Boys and their toys!

Our "pub" where you can post about things completely Off Topic or about non-silent PC issues.

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alleycat
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Post by alleycat » Sun Feb 15, 2009 5:00 am

Hey Kate, nice to see you. And Mathias, is that really you? All these years reading your posts and I had somehow assumed that you were male (not that I can remember you saying anything that would indicate this). Never assume...

Oh, and thanks for the tipoff about linguistics :wink:

Kate
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Post by Kate » Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:41 pm

alleycat wrote:Hey Kate, nice to see you. And Mathias, is that really you? All these years reading your posts and I had somehow assumed that you were male (not that I can remember you saying anything that would indicate this). Never assume...

Oh, and thanks for the tipoff about linguistics :wink:
thank you!

mathias
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Post by mathias » Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:12 pm

alleycat wrote:Hey Kate, nice to see you. And Mathias, is that really you?
Err, sorry about that, it wasn't a very good choice of image to use.

Image

I've realized I had some with a bit more context at hand, like this one.

alleycat
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Post by alleycat » Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:52 pm

:oops: I also had long hair once...

spookmineer
Patron of SPCR
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Post by spookmineer » Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:10 pm

I still do 8)

Kate
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Post by Kate » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:16 pm

I have shorter hair,

Image

My hair is still short but, when I was very young my hair was pretty long... Somehow i regret cutting it...

Eyedolon
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Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Eyedolon » Wed Feb 18, 2009 8:14 pm

I think it's definitely a male-oriented hobby. Look at gaming! How many reasonable female leads are there in games? To me, only Zoe from Left4Dead sticks out off the top of my head. And that one doesn't really count.

In my computer science class, there are 4 girls and probably 35-odd guys. I'm not a CS major though - when I was, the balance was even less favorable.

It's not all bad though, when I played MMOs all but one of my GMs were female, and one of them led *the* dominant guild on that server. One of my very good friends was a clan leader back in the Diablo days as well, although she's not a hardware junkie. I knew of a few girls in my Cal-O CSS clan as well, and a few in my DoD community.

As far as hardware is concerned, it's definitely not common. Though mathias, I wouldn't say "letting it get noisy" so much as not spending effort to *quiet* the damn thing =). My past computers have used loud, flashy, blingy cases and the truth of the matter is now that I can afford good parts I don't need the case to stand out. Another good friend of mine had a bit of a jaw-drop the first time he peered through the window of my 900. When I take it to parties it doesn't attract attention through lights and jet turbine noise, it attracts attention because I'm cranking settings on a 24".

I do think there's something in all men's upbringing that leads us to be more outgoing and garish. In my previous hobby of car audio, ladies with sick rides were virtually nonexistent - but ladies in bikinis "modelling" the cars were almost universal. In my new hobby of snowboarding, when guys in the X-Games pull 720s off, it's considered a space-filler - the same is not true of the ladies. I think it's just something about boys - I never heard my girl friends peer-pressuring to try something new when I was younger. My father certainly didn't teach me to be aggressive and outgoing - he taught me to be cautious and calculating. And yet, my first serious injury when I was a kid was flipping my downhill mountain bike going probably 60+mph down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. That's not cautious!

There are women who are gearheads - one of my roomies is another mechanic like me. She has noted that here in hicktown, USA, the guys gave her all kinds of attitude when she applied for work as a pit monkey - but she does do the work.

And because you two did - here's me, I'm on the right:
Image

Kate
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Post by Kate » Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:54 pm

Nice photo,

There are plenty female leads in games... Lara Croft? Zelda? Kim Possible? Super Princess Peach? Heavenly Sword? I played the old King Quest Games, and two of those had female protagonists don’t remember which ones... Well even power puff girl’s games and winx club games... LOL...

In MMO games there are more females than males playing, somehow the virtual reality world and the interaction I have with the game, the story plot, the players, attracts me a lot, and it attracts a lot of other women too. However most of the players are a bit more mature, young adults and adults.

