Tsunami Steve

Kurt

2007-01-07T14:37:00.001-05:00

Apple adds option to turn off "Just For You" in iTunes

2006-11-01T23:04:00.000-05:00

Though not one of the most touted features of iTunes, "Just For You" in the iTunes store would allow you to select artists you like, then reccomend new music based on those selections. I'm not sure if it's new, US only, or even relevant to you, but you can now turn off the Just For You bar in the iTunes store.

Multiple Coverflow's in iTunes 7

2006-09-16T20:35:00.000-04:00

iTunes has supported separate playlist windows forever, but with Coverflow in iTunes 7 this has new potential. To set this up you just need to double-click the icon (the little eigth note) for whatever playlists you want to show. Then go the the view options buttons on the top right of the window and put it in Coverflow view. You can adjust the size of the playlist window and the Coverflow part inside of that, so fit the windows however you want. This works best with multiple montiors so you can have multiple playlists on one monitor and your general library on the other side.

A couple small iTunes 7 Bugs/Tips

2006-09-13T00:22:00.000-04:00

I love iTunes 7, but here are a couple things to look out for:

-Full screen playback desaturates/brightens videos. They will look fine in the "separate window" view but then looked washed out when blown up.

-Some attempts to download album art work from iTS resulted in tracks getting placed out of order when sorting by Album. It turns out the problem is (in my cases) a difference in "Album Artist." A simple batch change on an album will fix this.

Enjoy!

Yes, THIS is why we have childhood obesity

2006-09-04T00:27:00.000-04:00

Celebrating birthdays at school by bringing in brownies or a cake is obviously the source of childhood obesity:

from the BBC

Problems at NASA

2006-07-03T16:32:00.000-04:00

Maybe NASA would have more success if they started worrying about space instead of penises.

CNN article

Damn FBI and its crazy ideas

2006-05-18T21:47:00.000-04:00

CNN reports that the FBI is using dogs and something called "technology" to look for this Hoffa dude's remains. Obviously the FBI is not disclosing what this "technology" is, but it's 2006 and your guess is as good as mine.

Explaining 'Lost'

2006-04-25T13:54:00.000-04:00

This is a theory explaining the who, what, when, where, and why's of ABC's Lost. Dunno if it's right, but from what I know about the show it seems very plausible. If you watch Lost and don't want to spoil the plot, you might not want to read this.

read more | digg story

Best Journalism Ever (Hispanic Protests)

2006-04-11T16:34:00.000-04:00

A genius article about the rise of Hispanic power in America evidenced by recent protesting. Read on to learn more about how people who come together in organized protest can gain political power in the process.

[cnn.com]

Kid turns in Swiss army knife, faces expulsion

2006-04-03T23:04:00.000-04:00

An eighth grader realized that he had accidentally left his Swiss Army knife in his pocket on the way to school, and rather than conceal it all day, decided to turn it in to the office. The school, in a move to promote concealed weapons, penalized him with suspension and possible expulsion. Way to go, public schools. Always doing the wrong thing.

read more | digg story

They really are fake

2006-03-30T14:50:00.000-05:00

Ever wanted proof of how retouched magazine pics are? Go here and mouse over the image for a before and after. Scary.

Viral Video Collection

2006-03-29T01:18:00.000-05:00

Probably the best collection of viral video you'll ever see. Linkage.

Top 11 Reasons To Upgrade To Windows Vista

2006-03-25T12:04:00.000-05:00

A humorous look at upgrading to Vista, if it ever comes out.

read more | digg story

Child Molestor Gets Off

2006-03-21T21:25:00.000-05:00

If you want to be a child molestor and get away with it, you need to look like this.

[from cnn]

RHCP in iTMS

2006-03-21T14:34:00.000-05:00

The Chili Peppers' entire library is now available in iTunes.

