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| Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 | | 1:49 pm |
Math and Lego
Okay, so: I suck at math. This isn't precisely because I lack the aptitude, it's more from a near-total lack of education in anything beyond pre-algebra. You can chalk this up to not paying attention in school, dropping out, and skating by on the GED on the strength of my then-advanced language skills. That was almost 20 years ago, and it still continues to bite me in the ass every now and then. The first time was a few years after I dropped out, when I was making a half-decent living writing shareware. I needed to plot the distance of a hyperspace route on a simple two-dimensional square grid, and it took someone spelling out the formula before I realized what it meant to calculate the hypotenuse of a triangle, and how to do it. My deficiency in math is one of the biggest reasons I stopped pursuing a career in programming. Fast-forward to now. What follows is unlikely to interest anyone but ( math geeks. ) | | Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 | | 1:28 pm |
| | Thursday, June 10th, 2010 | | 7:10 pm |
Um. Wow.
On the internets somewhere there is a minor web site for a relatively unknown company called Bungie. I'm sure it will scroll off within a day or two, but as I write this there is a link in the left-hand column on the front page to a particular post on Bungie's official blog. That post links to this other post on another blog, which in turn links to this Flickr photoset. That is responsible for this. I'm all verklempt. | | Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 | | 2:07 pm |
| | Friday, April 2nd, 2010 | | 10:44 am |
Blood in the Snow
So I've got this Lego hobby. Y'all know that. Periodically in some of the Flickr groups in which I participate, people will hold a challenge or contest of one sort or another. The purpose is to inspire people to build and foster community involvement, but there are sometimes great prizes awarded as well. One of the themes in which I build is post-apoc, and the ApocaLego group is my home for that. A couple months ago, one of the mods announced a contest called Blood in the Snow, where the purpose was to build a scene that depicted post-apoc life after civilization ended in an ice age. The premise of the contest was inspiring enough to break weeks of builder's block for me, and in a single day I built and photographed what I think may be one of my best works yet, which I titled Bird's Eye. It was an experiment in forced perspective, and it worked better than I'd hoped--it's been my most popular photo by far, and ended up getting blogged on The Brothers Brick, which is kind of a big deal (and drives a lot of traffic). The deadline for the contest was ( last night. ) | | Friday, January 29th, 2010 | | 12:57 pm |
iPad
Steve Jobs could have walked on stage and squeezed out a steaming three-coiler into a aluminum punch bowl with a flush button, and the next day there would be fifty blog posts about how fantastic the iCrap is and how three years from now no one will use legacy toilets anymore. Current Mood: disappointed | | Friday, January 8th, 2010 | | 8:47 am |
What an AWESOME start to my day.
And I'm not sure if I mean that sarcastically or not. Perhaps a little of both. I have a thing about people parking big vehicles in compact spaces. It bugs the crap out of me. Even when someone has managed to maneuver one of the smaller SUVs into a compact parking spot without obstructing the cars to either side, it still grates on me--the parking lot at our work is oversold, and I've lost count of the times that I've had to hunt around for a spot because some jackass in a truck has camped out in a way that renders one or more spots unusable. Call it a pet peeve of mine. I notify a parking attendant of the really egregious offenders, and occasionally I've left notes on people's windshields to this effect--they're not always nice. I've considered ordering some of those "you park like an asshole" stickers, but they strike me as the sort of thing you'd have to be very careful about using (and which I'd never use at work)--I have no /moral/ qualms about stickering a vehicle that's parked so improperly that it's posing a hazard or making a spot unusable, but it's not something I care to get in a fight or lose my job over. So this morning I'm pulling in to the spot I usually use if I get there early enough, and as I do, pulling in right beside me is an SUV I've seen use the compact spots before. Not one of the giant ones, but big enough that it has no business being in these spots. She's in the spot immediately to my left. I can't /not/ say anything. My window is already down, so I call over to her: "That's not anywhere close to a compact vehicle, you know." She just kind of stares at me, so I go about the business of shutting off my vehicle and gathering up my stuff. And as I'm getting out of my car, she confronts me with the "do you have something to say to me" speech. I'm very proud of myself: I did not raise my voice, I did not insult her or swear at her, I called her ma'am frequently, and I laid out the simple fact: this is a compact spot, and she has improperly parked her vehicle in it. What ensues is an epic display of ( not getting the point. ) Current Mood: triumphant | | Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 | | 2:26 pm |
W7 bleg
Yup, it's that time again. I need to get a legitimate copy of Windows 7 Professional, and preferably two copies. I'm willing to pay Microsoft Store prices, but not retail. The upgrade version is fine, as I have at least four different legit copies of Windows in one flavor or another, but I'd prefer standalone. If there's anyone with access to the Store who can help, let me know? | | Monday, September 7th, 2009 | | 12:14 pm |
In a timeline not so different from ours...
