Well, I just attended my little brother's graduation over the weekend. It was a chance for us to realize a dream but it was a little shattered by the incompetency of the university in question.
The school is Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. A decent school with decent programs but horrible organization. It is supposed to be the honor of the parents and family to be able to hear that word, "with honors" or "cum laude" but that didn't happen with my brother. It was weird seeing him go up on stage with the yellow cords around his neck signifying honors status and not have the words spoken. A travesty at what is supposed to be an exceptional school of higher learning - and a very expensive one to boot.
So parents watch out. You've been warned. Stay away from Andrews if you want to avoid the disrespect and dishonor at graduation time.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
You should get what you pay for at a private University
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Shop For New Gifts!
Well, I've been busy and I'll be pretty busy all this year. I've just launched a new online store catering to arts, martial arts, sports and photography. Designs will be added continuously. You can find an assortment of products ranging from t-shirts to calendars to mugs.
Go to Pabs D Productions and browse around. You might find something interesting!
Happy shopping!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Be healthy, prosperous and make love not war! All the best in 2008!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
The Materials of Economy - Shop Till We Drop?
I've been away for a bit. Had to move and get settled and catch up with people I haven't seen in a long time.
So i was forwarded this cool documentary and it makes you really think about the big picture of stuff we get and discard and how this effects our environment, people, and the economy.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/12/11/awesome-video-you-need-to-see-before-you-start-holiday-shopping.aspx
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Bargain Hunters Rejoice
If you shop at Amazon.com (a lot) wouldn't it be nice to know when there's a price drop on that special item you need or want?
There is a Firefox add-on called Price Drop that gives the user the option to track prices for selected items at the Amazon.com online store and notify him/her when the price drops. In addition to keeping track of price drops at the Amazon store it also notifies you if the price dropped after purchasing an item which helps in getting a refund for the item you bought because of the lower price.
The extension adds a ‘Price Drop. Track this item’ row on every single product page at Amazon. Clicking the row adds that item to the list of items that are watched for price drops. The list of tracked products can be viewed at anytime by opening it in Tools > PriceDrop and it is possible to delete items in that list as well.
The user will be notified in a popup window if a price drop has been recognized. A link to the product page at Amazon is given in that popup as well. Unfortunately the old price is not mentioned in there, only the new price is mentioned - but any price drop is a good thing.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Israel Warns World War III May be Biblical War of Gog and Magog
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123961
by Ezra HaLevi
(IsraelNN.com) US President George W. Bush said a nuclear Iran would mean World War III. Israeli newscasts featured Gog & Magog maps of the likely alignment of nations in that potential conflict.
Channel 2 and Channel 10 TV showed the world map, sketching the basic alignment of the two opposing axes in a coming world war, in a manner evoking associations of the Gog and Magog prophecy for many viewers. The prophecy of Gog and Magog refers to a great world war centered on the Holy Land and Jerusalem and first appears in the book of Yechezkel (Ezekiel).
On one side were Israel, the United States, Britain, France and Germany.
On the other were Iran, Russia, China, Syria and North Korea.
Geez, maybe it's time to head for the mountains.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Adobe Develops 3D Camera Technology
Ah, the pace of technology!
At a recent event in France, Adobe showcased a prototype 3D lens that could essentially capture a scene from 19 slightly different angles simultaneously, giving photographers a lot more to work with when they return home for post-processing. Essentially, the firm boasted that by using this lens along with software designed to understand the 3D nature of the image, individuals could utilize newfangled tools such as a "3D healing brush" and make perspective shifts based on the different viewpoints originally captured. Dave Story, vice president of digital imaging product development at Adobe, called the technology "computational photography," and suggested that it could open up an entirely new window of image transformation opportunities.
Very interesting to see this coming from Adobe.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Opera vs Firefox - I Like Them Both
I've been using Firefox since it started. I just recently started using Opera and am quite impressed with its speed, security and stability. I haven't made a switch, and probably won't - I've been with Firefox for too long to just up and leave. But I must say, Opera is a pretty sweet browser.
Help Net Security published an interview a couple of months ago with Christen Krogh, VP of Engineering at Opera. Most of the interview covers security in the Opera browser.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
A Warning To All Men About Beer
The drug is found in liquid form and is available anywhere. It comes in bottles, cans, or from taps and in large "kegs". Beer is used by female sexual predators at parties and bars to persuade their male victims to go home and sleep with them. A woman needs only to get a guy to consume a few units of Beer and then simply ask him home for no strings attached sex.
Men are rendered helpless against this approach. After several beers, men will often succumb to the desires to sleep with horrific looking women whom they would never normally be attracted. After drinking beer, men often awaken with only hazy memories of exactly what happened to them the night before, often with just a vague feeling that "something bad" occurred.
At other times these unfortunate men are swindled out of their life's savings, in a familiar scam known as "a relationship." In extreme cases, the female may even be shrewd enough to entrap the unsuspecting male into a longer term form of servitude and punishment referred to as "marriage." Men are much more susceptible to this scam after beer is administered and sex is offered by the predatory females.
