Last weekend, I attended the Model United Nations conference in Eugene! MUN has always been so much fun. This year, I was the ambassador from Chile in General Assembly A. The General Assembly is the core part of MUN. While the GA passes some of their own resolutions, their main goal is to approve or deny the resolutions coming from all the other committees. As Chile, I didn’t have any real political power, but I made a point to speak whenever relevant.

I brought plastic sign holder and a cool Chile sign. Everyone else just had their lame paper placards, while I had a cool looking plexiglass sign that said “Republica de Chile” and the motto, “Por la Razon o la Fuerza.” I also had a plexiglass suggestion box that I relabeled “Messages for Chile” that the pages used to deliver messages to me. One of the most random things I brought was a confidential stamp. I made sure to stamp every single note I sent.

This is the nametag I made for my delegation. I entered it in the Name Tag contest, but we didn’t win anything =(

Next year, I intend to be a committee chair. Preferably of 2nd committee or Disarmament. I can’t wait!

I decided to take part in a school activity, for once!

The event was Poweder Tuff Volleyball, a spinoff of Powder Puff Football, but for guys. I was on the team of IB students, and for some reason our team was called “Spanky.” I don’t understand, so don’t ask.

We only played one game, which we lost, but it counts as a victory in my book. First of all, we only had 4 people on our team. The other team had 9 people (6 of which play at a time). Secondly, the team was composed of the Varsity Basketball team. So they were all coordinated, tall, athletes. And last, we only lost 17-25. It could have, and should have, been much worse.

Three cheers for Spanky!

For about a month now, Google Homepages has offered themes! Here are all the banner images from my choice theme, “Tea House”:

The Cinematics are a foursome from Scotland. They recently released their first album, “A Strange Education.” I picked it up immediately, and have enjoyed it ever since! They’re an alternative band that sounds a little like The Cure, Editors, or Bloc Party. I found the band when local radio station 94.7 played their single “Break” for a couple months last winter.

You can preview a couple of their songs on their myspace.

I really liked their CD. There are only a couple songs I don’t care for (except for the “bonus” track, which I hate!). My favorite on the CD is the title song, “A Strange Education,” and I still love their first single, “Break.” “Maybe Someday,” “Alright,” and “Race to the City” round out my top 5!

Here’s the music video for Break:

Formula 1 is certainly looking very exciting this year! Mclaren and Ferrari are more or less dead even. I’m still rooting for Kimi Raikkonen, but I hope Lewis Hamilton will continue his streak of podiums.

Massa earned his first win of the season on Sunday, beating out Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen. Alonso was an alarming fifth, behind Nick Heidfeld (Who passed him legitimately)

In the back of my heart, I’m also rooting for Super Aguri, the underfunded backmarkers who have shown considerable speed, faster even than the factory Honda team. Anthony Davidson was running as high as 12th before blowing his engine. They’ll score points eventually! Good luck guys!

Back in sports car land, the Audi R10 recieved its first lost ever, against an LMP2 car nonetheless! After qualifying 4th and 6th, the day just got worse for Audi, who struggled for speed through the bends of Long Beach. Congratulations to the Penske Porsches, though its a shame that the Andretti Green Acura had to pit for fuel…

First of all, I have no idea who this artist actually is. So far, they’ve released two singles, and both have been exclusively available on Sirius Satellite Radio. They’re not available for purchase anywhere. Therefore, I recorded them off Sirius for my own enjoyment, and figured I’d post them here. They’ve both got a nice beat to them.

Links changed, see below!
Dandy – Because You Lied
Dandy – Tic Toc (Dandy Time)

Yes, I’m aware they’re missing the beginnings, this is because the Sirius DJs like to talk about how great these songs are before they play them. I did the best I could.

There’s a remix of “Because You Lied” that I really like, but Sirius hasn’t played it in a long time. When they do, I’ll try to post it here too.

F.Y.I., these are legal MP3s because they fall under the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 which permits the recording of radio broadcasts for personal use (IE, no selling!)

Update:

DJDom from Sound Dynamic retouched the mp3s, eliminating the background noise and fiddling with the intros a bit. Here are his versions:

Dandy – Because You Lied
Dandy – Tic Toc (Dandy Time)

The old files are still available here:

Dandy – Because You Lied
Dandy – Tic Toc (Dandy Time)

Woot is an internet closeout store. Each day, they put up a different product at a bargain price. They sell the product until either A) it sells out or B) the day ends. I’ve picked up some sweet (or so I think!) deals on Woot over the last few weeks:

2 Sandisk 256 mb mp3 players @ $10 each
1 Philips GoGear 2 GB mp3 player @ $30
3 Audiovox DC to AC power (for a car) @ $10 each
1 Logitech Curve headphones (2 pack) @ $5

No matter how many or whatever you buy, shipping is always $5. They even come in cool boxes that say Woot! on the side.

One of the coolest elements of Woot is the Woot off. Once every couple months, Woot engages in a Woot off. In a Woot off, Woot posts a new item each time an item sells out (as opposed to once a day). This usually lasts for 24-48 hours. It’s really exciting. Some items only last a fraction of a minute, while other, more expensive items sit for hours.

My beta of Windows Vista that I had been running on my Laptop was set to expire on May 1st, but I decided that I’d had enough of Vista before then. Vista, at lest in RC2 form, is crap. Hands down. I’ve reinstalled XP and I can’t believe the performance. And programs actually work! And configuring everything is easy! Vista is a nightmarish hell, especially for old hardware. Oh, and I also get to experience this nice thing called BATTERY LIFE. Good riddance, Windows Vista!

For a long time, I used WindowBlinds to skin my Windows UI. I even bought the program (the horror!). However, the new version has some performance quirks, especially when windows are moved over DirectX programs (read: WoW). Somehow I came across one of the few official skins for Windows, the Zune theme. It’s a simple theme, but much better than any of the builtins. It’s an orange on black theme, and I’ve always liked black themes. You can see a screenshot of it here:

http://zuneinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/Zune-Theme1.jpg

You can download the theme for yourself here:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=75078

And here’s a nice, matching wallpaper:

https://www.cuttlefishtech.com/uploads/11266.jpg

This is a terrible vacation!