In the spirit of the Christmas season, here's a video of the coolest Christmas lights:

• Click here (3:04 min)

I was browsing around my previous company's website and I found they finally have the product line I was in charge of designing posted in their catalogue! I feel like a proud father seeing his kid go to school for the first time *sniff*.

I never thought I would miss Eaton Electrical but I must admit seeing this brought back many happy memories: kicking it with Kandy-In-My-Pants, Euchre at lunch with John, Harry and Ross, pissing off Vera, dodging my boss by hiding in the lab, drawing boobies in AutoCAD (DAMN PLINE TESSELATIONS!!!!), playing with Janette's dog, mastering lockpicking with Ritchie and seeing the look on people's faces when they find their drawers locked ("Brian, please, I really need my CD player...") ROFLOL and finally the best, replacing Krish's voicemail greeting with my own faking a gay British accent HAHAHAHA. He didn't notice for a whole year since he never calls himself HAHAHA genius!!! He later revealed he always thought people he spoke to on the phone acted strangely when they later met LOL. A WHOLE YEAR! THE BEST PRANK EVAR!

• Why Segway sucks
• Building it yourself

And yes Hojo, you have been thoroughly PWNED. You didn't think I forgot that conversation we had September 12 when you lauded the Segway calling the gyroscopic system "revolutionary". I said it was nothing of that sort and that in fact the math and design principle behind it was simple enough to build at home. You then started making obtuse references to control system problems steadfast in the belief your Waterloo knowledge is supremely right and I just let you bathe in your aura of arrogance... remember that? And to think you are teaching electromagnetism to students next semester *shudders* :lol:

See other Maddox commentaries on:

• Pornography in video games
• Why Garfield sucks (sorry Harry :lol:)

Download your hot coffee mod disabler

Possibly one of the funniest video clips, evar!!! Classic Triumph the Insult Comic Dog from the Conan O'Brien show. Triumph visits the premiere of Attack of the Clones and interviews the Starwars nerds. And if you noticed I mistyped "Starwars", there's no denying it - you are a nerd.

Video (10min 28sec)

I attended a debate on whether God exists last Tuesday at Ryerson. My friend helped organized it. You might have seen a bunch of posters around school advertising the event. Dr. Kirk, a professor at Guelph, argued for the existence of God and Dr. Brown, a professor of philosophy at UT, argued against it.

Dr. Kirk brought up the 'first mover' argument. Namely, given that the universe had a beginning, a timeless, all-powerful entity must have existed to set it in motion. He also brought up the principle of Occam's Razor. That is: given two equally plausible theories, choose the simplest one. Dr. Brown on the other hand challenged that the existence of evil is incompatible with an all-loving God. He said given God is all-loving and all-powerful, He surely would be capable and would want to teach us moral values free of pain.

At the end of debate, there was a Q&A session with audience members. My friend asked Dr. Kirk, if what he said about there being a moral, all-loving God that created the universe, couldn't it be equally possible an evil God was responsible? His reply was that you must have faith. Of course, this question could not have had any other answer. Faith is the belief in something lacking in evidence whereas proof uses evidence to substantiate a case. The two are opposites of each other. There's no way around it. A debate on faith is over before it even started - end game, check mate, finito... whatever you want to call it.

In line with that thought, I asked both of them how a debate on God can exist if we cannot prove absolute truth exists. I pointed out that there is evidence things may not necessary have to be true or false. One example is fuzzy logic where answers can be partially true. I also mentioned Plato's allegory of the cave. It describes a person raised in a cave. Furthermore, this person is tied to a chair facing the back where all he sees are shadows casted on the wall created by puppets held in front of a fire behind him. Now, consider what happens if this person managed to escape from their bonds. They would realize that shadows are merely caused by 3-dimensional objects held in front of light from a fire. Hence, a greater truth is obtained and the person's previous reality is rocked. Now, imagine they stepped outside the cave. They would see trees, animals and light emanating from the sun. In this context, they would realize they have been living in a cave their whole life. Again, a greater truth is obtained.

