Geekish pasttimes
Posted on 2006-02-27 at 10:51
The new campaign got underway in earnest this past Saturday. We'd had a previous session, but this one was more lengthy, productive, and fun.
As of the last session, a mage with whom Endrathor (my character) had been at odds since his own apprenticeship stole Endrathor's only magic item (a wand of silence) as we were on the way to an old keep where a rumor persisted that the previous inhabitant has become one of the undead. In this session, we finished the long trek to the town of Ardwick, outside of which lies the old keep, and we began inquiring about our destination with the local townsfolk. While doing so, the village was raided and a religious artifact stolen. We set out to overtake the fleeing orcs who had stolen it. After tracking them for a few hours (they had a commanding lead), we found their camp and were about to enter to retrieve the relic. It is my belief that the townsfolk are hiding something about the old keep and that it ties into this stolen holy artifact (as that is how good plots work) but I'm not certain of it all ties together yet. We shall see.
Also of note in this last session is that I cast the spell "Color Spray" onto a creature that was grappled with our party's fighter. Of course, the fighter was also affected and quite a bit more-so than the creature we were fighting. Though one of the most boneheaded things I'd done in a very long time, it made the encounter a great deal more suspenseful and fun for all, so I only partly regret it. My illusionist received a lengthy and stern lecture from the party after said event. Perhaps Endrathor will come to be known for his impatience.
Proposals, proposals, proposals, and contracts
Posted on 2006-02-27 at 10:39
Lately, it seems as though I've done more proposals for work than actual work. This isn't a bad thing, mind you, as this is how new business is acquired. Carlos, Studer's friend, has begun pushing work possibilities my way. That's good, as it give me a chance to sub out some work to Will and others to spread the wealth a bit (and it doesn't hurt that I get a bit of skim off that!).
My current assignment has gone through some back-and-forth about the project and now I'm in limbo with respect to whether or not I'm doing the work. I mentioned to them that they might want to look at an off-the-shelf package, since it would be cheaper than paying me for an indeterminate time to write a custom solutions. I think they are better served with a custom solution, but I'd have been remiss if I didn't point out to them that some off-the-shelf stuff might do 95% of what they want for 50% of the up front cost. I'd rather they be happy with the final package then milk them for personal gain. I don't need or want the work so bad that I'd do that. But still, in this case, I do actually think they'll be happier with a custom app. We'll see what they decide. I'm at the client site sort of spinning my wheels in a sense for the time being.
Hey, just because my every fired neuron is spent on the task of hating Corporate America, that doesn't mean I'm gonna let that drive me to acting toward them as they act toward everyone else. I won't let them control me that much.
Cadence is sick
Posted on 2006-02-27 at 10:37
Just an fyi, I've not been blogging as much in the last few days because Cadence is a bit ill and I've not had much free time. Once she's better, I'm sure things will pick back up.
Things that make you go "Hmmmm"
Posted on 2006-02-26 at 18:34
I think the AP forgot a comma in this headline.
Yes, I am childish. Yes, these are the sorts of things I see when I look at the world. Yes, I have problems that should be medicated.
UltraChrist
Posted on 2006-02-22 at 07:33
What would Jesus do if he returned to Earth and discovered he was wildly out of touch with modern trends? Don a Spandex costume and fight sin on the streets of New York City, of course! But as always, he faces several obstacles: a disapproving Father; the Antichrist, in the guise of the New York City Parks Commissioner; and the temptations of a beautiful seamstress.
Web Development
Posted on 2006-02-21 at 13:10
My current assignment is a web development position (ASP.NET, specifically) and I'm once more reminded of what a dog Internet Explorer is. I got menus for the site implemented in pure css. It was elegant, simple, and did all that a menu needed to do. Then what happened? I tried it in Internet Explorer. Though it works beautifully in other browsers (becuase they implement actual standards!), IE was a no go. I had to hack it up and defecate on its beauty before it would work in IE. It works in all browsers now, though, and it's still almost entirely CSS.
Anyone that tells you they got a cross-browser compatible menu system implemented in "pure css" is a lying sack of dung. The best solution I could find was to implement the IE fixes in an htc file, which is really just a bunch of javascript code to do for IE what IE should have already done for itself. Still, at least the htc solution left my actual CSS code mostly unharmed. Anyone that wants the code is free to ask me for it. I used some stuff that was GPL'd and pulled in examples from all over the web to get it as I wanted it.
Age = Age + 1
Posted on 2006-02-21 at 13:04
Happy Birthday, Denise
Just One Standard Deviation
Posted on 2006-02-16 at 14:42
I've heard it said that it takes a difference of just one standard deviation in I.Q. to make communication difficult, and a difference of two or more makes it damn near impossible.
Some days, this seems more evident than others. This is one of those days. My first day, already I'm irritated by someone. I need to work on my people skills. :)
Smile, Tom, smile.
