its been a week since I've been home from summer project, but ugh, it feels like i've been home for months. most of that attributes to the fact that I've been doing a whole lot of NOTHING since last Saturday.

i've learned the lifestyle of a hermit. i haven't adapted to it, but I've learned it. problem is: i have no cash inflow at the moment, so i can't just hop in my car and drive somewhere because that requires gasoline, which requires about 4 dollars and 30 cents a gallon (!) these days. i've become a cheap, frugal, pathetic human being who can't eat out with friends, who can't drive 7 miles to the beach to surf in the mornings, who can't shop (even though Nordstrom is having a MASSIVE sale right now...), who can't even drive over to her friends' houses to say "hey, I'm home now."

nonetheless it's been an interesting week, this week full of nothingness, because my life usually involves the word "nonstop." i've done things that i normally wouldn't have time to do, like read this really great book Velvet Elvis, and organize all my things still stored in boxes from moving out of my dorm, and play the guitar, and exercise (ooh how i love cardio boot camp), and finish my architecture portfolio. you know that feeling when life just gets so busy and you find yourself saying, "If only I didn't have A, B, C, D, E, and F to do right now, I'd totally relax and do ______?" this week, I've actually had time to fill in the blank. it's pretty refreshing.

as for JOB news, it's likely that i'll be one of Quiksilver's newest team members. lol, figures right?

C'est la vie,
Chappie

I spent a few days last week pootling around southern Belgium, escorting a certain VIP to various historic sights (and rather nice restaurants as well). We shot to Brussels in less than two hours by Eurostar, and then used a rental car to explore.

Belgian law obliges you to carry a warning triangle, reflective jacket, first aid kit and fire extinguisher in every vehicle. Perhaps a desperate legislative attempt to compensate for their consistently horrific driving? This is the extract that most interested me from my Lonely Planet guidebook to Belgium & Luxembourg.

'Aggressive' is the word generally used to describe Belgian drivers, and many foreigners who take to the roads here find it apt. Whether cruising on a sleek highway or bouncing over potholed inner-city streets, drivers have a reputation for being fast, impatient and at times abusive ... anyone idling at 120km/h in the fast lane of a motorway will be flashed from behind by speed demons doing 160km/h ... One peculiarity that ensures adrenaline-pumped journeys is the voorrang van rechts / priorité à droite (give way to the right) law, which operates in both Belgium and Luxembourg. Thanks to this rule, cars darting out from side streets sometimes have right of way over vehicles on the main road (but not always - signs with an orange diamond surrounded by white mean the main road has priority). Recent figures show that 250 people die each year due to this rule ... Statistically, Belgium has double the rate of road fatalities of most of its neighbouring countries (France is the exception) ... And if you think all this is a bit exaggerated, have a read of Pisa Test's recent study of 3000 European drives in which the Belgians came out as the worst drivers in Europe. Just 48% are capable of passing their driving test ...

Leanne Logan & Geert Cole, Lonely Planet: Belgium & Luxembourg (2007)

See more at www.tourguidehawaii.com or www.tourguidehawaii.blogspot.com.

something about brightness in the middle of darkness
shows me that even in the darkness
of my mental situation,
even in the instability of my choice of occupation,
even in the fact that i want sunshine and life is still raining,
there is light.

i've anticipated
peace
for a long time
and perhaps if i could look up
and see an orange moon on a tired night,
maybe peace is not too far away
because i just got a glimpse of what it looks like today.
i just hope it won't shift like this eclipse,
that it won't be a singular occurrence
in the pages of my life
or something i can only achieve
in the poems that i write
because i need it in my mind, in my words, and in my thoughts.
i need peace to envelop me like nectar on tree bark,
sticking to my heart
and rubbing off on whoever i touch.

Who doesn't love a good sunset? Personally, I can't think of anyone. This was taken on the way home from Yellowstone, The sun was setting behind the hills with the sprinkler system just winding down. It was about 8:30 pm GMT which makes it about 9:30 pm PST (Paul Standard Time(or Pacific Standard Time, whichever you prefer)). Let me know what you think.

