Random

My fortune said to seize from every moment its' uniqueness. Here's my
unique photo if the moment. Haha.

Lunch time

Yes, its back to Mama Chu's after a 3 week hiatus. Here Roach studies
intently on figuring out how to delete mail accounts from his Cingular
8525.

I suppose

One of the advantages to working out of your home is that you can take your work anywhere. The downside is that when you do, this is the extent of your workspace. Still, its better than a nine-to-five, right?

Oh, and I'll go ahead and pitch portable apps right now. Its awesome. www.portableapps.com

Check it out.

Teh Technology!!

I just finished playing through Space Quest 3. Some of you are going to have to go to your Way Back Machines to know what I'm talking about. I'd known of its' existence, and I'd even installed DOSBox Portable at some point. Just got around to using it, and it was a great trip down memory lane.

Can a game that old still be fun? Oh yes. In fact I've been perusing some of the old DOS games out there. It's been quite fun. I was lucky enough to have a powerful 386DX-40 back in 1992 or so. So I got my hands on some of the better games. Going back to revisit some of those has been a hoot. Going to look at the Commander Keen games again next. I remember playing through the different shareware versions of those many times. OH and I got a copy of Airlift - it's a riot. Spent many aggravating hours on that game I can tell you.

If you care, DOSBox can be found at www.portableapps.com. Take a look. The trip down memory lane is quite refreshing. Or, if you're too young to know what DOS was, take a look anyway. You might learn something. Get to know your roots, that sort of thing.

Happy birthday to me.

Well, yesterday that is.

Made it.

Was able to get to arizona without any major incident. Bonus. Got a bit of riding in so far but nothing particularly exciting. Everything is much bigger when you're young.

Insert Penny-Arcade reference

Why do you call him Cheeto?

Blah

Its times like this that I really hate winter. Was going to take one
down to arizona with me but my trailer hub isnt cooperating. Awesome.
Life just sucks sometimes.

WOW!

So I decided that since Sprint can't stop from creating billing errors every month, as well as other, unsavory problems, I'd switch carriers. Decided on AT&T. Got an iPhone. There is irony in that that I won't even begin to explore. It's so ripe for the taking, there's just no reason to pick it.

As any iPhone owner knows, there is currently no third-party application support. That's going to change starting around February, but for now, you're limited to "Web Apps." What exactly are "Web Apps?" They're essentially crap ware, that, in many cases, you can't even give away. See, Apple decided not to release third party support, saying that robust apps would be presented online. Yeah. That went really, really well. Good job, Apple.

It's not even surprising they're opening third party app support. I've monkeyed around with a handful of web apps, and wow, do they ever suck. The concept is nice, but the execution is just horrifyingly lacking. Even browsing the Top 10 on Apple's site left me just feeling rather irritated in general. I tried an online version of Duck Hunt, for example. It's so slow to register key presses and so choppy in general, it's just not even worth trying. Same goes for a few other games I tried. Have to tap 5, 6 times to get some to register that you're touching the screen. There is no joy in this process. Certainly no entertainment value.

The interesting thing is that, for a time, I had opened my phone to the possibilities of third party apps. Oddly enough, nothing interesting out there, either. There are a few useful ones, such as a nifty light game, and ... you know, right now I can't even remember. There's a rather simplistic voice memo program, an instant messaging app, etc. eBook reader was another one. But nothing that I really can't live without.

So what does third party application support mean for the future? Well, as much as I hate paying $20 for an app for my phone, maybe we'll see something worthwhile come out that will fill in the gaps in the current iPhone software. More PDA-type support would be nice. Oh, and a Google Talk app. (I don't even care if it doesn't support voice chat.)

The possibilities are endless, it's just a matter of how many people pick up the slack. I'm about ready to migrate from web-based coding to application coding just to try my hand at device programming myself. With Google's phone OS coming out, there's that to consider, too. We've got potential like crazy, let's see what can be done.

It's just sad, is what it is.

Sony is finally getting some love for the PS3 since their price drop. I like seeing this, because I like that there will be more Blu-ray players in people's living rooms. (Can you guess which side of the HD format war I'm on?)