(This section is to honor bad news sites that feel like everything needs a complete story behind it. The news here is that some new music --good music-- is available in iTunes, but I'm going to go ahead and pretend like I'm the discoverer of all things important and write a bunch of shit that is completely pointless. Think of how many songs you could have already downloaded by now if I had just left the short sentence and link at the top. Ok I won't waste anymore of your time, but if you want to find out just how great some news sites are, do some Googling and read 800 times more than is necessary about a band's music being added to the iTunes Music Store.)

Diggnation in 170 iTunes cards

2006-03-12T20:56:00.000-05:00

So I had a little free time during Spring Break and decided to bust out my stash of iTunes cards and be Diggnified. There are 170 unused, "1 Free Song" iTunes cards in the pic. I know it's not perfect, but it's the best I could do with my available space and number of cards. I also had to merge two pics together because I couldn't get high enough over everything (damn ceiling), so that's the slightly noticeable seam down the middle of the photo. Click the pic for a larger version, or check it out on my flickr page.

One more mirror for good measure.

TS Update: Recent Diggs, Podcast?, No updates

2006-02-14T15:32:00.000-05:00

In the past week I've gone from not knowing about digg.com to being a huge fan. For those that don't know, it's a social bookmarking news site that allows users to "digg" news and drive stories to the front page. In addition, a video podcast called Diggnation goes through some of the top stories of the week. At least check out the podcast because it's good entertainment.

So anyways, you'll notice now that my sidebar has my recent diggs, so you can see news that I think is interesting that I might not cover as a blog post.

I'm hopefully going to start podcasting soon, so be on the lookout.

I obviously haven't been doing much here in a while. It's because I have 4 jobs. And college classes.

One Year of TS!

2006-02-10T23:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday marked one year of Tsunami Steve. I was out on the road doing video, so I didn't have time to post on Thursday. Anyways, no big announcements or anything. I thought about revamping this whole site, but decided to take a slightly different approach. More news on that later... maybe. Anyways, I'm gonna go eat some cake.

THIS JUST IN: Learn Arabic and Strategery

2006-02-08T08:31:00.000-05:00

So... umm... the Army is teaching its officers Arabic. Isn't this about 15-20 years late?

Also, Army Col. Mark Patterson says:
"We're trying to develop officers to be strategic thinkers..."

I don't even know what to say other than, "Wow, those jeans are pulled up high."

[via CNN]

first10minutes.com

2006-02-06T23:33:00.000-05:00

This probably violates some copyright laws, but a site called first10minutes.com let's you watch--you guessed it--the first 10 minutes of a movie. They have a decent collection to choose from, and it's worth checking out before you head to Blockbuster or Best Buy (or Circuit City). Which reminds me, I still need to get a Netflix subscription going.

[via digg]

My Top Bands of All Time

2006-02-03T13:00:00.000-05:00

These is my small list of bands that I think are truly great. I don't care if you agree, because music means lots of different things to lots of different people. These are in no particular order and are on the list for various reasons.

-The Beatles
-Nirvana
-Red Hot Chili Peppers

I'll update this list from time to time, so check back.

Punxsutawney Phil Exposed!

2006-02-02T13:51:00.000-05:00

See the lighting in that picture? It's not from the sun, but rather a production crew. If the media would stop glorifying a useless groundhog and leave it's lighting kit at home, maybe we would stop always having 6 more weeks of winter.

Great movie though.

A Moron and Some Really Intelligent People

2006-02-02T13:39:00.000-05:00

John Patterson of Louisiana is suing Apple because he has experienced hearing loss since he began listening to music with his iPod. But wait, Patterson's attorney said John doesn't know for sure if the iPod caused his hearing loss. The attorney adds:

"He's bought a product which is not safe to use as currently sold on the market. He's paying for a product that's defective, and the law is pretty clear that if someone sold you a defective product they have a duty to repair it."

If iPods are defective for causing someone that lsitens to music too loud to experience hearing loss, the world clearly needs to be cleansed of knives, guns, vehicles, alcohol, and hamburgers, as they ~~may cause undesireable effects if abused~~ are also defective.

Also in the article:

Although the iPod is more popular than other types of portable music players, its ability to cause noise-induced hearing problems isn't any higher, experts said.

Somebody is getting overpaid.