The debate reaffirmed my belief that under the masquerade of science-based claims that God do or do not exist, it is still a debate between idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Went to see a movie tonight. I wanted to see Weather Man since the trailer looked good and it involved archery of which I have some experience. But after arriving at the theatre, my friend and I balked at having to pay $14 so we went to a different theatre instead to catch another movie.

It came down to Legend of Zorro, Saw II or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. My initial choice was Zorro but my friend said it had a score of 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. Well, it has a somewhat higher score now but it's still pretty low. We decided on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang because we both never heard anything about the movie and wanted to be surprised. Also, the girl was pretty hot in the poster - that had such little bearing on our decision I don't know why I mentioned it.

It turned out to be a great decision. The movie was really funny with twists after twists in the plot. I totally recommend it. Rotten Tomatoes agrees.

The fencing coach offered me a position on the team this year. After mulling over it a bit, I had to tell him no. It's just too busy this year and there's too much other things I want to do. He tried his best to lay the guilt trip on me though :lol: He said if I have time for friends, I have time for fencing. When I said civil engineering takes up a lot of time, he dismissed it as not a real engineering course then offered to get me a tutor haha. Anyhow, I told him maybe next year.

One of the things I want to do this year is the bridge building competition in February. We've already put together a team. I have to say we are pretty serious about it as we have already begun researching designs. Other teams watch out!

On a completely different note, it just came to my attention that many laser printers imprint a near to invisible code that contains the serial number as well as other information such as date printed on every printout. Apparently, this was an agreement that the Secret Service quietly brokered with the manufacturers to aid in tracking counterfeiters.


The code is in the form of tiny patterns of yellow dots that's placed intermittingly within the document. It is invisible to the naked eye but it can be seen when a blue light is shone on the page.

This, of course, raises many privacy issues. What can be used as a tool to track down criminals can also be improperly used to intrude on personal privacy.

Big Brother is watching you!

Read more about it here.

So here I am typing on my custom built watercooled computer and you know what I just realized? This year was the first time I did not tinker with it! Is it true? Did entering civil engineering really quell the computer geek inside me? Or was it merely suppressed, to emerge once again with dire girl-repelling consequences? Oops! I just had a thought about upgrading my video card. Haha, wasn't that fantasy short-lived.

But while we are on the subject of computers, let's revisit some of Brian's more memorable computing moments:

• Hunting for the elusive mother-of-all-overclock Thoroughbred 'B' CPU core and getting kicked out of a computer store in the process for asking to examine manufacturing codes (good ol' times eh Hojo lol)


• Hooked up my computer outside in the Winter at -20C temperature to see how much more juice I can put through it to later find out I broke the CD drive. When I took it back to the store for warranty, the guy asked me what happened. I honestly told them my computer simply froze - ROFLOL - genius. Oh, don't you love people like me abusing warranties ;)


• Converted my computer to watercooling. It has a magnetic drive pump and a 1978 LUV truck heater core radiator inside. They say electricity and water don't mix. But they also say pigs will never fly... I believe pigs will fly one day.


• Had 3 hard drives go on me. It could be sheer coincidence or it could be because I'm running them 40% above specs. Nahhhh, coincidence.


• Spent one frustrating day rewiring my CPU with a magnifying glass, conductive paint and a toothpick. God damn you technology for making CPUs so small!!! Trust me, just buy a faster CPU. It's not worth the effort.

I came across this a long time ago. It's one of the most amazing optical illusion you can create in your own home. Just print it out - preferably on thick paper - and follow the instructions!

• Check out video of illusion
• Make your own!

I threw a small hockey party today at my house. A couple of my friends came over and we cheered and jeered the Toronto Maple Leafs in their season opener against the Ottawa Senators.

The game was very dramatic and it almost seemed like it was showcasing the new NHL rules: near to no icing, exciting double-line passes, speed through the neutral zone, sudden death overtime and ultimately, the final shootout that the Senators won.

The opener also revealed some serious flaws in the Leafs. Belfour reacted painfully slow during the shootout, now an integral part of the game under the new rules. He's still a great goalie because he can read plays and has a lot of experience but you cannot deny the fact he is 40 years old and has nowhere the reaction time of younger goalies. I say put in Tellqvist, the rookie backup goalie, for the shootout in the future.

