grievances.

A few weeks ago, I had gotten an e-mail basically saying to the tune of “Yeah, if you’re in Whitley Hall… You’re being forcibly evicted and you have 2 choices: The low extreme (West Halls) or the high extreme (New Pride). Happy hunting!” This would inevitably piss off all 11 floors of my dorm hall’s residents because our happy medium of balanced cost and decent living. The school’s supposed reason: “We would like to use Whitley Hall as an introductory hall to provide our first year freshman a chance to have a great dormitory experience!”

First grievance, the dormitory choices are VERY SLIM!!! West Halls are not well kept-up and on a dark night, I wouldn’t feel quite safe even walking out 30 feet to my own car. On top of that… I believe certain buildings from West Halls will be going to some of the fraternity or sorority groups, so this also kills some of the possible housing slots. (If anyone can verify this, please comment and I will give credit to you. – Zero)  New Pride, space is just flat out limited. I have heard from students who are with me in Whitley Hall made mention of “I was on the waiting list to get in and I didn’t…” Some how, the only “compromise” that Whitley Hall residents get is on Friday, we apparently get first pick on New Pride Hall. I don’t know how that will turn out to be honest… Lastly, Prairie Crossing is no longer an open option, off-campus apartment living choice close to the campus because Texas A&M Commerce has bought out the complex and here’s what they have done to that… Most of the rooms will go Honor’s College students and the remaining rooms will be available to any other student under the condition that rooms are to go to students ranked by classification and GPA. Most of the alternative apartments are a good distance away from school… I personally would hate having to “live” in Greenville make a 30 minute commute to school 5 days a week.

Second grievance, some of my friends at Berry Hall are being forced out too… The worst part, they get NO priority choices. Berry Hall is a purely freshman only hall and worst yet… the date for freshman students to register for dorm choices is April 16th. It isn’t as big as Whitley, but yet in my mind… it’s just unfair to them too.

Third grievance is with respect to the last few events… This sudden decision has alienated the student population at Whitley (and no doubt, Berry) Hall.  Any financial increases in tuition and programs, it is required they get the approval of the faculty and student body. The school has asked for a few budgetary raises, but those have failed. They also finished the New Sam Rayburn Student Center with what seems like 40+ Samsung 20+” LCD TV’s all over and a poorly designed cafeteria. Their “experiment” to go to a 4 day school in what seemed like an assumption to reduce electrical energy wasted has been a failure as the Fall 2009 Semester will be a standard 5 day academic week. So what other loophole could the school exploit? A student by the name of Brian had said something close to “Housing is one loophole the school can use, because they can blanket it with any flowery reason while basically quietly hike dorm rates too.” His thought makes sense as the common layman would probably think the forcible eviction is a “good” thing because essentially an upgrade to New Pride Hall rooms. It isn’t until the other factors are accounted for that the ugly truth shows up.

Finally… With the uprising of students disappointed that Texas A&M Commerce would basically underhandedly make a decision with out the student body voting on STUDENT HOUSING they have decided to hold a “conference”. This Conference today takes place at the student center at 3:30pm. I unfortunately can’t go because I have school work to catch up on…

However… I encourage any students who read this to spread word and attend. Be you at Whitley or wherever, show up and make a stand that student housing should be a policy that has STUDENTS voting on how things should be, not just some decision that was just blanketed over e-mail. Feel free to link my site and share my opinions amongst yourselves!

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Grooming Special Article: The Gift of Pure Fashion

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Foreword: I’d like to thank Ivy for helping me clean this article up for mass consumption… It’s a work that I have wanted to get perfect and I can say I am proud of its release. Thanks Ivy for helping me polish this gem!

Gift giving for a male can be hard. Overrated gadgets, tech toys, and ties can get a little cliche. However, as a man, I have hope that some of you women have matured to thinking:  “Maybe my guy could appreciate good cologne!” Ties and shirts get kind of old after a while, and sometimes… we as men do need new cologne, we usually don’t have the time to shop for it. 

However, let’s get one myth dispelled and out in the open… Popular scents do not fit all people! I cannot stress this enough. Just cause you hear that Acqua Di Gio is great for one guy friend doesn’t mean it will mesh well with your other male friend,  for example. Every guy has their preferences and every guy has scents that mesh well with their personalities.

