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[May. 24th, 2007|08:10 pm] |
Tomorrow is memorial day weekend. I'll have a rental car (as a replacement for mine while it's in the shop) and thus should go somewhere.
Poll #991026
Open to: All, results viewable to: AllWhere should I go this weekend? |
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| MySpace |
[May. 24th, 2007|05:36 pm] |
Does anyone else notice an issue where if you have MySpace loaded, your computer will become completely and totally unresponsive for like 20 seconds at a time randomly (you can even have minimized the window).
I've noticed this on 3 computers, (2 Windows, 1 Linux) all running the newest Firefox and have the adobe flash plugin installed. Any one else? Is it flash related? Any good solution? It's darn annoying. |
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| Kurt Vonnegut |
[Apr. 12th, 2007|11:04 am] |
Kurt Vonnegut died today at 84. Obituary [NYTimes]
I'm going to the library after work and start reading Player Piano. |
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| Cute cats |
[Mar. 9th, 2007|11:11 am] |
Inspired by Nick, here's a cute cat picture:
(Many many more: www.icanhascheezburger.com)
That is all. |
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| Home again |
[Dec. 16th, 2006|08:32 pm] |
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I'm home for the remainder of the year. I got a chance to see a few great people over Thanksgiving, but I'm hoping I'll have even better luck this month! Invites?;) |
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| Thanksgiving |
[Nov. 25th, 2006|12:53 am] |
This morning I recieved 3 text messages wishing me happy thanksgiving (my phone service in the country is horrible, what can I say?). One from someone I talk to quite a bit, and two from people I haven't talked to in months or years. With communication getting so much easier and friends made and unmade in minutes, it's nice to know that people aren't as easily forgotten as yesterday's cable news.
So I in turn pass on this message of thanks. Thank you, to anyone who reads this, for comforting me when I'm down, providing encouragement when I couldn't get a job, having me over for an extended weekend geekfest, being my friend since middle school, introducing me to new and wonderful things, or being that person who's always there when needed. Just because we haven't talked in a while, doesn't mean you're forgotten.
Thanks friends. |
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| A Good Day |
[Nov. 8th, 2006|02:30 pm] |
Dems take control of the house soundly, almost take control of the senate (47 D / 49 R / 2 I with Virginia still counting but leaning Dem), and the icing on the cake, Donald Rumsfeld resigned. I, for one, will miss the ammount of joy brought to my life by the man's comedy.
PS Why do the covers in Guitar Hero 2 suck so much compared to the original? |
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[Oct. 20th, 2006|05:57 pm] |
In pursuit of picking pumpkins for Halloween, Liz scoured the internet for such a place in Texas. Last Sunday, we visited Dewberry Farms.
The drive was relatively uneventful; a lack of named roads (take farm road 521 to farm road 215 from highway 122) made directions less memorable. We pulled into the dirt parking lot and were immediately guided in by a middle aged man in a cowboy hat and jeans, and then directed by a teenager in a golf cart. This was more or less the metaphor for the visit.
We needed to buy tickets to get in and were met by a line of about sixty people, all of whom had children (except us). From the line, we could see the farm itself which was very amusement park. The high-rise roller coaster was replaced by a "Goatel 6" where one could (for a fee) use a pulley to feed goats on connected platforms. There were several "rides" including a human hamster wheel (quite fun) and a kiddie "pull your tyke around in a tractor". However, we were there for pumpkins. After waiting 2 loads of people, we were able to get on the hay ride to the patch.
When the tractor came to a halt, the older farmer driving the tractor came over to the hay area and began speakin' ta us 'bout wherein' them there patch we could find ourselves an eatin' punkin' or a jack-o-lantern. Immediately after we got off, we noticed something funny about the field. Namely, the pumpkins were almost all upright (except the ones that had rotted). We looked and looked, but there wasn't a single one attached to a vine, which had dropped the pumpkins into nice rows. The kids nor the parents, really noticed the prowess of these excellently bred vines to produce and keep producing pumpkins long after they whithered as well as their skill at putting said pumpkins in a straight line. As a Sussex County Delawarean, home of the Worldwide Punkin Chunkin Championship, I wish to salute these Texans for their fine feats of agricultural engineering and pioneering work in "agri-Tainment" [see website title]. |
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| Sequels.... |
[Sep. 26th, 2006|11:21 am] |
I played Disgaea 2 last night on my Playstation 2, after debating whether or not to see Jack*ss 2 but decided that it wasn't worth my time, unlike Body Worlds 3. This message was brought to you by Bush 2 (and Clinton 2).
Sequels: Fostering cronyism since 2 (CE). |
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| Not dead yet |
[Sep. 14th, 2006|02:55 pm] |
It's been a while since I've updated.
Last month I went to Boston and spent a week at SigGraph and the weekend exploring. All in all, it was a fun occasion. I got to Oooh and Ahhh at new graphics technology, meet new and interesting people, explore the city, and was personally called evil by Richard Stallman himself. My cell phone also died along with all the contact info. Let me say this: I need to remember to backup my numbers more often.
