boringdude.com

I managed to wipe that laptop on Tuesday. I used Darik’s Boot and Nuke, which is a nice little program I burned onto a CD, then booted the computer, and nuked it. I used the String PRNG method with 8 passes. It fills the hard drive up with random information, deletes it, then does it again. Something like that. I just know it is one of the best methods to use to really make sure the data is gone, since when a file is deleted, the computer merely marks that area of the hard drive as space that can be used. Therefore, the data is there till it is saved over. However, the entire space may not be used by the next thing that is saved, so a little bit of the old, supposedly deleted file, may still be there. See why that can be a mess? Not a big deal if there is no personal information on the hard drive, but I do not want to deal with that, so I wiped the hard drive first, then installed Windows XP on it today.

Now, you would think installing Windows XP is not a problem, and it is not. I have the product key from the sticker on the bottom of the laptop, so all I had to do was use my copy of Windows XP and change the product key. It sounds simple enough. Oh, but wait. My product key did not work. Why is that? Oh, maybe because I did not think to check which version of Windows XP the laptop product key had. Yep. I installed XP Pro, while the product key is for XP Home. Awesome. No, not really, but I said it. I know I have a copy of XP Home that was accidentally shipped with an old computer that had XP Pro on it. I never exchanged it, because I already had a copy of XP Pro from another computer, so I never bothered going through the hassle of calling “customer service” to talk to someone, and explain the situation. It would have taken more of my time than I cared to spare on such a trivial matter. Anyway, now I need to get that CD, or obtain another copy. I have a perfectly legitimate product key. I just need the actual installation CD. I cannot try to get one from Microsoft or the original manufacturer, because I need to have this finished by this weekend to give to my sister and her husband. I know they can use it for at least surfing the internet. It is not powerful. I do not have the specifications on me, but I do remember the RAM is 448 MB. My sister is not patient. I know she will be screaming at this thing, but free is free.

Hopefully I can finish this installation tomorrow, so I can install Service Pack 3, and hunt down the ‘latest’ driver updates. I want to have this computer running as best as I can when I hand it over. I think I will burn a CD with all those updates, too, so if they need to reinstall things, then they will have an up-to-date set of files. Granted, I hope they get a new computer before that happens. I know I have been thinking about wiping my laptop, and reinstalling everything to get a bit of a clean start. It will be five years old in August, and I think the last time I wiped it was November 2010. I only wiped the partition with Windows on it, though. I think I want to wipe the entire thing this next time. It still runs fine, though, so maybe I will wait.

Okay. I am done with this post. Nothing exciting to say. I know.

I really need to come up with a reason for this place existing. I will have to think about that. Maybe try out a few things in the next few days. Or just keep doing what I am doing. Who knows?

- Jonathan

I’m back. Two days in a row. When I make it three will I be on a roll? Well, being on a roll generally implies good things, so would I be on a roll? Survey says, “No!” Okay. Moving on.

I began to start this post, message, whatever it is called, and I thought I would list my train of thought and actions.

First, I was going to use ‘reference year’ in my post, but I wanted to check to make sure it was the correct terminology, so I went to Google. It looked like it was a bit of a statistical and finance word (maybe that is why it popped in my head, since I had a couple of finance classes in college), then I checked Wikipedia. However, as I scrolled through Wikipedia results, I decided to click on ‘In The Year 2525′ out of curiosity, since I have heard the song multiple times on the Solid Gold Oldies TV station. Of course, I wanted to listen to the song, so I went to YouTube. Then I wanted to hear the Futurama version, so I listened to that next (I had just seen the episode recently). Next I checked the Futurama TV listings for any showings of episodes that I do not have on DVD. Finally, I checked NetFlix too see what Futurama media they had streaming.

Yep. That was my journey that began just by thinking of ‘reference year’ and its terminological correctness. Hey, terminological is not underlined, so I guess it must be a real word. Hmph. I just guessed. Plus, I realize I need to stop saying the word ‘so’ as often as I do. Okay, okay. Starting to talk about 1995….Now.

The year 1995 seems to be a major year in my life. It was the year the Cleveland Indians were 100-44 (shortened season), and lost in the World Series to the Atlanta Braves. I do not remember watching much baseball before that. I think part of it was my dad. He was an Indians fan, but he began to watch them more due to their great season. Of course, he may have been watching them, and I was just off doing other things. It was rare for me to sit down, and watch TV for such a long period of time. It was also the year of Albert Belle’s 50-50 season. That is, at least 50 homers and 50 doubles. The first, and only, player to do that. He was a stud, and deserved the MVP. Too bad the media hated him, and refused to acknowledge his excellent handiwork. It also could have been due to him being caught with a corked bat in 1994, and a plethora of other outbursts. Once the media knew he did not want to talk, all they wanted to do was talk to him to get a good outburst story. Oh, the glorious media. Using their freedom of press to harass others…legally.

