"The Winter Stalker" By Stephen Reedy & Alex Pardee from ZerofriendsFilms on Vimeo.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Need a new Intel Socket P CPU
Ugh at 1.6 GHz, my laptop has become amazingly slow as of late. It's not actually that slow, but I tend to have about 20 things going at once, which makes it seem like a problem.
I own a Dell Vostro 1500, I think it's a Socket P Core 2 Duo, not sure on bus speeds and such, but it's about three years old at this point, has been around the world a few times, and is still pretty good for day to day use.
Anyhow if someone has a suggestion on what CPU can be used to upgrade this beast, please let me know.
Thanks!
Bob
Monday, November 23, 2009
Carbunkle, from Vamporax, where Vampires live.
Just playing with "STATE" a text to speech animation engine.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
The Motorist
The freeway was stalled. The night was black and it was raining like a son of a bitch. Brian sat in his rental car, nursing the fifth energy drink he’d opened since setting out on the road. There were two cases of them in the back seat. He’d only meant to give his body a little push, but goddamn if they weren’t the tastiest things in this world. Still, neither the delicious beverage nor its herbal induced euphoria could do anything for Brian’s current situation.
The windshield wipers were useless; unable to keep up with the amount of rain that was falling. Traffic had been stopped for what must have been well over an hour and no one, officer or otherwise, had come by to inform Brian of the situation’s status. Normally, he might have gotten out of the car to have a better look or even walked to the head of the traffic jam to ask any authorities what was going on, but he’d left the house without a jacket and there was no way he was going to exit the car in this weather. Checking the radio simply hadn’t occurred to him.
It seemed the other motorists had the same idea. Ahead of him was a truck with the silhouette of a head visible above both of its bucket seats. To Brian’s right was a small-scale diesel delivery truck with a textbook example of the bearded, flannelled, hunting capped trucker sitting behind the wheel. To his left was an SUV that was filled to capacity with a mother, father, four children and a baby strapped into a car seat. The dome light was on and the parents seemed to be franticly searching for something; maybe a toy or something for the baby. Behind him was a wide black sedan. Brian couldn’t see anything through its windshield. It was simply a blank, black rectangle and eerily mysterious. He was already bored with looking at the other cars after that.
He began to speculate what may be causing such an awful traffic jam.
Maybe there was an extra messy wreck and the coroner got held up on the way over. Had to have gotten held up somehow. I mean, it’s been over an hour, right? You’d think they would have scraped up the bodies by now. Or did the ground just open up or something? Was there an earthquake that caused the ground to split, creating a fissure across the entire freeway? Wait a minute. This is an elevated freeway. An earthquake still could have caused a chunk of the freeway to fall, turning it into a giant asphalt diving block, but I don’t remember feeling anything. If there were an earthquake strong enough to do something like that, I’d feel something, right? Maybe I should just go to sleep or something.
Brian spun to his right, reached over into the back seat, and grabbed another energy drink to replace the one he’d just finished during those thoughts. Oh, who am I kidding? I’ve got enough of these in me to drop a fuckin’ rhino. I’m not gonna sleep till Thursday. What day is it again? He popped the top and glanced to his left. The cute suburban family in the SUV didn’t seem to be doing too well. The children weren’t moving, Daddy had both hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel with his head down, and Mommy and the baby were both crying. Hmmm, looks like somebody’s upset about something.
Suddenly there was a knock on the passenger side window. Brian nearly flew out of his skin, spilling his drink down the front of his shirt. So, Mr Trucker is feeling chatty. Rolling down the window, Brian asked, “Can I help you?”
“Hey there, mister. I noticed you got a few cold ones in the back seat there. Would you mind sharing? I can pay you.”
“Well, they are cold, but they’re not beer if that’s what you were thinking.”
“Oh, I don’t much care what it is. I’m just thirsty, you know?”
“I’ll tell you what”, Brian replied. You can have one for free.” He reached over the seat for an energy drink and passed it through the open window. “But only if you get out of the rain before you get sick and my car floods.”
“Thanks, mister. Much obliged.”
Brian watched the man rush back to his truck and climb back into its cab. Less than forty seconds later, Mr. Trucker poured the remainder of the can’s contents onto the street and tossed the empty can onto his floorboards. It’s an acquired taste, you asshole. Give it a chance; it’s better than coffee.
Then there were voices outside to Bob’s left. What’s happening with our little suburban family now? The mother was standing outside with her back against the closed passenger-side door of the SUV, her arms folded, and her head down. Daddy was standing at her side wildly gesticulating and shouting at her. “Come on, get back in the car! You’re scaring the kids! Do you like seeing them cry? Is that why you’re behaving like this? Come on, you’re getting soaked! You’re gonna get sick!” The woman just stood there with her head down, not making a peep. Brian found himself watching their argument as one might watch a sporting event. Rather than being taken aback, He simply sat there, quietly rooting for Mommy to yell back at Daddy.
“Have you lost your mind? People are looking at us! Just look at yourself! Is this the kind of example you want to set for our children?” At that moment, the couple from the pickup had arrived to investigate. It seemed that one of them, a young woman, was trying to keep her companion from getting involved.