Please! Forward this warning to every male you know. If you fall victim to this "Beer" scam and the women administering it, there are male support groups where you can discuss the details of your shocking encounter with similarly victimized men. For the support group nearest you, just look up "Golf Courses" in the phone book.
For a video to see how beer works click here:
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You Wanna Talk Backwards?
In one of my previous posts I talked about reverse speech and some examples. Well now you can play around with it yourself.
Just go to talkbackwards.com and send them an audio file. After a few seconds you will hear it played back in reverse. They also provide a link to search for music at Altavista's search engine. Cool eh?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Hide Your Folders For Free!
Got some secret, personal and private stuff on our computer that you need to keep safe? Hiding things on a computer can be difficult, especially If you can’t remember where you put it, and encrypted files can be a dead giveaway that you have something to hide.
Free Hide Folder is what you need. It basically makes folders and their contents disappear from Windows, and what the snooper can’t see they can’t break into. It’s unbelievably easy to use - just set a password, confirm it, specify the folders you want to hide and click OK. The only way to make them appear again is to open Free Hide Folder and enter your password, so just remember to hide the program, or give it a different name. It’s a really neat little program, and don’t forget to make a donation to the author if you find it useful.
Why do you need Free Hide Folder?
Most people have many files or folders on their computer which they do not want to others see or use them. If you are interested in protecting your personal information, Free Hide Folder is just what you are searching for. With Free Hide Folder you will protect your files avoiding them to be being modified, seen or erased by other users.
Platform: Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003
File Size: 742 KB
License: Freeware
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Websites That Appeal To Your Five Senses
If you're the artistic type or have children that like crafts, go to Ready Mech where you can download designs that can be folded as seen on their website. You just need double-sided tape, some paper, and some time.
I'm a carnivore, but I don't mind the veggie meals once in awhile, especially those falafels...mmmm. Well, here's a site with some great vegetarian recipes - some exotic ones too.
If you like Adobe Photoshop and the artistic results you can create, check out the wacky things you can do when cloning goes wrong. Or even better, and to include the sense of hearing, check out the clip below.
And finally, for all you Mac users (I'm one of them too), a couple of great sites for freeware or open source programs to customize your Apple computer.
A Tire For The Next Generation
I first heard about this tire last year. A tire that requires no air, no repair kits and supposedly are very durable as law enforcement spike strips can't hurt it.
The tires, made by Michelin, should be out on the market very soon... I think I may have to get used to the look though. If you look carefully at the pics, you can see how functional they would be in conforming to any obstacle on the road. A sort of accordian like appearance, the design works in unison to evenly distribute pressure among all of the flexible spokes.
These tires were originally for military and after years of research, they were able to make them for civilians - more presentable and more noise reduction. Civilians will most likely pay a higher price for these over traditional tires too.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Monday Morning Ramblings - Zagato, Fishkini, Anti-Satellite Weapons, Economy
I watched a car auction on the Discovery Channel HD Theater yesterday and caught a glimpse of a beautiful 1961 Aston Martin DB4 Zagato. It was at it's highest bid of 2.5 million and it still didn't meet the owner's reserve! I guess he wanted at least 3.5 million. That particular Zagato had been in some major races and I guess you also pay for its colorful racing history. If I was a minor millionaire I'd probably settle for a newer Porsche or Ferrari. But if I was a major player and had chump change of about 4 million sitting around, sure I'd make a bid on that sweet car.
In other news, a company out of Bangkok, Thailand has created a new fashion trend utilizing the skin of the Talapia fish. It's been used in hand bags and wallets and now it's getting rave reviews in the bikini market. It actually looks pretty cool and drys faster as it's waterproof. It takes about 15 fish skins to make one bikini. Go on, be a mermaid!
So now it seems that we have a new threat to be worried about - the threat of anti-satellite weapons that can knock out a lot of the major communications services we take for granted and rely on more and more each day. This anti-satellite weapon was tested by China early this year on one of their own defunct weather satellites and now the U.S. is a bit on the worried side. Will this cause an arms race in outer space? We shall see.
It seems the mortgage companies in the U.S. aren't the only ones that are hurting. Customers lined up in droves Monday morning outside of Northern Rock PLC mortgage company in London and its other bank branch locations across Britain to withdraw billions upon fears of insolvency. I fear something bad is coming our way economically.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Graphic Software To Help Nab The Bad Guys
I stumbled upon this cool website that allows you to make composite drawings with a range of different characteristics in about 10 categories. I made a couple of drawings here and I found that you can really change the look of someone by simply swapping the eyes. I guess they really are the windows into the soul.
Another software I'm familiar with is used by police agencies, CIA and FBI - Faces 4.0. The software is user friendly and is a more robust program with a plethora of characteristics featuring 21 categories that include everything from eyebrows to glasses, jaw structure to noses, and hair to tattoos. There are 4,400 different features that can create 1 million different composites. You can fine tune the final composite, moving hairlines up or eyebrows down on the computer screen and the quality is more like a photo than a line drawing. The specs are below.