[From CNN]

Time to play "Looker, or Hooker?"

2006-01-24T22:01:00.000-05:00

What are all the little kids supposed to think about Cinderella after seeing this display at Marshall Field's? Maybe the Fairy Godmother character is a metaphor for a pimp.

Money-back Guarantee

2006-01-13T22:19:00.000-05:00

Video Conversion Inside iTunes 6.0.2

2006-01-10T19:17:00.000-05:00

I didn't notice this before today's update, but it could be old news. Either way, if you right-click a video inside iTunes, you can convert the video to the iPod video format right there. While iTunes is somewhat specific with what formats it can handle, it is much more tolerant than iPod videos and this is a good way to unify your content without a 3rd party application.

The Cost of Freedom

2006-01-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

The Evansville, IN airport (EVV) graciously provides a wireless network for travelers. Ironically, the "Freedomlink" costs money to actually use.

(Helpful hint: Wireless connectivity in Powerbooks is called Airport. The fact that I was using my airport connection in an airport is entirely coincidental.)

Sentback Mountain

2006-01-08T20:34:00.000-05:00

When Fahrenheit 9/11 came out, a lot of ~~conservative~~ theater owners refused to show it. The same thing is happening again with Brokeback Mountain, a movie about two gay cowboys. Of course, you have to support the theater's right to not show the film, but it's a major step backwards in the gay rights movement. Remember the civil rights movement? It's hard to believe this is America in 2006.

From Utah [CNN.com]

Oh, no problem.

2006-01-07T23:36:00.000-05:00

'Needs to close' or 'already closed'? And if the file can be recovered, why even show this message or close Word in the first place? At least I can submit this report confidentially and anonymously.

On Apple Plasmas at Macworld

2006-01-07T13:53:00.000-05:00

I'm still stumped as to how this story made Engadget's and Macrumors' front pages without ridicule. "Jason D." over at powerpage.org posted a story about gaining insider Apple knowledge while buying a breakfast sandwich, claiming that Apple will be releasing plasma displays next Monday at MWSF. Everything seems legit except for Jason's immaculate ability to remember conversations word-for-word, novel-style dialogue descriptions (i.e. "'Plasma HDTVs?' I yelped."), and the account of some random guy in a sandwich shop seeing an Apple logo on a sweatshirt and spilling confidential information about the company. Let's be serious, folks.

Merry Christmas! (Because no one will admit it.)

2005-12-25T17:24:00.000-05:00

December 25: a day stores lock their otherwise always-open doors and spend some quality family time around a pine tree with presents under it. No, not Christmas. Only "seasons," holidays," and "that time of the year" are okay excuses for not working. Businesses, if you're gonna act like you celebrate Christmas, celebrate Christmas. And think about it, if Bush could win the 2004 election with religion, you can probably beat sales projections with it too.

Likewise, I know Santa is the real reason for Christmas (since Santa in Aramaic means "Jesus"), but there is another guy people think about this time of year. He died, came back to life, and was magical, bringing joy to all those around him. Hundreds of books and movies have even been made about him. If anyone is to be used as a catalyst for "holiday" sales, it's Frosty the Snowman.

Vikings? No way!

2005-12-15T23:35:00.000-05:00

Here's a gem for you. (I admit I didn't find this one on my own.)

Some editor with a sense of humor (as opposed to stupidity--holding breath) over at abcnews.com headlined an article about a recent scandal involving members of the Minnesota Vikings football team as "Four Vikings Charged in Boat Scandal." Get outta town! My favorite quote from the article is:

"The crew members identified 17 Vikings among about 90 people on the two boats."

You can't make this stuff up. Okay maybe you can. Where's my "Purdue Accused of Going to College" headline?

P.S. In related news (psh, real news), the Minnesota Vikings are the only team, other than my own, still undefeated in my current season of Blitz 2001.

