20x20x20 Rubik's Cube Solve

I just wasn't satisfied with the ones I had. :p



Final time: 2:47:38.92
8051 moves

I was GOING to use The Flame of Youth (by Dragonforce) for the music, but YouTube was stupid and blocked the video. Which is too bad, because it fit it really well. -_-

Windows 7 Tips

I stumbled across a great list of tips and trick for Windows 7. Learned some stuff I didn't know. :p

http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2009/01/12/the-bumper-list-of-windows-7-secrets.aspx

Even More Wallpapers

Yes, more.

After a bit of Googling, I stumbled upon Wallpaper Abyss, which has tons of awesome wallpapers.
Now my "Awesome Wallpapers" folders has 438 pictures. :p Good thing Windows 7 can do slideshow backgrounds.

So, to save you some time, I've put ALL of my wallpapers into 5 ZIP files.

Download them!
Abstract/Cool Part 1 (126 pictures)
Abstract/Cool Part 2 (136 pictures)
Funny (12 pictures)
Misc. (14 pictures)
Video Games (150 pictures)

BTW sorry if there are any duplicate pictures... It's kind hard to avoid when there are hundreds of pictures to sort through. :p

Disclaimer: I did not create any of these wallpapers, with the exception of the ones I have posted previously. All of the credit goes to the respective owners.

Windows 7 Installation (Multi-boot)

I told you a few posts back that I would write about Windows 7, so now I am. :p

This post is not an overview of Windows 7, but rather an installation guide for n00bs. I'll probably do some sort of review later. Why am I doing this? Well, because I had a bit of trouble when I first installed it, (since I was basically just guessing,) and if I had a guide like this, it would have helped out a lot.

NOTE: While I used Windows 7 in this example, this could really be used to set up a multi-boot system between any operating systems.

So anyway, if you are interested in testing out the latest version of Windows, but you don't know how, I can help you out a little. And BTW, even though I said this is a guide for n00bs, you still need to know some things, like manually installing drivers, changing boot settings, etc.

WARNING: I am not responsible for any damage that may occur to your computer if you follow these instructions, do it at your own risk. Just to be safe, you should back up your data before you try this. Remember, this is still just the release candidate, it is not the final product. So it could still be glitchy, and you could lose data.

----------

Okay, so, go to the Windows 7 homepage. Click one of the many download links; don't worry, they all lead to the same page.


That should lead to a page that looks like this:


Choose your language, and start the download. It will take a while; mine took about 3 hours.


Be sure to write down the product key!


Now go find the file that you downloaded...


...and burn it to a DVD. NOTE: You have to use a program that can burn ISO files. If you simply copy the file, it won't work. I used InfraRecorder. Usually, you will be looking for a command like "Burn Image" or something like that. I repeat: it will not work if you simply copy and burn the ISO file!


Once you've got that, you can install Windows 7. If you have another hard rive, you can just use that, but if you only have one hard drive, you will have to partition it. Download a partition program; I used EASEUS Partition Manager.


Select the hard drive that you want to partition, and hit Resize. Choose how much you want to give to your Windows 7 partition. You need a minimum of 16 GB, but that will fill up pretty fast, so I recommend at least 25 GB.


After it finishes working, you will be left with some Unallocated space. Select it and hit Create, and name it whatever you want.


Then hit Apply. It will restart your computer and start working.


Once that's done, you will have a brand new partition that you can install Windows 7 on.

NOTE: Sorry I don't have any pictures of the installation... :p

Now, go ahead and insert your installation CD, and restart the computer. Depending on your BIOS settings, you may have to hit a key in order to boot from the CD drive. If it loads the installation, good. If it loads your normal OS, then you did something wrong.

Anyway, it should step you through most of the process. Once it gets to the part where it asks you where you want to install it, choose the hard drive/partition that you set aside for it.

After that, just let it do that work. After a little bit, you should be greeted with a shiny new operating system!


But wait, you're not quite done yet. There's a few thing's you'll have to do to before you can use it.

