Well, no progress on the models... Sorry... I did however go UP in hobby-grade R/C by going nitro! W00t! Specifically, Team Associated's RC10GT2 RTR. I would've chosen the kit but I didn't have enough cash to purchase engine, fuel, etc. I'm also proud to run Tornado fuel! Tornado fuel is a European brand of nitro R/C fuel. I believe its the only non-American R/C fuel out there.

A cool thing is that school's over, and I've successfully passed summer school! (applause)

Finally, I'm done co-op. The problem now is getting a job... I've applied at 3 different places already, yet I'm still getting no answer... How is it that my schoolmate, some new import kid who just immigrated here already got a job so quickly? What's with this place? He's rude, a liar, a thief... How does he get into a company with no previous experiences whatsoever?

In my honest opinion, its bullshit.

Anyway, I've got a little rant I'd like to put up about HPI Racing. In no way is this supposed to deter anyone from buying HPI products, because they DO make a decent product (though I'd buy Traxxas before I'd even step into HPI territorry).

This is just a copypasta and small script-edit of my post from a forum that I frequent and moderate:

Q: What makes you not like HPI?

A: "HPI makes these big thundering big block trucks and make the parts out of cheesey nylon... (line taken from a member of RCU)

HPI has made a favorable truck, the Savage, which is great for bashing and all that... But most Savage owners (in my area) think they're better than everyone else JUST because they can stick a bigger engine in their truck and survive bigger impacts... When they see another company's car broken, they say "if it was an HPI, it wouldn't have broke". In my opinion, HPI will be nothing more than a company know for the Savage.

Believe me, HPI does make some great R/C cars, but the pact that owners go with, they close themselves from the rest of the world. They go on saying how HPI's R/C vehicles are durable, high-performance, blah, blah, blah...

My old boss from the computer repair shop I used to work at. I'll use him as an example.

I was driving my GT2 (Team Associated) nitro stadium truck in the back lot behind the shop when I caught interference and went WOT right into a cement wall, snapping the front sub-chassis and top-plate on my ST.

He starts saying "my touring car could've survived that. Any company's R/C car could've survived that". Touring car and ST? You're comparing open-wheel (like F1 cars) versus closed-wheel cars (GT cars with their wheels protected by the car's body).

[The company has absolutely NO racing heritage and history, whatsoever! My GT2 is a racing machine, not a bashing toy! The GT2 ALSO lives up to the RC10GT's legendary racing history! Jared Tebo fulfilled it in 2006 by winning the ROAR Gas Truck Nationals! The previous Nationals was won by Tebo himself, but with the GT2's predecessor, the GT! Look at this, predecessor and successor! One after the other! One should know that the original GT was released in 1993 and after the Gas Truck class was created in 1995, it won the first year the class was designed, and every Gas Truck National after that!]

Continuing on, he goes on saying that we should race and how he'd beat me with his powerful 4.6 Savage engine and his 'world-class' driving skill.

First off, he didn't even break in the engine properly. He goes WOT and drives it like a scolded dog the first time he started it. He can't tune, and can't turn over his engine consistently.

Then his "world-class" driving. Driving WOT, hitting the brakes, u-turn, and just as the the inside tires lift, he countersteers and brings the tires back and says "see, now that's driving"...

He goes on saying that he could even beat me on a purpose-built off-road track. Not a chance, dips#it can't even land his truck on its wheels...

Then he brings up his "impressive" painting skills. The ability to paint a 1:10 touring car body of HPI's Impreza (like the XMOD). He paints it ALL BLACK... Not even the right color, then takes the decals, sticks 'em on. Doesn't like it, peels it off and tries to stick it back on...

Then, for those who're more experienced with nitro R/C and cut holes in their windows... He sets up his race body by cutting the WHOLE windshield out and then sticking LEDs to his body...

ROAR/IFMAR regulation states that you can only have a windshield hole only as big as less than HALF of the size of the windshield...

Another thing, 9/10 HPI guys I know locally DON'T even perform regular maintenance on their car, NOR do they even install/replace their own parts.

In my boss's case, he spends $500 on the RTR, then $200 for the LHS to install parts (this case, HPI's 3-speed for the Savage), and tune the engine...

The $200 does NOT include the cost of parts... My boss went on about his stock engine not running properly (wasn't even broken-in properly in the first place) and spends $230 on an Axial .32 engine which he has the LHS break-in and tune for him...

Now, I'm NOT saying that ALL HPI guys are like this. But like I said above, 9/10 HPI guys in my area are like this."