Daddy noticed them coming and yelled, “You stay out of this. This is none of your concern.” The young man from the pickup ignored him and addressed Mommy.
“Excuse me, Miss. Would you like to come sit with us?”
Daddy got an angry look on his face like someone just shot his dog. “She will do no such thing! She’s going to get back in our car and you are going to get back in yours!”
“I apologize, sir, but I was talking to her; not you.”
“Who do you think you are? This is my family and I will take care of them.”
In the meantime, Mr. Trucker had appeared with a tire iron in his hand and he showed it to Daddy. “Now mister, it seems to me that this young man here is just trying to help and it looks…..”
“You can mind your own business too! She’s not going anywhere with anyone. She’s getting back in the car.” Daddy turned to face Mommy. “And she’s going to do so now!”
The young woman from the pickup held onto her companion’s arm and said, “Come on, Stevie. Let’s just go back.”
Stevie (So that was his name) ignored her. Mr. Trucker took another step toward Daddy and raised his tire iron just enough to remind everybody that it was still there, saying, “Mister, the lady looks to me like she’s plenty old enough to decide for her own self. Now, I don’t want any trouble, but if you want to keep your ass on straight, maybe you should let her do it.”
Daddy kept his look of superiority and opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He just stood there with his mouth open for a moment, turned around, walked back to the driver’s side of the SUV, and sat down behind the wheel, slamming the door hard enough to make Mommy jump just a little.
Stevie extended a hand to Mr. Trucker, saying, “Thank you. I was a bit worried, there. My name’s Steve, by the way.” Mr. Trucker took his hand and shook it.
“Mother named me Theodore, but you can call me Ted. I’m just glad to be able to help.” He jerked a thumb toward Brian’s car. “When I saw that this little pansy wasn’t gonna do anything, I had to do something. Who’s your ladyfriend?”
“Oh, this is Nan.”
The young woman nodded her head and simply said, “Hi.”
Ted took off his waterlogged hat and nodded back, saying, “Pleased to meet you.”
They all turned to face Mommy, not knowing exactly how to resume the exchange. Finally, Nan stepped forward and laid a hand on Mommy’s shoulder. “Miss? My name’s Nan. What’s yours?”
The woman wiped a hand across her nose and said, “Carol. It’s Carol.
Nan gave her shoulder a tender squeeze. “Well, Carol, It’s raining awfully hard out here. Would you like to come sit with us? It might be kind of cramped, but you’d be welcome.”
The woman began wiping her hand across her face again. Ted handed her a modestly grimy bandana that he’d plucked from his back pocket. “Thank you”, she said before noisily blowing her nose into it.
Brian barely heard a word of this, mind you. He’d heard the yelling, but the heavy rain and his tightly closed car windows rendered everything else a garbled blur or silent. Instead, he made up his own dialogue to fill in their gestures and moving lips. Though he didn’t know it, he wasn’t too far off the mark.
“You can keep the hanky, miss.” Ted pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “That’s my truck over there and that’s where I’ll be. Probably till next week by the look of things. If you guys need something, just knock, okay?”
After nods and handshakes, Ted ran back to his truck. Nan, Carol, and Stevie ran to the pickup where Stevie opted for the foldout seat behind the driver’s so the women could have the more comfortable seats.
That was a little weird, Brian thought to himself. It seemed to happen so fast. What was that all about? His fingers drummed on the steering wheel and his feet beat against the floor, but he couldn’t figure out what song he was pantomiming. He was racing on sugar, caffeine, and an unknown blend of alleged energy-enhancing herbs. It seemed that just about every thought that entered the fore of his consciousness was suddenly replaced by a new thought before the previous one could be fully processed. Still, they were all shaded by the same theme, that theme being, What the fuck is the holdup?
(More to come)
The windshield wipers were useless; unable to keep up with the amount of rain that was falling. Traffic had been stopped for what must have been well over an hour and no one, officer or otherwise, had come by to inform Brian of the situation’s status. Normally, he might have gotten out of the car to have a better look or even walked to the head of the traffic jam to ask any authorities what was going on, but he’d left the house without a jacket and there was no way he was going to exit the car in this weather. Checking the radio simply hadn’t occurred to him.
It seemed the other motorists had the same idea. Ahead of him was a truck with the silhouette of a head visible above both of its bucket seats. To Brian’s right was a small-scale diesel delivery truck with a textbook example of the bearded, flannelled, hunting capped trucker sitting behind the wheel. To his left was an SUV that was filled to capacity with a mother, father, four children and a baby strapped into a car seat. The dome light was on and the parents seemed to be franticly searching for something; maybe a toy or something for the baby. Behind him was a wide black sedan. Brian couldn’t see anything through its windshield. It was simply a blank, black rectangle and eerily mysterious. He was already bored with looking at the other cars after that.
He began to speculate what may be causing such an awful traffic jam.
