Merry Christmas!

[caption id="attachment_1178" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Gateway LX6200 Computer"][/caption]

Merry Christmas all!

I decided to treat myself to buying a new computer, I bought a Gateway LX6200-01 Computer for $699.

Specs of the computer:

• AMD Phenom^TM X4 9500 64-bit Quad-Core Processor (2.20GHz, 2MB L3 Cache, 3600MHz HT3.0 Bus)


• Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit) with Service Pack 1


• 8192MB (8GB) 800MHz Dual-Channel DDR2 SDRAM (4-2048MB modules)


• 750GB 7200rpm Serial ATA II/300 hard drive with 16MB Cache


• ATI® Radeon^TM HD 3200 Integrated Hybrid Graphics with up to 256MB of Shared Video Memory (video card doesn't really matter to me at this point, this is not a gaming machine for me)


• 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)


• Media Center Edition computer, includes remote control


• Analog/Digital TV Tuner with 3-D Comb

Damn good deal from Frys.  I want to to thank my friend, Dale for stumbling across this awesome deal, had he not found it wouldn't be $700 poorer.

Burger King creates "Meat Scented" cologne for men

[caption id="attachment_1159" align="alignright" width="312" caption="Burger King coudln't have done a better job then using their pedophile looking mascot to advertise their 'manly' cologne."][/caption]

You know, Burger King is one of major corporations that have underwent numerous  internal reorganizations then any other.  And I can't imagine why.  I wonder what pencil pushing nut-job gave the green light on this decision.

Burger King now has available to purchase in their cologne for men called "Flame by BK" that comes in these 5-ml bottles and these are available in Ricky's stores (in NY City) and on a special website for the product: www.firemeetsdesire.com for $3.99.

On the website, they use the satire "Sexy is Serious."  Judging by the design of this website, I can't take it seriously; but then again, how could you take it seriously to begin with?

[caption id="attachment_1158" align="alignleft" width="88" caption="The Flame Colonge by Burger King"][/caption]

Luis Bejaran whom manages a Ricky's store said "My assumption when I heard about it was that it would smell like french fries and burgers.  It's a combination of Axe body spray, TAG and this YSL cologne I have.  It's one of those scents that's not sweet, and light at the same time."  But as of the afternoon of Wednesday, Dec 17th, the store sold 10 bottles.

One of Luis coworkers said "It doesn't seem like the best choice for a man."  (I couldn't agree more.)

Shouldn't the cologne be for women to use to attract their man?  It would make more sense if it were marketed that way, although I don't know a single chick whom be caught dead wearing this stuff.  In regards to a man using the product, I can't help but only picture a hick redneck, or some fat lumberjack man wanting to wear this stuff.

There have been more bizarre products out there to buy, but a fast-food chain attempting to sell products other then food is going to be really tough.

Source:

• MSNBC - Appetite for seduction: BK’s new fragrance
  

Metal Gear Solid on the iPhone/iPod?

[caption id="attachment_1151" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Metal Gear Solid on the iPod (image courtesy Kotaku)"][/caption]

This comes as exciting news to me!  Apparently Konami confirmed a rumor going around of an iPhone/iPod Touch version of Metal Gear Solid.

The game is to be set in the MGS4 universe, and will consist of 8 stages. (where the developers promise to expand the game overtime)

Controls are obviously going to utilize the touch interface of the devices.  Features like zooming in to snipe will use the same type of gesture users would use to zoom in with other applications.

Expected release date is to be sometime in Spring 2009.

Source:

• Kotaku - Konami confirms iPhone Metal Gear Solid

Egyptian offers his daughter to the "Shoe Thrower"

[caption id="attachment_1145" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Show throwing reporter, Muntazter Al Zaidi"][/caption]

This is a follow-up to the article I posted a few days ago.

Muntadar al-Zeidi has become a hero through out the middle east.  Within a day after his arrest, there were protests happening all over demanding his release.

One Egyptain father, Saad Gumaa is willing to have his 20 year old daughter, Amal Saad Gumaa marry Zeidi.  Amal Saad Gumaa was ok with this idea saying "It would be an honor."

No idea what Muntadar al-Zeidi's response was to this proposal yet.

Source:

• Reuters

Airborne agrees to pay $7 Million settlement

[caption id="attachment_1133" align="alignright" width="196" caption="One of the Airborne products"][/caption]

Airborne Health Inc. agreed to discontinue their claims about the health benefit performance, and efficacy or saftety of their Airborne product on Dec. 16th.

This settlement was a result of people whom purchased Airborne that were not getting their money's worth as there was no actual proof that Airborne could help against your cold symptons.

