Monday, April 30, 2007
Something for Dilliwag
While I was browsing a "post an interesting image to a thread" thread on a messageboard I frequent, I saw the following, and I had to share. I think I found Dilliwag's next computer. :)
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Happy Camper
I love video games. I like old video games. I have emulators for every console I have ever owned, and the games I used to play. One of my favorite consoles was the Saturn. Died fairly quickly in the US, but had a fairly long life in Japan. I loved the Clockwork Knight games, the Panzer Dragoon games, and there were scads of RPGs on it (Working Designs did 4 or so games for it, plus the Shining Force games, Shining in the Darkness and others). My favorite game for the system, and my favorite shooter of all time is Radiant Silvergun.
I bought this game imported when it was out, and it had a limited release IIRC, and I got one of the last one available for import.* Well I love this game. I enjoy shooters but I am not good at them. This one has a difference from the rest of the genre - instead of power-ups you pick up and you play (and then loose when you die), your weapons (and you have 6 of them) gain powerlevel as you kill things with that weapon. So if I shoot down lots of stuff with the "a" button my "a" weapon gets better.
When the game ends you can save your game - it doesn't save your progress, but it saves your weapon levels. So in a couple of days, when you play some more your weapons are as powerful as they were at the end of the last game. So you blow through early levels much faster. For someone who isn't all that great with shooters, this is a great blessing.
Then our Saturn died. The internal battery went kaput - it wouldn't keep saves. And trying to find a working Saturn in the area or a replacement batter was difficult and/or expensive.
So I kept trying emulators. The primary one I looked at was Satourne. Nifty little game, and on my old machine before I had a 3-d card it ran at about 15 frames a second (60 is standard for the console). So I gave up.
Then I got a 3-d card and it ran at about 25-30 fps. So I gave up.
Then I got the Phoenix, and it ran at 40-45 fps. I tried for a while, but a 25% speed drop was still too much, so I gave up.
There is another Saturn emulator, SSF, but it had some beefy reqs - a 64 bit athalon or a dual core. I had completely drove it out of memory. But in searching for a Jaguar emulator (Just so I could play Aliens vs Predator again dang it) I ran across SSF. And I thought, wait, I have a 64 bit processor, a beefy 3-d card and lots of memory.
It worked.
So I've been playing Radiant Silvergun, and am ripping a bunch of my old Saturn games to isos to mount on my virtual drive to game with (As a lot of them are irreplaceable I don't want to use the actual games in play.)
I be a happy camper.
* I never knew that the original was as popular as it was. Years later I was surfing a message board and someone who had a pirate of the game wanted an original. A reply commented about having deep pockets. So I checked ebay - it was going for $400 to $500! I had a genuine rarity on my hands. O keep good care of that baby.
I just checked ebay again - someone has a new, unopened copy listing at $1,000. Wow.
I bought this game imported when it was out, and it had a limited release IIRC, and I got one of the last one available for import.* Well I love this game. I enjoy shooters but I am not good at them. This one has a difference from the rest of the genre - instead of power-ups you pick up and you play (and then loose when you die), your weapons (and you have 6 of them) gain powerlevel as you kill things with that weapon. So if I shoot down lots of stuff with the "a" button my "a" weapon gets better.
When the game ends you can save your game - it doesn't save your progress, but it saves your weapon levels. So in a couple of days, when you play some more your weapons are as powerful as they were at the end of the last game. So you blow through early levels much faster. For someone who isn't all that great with shooters, this is a great blessing.
Then our Saturn died. The internal battery went kaput - it wouldn't keep saves. And trying to find a working Saturn in the area or a replacement batter was difficult and/or expensive.
So I kept trying emulators. The primary one I looked at was Satourne. Nifty little game, and on my old machine before I had a 3-d card it ran at about 15 frames a second (60 is standard for the console). So I gave up.
Then I got a 3-d card and it ran at about 25-30 fps. So I gave up.
Then I got the Phoenix, and it ran at 40-45 fps. I tried for a while, but a 25% speed drop was still too much, so I gave up.
