My Top 3 Posts

Since I started blogging I have covered a wide variety of topics and upon looking over some of my old posts I notices a few that got much more attention then the rest. Now that I can see the kinds of things that draw attention I will begin to focus on the subject areas involved in the following posts

#3 - Gaming PC Build

For more posts on PCs, Video Games, and Gaming check out Dom's Tech Blog

#2 - Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter

For more movie reviews check out Dom's Movie Reviews

#1 - Doctor Who

I currently do not have a blog that encompasses this topic so for now any farther post will be posted right here. (but I may create a blog for everything Whovian)

Also, If your into cars check out The Lube Tech

Gaming PC Build

So after a bit of a break away from blogging it drew me back in. I've taken notes on what articles people view more and I hope to stimulate some comments now that I actually have daily traffic. Thank you all!

So I have recently decided to build my own PC. I have been a console gamer for years. Starting with the NES then I finally got a PS2 and finally a 360 Elite which I have been getting a bit bored of. Maybe its because I'm anticipating the release of Black Ops 2 (I bought the Care Package so stay tuned for pictures of the unboxing) or maybe its because the Xbox itself is getting old. My switch to PC gaming is most likely the cause of one particular game that is releasing at the end of this year, Day Z (I am a but obsessed with it at this point so look forward to hearing about it a lot in future posts). So here I am, a simple gearhead who's most technological achievement has been HTML coding of my High School and I have decided to build a PC...probably mot the smartest idea but I'm determined. After hours of reading articles and watching Youtube videos, I decided I was smart enough to look around Newegg and see what I could put together. At first I tried to budget build one for about $500 but quickly realized that it wouldn't work as well as I would hope for gaming. So I uped the budget and put together a nice setup. I had one of my buddies who has built several computers and he gave me a few pointers where I could improve and I went back to the drawling board. My third attempt turned out much better. Here it is:

Cooler Master HAF XM Case

2X Cooler Master 200mm Case Fans

Cooler Master 850W Power Supply 80 Plus Bronze

WD Black 1 TB Hard Drive

Asus CD-DVD Burner

EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 660 Ti   OR   Asus SuperClocked GeForce GTX 660 Ti

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8 GB)   OR    Corsair Vengeance 8 GB (2 x 4 GB)

Intel Core i7 - 3770K

Asus Sabertooth Z77 Motherboard

Asus 21.5" Full HD HDMI Monitor

Microsoft Sidewinder Keyboard

Microsoft Wireless Mouse

Microsoft Windows 7 OS


Now all I have to do is find a way to pay for it all haha 

P.S. The reason for cheeping out on some of the items like the keyboard and mouse and not getting an SSD was to keep the budget under $1500. I just want to get started and I will upgrade as I go. If you have any questions, comments, or ideas to help me raise money to build it, feel free to post in the comments.

Alternative Fuel

I am a huge supporter of clean and green energy. I don't mean clean coal or natural gas either. What I'm talking about is 100% renewable energy like solar, wind, hydroelectric, and bio fuels. In may of last year I wrote and posted the fallowing note on my facebook. I unfortunately got no reaction from my peers. I just want to spread my ideas with the world and if you don't agree with me that's ok.

To Whom It May Concern,

(In your everyday life, if you make use of anything that directly or indirectly involves Oil, Coal or Natural Gas, this concerns you.)

Why does it always seem as if people assume that the world is going to continue on indefinitely as it is? Several things in the media over the past few weeks as well as a few documentaries have led to me writing this.

Let me address three of the many things that I have major issues with.

Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal are all NON-Renewable resources. This means that they are finite and WILL run out. Recently, I saw a commercial for one of the big name oil companies that made a statement that we can drill for natural gas just beneath the surface and that there is enough to satisfy our energy needs for “the next 100 (one hundred) years.” I do not doubt that there is a large amount of natural gas in the world. My issue with this matter is that switching from oil to natural gas (or coal) is like switching from one drug to another.

The second major issue I have is with “Clean Coal”. I’ll say it again – Coal is NOT renewable. Once again, I do not doubt the ability of coal to support our energy habits for many years. But why should we further pollute the earth when we have the technology to clean it up? Clean coal claims to produce fewer pollutants due to the filters in the smoke stacks. While this may be true, they are still producing copious amounts of pollution.

My biggest issue of all is with oil. It is everywhere and it both directly and indirectly affects each and every one of us. We lie, cheat, and steal for it, and recently even gone to war for it. Don’t get me wrong, the War on Terror is important. But are terrorists REALLY why we are over there? Let me remind you that we have found absolutely no WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction). After all, that was our original excuse for invading the Middle East, wasn’t it? I’m not discrediting the war, but merely pointing out that we are fighting a war on the second largest oil fields in the world. Considering we are mostly tapped out of oil on our own soil (other than Alaska and that brings up a completely different argument), I think the U.S. found this to be a major swaying point, when it came time to go to war.

These three issues are just the tip of the iceberg. Money, power, and corruption all play their own roles in these resources and because of that they remain in control of our everyday lives. They cause continued destruction of our environment. All we have to do is make a choice, unite, and fight to improve the environment and the future of the world for the next generation. If we continue to use resources like we are currently, it would take multiple earths to sustain us. Renewable and sustainable energy is the future, why not start now?

