I shall coin the acronym “WoT.”  I know no one will use it, but at least I can tell my grandchildren that one day, in my young, fertile years, I coined a term.

I’m not sure what I’m getting myself into.  From all those podcasts I’m listening to, they all seem to swear by Twitter, calling it one incredibly addictive piece of software.  Some even went as far as calling it a killer app.  How can this be?  That’s just nuts.

I’ve said the same thing about blogging.  I just got into blogging because it’s the whole new fad and it has a chance of making me popular with the other gender.  While the latter statement has failed more miserably than my book of pickup lines, I still stuck with blogging for almost three years now, and I’m addicted!

Enter Twitter.  I just want to see what the fuss is about.  My twitter username thingie is Bojacob if you want to follow my random tweeting.  I’ll also have a spot on my sidebar for all the update thingamajigs.

One thing I’m worrying about is ForzaQ8.  I can just see this coming:  “WHY were you sitting at home watching anime?!  Come to the dowania!”

Alla yaster

And this is why:  My Spore creations.

Bonehead:

Spikebutt

And n3al:

Disturbing indeed…

It seems I’m having a difficult time typing as my keyboard is now quite slippery.  My drool flooded the table while I was following the live WWDC audio feed with Leo Laporte.  A $199 iPhone with 3G and GPS? On the moment that was announced, I screamed in joy and stood up with my arms in the air, sparks flying behind me in a triumphant pose.

Come 11th of July, I will buy the new iPhone so fast that the iPhone will friggin arrive before I can say pulchritudinous!  Of course, that’s if Apple don’t turn into asses about the whole “buying from Apple store” thing.  Hell, I’ll go to the US!  Oh wait, I got some friends there!  Falantan!  You’re up!  Please look for the safety of the iPhone.  Sure, you’re a dear friend :) and I’ll be VERY happy when you’re back (with the iPhone.)  If there’s no iPhone in the equation, then I’ll see you at work.

*COUGHFALANTANIPHONECOUGH* Well I’d say that wraps up my pointless post!  It’s just that I had to vent my excitement somewhere, and also voice my *COUGHFALANTANIPHONECOUGH* .. *cough*.  Wow, must be the dusty weather.

And of course, if there’s anything you’d like to say to me, please e-mail me at falantan@getaniphoneforme.com.  If that doesn’t work, then please e-mail me at buymeaniphone@falantan.info.

If you’d like to call, I’m at 1-800-FALANIPHONE.  Actually, just call my secretary.  I believe her name was Ifalanphonetan.

Oh .. oh lord there’s a sneeze coming.. a big one..   *SNEEEFALANTANBUYMEANIPHONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZEEEEEEEEEE*

There’s really one sucky thing about being a geek in Kuwait.  See that motherboard you just looked up and researched on the Internet?  The one that you’re DYING to get right this minute?  You’re never gonna find it in Kuwait.

Case in point, I have a number of 1080p MKV files that are dying to be played on my Samsung 1080p LCD TV.  While I achieved my goal by playing them through my Macbook Pro, I sadly couldn’t get Dolby Digital audio ’cause my optical out in the Macbook seems to be dead, therefore I can only get stereo on a friggin 1080p movie.  That very much sucks when you have 5 huge speakers in your room, and only 2 of them work.

There’s nothing close to the the 1080p LCD that can play these MKV files.  The Xbox360 & PS3 both need the MKV to be re-encoded into something they understand, and that takes AGES!  My hacked Apple TV starts pooping capacitors when I try to play a 1080p MKV, so that’s also a no-go.  It seems like it’s time to add a new member to the family.

I weighed my choices.  I read about the TViX HD player, the Popcorn Hour, and some other stuff I don’t remember.  They’re able to play 1080p MKVs, but there’s always those “gotchas.”  Sometimes high 5.1 profile doesn’t work, and I don’t even know what that means, but it doesn’t work.  Sometimes there’s subtitle issues with .ass files (hey that’s what they’re called.)  It just seems to be hit and miss.  I’m tired of troubleshooting.  I just want to watch the damn movie.

