Are You Freakin' Kidding?!

Washington University shuts down End of Communism memorial. Because reminding people about the horrors of the gulag & communism's obscene death toll is "too offensive". WTF?



(Twitter pics here of the protest which seem fairly typical in terms on on-campus protest outrageousness)

Link to full post.

Moving Notes

So, I'm in the final throes of my moving preparations. Hopefully, by this time next week I will be forevermore done with apartments. In the process of cleaning, packing, etc, I've noticed several things:

1) I am the kind of person who packs their rock collection more carefully than their breakables. Which is completely reasonable! Those rocks are the unique outcomes of millions of years of geologic history than I can never hope to duplicate. I can always go to Pier One if I break a vase.

2) You become attached to the strangest things...like my largest Tupperware bowl. This thing is ancient. It went with me to college. This was the first large "serving bowl" I ever owned. When I went to place it in the give-away pile, I almost couldn't do it. To appease my guilt, I used it one last time to make green-bean casserole. Still, I feel like I'm abandoning an old friend.

3) WHY DO I KEEP EVERY SCRAP OF PAPER THAT PASSES THROUGH MY HANDS????!!!!! I had notes from Junior High School classes, fortune cookies from I-dont-know-when, passing notes written between my friends from freshman year of high school. WHY?! I went through several garbage bags just getting rid of all the crap.

4) I buy a lot of blankets. Somehow, I did not realize this until I cleaned out my linens cabinet (it's amazing how many blankets you can cram into that tiny little space). I know I do not need 7+ afghans...Somehow I must attempt to remember this when I am confronted with them in the store.

5) Culling my book collection resulted in some odd choices. I have no problem ditching romance novels but I will rarely part with a science-fiction book even if I hated it (*cough*"Looking Backward"*cough*). However, the hardest choices were the older books that I've had since I was a child. I went through a Joan Lowery Nixon stage when I was like 10 & I still had them. All those crap Junior High School reading books like "Light In The Forest" are finally gone. But I just couldn't part with "Terror In the Tomb Of Death" or "The Reluctant God".

6) In a fit of nostalgia & practicality, I cooked my last full meal in my apartment tonight. If you can call dumping anything vaguely Asian from the fridge & pantry into a pot, adding sesame oil & soy sauce until the bottles empty, putting it in high and hoping for the best "cooking". It was tasty though.

Link to full post.

Interpersonal Decency FAIL

I would like to propose a hypothesis: Anyone who needs advice on whether to remain friends with people who mistreat them as horribly as this, has irredeemable self-worth issues. I'm not talking modern wishy-washy self-esteem issues but a complete blindness to the idea that your person has a worth and that your person is worth the effort to defend, comfort, and preserve.

That's totally aside from the complete failure of human decency exemplified by the deceptively-title "advice columnist". Many people around the web have commented on that perspective. However, I'd rather just note that to me friendship means you find a person worthy in some way of your time, companionship and private emotional life. And, presumably, they reciprocate. That's what makes people friends.

This woman, in needing to ask if she should remain friends with two women who obviously don't think she's worth the least inconvenience, expresses uncertainty herself as to whether she's worth getting up out of bed in the wee hours of the morning and being comforted. Think about that. I don't know this woman's history or any facts which would explain how she believes her friendship, those unique aspects of herself that only certain people know, is worth so little. I fear that her suspicions of her low-worth were so heartily confirmed by the columnist, who is irrevocably on my list of "Indecent Losers". Because it is fundamentally indecent to treat people like they are worthless, like no trauma or strain in their lives could possibly trump a broken fingernail in yours. And I mean "indecent" in the old-fashioned sense of the word. While I generally prefer our more informal free-wheeling times, when it comes to respecting the value of the person you're with (or at least showing respect), a little bit of propriety does a lot of good.

Maybe my opinion is influenced by the fact that I'm such an extremely introverted person. When socializing at all is so high stress, than you only choose to do it when it's really worth it to you. That's how I view my friendships. These are people who are worth my time and my private thoughts, whose companionship offers something unique that trumps the stress I sometimes feels when I am around others. From this introvert's point of view, why would I bother to befriend someone if I don't think they are worth doing inconvenient stuff for occasionally? Why would I befriend someone who doesn't think I'm worth driving to a hospital after I've been roofied?

From this comment on a blogpost about the column, here's another pertinent thought:

what to make of Rosenfeld’s comment that late-night help is only expected of husbands or boyfriends, not mere girlfriends? Lovely thought, that: “Unless someone’s having sex with you, don’t expect them to give the slightest damn about your well-being.”

My inner feminist weeps angrily.

Just thoughts, somewhat unfocused...

Link to full post.

Blog? What blog?

Between my Xbox haze, work and scrambling to get moved before the end of November, I've been quite negligent in my blogging duties. 5 months worth! Jeez, my backlog of PotW alone will take forever to get posted. I'll be typing those up for a massive series of catch-up posts sometime in the next week.

To get my through my social media drought, I've been listening to:

CDs
Creaturesque "Throw Me A Statue"
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves "Roll With You"
Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band "Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band"
MC Yogi "Elephant Power"

Songs
Royksopp "The Girl & The Robot"
Apocalyptica "Inquisition Symphony"
Bomba Estereo "Fuego"
Infected Mushroom "Smashing The Opponent"
The Apples In Stereo "Energy"

More (hopefully) sooner than later...

Link to full post.

Everything Really Is Better With Zombies

Completely unable to resist the allure of the evil undead, I bought “Pride And Prejudice And Zombies” recently. While it was somewhat jarring reading, overall, I quite liked the book. And zombies really do make everything better. In full post, there are many spoilers as I discuss the changes that I liked and (a few) that I didn’t.

Overall: Worth reading if you enjoyed the original and don’t mind some gore.
(Slight aside: I can't believe I didn't have a "zombies" tag until now!)


Changes I Really Liked:

1) Wickham really got his and voluntarily too! Lydia still gets off scott-free and totally delusional (as in the original – oh how I long for a story where she becomes more than a caricature).

2) Mr. Bennett is made into the early nineteenth century version of a gentlemen survivalist nut. When zombies take over, every gentlemen in England apparently went flocking to the Orient to learn proper beheading skills in order to protect their families. Bennett however, decided the best way to protect five daughters was if they could protect themselves (“Girls, Pentagram of Death!” - hehehe). Of all the changes, this felt like the most natural progression from the original novel.

3) Lady Catherine & her ninjas – making her a legendary zombie-killing bad-ass was a really good call. Without that, the new Elizabeth’s toleration of her behavior would have been completely out of character. Plus, I really liked how completely disposable those ninjas were. No matter the problem she had, Lady Catherine always just threw some ninjas at it. Don’t like Elizabeth? Goad her into dueling your ninjas. Angry Mr. Darcy won’t marry your daughter? Send your ninjas to invade Pemberly. So very in keeping with her personality.

4) Mary was a lot more interesting as a dedicated warrior who never married (but still developed a few relationships with the soldiers protecting the countryside). I especially liked how when it appeared that Wickham had kidnapped Lydia, both she & Kitty swore to kill him and then spent the whole debacle in the dojo devising slow, painful ways to fulfill their oath. Mary was still utterly embarrassing but somehow more sisterly than I remember from the original.

5) They gave Darcy a sense of humor, especially when having to deal with Miss Bingley. While it was done with some ribald jokes, they managed to show that the only way a Mr. Darcy trained in combat could NOT kill Caroline Bingley where she stood was to make fun of her without her knowing. That the author gave Elizabeth just enough knowledge of sex to get the jokes actually helped justify her change of mind later. In the original, this always seems a little abrupt but here, where no matter her opinion on Darcy she at least respects his fighting skills and his ability to toy with Miss Bingley without her catching on, it works.

6) Whatever Mr. Collins’ other flaws, he did care for the woman he married and was devastated by the act of killing her to spare her becoming a full zombie. I liked how it was done off screen and the characters were caught up enough in their own drama that they didn’t dwell on it. In a world overrun by zombies, it is just one more tragedy.

7) They managed to make Jane a 100% believable zombie-killer while changing absolutely none of her personality as a generally good, kind-hearted person. Prior to reading this book, I would have never believed this possible.

8) The fact that zombies, driven mad by hunger for brains, easily mistake cauliflower for their favorite organ and can be trapped thusly.

9) The “Literary Questions” at the end of the novel were hilarious! Just like re-printed classics which try to spur on classroom discussion with talking points, these questions for the most part focused on the strange, dual nature of the characters as zombie killers and members of the English gentry. Although, my favorite: "Does Mrs. Bennett have a single redeeming quality?"

