Here are my entries for the Overclockers Australia MSI contest.

The contest asks to see some MSI products amusingly or cleverly inserted into iconic or famous pictures, or famous places, historic moments, scenes from movies, etc with the following high res pics:

Z68A-GD80; http://media.msi.com/main.php?g2_itemId=64090
580 Lightning: http://media.msi.com/main.php?g2_itemId=62586
6970 Lightning; http://media.msi.com/main.php?g2_itemId=62532
Big Bang Marshal: http://media.msi.com/main.php?g2_itemId=59752

These are rough.

Behold the mighty MSI N580GTX Lightning

Introducing the New MSI Type R6970 Daleks

Choose Life, Choose MSI

I came top 5 which was a pleasant surprise!

Here are some pics of the prizes:

The MSI Chopper

The MSI Gamer Bag

Prepare for Take Off

Mog Hunting

Well it has been 7 days now without a traditional analogue cigarette and I am feeling fantastic.  I first bought a Joye 501 e-cig starter kit a few months ago and slowly reduced my cigarette intake over the coarse of 2 months and finally removed tobacco from my system just before the recent Australian Cig Tax hike.

If you are a smoker, seriously try these devices.  Along with the natural chemicals in tobacco created from combustion (burning of the cig) there are almost 600 man made artificial additives in them approved by our very own government.

In Australia, tobacco is not actually classified as a food or a drug and so there are no standards or controls on what may be used or left on tobacco, including agricultural chemicals and additives.

I have been smoking tobacco for a long time and during the last 2 years I have tried on numerous occasions to stop smoking or even cut down my daily intake.  I tried the patches which did nothing for me, the gum which made me nauseous and going Cold Turkey.  The problem is that Cigarettes hook people in different ways, for me it is probably the routine and the hit of dense smoke in my mouth.  Being a fan of the internet in general I remember last year reading about the electronic cigarette, I initially discounted due to the seemingly absurd nature of the device.  The e-cig (popular term) is supposed to be able to deliver a realistic smoking experience for a long time smoker – Does it actually deliver?

Even before I tried an e-cigarette I was extremely skeptical and no doubt if you are reading this, you’re also wondering “how close to a real fag is it?”

Smokers enjoy their cigarettes. If you smoke then you know what I’m talking about. For many smokers it is a love hate relationship. You know it’s bad for you but you enjoy the sensation and the actual ritual of smoking. That’s why nicotine delivery alternatives like gum and the patch don’t cut it… they don’t simulate the actual smoking experience.

This is where the e-cigarette comes in. It claims to replicate a real smoking experience but without the same health risks and other drawbacks of smoking tobacco. And you know what? It does a pretty good job. It may not be exactly the same but the similarities are great enough to satisfy most smokers.

The parts of a common electronic cig:

A. LED light cover
B. battery (also houses circuitry)
C. atomizer (heating element)
D. cartridge (mouthpiece).

When I first read about electric smoking I thought it was more a novelty than an actual healthier replacement to traditional cigs. Replacing your smoking addiction with a  battery powered cigarette sounds ridiculous.  It wasn’t until a week ago that I finally decided to try these E-Cigs myself.

I received my 501 startup kit with great enthusiasm, Gadget freaks will love these things and it wasn’t long before I tried my first puff.

The sensation of the vapor is incredibly similar to real cigarette smoke. The vapor has a warmth to it and it feels like real smoke when you inhale. You also get that immediate nicotine sensation which is very satisfying.

The taste is very similar to tobacco but it isn’t exactly the same.  The vapor is a bit smoother and cleaner tasting and after a few hours I actually preferred the sensation over regular smokes.  My first purchase  included some other flavors like Pepsi, Whiskey, Coffee and vanilla and Double Mint – I must admit, Double Mint is fantastic with a morning coffee.

When you blow out the vapor you see a cloud that looks exactly like smoke but without the lingering smell. As a matter of fact the vapor is nearly odorless and the cloud (which is just vaporized water and nicotine) quickly disappears without a trace. The fact that the breath, hands, hair and clothes don’t stink is a huge plus!  I was having the Double Mint near my sister who commented that it smelt like breath freshener.

I terms of pricing, if you are a pack a day smoker expect to save over $300 a month if you make the conversion to electronic cigarettes – even more in various regions as a pack of cigarettes in Australia is now over $11.  A single nicotine cartridge for most brands of electronic cigarettes is around 25c to $2.00 and is the equivalent of about 30+ cigarettes.

