Hijinks Inc.

Month: July 2010

  • T.W.I.S.T. for July 18-24

    This week wasn’t  nearly as bad as last week, when we were forced to talk about baseball. Here’s the week in sports tomfoolery:

    College Football

    USC got what was coming to them this summer. The school cheated, or at least turned their backs on the cheating at hand, their way to the top, and now they’re paying for it. ESPN says, “USC is cleaning house in its tarnished athletic department, throwing out much of what got the school in severe NCAA trouble. Athletic director Mike Garrett and Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy are the first two items to go.”

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Bush have his biggest games against nobodies? Meanwhile, Vince Young had his biggest games on the biggest stages, and single handedly took down the big powerful USC team that Bush played for in the National Championship game. Vince Young should’ve won the the Heisman that year, that’s all there is to it.

    The best line I’ve heard about this story was on twitter: “You know things are messed up when USC cuts ties with Reggie Bush, but they’re still all good with OJ Simpson” Now that’s a school that has it’s priorities straight!

    Now that USC got their punishment, the NCAA is really cracking down on all the big dogs, as there are current investigations in Florida and Alabama, and Nick Saban is pissed about it!

    More after the jump. (more…)

  • Hijinks Movie Reviews: Twilight Eclipse

    I kid, I kid. Seriously, did you really think someone from Hijinks actually suffered through the endless sea of crap known as Twilight Eclipse?

    But if you or someone you know was less fortunate than us, please consider trying these 5 steps to coping:

  • Cool Auto Tech: HP Tuners Suite

    Ever wanted to know exactly what that computer in your car was telling it to do?  Look inside it’s brain with the HP Tuners Suite.

    Designed to program your existing PCM (Powertrain Control Module), you connect the interface to the OBD-II port on your car, and then to the USB on your laptop.  The software has a live monitor that logs the data all of the sensors are sending the PCM.  You can then also program all of the parameters that the PCM uses to control the car.  It’s my plan to acquire the interface, so I’ll have more in-depth review and walk-throughs later, but for now, here’s a video someone made of a Firebird running a 1/4 mile race, with the HP Tuners overlay… pretty cool.

    You’ll want to watch it in 480p, but it’s still a little difficult to see the gauges and graphs.  They are as follows:

    • KR (Knock Retard)  KR retards the timing curve if the knock sensors detect pre-detonation in the cylinders.
    • Timing Advance (Ignition Timing) Controls the timing of the ignition spark.
    • TPS % (Throttle Position Sensor) The percentage of how far open your throttle is.
    • MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) The tiny gauge in the upper left is the MAP, which allows the computer to calculate the air mass so that it can deliver the correct amount of fuel.
    • RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) How fast the engine is turning.
    • Speed (Miles Per Hour) Self explanatory.

    The HP Tuners software will actually keep track of a lot more sensors, but these are by far the most important.

  • Saturday Shenanigans: Recent Entertainment News

    A lot of the entertainment related news that has come out recently has been connected with Comic-Con, and I’ve got all of it set to come out in a new edition of the Entry Level Geek on Monday. On top of that, so much of the recent entertainment news has been about this person getting caught with pot, or this person getting thrown into jail. Then there were about 10 different weddings that were supposed to be big deals… just uninteresting unless you’re into the more ‘gossip-y’ side of entertainment news, which I’m not. With that said, here’s what I was able to find for you guys this week. (more…)

  • Video: Darth Vader Calls About His iPhone 4

    Despite the fact that Darth Vaders gloves should prevent the iPhone 4 antenna issue from being a problem, this is still a pretty funny video.