Brentil's BLOG

My epic-nerdus is showing...

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:04:16 -0400

I == epic nerd. I've just got done running a suite of various benchmarks on my PHONE... I'm doing this in preparation for the soon to be released 2.1 Eclaire for my phone and more importantly 2.2 Froyo for Android. The 2.2 release is showing a 2x~5x speed increase in applications on faster phones like the Droid and Nexus One, but my phone is a dinosaur in comparison. Linpack & Pi are both pure CPU calculation tests where SunSpider stresses CPU, Memory, and the web browser. I ran each test 3 times and averaged the results.

Ahhhh zombies two blocks down (i.e. my Remington 700)

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 15:19:16 -0400

I can't believe I forgot to post about this! This is a rifle I inherited from my grandfather back last July that he didn't need anymore. He's had it for well over 15 years and had used it to hunt deer with in Vermont. This is a Remington 700 bolt action rifle that holds 4+1 rounds in the internal magazine firing the .270 Winchester round (12ga, 20ga, .270 Win, 9mm comparison). The lighter 130 grain rounds are meant for hunting deer, but the larger 150 grain (that you can buy at Wal-Mart in FL...) is meant for hunting MOOSE!!! This rifle is zeroed in for 200 yards and reliable out to 500 yards range wise, so you zombies in my neighbors garden two blocks down, beware!

So it's a 15 year old gun however and I'm not a big fan of "hunter" looking guns with wood stocks. I plan to upgrade various parts of it to turn it into more of a tactical sniper rifle. A new Knoxx Axiom recoil reduction pistol grip stock to replace the wood shoulder stock, a new 10 round detachable magazine to replace the 4 round interior magazine, front mount bi-pod (already attached), and a multi-magnification high powered powered scope. Should look and be rather pimp after that.

You can't catch me zombies!!! (i.e. my Corvette)

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:06:08 -0400

So in searching for a new 2010 Camaro online for my friend Sean I came across a 'used' 2008 Corvette Coupe with a whopping 120 miles on it. Called and got some details about it. This 'used' car was really a new 2008 that was sold at auction from a dealership that closed down and was bought by another dealership who then got the letter from GM saying they were not going to have their franchise renewed. So before I even walked in it was marked down $16k and still had the new car smell in it. I came in with a monthly payment target I wanted which was the same as what I was paying on my Solstice GXP and we made it happen. So I traded in my Solstice GXP and drove off in a new 2008 Corvette Coupe. It has the Velocity Yellow I wanted, the upgraded slim spoke polished rims, and the upgraded Z06 bi-mode exhaust system. I didn't even realize it had the bi-mode exhaust until I got home and found the window sticker wedged in the trunk. The bi-mode exhaust has a normal path and a wide open path. When the engine is under 3500 RPM the wide open path is closed but when the engine reaches 3500 RPM it opens the wide open valve. It sounds awesome when the valves open. I went and got the windows tinted yesterday because that huge back glass just heats the car up like an oven.

Ahhhh zombies in our garden! (i.e. my carbine)

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:57:05 -0400

So I love shooting rifles since I've always been far more accurate with them and enjoy firing them more as well. I debated a larger caliber like the 223 or 308 but that meant going with a AR or AK style weapon which I've never been a big fan of their designs. So I decided to go with a 9mm since they cost a quarter of the cost of a AR-15 and the ammo is significantly cheaper (well when we're not in the middle of an ammo shortage it is...). The non-AR 9mm carbine market isn't all that large but I decided on the Kel-Tec SUB-2000 which actually uses Glock magazines so I can share between the carbine and the pistol and I only have to stock one type of ammo as well which is hard enough to do right now. It also folds in half allowing it to store in a compact 16" area which is the length of the barrel. Also thanks to the military spec Glock 18 there are official 33 round 9mm magazines I can use which helps put it on par with the AR/AK weapons. It doesn't have the range or penetration of a 223 round, but in my opinion that's what a nice full sized rifle is for.

Ahhhh zombies in my kitchen! (i.e. my Glock)

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:54:20 -0400

As I mentioned before we were at the gun show about 2 months ago stimulating the economy with our tax return. I was looking to get a pistol or a 9mm carbine (larger than a pistol but smaller than a rifle) and ended up getting both. Worked out a pretty god deal buying all 3 at once (the JenCannon too). I was debating between the Glock 9mm (17 or 19) and the Springfield-Armory XD9. I really like the features of the XD9 over the Glock, but the Glock won out because of magazine compatibility with the carbine I ended up getting. I've always like the polymer Glock designs so I was still more than happy to go with the Glock 9m 19 I ended up getting. It comes with two 15 round magazines and I picked up two 17 round ones at the show. I also picked up 3 Glock official 33 round magazines mainly for the carbine but they of course work in the Glock as well as you can see from the 2nd picture below.

