A perfect little stream

Things I Have Learned Today

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:24:38 -0400

Technology is a fickle mistress.

Things will mysteriously start to work again, flawlessly, once you give up trying to fix them.

Windows will always find a way to piss you off, and it will twist the knife at the same time.

Failure of one OS suddenly makes you think your alternative (working!) OS is utterly perfect in every single way - even though in real life it is not.

Having a second system is incredibly useful and comforting.

Being lazy about backing data up results in fear and panic, so it is better to just keep things backed up constantly, no matter how safe you think you are.

Good lessons all around, especially the one about praising the good OS when another fails on you.

I always enjoy watching people run out of the water & into their cars at the beach when it starts to rain.

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:17:49 -0400

teenageaunt:

you’re in Florida.

it’s summer AND there was no thunder or lightning.

I’m quite certain if I don’t melt in the rain then you won’t either.

Same goes for Virginia Beach. More ocean for me!

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon filled with magtape, or a 747 filled with..."

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:19:41 -0400

“Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon filled with magtape, or a 747 filled with CD-ROMs.”

- sneakernet (via inky)

I’m a day late in posting this. Hopefully some people...

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:03:09 -0400

I’m a day late in posting this. Hopefully some people won’t be offended. ;-)
But if you don’t watch Yahtzee’s reviews every Wednesday you’re not living.

Word!

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:51:00 -0400

Carl: I feel like screaming about MS Office this morning. I should start a new blog/twitter just dedicated to that so people don't get sick of it.

Reesa: laugh Did it hurt you personally, or do you just hate it in general?

Carl: In general. But it feels like it's personal. I've been waiting for WORD to launch for about 5 minutes now. I installed Office 2007 and it's been going through a series of "configuration" I JUST WANT TO TYPE LETTERS ONTO A PAGE!

Reesa: But Carl, Word is so much MORE than that! It transcends mere word processing. Why, it isn't even INTENDED for that anymore! Word is for LIFESTYLE CREATION. -Feel- the words, then let Microsoft interpret them for you, rendering them visible to the world in soul-stirring, dynamic bursts of PURE CREATION! There is no room in the world for simple TEXT! My god, man, would you tell Leonardo to think inside the box? Would you ask Einstien to limit himself to concepts the world already understood? LABELS KILL, CARL! Also, WTF, just use OpenOffice.

This is why Hollywood sucks

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:21:09 -0400

wiseacre:

Here’s a brief list of movies that actually got a greenlight (meaning money, staff, cast, crew, equipment rental, script written and rewritten) and prove that Hollywood is the suck:

Asteroids The Movie

Candyland The Movie

Where’s Waldo, The Movie

Battleship, The Movie

Monopoly, The Movie

Stretch Armstrong

Let’s not mention the unnecessary remakes, or better yet:

Teen Wolf

Red Dawn

Fame

Total Recall

Short Circuit

Karate Kid

Meanwhile great and original sripts most likely pass from studio to studio (who are too afraid to take a chance on anything remotely original or new). This is why television is surpassing film in terms of creativity and storytelling.

And people wonder why I don’t go to the movies very often…

caseyliss: Nielsen TV Viewing Diary. My wife and I were...

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:59:03 -0400

caseyliss:

Nielsen TV Viewing Diary.

My wife and I were recently asked to be a part of the Nielsen TV Ratings. We were given $30 cash, and asked to log our viewing habits for a week.

For the longest time, I had assumed that there was some sort of magical box they put between your cable box and your TV that automagically logged what you watched. Oh no. You have to write it down the old-fashioned way.

Having never known how the ratings were compiled, I thought others may find this interesting.

There is also a magical box version. Two of my friends have one in their house, when we moved it was a giant pain because we couldn’t touch it. They had to send someone out to unhook it.

They have been a Nilsen family for over a year at least. They must do a mix of long-term and short-term homes. I think the long-term perk is they pay for the cable. But don’t hold me to that.

Dairy Godmother

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:11:13 -0400

Near my apartment there is a place. A place called The Dairy Godmother. It is a frozen custard shop. The most amazing custard shop in all the land. Today’s special flavor was Red Velvet. They change every 2 days. It is super delicious. It always is.

RoboGeisha: Seriously, Japan, WTF?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:56:23 -0400

RoboGeisha: Seriously, Japan, WTF?:

inky:

I may have finally reached my limit. … RoboGeisha is the story of a robot geisha who fights ninjas, other robot geishas and robot geisha ninjas. The trailer consists of a long list of various robot geisha attributes, read aloud by a man with a ball-gag in his mouth. We learn that RoboGeisha has swords in her arms and that she can shoot rockets. She can also transform into a car, which is especially helpful when fighting assassins with mini-guns instead of breasts.

A co-worker showed me this trailer today. I suggested it be part of our new hire orientation.

Internet Explorer 8, Nickelback edition

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:55:54 -0400

Internet Explorer 8, Nickelback edition:

gesteves:

Why yes, that’s exactly why I don’t use Internet Explorer: not enough fucking Nickelback. Good work as always, Microsoft.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Not a fan. Who needs a giant enter and tiny backspace?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:31:31 -0400

Not a fan. Who needs a giant enter and tiny backspace?

wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man! wacky waving...

