So I have discovered the need (it’s really a want) for an XBox. I just need something to do in those moments when there is nothing else to do. I would settle for an XBox with one controller because other people can bring their own…

Now for a small rant… Why is it when people see a “Road Closed Ahead” sign they just ignore it? Do they think that when they get to where the road is closed it is magically going to open for them? I saw people read multiple signs a mile from a road closure and they still speed up to get somewhere they can’t go. It boggles the mind. This makes me believe that Houston does not have the worst drivers because the city rounded them all up and dropped them off here!

So I have been informed (again) that I need to get the archiving feature up and working so that people can look at things that have been posted in the past. The only problem is, most of the entries that were made on the old server were damaged in the move on to this server. That is about 1/3 of the entries made and I am looking for a way to fix the problem.

An explanation as to why the blog archives are not up yet is because I have been so busy at work lately that I do not even feel like coming home and getting anywhere near the computer, let alone do any programming. Now, here in a few days things should start to slow down at work and I may be able to get the feature working, but no guarantees.

On the new design front I have still been trying to come up with a layout that I like and is easy to follow. I really like Patrick’s because of the simplicity of it. I also am a big fan of What Do I Know but it is almost too simplistic. Another two of my favorites are Simplebits and Andy Budd both of which will probably influence my design a little more than they should.

Heidi Klum popped up on the TV screen yesterday in a commercial for Overstock.com. Now, since Heidi said that this site always had low prices and that I should visit it, I did. Too bad the whole site broke in Firefox. So, I had to fire up Internet Explorer and have a look around.

To me, their prices aren’t all that great but then again, I don’t go furniture shopping every chance I get. I can get better prices on kitchenware from Amazon.com (kind of strange buying kitchen stuff from Amazon??) and Overstock.com does not have a whole wide selection of furniture (Lay-Z-Boy).

So what’s my verdict? I am not a big fan of the site but it is layed out well with easy navigation. Not 100% on the value of the prices, but check it out and see for yourself.

I was listening to the radio (something I very rarely do) and they were playing this song that sounded a lot like something straight out of the 80’s hair band scene, so no big deal right? Wrong. It was a new band called “The Darkness”. So I came home and looked these guys up and they are like a mutant form of Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Poison, KISS, and Guns & Roses all rolled into one. I mean, it seriously sounds like an 80’s hair band. So my question is, are the hair bands coming back?

80’s music isn’t really my cup of tea but I was pleasantly surprised as to the contents of the songs. Now, I am not saying I could take their music for long periods of time, but for cruising music, it isn’t too bad.

I am filling up my second harddrive fairly quickly and I am needing/wanting a new one. Right now it looks like the best option would be an external harddrive and I have looked into this one. The colors are not necessarily appealing but there are not too many other options available. Maxtor has some external harddrives that are pretty well priced but they have features I really don’t want (like one-touch backup).

My other want/need is a laptop. Next year I will have a lot of time spent on campus, idle time on campus. I think of a lot of little things when I am sitting around and it would be nice to keep track of them when I am not at home. I don’t need a desktop replacement machine, just something light and portable to allow me to get things done when I am away from my desk. I have been looking at these two. The only problem is that you cannot order them directly through ASUS, which I don’t like. I do not want to order them through some third party vendor…

Last night it got pretty nasty here. There were a few tornado sightings just north of here and but nothing substantial, just lots of rain and wind (100mph sustained winds). Then I wake up this morning to more of the same but on top of it the smell of feed lots. If you have never smelled a feed lot, don’t worry, you are not missing anything!

The storms last night did a lot of damage to the surrounding crops but we needed the rain (we haven’t had rain in a few months).

I am still trying to come up with new ideas for the look of this site because everything I think of is either too complex or dumb. Maybe one day I will finally get an update completed, maybe.

America’s Army 2.1 was released late yesterday and was made official this morning. I had a chance to try it out briefly last night and noticed a few striking things.

• Stryker vehicles. They have put the Stryker vehicle in the game with the .50-caliber automatic rifle on top. The entry of the vehicle into the game adds a whole method of playing.
• Karma Physics. The new feature that the developers of the game are calling “Karma Physics” basically effects the way players’ bodies react to injury. Shoot someone at the top of the stairs, he’ll roll down them. The velocity and the size of the shell also effect reaction.
• New firing rates and muzzle velocities. Playing last night the first thing I noticed was the change in firing rates on guns like the M4 and the AK47. The guns now fire faster as the trigger is held (as they would in real life). They also fire a lot harder (the bullets travel faster).

These were some of the more prominent features that I noticed although I did not have the time to spend doing a complete investigation.

So if you want a free game that has great gameplay and awesome features, America’s Army is the way to go.

Well, I needed a break from the project I was working on last week and I got it today. Work has begun on a new project that is basically a simple system for adding rates to a bank’s infastructure. Nothing too involved, just some queries that get current rates and output them.

This project should go fairly quickly but it gives me a chance to get away from the older project that I was working on that was just getting monotonous.

I spent most of the day flipping channels catching parts of the Indianapolis 500. Personally, I am not a huge car racing fan but I watch the Indy 500 because of the tradition in it and usually some very cool things occur during it. Today was a little disappointing though; The race was delayed because of rain, then they dried the track and there were 4-5 wrecks right in a row, including one that occurred on pit row. Then the rains came back and the race was shortened to 180 laps (instead of the normal 200).

Since most of the race was under yellow it was pretty boring, but they had a little memory lane segment where they showed some famous moments from the 500’s past.

In other news, it looks like Sony has come out with a Powerbook killer. Who knows how well it will do, but I am looking forward to their 1.7 lb ultra-portable notebook. If I get I a laptop I definitely want something that I can take pretty much anywhere. It does not have to be a desktop replacement, just something that allows me to get my work done on the go.

Yesterday the dedication of the national World War II Memorial took place and I watched all of it (yes, all 2.5 hrs). There were some very good things said and Bob Dole commented on a very sad fact; One in every four WWII veterans has since passed away. What makes it worse is the fact that the school children of today see the war as ancient and the people who fought in it too old…

This memorial took 60 yrs. to get up. 60!! The Vietnam vet memorial was up in 10 yrs. but 60?! And people are openly criticizing the memorial, which, to me is just flat out wrong. Criticize on your own time but let the veterans remember and get closure, don’t stand around talking about how you would have changed the look of the place because it isn’t necessary.