Cigarette smoking is bad, we have all seen the adds and media propaganda, but at least now there is a healthier and more cost efficient alternative.  My positive Electronic cigarette experience motivated me to create this E-Cig post and create a blog here and I hope my experience helps you decide if this is something that may benefit you or someone you love.  Coming from a hardcore Ex analog ciggie smoker, I can honestly recommend giving the electronic cigarette a try… you may find yourself throwing out the tobacco cigs only after a few days – It really does work!

Yesterday I received my Eastmall Riva, so I haven't had much time with the device but so far I am actually quite impressed.   Considering the price in comparison to other Ego models, the EM Riva Kit would make a great impact for anyone wanting to give up traditional tobacco smoking and has struggled using the old 501 ecig brands.

The EM Riva is Eastmalls version of the ever popular EGo with similar but slightly improved specs, most notably the battery which has been going for 8 hours of normal use so far:

Riva Specs

M-Riva is a specially made product for Eastmall .

• No issues with the manual button .
• Better battery quality
• The shape for Riva is better looking than similiar ones.
• You saved at least $18 from any other sellers

Starter kit includes:

• 2 pcs of 510 atomizer
• 2 pcs of 750mah battery
• 1 pc fast charger (only takes 2 and a half hours to fully charge the batts) plus Wall charger
• 10 pcs blank cart
• 1 pc cone

Eastmall will give 6 months on warranty for the RiVa kit and 3 months on the battery.

Compared to my HG 501's the quality of the Riva is substantially better, it doesn't feel cheap at all.
Thank god it doesn't have the LED at the end – just the button glows blue making stealth vaping a whole lot easier.  It also stands upright with no issue because of the flat tip.

I couldn't calculate charge time as the two batteries only took 10 minutes to charge indicating they were pre-charged at the factory though I will post more thoughts on this device after some more use.

Obligatory Box Shot

Front of the Riva Box, it is magnetic.

Inside the Riva Box, nicely packed!

All the contents of the EM-Riva with bonus Large Atty

The Riva Blue Led Button

The EM Riva assembled

I have just recently purchased the new Muse album: The Resistance and have been memorised by it ever since.  The album for me, is a masterpiece and lead singer Matthew Bellamy is a god damn genius.  The ability to transcend genres and make a truly exciting piece of musical art is a rare feat these days - especially in a market saturated with synthetic pop idols and a limited and controlling media landscape.

Why mention V?

The flow or order of the album seems to be an alternative take on Revelation, be it the end of days, Armageddon or what ever you want to call it.  It appears to be a fragmented idea on existence, one that deals with love, aliens, death and DNA.

The parallels it has with the old (soon to be new again) TV series "V" which also had parallels with the Nazi Holocaust is uncanny. I re-watched the Mini series not too long ago so the Story is still relatively fresh in my mind.

Looking at the official Muse wiki on the album: http://www.musewiki.org/The_Resistance_%28album%29 quite a few songs draw from George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four which was indeed an original V influence.

Unnatural Selection: http://www.musewiki.org/Unnatural_Selection_%28song%29 suggests:

"that the song might address the idea of the British royal family being descendants of giant lizards, as proposed by David Icke among others"

Lizards.....Its the damn V soundtrack!

Exogenesis: http://www.musewiki.org/Exogenesis:_Symphony_%28song%29

"The song tells the story of humanity leaving a destructive Earth behind to populate elsewhere in the Universe." and "life is seeded across the universe from other sources, for example, arriving to Earth on comets, hence "cross pollination""

Anyway, this is just my take on the album, and as music is about as subjective a topic as you can get, don't blame me if I am completely off.

I am usually a pretty mellowed blogger, not much gets me fired up.  This post will be short and sweet and to the point, but I will follow it up on my housedad blog in more detail (and less swearing) as it affects everyone.

The point of this post?

Artificial Sweeteners are deadly

I don't often swear a great deal, but the exploitive companies allowing this sort of bullshit to be propagated into our society can go fuck themselves.

With our oldest son, the wife and I had noticed considerable  random behavioural issues which seemed to be directly related to what my son was eating and drinking, this was about 4 months ago.

From his diet we have eliminated artificial colours, preservatives and most of the commonly known dodgy additives from his diet.

The changes in his behaviour since the switch have been incredible.  He changed from a demanding, tantrum powered and extremely unfocused little boy into a clever, imaginative and the most loving kid you have ever met.

He has always liked cordial in the past but we could never brand that didn't have any of the bad additives until recently.  SPC have relaunched their fruit juice and cordial range with a healthy preservative free focus.  Their cordial still has preservatives in it but the cordial concentrate seemingly was OK.  If only we had read the label a bit better.

When we go shopping, both the Wife and I have learnt what additive codes should not be purchased, we both failed to understand the word SUCRALOSE on the bottle.