Another concern is Antropov. He's big and tall and carries a big stick but he sucks balls! How long are the Maple Leafs going to keep saying this year is the breakout year?? We've been hearing that for 3 seasons and all he has shown us during that time is his inability to finish plays and his uncanny ability to get injured. Maybe the coaching staff should teach him how to skate first because I swear I see his legs move while he hardly moves.

I am a retard. I finished the economics assignment that was due today a week ago but forgot to hand it in after class. I dropped it off in the professor's mailbox later today. Maybe he will be lenient :fingers crossed:

I had fencing lesson today. After the class, the coach approached me and said he wanted to work privately with me and try me out for the university team next year! I'm flattered but I'm just not certain how far I want to take this fencing thing since school comes first for me.

Last two parts of the Monkey Island play have been posted.

There's not much worth to report so instead, here are a few interesting weapons of mass destruction videos:

• Underground nuclear bomb testing
• Bunker busting bomb
• US military might compilation
• Javelin missile testing - short range surface-to-surface anti-tank

I just had my first fencing lesson today. Actually, I was suppose to start this Tuesday but the teacher kicked me out because nobody told me I couldn't wear shorts.

First, the instructor introduced us to the equipment. We learned about the mask, vest and the practice sword called foil. We discovered the word 'pummeled to death' comes from hitting your enemy with the pummel (weight at end of handle) and how it's illegal in fencing. We are however allowed to aim for the crotch. And as one guy found out, it results in excruciating pain ROFLOL.

Next, we went over fencing etiquettes. Before a match, the fencers must bring the hilt up to the face and salute each other and the audience. This we were told is a throwback to the crusades where knights would kiss their sword as if it was a cross. Following a match, fencers must shake each other's hands with the non-weapon hand. Now, you have to realize etiquette is sacrosanct in fencing. Supposedly, people have been disqualified for such audacity as to refuse to shake hands. Them crazy Frenchs...

Surprisingly, we got right into duelling. It was a mess. Everybody was flailing their foil and jumping around. It was a sight to see. But as we got more practice, we started to realize there is a method to this madness we call fencing. You needed to maintain precise distances and to strike with efficient lunges at the right timing.

The lesson was over after dueling but people were welcomed to stay to fence some more along with the club. Most of them left flushed in the face clutching their fencing arm :lol: I think most of us underestimated how tiring fencing can be especially in the restrictive and hot vest and mask not to mention holding your arm and sword in front of you for a long period of time.

Feeling pretty confident having done pretty good in the duels, I faced off against the varsity team coach. OMG, I could feel the jolting pain everytime he stabbed me but my brain could not comprehend how so I basically just stood there deadlocked. The sword was coming in at me underneath my arm, over my arm, over his head down onto my collarbone... I think he stabbed me in the back too but I'm a little hazy since I'm still recovering from my trauma...

Avast! September 19th 'tis officially Talk Like A Pirate Day lad! C'mon ye scurvy dogs, talk piratey and drink some grog!
GROG!!! GROG!!! GROG!!!


Warning, grog contains one or more of the following:

- kerosene
- propylene glycol
- sulphuric acid
- artificial sweeteners
- red dye no.2
- rum
- acetone
- battery acid
- scumm
- axle grease
- and/or pepperoni.

Things I don't like about the fluid mechanics prof:
- no eating in his class even if you have 6 hours straight of lectures
- course outline is wrong so you can't prepare for class and he refuses to correct it
- writes equations on the board and then don't explain them
- no consistency in use of variables
- use variables that look the same like v and v :nuts:
- we have to buy our homework weekly at the copy shop

During the last civil lecture today, we held an election for 2 students to represent 2nd year Civil Engineering in council. I volunteered along with 3 other students. After each of us gave a short speech, voting began by a show of hands. First up,me. I received 30 votes. Then Lil was up with 38 votes. Now here's where the drama begins. Waco (sp?) who held the position last year received 30 votes as well. So then he voted for himself pushing it over to 31!!! I really don't know why I didn't object. In hindsight, I should of said 'whoa whoa, wait a minute. I'm voting for myself too' or asked for a recount. I was also saying to myself if he wanted it that badly, he can have it but I also realize now that I let the people who casted their vote for me down by not fighting... I guess in the end, I was just too nice :mad:

Final tally:

Me - 30
Lil - 38
Waco - 31
Mike - 6

Before first-person-shooters and its generic clones litter the game store shelves... Before mindless sex and violence replaced wit and originality... There were intelligent and incredibly funny adventure games made by LucasArts between the late 80s to mid 90s that I like to refer to as the 'golden age' of computer games.

During that time, game makers faced two major obstacles. Firstly, personal computers were a relatively new concept. Not many people owned one and for those that wanted one, they were simply too expensive. Secondly, computers were still widely viewed as a business tool and consequently the hardware was more suited for making spreadsheets rather than gaming. It was a market inhospitable to games.

However, the same conditions helped create some of the best games ever made. The small consumer base forced game makers to make wholesome and fun games that appealed to a broad spectrum. Having to cope with inadequate hardware, game makers relied on interesting storylines and humour to attract buyers. One of these games and my personal favourite is LucasArts' The Secret of Monkey Island, a tale of swashbuckling pirates, battles on the high sea, staple removers and a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle ... somewhere deep in the Caribbean!.

In what would of been a futile effort to achieve realism at a time where most computers could only display 256 colours, LucasArts instead abandoned the idea altogether to hilarious results. What pirate adventures would be complete without sword battles? Not a problem in Monkey Island where players' selection of insults and retorts decides the outcome of a fight. Indeed, insults are mightier than the sword! And where exactly does the character keep all the things he picks up? In his pants of course (unless by chance he left it in his other pant)!

The Secret of Monkey Island is in my opinion the best game ever made. But why take my word for it. If you would like to try the game, you could always drop by my house or I could loan you a copy.

In the meantime, a high school in the States was crazy enough to adapt the game into a school play. You can read about it here.
Videos of the play is available below in either small or large format. The last few parts of the play have not yet been released but I will post the links as soon as they become available.

Part 1: Small Large
Part 2: Small Large
Part 3: Small Large
Part 4: Small Large
Part 5: Small Large
Part 6: Small Large
Part 7: Small Large
Part 8: Small Large
Part 9: Small Large

I'm done with work! I said goodbye to everybody. I'm going to miss the stray cats I befriended most though. We fed them so much food the last couple days :lol: I also got the reference letter I asked from my boss. It's rather short... First paragraph, it says I was trained in earthwork and concrete testing. Second paragraph, it says I was 'skilled' and 'pleasant' and that's it.

A lady at work introduced me to Sudoku recently. It was kind of fun the first couple I did but then it started getting tiresome. I find it to be kind of droneous requiring little imagination and a lot of mental labour. Plus correcting a mistake is a bitch. I'll stick with my crosswords thank you.

Monday, I'm going to head down to Six Flags Darien Lake in Buffalo for some R&R. Hotels were booked solid so we got a campsite on park grounds. It will be fun!

Then oh my, school starts. You know what? I'm kind of excited about school since we are getting into the meaty parts of civil engineering. Hopefully, I can keep my marks up for some scholarship money to roll in.

So Hojo, when are you going to get your own blog ;)

Went to Dave and Busters with a couple buddies from my old workpalce. I can't believe I played Formula 1 racing 5 times. Used up about half of my credit :lol: Also played soccer as usual on Sunday. But man, all the Indian guys didn't show up :mad: Well, we made the best of it.

My monotomous life continues. I did tell my boss I plan on leaving on the 26th *yay*. I am finding myself trying to squirm from assignments. I want it to be over!!!!!

Sights and no sounds during my travels at work:

State Farm Operation Center earlier in Summer


State Farm now


Making culvert head wall footing in Brampton


150 million dollar Hydro One transformer station in Markham

Bah, I had the unfortunate job of failing a concrete load today. It was the third time I dealt with this particular concrete company and each time the concrete had gotten progressively worst. What made it hard for me was this was for a wheelchair ramp meaning you're not going to be driving a truck over it but the contractor pays me to make sure concrete is as specified in the design and it sure ain't today.