It's just sad, though, because the Xbox360 is still the better game machine. Well, apart from the fact that their life expectancy is probably around 20 hours or so. But what's sad is that there are still only a small smattering of good games for the PS3. I just picked up Ratchet y Clank Future: ToD from Blockbuster last night, and it's good. It's not great though. I think some might see it as such when compared to what else is out there. I certainly wouldn't buy a PS3 just to play it, though.

The 360 though, now there are some good games. And solid controllers. A buddy of mine prefers Sony's controllers, but after a good bit of playing around, I'm fairly certain the dead area on the analog sticks on the PS3 controllers is huge compared to the 360's offering. I just feel like I have more control with the 360 than I do with the PS3. My gameplay would probably indicate as much, as well.

Anyway. Nice to see some more PS3 systems being pushed out. While stand-alone HD-DVD players are still dramatically cheaper than Blu-ray players, it's nice to know that the Blu-ray format is still running strong. Am I a Sony fanboy? Hardly. I still prefer the 360. I think Blu-ray is the actual, superior technology, and hey, I got one free with my PS3 purchase. I don't want to buy another HD player to catch the "other" titles. Unfortunately, in this case the "other" titles include anything from Paramount. Idiots.

After

Yes please.

Mama's

Lunch at Mama Chu's is always good. Even just the pre-lunch.

Testing...

Roach says this will work, but what does he know.

Discoveries

For two and a half years, I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher. I was employed, though, by a police department, so the vast majority of my traffic was police oriented. My relationship with my job was entirely love/hate. It would take way too many words to describe why that is. If you ever meet someone who does (or did) the job, ask them about it, and maybe you can begin to grasp that statement.

When I left, our Administrative Sergeant told me that I was "one of the most efficient dispatchers we ever had." He wasn't one to dole out the compliments, so it really stuck with me. Part of my ability I ascribed to the fact that I could type very quickly. I could also prioritize pretty well. I thought a big part of it was from the fact that when the need arose, I was very focused. Also, I didn't let things bother me after the fact.

At least I thought I didn't. I recently told a friend that one of the reasons I was a good dispatcher was because I didn't let things bother me. I could deal with tragedy and pain and come out of it fairly unscathed. I was wrong.

In part of the same conversation, the same friend commented on how much I'd changed since they knew me last. It's true. I'm less compassionate, I get angry faster, and I have a general lack of patience with people. I also get fidgety when there are too many people in my immediate vicinity.

I finally realized tonight that I didn't cope well with the stress of being a dispatcher. I mean, I did, I was able to do my job when things got out of control, but it definitely had a lasting impact on me. So then, to really say you deal with things well means that you can leave a situation as essentially the same person you were when you started. At that, I failed. It probably didn't help that during the time I also lost a step-father, and my biological father. And 3 pets.

Now, I don't think anybody could say that being a dispatcher doesn't change you. You see, hear, and experience things that most people in the world don't have to deal with. And yes, it does change you. But I think a person is really, truly successful if they can come out of it without changing the core of who they are. I realize now that I have to find a way to undo that change in myself. It's happening, little by little.

It's hard because you can't really talk to people about it. War veterans don't talk about war with people who haven't experienced it. What good would it do? If you haven't done it, you can't possibly understand what it's like. In some distant way, the same can be applied to those in the public service field.

I don't really know what I'm getting at. I guess I just had an epiphany regarding what coping is really about. Maybe the knowledge will serve me in the future.

I'll be...

Well, Garmin has renewed my faith in customer service. Or... something.

Over the weekend I bought a Garmin 60Cx. I needed something that would be rugged, reliable, and have the ability to show topographic maps. I originally had purchased the Magellan 500LE from Walmart. I wasn't really regretting that purchase, either. But, when I discovered that Garmin's Topo maps show actual trails and have far more coverage of dirt roads, it was pretty clear that I would return the Magellan.

I'm not regretting that decision either. The Garmin unit is superior in almost every way. Most noticeably, it runs so much faster than the Magellan offering. Then again, for an extra $125, it should. I won't bother really comparing the features, nor will I review either of them. Let's just say that the Garmin does everything I hoped it would.

The whole experience wasn't without hitch, though. I had previously gotten a copy of Garmin City Select NT v7 for my Garmin c320. (Also an excellent GPS, although without a SiRF Star III chipset.) City Select allows you to use the software with two GPS receivers. Since I had only used it on one, I was grateful to be able to use it for the new 60Cx. Didn't quite work out that way, though.