A few years ago, while shopping at Sephora at Northpark Centre, I wanted a new scent. For years, I used Hugo Boss for a long while and it was time to add something new to my selection. The only thing was… with a selection of about 50+ colognes, I had no idea on where to even begin. One of the representatives saw my confusion and offered to help. I will share the tips I had learned with some of you who may be trying to choose a cologne for a male loved one. Credits for most of this go to Sephora, cause the staff at any location I have visited have been nothing but phenomenal!

Universal Rule: Understand that colognes can be divided up into 3 families and each family has its own nuances.

Fragrances can be broken down to 3 families: Fresh Scents, Woods, and Aromatics. The detail doesn’t stop there… each family then sub-divided into classes.

Fresh Scents
Fresh scents are for those open, down-to-earth individuals who area also witty to boot. Fresh water scents make a man personally feel cool and refreshing. Fresh greens are a bit on the clean herbal side but they do fit someone with athletic tendencies. Fresh citrus can be invigorating as well as carrying radiant sensual notes. In my personal experiences, I have found fresh water to be rather versatile for almost any person and any occasion. Fresh greens are great to express simple masculine tones as well as being spontaneous. The fresh citrus family give off the feeling of a fun and also being understated.

Here are my personal picks on the fresh family…
Fresh Water: Davidoff Cool Water and Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio
Fresh Green: Hugo Boss
Fresh Citrus: Kenneth Cole Reaction, Dior Fahrenheit 32

Aromatics
Aromatics are a unique family as they boast a strong and invoking experience that doesn’t fade like the sunlight or moon shadow. Some scents from this group do have a subtle sweetness that doesn’t overtly drown out the unique tones from the spices. The scents in this range are for the person who does want to show off a little but also display that they do have a little bit of innate finesse. This family is separated into 3 sub-groups… Pure aromatics, spicy aromatics, and fruit aromatics. Pure aromatics are a happy medium between sweet and spicy tones that are refreshing and sensual. Spicy aromatics have a inherent quality that makes them exciting yet warm. Fruit aromatics are very sweet and savory to the primal senses. Truth be told, this is not a realm where I am the most versed in, but I can provide some of my picks in the aromatics family. These picks are ones I have take a liking to from sampling them… The only exception would be Ralph Lauren Romance which I am personally fond of.

Pure Aromatics: Cartier Pasha, Prada Infusion D’Homme, Dolce & Gabbana Pour Homme
Spicy Aromatics: Issey Miyake L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme Intense
Fruit Aromatics: Ralph Lauren Romance

Woods
Woods are a very complex family that’s subdivided into 4 groups. Due to its complexity… The user has a variety of colors, tones, and personalities to pick from. Wood family colognes overall can make a person interesting and unique to their peers. Most of these last pretty well through the day, yet they are subtle… Think of wood note fragrances being a happy medium between aromatic and fresh colognes. Pure woods are a mix of exotic and new woods for a very complex scent. Dry woods are ones that are very similar to a warm and comforting flame with a hit of subtle essences. Oriental woods are a very unique mixture of refined exotic scents that play with the senses and will turn heads with how inviting they are. Lastly, mossy woods are very earthy and natural, however they are also very crisp and clean from how natural they are.

Pure Woods: Mania by Giorgio Armani
Dry Woods: Bvlgari Black
Oriental Woods: Gucci Envy, Armani Code by Giorgio Armani
Moss Woods: DKNY Red Delicious, Juicy Couture Dirty English

Games, Personal, Rant, Site News, Technology

Full Reload, Modifications, and New Articles to Come…

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So school has been kicking my tail… I am sure that is evidenced by me not posting as much here… Don’t get me wrong, I like it save for two classes. I fight onward and march to insanity some days even. The few things that keep me in sanity are World of Warcraft and my best friend. The real test of sanity begins soon… As I take Maymester, Summer I and Summer II course just to catch me up to being a Junior and break down course to get further into my major. Taking 2 math courses and 2 science course by Fall 2009 will really be a feat of strength.

As far as “modifications” go… My school is reverting back to a 5-day school week, to that I say… THANK GOD! I was suffering through hell with the 4-day for my sleep cycles. As far as life goes… I am gonna have to rake up plenty of cash and maybe seek partial subsistance for the summer. Gaming-wise… I am looking for more “epic” gear to enhance my enjoyment of playing FPS, RTS, and RPG games. I love my Logitech G9 Laser mouse which I will be reviewing in a while on here.