Moving on from the Indians, and onto the Cleveland Browns. I did not watch much pro football till 1999, when the Browns came back, so this is not much of a memory. I remember the event, but it was not resounding as much, since I was not as intensely devoted. In 1995, the Cleveland Browns owner decided to move the team. The fans fought back, and Cleveland was allowed to keep their name, colors, history, etc., but the team was gone till 1999. Of course, Cleveland wanted an expansion team, because they did not want to take a team from another city, since they knew what it felt like to have a team stolen. Baltimore had their team taken, in the dark of the night, when it moved to Indianapolis. However, they had no qualms about stealing another city’s team. I guess Cleveland just has more class than Baltimore.

Okay, enough with sports. How about sports entertainment? I was introduced to pro-wrestling in July of 1995 by my friend, Nic. I remember I started watching right after Shawn Michaels won the Intercontinental Title  at the July ‘In Your House’ PPV from Jeff Jarrett. That is the moment I remember from when I started to watch WWF (now WWE) programming. Watching pro-wrestling was a bit of an outcast thing to do back then, but I still enjoyed it. I ordered the 1995 Survivor Series PPV, and saw Diesel lose his World Title to beaten-down Bret Hart by a small package. It was crazy to see Bret Hart knocked off the ring apron through the announce table.

Speaking of Nic. I think 1995 was the year him and I became friends. I really cannot say for sure, but I know he introduced me to the WWF early in our friendship, and we started hanging out a bit when it was warmer, so we had to have become friends in 1995. He was my best friend up into high school. I keep in contact with him these days (after many years of not, because I do not do a good job of that). I remember Nic and another kid (Joe) were playing basketball when I rode by on my 10 speed bike. I knew Joe, but not Nic. Anyway, Joe asked if he could ride my bike to try to bunny hop it, so I let him. I do not recall when Nic and I started to hang out, but it probably was some time after that. His grandparents lived right up the street from me, and he went there after school till he was old enough to stay home alone, so we were always hanging out after walking home from elementary school. I still remember the phone number to his grandparents’ house, too (and I remember when he shouted it to me, because, as he said, the last four digits were easy to remember…5656…easy). When we were not running around playing football, or some fantasy game, we were inside playing video games, or some sort of game with action figures. Back when my imagination worked, that is. Although, it still does here and there. Possibly.

1995. I know there must be other things from that year, but I have drawn this out plenty. No need to go and drive away what few people read this by over doing it. I know I would not want to read 1000+ words on some dude’s life, and his random recollection of a particular year. Not to mention other stray thoughts.

Tomorrow is a new day. New topic, probably. Unless I want to talk about 1995, again. Kidding. I will come up with something, I hope.

Until then, keep your memories, so you do not lose yourself.

- Jonathan

See what I did there? Nobody has thought of that before.

Wait.

I went to the American Legion with my dad today to roll the dice (literally) and try to win some money. Pay a dollar, roll a Yahtzee (5 of a kind), and win the pot ($1600 or so). Not a bad deal. Plus, we each had four drink chips. For those who do not know, you can buy a drink for someone by paying for it, and that person receives a chip (like a poker chip) to have their drink later (that day, the next day, next week, whatever). So my dad and I each have four chips when we walk in. We roll the dice, lose, per usual, have a few drinks, and leave…with four chips each. If you have not guessed, some  guys bought rounds for the bar, so we recouped our chips. Best part of the time, when one guy bought a round, another asked if he had been lucky (won some money). The guy who bought the round said he couldn’t get lucky if he walked into a whore house. I laughed. You should, too. Laugh, that is.

Later that night, my mom received an old laptop computer, so I was given the task of wiping the important information from the hard drive. No big deal. What else does an unemployed guy have to do? Really? Not much. I have yet to use it, but I am happy to report that the sticker with Microsoft Windows XP key is still on the bottom. I think I may have an old Windows XP CD lying around, so at least I have a legitimate key to use.

