rknapp

I'll bite... but I should warn you. The following content is not appropriate for the squeamish. If you cannot stand the sight of someone who is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Mark, Joey, Kevin, and so on... please hit the X in the upper right corner to avoid damage to your PC (desktops and laptops alike) as a result from direct contact with a vat of highly concentrated Hydrochloric Acid. On to the freak show... two pictures, ten minutes ago. Ya'll actually caught me at a good time since I shaved last night for the first time in months... geez at 20 years old it still takes a while for me to grow facial hair!. Anyway I took many pictures, but the first one was the first one that had proper lighting and wasn't too fuzzy. I had my tongue out while I tried to steady my hand lol. The second is me looking at my laptop screen.

Uh, no. That "infinately sinful" math would never hold water. Actually, that math means that a a heterosexual with 69 or 70 partners is imaginary in his or her sinfulness... since 69/0 and 70/0 are both imaginary numbers. You cannot divide any number by zero, as it will become an imaginary number! Sorry, had to be a math geek for a second there

I would gladly tell you how my saturday night dates go... cept I've never had one. Closest I've had is taking my best friend out to dinner and movie whenever I'm home for the weekend, and she hasn't been returning my texts or calls lately...

Weight truly is an issue. My laptop (the one I'm typing on now) has a 17" screen. It's light when you pick it up, but carrying it the 2000 feet from my apartment to my car, and from my car in the commuter parking lot to the upstairs quiet study rooms in the library makes it feel a lot more heavy. It's like a guy I work with once said, "These vacuums really aren't heavy, but when you carry it around the parking lot while the customer finds her car, they get heavy." But, as long as she has either a simple laptop carrying case with a shoulder strap, or a back pack that has a laptop compartment (I LOVE MINE, made by High Sierra), then weight will only be an issue if she carries it around for more than five minutes. Someone mentioned anti-virus programs. AVOID MCAFEE LIKE THE PLAGUE. It does NOTHING but piss me the hell off. I've tried countless times to delete the f**ker but it adamently REFUSES to go away. I've tried deleting, add/remove programs, etc. I was able to turn it off for the most part so that it stop telling to avoid certain websites that did not need to be avoided... which it did for nearly every website I visited. For anti-virus, you want to get a program called AVG. It's made by a company called Grisoft, and the free version can be downloaded at free.grisoft.com. They tell you that the free version doesn't update as often as the paid premium version, but mine updates daily. It's wonderful and I've had ZERO virus' since installing AVG on both of my computers.

The real problem with Dells is that some are are dung, and some are godlike. My Inspiron 9300 (equivalent of the M1710 now I believe... the best laptop that Dell builds besides their XPS line) has not had many troubles. There are three that I can list; the hard drive, the SD reader, and two of the rear USB ports. The hard drive is my fault since I thought 40 GB would be enough, but it isn't. Not by a LONG SHOT. If I was you, I would look into getting her a 60 GB or 80 GB hard drive, and if the need arises you can get her a much larger mobile hard drive for relatively cheap at tigerdirect.com for christmas or for her birthday. Or, she can buy it herself depending on her financial situation. The SD reader I have found to be a common problem on Dell laptops, but if you get her a budget system then it is not likely that she will have one. Nor will she actually use it unless she uses memory cards in her cell phone and her digital camera for picture and music transfer (I have one for my phone for storing pictures from the camera in the phone and for custom ringtones, but I use a USB cable to get pictures from my digital camera onto my computer hard drive). The USB ports not working was a weird incident in that they work magically now, with no troubles whatsoever, so I wouldn't be concerned with that. I think maybe it was operating system related and vanished when I restarted the system. This computer will be two years in age somewhere near the end of August 2007. My advice, give Dell and Hewlett Packard some serious consideration, as those are both good manufacturers. STAY AWAY FROM COMPAQ, GATEWAY, AND SONY VAIO. I have heard nothing but bad things and have had nothing but bad experience with those systems. I can't comment on Toshiba, or Acer. Additionally, besides looking at corporate websites for laptop information, also consider independant online retailers such as NewEgg.com and TigerDirect.com. NewEgg has always been good to me, and Tiger Direct enabled me to acquire some nice equipment for my desktop to rebuild it from the ground up for less than $500. I have another $130+ to blow on memory, but the only thing I did not purchase for the upgrade was a case, so that's a pretty damn good deal if you ask me, considering the high-end componants that I bought. Finally, you will have difficulty in finding a system preloaded with Windows XP (BTW, avoid Home Edition at all costs; my desktop has windows 2000 and my laptop has XP Media Center Edition 2005, against my will) since Vista has quickly become the proprietary standard. Having said that, I would do a LOT of research on Vista before committing to it. The reason being is that many applications that you and I use on XP and 2000 are not compatible yet with Vista. In fact, the last I heard is that iTunes is still having many problems with Vista. Having said that, I would aim for getting Vista, since it will benefit you and her in the near future, but wait until ALL of the programs that she cannot live without are compatible (iTunes, Photoshop, AIM, MSN, YIM, Acrobat Reader, and so on). Also, getting Vista will lead to the necessity of a large hard drive, a lot of memory, a fast processor, and a decent optical drive. TigerDirect.com can help you with that, as can the Dell and HP corporate websites when you are building the system. I believe Dell has several barebone systems available for customization that are Vista-ready from the get go. I imagine HP does as well. I hope that helps, and good luck!