Anyway, that's really all I can think of... I did however get back into Pixel art. I tried it at one point by making a pixel car replica of my Kenstyle G35 XMODS body, but I never really finished it... I went back a few weeks ago, this time, with an S14a Silvia that started out as a red bone-stock base. I re-painted it black, stuck on a Vertex Ridge rear bumper, intercooler, wheels, etc. I even put two pixel girls around the car resembling my girlfriend and her sister. I did do an edit with a third girl lying beside the car just to resemble my girlfriend's older sister; 'skanky whore', as my girlfriend calls her.

I won't be posting any pics through blogger lately, as I'm pretty fed up with the image posting properties that it has... It keeps changing the text I type beside the images into hyperlinks... Its annoying and its been like that since I first started blogger...

Well, at least its much cleaner and more professional looking than ModBlog.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Until next time, chill-out and relax.

Ah, its been a month since I've posted an entry. Well, for starters, no progress has been made on the models... Yes, yes, I know. I'll get some progress done throughout some of the winter (I hope).

I did get Ubuntu working quite well now, network, applications, etc. I think its running pretty stable. Only problem with my box is the BIOS. I'm still running Asus' M2N32-SLI Deluxe 0302 BIOS when 0706 has already been released. Everytime I try to update my BIOS my OS'es never boot. WinXP gets up to the bootscreen and after a few laps by the bootloader bar the BSOD flashes once and then reboots. Ubuntu can't even get past the "Mounting Files Needed to Boot" check. It just freezes after that. My BIOS is very out-of-date. There are at least three or four revisions between my 0302 and the 0706. I've posted threads in the Asus forum and the LiquidNinjas forum, but nothing seems to be helping. I might even post a thread in the AMD forums or even the nVidia forums if it ends up that way.

Well, on to other things.
Just a few weeks ago I became an owner of an Apple iPod. It is the 30GB video model. So basically, the 'normal' type of iPod compared to the Nanos and Shuffles. I think its pretty convenient having a 30GB (my actual size 27.4GB) portable hard drive to hold files, documents, music, video, some notes and calender dates, as well as photos. It works pretty well except for the part where you have to purchase a case :( On the day that I got it, I already scratched the reflective metal backplate of the iPod. I read from iLounge, an iPod owners forum, that a cleanser called 'Brasso' can clean and remove minor scratches. I'd like to be able to find that stuff here in Canada to clean the rear of my iPod.

Later this week I'll also be ordering a iPod case from the company C6 Manufacturing. As you may already know, I am an automotive enthusiast and I love carbon fiber, therefore I chose C6 for their marvelous carbon fiber iPod case. It comes with a vinyl screen protector, but I think I'll replace it later with the one which Power Support offers called the iPod Film Set.

The carbon fiber iPod case from C6 features real carbon fiber sheets that sandwich your iPod and stay together using steel screws and aluminum screw posts. There is also an optional belt clip on the back with a circle cut-out from the rear carbon fiber sheet. You can opt Jason from C6 to not do a cut-out in the rear sheet if you want, with no additional cost.

Re-installed Ubuntu Linux 6.06 Dapper Drake from the CD that just came in the mail today! This time, it came from France! Last time it was Belgium, and France for the very first time!

Well anyway, I re-installed it due to the issue that under previous installs, I couldn't access the internet, or even have an internet connection. It worked the first and second time I installed Ubuntu, but not the time after that, nor this time. I tried everything from network restarts, to things as desperate as unplugging the computer for 20 minutes and trying again. Nothing worked...

Working with Ubuntu Linux isn't too complicated, its just that the simplest little thing can cause such havoc and mayhem into you. NO ONE can go about using a computer on a regular basis without a connection to the internet. The internet connection is DETECTED and WORKS while in WinXP as well as the Kubuntu LiveCD, and even my old Ubuntu 5.04 LiveCD boot. But not when its actually installed? Its pretty much a load of BS when it works, you're satisfied, and then install it to know that the stupid thing doesn't want to work, even if you try everything in your power... But unfortunately, some of those things need internet access to update repositories and download packages... How can you get the internet running, when what you need to get it running is on the internet?

I'm pretty much ticked off about how Ubuntu isn't working up to par like it did in the first install... At the time when it worked, it was far more superior than WinXP... But now, if the OS can't even connect to the internet, its inferior, just like Honda Civics... And I don't like the fact that Ubuntu is being inferior, as every l33t poweruser knows, Windows is the inferior of the group... For now, I can just wait until someone on UbuntuForums.org replies to my thread, though I hate it when my thread goes off the first page and it isn't acceptable to 'bump', or 'ttt' your thread. Hopefully all this BS gets fixed...