Maybe there was an extra messy wreck and the coroner got held up on the way over. Had to have gotten held up somehow. I mean, it’s been over an hour, right? You’d think they would have scraped up the bodies by now. Or did the ground just open up or something? Was there an earthquake that caused the ground to split, creating a fissure across the entire freeway? Wait a minute. This is an elevated freeway. An earthquake still could have caused a chunk of the freeway to fall, turning it into a giant asphalt diving block, but I don’t remember feeling anything. If there were an earthquake strong enough to do something like that, I’d feel something, right? Maybe I should just go to sleep or something.
Brian spun to his right, reached over into the back seat, and grabbed another energy drink to replace the one he’d just finished during those thoughts. Oh, who am I kidding? I’ve got enough of these in me to drop a fuckin’ rhino. I’m not gonna sleep till Thursday. What day is it again? He popped the top and glanced to his left. The cute suburban family in the SUV didn’t seem to be doing too well. The children weren’t moving, Daddy had both hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel with his head down, and Mommy and the baby were both crying. Hmmm, looks like somebody’s upset about something.
Suddenly there was a knock on the passenger side window. Brian nearly flew out of his skin, spilling his drink down the front of his shirt. So, Mr Trucker is feeling chatty. Rolling down the window, Brian asked, “Can I help you?”
“Hey there, mister. I noticed you got a few cold ones in the back seat there. Would you mind sharing? I can pay you.”
“Well, they are cold, but they’re not beer if that’s what you were thinking.”
“Oh, I don’t much care what it is. I’m just thirsty, you know?”
“I’ll tell you what”, Brian replied. You can have one for free.” He reached over the seat for an energy drink and passed it through the open window. “But only if you get out of the rain before you get sick and my car floods.”
“Thanks, mister. Much obliged.”
Brian watched the man rush back to his truck and climb back into its cab. Less than forty seconds later, Mr. Trucker poured the remainder of the can’s contents onto the street and tossed the empty can onto his floorboards. It’s an acquired taste, you asshole. Give it a chance; it’s better than coffee.
Then there were voices outside to Bob’s left. What’s happening with our little suburban family now? The mother was standing outside with her back against the closed passenger-side door of the SUV, her arms folded, and her head down. Daddy was standing at her side wildly gesticulating and shouting at her. “Come on, get back in the car! You’re scaring the kids! Do you like seeing them cry? Is that why you’re behaving like this? Come on, you’re getting soaked! You’re gonna get sick!” The woman just stood there with her head down, not making a peep. Brian found himself watching their argument as one might watch a sporting event. Rather than being taken aback, He simply sat there, quietly rooting for Mommy to yell back at Daddy.
“Have you lost your mind? People are looking at us! Just look at yourself! Is this the kind of example you want to set for our children?” At that moment, the couple from the pickup had arrived to investigate. It seemed that one of them, a young woman, was trying to keep her companion from getting involved.
Daddy noticed them coming and yelled, “You stay out of this. This is none of your concern.” The young man from the pickup ignored him and addressed Mommy.
“Excuse me, Miss. Would you like to come sit with us?”
Daddy got an angry look on his face like someone just shot his dog. “She will do no such thing! She’s going to get back in our car and you are going to get back in yours!”
“I apologize, sir, but I was talking to her; not you.”
“Who do you think you are? This is my family and I will take care of them.”
In the meantime, Mr. Trucker had appeared with a tire iron in his hand and he showed it to Daddy. “Now mister, it seems to me that this young man here is just trying to help and it looks…..”
“You can mind your own business too! She’s not going anywhere with anyone. She’s getting back in the car.” Daddy turned to face Mommy. “And she’s going to do so now!”
The young woman from the pickup held onto her companion’s arm and said, “Come on, Stevie. Let’s just go back.”
Stevie (So that was his name) ignored her. Mr. Trucker took another step toward Daddy and raised his tire iron just enough to remind everybody that it was still there, saying, “Mister, the lady looks to me like she’s plenty old enough to decide for her own self. Now, I don’t want any trouble, but if you want to keep your ass on straight, maybe you should let her do it.”
Daddy kept his look of superiority and opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He just stood there with his mouth open for a moment, turned around, walked back to the driver’s side of the SUV, and sat down behind the wheel, slamming the door hard enough to make Mommy jump just a little.
Stevie extended a hand to Mr. Trucker, saying, “Thank you. I was a bit worried, there. My name’s Steve, by the way.” Mr. Trucker took his hand and shook it.
“Mother named me Theodore, but you can call me Ted. I’m just glad to be able to help.” He jerked a thumb toward Brian’s car. “When I saw that this little pansy wasn’t gonna do anything, I had to do something. Who’s your ladyfriend?”
“Oh, this is Nan.”
The young woman nodded her head and simply said, “Hi.”
Ted took off his waterlogged hat and nodded back, saying, “Pleased to meet you.”
They all turned to face Mommy, not knowing exactly how to resume the exchange. Finally, Nan stepped forward and laid a hand on Mommy’s shoulder. “Miss? My name’s Nan. What’s yours?”
The woman wiped a hand across her nose and said, “Carol. It’s Carol.