In other travel news, I went to Denver for labor day weekend. Hopefully, picture and stories and whatnot will be posted soon.
Thanks to Liz and Google video, I leave you with a dose of humor (8/10 on the work-safe scale (where 10 is safest)) |
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| Back in Houston |
[Jul. 20th, 2006|02:00 pm] |
Returned from Houston and I have to say, thank you to everyone in Delaware! I had a great time.
A had a nice turnout for the party, with some people driving over 2 hours to be there. For those of you who weren't there, soccer was great. We had a single rotating goalie to try and keep everyone fresh. My brother managed some heroic maneuvers to score for my team but team clam's teamwork scored them a couple as well. The game ended with no one knowing the score and no headbutts. However, there is still a large bump on my shin from someone kicking me;) There were also numerous games of Guestures, the highlights included the best charade of a helicopter (my brother whirling to oars above his head), numerous cryptic displays by everyone, and the final showdown with Lance's team clam, where we were able to claim a victory.
I also had a good ammount of time to spend with Jerry, Chris, and Kelly. It was nice to play Puerto Rico again, and remember why the "colonist" pieces (which come from the "colonist ship") are mysteriously colored brown. (Germans still haven't quite mastered being PC.) Despite everyone's best efforts, Kelly managed to win (I think?). Jerry showed us how to play FFXII and Chris showed us the world's most Japanese game: "Guitaroo Man" (involves fighting a giant robot battle with guitars at one point (pic)).
In the latter half of my visit, I had a great couple of nights with Lance and Rob. Team Clam lost despite a valiant effort to the one man team known simply as "Rob". Aftewards, Rob took us along a victory walk around downtown Seaford where he showed us "his house". The next night, I finally managed to win Settlers, despite everyone's best efforts (having declared me the winner before the first roll).
Thanks to everyone I got to see and I hope to see some of the people I missed on my next visit (e.g. Jon, UMD folk). Friends, thank you for making my birthday memorable. |
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| Homecoming |
[Jul. 13th, 2006|10:43 am] |
In a few hours, I am leaving on a jet plane for Delaware and will be staying until the evening of the 18th. So far, I have not had any confirmations for the event taking place on the 15th (I've more than a few "I think I can, but I'll let you know for sure in a few days"), which means I'll be making enough food for just me;)
I'm also going to be taking the days after that to try and visit individual people. I should be letting people know tonight what my schedule looks like. |
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| Customer Service |
[May. 2nd, 2006|07:53 pm] |
I bought a DVDR from Plextor sometime last year. While it never really worked right (I've never had a DVD drive that has), last week it stopped reading CDs. So I called their customer support line. After 3 rings, I got a phone tree with two options (presales or support). After I pressed 2, I was in contact with a human without a line (I called at ~6 PM CST) -- no waiting in line today. Not just any human, but someone who didn't live in India, China, or Harlem, as I could understand him. I didn't have a receipt onhand, so he used the manufacturing date which was good enough. I now have to send in the old drive and he'll send me a new one at no charge (via UPS ground, I wanted to upgrade to something that wouldn't take a month but couldn't even if I paid). What's sad is that this ranks as a 8 or 9/10 on a scale of computer-oriented customer satisfaction but only say a 7 on the overall scheme.
Suppose you were in a restaurant, and asked the waiter to get you a fillet mignon. He comes back after 15 minutes with a roast duck. After agreeing he got your order wrong, he comes back 30 minutes later with your fillet mignon -- without apology. The rest is unremarkable: he did his job poorly and thus deserves no tip. A good waiter would have apologized for screwing up your order profusely and then offered something to you as a token of apology -- say free desert or 10% off your bill. That's customer service!
So Plextor screwed up my order, offers to replace it (should of had it right the first time!), does nothing to expedite the process (I send my broken drive, THEN they send the replacement via 7 day shipping), and offers no token of apology. The truly sad part is that it's fantastic customer service in the computer world because (1) I got to speak to an understandable customer service representitive quickly (smallest phone tree ever!), (2) I got a free replacement, and (3) I didn't need a fancy receipt or credit card number to get it.
When did the minimum requirements become "superior"? |
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| Homecoming |
[Apr. 24th, 2006|08:27 pm] |
It's been a little over a year since I picked up and moved to Houston and overall it's been pretty exciting. Work-wise, I've implemented new features (now in beta) and fixed bugs in a software product. In my home life, I've learned what it means to live truly independently, owning my own apartment, paying my own bills, and making my own food (or getting it by other means). I've been to a number of hockey games (Houston Aeros) and been in the front row of a rock concert (Modest Mouse). I've also met many interesting people, one of whom gave me the opportunity to go to Cancun. More recently though, I've been spending a lot of time with Liz. We've explored the west part of Texas, visiting the state's only olive farm, photographing ghost towns, and just relaxing.