There is another Saturn emulator, SSF, but it had some beefy reqs - a 64 bit athalon or a dual core. I had completely drove it out of memory. But in searching for a Jaguar emulator (Just so I could play Aliens vs Predator again dang it) I ran across SSF. And I thought, wait, I have a 64 bit processor, a beefy 3-d card and lots of memory.
It worked.
So I've been playing Radiant Silvergun, and am ripping a bunch of my old Saturn games to isos to mount on my virtual drive to game with (As a lot of them are irreplaceable I don't want to use the actual games in play.)
I be a happy camper.
* I never knew that the original was as popular as it was. Years later I was surfing a message board and someone who had a pirate of the game wanted an original. A reply commented about having deep pockets. So I checked ebay - it was going for $400 to $500! I had a genuine rarity on my hands. O keep good care of that baby.
I just checked ebay again - someone has a new, unopened copy listing at $1,000. Wow.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Weekend memes a day and half behind
Music Memiors
Top 5 classic rock songs that are a classic annoyance to your ears.
I'll limit myself to one a band, but there are a few bands that I can just about leave.
1) Lying eyes - Eagles
2) Rock and Roll part 2* - Gary Glitter (I don't mind part 1 - it has lyrics)
3) Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin. Overplayed. Overhyped. Overdone.
4) Still haven't found what I'm looking for - U2 (this one was tough, I had to pick my least favorite of the annoying overplayed and overrespected U2 songs).
5) Sympathy for the Devil - Stones. I hate the stones.
* for those that don't know, that is the arena rock "Hey" song.
Friday's Feast
* One time I actidently hit a sprinkler head with the mower. I didn't notice. When he did, he made me dig through the grass and find it. No we had a little 2 foot area between the garage and the fence that we dumped the grass. Years worth of grass. I had to dig through that in midday sun in june for hours (after having mowed the lawn) and I couldn't come in until I found it.
I ended up out of school for almost week due to heat stroke, and to this day I still react very very badly to heat, I have to drink a gallon and a half of water a day to stay hydrated. And that was only one incident.
I hate yardwork.
Top 5 classic rock songs that are a classic annoyance to your ears.
I'll limit myself to one a band, but there are a few bands that I can just about leave.
1) Lying eyes - Eagles
2) Rock and Roll part 2* - Gary Glitter (I don't mind part 1 - it has lyrics)
3) Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin. Overplayed. Overhyped. Overdone.
4) Still haven't found what I'm looking for - U2 (this one was tough, I had to pick my least favorite of the annoying overplayed and overrespected U2 songs).
5) Sympathy for the Devil - Stones. I hate the stones.
* for those that don't know, that is the arena rock "Hey" song.
Friday's Feast
Appetizer
How fast can you type?
Last time I was tested about 40 words a minute
Soup
What is your favorite online game?
I don't play games online - I consider videogaming to be a single player thing. Given that I do enjoy flash games, and this is a really good one. Yeah, I love doom, and never have played a multiplayer game of it. I avoid MMORPGs - I would likely end up spending way too much time doing them and getting in trouble with the wife.. so I just say no.
Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), how intelligent do you think you are?
9.5 or so. I scored genius on those standardised tests. And outside of my game group, and my wife, I don't know that many people who are as smart as I am.
Yeah, modest too. But you asked.
Main Course
Name three of your best teachers from your school years.
No First names, I don't want to impinge on anyone's privacy.
Mrs. Sheffield - my Junior and Senior high school english teacher. Wonderful person, and we kept in touch for years after I graduated. She gave me a copy of The Little Prince for a graduation present.
Mrs Bridwell. Jr high english, drama and journalism. The teacher that got me into Mensa. One of the few teacher in Jr high that I respected for raw intelligence.
Mr Halley - College Communications. Great teacher, and I really enjoyed his classes. He made me think and pushed me. We'd also known each other for years, as I dated his daughter in Jr High. :)
Dessert
What are your plans for this upcoming weekend?
Yardwork. Ick. That is why this is so late. Spent 3 hours on the yard. Ugg.