The picture also represents an AWESOME Anime. I <3 Cowboy Bebop!

You know, it's been too long since I've gone to Dorney. I should go again, just to hit up that ride.

Mine's hot. The previous one was also a gay kiss, but it was much less erotic. I believe the previous one had been taken at some sort of gay pride parade, as there was rainbow paraphanelia in it. This one is clearly more erotic in nature and more or less represents me such that I have become more open and wild with my friends (my female best friend has commented several times that I have changed since high school, and I tend to agree... I like to make dirty comments every now and then ). I think this avatar also serves as a representation of something that I quite possibly will never have the opportunity to experience. Although I have become more wild and open, I am no less introverted and I cower in fear at the prospect of becoming more than friends with someone. I have talked with a couple people over MSN on more than one occasion (all from this site, as these conversations deal with orientation as well) about boys that I had a thing for. It has been suggested that I test the waters with this one boy by means of simple prolonged eye contact (which I think sometimes he tries himself...), and I just can't help it but smile and avert my eyes when ANYONE looks at me without speaking to me. *sigh* I've simply listed myself as utterly hopeless and rely on avatars such as this to show me what it is that I am missing out on. As a side note, I have thought about changing my avatar to one that gives rememberence to the VT victims, as I have done on my two main automotive forums, but I feel that it is sufficient as is. I kind of think of this website as a window into an alternate life that I COULD have, but I don't see it as ever happening... strictly because of social fears, and I don't want tragedies to shift its focus.

That, and it also infringes in current laws stating that you can only sell something at the price that is advertised. Saying "plus tax" makes consumers guess as to what the real price is. This isn't so for retail businesses, since everyone should know what their local sales tax is. Mine was recently raised from 6 cents to 7 cents on the dollar, in order to prevent the elevation of already-high property taxes.

More accurately, it has taken over a century for petroleum-based fuels to get to where they are today. I said before that the E85 study was based on the country completely converting to ethanol by 2020. This is impossible, and would have a significant impact on farmers when they go to get feed for livestock as well as on grocers when regular consumers want corn-on-the-cob at their barb-b-que. Why do you think the middle east, one of the worlds major oil suppliers, is largely nothing more than a few cities, dead bodies, and oil fields? While I hope that hydrogen can get its sea-legs (or interstate-legs for that matter), it most likely will not happen in my lifetime, and I've already experienced a little more than 1/5th the lifetime of my late grand-mother. I just hope that I can have the opportunity in having a hand in getting it to future generations sooner.