Bob Cooper, Tennessee Attorney General, filed the lawsuid claiming that their marketing materials implied that its products were approved by the U.S. FDA.

"Airborne dramatically misrepresented its products as cold remedies without any scientific evidence to back up its claims," California Attorney General Brown said. "Under this agreement, the company will stop advertisements that suggest that its products are a cure for the common cold."

Despite the $7 million settlement, Airborne didn't admit to anything wrong.

Source:

• UPI.com - Airborne pays $7 Million Lawsuit

The reason for the posting of this story is to point out the obvious bullcrap this product Airborne is.  A few of my good friends take this stuff whenever they're sick and I know for a fact that this stuff doesn't do anything.  I've taken it on several occasions in the past and I didn't feel any different one day to the next.  As far as I'm concerned, this stuff doesn't work.  But that's just me.

Expansion packs.... How many is too many?

I'm not a big follower on the Sims, but I was shocked and disgusted when I recently went to my local Best Buy and saw an entire section dedicated to just the Sims 2 games.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against the concept of the game itself, but my god how many fucking expansions does one game need?  Here's a current list of all possible expansions for the Sims 2:

• The Sims 2 (now known as The Sims 2 Double Deluxe) $19.99


• The Sims 2: Apartment Life - $19.99


• The Sims 2: Bon Voyage - $16.99


• The Sims 2: Celebration Stuff - $24.99


• The Sims 2: FreeTime - $14.99


• The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff - $17.99


• The Sims 2: Happy Holiday Stuff - $8.50


• The Sims 2: H&M Fashion Stuff - $21.99


• The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff - $16.99


• The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff - $16.99


• The Sims 2: Mansion & Garden Stuff - $14.99


• The Sims 2: Pets Expansion Pack - $14.99


• The Sims 2: Seasons Expansion Pack - $14.99


• The Sims 2: Teen Style Stuff - $19.99


• The Sims 2: University Expansion Pack - $14.99

Excluding the original game, that's 14 fucking expansions.   These prices are from Amazon for the Windows versions of the games, and like any other store, prices are subject to change.  But with the prices listed above the total cost if you wanted to buy all of them comes to $259.36.  Can you imagine the amount of time one would have to spend just to individually install all of these?  Imagine how much hard drive space the game would need?

You would think that maybe somebody within EA or Maxis would reach a point and say "Ok enough with the expansions, we should probably start consolidating more of these expansions."  I would think during the process of installing all these expansions, you'd run into an issue where it would ask you to install a certain expansion first before the one you want to install.  Come to think of it, I remember I had a similar problem with some other game, it may have been the Sims 1.  But regardless, in my opinion, seeing THAT many expansions for ONE GAME is just disgusting, and over-excessive.

[caption id="attachment_1121" align="aligncenter" width="344" caption="Sims 2 Expansions... There are simply too fucking many"][/caption]

Man gets warrant for arrest for paying fine using pennies

Frank Gilberti of Nutley NJ, tried to pay off a $56 traffic fine using 112 rolls of pennies.  Gilberti had to pay the fine at the Bloomfield Municipal Court.  The court itself has a sign saying "Cash is Accepted" and pennies are considered legal tender.

"I went to the bank and got $56 worth of rolled pennies and went down to the court house and they refused to take it.  They had to told me to bring cash.  I was under the assumption this was cash."

Gilberti then found out there was a warrant out for his arrest.

"It's injustice.  This is U.S. currency accepted all over the county [but] apparently not in Bloomfield, NJ" Gilberti said.

Gilberti had a court date arranged for Tuesday but no news yet on what the outcome was.

[flashvideo filename=http://mitalis-videos.s3.amazonaws.com/penny-payment-traffic-fine.flv /]

Sources:

• WCBSTV - Warrant Issued After Man Tried To Pay $56 Traffic Fine With Coins

Print your very own Link Paper Hat

[caption id="attachment_1099" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Link's Hat"][/caption]

Attention Link freaks, would you like to have your very own Link Paper Hat? If you have the time and patience, you can have your own for free!

After stumbling across website: Nintendo Papercraft, you can actually download and print out and build all sorts of  interesting Nintendo origami!

Zelda origami models you can build include:

• The Happy Mask Salesman


• The dog from Clocktown in Majora's Mask


• Gossip Stone


• Waterbomb


• Beamos


• Deku Guard


• Deku Scrub


• Miniblin (smallest & weakest of Ganon's army)


• Princess Ruto


• Akindo Nut salesman


• Fierce Diety Link


• Ganon (transformed)


• Princess Zelda (from Wind Waker)


• Zora


• Goron


• Midna


• Poe Salesman


• Darunia (Goron Leader)


• Link (in Zora form)


• Aryll (from Wind Waker)


• Dark Link (from Ocarina of Time)


• Link & Epona (Ocarina of Time)


• Skull Kid (Majora's Mask)


• Adult Link (Ocarina of Time)


• Tetra (Wind Waker)


• Deku Link (Majora's Mask)


• Tingle

And that just covers the Zelda characters.. There's other sections as well.  Check them out!