Nan gave her shoulder a tender squeeze. “Well, Carol, It’s raining awfully hard out here. Would you like to come sit with us? It might be kind of cramped, but you’d be welcome.”
The woman began wiping her hand across her face again. Ted handed her a modestly grimy bandana that he’d plucked from his back pocket. “Thank you”, she said before noisily blowing her nose into it.
Brian barely heard a word of this, mind you. He’d heard the yelling, but the heavy rain and his tightly closed car windows rendered everything else a garbled blur or silent. Instead, he made up his own dialogue to fill in their gestures and moving lips. Though he didn’t know it, he wasn’t too far off the mark.
“You can keep the hanky, miss.” Ted pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “That’s my truck over there and that’s where I’ll be. Probably till next week by the look of things. If you guys need something, just knock, okay?”
After nods and handshakes, Ted ran back to his truck. Nan, Carol, and Stevie ran to the pickup where Stevie opted for the foldout seat behind the driver’s so the women could have the more comfortable seats.
That was a little weird, Brian thought to himself. It seemed to happen so fast. What was that all about? His fingers drummed on the steering wheel and his feet beat against the floor, but he couldn’t figure out what song he was pantomiming. He was racing on sugar, caffeine, and an unknown blend of alleged energy-enhancing herbs. It seemed that just about every thought that entered the fore of his consciousness was suddenly replaced by a new thought before the previous one could be fully processed. Still, they were all shaded by the same theme, that theme being, What the fuck is the holdup?
(More to come)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Ressurecting the Dead - Atari TT030 Part 1
I've decided to undertake the process of bringing my Atari TT030 back online, with the intent to establish a telnet based BBS.
My next few posts will focus mostly on this task, how I will be doing it, some of the stuff I've found online, resources for information and people to ask questions when FAQs and HOW TO guides are just not enough.
My Atari TT030 had been at a friends house for the past ten years. That's a pretty long time, and as such, the technology has changed since 1992. (When the model I own came out) I originally purchased my TT030 back in 1999 on eBay for about $150, with a bunch of software included.
A quick look on eBay and you will see that so many people are asking WAY too much money for these systems, some being over $400, IMHO is waaay too much to pay for a system, especially since you can emulate most of the stuff the machine does, with emulators such as STeem, or some of the other LiveCD soltions and other things out there.
My project should fill these guidelines:
- Under $150 for ALL upgrades, pertaining to Hard Drive, SCSI Bus, and telnet serial adaptor.
- All moves in the project should be documented, and placed on youtube for historical archiving, and allowing others with similar equipment to learn from my mistakes.
- Once completed, it should stay as closely as possible to the appearance of the original hardware, while at the same time maintain functionality, and longevity of the hardware.
That is all for now. If you have any suggestions let me know. Coming next time - TT030 System Specs Before and After... And an in depth guide on the Lantronix UDS1100.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
(majority) Rules Were Made To Be Broken
How many times did you have to eat a dinner that you didn't want to eat simply because it was what the majority of the household wanted to eat? How many times have you wished there was something better on television? How many times has someone you did not vote for been elected to office? How many times have you had to experience or endure anything simply because there were more people who called for it than who had called against it? And how many times did it make you mad?
Can you imagine being told by a faceless group of strangers what television programs you're going to watch instead of being allowed to decide for yourself? Try to also imagine such a group telling you what movies you're going to see, which books you're going to read, and which bands you're going to listen to. Are you having trouble? You shouldn't be, because it's been happening since anyone can remember.
A television show gets cancelled because when those who enjoy it are outnumbered by those who would rather watch something else and the network bows to the ratings created by that larger group to satisfy its sponsors. A movie gets no commercial backing, advertising, or distribution in this country until it has first been given a rating by the MPAA that one of the six movie companies in our nation approve of. Basically, all your life, a group of faceless strangers have been 'telling" you what your entertainment options are. That group is called the majority and they rule.
I'm not trying to expose a conspiracy or anything like that. The concept of majority rule is the deciding factor in countless parts of your life and mine. It makes sense at first, doesn't it? I mean, it's basic function is to accentuate the positive, right? Maybe not. I'm going to get personal for a moment here.
My brother is gay and would like to marry the love of his life just like countless others have done throughout humanity's history. However, he was told he could not do so, because there were more "other" people who wanted to deny him that right than who wanted to grant him it. Now I'm begging you not to think of this in terms of "gay marriage," but think of it in terms of independence and privacy. My brother wants to be able to marry, but instead of simply being able to get the license, sign the document, and hold the ceremony, it was arbitrarily decided that those around him must first approve of it; that they must first approve of one of the most personal and private domestic matters of one's life.
The problem here is not just political or just social. Majority rule has it's clutches in all things great and small. The problem is this: You can't have a majority without also having a corresponding minority and when the majority rules, the minority is simply shit outta luck. The minority is left seemingly voiceless and without influence all because their numbers just weren't great enough.