Moving on to my less important activities of the day, but more importantly reflected in the post title, I watched the cut scenes from story mode in Mortal Kombat (2011). I already have beaten the story mode, but I wanted to refresh my memory (which is on again, off again). I watched that, but I did not look for just the cut scenes, so I watched a walkthrough with commentary. I did a lot of skipping, since I did not want to watch the actual fights. If I want to go that far, then I will play it myself. I just popped Mortal Kombat into my PS3 last night, and tried to play a bit, so that tripped my desire to refresh my memory. However, now I am some what tempted to watch the Mortal Kombat movie from 1995 (which is key year for many of my memories…maybe I will talk about that tomorrow), and I kind of want to check out Mortal Kombat Legacy series from 2011 (which is not much of a key year for many of my memories….maybe I will not talk about that tomorrow). Something to do as I work on that laptop, I suppose. Though, I prefer to watch something I have seen a few times, while I work, so I do not lose concentration. On the other hand, wiping a laptop, and installing Windows, does not take much concentration. Good point. I will have to watch that.

Is it on NetFlix?

Goes to check.

Availability: Streaming until 1/30/12

Whoo!

Mortal Kombat Legacy is right here. Not here, but it will be here after you click that link.

Okay. I said I would post today, and I guess I said I will post tomorrow. You will get to find out why 1995 is an important date to my memories. That will be thrilling. Really. I’m sure of it.

-  Jonathan

I realize I am terri-bad at this, but I will start posting more. I have to now, since I have stated it online. Everyone knows, if it is on the internet, then it must be true!

It always seems I have an idea of what to post about at the inopportune moments, like when I’m on the treadmill, in the shower, trying to go to sleep. Why can I not have an idea when I am sitting in my recliner with my laptop, and surfing the internet with little else to do?

Posting something new seemed weird to me after I waited so long between posts. At first, I thought I could use Christmas as an excuse, then New Years, and now I have nothing. It is nearing the end of January, and I have nothing to blame, but myself. I will be back on Monday, though, and I will post something. Even if I just start typing without any topic on hand. Sometimes, often times, that is the best way for me to start writing.

Till Monday…

- Jonathan

I love Christmas. It’s great to give a gift to someone and watch his or her face light up when the gift is just right. Unfortunately, that is tough to do, at least for me. Gift buying was never a strong suit of mine, and when I buy for adults, it is just more difficult. At least kids can get a toy from a favorite cartoon, and love it. Granted, that is probably a fairy tale that will smack me in the face when the time comes to actually buy gifts for kids. Anyway, back to the adults, and why they’re tough.

Firstly, I have to think of something to buy. I either don’t pick up on hints well, or don’t get any hints, because I usually have to run through gift guides to find gift ideas that I think will be good.

Next, I read reviews, and nothing is worse than reading reviews that say the opposite. For example, I’m looking to buy a Blu-ray Disc Player, but some reviews say the wifi is great, and others say it is terrible. Here I am, trying to decipher which reviewer actually knows what he or she is talking about, so I can decide if the BD player is worthwhile or not. Of course, in my mind, I start wondering how many positive reviews are written by the manufacturer. Yeah, I went there in my mind, and I started to psyche myself out. I really do not buy into that too much, though. Does it happen, sure, probably, but I doubt it happens on such a large scale that most the positive reviews are false. Now I’m trying to pick the perfect BD player, and I’m never satisfied. I want one that works great with wifi, and connects to all kinds of online media, like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, etc. I’m down to a Sony BDP-S580 or a Samsung BD-D5700. The Sony is about $6 cheaper, and it has 3D capabilities, which I do not think will be a selling point to my sister and her husband, but the Sony device can do it, while the Samsung cannot. I guess I was a bit surprised the 3D capable BD player was cheaper (albeit by a small amount) when it sounds like the two are on a level playing field otherwise.

In a nutshell, I love and hate reviews. I love it when the review is informative, but I hate it when people who really do not know what they are doing decide to run to the internet to trash a product due to their own incompetence. I have read reviews where people trash a device for not having an input or output, but my question is why do people buy something that does not have the correct hook ups? Oh, people are incapable of proper researching, and instead blame the product. Idiots should not be allowed to post reviews, but they obviously can have a blog, so I guess that cancels out.

Okay, just thought I pop in and post some thoughts. I could go on, and on, but I doubt anyone wants to read my rants about reviews, or about people in general.

Merry Christmas for now!

– Jonathan

Why are so many people signing up? Seriously? You must be mostly made up of automated bots. I really don’t know why real people would want to read this, let alone sign up. I’ve done nothing, but throw up (not in the vomiting sense) a few posts that are spaced out more than they should be. My only conclusion is my original premise; it must be the bots. They’re just waiting in the background with their pre-programmed surveillance. Waiting for a post to comment on for the purpose of trying to trick real people into following some spamalicious link. Not on my watch! Well, actually, maybe on my watch. Unlike the bots, I do need rest, and I do other things than post here. Obviously, I do, since all I’ve done is forsake my work at BoringDude.com. Not that I do anything useful. I have, as the real people might care to know, cut down on my afternoon syndicated TV watching. Whoo!