I hate yardwork. My father was a nut about landscaping, everything had to be perfect, and he made me do it - and he was an alcoholic, so when I made the teensiest tiniest mistake I got landed on hard*. Same with gardening. I still cannot garden to this day - I just don't like it.
* One time I actidently hit a sprinkler head with the mower. I didn't notice. When he did, he made me dig through the grass and find it. No we had a little 2 foot area between the garage and the fence that we dumped the grass. Years worth of grass. I had to dig through that in midday sun in june for hours (after having mowed the lawn) and I couldn't come in until I found it.
I ended up out of school for almost week due to heat stroke, and to this day I still react very very badly to heat, I have to drink a gallon and a half of water a day to stay hydrated. And that was only one incident.
I hate yardwork.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Another one
This blog is not normally something I post much about social issues, or politics, and I did one the other day. Imagine my surprise at reading something that I just had to post shortly thereafter. This is from the National Review
Signs of Intelligence?
By Fred Thompson
One of the things that's got to be going through a lot of peoples' minds now is how one man with two handguns, that he had to reload time and time again, could go from classroom to classroom on the Virginia Tech campus without being stopped. Much of the answer can be found in policies put in place by the university itself.
Virginia, like 39 other states, allows citizens with training and legal permits to carry concealed weapons. That means that Virginians regularly sit in movie theaters and eat in restaurants among armed citizens. They walk, joke, and rub shoulders everyday with people who responsibly carry firearms — and are far safer than they would be in San Francisco, Oakland, Detroit, Chicago, New York City, or Washington, D.C., where such permits are difficult or impossible to obtain.
The statistics are clear. Communities that recognize and grant Second Amendment rights to responsible adults have a significantly lower incidence of violent crime than those that do not. More to the point, incarcerated criminals tell criminologists that they consider local gun laws when they decide what sort of crime they will commit, and where they will do so.
Still, there are a lot of people who are just offended by the notion that people can carry guns around. They view everybody, or at least many of us, as potential murderers prevented only by the lack of a convenient weapon. Virginia Tech administrators overrode Virginia state law and threatened to expel or fire anybody who brings a weapon onto campus.
In recent years, however, armed Americans — not on-duty police officers — have successfully prevented a number of attempted mass murders. Evidence from Israel, where many teachers have weapons and have stopped serious terror attacks, has been documented. Supporting, though contrary, evidence from Great Britain, where strict gun controls have led to violent crime rates far higher than ours, is also common knowledge.
So Virginians asked their legislators to change the university's "concealed carry" policy to exempt people 21 years of age or older who have passed background checks and taken training classes. The university, however, lobbied against that bill, and a top administrator subsequently praised the legislature for blocking the measure.
The logic behind this attitude baffles me, but I suspect it has to do with a basic difference in worldviews. Some people think that power should exist only at the top, and everybody else should rely on "the authorities" for protection.
Despite such attitudes, average Americans have always made up the front line against crime. Through programs like Neighborhood Watch and Amber Alert, we are stopping and catching criminals daily. Normal people tackled "shoe bomber" Richard Reid as he was trying to blow up an airliner. It was a truck driver who found the D.C. snipers. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that civilians use firearms to prevent at least a half million crimes annually.
When people capable of performing acts of heroism are discouraged or denied the opportunity, our society is all the poorer. And from the selfless examples of the passengers on Flight 93 on 9/11 to Virginia Tech professor Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor who sacrificed himself to save his students earlier this week, we know what extraordinary acts of heroism ordinary citizens are capable of.
Many other universities have been swayed by an anti-gun, anti-self defense ideology. I respect their right to hold those views, but I challenge their decision to deny Americans the right to protect themselves on their campuses — and then proudly advertise that fact to any and all.
Whenever I've seen one of those "Gun-free Zone" signs, especially outside of a school filled with our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, I've always wondered exactly who these signs are directed at. Obviously, they don't mean much to the sort of man who murdered 32 people just a few days ago.