I'm not trying to shock the system or "bust this thing wide open." It just occurred to me that the most common and seemingly fairest method of settling a decision actually seems pretty unfair if you think about it. There's way too many other situations than I can mention here. I'd like very much for you to tell me about a time when you felt you got screwed by the the rule of the majority. Really, absolutely anything. I'd love to hear it.
Can you imagine being told by a faceless group of strangers what television programs you're going to watch instead of being allowed to decide for yourself? Try to also imagine such a group telling you what movies you're going to see, which books you're going to read, and which bands you're going to listen to. Are you having trouble? You shouldn't be, because it's been happening since anyone can remember.
A television show gets cancelled because when those who enjoy it are outnumbered by those who would rather watch something else and the network bows to the ratings created by that larger group to satisfy its sponsors. A movie gets no commercial backing, advertising, or distribution in this country until it has first been given a rating by the MPAA that one of the six movie companies in our nation approve of. Basically, all your life, a group of faceless strangers have been 'telling" you what your entertainment options are. That group is called the majority and they rule.
I'm not trying to expose a conspiracy or anything like that. The concept of majority rule is the deciding factor in countless parts of your life and mine. It makes sense at first, doesn't it? I mean, it's basic function is to accentuate the positive, right? Maybe not. I'm going to get personal for a moment here.
My brother is gay and would like to marry the love of his life just like countless others have done throughout humanity's history. However, he was told he could not do so, because there were more "other" people who wanted to deny him that right than who wanted to grant him it. Now I'm begging you not to think of this in terms of "gay marriage," but think of it in terms of independence and privacy. My brother wants to be able to marry, but instead of simply being able to get the license, sign the document, and hold the ceremony, it was arbitrarily decided that those around him must first approve of it; that they must first approve of one of the most personal and private domestic matters of one's life.
The problem here is not just political or just social. Majority rule has it's clutches in all things great and small. The problem is this: You can't have a majority without also having a corresponding minority and when the majority rules, the minority is simply shit outta luck. The minority is left seemingly voiceless and without influence all because their numbers just weren't great enough.
I'm not trying to shock the system or "bust this thing wide open." It just occurred to me that the most common and seemingly fairest method of settling a decision actually seems pretty unfair if you think about it. There's way too many other situations than I can mention here. I'd like very much for you to tell me about a time when you felt you got screwed by the the rule of the majority. Really, absolutely anything. I'd love to hear it.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Congress Votes to Outsource the Presidency ...
Congress Votes to Outsource the Presidency
Washington , DC -- July 04, 2009
Congress today announced that the office of President of the United States of America will be outsourced to India as of September 1, 2009.
The move is being made in order to save the President's $400,000 yearly salary, and also a record $750 billion in deficit expenditures and related overhead that his office has incurred during the last 3 months.
It is anticipated that $7 trillion can be saved to the end of the President's term. "We believe this is a wise financial move. The cost savings are huge," stated Congressman Thomas Reynolds (R-WA). "We cannot remain competitive on the world stage with the current level of cash outlay," Reynolds noted.
Obama was informed by email this morning of his termination. Preparations for the job move have been underway for some time.
Gurvinder Singh, a tele-technician for Indus Teleservices, Mumbai India , will assume the office of President as of September 1, 2009. Mr. Singh was born in the United States while his Indian parents were vacationing at Niagara Falls , NY . Thus making him eligible for the position. He will receive a salary of $320 (USD) a month, but no health coverage or other benefits.
It is believed that Mr. Singh will be able to handle his job responsibilities without a support staff. Due to the time difference between the US and India , he will be working primarily at night. "Working nights will allow me to keep my day job at the Dell Computer call center," stated Mr. Singh in an exclusive interview.
"I am excited about this position. I always hoped I would be President."
A Congressional spokesperson noted that while Mr. Singh may not be fully aware of all the issues involved in the office of President, this should not be a problem as Obama had never been familiar with the issues either.
Mr. Singh will rely upon a script tree that will enable him to respond effectively to most topics of concern. Using these canned responses, he can address common concerns without having to understand the underlying issue at all. "We know these scripting tools work," stated the spokesperson.
"Obama has used them successfully for years, with the result that some people actually thought he knew what he was talking about."
Obama will receive health coverage, expenses, and salary until his final day of employment. Following a two-week waiting period, he will be eligible for $140 a week unemployment for 26 weeks. Unfortunately he will not be eligible for Medicaid, as his unemployment benefits will exceed the allowed limit.
Obama has been provided with the outplacement services of Manpower, Inc. to help him write a resume and prepare for his upcoming job transition. According to Manpower, Obama may have difficulties in securing a new position due to a lack of any successful work experience during his lifetime.
A greeter position at Wal-Mart was suggested due to Obama's extensive experience at shaking hands, as well as his special smile.
Washington , DC -- July 04, 2009
Congress today announced that the office of President of the United States of America will be outsourced to India as of September 1, 2009.
The move is being made in order to save the President's $400,000 yearly salary, and also a record $750 billion in deficit expenditures and related overhead that his office has incurred during the last 3 months.