President Barack Obama: My fellow Americans, it is my distinct pleasure to announce that thanks to increased public funding, researchers have discovered a cure for cancer, which has been approved by the FDA. I call on Congress to fast-track legislation that will approve funds to provide this cure to every American that suffers from this cruel and indiscriminate disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people across the world every day. ( The media responds... ) | | Monday, August 10th, 2009 | | 3:04 pm |
Microsoft Money, 2000-2011
So it's my first post in a dog's age, and what do I use it for? Bitching about software. Some things never change. While reconciling my finances on my lunch break, I had trouble logging into Microsoft Money--actually, into the Live service on which it depends--and upon visiting their network status page, found a link to this bit of lovely news: Important notice: Microsoft Money Plus is no longer available for purchase. All purchased Money Plus products must be activated prior to Jan. 31, 2011.
[...]
Later this year, Microsoft will release versions of Money Plus Deluxe and Money Plus Home & Business that will not require online activation. This version will allow you to keep your Money files and transactional history but will not allow access to online services or premium services. Check back here for additional information or look for future announcements in Money Plus. ( Yeah, and fuck you too. )I'm sure they thought this was a brilliant business decision. What it's actually done is ensure that Microsoft has permanently lost my business when it comes to providing services of any sort. Oh, I'll still use some of their software--after all, I still run a Windows OS. But for all that Microsoft would like to be a player in the realm of providing online services and not just software, their track record of supporting such ventures is abominable. Time and time again, they've demonstrated a total lack of long-term commitment to their customers, and an unwillingness to continue supporting older technologies or services that have fallen into disfavor. Couple this with a design philosophy that emphasizes dependency on their undependable services in order for products to run or be activated, and it becomes crystal clear that it's impossible to trust Microsoft to provide any service or service-dependent software on a long-term basis for anything important. This is why I wouldn't consider buying a Zune. This is why I will be migrating to Quicken or some such for my finances. This is why I don't care about Xbox Live. This is why I refuse to buy games that require Games For Windows Live. This is why I use Gmail instead of Hotmail. This and incidents like it--Microsoft execs take note--are why Google is now a verb, while Bing is still just a kind of cherry. | | Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 | | 2:10 pm |
| | Wednesday, November 7th, 2007 | | 7:46 am |
PWNAGE.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have achieved gaming Nirvana. If you don't care about this kind of stuff, don't read ( any further. ) | | Thursday, September 20th, 2007 | | 10:44 am |
| | Sunday, August 19th, 2007 | | 8:44 pm |
Well, it's nice to know that my sporadic LJ-updating habits have nothing to do with my free time, and everything to do with my usual cyclic attention span. This is the first post I've even begun to write since the day we set out from Bellevue. To be fair, at first it was circumstances--I was doing most of the driving on the trip out, which left Jess with more time in the copilot's chair to write her LJ posts, and left me exhausted at night's end. In addition, after we left WA we encountered almost no usable WiFi hotspots until we stopped for the night. At which point most of my limited computer time was spent plotting the next day's journey and doing the finances, not writing content.
But still. If you want a blow by blow account of our vacation, I recommend ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) bayushi's LJ, as she has been writing more or less daily, and in far greater detail than I have the wherewithal to put forth. For my part, I've been taking pictures, and lots of them. I'm trying to put together a photo essay about certain parts of our journey; we'll see if it actually happens. In the meantime, some thoughts, factoids, and lessons learned in ( no particular order: )
And wow, the new LJ post interface is even more horrible than I previously thought. It just managed to utterly butcher a simple lj cut, linked user, and bulleted list. Please revert this worthless piece of shit, it's choad code. | | Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 | | 7:31 am |
Five days!
