Bleach - Anime

So it seems Random Shit Of The Day isn't gonna happen. The random shit is out there, just not enough of it so I can find it fast enough and post it here. Anyhow, I've been preoccupied watching this anime called Bleach. Kind of hard to explain it, but here goes.

The main charachter Ichigo can see and touch ghosts. Then he comes across a "Death God" who sends souls that have been lingering around to heaven or hell. So one thing leads to another and she imbues Ichigo with most of her death god powers. Due to the process and Ichigo's unusual strength, she has been temporarily weakened. Now Ichigo is doing some death god stuff for and with her. The story continues...

Check it out, it seems really cool so far.

Random Shit Of The Day

The Rocketeer should have had a water jetpack. Well, I didn't really see that movie all those years ago, just bits and pieces. What I did see of it really sucked, it definately would have been a lot better if I saw some water jetpack action in it. If you want to see what I'm talking about, click the link below.

Left click here: Water Bottle Jetpack

WEP Cracked In 10 Minutes!

As mentioned yesterday, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) can be cracked in 10 mins. I have done this personally, so I know it works. Here's a site that has a video on there in flash format demostrating exactly that. It's very cool and shows you just how easy it is to get past your WEP encryption, if you use it that is. If you're interested, the Linux Live CD distribution used in the video is available here.

Even after seeing how weak WEP is, it's still a good idea to have it on. The majority of people likely to leech off your wireless connection will not know how to do this, nor own or bother to get the correct equipment to perform this process. WEP will keep most people out, just not the select few in your area who know what they're doing.

Link: Cracking WEP in 10 minutes

Random Shit Of The Day

I might make this a regular thing or Random Shit Of The Week, who knows. I just came across something very random and weird. Check out this page, wait for the entire movie to load before playing. You click on the glowing objects to make something happen. You may find it a bit disturbing, but if you're on 56k don't even bother.

Clicky: "Play With Me"

Lack Of Posts

Well, I've finally checked back here after a long hiatus. Got myself a smicko new computer so now I can finally get into some PC gaming, which I have missed out on for the better part of 2 years. The main reason for not posting here, new computer or not, is World of Warcraft. Damn, that has sucked up so much of my time it's not funny.

Besides that, now I have gotten back into the world of tech and kept up with what the ex-members of The Screen Savers (of TechTV) have been up to. Most members chat on a podcast called This Week In Tech released at least once a week, a very interesting listen.

If you're into the more shady side of things, you might be interested in TheBroken or Systm. Kevin Rose and Dan Huard are involed in the previous 2 projects full-time now, both are very cool to watch. I'll post links for all of these on the side. Another shady and weird sort of show is From The Shadows, finally found out about that a few days ago, very cool. Check out their Box 3.0 show if you're interested in WEP cracking. I tested their method on a mates network, the WEP encryption was cracked in about 10 mins... not bad for a first time effort.

Anyway, enough rambling for a bit. I'll post some random shit later on... it is a long weekend after all. In the meantime, you might wanna check out some of those techy podcasts or movies.

Sin City - Movie

Murder, betrayal, prostitution and corruption. Sin City has it all and a lot more.

I've been hearing many great things about the graphic novels of the same name which I haven't had a chance to read yet. I was quite happy to hear that a movie based on it was being released.

Sin City is a very intruiguing movie from the very beginning. It is presented using 3 different stories, broken into 4 parts. These at first seem to be apart from eachother, but parts of each story start to intertwine with one another. This happens more and more as the film progresses. Would it surprise you that Quentin Tarantino had a hand in this movie after hearing that.

Although this sounds like another Pulp Fiction, it is far from that. This movie has a more film noir feel to it, almost like a very violent Humphrey Bogart movie, with the cool lines to match. Shooting the film in black and white helped to add the "classic" feel to this movie that was needed to pull it off. There are dashes of red and yellow thrown in around dramatic moments, as it was done in the comics.

In a very strange way, the 3 directors involved in this film: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino (as a guest director) were able to transfer the feel of a comic book onto the big screen. The most obvious technique, besides the character presentation, was in the car chases and the way the cars move. You will know what I mean if you see this movie, it seems very strange at first, but it works so well. Having the story's creator on hand to have a direct say in how it should be presented doesn't hurt either.