It is anticipated that $7 trillion can be saved to the end of the President's term. "We believe this is a wise financial move. The cost savings are huge," stated Congressman Thomas Reynolds (R-WA). "We cannot remain competitive on the world stage with the current level of cash outlay," Reynolds noted.
Obama was informed by email this morning of his termination. Preparations for the job move have been underway for some time.
Gurvinder Singh, a tele-technician for Indus Teleservices, Mumbai India , will assume the office of President as of September 1, 2009. Mr. Singh was born in the United States while his Indian parents were vacationing at Niagara Falls , NY . Thus making him eligible for the position. He will receive a salary of $320 (USD) a month, but no health coverage or other benefits.
It is believed that Mr. Singh will be able to handle his job responsibilities without a support staff. Due to the time difference between the US and India , he will be working primarily at night. "Working nights will allow me to keep my day job at the Dell Computer call center," stated Mr. Singh in an exclusive interview.
"I am excited about this position. I always hoped I would be President."
A Congressional spokesperson noted that while Mr. Singh may not be fully aware of all the issues involved in the office of President, this should not be a problem as Obama had never been familiar with the issues either.
Mr. Singh will rely upon a script tree that will enable him to respond effectively to most topics of concern. Using these canned responses, he can address common concerns without having to understand the underlying issue at all. "We know these scripting tools work," stated the spokesperson.
"Obama has used them successfully for years, with the result that some people actually thought he knew what he was talking about."
Obama will receive health coverage, expenses, and salary until his final day of employment. Following a two-week waiting period, he will be eligible for $140 a week unemployment for 26 weeks. Unfortunately he will not be eligible for Medicaid, as his unemployment benefits will exceed the allowed limit.
Obama has been provided with the outplacement services of Manpower, Inc. to help him write a resume and prepare for his upcoming job transition. According to Manpower, Obama may have difficulties in securing a new position due to a lack of any successful work experience during his lifetime.
A greeter position at Wal-Mart was suggested due to Obama's extensive experience at shaking hands, as well as his special smile.
Really good Ice Tea - Iced Green Mint Honey Tea
I watched the episode of
Following some of these tips I came up with this recipe today:
- Approx 3 Stash Green Peppermint Teas
- Using a Pyrex measuring container add about 4 tea spoons, or more
if you wish of a local honey.
- Place the teabags dipped into the Pyrex container as well, and pour your hot water
into the Pyrex, approx 2.25 Cups of water...
- Let them steep and break up the honey into the liquid as well, after about 7-9
minutes, take the teabags out and stir the mixture a bit to get the honey separated.
- Using a pitcher, fill with cold filtered water approx a little less then halfway,
then pour the concentrated tea over it.
- Add ice and more water until it fills to a desired level, and place in the fridge until it cools.
It's cool, refreshing and will make you feel a lot better in general!
Good Eatswhere he made some iced teas and other spinoff iced teas using simple syrups and the suggestions not to squeeze the tea bags...
Following some of these tips I came up with this recipe today:
- Approx 3 Stash Green Peppermint Teas
- Using a Pyrex measuring container add about 4 tea spoons, or more
if you wish of a local honey.
- Place the teabags dipped into the Pyrex container as well, and pour your hot water
into the Pyrex, approx 2.25 Cups of water...
- Let them steep and break up the honey into the liquid as well, after about 7-9
minutes, take the teabags out and stir the mixture a bit to get the honey separated.
- Using a pitcher, fill with cold filtered water approx a little less then halfway,
then pour the concentrated tea over it.
- Add ice and more water until it fills to a desired level, and place in the fridge until it cools.
It's cool, refreshing and will make you feel a lot better in general!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
RFIDs and You!
These videos show a significant security flaw, and a few ways around it.
Thanks to all those that made these videos on YouTube!
Thanks to all those that made these videos on YouTube!
*WARNING* Knitting Related!
I have been watching these two videos, still haven't finished my beanie but I am working on it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LgOs91W9n4&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NcOewm7qAA&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LgOs91W9n4&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NcOewm7qAA&feature=channel
Monday, July 13, 2009
Battlefield 1943
Battlefield 1943 may come as a bit of a disappointment to those who have played Battlefield 1942.
BF1942 came out a few years ago, but still has many people that play it - Why might this be?
A few simple things - MODS, MODS, MODS, MODS, MODS! And akin to it's other releases such as Battlefield 2 and 2142, there are weapon unlocks and other additional things to entice you to keep playing. (Number of people knifed for instance.)
As far as it goes, I've been playing on my console system, the PS3 that I've been attempting to get GNU Octave going on again, and that may also curtail my feelings of how great a game BF 1943 is.
Problems I have noticed so far:
- System Freezes a few times
- Lag
- No ping time indications that I have noticed, unlike other BF versions
- Random server timeouts
Why isn't anyone making a lib for keyboard and mouse controls on the console systems? It just makes SENSE! Why neither Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft have done this I will never understand.
Sure give us weird and interesting controllers like the camera facial recognition stuff, and things like Wii controllers, but when it comes to the old school fps why can't we use our keyboards and mice?
