So yesterday, my CD-recorder died. Thinking this would be a great time to upgrade to a DVD-recorder, I leaped at the chance and made my purchase at Circuit City. Once home, with drive installed, I was able to witness some of the most horrific noises ever coming out of my speakers. After opening and closing the drive door, the speakers would emit a terribly loud pop. When the drive would spin up, a dreadful whirring noise came on loud and clear through the speakers again. What drive did I buy, you may ask? An I/OMagic 4X DVD+/-RW drive with Black Bezel. These drives have tons of problems from what I read on I/OMagic's technical support forums. Apparently, there isn't a solution yet. I took it back.

Behold! Tonight, after returning the expensive doorstop, I bought a new DVD-recorder. It is a LiteOn 8X DVD+/-RW drive with Black Bezel. It's purdy, works real good an' all that, and came with all kinds of bunches of softwares, including DVD X Copy Express, the controversial software that 321 Studios just lost a lawsuit over. It lets you copy all DVDs, including copyrighted materials, which is a big no-no in the DVD organization's eyes. I'm happy.

Other good news, this is my spring break. With any luck, I can find a job and start working this week. I do have 2 research papers due relatively soon, so I'll have some homework due. Ah well, it won't be too big of a deal. Well, got some stuff to do now. See ya soon.

Normally, I don't ask my readers to do things, but today is an exception. If you have ever played Sam & Max Hit the Road for the PC, or any adventure game such as Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, etc. then you need to go and sign the online petition to show your support for either Sam & Max or adventure games in general. Lucasarts announced yesterday that they were cancelling a game that I have literally been waiting 10 years to play. Bastards.

Got back from Indy yesterday. This year felt like more work than last year. There were more entries in the category that I was judging and there were (like always) problems with the testing itself.

The guys from North that I taught last year used their own equipment (laptops) for the test because of a version change in the program. This led to several problems. A floppy drive was required to save their work, and one of the laptops didn't have one. Secondly, they were all going to be networked together so that they could share a single printer (required for printing out proof that the programs work). The router (which is the equipment that connects the computers) was missing its power supply. This meant that everytime they needed to use the printer, they had to disconnect it from one of the other guy's computers. Major headache.

Greg Haller kept me and the other judge waiting for almost a half an hour (technically against the rules) while he printed the last of his stuff. For him, it paid off because he got 2nd place and is going to nationals. Although he embarrassed me greatly, because he shouldn't even have acknowledged that he knew me. So when the other judge asked about the guys' equipment, Greg piped up with his ever-so-helpful: "I don't know, ask Mr. Griffin." Unfortunately, it only proceeded to get more embarrassing by the second.

The next major catastrophe that happened was 4 of the students' decision to skip a mandatory General Meeting on Monday night. The 4 that skipped had been left under my supervision and totally disrespected me by lying about it. They said that they did go, even though they had not. The least they could have done was apologize and tell the truth. It was especially hurtful because I know these guys outside of school as well, so for me it's the same as lying to one of your good friends.

Next year, I won't have any ties to BPA, so it is unlikely that I will return. It has been fun, and even though I ranted about the bad stuff, Monday was a good day.

Congratulations to Tim who barely missed the cutoff for nationals, but through nothing short of a wonderful fluke, is proceeding to the nationals in Cincinnati for Java programming. I'm going to offer to help him, if he is interested. It would be awesome if he was able to win nationals after getting a 7th at state. Thanks for not skipping out on the meeting, Tim.

I can't talk because I'm leaving for Indy! w00t! Be back Tuesday evening. Might post from Indy if I can get near a connected PC. I'll be returning with pictures like last year. Take care!