It's a small world after all
Posted on 2006-02-16 at 14:35
So, I'm here at my current client, Amerigroup, and I'm working with a guy here who has read my blog. How am I supposed to feign concern for the needs of Corporate America when he already knows I have none?
It's a sign from God that I should quit this whole job thing...or slaughter a goat. I can't figure out which.
Dual Core CPU Upgrade Path
Posted on 2006-02-15 at 20:26
I was looking into possible upgrade paths for my and wife's newest systems---not because I need to, but just because I wanted to see what options we had for the future. What I found was that becuase we chose good motherboards (ABit) and a solid CPU socket choice (AMD 939 socket), we can upgrade as needed from our current AMD Athlon 64 CPU's to the newer AMD Athlon 64 X2 CPUs (dual core chips!!!). I am most pleased. I could move to a dual core chip right now for as little as $295. Pretty good upgrade path for when the time comes to do so.
Step One: Get a Cool Costume
Posted on 2006-02-15 at 08:07
My three step list intitled "How to be a bad bitch" just got one item shorter! I know what my super hero costume is gonna be made of now.
All that's left are steps two ("Master all known martial arts") and three ("Bring it!!!").
Because every guy reading this can relate
Posted on 2006-02-15 at 07:32
A snippet of infinite coolness from the book Snow Crash:
"Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. If I moved to a martial arts monastery in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Columbian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad."
What guy reading this doesn't agree? Pretty cool book.
Lest I forget Bryan on this most special of days
Posted on 2006-02-14 at 19:01
Bryan,
May your legs grow together and your back hair be knotty and twisted til Eternity gets old and dies. May you one day know the pain of a white hot dagger shoved through your ribs and deep into your chest cavity. May your last words on this earth be "That bitch...she stabbed me..." and may I be there to laugh aloud as death's chilled hand covers your mouth and smothers the last faint breath from your enormously overweight body.
I love you, man!
Senior Party Leaders Join Battle Against Chinese Censorship
Posted on 2006-02-14 at 12:32
Several former senior Communist party officials have attacked the chinese government's decision to shut down the "Freezing Point" section of the China Youth Daily. Citing history as proof, they said in a jointly signed open letter:
"History demonstrates that only a totalitarian system needs news censorship, out of the delusion that it can keep the public locked in ignorance."
The letter, signed on February 2nd but publicly released on February 14th, includes the signatures of several senior party leaders, including Li Rui, a former aide to Chairman Mao; Hu Jiwei, the former editor of People's Daily, the Communist party's official news outlet; and Zhu Houze, a ranking official formerly employed in the Communist party's Propaganda Department that is directly responsible for the offense.
Just in the last few months, Chinese censors have gone after editors of three prominent news outlets; the Beijing News, Southern Metropolitan Daily and the Public Welfare Times.
But keeping the news under such tight control may not be an option for much longer. Li Datong, the editor at China Youth Daily, a newspaper that targets China's Communist party youth, snapped back at the censors:
"Chinese society's expections of the media are growing, and demands for free speech are spreading---that simply can't be reversed, even if you shut down this or that newspaper."
So what does this mean for Americans? What does this mean for you and I? I don't know, but here are some questions worth considering.
- Were you aware that there existed such a public debate in China over the issue of censorship? If not, how does this change your view of China?
- The Chinese censor's argument is that they protect to citizens of China from the spread of illegal, immoral and harmful information. Do you find any part of that argument worthwhile? Why or why not?
- If China became a country that embraced the same freedoms we've embraced in the United States, what do you think that would mean for our position of global dominance?
- Do you think the Chinese government can embrace freedom and maintain a Communist state? Why or why not?
Know Thyself
Posted on 2006-02-14 at 08:13
The world around us is not the world that is, but rather the world we see. When we are upset the world seems a darker place. If we are pleased, the world seemed soft and warm. If we are sick, the world seems drab and miserable. If the world is half created and half perceived, then who are you?
Yes, it's a real question.
If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
Posted on 2006-02-14 at 08:01
Happy Valentine's Day.
Truly unfortunate domain names
Posted on 2006-02-13 at 14:11
Who Represents Whom? Now you can know by consulting a database of agencies to the rich and famous: whorepresents.com
Looking for a quality pen? Look no further than the Pen Island website: penisland.net
Need a therapist? Not sure the ones you find here are gonna be safe, but it's your call...just dress conservatively. therapistfinder.com
Mole Station Native Nursery is a plant nursury based in New South Wales. Smart move redirecting you to a different domain, but this one still works: molestationnursery.com
If you are new to Milan and need electricity, why not sign up on-line with Power Generation of Italy: powergenitalia.com
This is why I say that all naming efforts should be vetted by at least one 4th grader before being presented publicly. It would save everyone a lot of trouble.