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:48:26 -0400

wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man!
wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man!!
wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man!!!

Microsoft agrees, EW. XP. Get a Mac?

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:07:55 -0400

Microsoft agrees, EW. XP.

Get a Mac?

gesteves: The Ultimate Combo, by David Soames. CONCERTO!

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:18:07 -0400

gesteves:

The Ultimate Combo, by David Soames.

CONCERTO!

TEEN BOAT!

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:15:20 -0400

TEEN BOAT!

At a loss to explain why my train was offloaded due to a sick customer 4 stations ahead. In other...

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:23:09 -0400

At a loss to explain why my train was offloaded due to a sick customer 4 stations ahead. In other news it’s a sea of blackberries.

Pirate Bay Bought Out, Suddenly Respects Copyrights

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:22:55 -0400

Pirate Bay Bought Out, Suddenly Respects Copyrights:

caseyliss:

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

And this week just keeps getting weirder.

I agree with the commenters on the story. They will go the way of Napster if this is true.

"i have 15 amazon bucks from swagging"

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:34:00 -0400

“i have 15 amazon bucks from swagging”

- Anners - talking about Swagbucks!

Swagbucks. Google-powered. Redeem Swagbucks for all sorts of goods including Amazon gift cards! Why just search when you can win?!

6 New Insights on Sleep

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:23:18 -0400

6 New Insights on Sleep:

onemoretimewithfeeling:

1. Tuck a hot-water bottle between your feet or wear a pair of ski socks to bed. The science is a little complicated, but warm feet help your body’s internal temperature get to the optimal level for sleep. Essentially, you sleep best when your core temperature drops. By warming your feet, you make sure blood flows well through your legs, allowing your trunk to cool.

2. Figure out your body cycle. Ever find that you get really sleepy at 10 p.m., that the sleepiness passes, and that by the time the late news comes on, you’re wide-awake? Some experts believe sleepiness comes in cycles. Push past a period of sleepiness and you likely won’t be able to fall asleep very easily for a while. If you’ve noticed these kinds of rhythms in your own body clock, use them to your advantage. When sleepiness comes, get to bed. Otherwise, it might be a long time until you are ready to fall asleep again.

3. Take a combination supplement with 600 mg calcium and 300 mg magnesium before bed. Not only will you be providing your bones with a healthy dose of minerals, but magnesium is a natural sedative. Additionally, calcium helps regulate muscle movements. Too little of either can lead to leg cramps, and even a slight deficiency of magnesium can leave you lying there with a racing mind.

4. Eat a handful of walnuts before bed. Walnuts are a good source of tryptophan, a sleep-enhancing amino acid.

5. Take antacids right after dinner, not before bed. Antacids contain aluminum, which appears to interfere with your sleep.

6. Spend 10 minutes journaling the day’s events or feelings after tucking yourself into bed. This “data dump” will help turn off the repeating tape of our day that often plays in our minds, keeping us from falling asleep.

Good to know. Perhaps I’ll try them out. My sleepless nights are that of legend.

The problem of "why"

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:37:07 -0400

The journey into why is a frightening one. For most of my life I have lived by the 10 Commandments. Not on a conscience level but as a general rule for how I conduct myself.
Most importantly, I have lived by the golden rule do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.
Treat people how you wish to be treated. I never really considered why I lived this way. I credit it to good parenting and upbringing. It always seemed like the right way to live. Why should I hurt others when I could work for the greater good? That way everyone benefits. I live for the greater good. I never really questioned why. Until now.
In recent months I’ve been dipping my toes into religion. Don’t worry, I’m not going full on born again. I have been exploring Mormonism. My girlfriend is Mormon. The biggest reason is their belief of an eternal family. They believe once you die you go on living with your family forever. None of that “til death so us part” nonsense. The process is not automatic (and honestly not one I fully understand yet) and involves a temple marriage and being “sealed” to each other.
So once you’re sealed in a temple, you live with your family forever.
I’ve never given much thought to an afterlife but if there is one, being with your family sounds pretty good to me. Where is all thing backstory taking us? The questioning of WHY?
Why do we live like we do? Why do we act as we do?
I often think about introspection and try to look inward as much as I can because It’s the key to understanding yourself. Part of that is questioning why. I have not questioned myself why in a long time. I realized this as I found myself incredibly sad one Sunday afternoon and couldn’t figure out why. I had just come from church. And I was a mental mess. I just wasn’t feeling it.
I hear all the time of people speaking of the comfort religion brings them. I didn’t see it. Maybe I need to try harder.
In my discussion with my girlfriend she pointed out how I was basically a good person as far as religion goes. I don’t smoke. I don’t drink. Never touched drugs. I’m pretty boring.
The other trigger was the message from church itself. The message was about giving yourself to God and letting him into your life. The message was presented well and in a sensical, applicable way.
However, that is a main point of contention for me because I’ve seen it taken too far to often. You can’t expect God to run your own life. You can’t look at thing and go, “God will take care of me” and not help yourself. God will only take it so far. You need to help.
God will help you out and nudge you on the right direction. He will be your guide to life and try to push you down the right path. He won’t drove the car or be your gps. He’ll ride along and suggest routes along the way.