-Fred Thompson
And I agree 100%. I don't like guns, I have never fired one, I never will, I will never own one. But legally owning guns is one of foundational rights. I mean #2 on the bill of rights, just after speech/religion/press.
Signs of Intelligence?
By Fred Thompson
One of the things that's got to be going through a lot of peoples' minds now is how one man with two handguns, that he had to reload time and time again, could go from classroom to classroom on the Virginia Tech campus without being stopped. Much of the answer can be found in policies put in place by the university itself.
Virginia, like 39 other states, allows citizens with training and legal permits to carry concealed weapons. That means that Virginians regularly sit in movie theaters and eat in restaurants among armed citizens. They walk, joke, and rub shoulders everyday with people who responsibly carry firearms — and are far safer than they would be in San Francisco, Oakland, Detroit, Chicago, New York City, or Washington, D.C., where such permits are difficult or impossible to obtain.
The statistics are clear. Communities that recognize and grant Second Amendment rights to responsible adults have a significantly lower incidence of violent crime than those that do not. More to the point, incarcerated criminals tell criminologists that they consider local gun laws when they decide what sort of crime they will commit, and where they will do so.
Still, there are a lot of people who are just offended by the notion that people can carry guns around. They view everybody, or at least many of us, as potential murderers prevented only by the lack of a convenient weapon. Virginia Tech administrators overrode Virginia state law and threatened to expel or fire anybody who brings a weapon onto campus.
In recent years, however, armed Americans — not on-duty police officers — have successfully prevented a number of attempted mass murders. Evidence from Israel, where many teachers have weapons and have stopped serious terror attacks, has been documented. Supporting, though contrary, evidence from Great Britain, where strict gun controls have led to violent crime rates far higher than ours, is also common knowledge.
So Virginians asked their legislators to change the university's "concealed carry" policy to exempt people 21 years of age or older who have passed background checks and taken training classes. The university, however, lobbied against that bill, and a top administrator subsequently praised the legislature for blocking the measure.
The logic behind this attitude baffles me, but I suspect it has to do with a basic difference in worldviews. Some people think that power should exist only at the top, and everybody else should rely on "the authorities" for protection.
Despite such attitudes, average Americans have always made up the front line against crime. Through programs like Neighborhood Watch and Amber Alert, we are stopping and catching criminals daily. Normal people tackled "shoe bomber" Richard Reid as he was trying to blow up an airliner. It was a truck driver who found the D.C. snipers. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that civilians use firearms to prevent at least a half million crimes annually.
When people capable of performing acts of heroism are discouraged or denied the opportunity, our society is all the poorer. And from the selfless examples of the passengers on Flight 93 on 9/11 to Virginia Tech professor Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor who sacrificed himself to save his students earlier this week, we know what extraordinary acts of heroism ordinary citizens are capable of.
Many other universities have been swayed by an anti-gun, anti-self defense ideology. I respect their right to hold those views, but I challenge their decision to deny Americans the right to protect themselves on their campuses — and then proudly advertise that fact to any and all.
Whenever I've seen one of those "Gun-free Zone" signs, especially outside of a school filled with our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, I've always wondered exactly who these signs are directed at. Obviously, they don't mean much to the sort of man who murdered 32 people just a few days ago.
-Fred Thompson
And I agree 100%. I don't like guns, I have never fired one, I never will, I will never own one. But legally owning guns is one of foundational rights. I mean #2 on the bill of rights, just after speech/religion/press.
Switch
A rather amusing video about switching telephone carries. Back in the long distance wars the wife and I played the game well, and make about 300 bucks with the "We'll pay you X dollars to switch" deals. :)
Friday, April 20, 2007
It's Friday
First off the Feast
And the Music Memiors
Top 5 album "killers." (you know, songs that ruined an album in one way or another)
I don't have many... so this is a tough one, and it's almost never about the quality of a song - I listened to full CDs, and took the good with the bad, and these days, I rip all my music to a hard drive, so if I had anything I didn't like I just don't pick it. :)
The best I can do... (and you will see a theme here)
Not Now John from The Final Cut - Pink Floyd. Loved the song when I heard it on the radio, bought the album, and the lyrics were different. The F word was there. So I never listened to it again, until I got online and could find the radio version. The copy of The Final Cut that I have has the obscured version on my hard drive.