On my way back to the office, I stopped for gas. I went inside to pay but this nice chinese lady behind the counter thought I wanted to buy cigarettes so she asked me for my ID :lol: I asked her how old she thought I was and she said 19. I said I was almost 23. She looked at me, shooked her head and said no :lol:

Weekend was pretty fun. On Sunday, I was suppose to go to Dave and Busters with two of my friends from my old workplace but one of them canceled so instead, me and the other guy went to the golf driving range instead. Now I'm scratching my head because I asked for a 9-iron but I was carrying the ball maybe 160 yards which is similiar to what a PGA player might get with that iron (I checked) :lol: So I'm thinking the rental girl (she was hot) must of mistaken the 6-iron for the 9. Anyhoo, pardon the pun but I think i'm hooked now! I want to try the driver now!



Afterwards, I went to play soccer as usual. Took a shot off my face. Initially, I didn't think much of it but when I got home, I found out I couldn't chew food. I must of pulled some ligaments in the jaw. It's a bit better now :0

Boy, it's getting close to school time eh? Time to start shopping for school supplies, get a haircut and get things in order. There's also a few tasks I want to complete before the summer is over. One, get my name sorted out at Ryerson. They still have my chinese name on file. I don't get it. I have gone by Brian since 8 or so up to even at U of T but Ryerson is the only school that remains braindead in that regard. Another thing I have to do is go down to Darien Lake or take a trip [i]somewhere[/i].

I was surfing around the net and found a few animated GIFs that I found funny. Enjoy:

I came home early today and was flipping through the channels when I saw a breaking news report on CNN about the Air France jet that crash landed at Pearson Airport. Immediately, my thoughts were on my colleagues working there at that time. Thankfully, the crash occured on the West end of the airport a distance away from where they were working and the news media is reporting there are no casualties on the flight.

Having gone to Pearson Airport myself several times and standing on the tarmac watching planes repeatedly land on the same runway as today's crash flawlessly, I can only imagine what the people standing in the same spot today felt when they saw the giant plane roll off the end of the runway and burst into flames.

One interesting thing I noticed when I was at the airport one time was that engineers designed obstacles that would prevent out of control planes from travelling unimpeded past the end of the runway and crashing into buildings or highways. For example, for one of the runway taking off over highway 401, there's an engineered hill at the end. However, for the runway where the accident occured today, there aren't any man-made obstacles. This leads me to believe engineers intended the valley where the plane ended up today to serve as a natural obstacle for out of control planes. It worked in stopping the plane but the difficulty the emergency services faced reaching the plane may raise some questions on whether there are better solutions and cause engineers to rethink future designs.

It was a rather unspectacular day. Most construction sites stopped work because of the weather leaving me with not much to do so my boss had me cooking and microwaving asphalt in the laboratory kitchen. I do love the smell of asphalt in the morning!

Went to City Hall in the afternoon to deliver a bid proposal. I was pleasantly surprised City Hall still maintains an open door policy unlike our neighbour in the South where most government buildings have beefed up security in the wake of 9/11.

Today was also the first time I bribed someone although unknowingly. I somehow ended up in a back alley around City Hall trying to find a parking space when I stopped for a moment to check my map. I looked up and saw a man with a baseball cap and sunglasses waving at me. I rolled down my window and he walked over. He asked whether I was looking for a parking spot to which I nodded. After giving him 6 bucks, he pulled aside a few traffic cones blocking what seemed to be a delivery entrance and motioned for me to pull in :lol: He said I could park there the whole day. All day downtown parking for 6 bucks. That's what I call a deal.

Images below can now be enlarged by clicking on them.

Yesterday, I was midway testing concrete in King City when a senior engineer from my company came on site for something completely different. He immediately noticed I was wearing sunglasses and not my safety glasses. In that Obi-Wan to Padawan kind of way, he started lecturing me on the importance of safety eyewear then said he wasn't going to report me this time.

