I just read this terrible bit of news; Deshaun Holton, also known as the rapper Proof, was shot and killed at the night club Triple C in Detroit. Deshaun was declared dead when the ambulance arrived at Conner Creek Medical Center.
I for one have always really respected Proof as an artist and rapper and he was also one of Marshall Mathers', also known as Eminem, best friends and group mate in the Detroit based hip-hop group D12 (Dirty Dozen). According to unconfirmed sources, another D12 member Rufus Johnson, aka. Bizarre, was also injured in the incident. Around new year the artist Obie Trice, another friend of Mathers', was shot and injured.
Deshaun Holton only lived to become 32 years of age.
You may have caught my rant at NGT back in September, and now they're at it again. I was a customer and in the end was sick of them and their crap, so decided to go with UPC - So instead of re-opening my NGT account they had suspended until I had a new address, I gave them the boot and had everything squared and settled.
Not long thereafter they hit me with extra bills on at least two separate occasions, and again I had to deal with their extremely slow and retarded customer service to set things straight. Finally thinking my NGT nightmare had come to an end, I recieve yet another bill from them. I just got off the phone, after talking with them once more.
Now let me break down to you how they promised me this would work last time I spoke with them. NGT have a policy of 6 week payment upon closing the account. Since they cut me a break and allowed me to suspend the account while moving without paying, I should then have to pay 6 weeks from the last time the account was active which was on the 8th of July. Since I paid for both July and August this, I was told, should cover it, thank you very much, goodbye. Now they're coming back claiming that having the line open in my suspension period cost them, so they will have to consider the closing of the account in September, hence expecting me to pay for September and October as well. Literally going back on their word, also known as lying to your customer. To add insult to injury they also added another 3 different extra costs, and customer service could do nothing to help me as a written complaint must be filed.
This is a warning, so you must take heed, this nonsense is reality! STAY AWAY FROM NGT!
My office mate Lasse pointed me to this bit of highly interresting bit of news; Scinetists have now managed to successfully combine living brain cells with electronic circuits! So if your name is John Connor it may be time to start looking over your shoulder In all seriousness the technology is still in its infancy and will most likely take a few decades before it can be used to treat nerualogical disorders or create "living computers", but it can also be useful in the short term and I quote Stefano Vassanelli from the University of Padua in Italy:
Pharmaceutical companies could use the chip to test the effect of drugs on neurons, to quickly discover promising avenues of research
It is perhaps a good day if you happen to be a small white mouse in a labratory, and it seems the Connors can live in peace for a while yet...
ENGL just released some info on their brand new amp the Invader. It comes in 50, 100 and 150 watt flavors and sports an EL34 powersection and 4 independent channels. These have their own gain and EQ and should make room for alot of versatility, nothing I feel that my amp can't do though! ENGL have been working on something new the last half a year at least and this seems to be it, so I am quite curious to how it sounds.
Come to think of it, this new amp looks like the lovechild of a Powerball and a (Savage) SE, perhaps I need to sit down with my amp and have a little chat about the birds and the bees...
Over the last few weeks we've given Simen Stensland a chance to play with us, and last week we decided to offer him a place in the band as our new drummer! Originally a pianist, Simen has good knowledge in music and is already getting included in the whole Domi creative process, something we had been wanting for a long time.
We just got word back from NRK that they have watched my band Domi's video The Shepherd and want to start airing it on Urørt Jukebox starting tomorrow 17.03.06! This program is on every friday at 14:05-15:35 so for those who are home at that time or have a TV nearby, make sure to watch it!
Let the world domi-nation begin!
Edit: It's friday and the video was now aired twice today I belive, thank you for your votes!!
Scientists have now paired up a six-legged robot with a single-celled organism which goes under the name of Physarum polycephalum. This slime, as it were, lives by a few principles; it shies away from light and prefers dark and humid places, and seeks out bacteria and fungi to engulf and consume;
The mould uses a network of tiny tubes filled with cytoplasm to both sense its environment and decide how to respond to it. Zauner's team decided to harness this simple control mechanism to direct a small six-legged (hexapod) walking bot.
The setup is quite interresting; Basically the robot has light sensors which remotely control how the slime is exposed to light. The slime is itself connected to circuits and when exposed to light, the circuitry will interpret it's reaction and send the information back to the robot which in turn moves away from the light that it is exposed to.