Create any face you like. Surprise your friends and family with a drawn picture of themselves. The FACES award winning program makes a composite look virtually like a photo and it produces a good quality image. That's why thousands of police agencies worldwide including the CIA, FBI and the US Military use FACES.
Information:
* Creates photo-like composites
* Generates unique alphanumeric code for every composite
* Extensive database of facial features
* Runs on any standard desk or laptop computer
* Expanded Latin, Asian and African-American features
* Three-tone hair color
* Side to side hair flip
* Facial markings: scars, moles, piercing, tattoos
* Improved age progression
* Detachable hats and headwear
* Full Windows XP compatibility
* Ability to export composite as JPEG file
* Integration with TRAK alert system
* Slide show capability
* "Not A Real Photograph" Indicator
* Improved zooming and positioning tools
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Are You Flexible Enough To Handle This?
Man, all I can say is - it hurts and... it freakin' hurts! This beautiful woman, Kristina Kareeva, is definitely amazing. Ok guys, get your minds outta the gutter about the extreme kama sutra ideas and all that jazz.
Extreme Body Bending By Kristina - Click here for another funny movie.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Computers Use Google Earth To Join In The Search For Steve Fossett
It seems Nevada is a graveyard for planes. Over the last 50 years more than 300 small planes have disappeared in the state.
The search for 63-year-old Steve Fossett is entering its second week, and rescuers have received help from an unlikely source: Google Earth. The satellite imaging program has released new, up-to-date images of Nevada which, through a collaborative system run by Amazon called Mechanical Turk, enables individual users to search from their homes and notify rescuers in Nevada of potential leads. The system's creators say the plane Mr Fossett was flying would appear as an object about "21 pixels long and 30 pixels in wingspan". (Guardian Unlimited)
Read the rest of the article here.
M.A.C. Beauty Trends For All You Professional Make-up Junkies
I just wanted to do a quick plug for an up and coming make-up artist and journalist extraordinaire, Joy (who happens to be my sis). She has tons of beauty tips and trends to keep you looking and feeling good.
Here's the M.A.C. Pro beauty news from her blog:
"I haven't visited the MAC Pro site in a while and I was excited to find some new products for their pro members. If you're not familiar with the site, it's full of products and tools that pro artist use and are only available in MAC Pro stores. The greatest part about being a pro member is of course the lovely discount you get which is exclusive to makeup artists and people in the entertainment industry. While on the site, I was checking out the Daily Trend Report and I fell in love with their artsy trend pictures! To view the inspiration and products used behind some of the hottest shows for Spring/Summer 2008 click on each day."
I've seen her work as a make-up artist first hand, particularly with a well-known runway model, Tasha Tilberg. She's got skills!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Can You Defy Gravity?
I've read accounts of shamans, magicians and the ancient yogi who were able to levitate off the ground. There are a lot of skeptics, but there are a lot of things these shamans have learned and retained from ancient times. Or, it could be cables and wires... I just didn't see any in the video. Like I said before - I'll remain a skeptic believer.
Monday, September 10, 2007
An Ebay Pitfall You Should Avoid
Do you hate being scammed? I hate it. I haven't been scammed online (yet) but my friends have and they've lost quite a bit of money as a result.
If you're selling or buying on Ebay, you should know that that is the hunting ground for scam artists. From browsing different internet forums, I've learned that these thieves know that their targets are in the know with respect to Western Union transfers. It's definitely not suggested and use at your own risk... risk of never getting your money back. Most scam artists are overseas and out of reach of U.S. law enforcement. If a seller says their monthly payment limit for Paypal is maxed out and they want you to use Western Union, move on.
But they'll have a counter to that as well. They may recommend an escrow service online. Let me tell you right off the bat that Ebay endorses only one escrow service - Escrow.com. Use any other at your own risk. The scam artists know that it's easy to buy a domain, set up a fake site and have the server somewhere overseas. You need to go to a site where you can trace and check out the domain name. Take a look at the date of creation and the physical address supplied by the registrant. If it was created recently with an address somewhere outside the U.S., be careful. Like I said at the beginning of this paragraph - Escrow.com is the way to go. So what is an escrow service anyway?
An escrow service is basically a "middle man" both parties can trust. Here's an example of a typical transaction:
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Buyer and seller agree on the terms of the sale. This includes item description, price, and time period of inspection.
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Buyer pays the escrow service by check, money order, credit card, or wire transfer. Escrow.com does not accept Western Union or Money Gram.
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Seller then ships the item to the buyer and provides tracking information to the escrow service so delivery can be confirmed.
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Buyer inspects the product and can either accept or reject it.
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If the item is accepted, the seller is then paid via check or wire transfer. If the item is rejected, it's sent back to the seller. Once she verifies the item is in satisfactory condition, the buyer's money is refunded by the escrow service.