Blitz-krieg Bop

2005-12-13T19:12:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the year again. Finals week. Perhaps a little bit due to the Colts' success this year, but mostly for procrastination purposes, I resurrected NFL Blitz 2001 for N64. This has happened now for the past 3 years--finals week rolls around and suddenly I play Blitz 24/7. I started thinking about this today, and I guess it's just the brainless fun Blitz offers that makes it so great. Forget Madden and all the finesse, just pull the Z button (Turbo) and go smash some people up. No penalties, injuries, or dumb rules to worry about. All the graphics and multi-core processors in the world can't match great gameplay. After I go through a couple undefeated seasons in Blitz, I might just have to bust out Blades of Steel for old school Nintendo. Classically trained.

Packers Fans (and winter clothing in general)

2005-12-11T23:54:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching the Green Bay Packers squeeze out an overtime win over the roaring Lions (ha!), and I loved every crowd shot because almost every Packers fan was wearing some sort of hunting gear. No wear else can you find so many sports fans wearing orange sock hats and camouflage under their favorite jerseys.

Since we're on the subject, snow is the best excuse in the world to take all those fashion articles, tv shows, and stores you've seen and forget them like you forget math after a couple games of beer pong. So next time you go sledding, dig through those old boxes and find some hot pink pants, olive green sweatshirts, and yellow gloves and go have some fun.

12.8.80

2005-12-08T00:43:00.000-05:00

Pearl Harbor Day

2005-12-07T15:27:00.000-05:00

I guess I'm the only one observing Pearl Harbor Day. Though, how can one truly observe Pearl Harbor Day in 2005? I'm not watching that stupid movie, and I don't have time for the Discovery Channel. Well, there's a Japanese girl in my class right now, and the professor for my last class was in the military for a while. Yeah, I think that's good enough. I'm fortunate to live in Indiana, where the lakes are too shallow for torpedos.

Too soon?

It really is a jukebox.

2005-11-30T01:07:00.000-05:00

Has anyone else ever noticed that the dock connector on iPods is suspiciously close in size to a quarter? Maybe this is part of the RIAA's plan to "expand economic opportunities" in digital music over the next few years.

My Official "Suck at Life" List

2005-11-15T21:53:00.000-05:00

This will change over time (maybe), but the following represents the 10 people/things/etc that Suck at Life the most.

Tsunami Steve's "Suck at Life" Bottom 10 (11.15.05)

1. Cingular: Don't lie to me about your towers and voicemail being down. They aren't. And I live in Indiana, not Georgia.

2. George W. Bush: Uh, I hate to interrupt, but we're slowly becoming a third world country. Tell you what, if you get our troops out of Iraq in one month I'll buy you a horsie and you can ride it all over the Middle East!

3. Wal-mart: For every small business you close and dollar you make, a satan is born.

4. Oil companies: You made like $9,000,000,000 last quarter. Gas does not need to be this expensive.

5. Yoko: December 8, 2005 will be 25 years you bitch.

6. The RIAA: Who's really hurting the music industry?

7. Fox: I guess those Emmy's just weren't good enough to keep Arrested Development around.

8. Microsoft: Take a step back and look at how bad you suck.

9. Celebrities: We really don't care about your lives.

10. MySpace: Tom, learn how to write code.

About to be sucked in: Bono, Dell, classes, portions of Indiana

Grab your snowboard

2005-11-14T22:08:00.000-05:00

Here we go!

The Filmmaking Commandments

2005-11-13T23:50:00.000-05:00

I was gonna make a list like this, but why waste my time? Please spread the word if you know people making films.

Directing Unsuccessful Motion Picture Shorts

Lohan and Lennon: No.

2005-11-06T20:04:00.000-05:00

Sorry to use those two names together, but that is exactly what this post is about. A company out of Canada is producing a film about the days leading up to Mark (fucking bastard) Chapman's murder of John Lennon and wants to use Lindsay Lohan (and her chest) to fill some pointless role. John Flock, the company's president, comments:

"The role Lohan will play was created as a plot device to help filmmakers deconstruct Chapman and his motivation for killing the rock celebrity."