The three main popular alternatives I've seen so far are quite possibly the WORST concievable solutions. I'll start with boycotting. Boycotting will never work, as it never has. You can send chain mail like that all you want, fact is that most people won't give it a second thought. Most of us will still buy Exxon/Mobil for various reasons, be it the only station in town, or they don't care, or they have stock in the company. The reason that I skip past Mobil and head to Shell or Sunoco everytime is because their gas is cleaner, as was determined by GM, Honda, and BMW. I prefer their gas, no matter the price, for the sake of my 94,000 mile engine in the hopes that it will hit at least 294,000 before I have to junk it. The next terrible idea is, in the mind of every environmentalist, replacing a full gasoline car with a hybrid, like the Toyota Prius. The Toyota Prius is undeniably the worlds worst polluting car, and doesn't have the gas-saving numbers to show for it! Think about it, what metal is used in the batteries of those cars to make the hybrid-synergy drive work? LITHIUM. What plant refines the lithium? A plant in northern Canada that has been dubbed "The Smokestack". It is called this because the plants designers made the smokestack the tallest of its kind in the world such that it would prevent ground-level ozone. The effect? It pumps lethal COx gasses directly into our atmosphere and significantly contributes to ozone depletion. The affect of which completely reverses its orignal intention, as the land around the plant is so biologically dead that NASA engineers and scientists use it to test moon vehicles. It is for this reason that it is more environmentally friendly to purchase a Hummer, rather than a Prius. Add to that the fact that many regular-unleaded four-cylinder and some six-cylinder motors can achieve the same miles-per-gallon as the deadly Prius. Finally, the third alternative that was mentioned in this thread is deadly to the human race itself. I'm talking about fuels derived from corn. Scientists have conducted tests that conclude that corn-based fuels, such as E85 (ethanol) produced significantly more amounts of smog than regular petroluem-based fuels. It is estimated that if the entire nation (United States) was to convert to E85 by 2020, there would be 200 more air-pollution-related deaths each year. This estimate was reached through a computer model created by a bio-engineering professor from California. My percieved solution? There is none. At least not an economically viable one just yet. I salivate for the day that hydrogen fuel-cells, geo-thermal piping and extraction units, wind energy and the like become cheap, safe, and common place, however the human race is far too dense to realize these dreams. Hydrogen fuel is a wonderful alternative, however we have yet to successfully seperate hydrogen from oxygen (in its most abundant form on earth, hydryogen is derived from water, H20) and store it in its useable physical state, a gas (like air). Safety has, in my mind, been achieved successfully by GM, Honda, and BMW, as Honda and BMW have both launched pilot lease programs with hydrogen fuel-cell cars and GM has successfully completed their "skateboard" drive-by-wire/fuel cell body. The problem is that we still use more fossil fuels to obtain the hydrogen than what we get to use in the end product. Fusion has proven to me to be a viable source of obtaining H2 without the use of fossil fuels, however we have yet to successfully perform a full fusion energy test. Additionally, the monkey in the White House cut ALL hydrogen funding that the Clinton administration had going to domestic manufacturers when he took office in 2000, so the domestic American car companies are having a very difficult time in perfecting hydrogen is a source of transportation fuel. This only serves to keep the Japanese and European companies several steps ahead and boosts that clown's oil income every year. Wind energy, although the most easily obtained, is being shot down by rich morons along the Jersey Shore who don't want windmills installed since they would obstruct those pinheads' view of the disgusting Atlantic Ocean. Of the few times that I have driven to Atlantic City, those windmills behind the Borgata casino have always held a special place in my heart, so it is beyond me why ANYONE would not want them installed everywhere since they could easily collectively power the tri-state area continuously and with no danger to the environment. Geo-thermal is becoming commonplace, as my old shop teacher and my college use geothermal to provide heat, air conditioning and hot water to all buildings on campus. This, to me, is presently the most promising, but can still be pricey. It also requires drilling at least four feet into the ground and only works for your home or whatever building it is that would be benefitting from these services. For cars, besides hoping and praying that hydrogen becomes as safe as gas and less expensive AND as available, the only saving grace is plug-in hybrid vehicles. These become economical as electricty equates $1.27 for a gallon of gas. Moreover, the big electrical generators that power our homes simply sit idle overnight, and so plugging in a car overnight reduces the amount of unused energy and wasted fossil-fuels (if the plant isn't wind/water turbine or nuclear) that occurs with these giants. Forgive my rant/tirade. These are just the mutterings of a mechanical engineer-in-training who has asperations of getting into the energy business.

Damnit. I found out earlier today that a friend of mine who graduated with me from high school lost her brother in the tragedy.

Interesting development: Walking through the galleries between the various wings of the schoo I found that someone (probably our GSA that I can't find) put up small pieces of paper on the support columns with small blurbs about the Day of Silence. One of them said "Think about why some are NOT speaking on this day." There was a sticker on the glass entrance causeway that described the Day of Silence. One of these days I might go to one of the advising offices to see if I can find more information about our GSA, other than its name and what its for... it would be helpful to have meeting times and locations lol.

There's a lot of talk on my other forums about how gun control laws (or the lack thereof) could have prevented this tragedy from escalating. There would have been a chance that someone in one of those classrooms would have had a concealed weapons permit and could have ended the massacre very quickly. Personally, I agree with Razor that I might have attacked the guy, but we have to be realistic here. If you've never been shot at before, would your first reaction in this situation honestly be to jump up and charge the motherf**ker, or would it be to hide? I read an article about a girl and four others who survived by playing dead after the rest of their German class was murdered in cold blood. I probably would have done the same. Maybe when I heard the empty clip clack against the floor I would have stood and thrown a desk at him, then lunged, but not until that gun was empty and temporarily harmless.

I could only ever partially observe this day, since I know already that none of my friends would understand what it was that I was trying to accomplish. Besides that, I think I partially participate every day, as I am naturally quiet such that I do not speak in any of my classes, ever, unless I am presenting something. Isn't this day also famous for many of us in the closet to come out? Making me think now...

Pfft... Canadians...

Fairy Tale Wedding? Holy crap, I can just see the faces of grandparents when two guys or two girls step off of the ride, priceless.