Changes I Did NOT Like:

1) In a book where the deprivations of the undead are universally condemned, not the least for eating human flesh, I could have done without Elizabeth taking a bite from the heart of Lady Catherine’s ninja that she killed while dueling and dreaming quite so specifically about drinking blood from Mr. Darcy’s skull as vengeance for his wrongs against Jane. It did little to distinguish her from her friend, Charlotte’s descent into zombie-dom.

2) They made Mrs. Gardiner unfaithful to her husband for no reason whatsoever. In some respects, the Gardiners are supposed to be the foil for the Bennetts, everything that the latter couple is not. This is both to represent that Elizabeth does have a clear example of a successful marriage nearby and to demonstrate to Mr. Darcy that not all of the Bennett relatives are embarrassing. By making Mrs. Gardiner so careless, they undermine the importance of that marriage in being both a catalyst and a standing example for Mr. Darcy’s & Elizabeth’s burgeoning affections.

Still, these two are fairly minor quibbles in a quite satisfying book.

Link to full post.

Poem of the Week #20

Very Late but with 2 BONUS! Haiku...

A:
Bewildered drifting
Metal arcs frozen, silent
In pain evermore.

B:
Imposition great
That no puppy eyes can cure.
Plants are enough work.

C:
Blue/orange hoops dangle
Required & exacting much;
I leap - to what end?

BONUS! 1
Buttons stick with sweat.
Sensors hum, all out of tune.
These are excuses!

BONUS! 2
Gems of power gleam
With hues too varies and wild.
I need order, thrice.

Enjoy!

Link to full post.

My Memorial Day Spree

So, in commemoration of our fallen veterans, I purchased a Xbox this weekend & “Guitar Hero: World Tour”. Needless to say, I have been having lots of fun. While setting up & using the Xbox & game was a total cinch, I did have some trouble with purchasing the GHWT game. Basically, I wasn’t paying attention in the store and just grabbed what I knew I wanted & checked out. I got home, set up my Xbox, turned to the “Guitar Hero” box and went “Why does it say Playstation 2?....Shit.” Thankfully, “Best Buy” was very understanding and let me exchange it but I felt like the biggest idiot because it says “Playstation 2” in about half a dozen locations all over the box. HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED THAT?!

“Guitar Hero” is awesome btw. I’m not very good but the game is so fun that I don’t care. Only, I have no endurance. I’ve got maybe an hour’s worth of play in me and then my hands whether from drums or guitar are just done. And I need a decent stool for the drum set. I was just sitting on my coffee table but that’s really uncomfortable after a while, especially for songs where you have to use the foot pedal a lot. Also, there is nothing better in the world than playing drums for Foreigner's "Hot-Blooded".

I also joined X-Box Live, originally to download new music for "Guitar Hero" but I quickly began downloading games from the arcade & ODing on demos. The best of which (by far) was the "Portal" demo. Dear God, that was AWESOME!!! As soon as I get some more Points, I'm downloading the full game. It was just wonderfully interesting and creepy and it's a game about solving puzzles with PORTALS! Who wouldn't like that?!

PS - I know there should be a PotW#20 posted by now but Sunday night, instead of writing poems, I stayed up until 3am trying for a PuzzleMode Achievement in "Bejeweled 2" (and, eventually, got it). The Poem will be up later in the week.

Link to full post.

Poem of the Week #19

Very, very late. But here goes:

PotW #19

A gleefully blank day flies.
My hands awhirl, carefully
Selecting hues & pieces
For walls unknown & nowhere,
Except a vague "someday" soon.

Bonus Haiku (as penance for lateness)
Blinking cursor sits -
Daring and cue-less to me;
A tool out of reach.

Link to full post.

Overheard At Work, pt 19

Released from work a little early, plan to spend weekend introducing myself to "Guitar Hero: World Tour" (more on that later). For now,

QualityGuy: [returning a borrowed part] Once again, you have out pack-ratted me.

Link to full post.

Arachnid Assassination Plot FAIL

Clearly the world of creepy-crawlies could not let my gleeful post on Zombie fire ants go unpunished. While reading on-line responses to tonight's "Supernatural" finale (WOW!), I look up to see one of nature's stingiest arachnids attempting to nonchalantly scuttle into my bedroom. "It's just summer in San Antonio" you say? *shakes head* No, this can't be coincidence. They're after me. But, they will have to do better than a mere Infiltrator-Scorpion-Ninja-Assassin as he was easily foiled by a rear attack with a pair of needle-nose pliers.

Additionally, while I hate and despise scorpions to the extent seeing them fills me with more dread than other household creatures with more than four legs, I enjoy mocking their utter lack of hiding skills. No matter what surface they are on when you spot them, they always freeze like they still live in a world where "if I don't move, it won't see me" is an effective anti-predation defense. They could be on a brilliant chartreuse paisley-print pillow but upon being spotted, hold very still and act like eight-legged arachnids with curling stinger tails are always found on chartreuse paisley-print pillows, didn't you know? Silly scorpions. I wave my needle-nose pliers at you in defiance!

Of course, now I can't go to bed for a while....*clings to pliers*

Link to full post.

Zombie Fire Ants!

Finally, those pernicious insects which haunt every yard in Texas are getting what's coming to them! Found via AceofSpades, here's an article with all the wonderfully gory details. That's the thing about Nature, she's so much more disturbing than most horror films:

The flies "dive-bomb" the fire ants and lay eggs. The maggot that hatches inside the ant eats away at the brain, and the ant starts exhibiting what some might say is zombie-like behavior.
.....The maggot eventually migrates into the ant's head, but Plowes said he "wouldn't use the word 'control' to describe what is happening. There is no brain left in the ant, and the ant just starts wandering aimlessly. This wandering stage goes on for about two weeks."
About a month after the egg is laid, the ant's head falls off and the fly emerges ready to attack any foraging ants away from the mound and lay eggs.

But wait! It gets better. The flies terrify (rightfully so) the ants!

Plowes said fire ants are "very aware" of these tiny flies, and it only takes a few to cause the ants to modify their behavior.

"Just one or two flies can control movement or above-ground activity," Plowes said. "It's kind of like a medieval activity where you're putting a castle under siege."

I know it may seem exceedingly petty to revel in the horrific death of an anonymous hive insect but considering how often & how badly I got bit by these things when I was a kid, dude, revenge is SWEET. *wonders where I can purchase large quantities of phorid fly*

Link to full post.

Poem of the Week #18

Well, last week was a good week for writing poetry, just none of it very good. Below are the least bad example(s):

PotW #18
Earthy aroma floating
Upon my mind - cart ready.
The shelf lacks! Another, less,
Waits, pale granules taunting -
Not expected nor desired.
How will I awaken now?

Bonus Haiku! (for the lateness)
Crunch, snap, crackle, yum.
Nature's bounty broken crisp -
My tongue tastes verdant.

Link to full post.

My Beliefs...

...At least as well as they can be described with an internet quiz. The top result really isn't surprising. After that they are just nonsensical frankly. There were several questions on this quiz where my option simply wasn't available or the least inaccurate option wasn't quite correct. I think that led to some funny percentages.

The most unexpected outcome is that the religion I was raised "Roman Catholic" was ranked equally with Islam and less than Mormonism?! Neither religion I've ever felt the least affinity for. Or that I'm more Scientologist than Catholic? Really?! Why is that even an option? Why don't they just include Pastafarianism while they're at it?

Here's the results:

1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Theravada Buddhism (95%)
3. Mahayana Buddhism (80%)
4. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (79%)
5. Secular Humanism (79%)
6. Liberal Quakers (78%)
7. Nontheist (78%)
8. New Thought (77%)
9. Neo-Pagan (74%)
10. Orthodox Judaism (72%)
11. Reform Judaism (72%)
12. Hinduism (69%)
13. New Age (68%)
14. Scientology (65%)
15. Sikhism (65%)
16. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (62%)
17. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (62%)
18. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (62%)
19. Eastern Orthodox (58%)
20. Islam (58%)
21. Roman Catholic (58%)
22. Taoism (49%)
23. Baha'i Faith (47%)
24. Jainism (47%)
25. Jehovah's Witness (40%)
26. Orthodox Quaker (40%)
27. Seventh Day Adventist (38%)

Quiz found via carnaby fudge

Link to full post.

Friday Fury of DOOM

It's Friday, yes? That time of blissful relaxation where I'm browsing my favorite web sites and groovin' to some new music purchases. Or it would be blissful relaxation if I hadn't received 5 (FIVE!) calls from telemarketers in the last HOUR!

