I always like to see the fun side of things in life. Very rarely will I get offended by a joke made by someone. If I do find it offensive I would rather tell them and move on. In the last month there were plenty of events which were not fun at all. I’d like to address some and end with some fun stuff.

First the Virginia Tech massacre was just a total shock to me. I just have no words to describe how sad that event was. Some think gun control would stop this from happening in America. The problem is that the guns are already out there. People won’t be willing to give them up at any cost especially the criminals. I don’t have an answer to this problem in America. Some people will always think killing is the answer to their problem. Trying to help problem kids at the earliest age would be the best way in my opinion.

There was something very interesting that happened after this event, though. Some bloggers thought they found the killers blog and it started to get talked about throughout the internet. Guess what happened next? The professional TV and radio news people found about it and started to report it as fact. Perfect example why I don’t watch the news anymore! They don’t look for facts anymore. All they want is to be the first at the story for ratings. Now I have this guys blog bookmarked so I can read more about what he has to go through for his beliefs.

Then something else I just read that went in another direction which didn’t even cross my mind. This article about how violence against women have been dismissed throughout the news really made me take notice. In the beginning everyone thought this was just a domestic dispute and wasn’t important to anybody else on the campus. That should change. Violence against women is still violence and should not be tolerated in any circumstances. Now we find out the killer wasn’t even in a relationship with the woman he shot first. Would anything have changed if the school took the stalking reports more seriously? I don’t think it would change his mind. He probably would have done something like this sometime in the future. But it doesn’t mean we should look away from these issues! Maybe if we do address this issue more it will stop the next killer who thinks it’s ok to kill innocent people.

The IMUS thing got me on defensive because I like listening to radio a lot! I never really get offended by a comment someone says. I might find their language a bit rough if used excessively. IMUS deserved a warning or a stern talking to but a firing over something small compare to the other things he has said about other people? I am always for dialogue which will help more people than just trying to stop everything that’s offensive. Let’s find out why words can be offensive. I say boycott the killers, drug dealers and take back some of the gang controlled cities. That would make a HUGE difference rather than forcing a talk show host off the air.

But I must stop and get back to the fun side of life. Recently trying to get away from all the bad news I found a great site which makes me laugh, groan or just think what was that all about. The site funnyordie.com is a place to watch funny videos which are submitted and everyone can vote if it’s funny or not. Of course not everything that I think is funny will be funny to you. We are all different and that is what I love about life. Don’t be offended just move along and we will have a fun time with our lives.

I‘m actually having fun playing a MMO game called “Lord of the rings Online” which has take a lot of my free time. It’s a fun game and really keeps me entertained for hours. I also have been playing Command and Conquer 3 which is a really good immersive game. I love the games with a story that makes me believe I am actually in the game. C&C3 is basically an updated C&C generals with better graphics and better equipment. The little videos before each campaign has been great especially with a great actor like Michael Ironside playing in it.

This is the best time of the year for me. October has always been a month I wait for. I have always loved scary movies ever since I was around 10. I remember watching the movies on Select TV late at night. Covering my eyes when it got too scary or to explicit. My grandmother and mom used to love watching the movies too so it was totally natural to watch them.
One thing I do in October is go to a local theme park called, Knott’s Berry Farm. During the Halloween season they change their name to Knott’s Scary Farm and decorate the park and rides with cobwebs and spooky stuff. At night they will close the park to regular guests and prepare the park for Halloween. About 7pm to 1am the park is opened to the guests who want to get scared. They have people dressed up in costumes trying to scare people in the park all night. Their are also plenty of spooky mazes in the park where you can walk through looking at gory scenes or monsters walking around with you.
This year was a lot more crowded then previous years. I usually go on Sundays because it’s not as crowded but this time they had a premiere event for the movie “Grudge 2.” They also had a Grudge 2 maze that was closed almost all night so we couldn’t go through it. I hear it’s a good maze. Maybe next year they will have it again so I can see it. We only missed two mazes this time. I rarely get scared when going to this event because I always prepare for someone around the corner. I love watching other people getting scared though.
I hear the best time to go is during the weekdays instead of the weekend. The crowds are less because most of the teens have to go to school the next day. Don’t go on a Columbus weekend because there are schools that have Monday off still. I also must tell you to go the prescare dinner before the park opens because you get a buffet of the best fried chicken and get into the park 30 minutes before everyone else! Sometimes they won’t let you in on time or they let everyone in at the same time but usually the prescare dinner is a lot better!
If you’re interested in this halloween event or others like it you should check out Theme Park Adventure! I also wrote about some things they have in Second life at the VTOR blog I write for also.