My Name Is Tom and I'm a Welfare Addict
Posted on 2006-02-10 at 22:06
Over a period of about five years, Reagan told the story of the "Chicago welfare queen" who had 80 names, 30 addresses, 12 Social Security cards, and collected benefits for "four nonexisting deceased husbands," bilking the government out of "over $150,000. (quoted from The Washington Monthly Mendacity Index)
Reagan's claims have since been discredited, and his facts disputed. I am here to stand by Reagan and his claim. Why am I so certain he was right? Because my name is Tom, and I am a Welfare Addict.
It all began in 1998. I had no problems prior to getting a good job. Sure, I was broke. Sure, I needed the help. But I just wasn't yet well-off enough to warrant help. Those were the halcyon days!
In August of 1998, I started my first well-paying job. Within two weeks I was shaking from my first paycheck rush and within three weeks, I'd already gone to a professional money manager. I needed more. I needed it bad.
I started small. A 401k here, a business dinner there. Soon, I was moving on to harder stuff. Self-incorporation, mortgage write-offs, you name it and I was getting the government to give it to me for free. I was making so much money, the IRS was only too happy to supply me with a steady stream of write-offs to feed my growing welfare habit.
Right about now, you are saying to yourself, "Self," cuz that's what you call you, "Self, What this Tom guy is talking about has a name and it isn't welfare. It's tax exemptions." Right. That's how they hook you! Change the name. If you don't call it "crack" maybe people who've been warned away from crack won't think twice about smoking what you're offering. I knew welfare was bad. I didn't know these things were welfare.
Hey, I could be worse. I understand there are some addicts out more hooked than I. The Donald (That's "Trump" if you happen to have shared a cave with Osama for the last decade) accepts all sorts of givernment money. His addiction goes far beyond tax welfarte and deep into direct cash infusions. I get that. If I were that rich, I be seduced by the allure of the greater monetary high as well. A new federal highway bill contains $37 million for widening and extending the road in Bentonville, Arkansas that is the main access point to the headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Do they need it? Well, "need" is a tricky word. OK, so last year, Wal-Mart made $20,000 profit every minute of every day for a total of $10.3 billion dollars in the year. But is "need" really about such base things as "necessity"? Of course not. Walmart is an addict for the government juice. Sure, Walmart maybe should pay to widen their own private road if it needs widening, but how would they satisfy their craving for more free money? The list goes on. Just ask Amtrac about it. Ask the Forest Service about their timber operations in the Tongass.
But be warned. You don't need to be The Donald or Walmart to get hooked on the heavy stuff. Look at the Outer Banks. All those middle class taxpayers. They lose their pretty waterfront homes each year. And just where do you think the money to rebuild comes from? That's right, welfare. The government takes a couple hundred a year for insurance, and pays out far more in damages. Why? Because welfare is a powerful drug and it hooks us. And as long as we are hooked, we stay loyal to our pushers. ADM pays every politician egregious amounts of money for legal favors. Democrat or Republican, it doesn't matter. What matters is that they are hooked on the welfare flow. Keep giving them those "free" public funds and they'll do whatever is needed to make it happen.
I'm not proud of the business dinners and the "company" laptop and the fact that I'm probably not gonna pay one red cent in taxes this season (yes you heard that right...six-figure income, not one penny in taxes). But don't cry for me. Cry for those poor people who are just about to get a good job and get hooked on the government welfare. And while you're at it, pray for them, that they might stay poor, where the government doesn't offer a single dime of real support. Pray that they can stay in that state of prelapsarian naivety.
From Drought to Flood
Posted on 2006-02-10 at 10:26
I've been without client for two weeks. Yesterday and today, I managed to pick up three projects (tentatively). All three want their project done right away exclusively. Good thing I've got subcontracting options!
McDonald's Fries Are More Unhealthy Than Previously Accepted
Posted on 2006-02-09 at 08:30
According the Associated Press, McDonald's has changed to a newer and more accurate nutritional testing method that yielded surprising results about their fries. The new tests showed that McDonald's fries contain a third more trans fats than previous estimates.
How much fat does an order of large fries contain? 30 grams (up from the previous estimate of 25), of which 8 grams (up from the previous estimate of 6) are trans fat, believed to be the worst type of fat for heart disease and other arterial problems. This means that when you eat a large order of fries from McDonalds, you are ingesting the equivalent of a shotglass of pure, greasy fat.
McDonald's nutritional information is posted on their web site (where you can see the new values for French Fries) and it is of note that McDonald's menu is diverse and offers healthier alternatives. Additionally, though there existed some external pressure, McDonald's did release the results voluntarily as part of their ongoing project to make the nutritional data available to their patrons.
After the annoucement, McDonald's shares rose 17 cents to close at $36.36 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. Say wha?!?
Eat up, America.