FYI marketing people: if your company, organization, political group or charity calls my house using a recorded message, I am hanging up on you. I don't care if you're calling to tell me aliens are invading and I need to evac now. If you can't take the time to put a real, live person on the phone than this real, live person has no time for you.

Also, this is going to sound mean but when someone with a clearly Indian accent introduces herself as "Mary Brown", I'm hanging up as forcefully as possible. Because if you're willing to encourage your employees to lie to me in such a blatant & ridiculous manner, well, what do you encourage when you think no one will notice? I have no problem at least hearing out someone who introduces herself as "Aruna from Mumbai calling on behalf of Bank of America", but don't frickin' lie to me first thing!

If I get another call in the next ten minutes, I'm unplugging the phone for the weekend. Anyone important emails me anyway.

Link to full post.

Wolf Club For Men

With their own T-Shirts....And the most hilarious Amazon reviews ever. My favorite:

After reading the reviews i ordered a dozen of these hoping to either bring my wife back from the dead or at the very least meet the wolf god who took her. Neither of these happened. Nothing has happened. Nothing ever happens, and I don't know why expect online purchases to plug the hole in my heart. Nothing has, nothing will, and certainly not some wolves howling at the moon.

*snickers*

Link to full post.

May2009 Desktop

After months of super light (grey & pale yellow) desktops, I’ve embraced color. Maybe re-planting my patio garden spurred this, but I chose a green-theme. And it looks awesome!

Clean:

Busy: (the Nautilus background is a borderline to me but it was the best match, even a solid color didn't work as well)

Expo w/ terminal, firefox & songbird:

Details:
Wallpaper – I have no idea where I got it.
Emerald Theme – Fedora Light WEED VER
Controls Theme – (modified so colors match) Clearlooks Mod
Icon Theme – Gion
Firefox Theme – Vista-Nature
Songbird Theme – Euphoria
System Font – Purisa BOLD
Nautilus Background – Green Muted Pattern
Gnome Panel Image – My own creation “Grn-Gloss3”

On a side-note, adding new patterns for Nautilus backgrounds & creating my own panel images are both in the category of “Obscenely Easy Tasks That I’m Embarrassed Took Me This Long To Actually Do”.

Seriously, this is all it took to creating the panel took a whopping 2 minutes using GIMP and that includes saving 3 different panels with different transparencies. The one shown is the one that best matched the rest of my desktop. Still, since installing Ubuntu how many hours have I wasted searching Gnome-Look for the perfect panel when I could have just made one? Clearly I need to develop a more proactive mind-set when it comes to tweaking.

Link to full post.

Poem of the Week #17

A little late but present. It's Haiku cop-out #3 (of 13) this week.

A:
Incandescent ire
Unleashed! But not needed, you say?
(small voice) Nevermind.

B:
Hentai tape grapples
Against those with no desire
For its attentions.

C:
Footlong's worth of hope
for Mr. Bartowski's health.
Will kung fu save him?
*fingers crossed for renewal of "Chuck"*

Link to full post.

Warner Music = EPIC FAIL

SEE UPDATE2 - I WAS MISINFORMED. (I also have a policy of not deleting posts, even if they only exist because I'm a moron)

Actually, this blog-post title is somewhat inaccurate. Warner Music is so far beyond an “Epic Fail” that they flew by that benchmark going Ludicrous Speed and haven’t shown any inclination to slow down. I’ve spoken before about how Warner Music has an economic death-wish but their latest stunt is simply mind-boggling. What level of colossal moron sends a completely invalid DMCA takedown notice to the most vocal and articulate opponent of DMCA abuse?

Let’s just ignore Warner Music’s growing and continued obsession with criminalizing legal customer uses of legally acquired music which, for some unknown reason, they don’t consider an economically unsound business model.

Instead, let’s focus on the apparent legal knowledge of whosoever issued this takedown notice. I assert that said person or persons has some collection of the following characteristics:

1) They are so behind on the public discussion of copyright law that they didn’t recognize who Lawrence Lessig is when they issued the notice.

2) They have so little understanding of actual copyright law as to be unable to identify clear “fair use” even though their job, issuing takedown notices, involves judging whether the use is infringing before sending the notice. (Note: having no law degree myself but after seeing the presentation in question – dude, it’s fair use)

3) They had so little understanding of public perception as to be completely surprised that any member of the public would find it perhaps convenient for Warner Music issue a takedown notice to a presentation critical of their own legal tactics.

4) They likely collect information on the DMCA takedown notices they file to be used by Warner Music & RIAA lawyers as justification for stronger copyright protection law (because every customer is a presumed pirate until proven innocent).

5) They are getting paid a salary by Warner Music, presumably for their legal acumen and good judgment, despite some collection of the above facts being true.

Although in general I’m no fan of lawyers or litigation, I’m also a big believer in punishing excessively detrimental stupidity which is the least-bad possible cause for this debacle. Because if Warner Music doesn’t have a collection of stupid people infesting its DMCA takedown office, then the most likely other explanation is they have a collection of malicious abusers of the DMCA system working in their DMCA office. Either way, I hope Lessig wipes the floor with them. And then I hope he writes (another) bestselling book about how he did it.

UPDATE: Ok, someone in the comments to the linked article mentioned an automated takedown notice being the culprit. That changes nothing about my opinions above. Automated takedown systems do not create themselves. The mindset(s) that created such a system would be just as prone to the "characteristics" listed above as an individual person or person(s) directly issuing the takedown notice. The only thing an automated system would do is embed the said characteristics in the system so that the fact they are architecture makes it easier for Warner Music to claim them as immutable (which someone should really write a book about).

UPDATE2: Apparently, Lessig's video was NOT removed because of a DMCA takedown notice. The culprit appears to be some sort of automated YouTube content-ID program designed to ensure that companies which allow "fair use" videos with their content get attributed the ad revenue for the pages showing the videos in question. Warner Music (due to a previous fall-out with YouTube) is set to "block" so this appears to be something internal to YouTube, not Warner Music. The system YouTube has in place actually sounds like a pretty good idea & they apparently have a very responsive counter-notice system (Lessig's video is already back up) so OK, I flipped out for nothing. While I could change the title of this post, etc, I'm not going to. I have a general rule that I will not delete my posts, even if they make me look at best imprudent. Aside from a note about how wrong I was, this stays as it is.

Link to full post.

Poem of the Week #16

ON TIME! Holy cow!

PotW # 16 aka "Lazy Sunday"
Absent routine, orthogonal and straight,
My days unbroken lethargic sloth-sleep.
Tasked (listed, ignored) for a later date.
Longing but not assertion in does seep.
I flop about a passive, neutral day
While hi-sparks build inside, now held at bay.

With bonus Haiku!
Ripened spring display:
Plastic-wrapped fruits call out sad
For rain-fed roots gone.

Except for a little bit of grocery shopping, I didn't get much done today....

Link to full post.

Plates – Up, Up and More Up

Introducing the Never-ending Staircase of Plates from Rosenberg Texas!

Bottom Landing

First Flight On Left

First Flight On Right

First Landing

Second flight

Second landing

*deep breath* Third Flight

Top Landing


From the same antique shop, the two ugliest plates I have ever seen in my life:
*shudder*

With bonus purse of doom:

Link to full post.

Connections - Literary Edition

I've spoken before about how "Atlas Shrugged" results in some very *ahem* conflicted reactions from me. It appears I'm not alone on that. Here's a very good review about why, for all its flaws, "Atlas Shrugged" still sells like hotcakes. RTWT.

Nothing however beats this line (after describing several characters):

They are a bit reminiscent of similar characters found in Robert Heinlein novels, except they are less flawed and tend to lack the ability to laugh at themselves.

In retrospect that connection is painfully obvious....I feel obscenely blond for missing it.

Although, now I have an uncanny urge to paper over the walls of Galt's Gulch with posters like this one:

*is repressing*

(Note: the "what the hell?" tag is for my brain for going from Galt to Heinlein to Joker's catchphrase in about 2.5 seconds)

Link to full post.

We're Linux (and we're crazy)

Been watching the "We're Linux" ads posted by The Linux Foundation over on YouTube. Some very good stuff. Although it appears a great many Linux users have no problem being just a tiny bit creepy.

Example 1 - For those who always wanted a stalker OS:


Example 2- For the booming super-villain market:


Some more-encouraging videos:

A la TV infomercial of awesomeness


Obscure French Film awesomeness (this is HILARIOUS!)


Aren't these all so much better than trite corporate commercials?

Link to full post.

Poems of the Weeks #8 Thru 15

While I've actually been keeping up with writing the poems, I've obviously had much less luck with posting the poems per my 2009 PE Goals. So, to make up for it, here's a mega poetry post.

