Warren Dunlop

RIP blogspot. Long Live Tumblr!

2009-10-29T19:25:00.008-04:00

I've moved from blogger to Tumblr! Please check out my new Tumbelog.

It will actually survive unlike this one (and others) simply because it's updated automatically via twitter, flickr, flixster, youtube, dopplr, vi.sualize.us, vimeo, and more through the powers of RSS!

My new flash based site will be up soon too.

Cheers

Your IQ could be 135, get on TEH INTERNETZ and it's 2

2008-09-17T22:54:00.002-04:00

My apartment is currently up for rent so I've been using Kijiji, craigslist, UsedOttawa, and Carleton U off-campus housing sites like there's no tomorrow. The first thing I found is that we're actually getting a lot of Women asking about the place. Probably more Women than Men actually.

But when searching for a roommate, you come by a lot of weird people and sift them out quickly as they just jump out and say "Hey, I'm stupid!" or "Hey, I'm weird and smelly!" or in this case "H3y, how u be? 2moro wemeetz?k awsm talk l8r yo"

Here is the email:
hi there,i m interested abt ur room.currently i m working but from jan,08 i m goin to carleton or ottawa u.tommorow i will b there around 1.30 pm for a job.So call me 2morow morning if u r available to show me the room.my cell#613-884-6701.thanks

and my reply:
Hello,

That message is pretty hard to read. Your starting which school in January? January 2009 right, not 2008? Otherwise you would have started already. You will be in Ottawa tomorrow for a job interview? I am not available to show the place tomorrow, sorry. I will be showing the place all day Saturday. So come by then if you can... not even sure where you are living right now so I don't know how out of your way it is.

Might want to work on your typing, spelling, and grammar. Most people just delete messages that are like the one you just sent me. I know I was tempted to. Telling me your name, age, and what you do would be a great start for inquiring about a room for rent.

Cheers,
Warren

Arist of the milllisecond - Scorn

2008-08-14T12:01:00.003-04:00

Artist: Scorn
Track: Stripped Back Hinge
Album: Stealth

have a listen!

That's a new one

2008-07-29T12:42:00.003-04:00

server error?

Roots Watch, Sony Microphone, New Track

2008-07-28T22:46:00.011-04:00

Got my baby back. :)

Lost this watch back at Mont Tremblant months ago. Looked down to get the time and wouldn't you know it, the watch face had disappeared. Band and pins were still there, watch face gone. Well I shopped around for a good hour or so at Bayshore, drooling over a $795 Seiko sport watch ("psycho" price), some nixon watches, and even a couple deisel watches over at the new "WatchIt" store... but I wanted this one back. It was just too good a watch to not want back, Roots or not. I became too accustomed to the look of it.

Specific Model: Roots Gravity - Black - Men's

Got a sweet new Sony Microphone while I was at it. I was a little skeptical getting this small thing, but I have been proven wrong. It will definitely do all I need. I already had a track entitled "The Evil Dead" that I wanted to put some simple vocals onto. There's a little too much delay/reverb on the main chorus right now but for a first attempt I think it turned out pretty pro. Take a listen below and let me know what you think.

Model: ECM-MS907

Track Name: The Evil Dead
Artist: Syncy (aka Warren Dunlop)
Album: Less Than Three (unreleased EP)

Wonderland & White Water Rafting

2008-07-28T21:49:00.005-04:00

Two days ago I was in a 7 person raft, floating down the Ottawa river and smashing into some giant waves. It was awesome. Unfortunately I don't have any video or photos as it was, well, wet. There is a guy that makes a DVD along each trip and my parents picked that up so I shall post a youtube video or freeze frames soon enough. We got into this thing called the "frog blender" and it tossed us around for a good minute or so. It was the best footage of the day and the aussie cameradude caught it, but cut it short as the DVD can't go on forever now, can it. Apparently my reaction is priceless--loving every minute of it (including when my mom got tossed off and sucked underneath by the current).

The weekend before that I went to Canada's Wonderland for the first time in a couple years and got to try out Behemoth. Got to see my cousin's, aunt, and uncle for the first time in awhile and we all had an awesome time. Here's a couple pics.

New.fm (aka the Last.fm site now = Crap.fm)

2008-07-17T19:19:00.003-04:00

Last.fm just broke just about every graphic design law in existence. They obliterated their navigation, their design, their corporate indentity--everything has changed. The site has changed far too dramatically and I doubt long time users and new users alike (including myself) will embrace the drastic change with open arms.

They had a great look going, it was unique, it was last.fm. Now it's... I dunno... New.fm. I really enjoyed the service and the site. Simply put, this blows.

Just yesterday I was patting the site on the back, referring friends left and right, telling them to get accounts and add me. How things can change in 24 hours. The service is still there but the site has lost its identity to me. I just got used to where everything was too.