Mini-News Blog:
I am leaving again. Going to Eastern Oregon then Southern California to visit my Grandpa John. I am not quite sure how posting will be but I am pretty sure I will have an internet connection the whole time (thank Jesus) so everything should work out ok and all my posts should be on track.

[ ]'s

We'll be spending the next few days visiting with my friend Caldwell, her husband Chip, and their three children who are in the same age range as our own two kids.  Caldwell and I have been friends for many years, since our Miami days, and we served as bridesmaids in each others' weddings.  Cwell is a hospital emergency room nurse, and her husband Chip is an engineer and helicopter pilot for the Coastguard.  He rescues them, and she patches them up!

400GB Drive Cuts Acoustic Noise During Data Seek By 2dB(1) For near Silent Operation
Toshiba Corporation today announced a new line-up of high performance 2.5-inch HDDs, including a low-noise flagship model that boosts areal density to 477Mbit/mm2 (308Gbpsi) to achieve a capacity of 400GB on just two platters, plus five drives that bring new levels of performance and 7,200rpm rotational speeds to the company's full range of storage capacities.

Mass production of the 400GB MK4058GSX will start from September, targeting notebook PC and consumer electronic applications. Mass production of the 7,200rpm drives will start in August. The line-up includes the 320GB MK3254GSY and models with 80, 120, 160 and 250GB capacities. (link)

Holy crap—somebody just went and TORE MY FREAKING USB CABLE IN HALF while it was still attached to my laptop! No — wait — sorry. That’s just my USB flash drive. My bad. Nevermind. Mammoth 2-gig capacity. Peggable blistercard packaging. (link)

Before buying an iPod Touch, I used to have an Archos media player. I would carry it with me on my trips and use it as a portable hard drive. Each night, we would connect it to our digital camera and download all the photos we took that day onto the large Archos hard drive. That is one thing you cannot do with the iPod Touch. There is no connector between your iPod and your digital camera. After transferring photos to my Archos, I would delete the images from my digital camera, freeing up space for more photos.

With the newer Archos players, you can connect to the web using the built-in 802.11g wireless and browse the web like you can do with the iPod Touch. There are games that you can download and you can rip mp3 music onto the Archos. It is definitely worth a second look if you are in the market for an iPod Touch.

If I see any deals out there, I will share them with you on our site.

It is highly unlikely that the average person will ever afford to own a Porsche, Ferrari, or Lamborghini, even after many years of saving and wishful thinking. Don't let that stop you from fantasizing about what it would be like to drive one of these super-fast cars, just like your heroes in the movies.

Many people fantasize about what it might be like to be behind the wheel of a Porsche, a Ferrari or even a Lamborghini. Purchasing a Driving Experience will allow you to live out your fantasies of driving a fast car on a real racetrack, and this dream can come true for an incredibly low price.

The Driving Experience will include extensive classroom safety and driving instruction, before actually managing a 400 horsepower car on the track. A professional driving instructor will teach you how to drive and organize the car and will give you further advice to make it possible for you to drive to your preferred destination. Safety equipment is provided so that you can concentrate on the thrill of the ride, while remaining as safe as possible.

Have you thought about driving a really fast vehicle? Even seasoned drivers will find this experience unique. Prime racing vehicles such as Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Aston Martins require expert knowledge of driving and braking techniques, which you can learn through your Driving Experience.

A Driving Experience should be considered by those who have a love and respect for cars, especially fast cars, as a Driving Experience is a unique opportunity to experience what a professional race car driver feels. You don't even have to drive this car yourself to experience its thrills, simply riding in it as a passenger when it is driven by a professional is amazing. You will leave with the memory of a thrilling and exciting time as part of the Professional Driving Experience which has displayed to you many eye-opening techniques of driving taught to you by quite a few years of experience on road and track operating high performance vehicles.

You can either drive on an open racetrack or ride beside a trained racing professional. An open race track permits you to go at very fast speeds in an safe manner with other cars riding along with you.