A few drinks from this cordial - I am talking 2 and a half glasses over the course of a day, turned my son into a Hell spawn demon.  After going to the toilet constantly over the course of today and a few hours after the last drink, my poor sons reaction was like someone coming down off ecstasy.  He was screaming and crying uncontrollably, unable to focus and telling us to "leave him alone" - almost having some sort breakdown, He is only 3 years old for christs sake.

Whilst writing this he has been tossing and turning in bed and waking up crying numerous times.

I just do not understand how these sort of known mind altering and PROVEN cancer causing artificial additives can be allowed in our food.

The Australian Government promotes these additives in our food as a way of stopping overweight kids.  What happened to research and a bit of god damned exercise?

Some Research:

Sucralose or Chlorinated sugar

description from Sweetpoison.com

Splenda, also known as sucralose, is an artificial sweetener, which is a chlorinated sucrose derivative. Facts about this artificial chemical are as follows:

Pre-approval research showed that sucralose caused shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage) and enlarged liver and kidneys.

A possible problem with caecal enlargement and renal mineralization has been seen in post approval animal research.

Sucralose Breaks Down

Despite the manufacturer's mis-statements, sucralose does break down into small amounts of 1,6-dichlorofructose, a chemical which has not been adequtely tested in humans. More importantly, sucralose must break down in the digestive system. If it didn't break down and react at all (as the manufacturer claims), it would not chemically-react on the tongue to provide a sweet taste. The truth is that sucralose does break down to some extent in the digestive system.

Independent, Long-Term Human Research

None. Manufacturer's "100's of studies" (some of which show hazards) were clearly inadequate and do not demonstrate safety in long-term use.

Chlorinated Pesticides

The manufacturer claims that the chlorine added to sucralose is similar to the chlorine atom in the salt (NaCl) molecule. That is not the case. Sucralose may be more like ingesting tiny amounts of chlorinated pesticides, but we will never know without long-term, independent human research.

Conclusion

While it is unlikely that sucralose is as toxic as the poisoning people are experiencing from Monsanato's aspartame, it is clear from the hazards seen in pre-approval research and from its chemical structure that years or decades of use may contribute to serious chronic immunological or neurological disorders.

It is very important that people who have any interest in their health

stay aware from the highly toxic sweetener aspartame and other questionable sweeteners such as sucralose (Splenda), and acesulfame-k (Sunette, Sweet & Safe, Sweet One). Please see the extensive resources for sweeteners on the Healthier Sweetener Resource List.

Aspartame Nutrasweet, Equal

Commonly found in Coke brands like Diet Coke and Sprite Zero, Cordial concentrates - pretty much any diet food on the market. Well our market as it has been banned numerous places overseas and a lot of schools in the UK. It is even worse than Sucralose.

From splendaexposed.com

The dangers of aspartame are now widely known, but the risks of using Splenda are not documented – until now. Splenda may not penetrate the blood brain barrier as aspartame does, hence entering the brain and creating neurotoxin havoc at the brain center, but Splenda CAN adversely affect the body in several ways because it IS a chemical substance and not natural sugar.

Has the FDA repeated the aspartame approval process for sucralose, allowing a product with proven carcinogens to flood our food supply?  Only time will tell, as it has with aspartame. Yet at the cost of human lives.  Read more here

Sweeteners to avoid

Refined sugar (sucrose)

Corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup

Sucralose (Splenda)

Aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal)

Saccharine (Sweet 'N Low)

I will detail the lifestyle change regarding "clean" food and our family on Housedad.org in the next few weeks.   In the meantime the failsafe guide chart we have been following can be found here: www.fedup.com.au

COLOURS

102,104,107,110,122,123,124,127,128,

129,132,133,142,151,155

natural colour 160b (annatto)

PRESERVATIVES

Sorbates                     200-203

Benzoates                  210-213

Sulphites                    220-228

Nitrates, nitrites          249-252

Propionates                280-283

SYNTHETIC ANTIOXIDANTS

Gallates                     310-312

TBHQ, BHA, BHT        319-321

FLAVOUR ENHANCERS

Glutamates incl MSG 620-625

Ribonucleotides          627, 631, 635

Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein (HVP)

ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURS

No numbers since they are trade secrets

Finally got round to finishing my HTPC room with a nice bargain entertainment unit from Dare Gallery.  Had a few issues with trying to get the HDMI cable into the HTPC - was a bit too short though finally managed to squeeze the damn thing in.

Here are some pics of the destruction in action:

Now to cut into the wall.... Again!

Cables everywhere.

Looks like fun dad

Making a mess

Thanks for our new cubby house dad!

Almost done - testing HTPC with a JJJ x264 rip of Lily Allen.

DVD Test - Yes its Bob the builder.

All Done!  The PC HDMI cable was a pain - Too short.