PotW #8
Inner eyes unfurl twilight
Lancing through dreams delicate.
Ring down the hope of good-times.
Here, futures flicker out quick.

PotW#9
Debris letters flood the page.
Chatter indiscriminate.
My cubicle rings with waste,
Offensive to efficiency.
But in solemn corners waits
Echoes of Archimedes
Sparse & telling symbols proud
Encompassing all with less.

PotW#10 aka “A Domestic Diversion”
Wafting call of denied renaments,
You haunt shuddered halls with foul arrogance.
A cleaning needed, grasping elements
Which purge these walls of your tainted presence.
But, lethargy and disgust turn my hands;
The evasion of godly duty brands.

PotW#11
My thoughts assemble in discord profound,
Seizing each and all gnawing babble.
Boxes in rows, few, leave many unbound.
Realization, I am all rabble.

PotW#12 aka "The Deeply Creepy Bug-Dream Sonnet"
Canopy floating, through leafy webs go.
Each branch, no solace, hides creatures beady;
Antennae flick at this intrusion. Bough
Writhing all, for perch I do entreaty.
Unheard dangling from thin line now sway
In a space untouched by bark, pincer, legs.
Forest sounds echo; the ground falls away.
Watching spiders chase after fuzz-legged dregs,
I ponder neither high nor low, idle.
Scramble jaws close on innocent insects.
Hungry arachnids sated on trifle.
Larval sparks dribbling life, open necks.
Betwixt, hanging the teeny deaths whine-shout.
I bob, in place, salvation in doubt.

PotW#13 aka "Haiku Cop-out #2"
A:
Numbers crunch, then act.
Frenzied tools change & construct.
Dreams real, now can breathe.

B:
These times, like all else
Confuse, entangle and maul.
But do they embold?

C:
Yes, the Turtle moves
Though Vorbis says “No”; Brutha
gardens Defiance.

PotW#14
Here, dashing flights of fancy
Clash titan-proud with rock hard
Truth (as defined by numbers);
A contest lacking victors
But resolved time and again.

PotW#15 aka "Death of A Router"
Cheap plastic circuits flash-bang
In time with lightening bright.
All else reboots with no hang.
But no matter flashing light,
My network no more functions.
Unplug this & that. It's you!
Surge-subject your dead junctions;
Bricked now, you were sorely new.
Replacement, I will soon seek.
Not again choose I so weak.

That's it! Any opinions?

Link to full post.

Games In Ubuntu

After trying Guitar Hero for the first time last weekend, I was in the mood to try out some new games for Ubuntu. Via the Ubuntu forums, I came across this really fantastic compendium of all things Ubuntu-gaming. With some experimentation and downloading, I ended up trying out several games most of which I really liked.

AssaultCube : I’ve never really been into FPS games but I thought I should have just one. This seemed like the one with the simplest premise (although Tremulous looks awesome) so I chose this one because I figured it would take me a while to get used to playing this type of game. Boy, was I right! I suck at this game. With everything set to easy and in a deathmatch with two measly bots, I never win. I can kill one bot but not the other before it gets me. However, it is fun and while frustrating, it is the kind of frustrating that is enjoyable so I can definitely see myself playing this in the future. My only two gripes are that the default keyboard settings are very awkward and that the only way to open the game is through the command line. The keyboard settings are pretty straightforward to change but you do have to take some time to think about what you should change them to in order to perform certain actions quick enough. The command line thing isn’t so bad; the main annoyance is that it takes 3 commands instead of just 1. I tried automating this but my script wouldn’t run. I’ll have to fix that if I plan on playing this a lot. Which I do.

Frets of Fire : Very disappointing. I can definitely see the potential for the game but, after playing Guitar Hero, it’s just not even in the ballpark in terms of playability and enjoyment. For one thing, the Tutorial to introduce you to the game is incredibly, stupidly condescending. Seriously, there’s no reason for it at all. Also, the F1-F5 keys are incredibly awkward to use as frets. I couldn’t get into it at all. Finally, while I understand an open-source games can’t include copyrighted songs, the included songs were pretty difficult compared to the “Easy” settings for Guitar Hero. I didn’t keep this one on my computer but if there are future improvements, well, I’d have no problem trying again.

Kobo Deluxe : Great space arcade game. The levels are varied and the premise of blowing up stationary objects that are defended works really well. I very much enjoyed this one.

gBrainy : Really good game loaded with logic and math puzzles. It’s not complicated or flashy but the puzzles are engrossing and just hard enough to require something of you. I really enjoyed this one.

Pipewalker : Really cool puzzle game where you have to rotate “piping” in order to connect computers to the network. The randomizing function is just good enough that it is quite difficult but not so much that you don’t believe the puzzle is solvable. The puzzles are pretty hard too. I played for two hours straight and only connected all 20 computers once. Exactly the best kind of game: not easy to win but easy to play. Just a note: This one is available from the repositories so the link is just to a description page.

Other Games On My To-Do List:
Phun – Physics simulator & mechanism creator.
FlightGear – Flight Simulator with tons of different aircraft

Link to full post.

Poem of the Week #6 & #7

Well, I apparently suck at this whole "Poem of the Week" thing, don't I? Here's my two deliquient entries.

PotW #6

Metal-scented daydreams flee
Before those wrapped in eager glee.
Surrounded, my words count more
How they land builds a new lore
Of restraint embracing soft.
Echoes from future thanks waft
To me, query-pressed with stress,
Purposeful and now, no less.

PotW #7

Numbers begin and end my days
I begrudge them nothing big.
The wheel turns at their command.
Speaking clear, my mousy hand
Awaits the only choice mine.
Can you graph comprehension?

I greatly prefer #6 over #7. Just my opinion...

Link to full post.

Steampunk Puzzle Game?!

I cannot wait!

Link to full post.

Poem Of The Week #5

My (slightly) late entry:

Sorting through this week's debris,
Baskets - categorized color,
I ache for discarded times.
But these walls are finite still;
Decisions beckon constant.
The trash needs emptying now.

WITH BONUS HAIKU:

Alien symbols
Now waver before my eyes
Odd understanding.

Link to full post.

Randomosity. On Wednesday.

Busy as a bee with ADD at work, but I'm been distracting myself with crass commercial soma. For instance, I didn't need a new pairs of sneakers.....until I saw these in Target:
They are somehow terrible and wonderful all at the same time! But, I don't have any socks to go with them. Darnit.

New, pod-o-matic Channel of awesomeness:
UMRK Web Radio
It's like a late sixties early seventies radio smorgasboard. Really good stuff.

Currently, I am trying to decide which T-Shirt to buy:

OR

If only TypeTees wasn't so awesome, I wouldn't have this problem.....Although, in keeping with the random theme of this post, I should go with Tee #1, yes?

Link to full post.

Poem Of The Week #4

Here goes: (on time!)

All week, I sped by
Faster than words,
Hindered by their odd weight.
This day, scatter-shot acts
defined my hours few.
Only now, laundry tumbling
Do I allow them
To close distance quick
Angry, forgiving and dear.

Opinions?

Link to full post.

Warner Music Is On CRACK

Because when the Monty Python guys possess MORE sense than you regarding YouTube videos and copyright, then, I’m sorry Warner Music but you fail at life! How utterly delusional do you have to be to think you’re losing money because people are posting home-made dance videos using your songs! Again, when the Monty Python guys are out-thinking you all the way to the bank, besides functioning as a warning to others, what exactly is your value-added to the corporate world?

Do you have any idea how many songs I’ve purchased because I first heard them on video on YouTube?! Here’s three real-life examples:

Fanvid – Women of Firefly (using Wicked’s “Defying Gravity”)

Loved Firefly but, in addition to the craftsmanship of the fanvid, I really enjoyed the lyrics to this song. Snatched this one from the Amazon MP3 store the second I found a version by Idina Menzel.

Bollywood Video (Dar-de-disco)

Spent a weekend a couple months back just watching semi-random clips of Bollywood dance numbers on YouTube. I wrote down several songs but not all were available in the Amazon MP3 store..This one and a couple others were.

HP-Firefly Mash-up Video

Really enjoyable combo of fandoms but this video is how I discovered the awesomeness of Jonathon Coulton. Total songs bought after this vid: 5 that day.

Now, the next bit requires a bit of a leap but work with me: Imagine I’m not the only one who bought these songs after seeing these videos. Each video has a relatively large number of viewings....Let’s assume approximately 1% of those total view(er)s actually did what I did and bought the song, just the song, in the video. The below table shows that in each case, whoever owned these songs MADE MONEY because of these YouTube videos.