A pesar de su calandra tipo Outlander, el Montero Sport es un derivado del pickup Mitsubishi L200/Triton (con el comparte su construcción de travesaños), y solo será comercializado en Rusia, Latinoamérica, Oriente Medio, Oceanía y los países del Sureste asiático. Por tanto, Europa, Norteamérica (seguramente a excepción de México) y Japón deberán conformarse con verlo en internet.

Como de costumbre, en los países de habla no hispana la denominación comercial del vehículo será Pajero. En Rusia sólo será ofrecido en configuración de cinco plazas y con un motor 3,2 L a gasoil, si bien en otros mercados podrá adquirirse un modelo de tres filas con capacidad para siete personas. Además del propulsor diésel mencionado, habrá una mecánica de 2,5 L (también common rail) y un 3,5 L V6 a gasolina para los que quieran unas prestaciones más elevadas. Al igual que el Montero a secas, el Sport utilizará el sistema de tracción total Super Select 4WD.

Su puesta de largo tendrá lugar el 26 de agosto en el salón del automóvil de la capital rusa. Es de suponer que entonces tendremos más detalles y fotografías.

Es el punto “plug-in” de este nuevo concept como enganche del acercamiento a las nuevas tendencias por parte del grupo VAG. Simplemente se conecta el compacto a un enchufe eléctrico convencional y se recargan las baterías de ion litio con las que cuenta, que poseen la característica de ofrecer un tiempo de carga bastante reducido. El pequeño propulsor eléctrico bebe de estas baterías para ofrecer 82 Cv de potencia y una velocidad máxima de 120 km/h, suficiente si contamos con una utilización masivamente urbana, para la que este motor ofrece una autonomía de 50 km.

Para ofrecer estos resultados, sólo con el motor eléctrico, además de la capacidad de las baterías, es necesario la combinación con la función start&stop y el sistema de regeneración de energía eléctrica en las frenadas, clásicos elementos en los modelos híbridos. Una vez se termina la capacidad de estas baterías, se pasa a utilizar un motor TDI de 2.0 litros y 122 Cv, como el que ya utiliza el Audi A4.

Con cierta lógica, se equipa un cambio automático para favorecer una buena elección de marchas y aumentar la autonomía genérica.

Las modificaciones en el interior incluyen una opción para el navegador, con la que se puede monitorizar gran cantidad de datos del sistema híbrido, y un tacómetro que marca los kW que está desarrollando el motor eléctrico en lugar de las RPM del motor de gasoil, que no está claro si puede marcar además la potencia del segundo aunque sea en kW.

Tonight I went searching for myself. Hoping to discover something that would align the pieces of my life and bring me out of this rut I have been in. I just graduated from college and am making my transition into the real world. It is not as frightening as I once I had though it might be. The thing that I was not informed about, however, was the lack of excitement to be found in a respectable job and paying off debt. I am not one of those who would never touch a suit or a desk, but I find it impossible to be excited about. I want the feeling of starting my career to be like opening a new book; uncertain of where I am to be taken but sure that I am in good hands. At the moment I do not feel as if I am in any hands at all.

My Mazda Protege cuts through the night undettered by the surrounding darkness down streets that I have always know but never driven. My car takes me to the apartments that I lived in through high school. Brand new apartments with leases more expensive than my friends parents mortgages. The shame. To live in a suburban neighborhood with literal next door neighbors. A temporary solution that lasted four years and was the last place my parents lived together. My family ended up on the tails side of the coin flip that marriage has become.

Bem, pesquisando na internet eu achei diversas dicas de como solucionar o problema, porém poucas funcionaram de fato. Uma curiosidade é que no meu caso os ícones eram do Firefox, meu navegador padrão. Eis as soluções:

Primeira solução: a melhor, mais simples e definitiva:

Hoje é muito difícil uma pessoa ter em sua máquina um drive de CD ou DVD que não seja uma gravadora. Bem, eu tenho um drive de CD e pude notar que o bug só afeta drivers com poder de gravação, dito isso faça o seguinte: Em "Meu computador" dê um click com botão direito do mouse (BDM) e vá em "Propriedades", na aba "Gravação" desmarque a opção "Ativar gravação de CD nessa unidade", click em OK pra confirmar a mudança e confira o resultado (Dica: faça isso sem nenhum disco na unidade, no meu caso só funcionou assim!). Eu não uso o windows pra gravar CD/DVD, afinal (citando outro blog) "Quem tem NERO vai à Roma" mas não gosto de pensar que tenho uma função inútil no meu PC por mais que eu não a use, então reativei a gravação de CD e o bug não voltou.