I decided to go the HTPC way (Home Theater PC.)  I researched the net for the sweetest and cheapest custom built HTPC, and here’s what I came up with:

Motherboard: GA-MA78GM-S2H
Processor: 5600+ AM2 Processor  (Overkill I’d say, really)
Case: Antec Minuet350

2gb ram, power supply, some crappy disk (movies are stored on a NAS) blah blah boring details.  Audio card and Video card are integrated into the motherboard.  Oh, oh I know what you’re saying:  integrated video cards suck!  Well, not this one.  It’s an ATI3200, and from what I’ve been hearing it kicks butt!

It was time.  I want this thing.  Bad.  The only problem was Hawalli, which still seems to live in 2005 in terms of technological advancement in gadgetry:

—

Me:  Hello, do you have a Gigabyte motherboard with the new chipset?  It supports AMD.

Salesman:  No.  Intel only.

Me:  Hm?  Did AMD go out of business or something?  (laugh)

Salesman:  Hehehe

—

Me:  Hello, do you have a Gigabyte motherboard that supports AMD processors?

Salesman:  No.

Me:  Nothing AMD whatsoever?

Salesman:  No.

Me:  Hm?  Did AMD go out of business or something?  (laugh)

*silence*

Me:  Heh, it was a joke.  Y’know?  Okay, I’ll be on my way…

—

Me:  Hello, do you have any motherboard that supports AM-

Salesman:  No.  Only Intel.

Me:  Hm?  Did AMD go out of business or something?  (laugh)

Salesman:  Yes.

Me:  Oh.  What… really?

Salesman:  It was on the news.

Me:  What news?!

Salesman:  Egyptian newspaper.

Me:  Heh, yeah that’s very credible.  Heh, heh .. heh ..  Get it?

*silence*

Me:  Heh, it was a joke.  Y’know?  For laughing?  No?  Okay, I’ll be on my way… I’m really sorry… I’m leaving now… really..

—

Me:  Hello.  AMD?

Salesman:  None.

Me:  Hm?  Did AMD go out of business or something?  (laugh)

Salesman:  You just came here and said the same joke.

Me:  Oh!  …oops.  Haha, how embarassing.  Hehe .. heh.  Okay, I’ll be on my w-

Salesman:  Heard that part too.

Me:  Did you hear the best part?

Salesman:  Best part…?

Me:  [bleep] you!

—

In the end, I couldn’t get anywhere.  Once again I am faced with the dilemma of ordering a lot of stuff from the US.  That part is always such a pain in the butt :(

Well, if anyone has any other way of successfully playing 1080p + digital audio + silent case + not way too expensive + not too quirky + compact, then I’m all ears.

For now, I’ll just live with watching 1080p movies in stereo. 

I thank the gracious intlxpatr for my first tag.  Can’t believe it took this long!

<tag>

The Rules:
Link the person(s) who tagged you.
Mention the rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

1-  I have to hit the Snooze button 4 or 5 times before I believe it’s time to go to work, which is why I’m chronically late.  This has been fixed however since I got a new alarm clock that could freakin’ wake someone under comatose.

2-  Since I have many small gadgets, I tell the maids never to move anything from my table, desk, drawers, or floor.  It’s not that I’m neat or anything, quite the opposite.  It’s just that I can follow my thought patterns and find my lost item easily.  “Hmm, now if I had a Continuum Transfunctioner in my hand, where would I leave it?  Oh, I’d probably be charging it through the USB!”  And sure enough…

3-  If there is a new piece of hardware out that’s about 5 times better than mine, I try hard to “accidentally” fry the one I currently have.  It’s so I have an excuse to get the new one!  I usually fail though :(

4-  I keep installing Firefox on other people’s PCs.  Come on, it’s better!

5-  When I find something cool to buy, I start doing plenty of research on Google to find the best vendor of that gadget.  Once that’s determined, I go to Hawalli and NEVER find that item with the best vendor, and thus end up buying from the crappy vendor for twice the price due to my impatience.  I think I’ve learned to curb this one now…

6-  If I need to think up a post, come up with a tune, or do any creativity work in general, I tend to walk in circles in a large, dimly lit room with lots of space for me to get imaginative.  Sometimes for 1-2 hours, which is terrible for my weight gain plan!

