tagryn

mdlbear @ 9:53am: Done yesterday (20090715)
( raw notes )

I guess the most interesting "accomplishment" of the day came in the morning as I was making breakfast. I noticed that my stomach muscles were knotting up, and deliberately relaxed them. The associated anxiety was almost certainly over the evening's test session at work, which I wasn't ready for.

I was, mostly, ready at 5pm, after a grueling afternoon in the code mines. It made for one of the most productive days I've had at work in a long time. I'll need to keep that up until next week, when the stuff will actually get used, because there's still quite a bit that needs doing.

A couple of amusing links.

Bang & Olufsen BeoTime Alarm Clock Caters to Flute Enthusiasts, the Rich (waves at cflute)

When Bang and Olufsen tackles a new type of device, they do it in a very specific way: oddly, stylishly, and with reckless disregard for cost. Exhibit F: The $375 BeoTime, a flute-like, accelerometer-equipped wireless alarm clock.

Wood computer workstation takes up space, looks great, does little else (waves at gmcdavid)

I spent most of my spare time away from computers reading. I seem to recall that that's how I made it through a lot of our parties, a long time ago: sitting in a corner absorbed in a book, interacting only enough to keep up the pretense that I was being social.

saxikath @ 11:26am: 3BR available in Cambridge
My next-door neighbor is looking for new tenants for his upstairs apartment. It's a 3BR (one is smaller than the other two), redone kitchen, nice neighborhood. He's asking $2500/month rent, but may be flexible. If you're interested or know someone who is, let me know and I'll pass your info to him.

mdlbear @ 7:47am: Hippo, birdie, two ewes...

... to mvt!!! Have a great one!!

rowanf @ 1:59am: From Twitter 07-15-2009

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

qbaz @ 2:59am: In translation from the original, pt I

Mirrored from Dailies.

Piper: “In *my* culture, filling one’s pants after a meal is considered a compliment to the chef.”

frumiousb, posting in found_objects @ 7:35am: Horse Tie.


found in Amsterdam, June 2009.

liralen @ 11:51pm: Mt. Washington Cog Railway
In the mid-1800's one Sylvester marsh of Littleton, N.H. went to Congress to ask for access up Mt. Washington for a railroad, the congressmen gave him the access and added permission to build a railroad to the Moon as well. They felt that the two were pretty much equivalent.

Mr. Marsh showed them otherwise. The railroad opened on July 3, 1869 and operated continuously up until this last winter, when they closed it for the winter for the first time, ever. Business for them this summer hasn't been good, and the weather hasn't helped either.

So we thought we'd help them out. *laughs* Eventhough it didn't really shine at the top, but then it rarely does.

( Read more... )

kjc007 @ 11:34pm: Change Makes Me Cranky

Oh hell.

Kate's Mystery Books is closing on August 1st.

There's a 25% off sale until then & a packing sale/party on the 1st.

Dammit!

ps238principal @ 7:37pm: It's like being slashdotted, but with a shovel.
Something I did got Dugg! The latest strip from "Backward Compatible" was the subject of a front-page Digg story today! I hope that brings in some more readers to CrispyGamer, as well as to other websites that shall remain nameless (but whose webmasters are jazzed, nevertheless). I must say I've always lived by the maxim that you can't go wrong with too many references to John Carpenter.

Speaking of movies, it's going to be "movie week" on FFN while I'm off at the San Diego Comic Con (where I hope to catch a glimpse of some spiffy new toasters). I went back and looked for "missing filenames" at IESB.net, and I found a quartet of lost comics. So look for new movie-flavored strips tonight and Friday, and then again next week on Wednesday and Friday! We'll get back to the jury duty right after (I don't think my source of inspiration for the strip is going to go away any time soon).

"Stargate: Universe" is headed for the SighFine channel, and it's got an official website. Apparently, the Ancients were into Steampunk as well. Too bad "Atlantis" missed out on the aesthetic, but it makes me wonder where the starship "Destiny" will fit into the chronology of the Ancients, themselves. The whole SG series has usually been pretty good about continuity, so I'm sure the resident genius on the team will have the history of the vessel up on a computer screen a few minutes after arrival. :)

Even though XKCD warns us, I'm tossing up a TV trope's link: science fiction tropes. I like this site, not just for critical purposes (there are some habits that fiction just needs to let go of), but for the challenge of thinking how to pull off or re-format one of these overused ideas. I may, myself, be guilty of punching out C'thulhu in the near future, but I still think it worked...