Segunda solução: Provisória, um pouquinho mais complicada:

De alguma forma o problema só aparece quando se usa ícones grandes então uma outra solução é fazer uma pequena mudança no tamanho dos ícones. Click com o botão direito ná área de trabalho e vá em "Propriedades", na guia "Aparência" dê um click no botão "Avançado" e na Dropdown List "Item" selecione "Ícone" e ajuste o valor do campo "Tamanho" para 47 ( deve estar 48 ). Ví em alguns lugares (inclusive no Wiki da microsoft) alguem sugerindo a mudança de valores direto no Registro do Windows mas isso, além de dar um trabalho terrível e de ser arriscado (um erro no registro pode fazer seu pc parar de funcionar) pode nao dar certo...

Espero ter ajudado!

OBS: A aplicação das dicas aqui descritas é de inteira responsabilidade do usuário.

1. easy share فضای بینهایت برای آپلود :

Easy share با سرعت بالا وكيفيتي متمايز اين امكان را براي كاربران فراهم مي آورد تا بدون نياز به ثبت نام ودعوتنامه فايل هاي خود را با هر فرمتي تا حجم 100 مگابايت در آن آپلود نمايند ويا آن رابه اشتراك بگذارند.همانطور كه از نامش پيداست كار كردن با آن بسيار آسان است وبدون زحمت و دردسري قادر خواهيد بود فايل هاي خود را به اينترنت برده وآن را به اشتراك بگذاريد.
ديتاسنتر هاي easy share در امريكا وانگليس مي باشند و اين سايت امنيت و كيفيت را تضمين مي كند.
براي آپلود فايل هاي خود در easy share 3 راه داريد :
اول آپلود از طريق وب دوم از طريق ftp سايت و سوم نرم افزار ويژه سايت.
براي آپلود از طريق وب نيازي به عضويت وثبت نام نيست اما براي استفاده از ftp ومديريت فايل ها بهتر است عضو شويد اما نگران نباشيد كاملا رايگان است.
اما نكات ديگر در مورد سايت:
امكان بينهايت آپلود تا حجم 100 مگابايت
امكان بينهايت دانلود از سايت
سرعت بالا جهت بارگذاري
اما يكي از امكانات سايت نرم افزار easy uploader سايت مي باشد با حجم كمتر از 300 كيلو بايت وروش كار آسان كه مي توانيد براحتي فايل هاي خود را آپلود نماييد.
چنانچه به دنبال هاست رايگان با امكانات خوبي هستيد easy share مي توانيد يكي از گزينه هاي خوب باشد.

2. AِِDrive پنجاه گیگا بایت فضای رایگان!:
ADrive يک سايت تازه تاسيسه که به شما 50 گيگابايت فضاي رايگان براي ذخيره فايلهاتون روي وب ميده.اين سايت که هنوز در مرحله بتا(Beta) قرار داره کاملا رايگان و هنوز سرويس برتر(Premium)ش راه نيفتاده. راحتي کاربرد و همچنين امکان به اشتراک گذاشتن فايل‌ها از مزاياي اين سايت به حساب مياد.
در کل ميشه مزاياي اين سايت رو به شرح زير ذکر کرد:
ذخيره،اشتراک و مديريت 50 گيگابايت فضاي تحت وب
مديريت آسان فايل‌ها
عدم وجود محدوديت در حجم فايل‌ها براي آپلود
قابليت دانلود و پشتيباني از نرم‌افزارهاي مديريت دانلود
رايگان بودن تمام امکانات سايت
همينطور که ميبينيد اين سايت امکانات خوبي رو در دسترس کاربران قرار ميده و استفاده اون براي همه(به دعوت‌نامه نيازي نيست!)
نکته مهم در انتخاب پسورد:پسورد باید 8 کاراکتر بوده و ار حرف بزرگ وعدد در آن استفاده شود.