No, I think the role was created because this Flock dude is a marketing sell-out whore and wants to sell movie tickets to horny teenage boys and 10 year-old girls that want to be strippers when they grow up. This shit is exactly why I hate the film industry and don't want to be a film director.

Quotes from around the nation:
-Alice says, "This is an outrage!"
-Lindsay Lohan says, "I read two words of script, since I only know two words, and I loved the idea. I think this role will really give me a chance to show my versatility as a ~~dumb whore~~ actress and people will start to take me seriously."

CNN article

Maybe it's because our paper can't spell.

2005-11-02T14:02:00.000-05:00

Headlining the Purdue Exponent today:

Disappointed?

Whatever happened to art?

2005-10-18T18:38:00.000-05:00

I need to clarify a couple things right now. First, I hate Desperate Housewives. I watched 5 minutes of it last year and that was too much. Secondly, television destroys art. How can you possibly convey a message through film or television if you've got car salesman screaming at you between two powerful scenes? Okay.

I guess critics are starting to be a little more realistic with Desperate Housewives and writing average reviews for this season's episodes. Fans are pissed at the creator (Marc Cherry), who said he is just as involved with the show's writing now as he was last year. His totally non-corporate response is:

"I'm paying attention to my audience's response and am trying my darndest to please them. And I will continue to do so as long as I've got that executive producer credit above my name."

Who cares about trying to please your audience? It's art. Oh never mind. You can't spell "art" with lots of zeroes.

How to not sound dumb

2005-10-14T13:52:00.000-05:00

Dammit. The word is genre, not jon-ruh.

I Love Me Some Math

2005-10-09T17:00:00.000-05:00

See, not everyone is stupid.

2005-09-29T23:39:00.000-05:00

I was seriously shocked that "Hurricanes" wasn't the overwhelming top pick. So maybe someone from an oil company saw this?

Uh, j/k about the "not everyone is stupid" thing. I mean, GW is our president.

I'm a Socialist

2005-09-24T23:16:00.000-05:00

You are a
Social Liberal
(83% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(21% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Socialist

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

Uh Should I Update?

2005-09-23T11:34:00.000-05:00

From CS2:

Curtain up!

2005-09-21T01:40:00.000-05:00

KATRINA NEWS

2005-09-02T17:14:00.000-05:00

HEY CNN! ISN'T IT REALLY ANNOYING WHEN EVERYTHING IS WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS LIKE ALL YOUR HEADLINES ABOUT HURRICANE KATRINA? YES, IT'S A BAD DEAL, BUT WE CAN READ THINGS IN normal sizes TOO. THANKS.

Letters to You: Haircut Girl

2005-08-19T20:03:00.000-05:00

To the girl who cut my hair the other day:

Yes, I do a 5 camera professional video production, complete with graphics and engineering, all by myself. Stretching my arms across the stage to run both handheld cameras is pretty tough, but I manage to get it done.

Busy at the moment,
Tsunami Steve

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

2005-07-23T01:43:00.000-05:00

Supposedly Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas can be modified with a download to unlock a sexual mini-game. Are all the whining parents really so ignorant to miss the fact that porn is much easier to find on the internet than some hack for a game? And how the hell could they have ever bought GTA for their "innocent children" without knowing the story and content of it? Maybe we should be censoring parents, forcing them to undergo a stupidity test before having children.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree

2005-06-23T23:20:00.000-05:00

Last time I checked, the whole point of file-sharing was to create a massive online bank of media and software that people could access free of charge. All legal and ethical debates aside, it only makes sense that the application used to jump onto these networks are free as well. Apparently David Watanabe, who I'll admit makes slick apps, wants a ridiculous $16.99 for an Acquisition license. To me, that $16.99 might as well be spent in the iTunes Music Store since Acquisition doesn't really deal with legitimate downloads. Like I said, he makes cool apps, but there's a little thing called a "market" that he's completely making up by trying to sell file-sharing software to people. Am I wrong?

(This post prompted by the absurd number of pop-ups and nags to purchase an Acquisition license)

UPDATE: Well well well... perhaps this app won't be around much longer.