Other notes of importance:
(1) The videos themselves were all “unofficial” content, no one affiliated with the content owners had anything to do with creating or posting these videos.
(2) Even if my estimate of which % of viewers actually bought the songs is in question, I know that I bought every song cited (and then some) resulting total actual verifiable gross (spread to all content owners) of $8.91 MIN.
(3) While I cannot speak for any other viewers, for all of these songs, this money is a clear gain because until I watched these videos either did not know these bands or singers existed, much less that these particular songs existed, much less that I liked these songs. What these YouTube videos provided to me wasn’t a source of illegal content; what they provided was a previously missing desire to purchase these songs. If these YouTube videos did not exist, the content owners of these songs would have made $0.

Please also note, this same logic applies to books, television shows and movies for any fan-created or posted work. Again, some real-world-actually-happened-to-me examples are:

Purchasing “North & South” DVDs and Book because of clips of the BBC miniseries on YouTube
Purchasing “Leverage” Episodes via Video On Demand because of clips and trailers on YouTube
Purchasing “Life” DVDs because of clips on YouTube

In conclusion, Warner Music = MORONS because while they may be “numbers people”, like most Big Content companies and industry groups, they also don’t possess the sense (numerical or otherwise) that God gave a bag full of hammers. Please fix.

Link to full post.

Poem Of The Week #3

Ok, this is slightly late...But here goes:

The cadence of another's tongue
Frozen in between the lines
Of coldly reproduced type.
My shelves buckle with the weight.
And yet, each strange collection
I stand before holds me still
With awe and eagerness more.
The card slides as my arms reach.

Opinions?

Link to full post.

Journals A Million! (Really Four)

While waiting in the checkout line at my local "Books A Million" I noticed several awesome patterns in the journals & diary section.....Four in particular were note-worthy.

First, the terror of the group:
My eyes will be forwarding the bookstore their therapy bills. I could feel my vision degrading as I stared....

We have two nominees for best patterns that I did not expect to like but still, find appealing:
Although I'm no fan of orange in general, here it works. Strikes me as vaguely medieval perhaps because of the patterned flowers (not the super-curly leaves, those always creep me out....it's too "Seymour, feed me!" for my tastes). Again, the components aren't something I ordinarily favor but how they assemble together here, works...

Very calming pattern. The paleness of the turquoise and the yellow, damn, it's relaxing just looking at it. Perhaps that is a good thing. Whoever buys this journal will be writing a lot less angst-filled poetry than whoever buys the pink & green monstrosity above.

The winner by an overwhelming margin:
Absolutely stunning pattern. I bought this journal for it alone even though I have absolutely nothing to use it for (well, maybe my ideas for "Poem of the week", but I didn't think of that until later).

Link to full post.

Poem of the Week #1 & #2

As promised, here's the first entry in my "Poem of the Week" personal enrichment goal for 2009. In the future, I’ll try to post these on the weekends after the week in question.

Week #1: I actually did write the first entry during the first week of 2009 as I knew I wanted that on my PE Goals list. For the first one, I decided to do a sonnet as, well, when we were required to for English class, I really enjoyed writing sonnets. As for the topic, well, I think you can guess what I was doing my first week back at work.....

Design Analysis Blues

Siren numbers dance and trill tunelessly.
With silent motion, I fumble on while
My damp hands grasp, forcing each quantity
To meet its measure well, ending the trial.

Alas, the rhythm of scratching symbols dies,
Leaving poorly constructed gibberish
For me to sift through, discarding the lies.
My ego weeps red, making me squeamish.

A force this way; An angle not obtuse.
Enough? The numerals taunt me sing-song
As Aunt Sally orders me to let loose.
Buttons click, numbers crunch, righting the wrong.

But will these digits do the work I need?
Do I trust them with life and limb? Take heed.


Week #2: I actually wrote more than one poem but I'm not happy with a vast majority of them. They're....OK, I guess. But they are ultimately lacking whatever it is that makes me enjoy my own writing. So, unfortunately, I'm defaulting to post haiku as the official entry. There are three which are unrelated topic-wise....

Haiku #1

Black boxes lined up.
Arrows cross but do not link.
Dear me, what a waste!

Haiku #2

Wood balls arc in rings.
Lights and song, ringing victory.
I need more tokens.

Haiku #3

The clock ticks late/early.
Words bubble up, Grey spaces.
My nightclothes don't fit.

Either week, any opinions?

Link to full post.

2009 Personal Enrichment Goals

When after last year’s dismal showing, I am hoping 2009 will be much better in terms of self-improvement. There’s a great deal of carry over here but I’ve done some tweaking of those tasks to ensure they actually get done this time around. I’m nicknaming 2009, “The Year Of Versatility”. This is going to be all about doing things in a way that I can adapt to any changes in my schedule.

Total Goals for 2009: 20
Computer / Technology Related: 6
Education: 4
Financial/Home: 4
Leisure: 4
Fitness/Self-Defense: 2

You can certainly tell where my priorities are....See full post for details.

Expanded Exercise Program: Instead of requiring I hit a KM level (which needs an amount of time I may not have to spare thanks to work), I’ve created an exercise program which does require I attend 1-2 KM classes a week, exercise in the morning 2x a week and do 1 “Other” bit of exercise a month. This gives me a good deal of flexibility while also requiring that I get out there and work. The morning exercise routine is something I used to do before I signed up with the Krav Maga Gym but in the last couple of years, I’ve started sleeping later (ie – staying up later) instead of exercising which really isn’t a smart move on my part. Also included on my checklist is to take a multi-vitamin a couple times a week just to ensure my body has what it needs to benefit from the exercise.

Adult Education Classes (NISD): Instead of separate requirements for specific classes, I’m just going with a general adult education category. I hope to take several classes but my requirement is at least 3. The topics of interest to me are HTML/web page programming, archery, pottery, cooking, First Aid/CPR and welding. The specific classes I take will depend on price, scheduling and availability. Hopefully, this way of structuring the requirement will be more successful than previous requirements for specific classes.

Must read 20 Non-Fiction Books: I’m probably going to include this one from now on. I can do reading on potential topics for future goals and generally, I notice I’m a bit more on-the-ball with other things when I keep up with my reading. The requirement is still 20 because I got close to it in 2008 and frankly, I went a couple months without reading a non-fiction book. So, I still consider 20 books a completely feasible goal if I stick with it.

Research Self-Employment: Since I work in the automotive industry, things are a bit uncertain right now. I have no desire to switch jobs as I actually do like where I work. However, it may not be up to me. So, instead of waiting for the ax to fall, I’m going to do a little research on how to get-by if I have to search for a job in the current economic environment. As far as self-employment goes, in the current economic climate I’d like to have the most versatility possible and self-employment is the one option I’ve never done any looking into before. I consider this to be more learning about where the info I will need is and preparing myself to be ready to go if the worst happens.

Blogging Tweaks & Improvement: First things first, I really need to improve my blogroll. The list of actual blogs I read is much, much longer. Using the X/HTML references I collected last year, I’m also going to be looking into either major tweaks or a full-on rebuild of my blog template. It’s looking old to me for some reason. I’m not going to set a post/month goal like I did last year. However, I do want to keep up with posting a bit better. I’ve got some ideas about how to do that and thankfully, one of the goals this year will require I post regularly (see “Poem Of The Week” below).

Clean Apt More Often: I am a terrible housekeeper. I know this. Everybody (including, unfortunately, my mom) knows this. So, this year I’m going to dedicate myself to keeping my apartment cleaner. I’ve added several reoccurring tasks into my Thunderbird Calendar specifically to remind me to keep up with certain things. Also, in the past, one of the reasons I put off cleaning is that I tried to do too much at one time (ie – do everything on a Saturday and whatever doesn’t get done, doesn’t get done). This is a wildly ineffective system. No more. Now, I will purposely do 3-4 things every 2 weeks and spread them out through the week. If I only have to do 1 thing, I’m more likely to get it done after work or before I start playing on the computer on weekends. I hope....

Charitable Education: I’ve long desired to help improve K-12 education either through charitable foundations or my own work. Last year, I discovered DonorsChoose which is a good charity for targeted educational improvement. This year, I’ll continue my donations there as long as I’m financially able but I will also begin research into private or charter schools in the San Antonio area. At some point, I would like to create scholarships for kids at one or more of these schools. This year will be about researching those schools and developing the financial tools necessary to do such a thing. Right now I just have a broad goal of eventually doing this, after 2009 I’d like to have a specific plan of HOW I plan to get this done.