The water from The Light by Spock's Beard. A concept song that is 20 minutes or so long that is the entire life of the character. In the middle there is the argument section, 2 minutes of "F you" (immediately followed by 2 minutes of "I'm Sorry"). I understand the concept, but again I don't want that language in the stuff I listened to - so I ripped the CD to the hard drive, pulled out my wave editor, and chopped that section from the song, and burned the altered CD.
Get your hands off my woman and Givin' Up on Permission to land by The Darkness. I love these guys but both those songs have the F word all over them. So I bought the CD at Wal-mart, so I am happy. :)
I can't think of any other songs that I felt the need to drop or change from any other album/CD I've had.
Appetizer
What is your favorite kind of bread?
Wonder white classic sandwich.
Soup
When was the last time you bought a new pillow?
Years, probably about 4 years ago.
Salad
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend surfing the ‘net?
8 to 10. I spend about an hour a day hitting messageboards, news sites, blogs and such. I try not to do more than that. But it isn't all in one chunk.
Main Course
What’s the highest you remember your temperature being?
103 - I was a kid and had chickenpox.
Dessert
Fill in the blanks: When I ____________, I _____________.
When I get depressed, I pull into an emotional turtle shell.
And the Music Memiors
Top 5 album "killers." (you know, songs that ruined an album in one way or another)
I don't have many... so this is a tough one, and it's almost never about the quality of a song - I listened to full CDs, and took the good with the bad, and these days, I rip all my music to a hard drive, so if I had anything I didn't like I just don't pick it. :)
The best I can do... (and you will see a theme here)
Not Now John from The Final Cut - Pink Floyd. Loved the song when I heard it on the radio, bought the album, and the lyrics were different. The F word was there. So I never listened to it again, until I got online and could find the radio version. The copy of The Final Cut that I have has the obscured version on my hard drive.
The water from The Light by Spock's Beard. A concept song that is 20 minutes or so long that is the entire life of the character. In the middle there is the argument section, 2 minutes of "F you" (immediately followed by 2 minutes of "I'm Sorry"). I understand the concept, but again I don't want that language in the stuff I listened to - so I ripped the CD to the hard drive, pulled out my wave editor, and chopped that section from the song, and burned the altered CD.
Get your hands off my woman and Givin' Up on Permission to land by The Darkness. I love these guys but both those songs have the F word all over them. So I bought the CD at Wal-mart, so I am happy. :)
I can't think of any other songs that I felt the need to drop or change from any other album/CD I've had.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Something Right
The supreme court handed down a ruling that did the right thing - it upheld the partial birth abortion ban. Hopefully this in an indication of the mood and approach of the court for the future.
I just hope that Bush can get one more justice appointed before he leaves office.
I just hope that Bush can get one more justice appointed before he leaves office.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
A day late
Take me back Tuesdays from the Music Memoirs a day late:
The weather: Let it Snow - Dean Martin
Your state of mind: Manic Depression - Hendrix
Cheese: Naked and Famous - PUSA (don't ask me why - maybe because the song is cheesy)
Wine: I draw a blank here.
Sports: We are the Champions - Queen
Spring: Here comes the rain again - Eurythmics
Road Trip: Radar Love - Golden Earring (one of the greatest road songs of all time)
Radio: Radio Gaga - Queen again
Yawn: Yanni (anything)
Your favorite movie: Chariots of Fire by Vangelis (that one was easy)
TV: Teenage Wasteland - The Who
Catching up
Just a number of short bits today.
Starting Sat night, I got sick. I'm still dealing with it. Glad my job is a work from home job, that I can do sitting at my computer, otherwise I would have missed a couple of days from work. I don't get sick that often, but when I do I tend to get really sick. Glad this one is on it's way out.
New Music!
In a thread on a messageboard, a like to a video was posted. A Canadian Hip-Hop artist, with heavy jazz influence. Watching the video, we had to get the album right away. The song in the link has been in heavy rotation.
