Electric discharges produced by the Z Machine at Lockheed Martin's Scandia National Laboratories. It is the most powerful X-ray source on Earth. Scientists hope to use its intense magnetic fields to carry out experiments on warp propulsion theory. Read more.

Howdy guys. It has been a while. I'm currently just having fun and recharging for the final push towards the end of the school year. I think I slept on average 12 hours a day this break. Yes, I didn't think it was possible either.

I'm satisfied with last semester's marks. I should of been more prepared for the exams though. That's my fault. I took my foot off the gas pedal a little bit too soon. It's going to be pedal-to-the-metal next semester!

Lots of stuff have been happening during the break. I held a LAN party at my house. Good times. My team has also been busy designing for the bridge building competition in February. We're going to unveil some pretty revolutionary designs so look for us ;)

I'm looking forward to hitting the slopes at Blue Mountain for a couple days with my friends. I really need the exercise. I think this year is a new low for me in terms of physical activity. Hopefully, I can get back to shape next semester by doing fencing and playing hockey in the civil engineering team Dave is organizing.

In the meantime, I'm going to go sit on my ass and watch some Smallville and maybe play some Warcraft.

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