And from the "but what will it mean?" files comes the long-running court case over the rights to Superman. In the article it says that DC/Time-Warner will lose the copyright to Supes around the year 2013 and won't be able to exploit the character without licensing it from the estates of Seigel & Schuster. While brainstorming with a friend, we theorized what form the most irritating licensing possibility for Superman could be. Our winner was a license to Dark Horse Comics, where he's made part of their Star Wars universe. In a move that would have both comic and Jedi fans alike reaching for the torches and pitchforks, it would be revealed that Superman's powers come from a rare strain of midichlorians, giving him immense power but mostly only at personal range (aside from the heat vision). We'd also pay homage to "Superman Returns" by making Kal-El the father of Anakin Skywalker. Think about it: Both Lois and Shimi found themselves with children of frightening ability from a mysterious pregnancy they can't remember conceiving.

While composing your death threat for me daring to think such thoughts, here's some more relaxing material:

- Weird Al has a new animated music video for an original song, Skipper Dan.
- The D&D Sneaker contest I mentioned a while back has some finalists up for voting.
- The Wacom tablet is a staple of digital art, but I never thought it could be converted into a musical instrument.
- Red Remover is a deceptively simple puzzle game where you have to eliminate all the red blocks while leaving the green. Good luck on the bonus levels.
- "Where the Wild Things Are" is coming to theaters soon, but in 1983, Disney held the rights to the tale and did some test animation using a combination of hand-drawn and CGI.
- The following link is from SomethingAwful (so there's a big ol' language and workplace surfing warning), and it's an educational piece on the original Tomb of Horrors. No saving throw, indeed.
- Most things about C'thulhu are "wrong." This is no exception.
- Another flash puzzler, Demolition City, where you're strategically placing charges to bring down a building's structure. Bonus "looney tunes" points to this game for using drums and cymbals for sound effects.
- And now one of many YouTube videos featuring "Inappropriate Soundtracks": Return of the King.

qbaz @ 9:37pm: Audio snippet: hiccups

Mirrored from Dailies.

2009.07.15-hiccups

First in what will no doubt soon be a burgeoning category of “data and snapshots certain to bore anyone interested in anything other than our kid”: Piper gets hiccups rather a lot.

_loud_ass_ipod, posting in found_objects @ 9:47pm: ( you'reeeee so vain. )

erz_scamp, posting in found_objects @ 5:21pm: I grew hemp!

kjc007 @ 2:23pm: Selling Stuff on eBay NOW!

Ok, I finally managed to get around to putting up a vest I want to sell on eBay.

Listing here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=250465439167

What a pain to get that set up! I haven't used my eBay account in a long time. And I had to remember to bring my camera to the second floor AND take pictures in the daytime AND upload the damn things. My memory is not the best, so that part was a bit of a challenge.

I have a bunch of wheat pennies I'm gonna try & sell as well. Anybody have any experience with that & can provide advice?

Gah. I need to reduce the amount of crap I have & I need the money.

Hmm. What else can I sell...

shanmonster @ 12:13pm: Photo du Jour
Just back from a run through the woods. The scenery was less than spectacular. Used condoms were tied to tree branches all along the path. Ick. Shower time.

mdlbear @ 7:47am: Hippo, birdie, two ewes...

... to dmakoi, joecoustic, and brunnhilde!!!!! Have a great one, ladies!!

mdlbear @ 7:43am: Done yesterday (20090714)
( raw notes )

It didn't really feel like a notable day, but in fact it was one: not only was it Bastille Day, but I finished ripping the last of the CDs in the folk/filk/rock side of the shelves. A quick check shows 934 CDs ripped, which is only an approximation but likely to be fairly close. It's cheating in some ways, because I still have a sizeable stack of unshelved CDs, and another stack of CDs that didn't turn up in FreeDB and so will require data entry "when I have time".

I also got quite a lot done at work; unfortunately in an area I wasn't planning to spend nearly as much time on, so some other stuff isn't ready when I wanted it to be.

I did get a walk in, and went to bed about 10:30 with Colleen.

shanmonster @ 9:15am: Much Better....
My browsers are over burgeoning again. Let's take a load off, shall we?

Vomit While Having Sex: Not nearly as bad as it sounds. Just plain funny.