I used to play Everquest and Everquest Online Adventures, and I remember most raids lead from out guild "Unnamed!" was lead by a girl, and she was very good. Now a days I play FFXI, for me the game is almost dead, have to wait HOURS for a party, I am seeking for a new MMO to play...

When you mention hardware, I have to think about how I got into this... The only reason I entered in this hobby was because I did not want to spend a small fortune buying a powerful brand name computer so I decided to build a powerful computer my own, for my studies. So I started digging information in the internet, and when I made a research about coolers, I stumbled into SPCR and I pretty much fell in love with it.

Some of my male friends still have those xmas-tree-pc with all the blinking bling, running water, alien oriented cases and funny noises... I always disliked that kind of computer, it is a bit too "aggressive" to my eyes, and it is my opinion though... I know some people like it, but I don’t, I prefer simple, plain, functional...

Well, I would buy light lavender P182 if it was available, but well... there are only two choices, so I picked the cheapest and the one that calls less attention.

All my male friends admire this computer, especially when they see I have 2 T220 22" monitor and will buy another one, it will be a HUGE desktop, will not be game-centered machine, but I do intend to explore the gaming world a bit more, as I said before, simulation and real simulation games somehow attracts me, and of course MMORPGS and RPGS.

Car audio is something I could never understand, I would prefer buying a nice stereo or home theater for the house (I myself have B&W speakers, and Rotels amps, mainly because I enjoy good sound), I always took a lot of care with my hearing, even when I ride the subway, I usually wear ear protection in order to minimize hearing loss...

Furthermore, I love violin I can play a little bit, not professionally, but as a hobby, so I like having my hearing as close to perfection as possible... And somehow... the idea of car audio, dance clubs, they play music SO LOUD that it can easily damage hearing. I can’t even stand iPods, let alone a car jumping with hundreds of watts!

Society worldwide expect us, to be "polite", "feminine", "delicate" and having male-oriented jobs or hobbies do not fit into these categories, so usually we get frowned upon...

But I guess it is ok, the idea of learning something new is exciting, and experimenting is fun... Makes me remember back in the days where I would spend hours and hours playing with an osmotic chemical garden, yes I was a geek when I was small...

Eyedolon
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Post by Eyedolon » Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:54 pm

Lara Croft I purposely avoided. A rack like that proves she's aimed at... a certain audience. Isn't the Legend of Zelda about Link? :lol: Now that you mention it, Heavenly Sword is def female lead - I haven't played it.

I got into the hardware side first when I was maybe 13? 14? it was junior high, and my Gateway 266 wasn't up to playing Counter-strike. I was a little prick back then (now I'm a big prick) and refused to tolerate it, and that's how it started.

I remember a girl friend of mine (whose parents always thought we were dating.. maybe I should have.. ahah!) asking me to help her pick a laptop for college. Her one requirement was that it be pink. And lo and behold, I found a pink Vaio, and life was good.

MMOs are a hard hard drug to quit. I still have flashbacks and withdrawl from wow, where I was a raid-leader and then the guildless healer with the best gear on the server after I transferred. Something about power and influence, even if it all isn't real.

Well, I got into it because I loved bass. Now I'm 21 and my hearing is noticeably worse then most of my friends. Who won that one? I've never been to a club in my life, but I've been staff for car shows with over 100kW of subs in a single lot. My personal car was a 300W "three-block" system for how loud it was at speed. That being said - you'll never understand how bad your car's audio system is until you put aftermarket kit in. I literally never had a clue until I replaced the paper cones with some woven Al kit from a demo car.

Definitely true. I've fit the bill for male-oriented jobs (logistics, ski shop, car audio, mechanic?), but my picture probably shows I'm not exactly built. There have been fools accusing me of batting for the other team just because I'm slim and care about my clothing, you know what I mean?

Oh hell, I'm still a geek. I dislike not knowing things - isn't that the geek way?

Kate
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Post by Kate » Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:13 am

Eyedolon wrote:...now I'm a big prick...
Male pride?? LOL...

Anyways, hey I have a pink vaio, its the last top cr model, which should be already old... Its a model that is only sold in Asia, the Vaio VGN CR-357... I like it so much... its a bit on the slow side tho... Well my perception of "slowness" changed suddenly when I build this quadcore...