The JenCannon, popping zombies heads! (i.e. Jen's .357 Magnum)

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:39:10 -0400

So we went to the gun show about 2 months ago looking to pick up some guns for me and Jen decided she wanted to get something herself as well. She ended up getting a Tauras Tracker 627 with a 4" barrel. This is a .357 Magnum 7 shot revolver she plans to shoot .38 Special rounds from. She wanted a large barrel revolver because the weight helps keeps the gun from recoiling as much making a much more stable shooting platform for her being a 5' tall woman. Which is also where the name then comes from cause it's a huge gun in her tinny hands, viola the JenCannon. It makes a pretty big bang with the .357 rounds, but with the .38 it's a lot more female friendly. I got her a nice pink case for it she loves. She enjoys shooting it and has gotten pretty good with it, my mother shot it and enjoyed it as well.

Solstice Projects

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:41:00 -0400

I haven't been racing all that much or doing many things modification wise to my car, but I've still stayed very active in the Solstice community. I've actually worked on two major projects in the last year that have consumed a good bit of my time. At the end of 2007 I started working with a group of other Solstice/Sky enthusiasts to create an organization to help aid in doing national meets and in aiding local groups. We spent several months doing teleconferences preparing the layout of the organization and structure. We finally went live at the start of 2008 with the North American Solstice-Sky Owners Association (NASSOA) and we've been slowly gaining membership ever since. I am currently the Communications Chair of the organization and I also setup and maintain our web presence.

http://www.NASSOA.org/

Near the end of last year as the economy tanked and GM fell flat on their nose another group of us realized GM was very likely to kill of our beloved car that had brought us all together. Working with several of my fellow SolsticeForum.com moderators we fleshed out and implemented Save The Kappa as a means to spread news and information to owners. We've begun a mail letter campaign of sending written letters to GM executives in order to plead our case and hopefully keep the car alive or at least extend its life some. I've done the entire web design for this particular project where with NASSOA we hired a graphic designer to do the skinning.

http://www.SaveTheKappa.org

You are not welcome here zombies! (i.e. my shotgun)

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:19:00 -0400

I finally finished modifying my new shotgun the other night. I had gotten a Mossberg 500 12ga 8 shot about June last year primarily for home defense and secondly for Zombie defense. We don't have a hurricane/fallout plan/kit we have a Zombie preparedness one instead. :D I finished replacing the standard stock with the pistol grip stock made by Mossberg.

I also added a 130 lumen LED flashlight. I had decided to get the larger capacity 8 shot instead of the normal 6 shot so it has the extended and apparently thicker magazine tube. This of course meant the weaver attachment to fit on the magazine tube was too small, so I modified it by bending it and getting some larger screws. It looks a little odd but it's secure. I picked up a 50 round bandolier and a 150 round dry box that's filled right now. I need to pick up another dry box to keep the filled bandolier in and some extra Hornady TAP rounds in. Trying to find a nicely sized 'hurricane' box to store various other items in as well. Large 15" chemical light sticks, MREs, misc survival items, etc.

First exam in 7 years

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:35:00 -0500

Well I just had my first class exam in 7 years. Was nervous as all hell the couple of days coming up to it but I finally calmed down the actual day of the exam. It's still very strange being back in school after 7 years, but I'm slowly getting back into things. Took some time but getting homework done was taking some effort to force myself to do it, and then studying for an exam was a new experience again. I think I did pretty well yesterday. There wasn't anything on it I didn't know and the only issue I had was time, but so did everyone else since no one finished in the allotted 1:15 timeframe we had. For being an exam with only 3 questions I completely filled 7 pages with hand written text, task charts, sequence diagrams, and class diagrams. I've gotten only A's so far on all of my work I've done and hoping this will be another one.

I however am fearing my other class which I have the midterm for it next Wed. The material is a lot more complex memorization wise and topic wise. I've done well on all the homework so far, but that's when I've had two weeks to bang my head against it to get it done. The homework counts for 50% of the grade so I'm hoping to keep that as close to 100% as possible because I'm going to need it to compensate for these two exams I'm betting. . .