I think 1943 is a cool game for $12, but it's no BF 1942/2142/BF2
BF1942 came out a few years ago, but still has many people that play it - Why might this be?
A few simple things - MODS, MODS, MODS, MODS, MODS! And akin to it's other releases such as Battlefield 2 and 2142, there are weapon unlocks and other additional things to entice you to keep playing. (Number of people knifed for instance.)
As far as it goes, I've been playing on my console system, the PS3 that I've been attempting to get GNU Octave going on again, and that may also curtail my feelings of how great a game BF 1943 is.
Problems I have noticed so far:
- System Freezes a few times
- Lag
- No ping time indications that I have noticed, unlike other BF versions
- Random server timeouts
Why isn't anyone making a lib for keyboard and mouse controls on the console systems? It just makes SENSE! Why neither Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft have done this I will never understand.
Sure give us weird and interesting controllers like the camera facial recognition stuff, and things like Wii controllers, but when it comes to the old school fps why can't we use our keyboards and mice?
I think 1943 is a cool game for $12, but it's no BF 1942/2142/BF2
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Feeling kinda Patton
The last post made me remember one of my favorite stand up comedians thoughts on fast food:
"A failure pile, in a sadness bowl..." -P. Oswalt
"A failure pile, in a sadness bowl..." -P. Oswalt
Nemesis or Nemesi? : Burger King and Hasbro
Almost being thirty years old, I find myself curious that I still find interest in things from my childhood, things like Star Wars, Transformers, Robotech and other great products that were marketed and crammed down our throats in the 80's.
So while realizing I don't always make the best decisions on an empty stomach, I decided to go to a Burger King by my house. (And no, Burger King is still gross in the United States, in fact I might go as far as to say it's actually more gross than some of the places I ate in London.)
My girlfriend and I hopped out of the car, with low expectations - When low and behold! - Transformers product placement everywhere! The kid in me screamed "Free toy inside!", and the adult in me was sadly beaten up and silenced by the inner kid.
Looking at the menu and being the "Optimist" that I am, I noticed a sweet deal on a value meal called the "BBQ Bacon Double Stacticon Medium Sized Value Meal" - not only did I find this hilarious, so hilarious in fact that I felt I should order it on the basis of so many syllables alone, but this meal was to come with a bunch of silly Transformers crap.
So I placed the order, and chuckled inside when listening to the 2nd generation immigrant girl behind the counter try and state my order verbatim. She handed me the receipt - my girlfriend got a chicken sandwich - and with that we waited about four minutes for our order to be processed.
But wait! Hold on... No Transformers tickets, what's worse, now we've got to eat this crap which looks NOTHING like the photo, and more like my High School's Jailhouse grade hamburgers.
My only response is that this experience reminds me of what Stephen Spielberg did to the Transformers franchise, much like Burger King did to fast food.
So while realizing I don't always make the best decisions on an empty stomach, I decided to go to a Burger King by my house. (And no, Burger King is still gross in the United States, in fact I might go as far as to say it's actually more gross than some of the places I ate in London.)
My girlfriend and I hopped out of the car, with low expectations - When low and behold! - Transformers product placement everywhere! The kid in me screamed "Free toy inside!", and the adult in me was sadly beaten up and silenced by the inner kid.
Looking at the menu and being the "Optimist" that I am, I noticed a sweet deal on a value meal called the "BBQ Bacon Double Stacticon Medium Sized Value Meal" - not only did I find this hilarious, so hilarious in fact that I felt I should order it on the basis of so many syllables alone, but this meal was to come with a bunch of silly Transformers crap.
So I placed the order, and chuckled inside when listening to the 2nd generation immigrant girl behind the counter try and state my order verbatim. She handed me the receipt - my girlfriend got a chicken sandwich - and with that we waited about four minutes for our order to be processed.
But wait! Hold on... No Transformers tickets, what's worse, now we've got to eat this crap which looks NOTHING like the photo, and more like my High School's Jailhouse grade hamburgers.
My only response is that this experience reminds me of what Stephen Spielberg did to the Transformers franchise, much like Burger King did to fast food.
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Roku Amazon / Netflix Player is the Death of Humanity!
Anyone that has met me knows I'm a bit of a "B" movie freak. I spend my time trying to find strange independent movies online, and talk with my friends about off movies mentioned on sites like bloodydisgusting.com and IMDB.
Recently I've been on a Troma kick, I just watched Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead and loved it, though some parts were over the top just a bit too much, it's a Troma movie, that's how they always are!
There was a very depressing bit at the begining with Lloyd Kaufman speaking out against the piracy China has been doing wih his movie, and how they were able to get "their" version, directed by the same guy that gave us Crash.
With all this in mind, I've also recently purchased a Roku Netflix player. It was quite a tough decision for me, I love my Mythbuntu install, but since I picked the 64 bit install using applications Boxee - http://www.boxee.tv, and having to just through the hoops of DRM and emulation of a Windows machine, I figured my time was better spent trying out something that is KNOWN to work, rather than praying for compilations and tweaks to pan out, and hopefully pretty moving picture stories on my TV screen...