In MMO I love support class jobs, healers, bards, mages, you name it... I dont like front line jobs, the so called meat-tanks... I could play a melee, but I would hate playing melee... I like assisting the party, that is the fun for me...

As far your built goes, Id say you are perfectly fine, you dont have Mike Tyson's body (which I dislike btw) but I would say you are a regular "not-so-teenager" anymore! :p

I always believed that its better to have brain instead of built and or look, like I tell my male friends... "If I was in love with two guys, one cute but not so intellingent and the other not so cute but smart, I'd date/marry the smart one"... You see beauty is a lapse, we grow old, we grow ugly..

There are several advantages of being slim... Usually slim people show a lot less age, and when they age, they still look younger.

You like fashion? Thats is cool... I think it is nice when a man knows how to dress-up..

Trust me, those who say you play the other team, are not your friend, and honestly, I bet they dont have a clue on how to dress properly..

I like bass too, but with moderation... My home theater system, has a 15" Velodyne subwoofer, it can shake the whole apartment, I also got 2 Rotel amplifiers and old RB-993 and a RB-1080, oh I love those... Also I bought B&W Speakers, I soooo love the sound of english speakers... I can sit for hours and listen to classical, pop and romantic songs, of course in a moderated -30 or -25 db.... Never too loud...

I like learning new things, actually the capacity to learn is a gift given to all human beings, we should use it all the time... It has nothing to do with being a geek, learning new stuff is exciting, especially when it is something you enjoy!

Computers, especially hardware, was always a nighmare to me, but bit by bit I am learning things, and I am proud of it! :)

Eyedolon
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Post by Eyedolon » Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:05 am

I did a little research, and I think that's the same model we got her. Scored the last one on sale at Fry's!

I love support classes because there's a lot of mastery involved. Everyone can auto-attack, but only I (and some others!) can waste approx. 6% of my mana throughout an entire boss fight. I played melee, it got boring. Healing there's always one last bit of fail between you and perfection. I did ONCE solo-heal a raid boss.

I took a trip to DC on vacation once and totally picked up the flair. Granted, that picture was with snowboarding gear on (my jacket is barely visible to the right), but I've been known to rock a peacoat and Clarks around campus. Here on the West Coast, that's virtually never seen. East coast is so much more formal =D especially compared to the hicktown where my college is located. It doesn't hurt that the Clarks are the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned.

My buddy on the left is a cool guy, but he's absolutely incompetent when it comes to clothing/apparel. My former clanleader friend (who took the shot) has been responsible for every good wardrobe choice the fella's made in the last few years. She's more of the skater/tomboy though, where I bowl more towards high-end that won't go out of fad next week. Neither of them like going into Macy's with me, so I end up scouting the racks alone most of the time :roll: . Macy's is like the only place I can shop that fits me!

Slim is great until you actually *need* the muscle. I could stand to gain about 20lbs, and I wish I could. I'm virtually all muscle between drumming, biking, mechanics and boarding - but I run into stuff all the time where I'm simply not strong enough to do what needs to be done. Computers generally don't fall into this category (hah!) - though I've heard the P182 is a tad hefty! Nothing compares to 22" forged wheels off a Range Rover. Easily 50+lbs a piece.

I had a high-quality 10" MTX show line sub. The home system now has an 8" Energy sub box that's quite possibly the best sub I've ever worked with. I'm debating buying one when I overhaul my personal sound system - though they run $900 retail. Having distributor contacts has it's benefits :lol:

I love everything technology. I don't understand certain aspects of computers even now (PSU technology especially), but there is a lot of cool just cracking open a box and knowing exactly what does what and goes where. And being the go-to guy for tech in my circle of friends has been very useful.

Kate
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Post by Kate » Thu Feb 19, 2009 7:46 am

Yup the CR model is worldwide, but sony changes the "numbers", but well.. There must be the same computer with different "code" I guess...

Well I enjoy being a healer too, my 1st class (Called job in FFXI) that I reached the top level was white-mage, a healer class. I really enjoy it, the idea of being able to help/heal the party is amazing!