More mock ups of a next generation Gnome interface
Posted on 2006-02-07 at 08:37
I found more mock ups of what people are wanted/expecting out of the next version of Gnome. I've added them to my existing photo gallery of mockups so that you can go to one spot and look at them all.
Introducing Endrathor
Posted on 2006-02-07 at 08:05
2nd Level Gnome Illusionist
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 13
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 15
Hit Points: 9
Armor Class: 14
Attack Bonus: 1
Spells: Resistance, Acid Splash, Detect Poison, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Daze, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Open/Close, Arcane Mark, Prestidigitation, Obscuring Mist, Sleep, Color Spray, Disguise Self, Magic Aura, Silent Image, Ventriloquism
Background: Still working that part out with the DM.
Yeah. I'm a geek. Don't act shocked.
Word of the Day: Dharma
Posted on 2006-02-06 at 07:06
(DHAR-muh) noun
- Duty; correct behavior.
- Law, especially the universal law of all things.
- Proper expression of religion.
Dharma comes to us from the Sanskrit word of the same name and in that language also carries with it the connotation of "duty" in addition to the above definitions. Ultimately, it comes from the Indo-European root dher- (meaning to hold firmly or support). Dher- is the root source of words like "firm", "affirm", "confirm", "farm", "fermata", and "firmament".
"The most important pedagogic dharma that should guide the teacher in such a situation is that he should not hastily jump to the conclusion that his learners are unfit, dull, stupid, lacking in motivation, can never be made to learn and so on."
Dr. Aruna Chalam Angappan; The Teacher's Handicap, the Learners' Advantage; Yemen Times; Jan 9, 2006.
OMG TPK WTF!?!
Posted on 2006-02-06 at 07:01
We have experienced another TPK (Total Party Kill) at the same DM's hand. This makes two in as many months. To keep this in perspective, in my entire life of playing DnD, I've experienced two other TPK's in total. That means, two TPK's over the span of 20+ years, then suddenly two in the span of two months.
Bryan must suffer. May the fleas of a thousand camels build a Walmart in the hairs of his nose.
Making Progress Personal
Posted on 2006-02-03 at 16:21
Below is a snippet of something I said in an email conversation I was having with my friend, Bob. I think it's of general enough interest that I'm posting it here.
I agree. And it's sadder still, in that without that confrontation, we are left with pure incomprehension about the world that is forming and reforming around us. Without that reflection, we are left with confusion, random violence, sound bite news, a societal obsession with staying so busy that we don't have time to consider the mess we're making, and an ironically silent scorn for silence and contemplation. We've lost our sense of awe, our vision of the sacred and of our own value and ability, and our appreciation for ambiguity and subtlety. Our desire for progress has slowly morphed into a fear of change. And it began, I think, when we stopped thinking about "the world's" problems as our problems, when we stopped thinking about "the world's" progress as our progress.
When I think of the scientific advances we are making, I don't think about it in the abstract. I picture myself flying in the Jetson car eating a Spacely Burger! I picture myself living to the ripes old age of 768 through the medical advances I see everyday. I picture myself lounging on a beach chair enjoying the fruits of robotic labor. That's how I thought we were supposed to think of these things.
Don't worry Bob. I still agree with you that Philosophers are fags. ;-)
America and the New Islamic Movement
Posted on 2006-02-02 at 11:41
This documentary explores the lives of several white Muslim Texan families and their views about Islam and life in the American southwest.
Some in the Bible Belt are transferring their allegiance from the Bible to the Quran because, for some Christians the church is becoming too religiously liberal.
Some questions naturally arise from this documentary that are worth considering:
- Have you ever looked into the beliefs of Muslims? If so, what opinions did you form and why?
- Do you think it is possible for you to convert to Islam?
- Why do you think the Christians in this documentary sought out Islam? What implications does that have on Christianity?
- How would you feel about living in the U.S. if the majority of Americans began converting to Islam?
- What influence do you think a mainstream American Muslim Movement would have on Islam globally?
- What influence do you think a white Islamic Movement would have on the existing Black Muslim Movement?
Honda's Advanced Driver Assist System
Posted on 2006-02-01 at 14:13
Honda's new Accord will ship with an Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS) self-drive technology. This means that on highways, though not on other sorts of roadways, this new Accord will drive itself.
The ADAS consists of two components: an advanced cruise control system and a lane assistance system. Rather than maintain a static speed, the new radar-based cruise control system will adjust speed based on the surrounding traffic to better accomodate needs of the Lane Keep Assist System (LKAS). The LKAS will use an internally mounted camera to watch lane lines and adjust the car's steering to accomodate gentle turns.
In order for the system to operae, the driver must be touching the steering wheel, so this isn't a fully independant steering system. Instead, it's a way to lower driver fatigue for long trips.
The Honda Accord with ADAS will be released in March at a price of $46,500. By the year 2016, Honda expects to have all models come equipped with the ADAS technology.