However, I did purchase a new PS3 (the $200 holiday bundle) from Amazon, so what do you think I’m doing now to waste time? Yep. I’ve got to do something to keep me from thinking about real life. You know, the boring life where I have no job. Yeah, that no job thing is still going on, too. It’s cool, though. I have always saved money well, so I’m living off of money I saved from when I did work. That does mean I purchased a new console when I don’t even have a job. It may not have been the most money conscious decision, but I do have faith that I will find a source of income. I still have to spend money for Christmas anyway. Granted, I only have four people I want to buy for (parents, sister, brother-in-law). Otherwise, I just need to make sure I have enough money to pay for health insurance, and groceries. One day I’ll make some money, and maybe then I’ll be able to repay my parents a fraction of what they have done for me. Or maybe I’ll start playing the lottery, win it, and set the entire family for life. Who knows!

Speaking of winning money (segue!), I just went to the American Legion with my dad, and we played the dice game. It’s a simple game. Pay a dollar, and roll 5 dice one time. If you get a large straight, then you win a free drink. If you get 5 of a kind (Yahtzee!), then you win all the money. We’ve been going down a lot lately to play, because the pot is over $5,000. The catch, we can only play once a day. Plus, we would feel weird walking in, playing the dice, then leaving, so we always have a drink or two. I like the people at the Legion anyway. Sure, I’m usually the youngest at 27, but it’s been that way since I joined when I was 21. The drinks are cheap ($1.10 for  draft, $1.60 for a midrange beer or liquor, like my favorite, Bacardi Superior and Diet Coke), and the people are good.

Speaking of good people…

Nevermind, I have no segue for that.

Oh, wait! Yes, I do.

Speaking of good people, I hope all of you have a good day, week, and Christmas season. Take care!

– Jonathan

I’m still a routine person, and at some point I need to make this blog part of my routine. I’m sure my audience is dying to know what my life is like at all times. Don’t worry. I’m only kidding. If anyone is dying to know what is going on in my life, then please do me a solid, and turn yourself in for stalking. Weirdo.

People have been asking me how things are going, which is a legitimate question, and a normal talking point. I have no problem with the question. These people know I’m unemployed, so it’s their way of asking how I’m doing, and if I have any job leads. That’s cool. People giving a damn about other people is what makes this world suck less than it would otherwise. Lately, though, I’ve just been telling people in response that “Nothing is going on. It’s pretty boring. I like it that way.” I’ve found that when too much is happening, then I’m not getting enough me time. You know, the time I can sit back to play a game (more on that later), or surf the net (as if I don’t do that enough). I’m sure other people use that time to watch TV or movies, or read a book. Whatever. We all have our ways to entertain ourselves or wind down. Luckily for me, being too busy doesn’t happen much. Only around holidays, but I’m around family, so it is worth it.

Moving on to Back to the Future. Great trilogy. Still say it’s my favorite movie to this day, though I also still say blue is my favorite color, and apples are my favorite food. What is wrong with that? Nothing. It’s just I picked all that stuff out when my age was still in the single digits, so I sometimes wonder if I keep those as my favorites for nostalgia, or because they actually are my favorites. Oh well, not really important. I still can watch Back to the Future and love it. Eat an apple, and love it (just had one not too long ago). Still enjoy the color blue as much as a normal dude can really enjoy a color. This paragraph is a bit off from its original intent. Time to start a new one.

Moving on to Back to the Future, and gaming. I finally got around to buying Back to the Future: The Game for Playstation 3 at $10 (or $9.99, I forget, I always round up). Yep. About time I bought it. I had a $10 gift card at Best Buy, and I saw the sale in the Video Game Deals forum on Cheap Ass Gamer. Great forum, by the way, if you’re looking for a deal, especially this time of year. I ordered this back on November 7th, but it just now shipped, and charged me 64 cents. Yay! Now, I just need to buy a new PS3. Tis the season to be looking. I’ve been waiting to pick up a new one since mine died in July (thanks to the Yellow Light of Death). There is a holiday bundle during Black Friday for around $200 (160GB PS3 with LittleBigPlanet 2: Special Edition, Ratchet & Clank All 4 One, and 30 day free PS+ subscription). Check out Cheap Ass Gamer above for more details (or for more Black Friday deals in their deal thread stickied at the top of the forum). I don’t know if I even want the games included, so I may end up selling those after I research them a bit. LittleBigPlanet 2, though, should be interesting. I could also use a platformer. I haven’t played a pure platformer since Mario (1,2,3, Lost Levels), and Donkey Kong Country (1,2,3), so I guess I need to find out how much of a platformer either one of those games are. I was hoping, though, to find an Uncharted 3 Ps3 bundle on sale with a game included (or choose my own game). I’d much rather pick my own game, but beggars can’t be chooses, and I’ll be happy just to get the system cheaper.