I don't like Rap/Hip-Hop mostly due to the content of the lyrics, and I knew there were performers in the genre that didn't do the "bling, ho, kill" thing, but I wasn't going to wade through all the crap to get there. I found one. :)
Since I got the Phoenix, I have been looking at video games. I never really had a computer that could play games that well (well, old ones, and emulated nintendo and genesis stuff - which is fun), but now that I have one, I've been looking at recent games. One I had to pick up was Jade Empire
RPG with a martial arts theme as a major component and a fighting system that feels like a simplified Tekken (can move in 4 direction, block, normal attack, light attack). It has Ch'i powers (say, hold down left shift for healing). So it hits my "cool" factors multiple ways - I love fighting games, I love RPGs, I love martial arts stuff. I've been having fun getting started with this one.
Speaking of the Phoenix, since I got it, I've been reading up on Windows XP, with "power user" books from the library. So I made a nifty change, one that took hacking explorer.exe and it gets me a great bit of personalization.
Yep, I replaced my start button with the name of the computer, a little Phoenix head in place of the windows icon. :)
Between that and the dual toolbars and no icons on the desktop itself, my machine doesn't look all that much like a windows box. :) Which is fine with me.
Just finished reading an interesting book - Sir Apropos of Nothing. Fantasy comedy/drama with farce and intensity. There is drama in the humor, and it's one of Peter David's better works - and I generally have a love/hate opinion of his work, I'll like it for a while, then something really dumb happens for a while. This one had that, but not as much as the rest of his work. Recomended.
Starting Sat night, I got sick. I'm still dealing with it. Glad my job is a work from home job, that I can do sitting at my computer, otherwise I would have missed a couple of days from work. I don't get sick that often, but when I do I tend to get really sick. Glad this one is on it's way out.
New Music!
In a thread on a messageboard, a like to a video was posted. A Canadian Hip-Hop artist, with heavy jazz influence. Watching the video, we had to get the album right away. The song in the link has been in heavy rotation.
I don't like Rap/Hip-Hop mostly due to the content of the lyrics, and I knew there were performers in the genre that didn't do the "bling, ho, kill" thing, but I wasn't going to wade through all the crap to get there. I found one. :)
Since I got the Phoenix, I have been looking at video games. I never really had a computer that could play games that well (well, old ones, and emulated nintendo and genesis stuff - which is fun), but now that I have one, I've been looking at recent games. One I had to pick up was Jade Empire
RPG with a martial arts theme as a major component and a fighting system that feels like a simplified Tekken (can move in 4 direction, block, normal attack, light attack). It has Ch'i powers (say, hold down left shift for healing). So it hits my "cool" factors multiple ways - I love fighting games, I love RPGs, I love martial arts stuff. I've been having fun getting started with this one.
Speaking of the Phoenix, since I got it, I've been reading up on Windows XP, with "power user" books from the library. So I made a nifty change, one that took hacking explorer.exe and it gets me a great bit of personalization.
Yep, I replaced my start button with the name of the computer, a little Phoenix head in place of the windows icon. :)
Between that and the dual toolbars and no icons on the desktop itself, my machine doesn't look all that much like a windows box. :) Which is fine with me.
Just finished reading an interesting book - Sir Apropos of Nothing. Fantasy comedy/drama with farce and intensity. There is drama in the humor, and it's one of Peter David's better works - and I generally have a love/hate opinion of his work, I'll like it for a while, then something really dumb happens for a while. This one had that, but not as much as the rest of his work. Recomended.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Babyrock Records
Okay, this is a shameless plug, but I found it amusing.
Baby Rock Records transforms timeless rock songs into beautiful instrumental lullabies, sending your little one to a slumberland of sweet dreams. Delicate instruments such as the glockenspiel, vibraphone, mellotron, harp and bells create a soothing atmosphere of sound. These charming recordings are sophisticated enough for everyone to enjoy, yet gentle enough for your little angel. This is cherub rock for a new generation.