Technorati Tags: halloween, knotts scary farm, theme park, halloween events, scary fun, johnramirez

I‘ve recently started watching a show called Heroes on NBC and I find it a very interesting show. I like the whole idea of getting people who find out they have super powers together to save the world. Each one has a strength and a weakness but together they can help each other. There are many similarities with this show and the x-men but It’s more of a psychological story rather than a straight hero movie.
Following all these people with special powers and wondering how they all are going to join together is the best part about this show. The character that I really like is Hiro Nakamura who can manipulate time and space. He gets a bit excited sometimes but that is what’s so funny about him. He doesn’t know much English so he will have a hard time trying to get with the other heroes. At least his friend knows english to help him out.
The other character I like is the cheerleader, Claire Bennet, who is indestructible but she can be stopped. She doesn’t have the strength or power so she will have to depend on other people to do some damage. The most interesting one of all of them is the woman with two personalities, Niki Sanders. Her other personality has a lot of strength and is very dangerous. She doesn’t seem to have complete control over her second personality yet. I wonder how will she use her power if and when she controls it.
The strangest character is Peter Petrelli who can fly only around his brother, Nathan Petrelli. Nathan can fly anytime but not peter. I think Peter’s power is going to be an interesting addition to the rest of them. It will be interesting to see how he plays a part with all the rest of the heroes. It seems like he gains the power of the nearest hero. A very interesting super power In my opinion.
If you aren’t watching this show it’s something you might want to check out. It comes on NBC on mondays and I hear it’s doing good in the ratings.

Technorati Tags: heroes, tv show, television, nbc, johnramirez

I found a new search engine that uses an interesting idea. When you first go to the website, msdewey.com, you are greeted by a woman avatar. When you search for terms she will say different things according to what you search for. Janina Gavankar is the model who plays the avatar and really makes this project unique and sexy! The search results come from microsoft live and it seems like it’s a test from microsoft to have some fun. This site isn’t very useful but it shows what can be done in the future. I still search with google. If you want to see some of the funnier stuff that this avatar will do then type in the following for your search terms [Updated 10/26/06]:

halo 2
murder
ho
Janina Gavankar
how to fight a ninja
what is your name
how to do the robot
george bush
storm
How old are you
dick cheney
what are you

Technorati Tags: microsoft, search, internet, Janina Gavankar

Let’s bring in real inventors and wannabe inventors to have a contest! The best invention will win lots of money! The invention has to be new, be something that will be useful and show off how smart and creative Americans can be! Sounds great right? Well the show “American Inventor” missed every part of that! When I heard of this show I was really excited! I love inventions and giving the audience a chance to pick the best invention was fantastic.
The first problem is that it came from the idea of American idol which totally works. The contestant on Idol must actually be able to sing and have some personality to win! Their back story would make sense to know who the person is inside and out. Let’s face it, An invention is an invention! Their back story of the inventor doesn’t matter too much. Sure it’s great to find out why they created the invention. It feels good to know they put in so much of their life into what they believe. But it doesn’t make a good invention. This show is only looking for inventors with good sob stories. I bet they passed on some great inventions from great inventors. I can even point you to a website with some details here from Americaninventorspot.com. Be sure to read the comments on that post to understand further. I would have loved the solar cooler to go further. Makes so much more sense in these fuel problem days!
Another problem is the inventions that have gotten through can be found already on the market or a similar product available! I am not going to talk bad about the inventions or the inventors that have gone through. I just think there must be something better out there. Another problem is letting the judges make the decisions for too long!! Give the audience a chance now! Not at the end when we’ll only have 4 choices I hope. Sure it might come down to popularity at the end but any voting by the public will always come down to that. Also way too much air time of previous inventions. I could care less about them now because your judges already dismissed them. Sure it was fun to see crazy people on TV but I think it lessens the impact of this show. Just makes it a talent show and not the best of the best!

Technorati Tags: american inventor, reality tv, johnramirez

Want to try out the new Yahoo Mail Beta? Wasn’t invited to try it out or don’t know how to try it? I found a post on makeyougohmm.com that explains how to do it for anyone outside of the United Kingdom. Just need to change your location to English: United Kingdom and get the invitation. Can always change your location back and still have access. If you don’t like the beta version then you can switch back to the current version. The new beta version is nice. Similar to outlook and can be used with the keyboard easily. Try it out and see what you think!

Technorati Tags: yahoo, mail, beta, yahoo mail, johnramirez

Another post which I should have posted weeks ago. I have so many topics on my mind I need to write about. As in previous posts you might know I am a big fan of Dr. Who. It was one of my favorite shows when I was young. As you might know the BBC, in the UK, has started producing new adventures of Dr. who last year. Doctor #9, played by Christopher Eccleston, made his appearance in season 1. (actually season 27 in the full who history)
This year, Season 2 has started on April 15th with all new adventures and enemies! I don’t want to give away anything for the people who are watching season 1 in America so I won’t explain too much about the changes. The first season of Dr. Who will be coming out in DVD on July 4th. Look for it in stores like buy.com! I really hope SciFi will show Season 2 soon because the only way for me to watch it now is downloading off the internet. If it was possible I’d pay for the privilege of downloading it from BBC but still no option for me to do that.
I will write a review on season 2 in another post. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that there is a season 2 being shown in the UK so let’s hope scifi will pick it up this year!!

Technorati Tags: Doctor who, dr who, johnramirez

If you ever found yourself trying to make a web page with matching colors then I found something for you. It’s called colorMatch Remix! Sometimes when I am building a web page or doing graphic work I find myself using weird colors together. I don’t have a good eye on what colors go with other colors. I constantly find myself going a bit too crazy with the colors. When I found this site I bookmarked it quickly and figured I should post it here for anyone else who needs this help. You just pick a favorite color and it will give you back 6 other colors that will match the original color. Really nice and I’ll be using it from now on!