And that’s it.  I somehow feel like I’ve lost something … virginity or something…

In any case, I graciously tag the following gracious people.

1. The sagacious ForzaQ8
2. The puissant Q8i
3. The raging SnakeAM
4. The pulchritudinous Swair
5. The wicked Zabo0o6a
6. The mirthful Outkasty

</tag>

While I may have a good grasp of the English language, I have recently been humbled by many on a Facebook game by name of Word Challenge. The game tests your vocabulary ability, which I thought I was quite good at. I mean, I know what asphyxiated means!

It was apparent that I wasn't as good as I thought, at all. Friends had scores 3-4 times higher than mine despite my bravest efforts. I never knew words such as ere, tam, ani, velor, louver, mil, curio, curios, uric. I've never seen them before in my life! Are those even English?!

Swair, being the English teacher that she is, ripped us apart with her English skills and made us look like students again. Chika, bless her heart, did it the old fashioned way. Her score rose day by day as she learned those new words, until she beat me soundly. Both earn respect with their impressive feats!

Geeks? Well, while us geeks may not be the masters of the English language, we have the ability to speak an entirely different language. A language that is only understood in geeky circles.

We speak Computer.

Yup, and we can boss it around, telling it what to do. We demand it speaks back to us or it's gonna end up in the scrap yard and replaced by a new, faster one!

Basically, what I'm saying is I spoke to the computer. This is what I said:

Hmm, but what does the computer say? Very much, I assure you:

For any beatings, please beat G instead.

Ok, so it's a dumb title.  If you've got anything better, please send an e-mail to /dev/null@gmail.com.

Well!  I've recently seen something on Aljazeera's Documentary channel about an individual stricken with autism (tawa7od.)  It seems that those with autism somehow excel at a certain skill.  The guy in the documentary was almost blind, couldn't walk on his own, and couldn't take care of himself at all.  Once he's in front of a piano though, he's a virtuoso of magnanimous proportions!  The guy could listen to a music piece once, then play it back perfectly on the piano.  I can't play it even after reading the damn sheet music!

Anyhow, this isn't what the story is about.  It's about me in 1988, where I was in Junior 1 in Kuwait English School.  I remembered certain people who were just so incredibly poor at everything.  Could they have been autistic?  Hmm, here's a story.

Mrs. Hugo couldn't stand how crappy we were at math.  She got mad and yelled venomously:

Mrs. Hugo:  How is it that you ALL got zeroes on your homework!?  TELL ME!

Class was absolutely silent and quivering in fear.

Mrs. Hugo:  This is ridiculous.  I should give you all 'demerits' for your pathetic work!

I had no idea what 'pathetic' meant, but damn, I sure knew what a 'demerit' meant!  It was a black spot on your character, a sign that you're done something terribly wrong.  It was something the school used as punishment for their students.  Ok, so it's just a damn note in your notebook, but back then, it sure was scary!

Noora:  Please, don't give me a demerit Mrs Hugo...

The girl was almost in tears.  She was one of those top student thingies that got straight A's.  I believe these people are only there to be made fun of, heh, heh .. er ..

Mrs Hugo:  Hmph.  And why shouldn't I?  The homework was easy enough.  You're just all lazy!  I could have solved it without even writing anything down!

Silence once again fell upon the room.  Were we to doubt our fearsome teacher?  No way!  However, she felt she had to prove something...

Mrs Hugo:  Argh!  I will ask you all one by one.  Give me a maths question and I'll answer it for you!  NOORA!  Ask me a question!

Noora: um .. um .. 12 x 8?

Mrs Hugo: eighty... sixte- .. it's 96!  NEXT!

Ya7ya:  4 + 11

Mrs Hugo: 15!  NEXT!

And so she was going through us one by one.  We didn't even know if the answer was correct or not.  She just answered so convincingly that we had to believe it was correct.  We were only 8 years old.

Tahseen:  15 x 9?

Mrs Hugo: ten by n.. mm  .. 135!  NEXT!

One hundred thirty what?!  There's numbers that go over 100?  Hm.. those Palestinians are making me look bad...