Top Gear - Reliant Robin space shuttle - Richard Hammond and James May - BBC: Can a shitty little car be turned into a reusable space shuttle (thanks, f00dave)?

Steps taken by Tokyo man made his 'Riverdance' dream come true: Sometimes following a crazy dream pans out.

Swearing can make you feel better, lessen pain: I wonder how much stubbing my toe would hurt without swearing?

Nine Naked Men: NSFW, and I'm sure I linked to this before, but damn it's cute.

A Dead Rat On Your Bowtie? Freaky Taxidermy Jewelry Leaves Us Seriously Disturbed: The hamster comb amuses me.

Evil Bible: "This web site is designed to spread the vicious truth about the Bible" (thanks, Ted).

Bilingualism in Canada: NSFW. A reporter gets more than he bargained for when he asks a woman her opinion on bilingualism. Total loss of composure!

kjc007 @ 5:25am: My Funny Bone

For reasons I can't quite explain, this video is VERY funny to me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krTE0AJkqj4

It's a music video for a song by Fiona Apple, so you need the sound on for full comedic effect. It's only a few minutes long and pretty much safe for work. Plus, it stars actor Zach Galifianakis (IMDB info: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0302108/) who is ridiculously amusing and cute to boot.

I listened to snippets of each track on the whole album and ended up buying it (it's called Extraordinary Machine). I'm enjoying it as I type. I friggin' love the future.

Anyway, there's just something about incongruous lip-syncing that absolutely tickles my funny bone.

Also, a very entertaining article in the Boston Globe: "What to do if your child has superpowers: A FAQ for concerned parents" - short URL: http://bit.ly/XcAHO

Complete link: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/06/21/what_to_do_if_your_child_has_superpowers/

And here's a link to shit I've said on Twitter that other people found interesting or amusing enough to "favorite": http://favrd.textism.com/person/kjccreates

rowanf @ 1:59am: From Twitter 07-14-2009

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

girlgeniuscomic @ 8:42pm: Girl Genius Comic for Wednesday July 15, 2009
( Girl Genius Comic for Wednesday July 15, 2009 )

Now that the books are on their way, we have set a cutoff date of July 25 for the sketch pre-order offer on Volumes Eight and Four. The sketch offer on Volumes Five and Six is still available until those books are ready.
For news about the release dates of Volume Eight and the reprints, please visit the main Girl Genius comic page. --Kaja <3

shanmonster @ 10:09pm: Photo du Jour
Raging against the bloody bastard!

jecklar @ 3:02pm: The Birds Hate Me
This is just one of those days.

It started with the worst penguin bite I've ever received (across the throat, so that I look like I've been garrotted), and was followed by the Spectacled Owl hopping onto my bare arm instead of my glove during a class, every Dove in the lofts pooping on me while I helped Teri G crate a few, and slamming my hand in the gate to Penguin Point.

(OK, that last isn't a bird "attack," but I choose to blame them anyway.)

mdlbear @ 9:29am: Beautiful and amazing pas de deux

This is simply amazing. Read the post, and watch the dance. It's five minutes long, and worth every second. (From thnidu.)

mdlbear @ 8:59am: Done yesterday (20090713)
( raw notes )

The high point of the day came in the evening as Colleen and I shared the season's first gravenstein apple from our back-yard tree. WOW!

The Gravenstein was introduced to western North America in the early 19th century, perhaps by Russian fur traders, who are said to have planted a tree at Fort Ross in 1811.

The fact that I was also on IM with a friend who was having a wonderful day helped, too.

I got to work fairly early and managed to get in a walk after the morning meeting, plus a full afternoon of testing, debugging, and code exploration. Whether that will be enough to give me something testable by tomorrow afternoon's teleconference is still a very open question, but I'm pretty confident that there will be something working by next week, which is when I really need it.

I forgot to mention that I finished reading The Caregiver Helpbook over the weekend; yesterday I started on Full Catastrophe Living, which cflute recommended. Reading is one of the few things I can do almost anywhere, because it can block out almost any kind of distraction. I'm finally re-learning how useful it can be to combine it with other things, like sitting with Colleen and waiting until she needs help with something.

ETA: Also forgot to mention that Colleen got in and out of the van to go shopping with Marty. It's higher and harder than the Honda, but it means a lot -- that's her car. She's hoping to be able to drive herself in a month or two.

mdlbear @ 7:57am: Hippo, birdie, two ewes...

... to ravan!!!!! Have a great one!!!