And I saw this one, and thought of Dilliwag, and his young un':
Baby Rock Records transforms timeless rock songs into beautiful instrumental lullabies, sending your little one to a slumberland of sweet dreams. Delicate instruments such as the glockenspiel, vibraphone, mellotron, harp and bells create a soothing atmosphere of sound. These charming recordings are sophisticated enough for everyone to enjoy, yet gentle enough for your little angel. This is cherub rock for a new generation.
And I saw this one, and thought of Dilliwag, and his young un':
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Do you have any friends online or otherwise that you share similar musical tastes with?
Yeah - Michael over at All now Mysterious
Have you ever made a new friend because of a band that you both like?
When I was working at the comic shop, a guy came to pick up his comics. I had listened to Queen the week before, and had Rush on this week. He commented on it, and asked what else I liked. I told him about Ayreon, and found out he already had some albums. We became fast friends after that.
What's the best musical gift you were ever given by a friend and in return...what is the best musical gift (IYO) that you've given a friend.
Relative actually. Return to Forever's Romantic Warrior on CD. It had been re-issued and I never knew it, but the wife got it for me for Christmas. Given - Arranged for a friend to get my copy of the OOP Rocket Scientists CD Earthbound.
Monday, April 9, 2007
More computer/op system geekery
Short one.
This post is being posted under Ubuntu running through VMware on the Phoenix. I can't leave it alone. :)
I'll be putting Mac OSX under VMWare at some point in the next week or two as well.
This post is being posted under Ubuntu running through VMware on the Phoenix. I can't leave it alone. :)
I'll be putting Mac OSX under VMWare at some point in the next week or two as well.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
The Pheonix in action
After talking about my desktop, and the look of how I handle my new computer, I realized a picture is worth a thousand words. :)
Friday, April 6, 2007
The Memes (and hey, one of mine!)
Have to do the Music Memiors first. Last week, the Meme Mistress asked for ideas for future top 5s. This week, she used one of my suggestions. Woot!!
'39 - Track 5 from Queen's A Night at the Opera - a sad tale about a guy who goes off in search of a planet and relativsitic speed time slowdown means that only one year passes for him, while many pass on Earth. He comes home and sees the daughter of his love, and feels the loss of everyone he knew.
The Magician - Return to Forever's Romantic Warrior - one of the greatest fusion jazz albums, and this is one of the best tracks from it.
One Last Breath - Creed's Weathered - my Favorite Creed song. :)
Six Foot Town - Big and Rich's Horse of a different color - a song using being to tall in a place as a metaphor for living a livestyle that is reaching for more than what people expect, and try to shove back into size.
United - Judas Priest's British Steel - Just a great classic metal song.
I would like to see my wife holding our first child; probably more than anything else.
This week's Top 5 is brought to you by Lord Mhoram
Top five songs that are track # 5 on the album.'39 - Track 5 from Queen's A Night at the Opera - a sad tale about a guy who goes off in search of a planet and relativsitic speed time slowdown means that only one year passes for him, while many pass on Earth. He comes home and sees the daughter of his love, and feels the loss of everyone he knew.
The Magician - Return to Forever's Romantic Warrior - one of the greatest fusion jazz albums, and this is one of the best tracks from it.
One Last Breath - Creed's Weathered - my Favorite Creed song. :)
Six Foot Town - Big and Rich's Horse of a different color - a song using being to tall in a place as a metaphor for living a livestyle that is reaching for more than what people expect, and try to shove back into size.
United - Judas Priest's British Steel - Just a great classic metal song.
Appetizer
When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer?
Car. Never taken a train or flown, and I hate the bus.
Soup
Have you ever met a blogging friend in person?
Yeah, but they were the ones who got me into it. If you mean someone I knew from blogging then met in real life no. Although one of my best e-friends came through Utah on her way to Wyoming and I met her. Which was cool.
Salad
When was the last time you were really, really tired?
A few weeks ago. Work was doing the "lots of work this week stuff" and I got hit with my occasional insomnia (I'm an early riser that way) - so too much work, and sleeps was short 2 or more hours for a week.