Take Up Shooting: There is a shooting class that I want to take but it isn’t through NISD (although they do have a disarming class). Also, I may attend “open” days at local shooting ranges and / or buy some kind of gun. What I really want is a small rifle. I remember as a kid that I enjoyed shooting a rifle a good deal more than handguns (no idea why). Anyway, this is just one more step in improving my ability to defend myself. I’ll probably start with a rifle and work my way into handguns.

Use Skydiving Voucher: I paid for it, might as well use it. I think I’ll probably wait until Spring. For some reason the idea of jumping out of a plane when it’s really, really cold just makes it more nerve-wracking for me. Still, I do look forward to this. While waiting for the weather to clear when I originally went, they showed videos of other people jumping and it looked insanely fun. Probably not something I’ll do more than once, but definitely something I've always wanted to try.

Teach Myself: Controls Engineering: I got through about ¼ of my book last year. I’m hoping to do at least the same in 2009. The first couple chapters took me a while because I had to do a great deal of reviewing. I’m hoping some of these middle chapters go by quicker now that the groundwork is laid. For the most recent work, I do feel like the material is easier for me because of the review work. I also look forward to making more use of the Octave computer application as that is the closest readily available substitute for some kind of Controls laboratory work.

Ubuntu/OSS Advocacy: In the last 1-2 months, I’ve been advising a coworker who was interested in switching his kids’ computers to Ubuntu. He completed the switch over the holidays. I greatly enjoyed the experience of answering his questions both because it helped remind me of some of the things about Linux which intimidated me at first (the Command Line) and because he asked some really interesting questions. So, I’m adding some kind of open-source or Ubuntu advocacy goal to this year’s list. I’m going to look for a local Ubuntu group to work with and I plan to do (even more) blogging about different aspects of the system from the perspective of somebody who isn’t a programmer. But I really do believe that the open-source model of development results in a far superior product so I’m going to be much more conscious about doing my part to ensure more people know about it. This strikes me as especially necessary after my experiences trying to buy a computer without Windows Vista on it back in September (I don’t see why I had to pay a premium for Vista when I’m going to wipe the HD & install Ubuntu without ever booting into Windows).

Update/Reintegrate Financial Goals: While last year I took steps to improve tracking my finances, my short-and long term goals have languished for a couple years. This is not to say I haven't been completing my financial goals. Only, my financial goals haven’t really been updated in a couple years and when looking at the list, I realize they are a bit dated. Some of them no longer apply, while there are other things I’d like to do that I need to start planning for. So, I will be updating these goals and my 5-10 year financial plans.

Start Using Media Management Software: Last weekend I counted my books. I have 743 (not including magazines and electronic copies, .pdfs). And in the last week, I have bought even more. Needless to say, managing and sorting all those works in a 1-bedroom apartment requires a great deal of shelving and alphabetizing. But I would like to have some way of tracking what I own and what I don’t. This is especially important for some of my sci-fi series where I have trouble remembering what I own and what I still need to buy. And for non-fiction books, I’ve been a little bit haphazard in how I divide them by subject so maybe using a Media Management application will force me to pay better attention there.

Improve PuppyLinux Install: I set this up on a flash drive right before my trip to Japan last year. While for the most part it was a positive experience, they released an update to Puppy shortly thereafter and I never took the time to really tweak the applications. Since the main purpose of having Puppy on a flash drive is to access certain linux applications that my borrowed-work-WindowsONLY laptop does not have, I need to get the drive fully set-up to have all those applications and any useful add-ons. Frankly, I don’t see this taking any more than a weekend or two but it does need doing. Now is the perfect time too because I don’t have any travel for work on my schedule.

Patio Garden – Food: Needless to say my garden revamp of 2008 was a disastrous failure. This year, I’m going to focus on edible plants. I’ve noticed I tend to take better care of plants that are doing something for me. The whole care for nature because it is an inherently worthwhile act isn’t really a motivator for me. In order to be successful this time around, I need to plant earlier (late Feb) and plant things that I will want to succeed (flowers, who cares? Give me a good jalapeño plant any day). I’ve already got some ideas but I need to sort through my seeds to see what’s still good and what I’ll need to buy.

Write 1 Poem A Week: One of the reasons I started blogging was to improve and maintain my writing skills. The more I work in engineering, the more I see the value in being able to communicate properly and clearly . As a teenager, I went through the typical angst-filled poetry phase. However, I actually still like some of the poems I wrote back then. I'm not referring to the depressing self-pitying crap. However, some of the more thoughtful pieces still resonate. In an effort to contrast the dry engineering writing I do every day, I will write 1 Poem a week for the entire year. There are additional restrictions. Over half (26+) must be form poems (sonnets,haikus,etc) as sometimes I work best when restricted. And of the form poems, if I do a haiku I have to do at least two or three as they are so short. Since we’re in the end of the second week of 2009, I’m already behind. But I’ll catch up. The goal is to post the poem on Saturday or Sunday.

Investigate Green Home Design: I do not like how most modern housing is built. I get that it is a business and they have an obligation to drive costs down, but it seems like if you want a certain level of quality, you’re only option is to custom build. This is a prohibitively expensive jump for most people. At some point, I would like to build my own home. In preparation for this, I have been developing some very specific ideas about what I’d want from that home. Green design appeals to me not for its environmental street-cred but from an efficiency standpoint. Green builders are really the only ones thinking outside-the-box in homebuilding today. So, I’m going to do some studying of what’s cutting edge here in anticipation that sometime in the future, I’ll be able to use that knowledge to build myself a nice, quality, energy-efficient home.

Teach Myself: Applications of Interest (MIN 2): I’ve added several applications to my Ubuntu install but haven’t taken the time to really learn them. Even after finally getting why GIMP is so cool, there’s a lot to that program I simply don’t know how to use. So I will make more of an effort to learn some open-source applications involving skills that are important to my future plans. These applications include photo/video editing, CAD programs, programming tools and productivity-enhancing tools. Initially, I plan to focus on GIMP and the FreeCad program as I feel they would be the most immediately applicable.

Improve Language Skills (Spanish & Japanese): I work in a multilingual environment. While I can follow conversations with differing levels of competence, I’m terrible about using the language skills I have and making an effort to improve them further. Part of it is a confidence issue, I don’t want to say the wrong thing but I really need to get the hell over that. So, I’ll be using more Spanish (especially in emails where there’s plenty of opportunity to check your phrasing) and trying to learn some additional Japanese. I think at the very least, I should learn the romanji alphabet as that’s how Japanese renders as lot of words they got from other languages like English. I don’t know that I’ll ever be fluent in any language other than English but I’m certain I have the capability to be functionally conversant.

Rent Larger Apt/Duplex/Townhome: I need more space! In addition to room for all my books, I would like a guest room for my parents and relatives to visit (yes, I actually like hanging out with some of my relatives, crazy but true). I did some looking around in 2008 but didn’t find anything that justified moving. There were a couple of places that appealed but unfortunately, they didn’t have anything available. I’m be keeping my ear to the ground for something better and saving money for a move & some new furniture. I may also be doing some preemptive cleaning to get rid of stuff I don’t want to bother packing up and carrying someplace new. This goal is tentative pending any abrupt changes in the financial situation or a lack of anything available. We’ll see.

Link to full post.

That Which Is Unquestionably Awesome

I haven’t done a single book review post in a long while, and even then, it is usually reserved for non-fiction books. That changes now, because “Vorpol Blade” was the single best piece of military sci-fi I have read in a long, long time. Which given the authors are the same team which wrote the completely brilliant “Von Neumann’s War”, is no real surprise. I bought this book expecting a good solid read. What I got was a brilliantly hilarious rip-roaring read that I could not put down for a second until I finished it. Seriously, I took this with me to read while waiting at “Discount Tire” and I swear to God, I death-glared the kid who interrupted me to tell me my car was ready.

How could I possibly not love a book whose characters use Firefly slang, where Marines debate the merits of country versus goth rock and which has a major plot point involving gargalizing? Oh, and the ex-Navy SEAL who loves flower arranging so much he brings dried flowers on the mission just so he has something relaxing to do in his free time!

*runs off to buy “Manxome Foe” ASAP*

Link to full post.

2008 Personal Enrichment Update

Aka, “Diary Of My Year Of Abysmal Slacking” Seriously, I got almost nothing DONE. Lots of things started but no follow through at all! And most of it is just my own damn fault. There were a several of goals that upon closer examination weren’t really good ideas so I nixed them for scheduling, financial, or other reasons. However, the vast majority of this list was completely feasible if I had only applied myself more. Here’s the depressing breakdown:

Actual Completed Tasks: 2
Eliminated/Postponed Tasks: 3
More Than 50% Complete Tasks: 4
Less Than 50% Tasks: 4
Never Did Anything Category: 3

In the “Actual!Completed!Tasks!” Category:
Both are lame, small things.
Support WGA Strike – Did that until it was over in FEB-2008. DONE.