First of all, install any updates that pop up, many times those will be quite important. Also, make sure to update your drivers. They should update automatically, but if they don't, you'll have to manually find them on the internet.

If you are wondering why it doesn't look like the picture, it's because the Aero theme won't turn on unless it knows that your system is good enough. Open up the Control Panel, and click System and Security. Then, under System, click Check the Windows Experience Index. Then run the assessment. If it thinks your computer is good enough, it will enable Aero effects.

Finally, import all the other stuff from your old OS.

And that's about it. Now go bask in the glory that is Windows 7!

Samus Papercraft

Man, it's been a while since I've posted a papercraft on here... but this is my best one yet!

http://www.nintendopapercraft.com/2009/03/samus-aran.html

I would also like to officially present my other blog, dedicated solely to papercrafts. :D

The Papercraft Blog

I never officially announced it... so, there it is.

More Wallpapers!

Okay, if you happen to be one of my 5-ish readers, I would like to let you know that I did not die! Also, I didn't move out of the country when Obama won the election. :p I've just been really busy with school and whatnot, and thus haven't had much time to write here.

Anyway, I've been doing a lot of cool stuff lately... For example, I recently installed Ubuntu and Windows 7 Beta on my laptop; I'll write about those in a little while.

That brings me to the point of this post, though. Do you remember when I altered Vista's default background to make like 10 new, awesome backgrounds? Well, I did it again, but this time, I did it with Windows 7's backgrounds.

I made 27 new wallpapers, plus the original 5, making a total of 32 that you can choose from.
I've also got the ones I made a long time ago, if you still want those.

They're all here.

An Overview of Obama's Plans

Sorry I haven't been posting in a long time, but school is INSANE. I may have more time next year, since 2 of my classes are only 1 semester, and therefore will be done by Christmas.

Anyway...

Here's a little note I wrote on Facebook, I figured I should post it here, too.

*sigh* Mark my words, if Obama gets elected, America is going down the toilet.

Let me give a little recap of what he plans to do:

He plans to take away gun rights, so people who legally own guns will be defenseless. Of course, "gangstas" and people like that will still find ways to get guns, and won't care about the legality. So, we will have villains roaming the streets, and no way to defend ourselves.

He plans to take the troops out of Iraq. Now, I'm not exactly "in favor" of war, and I hate how many people have died, but taking the troops out is definitely not the best option. It will show terrorists that we are weak, and is basically a sign of surrender.

He plans to remove funding for defense weapons. So, not only is he letting the terrorists know that they have won, he is giving them a free ticket to come attack us, and create another 9/11.

He plans to raise taxes on hard working citizens, for the benefit of those who are too lazy to work. So the hard-working have to work harder, and the lazy have an excuse to be even more lazy.

He opposes laws against illegal drugs. O_o Doesn't he think drugs are bad? What is up with that?

He plans to give illegal immigrants citizenship, resulting in more poverty, less jobs, and Spanish becoming the second national language. :p

There's more... but I don't have time to go into them all.

Anyway, my point is: Is this the kind of person we want for President? Seriously. Will this help America, or hurt it? The answer is obvious, IMO.

Too bad I'm not old enough to vote...

An open letter to Mr. Obama

A friend of mine wrote this note on Facebook, and he said I could post it here. No, I didn't write this. I just thought it was relatively interesting, and he makes some pretty good points.

Dear Mr. Obama,

I am writing to respond to several issues you have raised on the campaign trail as of late. I would also like to express my offense at several of your rude and uncalled for comments. I would expect someone with your vast experience as a community organizer and a state senator would have taught you basic etiquette, but I guess since you are a new kind of politician, you are not required to follow the courtesy of old.

First of all, what right do you claim to mock the fact that John McCain does not use email? He is unable to use email because his fingers are not nimble enough to type. This reason for this is an old wound that he received does not allow him to type…

An old wound he received fighting for your freedom and for the flag that you refuse to salute…

How dare you mock the injury of a soldier who stayed longer than he needed to in a Vietnamese hell hole so that another could go home first? One who has never fought for his freedom or country has no right to mock those of us who has or will.