Another thing I'd like to say is that my G35 XMODS finally broke... No fun for me though, what the heck am I to do now? The front right (drivers POV) steering knuckle broke. I can't mount the bottom of it to the bottom suspension arm, the hole where the screw goes in is gone, it cracked. Now it is just a 'C' as opposed to the 'O' where the screw was placed... I can purchase an aluminum one, but I'm not sure where to spend my money. May be on hardware upgrades for my PC, or may be for some other stuff. Though as for now, I have a duty to save up and purchase a garage kit (two if I can) from HobbyFan and build/paint them for my two friends.

Well, that's about it for now, I'll publish another entry when I get that damn network fixed in Ubuntu and do a write-up on different ways on going about fixing it, in case any readers stumble upon that problem as well.

Wow! Another update, and its in the same week! Well, regarding that 'Grand Canyon' between Belldandy's leg and the rest of her body, I sort of worked around on that using a tip I received from a member from HobbyFanatics' forum through email. The trick was to use Vaseline to coat one part so that the putty wouldn't stick to the rest of the body and that it would be removable for painting. Well, mine didn't turn out that perfect... If I get that desperate, I may just get the Excel back-saw with the finest teeth and just cut off her leg and try to reattach it at another part. But my other option would probably (and most likely) to just putty again and just use liquid masking to mask off areas that're a different color and do it that way (I don't think I need to go indepth, you could probably imagine it yourselves). If anyone has a better way, please, feel free to give me a shout. Oh, wow. I already forgot that I still need to create the 'borders' of the openings of her swimsuit on where the swimsuit ends and her bare skin begins. Well, I hope I can do something about it. But anyway, I'll let you come to conclusions on whether I succeed with this resin garage kit. Anyway, on with the photos!

Just a simple full-shot of Belldandy_


Pretty big gap still, and still need to smooth out her leg_


Here's from the rear_


I guess some call this the moneyshot_


I've removed the pins in her leg so it'd be easier to work with the putty_

And that isn't it! I also got some work done on my 1/24 Mitsubishi GTO. I was able to put some putty into the areas where I would be working on creating the widebody GT racing kit. I also removed the rear wing becaust it looked too small for the part. I hope I don't fool around with it, as I would really like to fix it up and use it on the avex DOME MUGEN NSX.

Not only have I been able to put putty on some of the areas I will be working on, I have also found the time to take out the Dremel (actually, its similar to a Dremel, but its branded by a company called Clarke) and cut the holes for my bonnet scoops. For those who don't know, the bonnet scoops are not backwards. This is the type of bonnet scoop where cold air comes in low through the holes in the front bar (bumper) and hot air comes out of the bonnet scoops on the bonnet. Its not entirely done, as I still need to fill in a few minor gaps and smooth out the surrounding area, but it totally fits the GT race look. And again, on with the photos!

Doesn't look mean unlike the S13, S14a or U12... I may make the headlights 'popped-up' or RE Amemiya FD-style_


My bonnet scoops_


Side-view_


More of a rear-view_


Side-view, nothing fancy yet_


Rear-view_


Front-view_


Ah, yes. Some progress. It feels nice to post an entry where I actually show what I get done, as opposed to rant about something without including photos. Well, what else is there to put? Ah, yes, I remember now. A few days ago I won a free Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger at Wendy's! Awesome. There's also a code on the other roll-up side for some kind of 'Kick for a Million' code online. But I can't kick a football. Probably a soccer ball, but certainly not a football. So I'll just forget about the code and focus on the cheeseburger :D

Well, talk is nothing without proof, so here are the pictures. Though you probably don't care that I won a cheeseburger... But here is a photo of the winning cup with my XMODS Evolution Infiniti G35/Nissan V35 Skyline Coupe 350GT on top of it_



And just because I had nothing to do at the time. I put my XMODS car inside my rig and took a photo. If you care to look, here it is_



Oh, yeah. And just because my rig looks a bit messy inside, from afar, it looks more l33t that yours. Just because you have one LED fan it doesn't make your rig l33t, because I'm sleeving, getting UV LED device cables and going liquid cooled next! But before then (may be a year? :D) here is a photo of my rig. You can see the XMODS car, the Mitsubishi GTO and Belldandy in the photo too_



And to end this entry, here is a photo of my XMODS Evolution car with the 5Zigen FN01R-C drift kit wheels_



The End :)

I finally got a bit of work done on my models! Ah, yes, some progress. Not much, but it is still quite considerable and worth mentioning. First I'll outline that I've gotten some work done on Belldandy. But fell short on just finding out what needs to be done after. I'll get into more detail below. I've also purchased some Milliput. I tested a bit out on my 1/24 Tamiya Mitsubishi GTO LM racing project. I only used a bit, just to get a feel for Milliput. As stated in many forums, it is advisable to keep your fingers moist with water to make nice smooth finishes. After I let that sit overnight, I started sanding a little bit to see how it responds as compared to Tamiya Basic putty. It sands very well and is easier to handle initially compared to Tamiya Basic. Below are some photos of the beginning of the forming of the wide-body design on my GTO. Please note, that this is only the beginning. It looks a bit course, but its only the base of where the rest of the putty will go on later.