Still, I was getting a bit tired of her cockiness and all that.  I figured out the perfect question to ask her.  That would shut her up for good!  I laughed evilly inside, grinning like an idiot outside.

Mrs Hugo:  65!  NEXT!

She pointed at a guy called Khaled.  I never understood why, but Khaled never failed at being dumb.

Khaled:  ummmm... 1 + 1?

Mrs Hugo:  2!  NEXT!

I laughed inside some more at the pathetic (newly learned word) question.  It sounded just like this:   "Ahhmmm.. waan plaas waan?"  Evil of me, I know, but I considered him a dumbass.  I mean, come on!  One plus one?!  Hahaha even I knew that!

The teacher was getting closer to my side of the room.  She was still hurling out answers easily.  Oh man, is she going to get the surprise of her life or what!  Hah, hah, hah!  My perfect question... my precious..

Mrs Hugo:  18!  NEXT!

And so it was my turn.  I puffed by chest and slung the question at her!

Me:  100 ÷ 100!!!!

Mrs Hugo:  1!  NEXT!

huh? 

What... wtf?

One?  100 is the highest number I know!  And if I divide the two highest numbers I know, I get one?!  I don't even know what divide means, but I know it's hard!  The calculator says so!

I sat down, troubled thoughts filling my mind, still unable to fathom the simple answer.  I was humiliated.  Hell, even the answer to Khaled's question was more than mine.  I won't stand for this!

Me:  MRS HUGO!

Mrs Hugo:  What?!  How dare you stand up without permission?!

I realized I probably just earned a demerit for sure.  I lost my steam and anger, but I couldn't let this go.  I had to restore my honor.  I countered with another question!

Me:  100 ÷ 1!!!!

Mrs Hugo:  100!  NEXT!

wtf??  I put the highest number I knew and the lowest number I knew!   Surely that should have stirred something!  I sat down in total defeat, cursing myself for being a smartass.

Well, at least it was higher than Khaled's number...

Anyhow, that's the story of being too dumb, or being too smart for your own good.  Could we have been suffering from autism?  Well folks, if it's a dumbass like Khaled, or a smartass like me, we're not autistic.  Nah.

We're just stupid :p

His health has been declining for some time, up to the point of no return.

Alla yer7emek.  You've graced the pages of our school books for years and years that it's hard to believe you won't be seen anymore.

As for me, I'm not dead yet.  I've been battling busy schedules and projects that I don't have much time to write on the blog.  Here's to hoping this project picks up so I can quit my day job!  (To any co-workers reading this, shh)  Maybe then I'll have time for some creative thinking :)  Um, why did this post change subjects?

Rest in peace.

Us geeks have a few issues concerning socialization (is that a word?)  In a gathering where all conversations consist of gossip or elections, I'm simply always out of the loop.

Cousin:  Did you hear what she did?

Mom:  I've heard!  She made all her attendees stay up until 1am!

Cousin:  How horrible!

Mom:  bla-bla-bla

Cousin:  yadda yadda yadda

I quickly lost interest.  There was nothing gained in that pointless conversation.  I look to the men.

Dad:  So you're only voting for him because he's from the "Brotherhood"

Brother:  Why not?  I owe them quite a lot.

Dad:  You vote for your country's interests.

Brother:  bla-bla-bla

Dad:  oogly gogly gogly

I quickly lost interest.  It's a bit tough being the only geek in the family.  I really wanted to have a conversation, but no one would be interested in gadgetry.

I sighed and whipped out my iPhone, messing around with some stuff I had just downloaded.

Cousin:  Ooh!  Is that the iPhone I've been hearing about?  Can you show me?

Thank you, God, for understanding my suffering!

Me:  Yes!  Yes!  Of course!  Yes!  Here!  This is how you take pics.  This is how you zoom in!  See, you do it with two fingers spreading them apart.  I know that sounds ...

Whoa!

Me:  ... Ahem!  So that's how you zoom in!  See, this is how you scroll through the contacts.  Have I told you that you can hack it and make it install many custom applications tailored to your needs?  I didn't?  Haha, how silly of me!  Well here's an application that distorts faces.  Look at this, I distored my own face and now I look like a hyena!  Hehe .. wait, wtf, I think I look better in my distorted pic...  Anyway!  I think I'll show you how to configure the IP addr..