So today, I wore them to work trying to score some brownie points. But with my amazing luck, I ran into the same guy at another site the 5 minutes of the day I didn't have them on... Can you believe that? I was like, "dude, talk to that guy. I had them on just a moment ago!" to which he said I should have them on ALL the time.

Now some random pics:

The day started off good. I went down to the ROM early in the morning to test the concrete. It gave me the opportunity to wander around the site and examine one of the most unique construction projects in Toronto up close. The lattice of steel beams is really a sight to behold. I got some weird looks from the workers when I started snapping a few photos but then I saw the concrete driver doing the same thing.

Pumping concrete to 2nd floor slab-on-deck

Steel beam lattice for 'crystal'

The day started going downhill afterwards. I was asked to go up to Brampton to pick up some asphalt samples another company technician collected and bring it back to our lab. But as I was about to return with the samples, the boss called and told me they needed me urgently downtown to catch a concrete truck for testing ... in 20 minutes. Brampton to downtown Toronto in 20 minutes ... What did he expect from me? I don't know about you but I have yet to gain mastery of manipulating the space-time continuum. I tried anyways and amazingly, made it downtown only a few minutes late. But it was all in vain. I couldn't find the construction site. It didn't help that the only direction I was given was that it was an underground parking garage around City Hall .

I worked today beside Pearson Airport on a commercial land development project testing soil. The workers didn't feel like working in the hot temperature so not much got accomplished. However, I was excited to be there because the project is being run by one of the most famous engineering firms in Canada, Marshall Macklin Monaghan (MMM). Among other superprojects, they were responsible for designing the Skydome and CN Tower. It's one of the civil companies I most want to work for once I graduate. I chatted with the site supervisor from MMM and asked him a couple questions about working there. What I heard was promising. I guess I made a good impression because before long, he was comfortably taking a piss in front of me. You KNOW somebody trusts you when they can comfortably take a piss in front of you.


I'm even more excited about tomorrow. I'm suppose to be testing concrete for the ongoing renovation of the Royal Ontario Museum designed by Daniel Libeskind, the architect behind the new World Trade Center. You can learn more about the project here. There's also a webcam of the construction here. If you look close enough tomorrow, maybe you'll see me! Or maybe not...

So there I was standing under the scorching sun today on the hot pavement looking at an electronic billboard beside the road displaying time and temperature: 31C/10:45AM ... 33C/11:00AM ... 35C/11:15AM!! It was so hot when I lifted a traffic sign off the asphalt, I noticed it left a nice indentation.

Overall, it was a good day; nobody died. However, we do claim responsibility for backing up traffic on Mayfield Road in Bolton. One guy drove by me and showed me his fist. But overwhemingly, the drivers showed a lot of courtesy and gave kind gestures as they drove by.

Came back from work early today. We were suppose to take some core samples along a stretch of road in Caledon but the drill company we contracted cancelled because their machine was broken - or so they said. Our theory is they probably overbooked as they tend to during the busy summer contruction period. Drilling was rescheduled for tomorrow. Hopefully it'll work out.

In other news, Stargate SG1 and Atlantis are resuming this Friday yay! Will Jack and Sam finally get together? Will Atlantis survive the attack from the Wraith marauders? Only time will tell... Now all I need is Battlestar Galactica back and I'd be in bliss.

Hey, I finally got a Blog(TM)! As I like to say, better late than never. I also say last one is a rotten egg but let's not go into semantics.

So why am I starting to blog as of late? First of all, I thought it would be neat to have an archived record of my thoughts to reflect on in the future. A person with no sense of the past cannot subscribe to the future no? I guess that's why I don't have a cellphone yet :bleh: That and holding something that's knocking a few DNA strands out of order beside my head turns me off. Secondly, I just felt like it. Maybe it's because it's hot and humid and I'm sleepless at 1:10AM (edit: 1:18 and counting) with nothing to do. Or is it because I contracted melanchollia because my plan of manipulating my friend Dan to introduce me to some of his lady friends failed. Whatever the reason, it is with great aplomb (it's a word, I looked it up) that I announce that I, Brian, now has a Blog(TM).