I have also done a small amount of work with the Milliput on my 1/6 Belldandy with Swimsuit Sitting model. I've successfully mounted her left leg in place. What I need to do after is clean up the putty by sanding it down, and add a bit of putty in the area between her leg and her hip. I'm not entirely sure what that part of the body is called, so someone hit me with the correct term. It is not the part that connects to her side, its the part between the inside of her leg. The photo is attached below this paragraph.

Note: I won a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger from that roll-up thing on the Wendy's cup_


After I had successfully attached her left leg, I ran into a few problems whilst test-fitting other parts. There is a large awkward area of material from her under-arm that isn't meeting correctly with the area on her body that its supposed to mount with. This is the same for both arms. I'll post a few photos to show the front and rear problems I'll be facing on her arms. There photos are included below this block of text.

Front Left Shoulder Area_


Rear Left Shoulder Area_


Front Right Shoulder Area_


Rear Right Shoulder Area_


As you can see. I've got a tricky area of work ready for my to tackle. With the sand paper ribbons I have. I am not entirely sure they're enough to finish this obstacle. So I will go to the hobby shop and purchase more sanding ribbons to replace the old ones on my Excel sanding sticks. I myself am not even sure what these sanding sticks are called, I didn't even bother examining the packaging that much. But here is a photo of what they look like.



I'd recommend these sanding sticks with replaceable sandpaper ribbons to any hobbyist because they make it easier to sand without putting any strain on just trying to hold the usual sandpaper or eraser 'sandpaper block'.

But even with all these obstacles on Belldandy, I have found one that has annoyed me the most. And no, its not that little piece of hair at the end of her ponytail. Its her right leg. One question, have you seen the Grand Canyon? Well if you haven't, heres some photos of the Grand Canyon below.

I could probably stick a pad of 10 sheets of printer paper through that_


Even that far away you can still see it_


Same as above but a little closer_


Its gonna take a lot of work and a lot of putty_


Wow, so any readers not familiar with the Grand Canyon, you just saw it ;)

Well, does anyone remember my 1/24 avex DOME MUGEN NSX? Remember how I bought another one to compensate for the complete and utter loss of the first one? Well, I did it again... I used its wing on my XMODS G35 (V35 - 350GT Skyline Coupe). Well, I think I may have a solution to how I can get it back. I can try to salvage it off the Mitsubishi GTO and just use Evergreen polystyrene sheets and make my own for the GTO. The problem is, even if both models are built perfectly, none of them will have windshields, side windows, and rear windows. And when I am able to get them, I'll most likely end up ruining them because Tamiya masking tape hates me and doesn't want to mask properly without bleeding... That's why I'm going to resort to liquid masking, or latex masking solution as some call it. But that is at another time, when I'm actually able to get a full clear parts set for each car.

Anyways, apart from all the scale modeling, my rig seems to look fancier than ever. Some photos have been uploaded to myrigshowcase and are ready to be shown. The only update I've done to the rig is install 2 cold-cathode light tubes. Unfortunately, they didn't have blue, so I had to settle for a green. Now my blue LED side fan and LED UV rear exhaust fan are fighting a battle for blueness or greenyness. Apparently, green is winning :D But hopefully, I'll find blue cold-cathode tubes and use them to combat the green! Photos following this paragraph.

See how much bright the green is compared to the blue_


Well, atleast you can see more blue now_


Cold-Cathode tubes off_


Cold-Cathode tubes on_


The blue is getting pwnzd by the green_


Well, thats it with the happy stuff. On to the sad stuff. August 13 2006, I've suffered a loss of something near and dear to me. Something that means a lot. My 1991 Nissan Stanza XE had been sold... Fine, its not as fancy as an S13 Silvia, or a 300ZX, 240ZG, or 350Z. But it was a damn awesome car. It never ceases to amaze me, as even in the car's quite poor condition, it can still run. Even if it doesn't run as good as it did in 1991. It is still an amazing car. Too bad the previous owner before me, somebody by the name Edward Douglas Evans didn't even give respect to the car. I am the second owner of the car. I got it with rust holes under the mudflaps, rust around the driverside rear door handles and a few other places. It may have been a teenaged joyrider who was the owner. But he doesn't know what this car is capable of, and what it is. It is the U12 Bluebird. In Japan where the original one was released, it was the first car to EVER house the SR20DET engine under its bonnet. So all the 180SX, and Silvia guys out there, know, that this is where that engine they have came from.