Keep Ubuntu Install Updated – DONE but then when my computer crashes and I have to buy a new one, it’s pretty much guaranteed my install will be the latest & greatest. I do feel good that I did 2 fresh Ubuntu installs & customizations, install a router in my apartment and added several applications to improve productivity.

In the “Eliminated/Postponed” Category:
Laser Eye Surgery – Due to restrictions on nighttime driving after, this had to happen in the summer & didn’t. It was a scheduling issue. I already had a dental surgery planned this summer and didn’t want to miss that much work within such a short time. Of course, the dental surgery got pushed back. It will be on next year’s list.

Buy & Test Google Phone – Due to certain other financial to-dos that frankly are more important, this got placed on-hold. While I could order one right now, I’ve decided that the money that I’d have to spend would be better used elsewhere. This one isn’t opportunity/time related so much as a change in priorities.

Linux Professional Certification Test – The more I’ve studied the CLI & scripting this year, the more I realize I’m not ready for this test. Per my other goals, I have been focusing on using the command line and I have bought several books on improving my skills here. But I’m nowhere near “certification-worthy”. This will however remain on my list for next year simply because I do believe that further progress is possible and desirable. Just I haven’t had the time to made enough of that progress in 2008.

In the “More Than 50% Complete” Category:
Teach Myself: Controls Engineering – While I’ve made pretty consistent progress here, I’ve going to fall far short of my goal of completing the work for half of my textbook. The main delay here was due to my taking the time to review several Differential Equations concepts that I hadn’t really used since college. While this delayed me, it also ensured that I’m actually learning (and will remember) the material far better. In this particular instance, I believe retaining the information is much more important than merely covering it. I have so far completed about ¼ of the textbook (besides the review stuff) so I consider this goal half complete.

Disaster Kits – Kits are set-up and my email calendar has dates input for re-stocking supplies. However, the at-home stuff is scattered in several storage places instead in one easy-to-assess/access location. Also, due to the new car, I had to reorganize the auto kit and, thanks to some new compartments, will likely expand that kit. I’ve already bought a trunk organizer. Once decide what additional items I want to include, I’ll do my last bit of shopping for “Auto-Disaster-Kit version 2.0”. I consider this task approx 75% DONE.

Read 20 Nonfiction Books – I breezed through the first half of this goal but have since faltered. Thankfully, I did a bit of reading toward the end of the year so while I didn’t get 20 books read, I did get 18 finished. So, 90% DONE.

Better Track Finances – After a disastrous computer crash and an unimpressive test-run of GnuCash, I thought I had finally found a Ubuntu-compatible money management program that I like: KmyMoney. I did begin teaching myself this program which is for the most part fairly intuitive. However, it does a lot of things for you that I’m used to being able to do my way in a spreadsheet program. So, it’s been slow-going converting to the new system. Also, I’m still not sure this program by itself will be enough so there may be a few additional spreadsheets that kinda piece together certain things. I’d say this one is about 60-70% DONE.

In the “Less Than 50% Complete” Category:
Study Command Line – While I didn’t set any specific targets for this one, I have kept up with it better by both using the command line and acquiring both online & offline references. What I have not done is really write scripts. Part of that is I haven’t felt the need to automate processes which appears to be the #1 reason for writing a script. For programming stuff, I usually move at a glacial pace. Part of this is my own insecurity regarding programming (which this is supposed to help with) and part of it is my belief that most tasks are made easier by thinking them through before you try to do them. Unfortunately, the whole point of learning CLI is to automate tasks using scripts and since I haven’t done that, I cannot claim more than 20-30% DONE on this one.

Be Sociable – In general, I’ve most improved in terms of commenting on websites. No longer am I strictly a lurker. While I’m no social butterfly of a commenter, I have made an effort here and by commenting on different types of sites from fan to political. At first I had attending a sci-fi convention of some sort but that got scratched off fairly quickly when I discovered how expensive they were! In a year when I’m buying a car (and maybe doing some other things), I cannot drop $300-$400 dollars (MIN) on one weekend. I hope to continue commenting such that it becomes more habitual. Since I did break my lurking habit, I would say this is 25% DONE.

Patio Garden – I planted new stuff but thanks to the heat and lack of rain, this did not turn out too well for me. Thankfully, one of the shade plants survived. There’s one area of my patio that hasn’t had anything ever because it’s too dark. At least for my shady corner, it doesn’t look so desolate now. Still, most everything else died. Great = Planting new things. Not-so-great = They all died. Also, 25% DONE.

Maintain / Improve Weblog – While I missed my 20 posts/month goal for much of the year, I did tweak the layout a bit by creating a better header image, adding feeds and improving the sidebar. One reason for posting decline, aside from work, is that I have been trying (with mixed results) to better define my blog “voice”. One of the reasons I started this blog was to develop that voice and for 6-9 months or so, it just wasn’t there. Now, I’m starting to feel like the posts have a more targeted feel (not in terms of subject matter but that they sound like ME). I have some ideas for further developments but that is next year’s list.

In the “Never Did Anything” Category:
Krav Maga Level 1 – While I’ve been OK about going to the yoga class, making it to other classes hasn’t been occurring with any respectable frequency. Part of it is that on weekdays, I don’t really have time in the evenings and on weekends, well, no excuses I just haven’t gone. Needless to say, I’ve really not applied myself here. Part of it is time constraints but the large majority of this is just me not trying hard enough. FAIL.

HTML class – Hasn’t actually been offered by NISD all year! It was especially frustrating this fall because, even though “Intro to HTML” is listed as a prequisite for two classes, they don’t actually offer “Intro to HTML”. I’ve attempted instead to build a little bit of a library of HTML/XMTL references. So officially, FAIL but I worked around it.

Skydiving – I almost went through with this. I found a place in San Marcos that offers tandem jumps with DVDs (this doesn’t count without photographic proof….no matter how embarrassing). On Saturday November 22nd, I drove out there but the weather wasn’t good so there were no flights that day. I got a voucher good for a year that I can “cash-in” at any time. I had hoped to do so before the new year but either the weather was bad or I had previous engagements on the weekends (the skydiving place is only open Fri, Sat & Sun in the winter). So, once again, FAIL. No excuses for scheduling either because if I’d tried it earlier, I’d have had plenty of time to get it done.

OVERALL:
For all my excitement about an ambitious list at the beginning of the year, that feeling did not carry over to actually completing my goals. Several items will be carried over with modification onto the 2009 list (coming soon!). Seriously, this performance is pretty embarrassing especially since it is only the second year of doing Personal Enrichment Goals so it’s not like I got lazy after so many years of working. One thing that I do is get too specific in the goal. I need to keep the goals general but have a specific plan for fulfilling that goal separate from the goal itself. This way, fewer goals are eliminated or left incomplete after further investigation reveals they may not be what I had in mind (Linux Certification) or due to lack of availability (NISD not offering any HTML classes). Also, I need to focus more on feasibility both in selection and execution. While part this year’s slacking here was due to work getting busier at certain points, I should be taking that opportunity to hone my multi-tasking skills instead of eliminating non-work stuff altogether. In conclusion, I’m quite disappointed in myself and improvement must occur in 2009!

Link to full post.

Bibliophilia - Holiday Edition!

While I was too busy to blog for the entire holiday season, I was of course not too busy to read. Full post has my opinions and links. Note: Some reviews include spoilers....

Summary:
Comic Books - 8
Young Adult - 1
(Historical) Romance - 3
Historical Adventure - 2
Sci-Fi - 9
Fantasy / Satire / Pratchettesque - 1
History - 1
Psychology - 1
Memoir - 1
Education / Politics - 1

"Steampunk" by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer. (Anthology) This is creepy unsettling science fiction. The only problem is that ALL the stories involved some really dismal alternative possibilities. Why is it that people equal dismal dystopian pointless surreallism with literary quality story-telling? Because if you don’t get that, you will NOT enjoy this book a bit. The depressing & macabre tone made it really hard to keep coming back to read another story. Also, I did NOT appreciate the story regarding what happened to the guy from the HG Wells “The Time Machine”. That was perverted, gross and pretty damn useless. So, a lot of potential here but ultimately, I couldn’t finish this and it’s going straight into my sell-back pile. Steampunk gone wildly astray.