Apparently, the unit I bought from Cabela's was a return item. I know this because, well, they said as much when I got it at a reduced price. What I didn't know was that whoever returned it put a different 60Cx back in the box that didn't come with it. Long story short? I requested the unlock key for my City Select maps based on the serial # on the box instead of the unit's actual serial number. So, that used up my last unlock. When I found out what had happened, I was furious.

So, I sent an email to Garmin support. I have to admit that I really didn't expect them to do anything for me. They're very verbose when they talk about how they won't help you if you put in the wrong serial # when getting your license key. I thought I was totally marfed. While I've been totally and completely satisfied with Garmin's hardware, the fact that they wouldn't help me really rubbed me raw.

So, imagine my surprise when I had an email from Garmin in my Inbox today telling me that the GPS units must have been switched at the retailer, along with a new unlock key for City Select for my 60Cx. I was, honestly, floored. Garmin customer service comes through. Needless to say that Garmin has pretty much ensured a life customer. Having owned both Garmin and Magellan systems, Garmin has always come out the winner. A buddy of mine who's a pilot will wholeheartedly agree with that statement.

I will rant on this one thing, though. How stupid is it that GPS manufacturers don't include REAL maps with their handheld GPS receivers? The basemaps they include are a joke. When you buy an automotive GPS, you get a full set of maps with it. And many auto systems are half the price of these handhelds. To pay twice as much, then have to pay to buy the same maps you get for free with an automotive system is, well, STOOOOOOPIIIIIIIIIIIID! That's all I have to say about that.

I've really gotta cut back...

These 50 word stories are getting a little out of hand. It's like a mini addiction. And I don't even fancy myself a writer! Still, they're awfully fun, and a great challenge. So, here's some more for you.

"First Kiss"
The first cars were beginning to arrive. His body ached as his lips drew from hers. As his eyes opened, he beheld his angel in her scarlet prom gown. Beautiful as it was, It was white only moments before. It was their first kiss, but only he would remember it.

"Distance"
He could hear the children playing in the backyard. His wife smiled sweetly in the kitchen. He could feel her love. As the crimson stain spread over his chest, he wondered what theyd tell her. Probably just another "training accident." Funny thing was, they weren't even supposed to be here.

"Secret Code"
Jack's eyes were bloodshot. He could hardly keep them open, but he knew he had to finish. He'd been trying to see, trying to find the problem for hours. Suddenly it dawned on him. How could something so small cause so many problems? Finally. It was ready for beta.

"Aftershock"
The chandelier crystals were still tinkling as it swung. On the street below, car alarms wailed. In the distance, he could hear the first sirens. He sat up, sweating, and looked around. Broken glass littered the floor. The woman beside him smiled. She said she'd rock his world, but damn.

"Cancer"
"It's cancer," she stated sterilely. My mind went blank. You always think you've got things figured out. You think you're going to know what to do, what to say. Fear gripped my heart. I had to say something. I faltered another moment, then, looking at her, said "Scorpio."

Want to help buy a goat?

If you haven't checked out kiva.org, then I suppose it's time you had.

What is it? It's a place where your small contributions can make a huge difference.

I should elaborate. I'm not really into the whole "charity" thing. Not having charity, but just giving people money doesn't appeal to me that much. There are exceptions. I just don't like the idea of my money going to buy something like alcohol, drugs, etc. No, not everybody does that with donations. But it does happen. I've seen it happen many, many times in the area I grew up.

What I do like is someone who is willing to work. Some people are quite willing to work hard, but just need an extra boost. That's where Kiva comes in.

Kiva is a "microloan" collection center. I don't really know if that's the right thing to call it. But a person such as you or me can go and give these microloans to people who are trying to better their circumstances (or even survive in some cases.) These are people looking for small loans to start or expand business. And some of the loans are quite small. I've seen some in the $200 range. It may not seem like much to most of the world, but to these people it can be a Godsend.

Now, you don't have to loan $200 to participate. You can loan as little as $25, which will be aggregated with other people doing the same thing, to raise money for the people seeking the loan. (The loans are all handled through outside partners.) The site provides pictures of the people requesting loans (usually within their business environment) and a small description of what the loan is for, repayment terms, etc. The beauty of the system is how much good can be contributed with such small amounts. Plus, the money you "spend" almost always gets fully replaced as the person pays off their loans. You can then put the money back in your pocketbook, knowing that you've helped make the world a better place, or you can put it back into the system by giving out another loan.