Main Course
If you could have dinner with any one fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be?
My namesake from The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - Lord Mhoram. He is the wise, powerful, and charitible character from the series - sorta like Gandalf, but more caring I think sometimes.
Dessert
Fill in the blank: One day, I hope to see _______________.
World Peace.
I would like to see my wife holding our first child; probably more than anything else.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Phoenix has risen
This post is being written on the Phoenix.
I got the machine back on Tues, and been spending a couple of days getting the necessary software installed (firefox, thunderbird, java, winzip etc). Plus doing some work, and getting non necessary stuff on (say - Tron 2.0 which I can max out the video settings now, and it looks amazing).
I also checked out a book from the library, Windows XP inside out. It has lots of useful info about using WinXP, plus some info on tools that let you do things with it that you should be able to do without said tools (powertoys for example).
When I was playing around with Ubuntu, one of the things I liked was the split taskbar - the top bar had pulldown menus and quickstart Icons, and the bottom one had the tabs for running software and such. Well, XP lets you make toolbars on any side of the screen, so I set up the toolbars like that. Then I used powertoys to kill the Recycle bin icon. So I have a computer with a top and bottom task/tool bars and no icons whatsoever. Looks pretty cool. The top toolbar I have different subtoolbars that have lists of programs in them - so it is sort of like a personalized program files. But I can get to any software with two clicks. :)
The machine is blindingly fast (well, I did move up .33 on the Proc and from 256 to 1 gig of memory - and the proc went from a 32 to a 64, and the memory went from old slow stuff to DDR2).
Got the network up and running, including getting the minimac I use for work on the network.
All and all, I'm happy with the result. :)
And yeah, the background image of my computer is a phoenix. :)
I got the machine back on Tues, and been spending a couple of days getting the necessary software installed (firefox, thunderbird, java, winzip etc). Plus doing some work, and getting non necessary stuff on (say - Tron 2.0 which I can max out the video settings now, and it looks amazing).
I also checked out a book from the library, Windows XP inside out. It has lots of useful info about using WinXP, plus some info on tools that let you do things with it that you should be able to do without said tools (powertoys for example).
When I was playing around with Ubuntu, one of the things I liked was the split taskbar - the top bar had pulldown menus and quickstart Icons, and the bottom one had the tabs for running software and such. Well, XP lets you make toolbars on any side of the screen, so I set up the toolbars like that. Then I used powertoys to kill the Recycle bin icon. So I have a computer with a top and bottom task/tool bars and no icons whatsoever. Looks pretty cool. The top toolbar I have different subtoolbars that have lists of programs in them - so it is sort of like a personalized program files. But I can get to any software with two clicks. :)
The machine is blindingly fast (well, I did move up .33 on the Proc and from 256 to 1 gig of memory - and the proc went from a 32 to a 64, and the memory went from old slow stuff to DDR2).
Got the network up and running, including getting the minimac I use for work on the network.
All and all, I'm happy with the result. :)
And yeah, the background image of my computer is a phoenix. :)
Monday, April 2, 2007
About what I expected
Which is also the color I use more than any others in my decks (red being a close second)
I went back and shifted a couple of borderline anwers and ended up with:
Which I almost never play - I just don't have the patience for playing blue. :)
I had a dream last night
I dreamed I was reading "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". I was reading the end, and I got the bit right after the final confrontation with Voldemort - Harry appears dead, but coughs a little. After he wakes up with Madam Pomfrey looking on he explains why he won. He realized that Voldemort did indeed have 7 horcruxes, not six, and the seventh was Harry's scar - Voldy had used his own death to make the 7th Horcrux out of it.
And a long time ago, JKR said that the last word of the book was scar, and in my dream I read "... and Harry looked in the mirror and saw his forehead without any trace of the scar".
Odd what your subconcious will put together.
And a long time ago, JKR said that the last word of the book was scar, and in my dream I read "... and Harry looked in the mirror and saw his forehead without any trace of the scar".
Odd what your subconcious will put together.