You can view some photos of my Nissan Stanza XE on my CarDomain page here.

Well, well, well... Sorry folks, I had a larger entry in mind about my new XMODS Evolution car, et. But POS Microsoft killed it... You can blame it all on them. I had about five paragraphs, but then XP decided to turn the screen all black. I used CTRL+ALT+DEL but when I tried to end the process of the offending program, well, you know how it goes... Microsoft has piece of sh!t program management. You tell it to close, but it will close when it feels like... You open a new internet browser window to surf while another one is loading, but then, it finishes loading... During while you're doing something important on the other browser. It just takes over and goes over your other browser. That's why I hate Microsoft to pieces. They make you pay for their lousy products... I'm running a 2.43GHz rig right now (yes, its running 57C on idle, but it can manage... Sort of) and the computer is as slow as a Vespa trying to drag race with an R32 GTR... It just doesn't happen. It takes ages to shut down, and ages to start up. That's why Linux is a far more superior operating system than Microsoft Windows. You tell something to close, it will close, and it DOES close. Microsoft? Forget about it. And besides, Linux is free.

Why do I even bother with Microsoft? Overclocking, that's why. And also to play games. Because I like doing that. Anyway, like I said earlier, I'm running at 2.43GHz on stock HSF (heatsink fan) cooling. And its damned hot. That's what I'm opting to go into the realm of liquid cooling. Specifically with Danger Den's NVIDIA kit. The problem is, that kit is lacking something. What its lacking is a GPU waterblock. That's why I've created an account on LiquidNinjas to ask the members to recommend me a good waterblock for my 7300 GS. Yes, you read that correctly, a 7300 GS. Some members from other forums have told me just to scrap it and save up for a more powerful card. *cough* XFX 7950 GX2 *cough* But I've already been able to overclock the GPU core and GPU memory by up to 20MHz. Its not much, but any performance gain is a good thing. Anyway, I've thought of liquid cooling for a while now (actually, before this PC was even built). But now I actually have a reason to do it.

Well, I'll just sign off now. Its 4:35AM and I haven't slept yet. And hopefully, Microsoft doesn't crash again... May be I will talk about the things that were lost before the crash at another time. Until then, please check back.

Well hello again! Today I'm writing about PC Village. PC Village is a computer shop for computer enthusiasts. They currently have six branches and one head office, if you can count, that's seven in all. I've visited the PC Village branch over in Scarborough once, may be three times. I must say, they have quite a bit of products there. Not like TigerDirect (in Markham), where they mostly have products from ULTRA, or some other cheap feeling products. In PC Village at Scarborough, they sell quality products. Unfortunately, their customer service sort of stinks. I ordered the Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard. They said that it would be stocked in about one week. I took their word of deposited $50. After about two weeks, I started to worry. They didn't even bother calling me where it may be delayed or not. During week three, I just said, "forget it". It wasn't worth my time. I promptly took back my $50 deposit. About two weeks from then, I received a call saying that they had it in stock... Well too late. The clerk at the Scarborough tries to belittle you. He makes it sound as if you don't know anything. If only he knew that I knew exactly everything he was talking about. They should treat the customer respectfully, not treat them as if they are of a lower class and don't know what they're talking about. This took place at around New Years.

Going back to present, I gave a call to Bernie from the PC Village branch in Markham. Bernie was very nice and helpful. I have ordered the Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition motherboard and an AMD Sempron64 3600+ Manila core AM2 processor from him. He told me that he had the motherboard in stock and the processor would be in on Thursday. He was kind enough to place the motherboard on hold until I came buy to pay for it and pick it up. I received an email on Wednesday and Bernie told me that the processor was already in stock! I really liked his service. I promptly came by to the store on Saturday to pay for the hardware. Bernie also asked me if I wanted to join a raffle going on for a new LCD monitor. I probably didn't win, but that's okay. Bernie was very helpful. I emailed him just recently regarding Coolermaster's Aerogate II fan controller and temp reader panel for my PC. He told me that it isn't in stock but that he would order it. He estimates that it will be in on Tuesday. That's amazing service. He ordered it without me even having to ask! I will hopefully purchase it next Saturday, or whenever I have free time that week after Tuesday. Bernie is a very good man, and I hope other customer service reps and clerks follow along just like him.