May 2011
1 post
the passive internet
I’m gonna take this space to chronicle a couple lists of feeds that are important to me: My Google Reader listing, and my list of sub-Reddits that I put on my front page.
Google Reader feeds:
Cheezburger Network - A collection of funny images.
FAILBlog Wins
GraphJam
Memebase
Historic LOLs
I Can Has Cheezburger?
DISCOVER Magazine - A great source of science news.
80beats
Science...
August 2010
1 post
“If you’ve never programmed a computer, you should. There’s nothing...”
– Cory Doctorow, in the novel “Little Brother”
June 2010
1 post
fanaticism inherent
I invite you to read this article before continuing, as that is the subject here. Also brush up on “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” if you don’t know about it.
In summary: A German woman, inspired by the slightly malicious reaction by a certain community to a couple episodes of South Park depicting the Prophet in a bear suit, decided to start an event called “Everybody Draw...
May 2010
2 posts
the personal saga of @icesoldier
Tonight’s Disheartening Event requires some context. “So there’s this girl.” A good friend of mine whom I have known since my freshman year in high school, and probably one of the reasons I’m more socially capable than the stereotypical nerd. We’ve been talking on and off through that span of time, and I was sure I was ‘friend-zoned’ (hell,...
booze-o-licious
I’ve usually been mum about my thoughts on alcohol. I had plenty of occasion to comment a year and a half ago, but I kept (mostly) quiet for my own good and the good of my then-roommate.
Now I don’t live in a location where the mere presence of booze is verboten, and I also don’t live with my apathetic counter-part. Somehow, alcohol is not only present, but pushed upon me by a...
January 2010
2 posts
something old is old again
Or, Setting up DJGPP on DOSBox. For one reason or another, it is required to use a piece of software that has fallen out of compatibility with new software. For example, in my class I am required to use the DJGPP development kit, a piece of software built for MS-DOS. Naturally, as Microsoft Windows moved away from using MS-DOS as a backend, this has stopped working properly natively. Fortunately,...
the meaning of life
I subscribe to the anthropic principle for meaning-of-life-type questions. If I had to describe it in as few words as possible, I’d steal from Rob Bryanton (@10thdim of Twitter) and say “the reason we’re here is because we’re here.” However, I have a bit more room than that, so I’ll try to give it a shot.
The list of criteria for a planet to produce life of...
October 2009
4 posts
“…so then God was all like ‘Man, wouldn’t it be hilarious if...”
– raocow
let the wave crash over your head
I would like everyone to know that I don’t really care about Google Wave. Many people I know are dying to get an invitation to the service, but I don’t see anything that fills me with the same fervor.
I do have one comment though. Google says that Wave is a new form of email. I don’t think so. I think it’s some hybridization of message boards and chat rooms. There’s...
gamepad keyboard revisited
I’ve read over my post about the gamepad keyboard (“the program i want”) and I realized a couple clarifications I wanted to make. (This is more for the person who took up the challenge of making this for me, but I may as well let everyone else know, too.)
The basic premise has already been stated: A software keyboard which is controlled by the arrow keys. However, the manner of...
i am starting to dislike zune
There is a bug in the latest Zune firmware that causes it to not switch tracks when it finishes playing an AAC file (m4a, more easily known as the file type iTunes defaults to). It will still increment the position timer, even though the “time remaining” timer is at zero. There is another bug whereupon the Zune freezes at random while playing music. (I don’t know whether this one...
September 2009
1 post
i know exactly how i lived
It irks me when people use the phrase “I don’t know how I lived before I had this.” Often, the phrase is applied to some small electronic device that crams too many features into a diminuitive package or some piece of software that allows for further organization of one’s life. I don’t care how inefficient you got along before you started using The Awesome Thing (tm)....
August 2009
7 posts
“Happily this afternoon,
Along the beach I waddle,
Looking at the sand,
I spy...”
– “Treasure Map” by Lemon Demon
the program i want
I’ve experiemented with controlling Windows with my gamepad. It automatically came with mouse emulation, so I could control the computer with it. It was a relief to actually be able to lean back while at my computer. But I noticed something that annoyed me pretty fast: there’s no way to type. Most of my casual computer usage doesn’t involve typing, but if I feel a tweet coming...
hyrulian economics
I’m convinced that Rupees (the currency of the video game series The Legend of Zelda, for the uninitiated) are organic matter. You find Rupees in the game by cutting down bushes or defeating enemies. Rupees are a by-product of life, but because they’re shiny, people use them as currency. Here’s my simplified timeline of the Zelda series: During each game, Link farms up enough...
neural implants are in fact the answer
I would like to note that whenever I start a project or join a social site, I never get any actual information out there. The project stays in a dream, and the social site gets abandoned shortly. It takes a lot to get me to keep doing something. This Twitter thing seems to be an exception, though only because it’s supplementary to physical friendships. (I tend to have a problem with those,...
this is why i hate itunes
Last night I purchased an album off iTunes from my iPhone. However, I didn’t let the whole thing download - my battery charge was low, and I was trying to get to sleep. Much to my dismay, when I open iTunes on my computer today, it only downloads one track (the next track I was to download) and the “digital booklet” that stands in for the album booklet. When I try to get the...
insomnia is not the answer
I just realized why I can never get to sleep at night: my extreme temperature sensitivity. Most (if not all) modern air conditioning systems alternate their on time according to the air temperature in the house. I tend to get comfortable to a certain setting of whether the AC is on or off. When it switches, I cease getting comfortable, and I turn. This process continues until I get so tired that I...
July 2009
3 posts
mismatched advertising
It seems Viddler has received a large advertising from the ABC-Disney group, because it has run several video advertisements from SOAPnet about a new show they’re about to run. The context is interesting: two women from different cities take a vacation in each other’s hometown and date around. However, the ad begins thus: “What if the perfect guy for you is in Denver? What if the...
context: the Let's Play
To those I haven’t described this to, my favorite pastime is watching a category of video called the “Let’s Play,” or LP, where one or more people record themselves playing a game and add commentary where they see fit. (LP’s are also available in screenshot format, found typically in a forum setting.) LP’s abound on YouTube, but organized LP’s are based...