Kiva, of course, is a non-profit organization. They really seem to be making a difference, too. Now you can make a difference, too. And you can do it knowing that you're just not throwing money at some nameless, faceless entity & wondering if your money really is going to help someone, or just lining someone's pocket. Go take a look - see what you think. You haven't got anything to lose, and you may have much to contribute.

Animated Response to Miss South Carolina 2007's Map Answer

I'm sure by now, everyone in the world and the such as has seen Miss Souf Karolynuh's speech.

This video just takes it to a whole new level, though. Like, such as.

Me too, me too!

I ran into a message thread where people were writing "Fifty Word Flash Fiction." Basically, the idea was to tell a story in exactly 50 words - no more, no less. Thinking it sounded like fun, I finally decided to participate. Here's a couple of what'll be my submissions:

"Rain"
He held a magazine over his head, the only shelter from the driving rain. As he hurried on, he struggled to remember what it was his mother had told him - then it hit him. As the darkness began to engulf him, he remembered: "look both ways before crossing the street."

"The Day"
Tears welled up in her deep blue eyes - she knew this time would come. Her voice trembled with emotion. "Always and forever." She stifled a sob and tore her eyes away from his perfect face, looking down. Her hands shook. The ring fit perfectly. She had never been so happy.

"Awakenings"
My shrill scream sunders the night. I'm cold, wet. What's happened to me? The peace and serenity - the warmth I once felt is ripped from me as I'm plunged into searing white light. I open my eyes on a new world and see my mother for the very first time.

"Detective"
The night was cold and dark. The glow of the cigarette cast eerie shadows across Detective Jablonski's face, a stolid statue against the twinkling city lights. Suddenly, his world was torn apart. The very universe seemed to rend and crumble. It was all too cliched, even for this struggling writer.

"Decisions"
Sweat poured down Ray's face. The leathery, cracked, toothless face looked at him expectantly - all business. "Well?" His breath was hot and dank. Ray knew he had to make a decision. His fist clenched tighter. He slammed his hand down on the counter, releasing the change within. "Cherry Slurpee, please!"

Bahahahaha

This might explain why I'm so screwed up.

(This is my last.fm listings that I just viewed...)

The Crystal Method – P.O.D.-Boom (The Crystal Metho

Drowning Pool – Bodies

Seether (Feat. Amy Lee) – Broken

Buckcherry – Next 2 You

Jo Dee Messina – You're Not in Kansas Anymore

The Killers – Somebody Told Me

Andrew Lloyd Webber – Wandering Child... / Bravo, Monsieur...

Travis – Happy To Hang Around

Josh Groban – L'ultima Notte

Martina McBride – When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues [#]

Avenged Sevenfold – Beast and the Harlot

Impressive.

Somehow, this site has slipped in under my radar, and I'm only now hearing about it.

http://www.picnik.com/

That's some darn fine web-based photo editing they've got going on there.

Happy Labor Day

If you took the day off, that is. If not, well then it sucks to be you.

It's actually ironic that today is a holiday for "the working man," yet most people in "working man" jobs still have to work. The line cook at Burger King probably isn't at home throwing another steak on the BBQ.

If you eat out today, you might consider tipping a little extra. And for the love of all that's holy, show some respect to your local law enforcement. They're out there protecting your dumb ass (even from yourself) every hour, of every day, of every year.

Mmm, tasty Bioshock.

Finished my second playthrough tonight. Did both endings. Medium is much more challenging than Easy. (Who knew?) Escort mission SUCKS BUTT.

All in all? Bioshock rocks a thousand ways to Sunday. You owe it to yourself.

Riiiight.

I have no problem with the suspension of disbelief. It's a prerequisite for enjoying a movie. But sometimes the writer, director, whomever pushes it too far. Thus was the case for me with Disturbia.

Aside from the fact that the first half of the movie was dreadfully boring, they just took me on one too many stupid ride-alongs for me to be able to appreciate the movie. Where to begin. First, the creepy antagonist climbs into the girl's car, removes the keys, and locks her doors and begins talking to her. She took it surprisingly well. I don't know any girls that would just sit there instead of screaming bloody murder and getting out of the car.