My Room

2005-06-02T10:23:00.000-05:00

All pictures

I finally have everything set up the way it should be. Here's a quick breakdown of specs:

Dual 2.5 Ghz G5, 4.5GB Ram, Radeon 9800XT
250GB, 160GB, 320GB, 80GB, and 160GB hard drives

12" 1.33Ghz Powerbook
768MB Ram

DV, Hi8, S-video, and composite inputs/outputs

A couple more pics are on their way.

The Musical Baton

2005-05-24T01:31:00.000-05:00

I'm finally finding some time to start blogging again! Justin sent me the musical baton, and since most "chain-mails" these days are dumb fill-out-useless-shit-about-yourself surveys, I'll take anything decently cool. So here goes:

Total size of music files on my computer: 12.42 GB

The last CD I bought was: the pre-release iTunes Bundle from System of a Down ("B.Y.O.B." and "Cigaro")

Song playing right now in iTunes: "Made for TV Movie" by Incubus

Five songs I listen to a lot, or mean a lot to me:

"Me and the Moon" by Something Corporate
"I Miss You" by Incubus
"Shimmer" by Fuel
"A Box Full Of Sharp Objects" by The Used
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana

Five people to whom I'm passing this baton:
uhh.... I'll get around to it. Kinda defeats the purpose, no? Oh well.

"The Speed of Overrated"

2005-04-27T00:35:00.000-05:00

Coldplay released a new single last week called "The Speed of Sound," and its popularity has been nothing short of incredible. One article suggested it might even break the all-time iTunes Music Store download record. Now don't get me wrong, I like Coldplay, but this new single is nothing to get excited about. I was just as anxious as everyone else to listen to their "new" material, only to be served up a nice dish of 3-years-ago. There absolutely nothing groundbreaking, new, or interesting in "The Speed of Sound" as compared to Coldplay's other albums. I'll of course keep it in my library and listen to it from time to time, but, if the rest of their upcoming album is just like this single, they wasted precious studio time. In the meantime, I'll listen to the new (and different) Dave Matthews Band material, finally in the iTunes Music Store.

Update (5/18): The Dave Matthews Band album is a letdown.

Me on CNN

2005-04-10T13:29:00.000-05:00

Me on CNN

Yesterday I filmed the National Rube Goldberg competition that was here at Purdue. I thought CNN would be using one of my shots, but instead I ended up right in the middle of this pic. Still pretty cool. Here's a link to the video.

And CNN link.

Star Wars Fans: Part 1.5

2005-04-06T21:26:00.000-05:00

You remember when I mentioned that Star Wars fans were probably already waiting in line for Episode III? Well they are. The best part is, according to our trusty cnn.com, the fans are waiting at the wrong theatre. Supposedly Episode III will be premiered in the ArcLight theatre rather than the Chinese. I understand there is some history with people making up rumors about which theatre is the true premiere location, so perhaps this "news" is nothing more than a practical joke. Even if the Star Wars fans (who are refusing to move theatres) are right about ArcLight being the correct venue, we can still laugh at them for camping out 7 weeks ahead of time. Get a job.

Schiavo (finally) dies

2005-03-31T12:52:00.000-05:00

Well it's not usually good when someone dies, but I think the death of Terri Schiavo is a least a relief. Protesters are finally going to wake up and realize that quitting their jobs to go yell at a building probably wasn't a good choice, Schiavo's family can part their ways, and the media can go exploit someone else's personal life. CNN is just at the height of its game these days. In its "developing story" about Schiavo, CNN noted that "Terri Schiavo had grown up chubby and preferred spending time alone or with animals, her friends and family said." Huh? If you missed last night's South Park, you really need to find a torrent or call a friend with Tivo. It was brilliant. Well, I'm not going to waste any more time writing about a dead person. Go write your living wills!

Hey, modeling is a sport too!