“Girl Genius volumes 1 through 6” by Kaja & Phil Foglio. (comic books) Great neoVictorian technological fun. No that’s not right. More like: OMG THIS IS AWESOME!!!! Female heroine with a strange past, steampunk universe on crack, lots of awesome supporting characters and an artistic aesthetic to die for. Not to mention the whole idea that super-geniuses/heroes might be a profound danger to society and therefore are usually regulated, contained, controlled or killed is a really intriguing idea, especially when the universe makes very clear that these people have caused untold death and destruction in the past even when they were “good” guys. For such a depressing premise, the authors create a wonderfully amusing, thought-provoking and (for a comic book) logically consistent story. That alone makes LXG (see below) look like total amateur hour by comparison. Steampunk done right in every way imaginable.

“Me & Mr. Darcy” by Alexandra Potter. Ok, you know what’s going to happen here. The art is in the “How” not the “What”. This modern retelling is surprisingly good considering it’s predictable as hell. Plus, I have to love a book where the main character is a bookstore-managing bibliophile. I think I prefer the “Darcy” novels by Elizabeth Aston to this one but, if you’re in an airport and see this, it’s definitely worth picking up to pass the time.

"The Time Axis" by Henry Kuttner. Yet another download find. An excellent, mind-bending read. The premise is straightforward but what sells it is the author’s presentation. Told from a single perspective, the main characters journalistic style combined with his confusion about what is actually happening makes for a wonderfully enjoyable tale.

“1215: The Year Of The Magna Carta” by Danny Danziger & John Gillingham. Rather intriguing summary of life in England the year of the signing of the Magna Carta. It includes some information on the historical significance and actual intent of the Magna Carta as well as background on the conflict between King John and the barons that lead to Runnymeade. Quite a nice weekend read.

“Odyssey”, “Cauldron” & “Polaris” by Jack McDevitt. All three solid sci-fi stories. The first two are continuations of the “Priscilla Hutchins” series. And they are both compelling additions to a fantastic future history. "Cauldron" is especially good. I love the super-villian character introduced in the end - creepy, amusing and effective. Lastly, we have a novel in the “Alex Benedict” series which although good was my least favorite of the three. For reasons I can’t quite pin down the Alex Benedict novels are less satisfactory for me than McDevitt’s other works; there’s an underlying cynicism to those stories that puts me off. "Polaris" especially was ultimately about a bunch of scientists screwing everyone over because people weren't ready for "the truth". YAWN of an ending.

“True Darcy Spirit” & “The Second Mrs. Darcy” by Elizabeth Aston. Thank God Austen is in the public domain. So we can get authors like Aston writing such wonderful continuations of the story. Two wonderful historical romances involving Anne de Bourgh's daughter and a Darcy widow. Very enjoyable and left me craving for more (so much so that I asked for yet two more P&P continuations for Christmas).

“Genius Squad” by Catherine Jinks. Sequel to “Evil Genius” (which was brilliant). This book covers the aftermath of the fall of the Axis Institute and how Cadel Piggot deals with being outed as the child of an evil genius. The rag-tag band of maybe-not-quite-good super-genius kids who may-or-may-not fight evil was exceptionally well written. At no time do you forget that for the most part, these are children or teenagers with some severe emotional problems. Great kids adventure that never forgets even geniuses kids are ultimately kids.

“A Slave Is A Slave” By H. Bean Piper. (short story) Got this little gem off ManyBooks.net after realizing one of my favorite sci-fi quotes originates from the work. An excellent (if somewhat depressing) story on human nature, slavery and the dangers of “fixing” other people’s societies.

“Rebels of the Red Planet” by Charles Louis Fontenay. (novella/short story/I don’t know) From the golden age of sci-fi comes what would be a really good novella, if it wasn’t so horribly dated in places. The heroine is cool as a super-spy underestimated even by Martian government officials (one in particular who is very keen on marrying her). However, the second she interacts with the hero character, she throws all that out the window and turns into the typical 50's sci-fi damsel in distress. Lots of good twists and plot beats about evil manipulations of settling Mars but overall underwhelming because if you’re going to have a female character that cool, you need to have a equally cool male character to pair her off with and the “hero” didn’t cut it. It’s never a good sign when you’re rooting more for the crazy old guy in the secret government hydroponics facility than the supposed hero.

“The Laughing Cavalier” & “The First Sir Percy” by Baroness Orczy. Two great novellas about the equally audacious ancestor of “The Scarlet Pimpernel”. Just lovely, old-fashioned swashbuckling reads. Great fun, good suspense and surprisingly packed with great one-liners.

“Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir In Books” by Azar Nafisi. A simultaneously depressing & uplifting book. In addition to the women’s pov on living in The Islamic Republic of Iran, the author’s background as someone who had previously supported revolution made for very interesting reading. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it; this isn’t a book anybody enjoys (in some respects I get the feeling the author didn’t enjoy writing it so much as needed the release). But definitely a thought provoking work.

“Omega, The Man” by Lowell Howard Morrow (short story) BLAH & YUCK. A completely unnecessary and depressing story about the end of the human race in some far, very dismal future. Not to ruin the end for you, but we don’t come out too well. I’m good with dystopian futures but this one didn’t have any purpose to it at all!

“The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (vol 1 & 2)” by Alan Moore (& Kevin O'Neill, vol.2) (comic book) It’s very rare that I have such wildly variable responses to two different books in a series but that’s exactly what happened here. Volume One was excellent. Volume Two was complete & utter dreck. So I’m dividing up the review:
Volume 1 - Solid and enjoyable but not a story for kids. I especially loved all the little details like the incorporation of the Sherlock Holmes mythos, nod to ‘Mysterious Island’ and my favorite, hints that a previous league existed earlier in British history including (SPOILER) The Scarlet Pimpernel himself! My only negative is how they keep hitting you over the head with the Mina/Quartermain relationship. Given Mina’s past, I can understand why she would be attracted to an older man but the way they are going about it is very, very junior high school. Aside from that, definitely good stuff.
Volume 2 – UGH. A comic book involving a “War Of The Worlds” scenario should be excellent. The premise is yours to screw up. And boy, did they! Let’s just say that after reading this comic, I’m remembering the LXG movie a LOT more fondly than I did previously. The actual invasion parts were cool. The actions and thought processes of the League characters were a DISASTER. For one thing, there were 2 sex scenes that (I thought) were totally out of character for the Mina Murrary of Volume One. Also, the Invisible Man’s betrayal was so predictable, its aftermath didn’t engage me at all. And while Dr. Hyde died well, he didn’t really have much to do but avenge the Invisible Man’s betrayal in a completely disgusting manner and die well. Also, while I agree that the British Empire had its bad points, the constant harping on how terrible it was really annoys me. We are talking about the only empire in history to outlaw slavery, right? The same one that managed to leave behind more productive, relatively stable societies when it collapsed than most, right? The same one that exported the Industrial Revolution and all of its technological wonders around the world, right? Sure it wasn’t all roses but dude, the downside of the Victorian/Empire Period has been so DONE that the clicheness of those plot twists took an already mediocre story and made it terrible. Needless to say, I'm skipping volume 3.

“Ivory Towers On Sand: The Failure of Middle Eastern Studies In America” by Martin Kramer. Got this as a .pdf from the author’s website A little bit of a dry read (but if you really like reading tales of academic infighting, this is for you!) but an interesting summary of both why Middle Eastern Studies in the US is so incredibly biased and how it got that way. Seriously, even knowing the book has its biases, Edward Said sounds like a complete tool!

“Kris Longknife: Audacious” by Mike Shephard. Yet another awesome addition to the equally awesome Kris Longknife series. This is how you write a sci-fi heroine. Plus, I’ve got to love a book that opens in the middle of an assassination attempt on the main character, is focused on causing/preventing/it-depends-on-the-chapter a coup, and has some of the best wacky space politics & how they got that way future history I’ve read in a long while. Seriously, New Eden politics was wonderfully complicated and believable.

“Making Money” by SIR Terry Pratchett. Of course this doesn’t suck! There are very few surer bets in modern fiction than a DiscWorld novel. Still, this was really good even for Terry Pratchett. Several Laugh-out-loud moments, excellent wry commentary on fiscal policy and just a wonderful plot. Also, Lord Vetinari is one of those characters who started out awesome and continues to out-awesome everyone around him on every single page. Pratchett deserved to be knighted just for creating HIM.

“Games People Play: The Basic Handbook Transactional Analysis” by Eric Berne. An interesting if difficult read. I think it says something about the state of modern psychology that they take such a cool topic and then spend 100+ pages sucking the cool from it one dry academic pronouncement at a time. If the topic weren’t something that deeply interested me, I’d have stopped after the first chapter. Also after reading, I am left with a lingering but distinct desire to play “Now I’ve Got You, You Son Of A Bitch” (which will forever be on my list of Best Game Names EVAH).

Link to full post.