3. 4shared هاستی با تکنولوژی و آنتی ویروسی کامل:

این هاست یکی از هاستر های حرفه ای برای کساییه که توی کار آپلود نرم افزارن. توی این آپلود گر شما می تونین یک کنترل پنل کامل رو بر روی تمام فایل های خود مشاهده کنین.

این آپلودگر به شما این امکان رو می ده که همه جور فایل رو  تا حجم n گیگ آپلود کنین.

فضایی که این آپلود گر به شما می ده 5گیگه.

این هاست برای فایل های شما امکان آنتی ویروس رو میده تا شما رو از شر ویروس ها و تروجان های خاص راحت کنه.

همچنین به کاربراتون این امکان رو می ده تا برای فایل هاتون نظر و کامنت بگذارند.

یکی از امکانات بارز این سایت اینه که شما در حین آپلود می تونید به طور کامل در جریان آپلود خود باشید . یعنی سرعت آپلود زمان گذشته ، زمان باقی مانده ، چقدر از حجم فایل آپلود شده و...

شما در این آپلود سنتر حتی می توانید فایل های متنی خود رو به صورت آنلاین ویرایش کنین!

عضویت در این سایت کاملا رایگان و بدون احتیاج به دعوت نامه هست.

Another week, another drive show and another Hour of Power to tickle the drum-funk desires of all listeners out there!

Slick wee lineup for the show tonight, taking you from a selection of smooth funky tunes right through to the deep darkness of Dnb as we know it. Enjoy!

. . . Drive Show tracklist is as follows . . .

-Seeker, Stanton Warriors ( What What What rmx )

-Unknown, Cotti & Cluekid

-Kaleidoscope, Little Pictures

-Reminiscing, Unknown ( Skream rmx )

-Too much violence, The Clean

-System, Nu:Tone ( Matrix & Futurebound rmx )

-Sideways, Kolab

-Up in the VIP, Tes la Rock & Uncle Sam

-Die Die Die, Dj Vadim feat Big Red

-We do this, Krafty Kuts & Dynamite Mc

-Shooting stars, S Knight

-Burn them Bridges, The Grates

-With me or against me, D Ramirez ( TC rmx )

-Weird Science, Danny Byrd

-Back to my roots, Total Science feat Tiki Taane

-Elvis, These New Puritans

-Snake eater, Joker

-Cant test me, Benny Page

-Step out, Benny Page

-Unknown, Dj Zinc feat Warrior Queen

-Turn it up, Rogue State feat Sizla

-Country Living, Snypa Levi

. . . Hour of Power Tracklkist is as follows . . .

-Machine, Logistics

-Hard knocks, Brookes Brothers

-Ask not, Q project

TOKEN WOBBLE TUNE - Super sharp shooter, Dj Zinc

-Tense past, Cern

-Diplidocous, Noisia

-Real McCoy, State of Mind ( BSE rmx )

-Same old blues, Apex

-Vigilante, Audio

And there we have it, the end of another Tuesday. Thanks to all who tuned in, all who text in and to Revoltution for making it all happen!

Be sure to let us know of any tunes you want to hear or hit us up with some props if your lovin whats already there.

Til next week, ezzzz

The ED for Real Drive is probably one of the better J-rock songs I've heard. It's called 片膝の汚れ (or Katahiza no Yogore), performed by Last Alliance on their new single Always In My Heart. My oh my does this song rock. I never thought I'd like melodic punk so much~ :D

Anyway, for your viewing and listening pleasure, here is the PV for Katahiza no Yogore. In HD! Nevermind, I can't get the HD tag to work for the video embed. :(

Also, I'm going to my anime club's Anime Night on Friday!~

It should be really fun. I'm bringing episodes 1-9 of Gurren Lagaan, and also my Wii plus Brawl.