Venture brothers unite!

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:26:00 -0500

Ever since they've been together, Sokar and Sebastian have been BFFs. The hang out together, they play together, wrestle together, and even clean each other. It's not gay it's guy love!!!

Here they are wrestling.

Here they are cleaning each other. Sokar even falls asleep while getting groomed!

Here they are after a long wrestling match resting with each other.

Here Sebastian is cleaning Sokar.

Sebastian, the interloper!

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:02:00 -0500

So my W was on the way back from a wedding when she decided to run into a curb and explode both tires on one side of the car. Way to go W. :P Well while she was waiting for a tow truck this cat decided to come up and get in the car it seems. I'm not sure how much of this is "got in the car" or "was shoved in the car" but either way he came home with her. Well at first I was like "hell no, we aren't taken in no more kitties!" so we went to take him to the SPCA but they only take pets that belong to you for more than 30 days. Doh! So I decided we'd get him fixed then let him go, well in that timeframe my mother decided she wanted him. Hurray! So she took him home and he was a total terror. Doh! So she brought him back but by then we had gotten attached to the little imp and so had Sokar. When he's around Sokar he stays busy and doesn't seem to be a terror at our house. The two of them are best of buds! Here's the little imp on the porch after he first came home.

Hey wait that's Sokar's box!!!

Sebastian just loves to get into EVERYTHING. . .

Sokar!!!

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:37:00 -0500

Well, Jen decided for her birthday this last year she wanted a new kitty. It had been several months since Christopher had passed away and who doesn't love kittens? Communist, duh. So we went to the local SPCA and spent a good hour molesting cats and kittens. In the end we came down to choosing between a super-hyper kitten name Voltron and an un-named 8-week old kitten. I felt the other one was just too hyper so the younger one won out and we adopted him. After his naughty bits were removed we came and picked him up and brought him home and named him Sokar.

Here's his awesome cuteness the night we brought him home.

He's been such a wonderful cute little kitten. He liked to suckle on your skin or clothes for about the first month. Here he is snoozing on the sofa with Pi.

Sokar has been such a big helper!!! Here he is helping mom unpack the groceries from the store.

This is one of the cutest things that Sokar does. He has a little box with some brown paper in it that he loves to curl up in and fall asleep.

The loss of a child

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:13:00 -0500

Our cats are our children. Back in August of 2008 one of our younger ones (Christopher) began to dramatically loose weight. We brought him in to discover he had terminal kidney failure. :( We ended up giving him fluid shots every other day for a while, he fussed about it but things seemed to get better for a while and he was happy again. However one day some of his ribs broke somehow, probably from the lack of nutrients in his bones. This put him back into a downward spiral of pain and general miserable life for him. At this point we finally decided to have him put to sleep. I was not expecting how sad and depressing this moment was going to be, it didn't help that he was so young at just having turned 4 years old in July. We miss you Chris!

Graduate School . . .

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:41:00 -0500

Well I started Graduate School at UCF this semester finally after hemming and hawing for the last 6 years. It took me 5 years to decide what masters program to do, and then another year to figure out how to properly get into the masters program. I should have started a long time ago, but I did not want to do Comp Engr as my major, but I couldn't figure out what else to do instead. The stupid thing is UCF pays for all my classes because I'm an employee, so I've been sitting on ass wasting time. So I'm working on a Computer Engineering Masters with a focus on Computer Networks and Computer Security. IF (big IF literally) I can maintain 2 classes per semester I should be able to get it done in about 3~4 years. Otherwise it could take 6~8 years to complete. So far these two initial graduate level classes are a lot harder than undergrad was, not really because of the subject matter, but because of the level of work they are constantly assigning us. For example the one class has us doing a project that is almost identical to our senior design project but we have 1 semester to do it in instead of 2. Of course having been out of school for 6 years now I've forgotten how to properly study so it's taken some time to get back into things. I have my first midterm in what has been 7 years now this Wed, which I'm not looking forward to at all. Both classes are open note open book which means they're going to be HARD. I don't think I'll do too bad on this one, the the midterm for the other class I'm pretty sure is going to rape me. My only hope for that class is that I've gotten 100% on every homework so far and those are 50% of our grades.

I'm a lame blogger...

nospam@example.com (Brentil) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:45:53 -0500

Yeah I know, I'm a super blog slacker... Mainly because I was using my blog space for car related stuff but I haven't been racing in a while. Going to try to start posting regularly again finally.