But there's some people I've been missing -- everyone from back east. Whether it's hockey with Lance, Rob, and Chris, a beer with Jon, DDR/geeking out with ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) tadrinth, nikolasco, cubicchixor, and Stabby, losing a bad pun contest to red_mage_jerry, or discussing the mysteries of the unverse with spontaneousmoo (I apologize if I forgot anyone). There's an open offer for people to come visit me in Houston but so far no one's taken it (and responded to the follow-up email). I have a birthday coming up in a couple months and so something will happen. I'm going to have a get-together at my 'rents house (my appartment is small and kinda far;)) or the nearby vicinity (that's Seaford Delaware!) on July 15th (a Saturday and my actual 25th birthday). I'll post further details as I know them here.
Thank you for everyone whose asked when I'd be back east, whether it's here, in myspace, or wherever. It's nice to know that friendship is stronger than distance or time. |
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| DRM |
[Apr. 3rd, 2006|03:43 pm] |
Recently I had a chance to catch up with some open source developers (KDE and QT mostly) at a conference I attended.
We talked about DRM and the iTunes business model. People can download the 2/10 of the highest rated shows (according to the Nielson ratings) on TV legitimately, which I think shows progress for the industry. One person said they bit torrented everything and rejected DRM as a business model. Another used a Tivo. I remarked at one point that I bought things on iTunes that I could torrent 1) because it saved me time and 2) because I liked supporting the shows. (I do realize that the majority of the apple proceeds go to management rather than a show's creators themselves as someone pointed out.) What if people Tivo'ed/torrented everything though? How would Comedy Central or ABC make money to produce the shows that people watch? Would TV become reruns and live events?
About the only thing I can think of is semi-subtle in-show advertising. If you watch the world cup (quite possibly the most-watch TV spot in the world), for example, there's logos on the field and next to the scoreboard. You could Tivo the game or you could torrent it and the advertisers would be just as happy as though you'd watched it. Compare this to American football where there's a commercial every five minutes.
I do think people ought to do things in sustainable ways -- whether it's watching their favorite TV show or preserving the environment -- but expecting them to do so is foolhardy. |
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| Christmas Vacation |
[Dec. 8th, 2005|01:03 am] |
Just bought my flight. I'll be on the east coast from December 23rd to January 2nd, with 2 days in Maryland and 2 days in NYC. I also want to see people.
Monday was Liz and my one month. It's the first time in years I've felt so good with anyone. She's one of the few people I honestly feel stupid around at various points, but in truth, I genuinely like the change from many of the previous PGFs where intellectual communication was largely one way. I also apologize for not commenting on any LJs in the past month or so, mostly because I've been so busy. When I'm not at work, I'm with Liz, and when I'm with Liz I'm not reading LJ/calling people on my cell phoe/updating webpages/etc. Speaking of which, she's behind me right now.
Link of the day
There is No God (2 minute audio essay by Penn of Penn and Teller) -- Funny but most strangely it's very spiritual in its atheism |
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| Home |
[Nov. 25th, 2005|11:03 pm] |
I'm currently in Seaford Delaware until Monday, but as Ben Franklin said, fish and friends get old after a certain number of days. He also probably meant family. It's not that I dislike my family, but I feel obligated to do things with them when I'm here and sometimes it's hard for me to find those things. I'd really like to spend some more time with my friends. I spent Thusday evening with Lanche, Jill, Rob, Maura, and Meg (anyone I miss?) and it was wonderful. We watched a little bit of the history channel featuring Rob's commentary, playing Apples to Apples (always fun), and hanging out with Maura and Megs eating pie and Pizza King cheese pizza. I also miss Liz. Although I mentioned it in the last entry briefly, I now have a bonifide girlfriend. I'll post pictures at some point.
Also, since at least a couple people are confused about my so-called "love life" I'll have to put an explaination of the "full cast" under a cut. |
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| Girlfriend and whatnot |
[Nov. 18th, 2005|12:27 am] |
So I'm sitting at the dinner table with Liz and she says:
"I totally called a kid a secular humanist in kindergarten as an insult" |
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| Another Geek Entry |
[Oct. 23rd, 2005|02:02 pm] |
One of the main problems with having a dual boot machine is sharing information between partitions. With NTFS proprietary and MS lacking plans to port EXT2 to Windows, I thought I was stuck with FAT32 forever.
However, I recently stumbled upon a better solution. Someone managed to make a device driver in Windows to allow one to mount EXT2/3 partitions natively. They show up in windows explorer no differently than an NTFS partition and you can install/run programs or put whatever data you want on it. In addition to being stable, it's also fast. The only downside is that it doesn't handle Unix permissions and you can't install windows on an ext2 partition...yet;)
Go here to download and install it (the installer is pretty slick). I know a number of people who read this have dual-boot machines and would probably find this very useful. |
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| Memage |
[Oct. 15th, 2005|07:42 pm] |
Ganked from red_mage_jerry and ladyfuriae.
I've only included states I've been to rather than been through. In other words, I've been to the state for a reason (visiting friends, field trip, band performance, lived) rather than places I drove through. This is a modified version of the Samantha "put your feet on the grass" rule.
create your own visited states map |
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