Cousin:  Oh my god, did you see the person on TV last week that had a failed facelift?

Me:  wha..?

Mom:  I've heard it's actually fake.  How could a doctor mess up that badly?

Cousin:  Really?  Hmm, you have a point.

Me:  Heh heh, yes, how sad, how sad.  Anyway, returning to the topic at hand.  You can simply flick a finger on-

Cousin:  I think it actually happened to Flan, son of Flana.  Do you know him?

Mom:  Oh no, he was in an accident.  His mom is devastated.

Cousin:  Oh the poor thing... bla-bla-bla

Mom:  yadda yadda yadda

I stood alone with my iPhone, looking at it and expecting sympathy, although none came.  Us geeks try our best to impress people.  Especially the opposite sex.  I walk back, a big red "FAIL" over my head and sit in my chair.

Time passed uneventfully, until one of the candles went nuts.  All of the wax melted and the flame was getting stronger, thus had to be blown out.  My cousin got up to blow it out, but she huffed and puffed, and couldn't blow the candle out.

Cousin:  Oh no, it's not going out!  Bojacob, can you help me?  Pretty please?

Me:  wha?

Cousin:  I can't blow it out.  You could probably do it.  I know you could.  Please?

She flashed a smile.  For men, there's only two answers to that question:

1. Yes
2. Yes

So I picked the second answer

Me:  Yes!

I walk up, brimming with confidence.  I stare at the problematic candle, assessing my plan of attack.  My cousin observed me in awe, waiting o congratulate me.  I filled my lungs with air until no more air could enter.  I blew as hard as I could, sending out a tornado towards the flame, putting out the flame, but also sending the hot liquid wax flying right in my face!

Me:  AA- .. ahahahaaa

Cousin:  I knew you could do it!

She clapped for me excitedly.  I smiled as the wax was drying on my face, sealing my mouth shut.

Mom:  Of course he could!  He's a strong man!

My face burned horribly, but my smile was still present.  I couldn't do anything about it.  It's waxed in that position.

Me:  Heh.  Yes, I am stlong.

That's honestly all I could think of saying when my face was on fire.  I sat down, trying to secretly rub my face, but the wax wouldn't come off.  I'm surprised no one noticed yet!

Me:  Whele is the bathloom?

Cousin:  It's back over there.  Thank you so much!

Me:  No ploblem!  Anytime!  I'm stlong!  Plobably too stlong...

The things I do to try and impress.  I ran to the bathroom, screaming in pain as soon as I locked myself in.  Melted wax is freakin' HOT!  I sprayed cool water and painfully removed the wax, picking off my moustache and beard along with it.  Finally, I had partially waxed face, with red burns scattered all over.

All I got was a smile.  Is it ever worth it?  Well, sometimes...  I guess...

After two years of reading about meeting schedules on Kuwaitblogs, I've finally decided to attend one of them.  I'm too proud to admit I was nervous.

I realized after arriving, I actually friggin knew half of them already.  I've finally met K and Tat, along with the brave blogerettes, Blue Dress, Chika, and Zabo0o6a *salute*.  I'm not sure who the others were honestly, but pleased to meet your acquaintance!  And G, I'm surprised at your acting ability.  Why don't you show us that side of you at work!?

Anyway, it was actually fun, even for an introvert like myself!  Points for Chika trying to get a community going, along with activities and stuff.  I really wish you the best, but there's no way I can be in charge of anything.  I can't even update my blog on time!

This gave me a boost in desire to update my blog.  I really wish I could get rid of my distractions here.  Let me list what's in my room:

1. 1080p LCD screen
2. PS3
3. Xbox360
4. Wii
5. PSP
6. Macbook Pro
7. Music keyboard
8. PC
9. Bed
10. Surround system
11. Books
12. Apple TV (with lots of movies)
13. Bass Guitar

As you can see, it's never dull here.  One way to actually get creative and write stories is just get an empty room (preferably with a bed!) and stay there a while with no distractions.  If anyone has said room, please contact me we'll talk about time-sharing.  Or.. something, whatever.