Lately, I have been feverently helping Rei’s guild (aka “The Team”) “The Order of Corrupted Souls” with being a Senior Officer. I love the responsibility and I feel great actually KNOWING my team members in my team as humans rather than faceless individuals over the internet. Being in real contact with people like Rei, Jon, “Weaver”, Spencer, and Vergil is actually a fun exchange of interaction, especially over the Ventrilo server. I have been debating on chipping a good chunk of cash to a guild member fund raising raffle. The prize pack would be something like the following…

Potential Prize Pack Items for “The Order of Corrupted Souls” Initial Raffle

  • A Logitech Gamer Mouse… Either a Logitech G9 Laser mouse, the G5 wired mouse or a G7 wireless mouse
  • A Logitech Premium Notebook Headset
  • A Razer Destructor Mouse Pad
  • A Logitech G13 Game Pad

The goal of the raffle (and possibly future raffles) would be to help pay for Ventrilo fees, get more stuff for the “Order of Corrupted Souls” Loot Chest, and whatever Rei deems appropriate. Another reason I would like to propose the idea is to increase guild member participation. Of course… anyone who chips in would defaultly get 1 entry and from there the ticket prices would be to best discretion. The biggest thing most of all would be if Rei approves of it and if the other members of our guild would approve of such an idea. I could easily see this idea being great should our guild get big or if we do an alliance with a “Sister” guild.

As far as new articles… I have finally finished my cologne article, just it is pending some editing from my editors. Hopefully, Ivy or Eighty will take a gander and help me out… I will probably work on some gamer related articles too. Especially as it is my only means to keep sane anymore these days. Unfortunately… Rest will be only for the weak as I do have Maymester, Summer I, II, and III to contend with at the Community College to deal critical blows to my course work and HOPEFULLY advance myself in what I can take. I just hope I can change stuff should I do something like lessen the decline of my sanity.

Keep watching and I hope to have some really spiffy stuff for you all to read soon!

Personal, Rant

Holy Dishonour or Unholy Honour [Rant]

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Family gets an invitation from a family friend that their son is to be married in 1 month. I used to know the guy, but since I took a different strata, I no longer know him as a person. Family oddly gets the bright idea to drag me via sidestream to attend. In my case, family has ALSO made numerous comparisons on how the guy is vastly superior in his life…

Let’s put two-and-two together… From the comparison talk, I have inspired myself to probably take Maymester, Summer I, and Summer II. Oh… What a coincidence, I can’t go to the wedding! Family raises hell that I am being “selfish” and “dishonourable” yet at the same right… They have made many grievances that they don’t have a son to bring them honor. It goes back to the old adage of “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” It simply doesn’t work that way. I just want to end this stage of life and finish school… Simple as that. If I have to be “selfish” for “honor“, so be it… I have come to light that all battles cannot have fairy tale outcomes. I have to finish what I have started…

If this shows I am dishonourable for finishing my quest for a degree, then I am at peace with my decision. If I am disrespectful for choosing not to observe someone else’s union, consider me as so. I have fought too long under a banner that I have clashed with and I know that even I must find my own beat to march to.

Personal, Technology

Spring Break Already Off to a Bad Start…

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Well… The Blackberry Pearl Flip I had was a bit short lived by a sad and unfortunate nightmare. It’s a nightmare many mobile electronics fans fear, the 3-foot drop. If you had to put it into RPG terms, I fumbled my phone and the saving throw failed for the chance of me catching it. The result, the phone had bounced off of gravel on the upper half of the clamshell. For some reason, the phone just wouldn’t turn back on…

I did an OS reload… No dice…

The folks on PinStack guesstimate that on that short 3 foot fall… it may have broke a connector.

I figured, “Well, no big deal… I can just watch a dismantling guide and just try servicing the phone myself.” No such luck, cause the Pearl Flip is the unpopular child and no one has such instructions… So I have a paperweight at the moment and I am rather pissed. However, I am thankful that I still have my Blackberry Curve 8310.

In an ironic way… Maybe is a divine comedian going “You really didn’t want the Pearl Flip, but you should get the Curve 8900”

Life, Games, Logic, and Tech