Oh, but wait, he locked the doors, didn't he? And since he had her keys, she couldn't get out. Because in modern cars, you can't unlock the doors from the driver's side of the car. I forgot about that little detail.

But pretending that we're dumb enough to believe that, let's continue. Unfortunately, as the movie wears on, I got more and more detached from it as they kept pretending we're dumb enough to believe more and more crap. Of note:

Instead of looking for his kidnapped mom in normal places, the protagonist starts looking behind furniture and in air ducts. Keeping in mind that his mom was kidnapped like 2 minutes ago, I don't think the first place I'd look would be in the air ducts.

Police dispatch gives a call to an off duty officer who doesn't respond timely.
Office enters a house that has had glass broken out without notifying dispatch first.
He also does that without his gun drawn.
Meanwhile, kid finds secret room, and pauses his search for his mother (whose life is in immediate danger) and starts looking through personal effects of another woman gone missing. Slowly and methodically, just like in real life.

You know what? I'm not going to even keep going. I understand they have to do certain things to make things more dramatic, but come on, Hollywood. It can't be that hard to have something suspenseful while still maintaining some sense of realism. Emotion shouldn't be pulled from a person being pissed that the character is doing something stupid that nobody would actually do. Rely on the damned story. Keep the actions realistic, at least.

Bah. Movies just suck ass. I don't even know why I watch them any more. I guess it's for those rare ones that are actually good. Either they keep it real(istic) or they are so far fetched that you don't NEED to know that a person would actually do those things or not. It's when they start blurring the lines that things go to crap. Disturbia sure did.

Waterbed.

I used to have a waterbed. My brother was getting rid of his. A queen "waveless" waterbed, complete with headboard - the works. Somehow it got offered to me. I'd always wanted one, so I didn't turn him down. The only requirement was that I come pick it up. Now I understand why he was willing to give it to me.

Moving it was a giant hassle. First, we didn't have the means to totally empty it. No shop vac or anything. I don't even recall how we got most of the water out. Must have had something to do with buckets and lots of patience. Even when we got out as much as we could, that thing must have still weighed a couple hundred pounds.

Getting it down the stairs wasn't hard. Literally just piled up the water bag and just dumped it down the stairs. Unfortunately, I'd later go on to realize that this meant the anti-wav material inside would get all bunched and tangled up, and wouldn't ever really go back to the way it originally was. Once loaded into the car, it was a 20 minute drive and another flight of stairs back up to reach the final destination.

One frame assembly and a ton of hose time later, the bed was mine. My parents had had a waterbed, I had always been jealous. Now I finally had one. Complete with a giant lump in the middle where the wave material was all jumbled up. Still. It was a waterbed.

They see j00 when you're sleeping...

Maybe not when you're sleeping, exactly, but if you spend any time online, odds are that Google knows about it.

The prospect of a consolidated Web History interests me. There is some appeal to the idea that I can go back and search my previously visited websites for that elusive site that I just... can't... quite... remember... the... address... of... If you use Google Toolbar, odds are that you know that service is available to you. You don't know that? Then read on.

I've been using the Google Toolbar for some time now, Mr. Anderson. Sometimes I use it to alert me to new Gmail waiting, but most of the time I use it because I like having my bookmarks accessible from anywhere. It's really quite handy. I recently noticed that my current web history was limited only to my search history, so I went to looking into it being turned back on for the whole gamut. Then I decided to read Google's privacy policy. It was an interesting read.

In a nutshell, one of the things I discovered was how much Google remembers about you - even if you don't have your web history enabled. For starters, there's the everlasting cookie. (Willy Wonka, eat your heart out.) That's right, Google cookies are set to expire in 2038. Wow, I wonder what kind of relic my computer will be by then. Anyway, every time you use Google, they record your search term, your unique cookie ID, your IP address, the date and time, and what browser you were using. That's quite a bit of info they've got stored away there. Now, I could hypothesize that they routinely delete their logs, but have you checked out the MB counter on your Gmail box lately? Storage isn't an issue any more - Google knows this.