That’ll do for today. Maybe I’ll get myself into a routine (there’s that word again), and actually work on this more. I need to do something about that forum. I don’t even have rules for it. I guess I could always smite whoever I want. I am the Master and Ruler of BoringDude.

– Jonathan

Once I heard (or read) that the best way to start writing is to just do it. Since hearing that, I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently. However, I’ve also been seeing it, too. Oh, I do realize that is a slogan, but I’m not writing about a company for free, unless I have thoughts to delve into about (un)said company. Back to writing. I never really have a plan for this blog. I thought I would blog about anything that came to mind. One problem, I never actually starting putting those thoughts in my blog (or anything for that matter). I normally thought of something to blog about while I was exercising or in the shower, then promptly forgot about it when I had free time, which is most of my day. So, here goes. I hope I live up to the hype of a website called Boring Dude.

Routines are the bane of my life right now. I’m unemployed, so what do I do? I do the same thing Monday through Friday from waking up till dinner.

• 8-8:30AM (or whenever) Wake up and grab breakfast
• 9:30-10AM (or so) Exercise for about an hour, eat a snack with some protein, and shower
• 12-1PM Watch Still Standing
• 1-2PM Watch Grounded for Life
• 2-3PM Free time (surf the net, play a videogame)
• 3-4PM Watch 8 Simple Rules…
• 4PM Feed the dogs
• After 4PM Free time till my mom is off work, then dinner (5:30 – 6PM usually)

I didn’t create this routine, either. It just happened. When do I look for work? Oh, I just read the e-mails I receive from the career websites I registered at. Lately, though, I’ve been breaking away from watching Still Standing and Grounded for Life, but I’m still watching 8 Simple Rules till I see all the episodes. Honestly, I only wanted to watch that to see how the death of John Ritter was handled. Morbid curiosity, I guess. I think they handled it well, from what I’ve seen thus far.

Also, today I did cook dinner, so I broke away from a little more routine. I made blackened salmon and rice for my mom and I, while my dad made some bean soup, since he doesn’t like fish (or most types of rice). Usually, though, I let my dad make dinner, since he’s way too bored, and always looking for something to do. If I did everything around the house, then he’d be fiddling with stuff, breaking it, then fixing it. It’s safer (and cheaper) to let him handle the mundane tasks of everyday life.

On to creativity, why I don’t have it, and why I want it so badly. Why I don’t have creativity is quite simple. I’m a product of the public school system. Being creative was too much trouble when I was in school. Write a satirical poem of Edgar Alan Poe, and end up in the guidance counselor’s office with your mother called in for a meeting. Thanks, public schools! After that I just stopped using my creativity outwardly, then I lost it when I stopped using it at all in college. I blame routines, and boring college classes.

Why do I want it? Who doesn’t want creativity? It’s amazing to come up with a story, full of characters that I didn’t steal from somewhere else, and know exactly what to do next. Currently, in order to try to use the creativity I don’t have, I joined a creative writing group where we pit our works against each other to determine who did the best. Every couple of weeks, we are put against someone, then we both write to our heart’s content, and judges determine who wins and who loses. I do have to come clean, and be honest about this ‘creative writing group’ before moving on. It is an e-wrestling federation. Yep. I created an original wrestler (name, height, weight, hometown, wrestling style, moves, entrance, attire, etc.), and I write roleplays for said wrestler. The roleplays are graded, then the matches are written to show us the winners.  I used to do this over 10 years ago, and I ended up back into it. I originally stopped when I stopped watching wrestling, but that is for another blog.

There you have it. I just started writing, and this is what came out. I really don’t think I’m going to focus this blog on anything. It will mostly be random observations from my life, or the happenings in the world. Though, I do try to stay away from politics. Too much mud slinging, and not enough work trying to make the world a better place.

– Jonathan

I’m boring, and a dork, but, also, a procrastinator, so I’ll get to this when I do. I totally expect people to want to read this blog, and to eventually live off of its income.

Okay, maybe not.

Plus, I’m not changing that title. It’s the first post, so it needs to keep with the programming culture I lived in for all of two or three years. Yeah, I’m sure that reason is good enough. I just hope I didn’t set the bar too high.

– Jonathan

Till I actually do something, please enjoy this:

Now the bar is too high.