Boy does the Roku player ever work! It's got about nine million outputs, HDMI, RCA, Optical Audio SPDIF, Wifi, Ethernet, for $99? Something seems a bit fishy... I guess somewhere someone is eating a bit of the cost.
I tried to watch just a few movies at first, then I thought "Hey this thing is actually working!" I didn't have to goto any forums and read what might be a solution, or see about 32 bit vs 64 bit hacks, just plug it in, setup your Netflix and Amazon accounts and go!
Now that I can see my queue, I have about three Troma movies on Netflix, and I still wish there were more available online.
I think the Roku player may in fact ruin my life, that or posting to a blog while putting one down in the bathroom just might...
Recently I've been on a Troma kick, I just watched Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead and loved it, though some parts were over the top just a bit too much, it's a Troma movie, that's how they always are!
There was a very depressing bit at the begining with Lloyd Kaufman speaking out against the piracy China has been doing wih his movie, and how they were able to get "their" version, directed by the same guy that gave us Crash.
With all this in mind, I've also recently purchased a Roku Netflix player. It was quite a tough decision for me, I love my Mythbuntu install, but since I picked the 64 bit install using applications Boxee - http://www.boxee.tv, and having to just through the hoops of DRM and emulation of a Windows machine, I figured my time was better spent trying out something that is KNOWN to work, rather than praying for compilations and tweaks to pan out, and hopefully pretty moving picture stories on my TV screen...
Boy does the Roku player ever work! It's got about nine million outputs, HDMI, RCA, Optical Audio SPDIF, Wifi, Ethernet, for $99? Something seems a bit fishy... I guess somewhere someone is eating a bit of the cost.
I tried to watch just a few movies at first, then I thought "Hey this thing is actually working!" I didn't have to goto any forums and read what might be a solution, or see about 32 bit vs 64 bit hacks, just plug it in, setup your Netflix and Amazon accounts and go!
Now that I can see my queue, I have about three Troma movies on Netflix, and I still wish there were more available online.
I think the Roku player may in fact ruin my life, that or posting to a blog while putting one down in the bathroom just might...
Cell Broadband Engine and GNU Octave
I will be posting more soon, but I thought I would put the word out that if anyone out there on the internet is interested in collaborating on getting a good port of GNU Octave with SPE/SPU support started please don't hesitate to email me!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
PS3 - Cell B.E. and GNU Octave
For the past two weeks I have been compiling GNU gcc and octave in Yellow Dog Linux on my Playstation 3. For what ever reason, they both the up-to-date version of gcc 4.4.3 and octave, from a svn branch, both absolutely fail to compile.
Previously I was able to get these to work in my Gentoo install on the same system with little to no fuss at all. It seems like something is really broken in gcc on Yellow Dog Linux.
Why would I be wanting to do this on a Playstation 3 you might ask? See http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=43137 -
The PS3 has some amazing capabilities for vectorized mathmatics, I would like to tap into these capabilities to create an octave capable PS3 cluster, then document how it was done so that Universities and poor countries would be able to follow in using the cheap ultra fast power of the Cell Broadband Engine for research.
But given the lack of functions from YDL I might have to switch back to Gentoo which has less built in bang for the buck, and takes a lot more time to setup, but at least the compilers worked!
I ran a copy of obench.m from http://www.reimeika.ca/marco/obench/ and the results without SPU/SPE support were un surprisingly slow. But for what ever reason, Yellow Dog refuses to compile anything useful without maximal effort.
If I figure this out I will be sure to post how I got it working later in this blog.
Previously I was able to get these to work in my Gentoo install on the same system with little to no fuss at all. It seems like something is really broken in gcc on Yellow Dog Linux.
Why would I be wanting to do this on a Playstation 3 you might ask? See http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=43137 -
"Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. contributed Vector Math library and SIMD math library as open source under the BSD license. Bullet physics SDK will be the main repository. Vector Math was previously only available to licensed PlayStation 3 developers."For more up to date info, and white papers on the Cell B.E. I have been reading here as well - http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/power/cell/ -
"The Cell/B.E.™ resource center is a good starting point for developers looking for information about IBM Cell/B.E. technology-based software."
"Both libraries are optimized for Cell PPU and SPU, but also provide portable scalar version. This includes PS3 Linux and Cell Blade support. A SSE x86 version of Vector Math has been contributed by Richard Foster."
The PS3 has some amazing capabilities for vectorized mathmatics, I would like to tap into these capabilities to create an octave capable PS3 cluster, then document how it was done so that Universities and poor countries would be able to follow in using the cheap ultra fast power of the Cell Broadband Engine for research.
But given the lack of functions from YDL I might have to switch back to Gentoo which has less built in bang for the buck, and takes a lot more time to setup, but at least the compilers worked!
I ran a copy of obench.m from http://www.reimeika.ca/marco/obench/ and the results without SPU/SPE support were un surprisingly slow. But for what ever reason, Yellow Dog refuses to compile anything useful without maximal effort.
If I figure this out I will be sure to post how I got it working later in this blog.
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