They have half-naked greeters now? I always make it a point to avoid A&F location, by any means necessary. A&F is just as bad as Victoria's Secret in terms of damaging other peoples' self-worth.

I don't show things off... in fact, I usually sit Al Bundy style with my hand in my pants (not touching anything!), under the belt line. What? I like to be comfortable!

*sums everything up* I have spent roughly $3,000.00 on my car, including audio, lighting, and wheels/tires. I spent nearly $1,000.00 for RJK Mark I (first custom computer) and will have spent $600.00 on RJK Mark II when I get the additional memory it so desperately needs. I have spent nothing on video games because I got all of my consoles for different christmas's and birthday's, as well as games for these consoles... *clears throat* 15 Belts?? Well, I should probably dig up my belt... it's somewhere in my room, buried under piles of laundry and computer parts. Being that my waist is 35", and no store that I know of carries odd mens sizes, I have to get 36's... so sometimes when I don't eat much for a whole week my pants are hanging by nothing but my ass... and a guy once told me that I have a very nice ass.

2000 posts.... get a life! Lol I can't say that when I'm passing 2100 posts on one of my car forums soon haha. I doubt I'll touch 1,000 here before new years!

That depends on the type of towel that you use. If you continue to use hand towels, like Razor apparently does, then you'll need more than one. However if you use bath towels (regular or hotel size, I love a warm hotel towel every now and then ) then you can indeed use it several times before moving to another one. Never once has one towel not been sufficient in drying my body, and I'm 6'4" tall, with a 35" waist, and my hair is now beginning to get into my eyes. If you're towels are seriously that inadequite, then do two things: Get a new towel, yours is broken. Second, shake yourself off while still standing in the shower (like a dog), it gets the excess water that is still running down your body off of you and down the drain, putting less of a strain on your broken towel. I think maybe Razor's towel needs an oil change and new belts... I will however agree with Razor on his assessment of Kevin. Kevin is astounding. I have one pair of sneakers that I wear every day, one pair of sandals that I bought for showering in the dorms and so they no longer see use (in an apartment now), another pair of dirty sneakers for yard work (no yard work at the apartment so they do nothing nowadays), and a pair of "dress" shoes that I bought for work. I wear sneakers to work now because customers ain't gonna be lunging over the counters to make sure I'm dressed properly

Actually, they did not wear body armor. What they wore in the movie is really what they wore into battle, supposedly because they felt that armor restricted their movements. In the most extreme cases they might have worn hardened fabric, but normally it was the skimpy shorts, the capes, and the helmets, and that's it. They were crazy. So yeah, it IS historically accurate (except for the monsters). That's the way Frank Miller is, he bases his comics largely on historical facts.

You don't even have to hang them up to dry. It's highly doubtful that a bath towel has reached its maximum absorbancy with wiping down one thin, wet person.

Like Kevin said, "The best has yet to come." However, what would I like to happen? Tear to my eye. I would like to own a Chevrolet Camaro. Specifically, either 1st generation, early 2nd generation, or late 4th generation. I have adored the Camaro ever since I saw one that belonged to my sister's childhood friend's older brother. It was a gray 3rd generation Camaro RS. Gorgeous car. Get my heart earth-shatteringly thumping? Taking that eight cylinder, rear-wheel-drive beast out on the interstate for the first time. Revving the motor until I see a nice clearing for me to merge, and floor it. I tell you, there is absolutely nothing like the feeling of three hundred horses of raw motor rushing through your accelerator. Even better is grabbing the shifter and feeling the power rushing through the transmission, through the driveline, and to the rear wheels. Then popping the clutch, down shifting, grinding that pedal into the floor, and rushing past all of the other traffic is enough to make you wet your seat. I'd like to do this in my current car, but the damn thing is a V6 with a four-speed auto. I think I live in the shove it up your ass mentality. :mace: Bring a smile to my face. The cop tells me he clocked me at well over 150 MPH. Going through school (Applied Physics major with a concetration in pre-Engineering), and working off my debts from my accident nearly two years ago makes being able to afford such a machine worth it. The closest I've come to achieving such goals is doing all that in my dads old automatic 2001 Corvette convertible, and I managed to hit 120 MPH before my best friend started crying and begging me to slow down... pussy. However, if I lived to 100, I think my most cherished moment would be blowing out 100 candles, and then going outside on my own power to do something I love, be it a machine or another person If I don't live to 100 (grandfather passed at 77 from lung cancer after a lifetime of smoking, I don't smoke, and grandmother passed 09/2005 at the age of 94), then my most cherished moment would be seeing the day that hydrogen is a feasible alternative to fossil fuels, from production to consumption. Being an engineer, I would hope further that I had done something to facilitate such a momentous event in human history, and large step in human ingenuity.