I can't wait!~

-Gen

Title: Entre dos aguas
Artist/Group: Paco de Lucia

From Madrid we went down to the south, our destination was Marbella and from there we would explore Andalucía.  Though we could have chosen to go by train, the AVE is now connecting Madrid with Malaga and Sevilla, we agreed that driving would be a good option.  We left Madrid on a bright spring morning for a six hour drive towards the sunny Andalucia.  Knowing our way out of Madrid was quite a challenge, we had our printed Michelin itinerary at hand, www.viamichelin.es. In fact, we spent an hour looking for the right exit, the A-4 Andalucia Highway, which took us south through Ocaña and finally we were on our way to Jaen- Granada-Malaga.   We drived through the plains of Castilla La Mancha region, a very peaceful and safe drive, sometimes dull, until we began to cross the Sierra Morena through the scenic mountain gorge of the Natural Park of Despeñaperros, which is the door to Andalucia.  This part of the drive is quite hairy, the breathtaking views and the winding road will demand all of your attention.  After passing the canyon, the landscape turns dramatically into a feast of hills and valleys patched with neatly arranged olive trees. You were now in the province of Jaen.  Jaen is about 3 and a half hours drive from Madrid,  and the Despeñaperros experience left us restless and hungry, so we decided to stop for lunch and perhaps overnight in Baeza, one of the most beautiful towns of Andalucia.

Tip:  If you happen to leave Madrid in the afternoon, consider the possibility of making a small detour and spend the night in Almagro, in the province of Ciudad Real, and leave the Despeñaperros for the next morning.  Almagro is one of the most historical towns in Castilla La Mancha, 214km away from Madrid.  It is really worth a visit, the old square has stone porches and wooden balconies and is surrounded by old emblazoned houses that once belonged to aristocratic families and the Corral de las Comedias, a 16^th Century building on the major square, is a famous venue for International Festivals.  To round up the day, have a wonderful dinner at “El Corregidor”, Jerónimo Ceballos, 2, and an unforgettable stay at the Parador de Almagro, http://www.parador.es/en/cargarFichaParadorFotosHotel.do?parador=006

Kim Karadashian's little sister Khole is going to be serving a 30 day sentence for violating her probation. She had recived a DUI charge back in March of 2007. The 24 year-old clothing boutique co-owner is sentenced from August 27 to up to 36 months of probation and community service witht the California Department of Transportation. But the crowding of the California jails could afford her a shorter sentence...perhaps she'll pull a Paris Hilton and be in and out before the whole world notices. And she'll also have to complete alcohol education program. Hmm...which she was supposed to already have served...mmm what's wrong with this picture: drinking, skipping class? Sounds like a case of senioritis. High School Musical could use an extra.

-Gothicus Maximus

It has been a long 2 weeks of my life. And ironicall enough I found myself in need of guidance, motivation and inspiration! Somehow I found myself feeling lost and confused. My life  was being questioned in my eyes. I myself became aware of the fact that my parents still consider me a little impulsive boy that has no idea what he is talking about and that his marketing is only a hobie for fun. More than that, I recieved same reaction from my best friend...

I can honestly tell you it was tuff to deal with that, but I ain't talking about this negative experience only because I need to spil my heart and soul, I am making a point here, guys.

No matter who you are, what you have seen and/or experienced in your life, what hurdles you had overcome, there always will be moments when you will have to find someone to guide you, to keep you motivated, to inspire you, not to let go and to keep dreaming and believing!

I am encouraging you to go and find yourself a mentor, a role model, someone who makes you feel good when you are around him/her and has value in your eyes. Ultimately, this will be the person who will drive you towards your goals and dreams.

Please! Do yourself a favour and don't underestimate the power of guidance & mentorship, simple advice or maybe just someone who is willing to listen to what you have to say.

And the listening part, I think, is a whole another post on itself, so I will cover it later. Untill than, remember the words of mr.Angelito Felix:

"In order to succeed you need to find people who already succeeded in what you are aspiring to do"

Take Care!!@