Note to Last.fm: READ UP and then change it back! Change it back quick or I will go back to the familiar look and feel of purevolume... and I'm sure I'm not alone.

(They even changed their logo! HELLO? THAT'S THE MOST SACRED ITEM OF YOUR BUSINESS, DO NOT TOUCH IT!)

GamingExcellence E3 2008 Coverage

2008-07-16T00:40:00.003-04:00

GamingExcellence has a five man team down in LA for the Electonic Entertainment Expo (e3expo) and thus the coverage page has gone live! Check it out here and drool over the artwork done by moi. Content is'a rollin' in--check back frequently!

Artist of the whenever I get around to it - Trash80

2008-07-14T16:24:00.004-04:00

Artist: Trash80
Track: Your Funk is Fine
Album: Hologram

Chiptunes are great but someone who can bridge the gap and fuze it with dance-pop is clearly a talented indiviudal. He's been doing this since '03 apparently, but I've only known of him for about a year. He just came out with a new EP after quite some time of no new material. It's called "Icarus" and I'm just listening to it now (so far, so good), but "Your Funk is Fine" is by far my favorite Trash80 track so far.

Enjoy.

Warren = 1, Visa = 0

2008-07-11T12:15:00.005-04:00

I'll start by saying I've never really had debt. I've always been a "social" credit card user. If I use it, it's out of convenience and not because I don't have the cash up front.

About March of this year I actually used my card because I indeed did not have enough to be paying for it. This was mainly because I decided to go to Mont Tremblant with friends for reading week (which was probably the best trip I've ever gone on, so no complaints). I've been making steady minimum payments, so it never went down.

Summer job to the rescue! Zero dollar balance on my visa now. Funny thing though. the amount I needed to pay was the exact same (minus 9 cents) as my paycheque.

Rogers gets better than before, but still blows

2008-07-09T20:32:00.005-04:00

So the petition over at Ruined iPhone has grown to over 58,758 signatures. Rogers released an optional data plan (limited time offer) in response. The deal is 6gb of data for $30. Now the thing about this is... that's on top of a plan. So say you got the cheapest plan (about $35), and then got the data... that's equal to the cheapest iPhone plan in a nutshell.

When will cell phone plans in Canada not suck a salty nut sack? Probably never.

Probably the Best Video on the Interweb

2008-07-07T20:59:00.002-04:00

Props to Richard Monette for finding this.

R.I.P. CherryRoms.com

2008-07-06T04:53:00.003-04:00

Just a shout out for a site that I, among many, used to frequent in high school. CherryRoms.com is apparently no longer with us.

I was creating a little tab for my blogger profile to show my sites and profiles across the interweb, and cherryroms was one I hadn't been to in years. I figured I might as well give it a look again, see what's new. Nothing is new, it's completely gone.

Photo Experiments

2008-07-06T02:32:00.008-04:00

Dave and I cruised around Ottawa/Gatineau last night and took a bunch of photos because we had nothing better to do. To tell you the truth, I have nothing better to do tonight either... except study for linear algebra that is (haven't started, oops).

Here are a couple of the best pics from the random photo shoot:

F$%# OC Transpo

2008-07-04T09:03:00.003-04:00

What do Linear Algebra and the OC Transpo (specifically route 118) have in common? Both are the f---ing bane of my existence.

Yesterday morning the bus drove off when I was approaching and waving him to wait a second. The bus driver took a second to give me a "Haha I'm currently f---ing you over and there's nothing you can do about it" face. In the afternoon on the same bus home, the bus driver passed a dozen stops without flinching. I watched in awe as people were waving the bus down and dropping jaws in confusion when in whizzed by without any reason (the bus was near full but it wasn't nearly as packed as other buses I've been on).

Public Transpo is slow, unreliable, and costly. Why would anyone chose it over driving? I thought that was one of its main purposes in this day and age? To save greenhouse gas emissions.

I won't continue because I could rant on about the system and the billions of flaws it has for hours. I'll just say this for those who stumble upon this blog and don't live in Ottawa: If you visit Ottawa, save yourself a headache and get a Taxi or a friend to pick you up.

Artist of the Week - Adam Freeland

2008-07-03T16:36:00.009-04:00

Artist: Adam Freelanc
Track: Burn the Clock
Album: Now & Them

Canada Day Celebrations

2008-07-03T01:15:00.003-04:00

July 1st we celebrate Canada Day. It's an excuse to get drunk and blast off $105,000 worth of fireworks on Parliament Hill. I actually made it to the hill on time this year so I got to see the spectacle, but I only got it on my crappy cell phone because my camcorder has been broken for over a year and I don't have the cash to buy a new one. So enjoy someone elses video:

Google Products (Free)

2008-07-02T20:42:00.006-04:00

I've come to the conclusion that not enough people (probably more so Canadians) are aware that they should regularly check in on the Google Labs, or even the current Google Options/Products Page. Everytime I tell someone about GOOG-411 (a free 411 service offered by Google with no ads or anything) or Google SMS (get yellow page/white page results, directions, stocks, weather, definitions, calculations/conversions for money or weight etc, and even movie times all on your phone for free via SMS text by texting google) they look at me like I'm from outer-space and then usual follow that by saying "Get outta here" or similar connotations like "You're from outer-space."