• Nintendo Papercraft

Shoe throwing Reporter now considered a Hero

If you haven't been living under a rock these past couple of days, you most likely heard about an incident that took place in Baghdad, Iraq on December 14, 2008.

[caption id="attachment_1081" align="alignright" width="300" caption=""This is a farewell kiss, you dog!""][/caption]

President Bush was at a news conference most likely in regards to something that you'd forget about in two seconds.

In Arab culture, showing the sole of your shoe is considered very insulting, it's even worse when you throw it.

Arab journalist Muntadar al-Zeidi (pictured holding the shoe) is quoted saying (in Arabic) "This is a farewell kiss, you dog!" and then throws his first shoe, but Bush quickly dodges.  Al-Zeidi then throws his second shoe, Bush dodges again.

I do have to say it's interesting how long it took the Secret Service to react.

[caption id="attachment_1091" align="alignright" width="298" caption="Muntazer Al-Zaidi pictured throwing his shoe"][/caption]

You gotta give Bush some credit here, he has some damn good reflexes.  I think the best part of this whole story is what Bush said afterwards: "I don't know what the guy said, but I saw his sole."

Muntadar al-Zeidi was detained by Secret Service and the Prime Minister's guards.   His arrest caused angry protestors in Sadr City holding signs saying "Go out USA" demanding his release.

Sources:

• CNN - TV station urges release of shoe-throwing journalist

Phil Hendrie Flashback - Bud interviews Phil

[caption id="attachment_650" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Phil Hendrie, radio personality best known for the voices he does on his show."][/caption]

Here is another segment from the Phil Hendrie Show that dates back at least 8-10 years ago.

Bud Dickman, an intern for the Phil Hendrie Show wanted to interview Phil Hendrie for a school project he was doing.  When Bud asked Phil what prior radio stations he worked for, the interview goes downhill from there.

[audio:http://mitalis-videos.s3.amazonaws.com/Bud-interviews-Phil.mp3]

Providing an update

It's been awhile since I've last posted anything on the site.  I've been rather preoccupied playing Wrath of the Lich king.  My friend & coworker Kyle talked me into re-rolling onto his realm Anetheron.  I've been playing a Death Knight, the new hero class of the expansion.  I do admit, I wasn't really into the class at first, but after playing around with it for some time, I now see the true capabilities of the class.

[caption id="attachment_1059" align="alignright" width="221" caption="Lich King, the Death Knight class"][/caption]

I do have to say my experience playing WoW has been at a all time high.  I've been really enjoying the class, but I do have concerns that this class is going to get nerfed some time soon.  I can only hope that the nerfs to the class aren't going to be significant to the point where I have to entirely change my playstyle with the class.  Since I rerolled, I've taken my Death Knight from level 55 to 80.  My total playtime on the character is about 45 hours.

Check out my Death Knight Profile on WoW Armory

I actually tanked a few instances for the first time in my WoW career.  Normally I play a DPSer, and just face-roll my keyboard.  My experience tanking was fun, I will admit I forgot I had abilities that would've probably saved my ass while running through the Nexus or Utgarde Keep.  All Death Knights have an ability called Icebound Fortitude that basically acts like a Shield Wall for Warriors.  Also being unholy, I can add in another 40% damage reduction for a few seconds.  Bone Shield.   However in my defense, I've never had much reason to have to use these abilities as I don't normally solo 8 mobs at the same time.

The lead class designer, Ghostcrawler spoke about some upcoming changes to the Death Knight class.  Most of the changes to be expected I don't think are going to hurt the class too much.  The one change that alot of people are worried about is the changes to Rune Strike, as they're lowering the damage from 200% to 150% but raising the threat from 100% to 150%.  I'm ok with that change; the class is new and these sort of tweaks are to be expected as they try to balance the class.

A cartoon Disney would never want you to see

This video was originally put up on YouTube, but they have been pulling videos left and right, at least for me> I've had several videos I've linked to people only for them to tell me the video doesn't work.  In any case here's a bit of Disney history for you:

[flashvideo filename=http://mitalis-videos.s3.amazonaws.com/nazi-donald-duck.flv /]

How can you not love Family Guy

[flashvideo filename=wp-content/uploads/2008/12/stewie-grape-stomp.flv /]