Pros: The cast! Could they have chosen a better bunch of actors? Watch Mickey Rourke's efforts in this film, he is brilliant. All exceptional choices besides Brittany Murphy, who could have done a better job. She did improve slightly after her first line in the film, I'll give her that. The cinematography was fantastic with the cameras were always in the right spot, framing each moment prefectly. Dialogue was another thing that I found almost flawless, complemented by the clever narration with its black humour.

Cons: After seeing this movie, I want to read the graphic novels and then see the movie again. All time and money. Not really a downside, but hey.

This is a very violent film, but it is partially disguised by being shot in black and white. However, you will still cringe at many points throughout. If you are a bit squeamish, you have been warned. Don't be swayed by this too much, it is a brilliant story that could not have been presented any better. Once again, Rodgriguez proves to be very stylish and extremely talented. Together with Frank Miller, I think they have produced exactly what they set out to achieve.

Sin City has plenty of style and the substance to match. This is the pinnacle of film noir.

Overall 4.9 / 5

Elfen Lied - Anime

Elfen Lied tells the story of a new breed of human being born, noticed as mutants with horns growing from their skull. From a young age, their instinct is to kill many humans by use of their telekinetic type abilities. They are able to control numerous "vectors", these are basically invisible arms that can control objects, kill people and transmit the virus that gave birth to them in the first place.

This is one of the most violent anime's I have ever seen with nudity all over the shop. Combine these things together and you'd expect a very shallow story with nothing but action and naked girls to keep you interested. The opposite is true in this particular case.

All the main characters are well thought out. Each of them has a backstory, though some are more detailed than others. It tells a very engrossing tale and leaves you begging for more at the end of each episode. It only goes for 13 episodes, with an additonal 14th (and much needed) episode to be released on DVD. So it's easily watchable in one sitting, which I did besides the meal and toilet breaks. The series ended kind-of abruptly, but it was clever. I'm still dying to see more though.

I definitely recommend this to any anime fan, over 18 of course. But it all boils down to whether or not you can stand all the blood, gore and nudity... no matter how old or mature you are. Even with the vast amounts of violence and bare skin, it's worth sitting through it all to experience the rivoting storyline.

Overall 4.8 / 5

Strung Out - Gaelic Club Show

I went to see the Strung Out show last night at The Gaelic Club in the city. Had a bit of a shocker after I got out the front and lined up. I realised that I had forgotten my ID and this was an over 18's gig. One of the bouncers started to walk along the line checking peoples ID as he went. I took the opportunity and left the line, telling my mate I'd be back in a minute. I waited until he worked his way a bit further up from where I was (near the front) and then I made my way back.

I said to my mate "Lucky he checked ID's that way and not at the door eh?" Shortly after, they opened the door and started letting people in. I saw people getting their wallets out and knew I was screwed. When I got to the front, I played dumb and showed the guy my ticket (which was on a keycard type thing from MoshTix). He asked to see my ID, so I had to tell him I left it at home. He asked me to stand to the side as my mate went inside.

Realising I couldn't get in, my mate came out and asked what I wanted to do. I decided to wait to see what the bouncer did. After the next guy went in, the bouncer turned to me and asked: "What's your star sign?" I was taken by surprise by such a random question... "My star sign? Scorpio." He told me to go on inside. Fucking cheering!

So I went in, grabbed a t-shirt. Damn they look spiffy too, see for yourself.

The first band was awesome, don't know what their name is though. Useless ID was on next, but surprisingly not as good as the band before them. The death-circles started cranking as soon as they started playing and it was hectic as. I was standing next to this pillar with broken marble all around it, a bit above waist height. I can't remember how many times I got smashed into that marble, but it was a lot and it fucking hurt. Don't ask me why I continued to stand there for the duration of the entire show.

When Strung Out finally came on, the entire room went fucking mental. It was like The Gaelic Club turned into a massive death-circle, I've never seen anything like it before. They rocked hard and put on one of the best shows I've ever seen, playing all the songs I wanted to hear except Monster. But still, fucking awesome show. Strung Out rocks, best punk band ever.