By what right do you attack the family of Sarah Palin? You do your best to find everything wrong with her that you attack her pregnant daughter and try to crucify Palin for the actions of her child. Before your attack the family of another examine your own. By her own admission, your wife has never been proud of her country until you started winning and your brother lives in a hut in Nairobi on $12 a year when you could easily help him out of poverty.

By what right do you ask for more of my money? You and your Washington cronies already steal 1/3 of my paycheck. I need that money more than you do, Mr. Obama.

How can you possibly claim superiority in the area of gas prices? Your response to crippling gas prices is to tax gasoline and the oil companies that already pay 3 dollars of taxes for every 1 dollar they make. When that doesn’t work, you tell me to inflate my tires and get a tune up. Are you saying that I don’t know how to take care of my car? And even if my car isn’t in perfect condition, keep in mind that not all of us can get taxpayer funded cars and free gas…

Your record on guns is confusing. Your record shows that you have no respect for my right to carry a weapon and defend myself and my family, but when talking about your campaign you claim that, “If they bring a knife we’ll bring a gun!” I’ll have to think about that one…

How dare your talk to me about national security? You won’t fund our troops appropriately but you would gladly make friends with, Mahmoud Achmadinajahd (sp?), Kim Jong Il, Hugo Chavez, Hamas, and have proven your friendship with domestic terrorist John Ares. Your record on this is abominable…

5,000 unborn babies die a day, and not only do you want to use my money to fuel this geonocide, but you won’t even protect the babies that survive the legalized murder we call abortion.

I could go on with other examples of your audacity. Names such as Tony Rezco, Ludicrous, and issues such as global warming and illegal immigration could be razed, but I have to go to bed now and get a good night’s sleep. I have to get up to go to school tomorrow so that I am better equipped to provide for my future family.

For these and other reasons, I have decided to give my support to John McCain this election year.

Your favorite bitter gun and religion clinging, small town, racist, bigoted, un-enlighted young adult,

Robert Lass

Through the Fire and Flames

Wow. I never thought this would happen. When I first got Guitar Hero 3 a few months ago, it was beyond my wildest dreams. (Well, maybe not my wildest.) But now it's happened, and I'm still in shock. I beat the hardest song in GH3 on Expert -- Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce. w00t!

Don't believe me? Check it out.



So there you go. Final score - 364,792 - 3*

You would not believe how many things went wrong while trying to make that video, though. One time I beat it only to find out my camera had died. Once I was in the middle of the solo and doing really well, and then my little sister started CLIMBING on me. O_o Needless to say, I lost that one. I used about 20 pairs of batteries; luckily most of them were rechargeable.

Once I finally beat it, I still had to edit the video. Obviously, I had some troubles there, too. It took about 14 hours to render the video. I had to render it three times. Unfortuntely, I would have only needed two times, but once the second one was done, (at about 1 AM,) and checked the file and found out that it was saved in the wrong format. >_<

So, I rendered it a third time. I stayed up until 2 AM the next night waiting for it. It FINALLY finished, but (of course) when I tried to upload it to Facebook, I found out the file was over the 300 MB limit. Grrrr.... So, I went to YouTube to upload it. And, according to Murphy's Law, YouTube was under construction, and I couldn't upload. So I ended up staying awake until 2 in the morning for nothing.

But that's not all! I was finally able to upload it this morning, at about 11. It is past midnight right now. It took more than 12 hours for it to upload to YouTube.

I'm done now, though. I hope it was worth it!

NOTE: Sorry that the sound is a bit off at the end. That's because I used two cameras, and I can only use the sound from one. One video is slightly longer than the other one, (probably because the frame rate is a bit higher,) so the sound from one doesn't exactly match the other. Deal with it.

Use Burnt Matches

Here's a magic trick that makes it look like you can light a burnt match.


Use Burnt Down Old Match Lite Again - Click here for another funny movie.