Peacoat and clarks? Isnt Clarks some sort of snickers? I would wear peacoats with a more dressy shoe, but... i've seen people wearing dress shirts with snickers too... And if I come to think, during high school days I used to wear a blouse, plaids and snickers...

I am a big fan of jeans, especially the Miss Sixty design, somehow I identify with that brand and I usually shop for that particular brand...

Most men do not care about their clothing, maybe for some there is an genetic code that prevents then from buying nice clothes.. lol.

Nobody needs the muscle.. Im 5"2 110 pounds.. We dont need muscles, trust me, there is always someone stronger near me when I go out, or usually there are machines to help, you know?

As far as Range Rovers goes, I also do not like big cars... I prefer small cars, I have a Honda Fit (called Jazz in some other places) it is gray... and I hate soooo much that Honda doesnt carry the light pink color they have in UK and Asia! (They call it Cool Rose) you can check here if you want: http://www.honda.co.uk/cars/jazz/

If I could afford I would buy a car with B&W speakers, but, they are extremelly expensive and honestly I do not have the money nor the need to buy that! I like good quality doesnt have to be LOUD, as long as I get fidelity I am very fine!

I still have to buy good speakers for my PC, I've been thinking of buying a Rotel integrated and a pair of Kef speakers... But 1st things first, I need to finish my baby computer! :)

Lol, there is nothing worng with Macy's, as long as you dont shop for blouses and skirts, there is nothing wrong to go shop there... :)

Eyedolon
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Post by Eyedolon » Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:56 am

Image

Clarks!

Ah, but you don't work as a mechanic. Huge difference between that and non-physical jobs. Holding a ~35lb exhaust assembly above your head gets tiring really quickly!

I don't own one, or ever plan to. My last car was a Toyota Camry, and the next one looks likely to be a Subaru WRX. I prefer smaller sedans, especially sports sedans. Working as a mechanic has let me drive and work on most cars on the road, all the way from a 69 Citroen to a 1996 Acura NSX supercar.

The trick is to buy the car, and then put the better speakers in. I'll probably throw Infinity's into my next car. The Al cone speakers I had in the camry have since been discontinued.

Kate
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Post by Kate » Thu Feb 19, 2009 6:52 pm

Hello Eyedolon,

Well Clark... I thought it was like a snicker... But well...

No I am not a mechanic, I know that I lack physical strengh to work as a mechanic, and also, that not really lady like. And to be honest that is not really a profession that I would like to follow...

I like small cars, easy to drive and park, Honda fit will always be my #1 choice :)

Ya, we can buy JBL speakers for cars, but nothing gets close to B&W speakers! B&W only sells speakers for some car dealers and the only one I know that use their speaker is jaguar, which is too big and too expensive for my taste.

Eyedolon
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Post by Eyedolon » Fri Feb 20, 2009 11:09 pm

Eh, but you could throw down a couple hundred and replace the stockies in your Fit with some real speakers. No sense in slavishly following one brand in speakers when there are plenty others that will do the job fairly well. I'm not particularly sold on JBL's car line, except for the El Kameleon headunit.

Some small cars are not. My buddy drives a Chrysler PT Cruiser (he didn't buy, it was a handmedown from his mom). You wouldn't believe how bad the turning radius is on that car. On the flip side, my family owns a 1983 Mercedes 300TD station wagon - it's as long as a Blazer but can do a U-turn in 3 lanes of space. Takes 5-7 seconds to get to 20mph, but damn if it can't turn! Also, working as a mechanic allows me to know why the 300TD gets offers regularly 4-5times it's "appraised value" - that specific model is regularly known to run 400k miles or more, and ours has 110.

Kate
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Post by Kate » Sat Feb 21, 2009 1:25 am

Nah, I am not a big fan of car audio... I use the radio to listen to the news and get the trafic condition...

PT Cruiser... that car.. is... a BOX.. lol.. honestly, looks like a funeral car...

In Japan there are some VERY small cars, I like those...