The point that I am trying to stress here is that the US is addicted to Fossil Fuels and we have already shot down many attempts to make an energy policy that will slowly incorporate more and more renewable options until we can completely eliminate our dependence. I'm not saying that we have to do it all at once but I do think we should take a few big steps toward energy independence. I really admire Germany for their approach and plan to power the country with 80% renewable energy. If you have any questions, complaints, or contributions feel free to comment. 

Doctor Who

I first discovered Doctor Who via my fiance's tumbler. Now for those of you who haven't watched Doctor Who, you should. It is potentially the greatest show ever made. The best part is that it never gets old and the writers are always finding new and creative ways to reinvent it and considering the Doctor "regenerates" and becomes a different person and is always finding new companions, it means that the characters never get stale. If you would like to learn more about Doctor Who and become a Whovian yourself check out the official BBC site here or for BBC America here. Other information can be found at IMDB here and of course on wiki here. Sorry for all the links haha. The best way to truly find out more about Doctor Who is to get on Netflix and watch a few episodes. I would personally recommend starting at the beginning in 2005. Its a bit cheesy in the first few seasons but trust me the props and monsters get much, much better.

The 10th doctor and Rose are by far my favorite couple.

Davis Tennant was my favorite Doctor so far but Mat Smith is just as good. Season 7 should be coming out toward the end of the year on BBC. The possible air date is Saturday August 25, 2012 but all that we know for sure so far is that filming started in February and that Part 1 of season 7 will begin in Autumn of this year and Part 2 will begin in early 2013.

This Comic is SO true!

Pictures via Pintrest

Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter

I went to see this movie last night with some friends and my fiance and it was too good not to post about. IMDB only gives it a 3/5 and RottenTomatoes only gives it a 2/5. Don't be deterred by these low ratings, it’s totally worth it. If you like gore and laugh at inappropriate moments (Mary Todd Lincoln - "Abe we're going to be late to the theater" Que my friends laughing out loud in the theater), you'll love it. If you like movies with character development and historically accurate content, you'll hate it. I am a bit of a history buff so the fact that there are flags in the background with fifty stars when there weren’t fifty states at the time was slightly disappointing but I got over it. The vampires where a great (and I'm not really a fan of vampires, I prefer zombies) and Abe was a badass. Who wouldn't want to see the 16th president of the United States slaughtering countless numbers of vampires, and make a tree explode with one swing of an ax? I think that is about all I can really say without giving too much of the movie away. They did leave a bit of an open ending to where they could make a sequel, although it probably wouldn't include Abe, due to the whole John Wilkes Booth thing at the theater.

In the words of my good friends Nick and Cory "Best Movie Ever?"

Chevy Volt

 
The Chevy Volt was a concept car that was first introduced around the year 2006 but was not put on the assembly lines until recently. The original concept for the Volt was to make a fully electric car that could handle the average person's daily commute (roughly 40 miles). The idea of Chevy making a full electric car was great but it didn't quite go as planned. Originally the Volt was designed to look like a futuristic muscle car (above image), but I guess Chevy decided that it would give people the wrong impression. After all, we wouldn't want people to think electric cars are cool or fast or anything, then people might stop driving gas guzzling trucks and SUV's and further fattening the car/petrol company's wallets.

Instead of the sleek and attractive design shown in the concept, the final product came out looking more like a Prius than a muscle car. The "all electric" idea talked about in the concept was scraped and a small petrol engine was added to the car to supplement the power supply. The power of the car is also lacking. There are three modes in which include Normal, Sport, and Mountain and even with the car in sport mode and wet asphalt it proved to be very difficult for me to make it break traction. Perhaps the biggest problem with the Volt is in its push button start. I have personally witnessed someone forget to power down before getting out, and several hours later, it was still on - despite the fact that the key was not in it. One part of the original concept that did meet the expectations of the designers it the battery range, which is exactly 40 miles on a full charge. Even though the car is not all that I hoped for, and Chevy changes the car almost completely since the concept was born, it is still a step in the right direction - one that I think all car companies should be making.

Call of Duty Black Ops

Since the game came out, days of my life have been lost to Black Ops with no regrets. The story line was relatively short, but nonetheless eventful, and could easily be finished in one day of heavy gaming. The majority of my time, however, is spent playing Zombies and Multiplayer. I was a huge fan of World at War because of the Zombie maps, and had actually bought all the expansions for the zombie map alone. Unfortunately, in Black Ops, zombies has lost some of its appeal. Although the open spaces in the new maps leave more room for an offensive player to run, those of us that enjoy a more defensive game find that the massive new maps often make it relatively difficult for teammates to revive their wounded comrades. The maps that do appeal to a defensive player now have so many levels, loosing your team happens all too often. If I could ask for one thing of the next CoD game with Zombies, it would be that they make maps, big and small, appealing to all styles of game-play.

Now on to the multiplayer... I was never a huge fan of the mulitplayer until recently, with the Nuketown 24/7 promotion. Since then, nothing has been the same. Prior to the 24/7 promo, I was strictly a Team Deathmatch kind of player, which lead to long level grinding. But now, my eyes are opened to the wonders of Domination, Search and Destroy, and the other game modes. I have come to realize how easy it is to level up. My issue with the multiplayer in Black Ops is the completely overwhelming air support from the killstreaks. I am relieved  to hear that the developers have listened to the community and supposedly fixed the problem for MW3.

Overall, Call of Duty is an amazing franchise and I will definitely be purchasing the next installment and (to the dismay of my fiance) am highly anticipating the next set of zombie maps in CoD 9.