Now, most web servers automatically record data through an access log - this isn't news to most people. The thing that's awesome (?) about Google is their unique cookie. IP address be damned, they know which physical computer was accessing their pages and doing searches. (They know I'm typing this right now.) Yep, that's your computer's fingerprint they've got right there. I hope you weren't searching for something like the Anarchist's Cookbook or something similar.

So I got to thinking... Google has grown just phenomenally. I, myself, have even made statements about how Google is going to rule the world in another decade. It made me start to think about who actually runs Google's backbone. Financing? Check. Seemingly unlimited resources? Check. Access to millions of user's personal email? Check. Having a front row at the "What People Are Doing on the Internet" concert? Yes, they've got that too. Seems like something Uncle Sam would just love to have going for them.

Could Google actually be a
Government Owned / Operated Global Listening Engine?
Hmm. Makes you wonder. Take a look at this article for some interesting reading.

http://www.google-watch.org/bigbro.html

Well that sucks.

I've taken some good pictures in my life. Some really nice ones, if I do say so myself. I think I realized tonight, though, that I've not taken any truly great pictures. I think this because I found myself growing frustrated whilst trying to find some of my own pictures to frame and hang on my walls.

See, Ikea puts ideas in your head. Design ideas. And I have to say that I hate how boring my apartment is. Got a great couch, a great rug, and BIG, WHITE, UGLY walls. They aren't even white. But they're not cream. They're... blahite. Blight. That's what we'll call them, because they are a blight.

See, I saw something a Flickr contact had done with a few of their photos that really was a great idea. It adds some great color, and it's their own stuff. Brilliant. I wanted to do the same thing. Even found some good frames (but didn't buy any) at Ikea that'd work great for doing some triptychs or something. But, after flipping through my own Flickr stuff, I can't really find anything that fits the bill. And that's sad, sad, sad.

Even if it kills me...

Well work on the Bandit is about done. No, I guess that's not really accurate. My work on the Bandit is about done. Last night I put some Sea Foam through the carbs, and changed the spark plugs. Today I'll get a few gallons of gas and fill the tank and add the rest of the Sea Foam to it. Then, hopefully it'll have degunked enough of the carbs to call it good. I'm really not relishing the idea of having to remove the carbs and taken them down and hand-clean them. In fact, I'm avoiding it at all costs. Still, I have the mats, and I have the tools, so if it comes to it...

I noticed this morning that my "lucky" bamboo took a turn for the worst in the past couple days. I'm rather surprised by this, as it's been doing positively stellar the past couple weeks. Noticeable growth. I'm thinking that's what's hurting it. It's choking itself out on the root level. I've moved it to a (temporary) new container, but will have to take a jaunt down to Lowe's today and get some new potting soil, as well as a new permanent home. I question it's enough to save the bamboo, as one of the stalks has already turned yellow itself. Which is crazy, because I only just noticed that the leaves had even begun to droop. I guess when it happens, it happens fast. Hang in there, little guy!

Urgh. Still need to take the DR650 in to the dealer for it's first service. Bums me out not being able to ride it. Just haven't coordinated getting someone to pick me up. Thought about doing the dumb service myself, but I don't want them giving me any flack if there are warranty issues.

Shenanigans

I'm pretty sure that motorcycles have to be viewed as disposable.

I have a 2001 bike that I was planning on selling. I guess I technically still am. But before I sell it, I wanted to get it back to fully running. Yeah. Not such a good idea.

My bike was bought, new, for about $6,000 before taxes. Now I'm looking at AT LEAST $750 to get it back up to par. And that's barring any any unforeseen expenses. So I'm looking at almost 1/6th of the bikes original cost to get it running again. That's absurd. It's not like anything is horribly wrong with it, either. The carbs need to be cleaned, it needs a new set of tires, a new chain, and the fork seals replaced. It's times like this that I wish I had pursued mechanics instead of programming.

My local store charges $70/hr for labor. The best I've been paid is $38/hr. It just sucks.

Honestly?

It scares the crap out of me having a blog. I suppose I did have a livejournal account for some time. But this is somehow different. Perhaps it's that so many people do it now that it seems rather trite. Too conjured. Too... something.

In any case, here we go again. I really don't expect to keep this up for long. But, I've started dinking around with photography again, so this is as good a place as any for it. Plus, some photo sites want me to make blog posts and then... I dunno, blah blah.

Hello world.

Eat my shorts, world.