2005-03-29T20:48:00.000-05:00

This has really been bothering me. Ever since the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue came out 2 months ago or something, CNN has had a headline about it listed in their "Sports" box on the main page. I can see why they wanted to plug the swimsuit issue when it first hit newsstands, but now they're just trying to reel in horny businessmen with nothing better to do at work. For the record, I haven't clicked the link once and I'm not going to put a link here because it's really stupid. Surely people looking for porn on the internet have better places to go than cnn.com.

Hitchhikers May Be Escaping Convicts

2005-03-28T19:34:00.000-05:00

I finished this video last week for my Avid class. It's about Halo, so it'll make more sense if you've played the game. The song is "Chop Suey" by System of a Down. Click the pic to watch the video.

Ridiculous Gas Prices (Updated 9/25/05)

2005-03-28T17:45:00.000-05:00

Ridiculous

I know I'm not the only one paying a lot for gas, but this sucks a lot.

EDIT (9/25/05): You know, $2.19 ain't so bad.

Feeling Suicidal?

2005-03-24T10:17:00.000-05:00

This hairdryer is sure to turn a few heads. Or blow them away.

from Engadget

Take that, librarians!

2005-03-10T00:22:00.000-05:00

Almost nothing school-related bothers me more than librarians. It doesn't matter where you are, try to do some wholesome internet research and they'll be over your shoulder in 5 seconds telling you that no websites you'll find through Google are credible. Instead, they insist you use some 3rd party program or state-run site created with ancient technology to sift through a total of maybe 3 related articles they deem credible to cite in a paper. One of those highly recommended search tools is LexisNexis. Promised by librarians to deliver great results, I've had nothing but bad luck with it. Well today it appears that someone hacked into the LexisNexis system and stole 32,000 consumer profiles which included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and driver's license numbers. At least this will give librarians time to reorganize their Dewey Decimal systems and put up National Literacy Month posters.

The Passion: Reloaded

2005-03-08T22:16:00.000-05:00

This is absolutely brilliant. I won't ruin the video for you, so just go to this site and watch it. (I'm sure you can make an educated guess as to what it's about.) The Passion: Reloaded was made by some CGT guys here at Purdue (I'm so proud!) Jesus is back, bitch!

Sony Does Pizza

2005-03-02T00:38:00.000-05:00

As if online gaming wasn't already doing enough damage to life outside the home, Sony has decided to add a pizza ordering feature into its online game Everquest II. According to the article at CNN, gamers can type "/pizza" while in the game and order pizza from Pizza Hut. A Sony executive said that the company has plans to expand the feature so that gamers could order such items as the new Star Wars DVD or a Harry Potter book. But really, who is gonna be playing Everquest II and say "Oh shit! The new Star Wars DVD is out and I forgot to order it!"? Let's be serious. That guy is already standing at the movie theater waiting for Episode III to open. But back to the pizza service, I feel bad for Pizza Hut employees. How are they going to explain to these new customers that hit points aren't legal tender?

Overheard: Cheerleader

2005-02-28T02:07:00.000-05:00

I was gripping for a camera at the Purdue women's basketball game today and overheard a cheerleader analyzing one of the players:

(Girl) Cheerleader: "Yeah she's got nice legs. I mean they aren't fat or anything."

How sweet.

Letters To You: Dining Hall Staff

2005-02-25T13:55:00.000-05:00

Dear Dining Hall Staff,

Thank you so much for taking extra time to check my student ID the other night. If it weren't for your thorough efforts, someone could have used a stolen ID to gain access to your delicious, high quality food, and I just wouldn't be able to deal with that. In today's world, it is people like you that keep us safe from the horrendous dangers of dorm food thieves.

Indebted to you,
Tsunami Steve

The Purdue Exponent, Yo

2005-02-25T01:54:00.000-05:00

Our school paper, The Exponent, strives to publish all the letters it receives in an effort to give everyone a chance to speak their mind, but this is absolutely awful. Some things to look out for as you read:
-the headline says Purdue 'student' when the writer is in fact an alumnus
-use of the word 'broad'
-someone graduated from Purdue and still writes like this...