Check it out, because technology is a beautiful thing, but free technology is even more beautiful.

Other stuff to check out:
- Google Transit (it works in Ottawa very well, I used it quite often now)
- iGoogle
- actually, too many too list. Just check out Google labs, you'll find something interesting.

iPhone - decent data plan = Sucky Phone.

2008-07-02T17:10:00.005-04:00

I was truly thinking about going to Rogers for the iPhone 3G. Their iphone specific plans have since been released and are widely overpriced (lowest is $60 for 400mb data, 75 txt, 150 regular minutes, evenings and weekends starting @ 9pm). I don't expect Rogers to match the price of AT&T with a market 1/4 as big as the states, and as much area to cover as the states, but c'mon Rogers, you can definitely meet us halfway!

My roomate (a rogers employee) his since told me that it might be better to attempt at a regular plan (and thus get better customization) since Rogers hasn't stated that you must specifically tie your iphone to an iphone plan. He also mentioned that Rogers may be reserving the first shipment of iPhones for those coming in to switch from a Bell, Telus, or other providers service.

To current clientele of Rogers Wireless: I feel for you.

Check out Ruinediphone.com and sign the petition to join myself and the other 27,729 (and growing) people that will most likely say F-off to Rogers come July 11th and the infamous Canadian release of the iPhone.

6Bit Studios: Midnight Rumble | Dog model

2008-06-30T01:02:00.003-04:00

We're working away at our Senior Project for 4th year IMD. Here's a snap of how the "dog" character is looking. Just a quick render, nothing special. I know the pose is weird but its the best positioning for rigging and skinning later on.

Guitar Hero: Aeroshit

2008-06-29T04:18:00.004-04:00

Put in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith for the first time at 6:30 pm tonight. Played for an hour and half or so. Got bored (and I play on expert) because, wouldn't you know it, Aerosmith sucks.

Went to work on some paperwork, watched Superbad with my roommate Thomas (who got 100% on the first 5 songs on hard so he switched to expert and was still bored like me). Went to get some pizza. Ate the pizza. Watched some comedy, then started playing again at 2am when everyone went to bed. Beat it about 15 minutes ago so that makes it, lemme see, approximately 4 hours of gameplay at the very most.

Now that's only one play through on Career without any bonus songs or other diffuculties or playing online for that matter. But the general consesus, its just Guitar Hero III for Aerosmith fanatics.

GamingExcellence Best of E3 2008 Award

2008-06-28T18:12:00.005-04:00

I will not be able to attend E3 this year due to lack of funds on my part (for the flight, etc.), but GamingExcellence Senior Editor Shawn Snider will be going with two other journalists on our team to represent the site. They'll be handing out awards to the most promising games of E3, this award was created by yours truly so watch out for it if your going and let me know if you spot one!

We've also been working away at Gamesquirrel.com, but I doubt it will be ready for Summer '08 as previously planned. Check out the identity pics (click any pics for larger view) I've mocked up for now and check www.gamesquirrel.com regularly to see if something cool is there yet. ;)

Apparently Everyone is "Dying" to "Hang" with Me

2008-06-27T22:26:00.009-04:00

Went to make a toasted tomato sangwich and came back to my comp and spidey was chillin' smack dab on the middle of my monitor. I thought it was odd that he didn't move when I snapped pics with my cell phone. I was gonna let him chill for 5 minutes before I killed his sorry ass for touching my gear, but then I got my S3 out and took some real pics because he hadn't moved.

Turns out he was dead.

Later I poked him and he fell of the monitor and went splat on my desk.

How inconsiderate.

Re-entering the world of blogging

2008-06-27T12:20:00.001-04:00

I haven't blogged probably since the 12th grade or so. For those who know me that's over 3 years back. Now I'm not saying I haven't blogged in other ways, having profiles with who knows how many sites (GameSpot, PureVolume, last.fm, and twitter to name drop a few). I could probably have been the victim of identify theft about as many times a year as there are celebrity sex tapes for all I'm aware.

But none-the-less I'm back to blogging as I feel it's like a diary of your progress in life. I'm getting into more and more interesting things these days (work, music, design, life, etc.) and I'd like to share them with anyone bored or lonely enough to care.

Let's start with the fact that I think google is going to take over the world. I keep signing up for their services, slowly but surely they get me with one at a time. It's like I gotta catch 'em all.