There are two showings at the Seattle Cinerama for the new Transformers movie on Monday, July 2nd: 8pm and midnight. I now have two tickets for the 8pm showing. Anyone who would like to go with Jess and I should go here and buy tickets while they're still available. If you have been living under a rock and don't know what I'm talking about, I command you to go watch Theatrical Trailer #2. Download the HD version, if you can. Tell me you don't get a thrill right where it counts when you see Starscream transform, or hear the original transformation sound. Look at it this way: the worst it can be is an excuse for shit to blow up and robots to transform. | | Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 | | 9:19 pm |
Free mattress & box spring
On Sunday my father and I drove up to Bellingham to fetch some things of Papa's that were being passed on to us. One of the things we got was Papa's bed, which is really nice. With the exception of a short time when I was married, it's the first time I can remember since my childhood that I've had a bed that did not consist of a mattress and box spring sitting on the floor. The upshot of this is that, since it came with its own mattress and box spring, we don't need the old ones anymore and they're taking up rather a lot of room in our bedroom. Does anyone want them? They're yours for free, the catch is that you have to come get them. | | Friday, May 25th, 2007 | | 5:10 am |
Ray Bannerman, 1924 - 2007
My grandfather passed away peacefully in his sleep at 4:57 AM this morning. He was attended by my aunt, her son, my father, my father's partner, Jess, and I, all of whom were there with him until the end. When it was clear he wasn't going to get better, my dad and aunt made the decision to end aggressive life support measures in accordance with his wishes. He was removed from the ventilator and support medications at around 8:30 PM last night, and the doctors said he likely wouldn't last more than a few minutes, definitely not more than an hour. A fighter until the end, he stayed on for eight more hours. The oldest of seven siblings, Papa was the patriarch of the family, a compassionate leader and an example to all. He shared 82 rich years with us, and we were blessed by every one of them. I have known no greater man, no one to whom a person could better aspire to be. He helped me more times than I can count, asking little more than that I make the best of the opportunities he gave me. His assistance allowed Jess and I to escape Arizona, and got us back home--and that was the least of what he's done for me. The world is poorer without him, but immeasurably greater for having had him. | | Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 | | 2:33 pm |
Will be considerably absent for a while
I am currently in the waiting room at the St Joseph's ICU in Bellingham. My grandfather, who is 83, has developed various health problems and is going to be put on a ventilator. He probably won't come off of it. Optimistic estimates are that he has a few weeks. I hope he pulls out of it. He's a proud man, a fighter, and if anyone could will their way back into health it would be him. But his body is running down, and he's running out of time. This world will be immeasurably poorer without him in it. My grandfather is one of the most generous, decent, compassionate men I have ever met. It is a tribute to his greatness that countless family members are coming from every corner of the country to be here with him--the largest gathering of our clan outside of family reunions. Throughout his life, he always put family first. He helped me through college twice, kept a roof over my head when I had no job, sent me care packages, and asked for nothing other than that I be the best person I could be. I could think of no one a man could better aspire to be than him. | | Saturday, May 19th, 2007 | | 8:53 am |
| | Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 | | 6:19 am |
Good riddance.
As I'm sure everyone knows by now, Jerry Falwell is dead. Steve Benen is a lot more charitable than I am. I'm generally not the sort to dance on people's graves, no matter how repugnant I think they were in life. I refrained on my blog from shredding Reagan after he died, despite his avowed support for death squads and terrorists and other stains on his legacy. But Falwell has been a blight on this nation for over 30 years. Through a combination of racism, Taliban-style religious fundamentalism, and good old-fashioned omni directional bigotry, he devoted his life to setting back the causes of science, civil rights, religious freedom and human progress wherever possible. He built a media empire by appealing to ignorance and people's base natures, and used the power of that empire to defraud the faithful and harm those who did not conform to his bitter, narrow, hateful view of God. The nation, indeed the world, is better with him gone from it. It's tempting to think of him as a kooky but harmless televangelist. There is truth to this: he should be an object of scorn and ridicule, even in retrospect. But he was not harmless. Resist the temptation to write him off as an aberration--there are others behind him, waiting to take his place. The American Taliban, otherwise known as the hardcore religious right, is to this day doing constant and ongoing harm to this country. Never forget Falwell's part in that. Never forgive it. And never cast a vote that will allow his ilk to retain or resume control over any part of this country. |
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