Student thanks buddy for help
On Feb. 17, while on the Northwestern bus, a brother hit the STOP button for me and I want to say thanks. I thought he was getting out too and so I didn’t think anything of it. My bad. Good looking out though. And oh, one more thing, why is it that that one broad from College Hill, what her name iz, um Brittani... When you see her walking around, it’s like WHOA but then when you see her up close it’s like OHHH. It’s an enigma, yo.

Vivek Saxena
Purdue alumnus

Blog Update: tsunamisteve.com

2005-02-23T23:52:00.000-05:00

Well I decided to get crazy and shelled out a whole $6 to get tsunamisteve.com. Nothing too major, but it's easier to tell people. Just FYI, if you link to a specific blog entry, you might have to right-click and copy the link to clipboard. In Safari, 'tsunamisteve.com' is displayed even if it isn't the main page, and there's nothing I can do to change that through the domain admin panel.

God is pissed!

2005-02-22T01:09:00.000-05:00

I can't believe all the earthquakes, mudslides, and tsunamis that have occurred in the past few months. I think Someone is a little angry. Actually I can't back that up--I changed my number after Paris Hilton got her phone hacked so God hasn't called in a while. Anyways, just a few hours ago Iran was hit with an earthquake leaving (so far) 80 dead and 300 injured. It's a good thing our trusty CNN is keeping us updated, because if it weren't for them I wouldn't know that "a magnitude 6.4 is classified as a "strong" earthquake by the U.S. Geological Survey." No shit? Anyways, let's hope the death toll stays relatively small.

Clinton/Bush "Tsunami" Tour

2005-02-21T18:29:00.000-05:00

This pic comes from a CNN article about former presidents Clinton and Bush and their tsunami tour. "Tsunami tour" or oral pleasure?

"Well I'll be damned! Hey Hillary, it still works!"

Coincidence? I think not.

2005-02-21T00:20:00.000-05:00

Well the fuzz finally caught up with me on Friday. I was heading home for the weekend and was going a little too fast for the state trooper chillin on the side of the road. I pulled over before he even turned on his lights because I knew he got me. After a nice 5 minute chat about what a nice day it was and how great Purdue is, he handed me a $90 ticket. Thanks man. Now this is a pretty typical story, except that I "happened" to be listening to "99 Problems" by Jay-Z when I was stopped, which, if you don't know the song, is all about getting pulled over. Also, earlier that day when I was packing, I just stopped for a minute and had this bad feeling that I was going to be pulled over during my trip. FInally, when I was waiting for the cop to check my license and all that, I looked at my odometer, which was at 159,000 miles. Call me crazy, but for all the traveling I do, the timing seems pretty suspicious for me to finally get a ticket.

Letters To You: Lady at Gas Station

2005-02-16T01:40:00.000-05:00

Dear Lady at the Gas Station,

There are clearly-marked warnings on gas pumps telling you to turn off your vehicle and not re-enter it until you are finished filling up. While your van is huge and can probably carry all your kids' soccer friends, it is not safe to leave on while a highly flammable liquid is rushing into it. Also, if you do leave your vehicle running, at least keep an eye on the nozzle instead of balancing your check book. Together, we can make the world a better place.

Sincerely yours,
Tsunami Steve

How to get rid of telemarketers, Lesson 1

2005-02-10T16:58:00.000-05:00

It is apparently in Purdue University's best interest to give out all kinds of personal information to businesses, because my roomate and I get 3-5 calls everyday from telemarketers. It became a game after a while, and we've given them all kinds of crap, leaving them speechless since the only English they know is what their script says. Today, though, I got a call while I was at class, and my roommate explained to the telemarketer that I died from alcohol poisoning. The heartless bastard didn't even offer his condolences to my roommate, who was laughing his ass off. No more calls for me!

A New Hope

2005-02-09T00:44:00.000-05:00

Well this is my third official blog. I started at LiveJournal, went to Myspace, and now I'm here. This one is different in that it'll have whatever kinds of content I want. Readers beware. I believe this feed publishing thing will work with RSS and Atom, but maybe not, so check it out and try to get it to work. So that's all I got for now, but this place will be rockin pretty soon.

--TS