Namco has a new underground community that rewards you with plasma tvs,
xbox 360s, etc, just for joining their club!  Please join here: Frame City Killer Official Site
How do you get the TV?  Just answer their questions about
videogames (not trivia, just your opinion) and you get points -- earn
enough points and you can get whatever prize you want!

Sorry if this post seems like some kind of spam; it's not.... just wanted to help out other gamers out there!

Rockstar is developing a new game, called "Bully".  If you've been
keeping up with videogames, do you know if they switched the story of
this game?  Before, it was that you were a student at a school ,
trying to overcome the bully, but now it seems you will be the bully at
the school instead.  And no one seems to notice the switch!

Kind of like in Star Wars.  In Episode 4, Obi-wan tells Luke that
Darth Vader killed off many Jedi.  Then when you see Episode I for
the first time, there are only like 5 Jedis. Where are they
hiding?  It's George Lucas' fault... he doesn't even know his own
story. Not that I follow Star Wars that closely, but I still noticed
this inconsistency.

I may have written something similar before, but here goes....

If you're not from northern VA, then if you're ever here driving and
you let some car into your lane or do something else courteous, don't
expect a hand-wave as a "thank you" -- people here just don't do it,
like they're unaware such a gesture exists, or they're not thankful, or
perhaps a combination of both. 

On the other hand, don't expect others to be courteous to you.  As
soon as you turn on your signal, if someone sees you do that, the
driver will immediatley close the gap so that you can't get in and/or
you miss a potential exit, or worse, you have to make a turn onto a
street that you didnt' plan on turning on to.

Another thing to be aware of -- people don't like staying in their
lane.  They like driving so that about 60% of their car is in one
lane and 40% is in yours.  It happens more often on curvy roads
because people only know how to go straight.

Wasted time at work costing companies billions
I think this article is pretty accurate; not that everyone does it, but
I do it see it happen on a daily basis.  With easy access to the
internet at your desk (at least some of us), it can happen quite
easily.  #1 and #2 are internet and socializing, respectively; but
I like #4: spacing out. LOL. 

I've been waking up at 5:30 am everyday, which is good, but not that
good if you sleep at 12:30, like.I do.  I simply was not born to
sleep less than 8 hours -- I was feeling so @#% this morning that I had
to get a coffee. I try not to drink coffee daily; usually I go to
Starbucks only on the weekends just for a casual drink. 

I know lack of sleep can cause many things from obesity to a weakened
immune system, so I'm going to start sleeping earlier, which means less
internet and TV -- instead, I'll read a book before bed and stop
procrastinating at night.  It's not like college anymore where you
can stay up all night just for the fun of it.

Can you believe that I buy those anime wall scrolls?  Anyway, some
of them don't have any strings to hang the scrolls; rather, they have
these two hooks that seemed impossible to attach to the top rod of the
scroll, until today -- I figured out that there are removable caps at
the ends, which allow you to slide the hooks in!

So plans for the weekend.... Toby Keith (a country singer) is in
northern VA today, but I don't have time to see the concert. The Hong
Kong film festival started in D.C yesterday, I believe.  Maybe
I'll see Fantastic Four, even though I heard bad things about it and
the trailers don't look too interesting.  Maybe work out and study
for work.

I was never really a big fan of reality shows, but I do like "Average
Joe", which seems to have returned and is now called "Revenge of the
Joe" (I think) where a Joe gets a makeover and another chance.

Only thing I don't like is arrogant #@$@% like the "hunks" they have on
Average Joe. So what, you work out and have muscles...not everyone who
works out and has a good body acts like that.  One was even quoted
saying "I was looking at them [the average joes] and thinking 'I'm so
much better than you".  WTH??  He doesn't think that there
are smart geeks out there who can play sports, drink protein and
creatine shakes and have good bodies too?!  One even said "I'll
push him [referring to a joe] through the wall."  Again,
WTF?  There are geeks out there who are really good at martial
arts, are really smart, dress well, have good bodies, good looking
girlfriends, etc., but all those arrogant #$#@ think that the average
joes are weak and dumb...

Started the new job today.  Woke up at 5 am!  The manager is
pretty nice... whatever I need or want, he does his best to get
it.  I finally got a pager.  Some people would rather not
have one, but for me, it makes me feel important. 

July 4th: Had dinner at Joanne's house then we went to see fireworks,
but from the car [i.e., I was driving the entire time] since the park
(Reston/ Lake Fairfax) was too crowded and everyone was already parked
on the sides of the street.  So the benefit was that we never had
to walk far nor did we get stuck in traffic. 

Got a new PSP game, but I was waiting this entire month for "midnight
club 3."  Decided not to get it based on reviews at
gamespot.com.  Went to Target, expecting to get Wipeout, but since
it's hard to find (at least at Target), I ended up getting Metal Gear
Acid, which isnt a bad game at all, even though it's card based.

Still kinda tired from the San Francisco trip, but once I recover, I'll post some pics.

Rude/mean people.....

Usually, I'm the kind of person that holds doors for other people and
then some people wont' say a word, like i'm their personal doorman.

However, this time, I was going into a building, and some younger guy
was pushing his gf(?) in a wheelchair... I was really in a rush, so I
didn't open the door for them, and i am really tired of acting like a
doorman. 
So the guy says "can you get the door?" , and I do.

however, he has the freaking nerve to act all sarcastic and say "you're
so kind". but he doesn't stop there, and keeps saying stuff like "we'll
give you a tip" and "we'll send you a bill" and crap like that.  i
don't use the word "hate" towards people, but in this case, i will....
i mean what the hell...

why do people even talk trash like that... you never know who you're dealing with.  i could've been some psycho!

My apologies since I'll probably be blogging about Java until Friday.

However, I got to meet Josh Bloch, creator of "Java Puzzlers" and the
author of "Effective Java", as well as the creator of the Collections
framework!  I was even sitting next to him during one session and
didn't know it until I saw him open up his Powerbook and his logon name
said jbloch, and I was thinking, what, "why does this guy have the same
name as Josh Bloch?"    I finally realized it was him
when I saw him going through his slides on collections.

Today they had book signings and I got him to sign the puzzlers book. 

So what will I do once the conference is over?  Friday -- go to
Fisherman's wharf, Nob Hill, and Lombard St.  Saturday -- go to
Japantown and/or chinatown, then leave.

Today was the first "real" day of the JavaOne conference in San
Francisco.  They have free wireless internet access in the Moscone
Center, which is cool.  I should bring my camera -- they have all
these green and orange bean bags in front of all these huge TVs to
watch movies, conferences, etc.  There's even a "relaxation
station", where they are giving free massages! 

Only negative thing here is that it's too crowded.  You have to
arrive to the sessions at least 20-30 minutes ahead of time to get a
decent seat.  People push and shove, and don't say "excuse me", so
it's really no different from people on the east coast (i.e. no
manners).
People from all over the world seem to be here: Brazil, France, Japan, China, etc. 
I didn't realize that so many people were interested in Java! 

Anyway, I'm really starting to enjoy my new company.... I'm getting
reimbursed for this entire trip.  I think I'll go to this thing
every year.

Joanne is great.  I heard some other people mention that their
girlfriend drove them to the airport, so obviously, they didn't come
w/their boyfriends.  I just feel bad that I can't enjoy the city
w/her, but I think she'll be fine.  She could've easily stayed at
home while I came to SF, but she came along even knowing that I'd be at
a conference 4 out 7 of the days we're here.