Perhaps not very useful in itself, but the implications for biotech and nanotech are most likely significant.
It's hard not to take notice of the development in recent criminal and violent events here in Norway. There has been gang activities for quite a while, but they mainly shoot at eachother. Also sporadic occurances such as nightclubs getting shot up, or even a restaurant we pass by a couple times a week going to lunch where I remember seeing the police and bulletholes in the windows.
A few days ago one man (who himself was a convicted murderer) was shot once in the head and four times in the body in front of police officers guiding him from the courthouse. This morning another episode happened at a gas station; shots fired between police and a hitman resulting in three people injured; an ex-soccer player for LSK was shot in the back and neck with a shotgun and police officers got hit in the face and chest.
Add to this random acts of violence and other weapon related incidents, rapes, robberies etc. and I see a continuous and gradual increase in serious crimes here in Oslo and Norway in general. Probably everywhere now that I think of it; I was robbed both at gunpoint and at knifepoint when I was living in Basel (Switzerland) which is also considered a very safe place to live. I still feel safe here, but me no likey
I just watched live as the judge read up the judgement to be passed on the 13 people involved in the robbery of a bank in Stavanger April 5th of 2004. The robbery was thoroughly planned, and they were well prepared with weaponry, vests, gas grenades etc. as well as strategic positions and timings - the entire robbery was commando style; A large ammount of shots were fired in the duration and in the process a police officer was shot and killed. The robbers even took hostages and in the end managed to flee and the cars were found later burned out.
While saddened by such events happening here in general, I am encouraged by the fact that they were caught and now sentenced. The sentences were as follows, as well as a total of around 55 million NOK in damages;
.. I'm still I'm still Spazzy from the block. Erm, right.
Check out these screenshots from the two games in my posession: Call of Duty 2 and Project Gotham Racing 3. Both games look absolutely sick and are a blast to play, both in single player and online through live. Click the images for larger versions!
In PGR3 everything looks absolutely fantastic, from the buildings and skies to the way the sunlight bligds you momentarily coming out of a tunnel and the way the cars look so shiny that they reflect this beautiful world around them perfectly. I had a great time playing PGR and PGR2 for the XBOX so I'm psyched! Just bought it the other day!
COD2 sports a very smooth framerate as well which makes for fantastic gameplay. Add to that lovely graphics and sound you have a great, hectic and immersive WW2 shooter. Great singleplayer experience, but even better multiplayer - I used to be hardcore into first person shooters online such as Quake 2 and 3 so this feels like home, only it used to be alot easier with a mouse and keyboard. New challenges!
Well, I had to do it. After having Paulo over with his 360 a few weekends now playing it on live, I gave in and purchased the premium pack along with Call of Duty 2.
There is alot of fun to be had with games in single player, but also ultimately over and over again online on live. I am quite parcial to some of the games as well that you can download in the Xbox Live Arcade, such as Geometry Wars and Marble Blast. Also being able to download tons of trailers and game demos is a great feature.
Pardon the pun, but yesterday I recieved my 3rd ENGL as well as two more positive things happened
The amp arrived after having sent two back on warranty returns. This one looks to be perfect and I even had the store give it a testrun before they sent it, so it was indeed ready to rock when I got home last night. Finally! Also looking for a cab to go with my new amp, and I will most likely go with a Bogner loaded with v30s. They have a real nice and oversized 2x12 as well so I am not yet sure what to go for, but either way it really is one of the better cabs around so it will rule reagrdless.
We rehearsed with a potential new drummer as well, for whom I didn't have too high hopes. What a surprise I got! Knew all our songs, played them at double speed, and we even jammed out some covers in their entirety - Battery, Four Horsemen and Breadfan to name a few. A few drawbacks, be testing him again next week so we'll see then!
Also my building has been trying to throw Misha out as there has been rules against keeping animals. Yesterday we got the reply to the request I sent to the board to keep her - and they accepted, so there's good news #3. Already been around to all the other tenants making sure they're fine with us having a dog, just have to collect all their signatures and we should be OK.
A nice turn of the SPZluck there I'd say, Bo Selecta!
My Opera
I just read this terrible bit of news; Deshaun Holton, also known as the rapper Proof, was shot and killed at the night club Triple C in Detroit. Deshaun was declared dead when the ambulance arrived at Conner Creek Medical Center. 
(100%)