:)

thejamppa
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Post by thejamppa » Sat Feb 21, 2009 4:21 am

Perhaps I am major difference. I've never really liked cars. Today I am well satisfied with bicycle and bus... Even I am owning license to drive a car and truck under 9,5 tons... If I've had known how my life would have gone, I'd probably would never got a license...

I still miss my super nintendo though. Its only gadget I've really missed that I've owned so far... I haven't owned any game console since...

Family has great effect on peoples during their childhood, effecting their personality, intrests etc.

alleycat
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Post by alleycat » Sat Feb 21, 2009 6:39 am

thejamppa wrote:If I've had known how my life would have gone, I'd probably would never got a license...
Did you have a bad experience?

thejamppa
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Post by thejamppa » Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:52 am

alleycat wrote:
thejamppa wrote:If I've had known how my life would have gone, I'd probably would never got a license...
Did you have a bad experience?
Not really. Driving and owning car is really expensive. I had car for short period of time but now... I haven't driven car for 5 years as everything I can walk or go with bike and longer distances I take with bus.

I'd save nearly 3000€'s, considering price of the drivers license, my car and its feeds. oh, well but you never knew... Maybe in future a drivers license might be a useful...

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:10 am

my family owns a 1983 Mercedes 300TD station wagon - it's as long as a Blazer but can do a U-turn in 3 lanes of space. Takes 5-7 seconds to get to 20mph, but damn if it can't turn! Also, working as a mechanic allows me to know why the 300TD gets offers regularly 4-5times it's "appraised value" - that specific model is regularly known to run 400k miles or more, and ours has 110.
my friend has a 300TD, it has 300,000 miles on the clock and still looks and drives like it just came out of the factory (original engine). amazing build quality on that generation of Mercs.

Eyedolon
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Post by Eyedolon » Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:38 pm

jamppa, from what little I know of Europe, "long distance" has a totally different meaning over there. When I lived on the East Coast, I could travel through 4-5 states in a day, no sweat - driving at 60mph (hopefully).

Here in Washington State, from my home to my school is ~6 hours on the road at 75-80mph, and I'm still in the same state. From my home to my highschool growing up was maybe 3 miles, and I lived near the town center. My girlfriend lived a full 15minutes drive out from the town, and was still within "town limits". That's part of the reason why Americans love cars - you *need* a car to get around here. For me to visit my hometown now from my summer location is 2.5 hours by bus, and 30minutes by car.

If I lived on the East Coast, things would be different - especially if I was still an MMO nerd and not a snowboarder =). The United States is something like 3,000 miles wide though, and none of it is as densely packed as Europe. The DC-NYC corridor is about as packed as it gets in the 'States.

Kate
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Post by Kate » Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:29 pm

Eyedolon wrote:...especially if I was still an MMO nerd
O.o Am I nerd? :p

J/K

Eyedolon
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Post by Eyedolon » Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:03 pm

You're here on this site, that should answer it. Savvy?

We're all nerds here. Good company. You at least have hopes and ambitions above and outside of the game, so I wouldn't say you were a MMO nerd. I refer to myself because at one point I logged 60+ hours a week in WoW.

Kate
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Post by Kate » Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:53 pm

Eyedolon wrote:You're here on this site, that should answer it. Savvy?

We're all nerds here. Good company. You at least have hopes and ambitions above and outside of the game, so I wouldn't say you were a MMO nerd. I refer to myself because at one point I logged 60+ hours a week in WoW.

Hello Eyedolon,

LOL!! It was a joke! :) I did not imply you called me a nerd! :) Ya I am a bit of nerd too, I like technology, not as some guys I´ve met, but I like technology.

However, this is my 1st time doing a research and trying to build a quiet and cool computer, so yes.. I guess I am becoming more of a nerd!

Thank you! And sorry for the joke!

NERDS RULE! :p

Eyedolon
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Post by Eyedolon » Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:04 pm

Ohho I jest too. I love to make fun of myself (easy target, ya!).

I wouldn't say we rule. I would say we pull all the strings, like the man behind the curtain. Much better then ruling directly and having to deal with the discontent of the masses.

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