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Thursday, February 5, 2004 6:53:14a: *
In about eight hours, I'll know how well the interview went. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that, didn't I? I've got an interview with a major web firm up in Buffalo. I've already taken a trip up there to confirm that I could, indeed, find the place, so that's not a problem. I stopped by the AAA (which has not yet taken my baby away) and picked up a new road map of Buffalo. I also found a studio apartment available literally 500 yards from the Peace Bridge, with included access to a rec room, jacuzzi, and sauna; the only drawback to it, really, is that the apartment itself is just about as big as my car. (I drive a sub-compact... I'm still looking.) If this works out, this will be absolutely perfect.
Here's hoping, folks. Talk to you tonight.Thursday, February 5, 2004 8:38:07p: *
I want to weigh in on this. Microsoft is removing the hard drive from the X-Box Next or whatever stupid name they're calling it. Not that I was really interested in the X-Box anyway, but I really liked the idea of the hard drive. I hate using memory cards because they're pretty easy to lose or forget somewhere. I'd like to see a hard drive in all the next-gen consoles. Doesn't have to be 40 gig. If Sony decides to use a flash card or Memory Stick for the PSP they're dooming themselves for failure because people can't keep track of their damn cell phones; and now you want to add another piece to a portable system? fuggedaboutit.
CSI calls, so I must answer. We'll discuss the interview in greater detail later, but forum-gumi can check it out now.Thursday, February 5, 2004 10:33:18p: * Something I Noticed: In CLAMP's manga "Cardcaptor Sakura", the illustration for the Sword Card looks suspiciously like the sealed Shinken (Divine Sword) from their previous manga, X/1999. It wouldn't be surprising, since CLAMP is fond of the crossover, but it's just kinda neat.
This has been Something I Noticed.Friday, February 6, 2004 5:37:18p: *
You'll be pleasantly surprised with me this weekend. I haven't forgotten my promise to be productive. In fact I expect to spend quite a bit of time doing stuff tonight. But for now, let me just say this-- earlier this morning my firewall got a UDP traceroute probe from walmart.com . Can you say "suckers got 0wnz0r3d"? I knew you could.Sunday, February 8, 2004 6:37:05p: *
I hate to do this to you folks, but unfortunately the promise of being actually productive was-- say it with me, folks-- a lie. So, in recompense for not having done any work at ALL on the site due to prepping for a trip to my grandmother's, I give you WAHA World, a site which amuses me for no apparent reason.
In exchange for this lame excuse, those of you who will soon see me do have my permission to whack me over the head with something painful. Thank you.Sunday, February 8, 2004 6:47:07p: *
Oh, and just to continue a couple of features here--
Something I Noticed: In Cardcaptor Sakura, how come Sakura can figure out the identities of the Clow Cards, and can capture them and use their abilites, but apparently can't realize the weird crush Tomoyo has on her? (Note for those who think that since Tomoyo's a boy, this is OK: She isn't a boy.) This has been Something I Noticed.
And moving onward to Disturbing Search String Theater, which brings you the weirdest whacks that Google has taken, all of which inexplicably led users to my site at least once. Today's insane search string is
drunk woman
which wound up in my referral logs four times. Join us next time for more Disturbing Search String Theater.
Google officially recognizes "gigarectums", but not "gigarectum". Hmm. Well, it will now! MWA HA HA HA...Monday, February 9, 2004 9:21:55p: *
Be advised that updates will be spotty this week, particularly because it can take up to 30 minutes for me to get frustrated at the blasted modem not making the connection AGAIN and decide to just give up already log into the dialup service.Wednesday, February 11, 2004 10:43:06a: *
OK, so here's the situation:
The job interview last Thursday went well enough to warrant an email Tuesday afternoon asking for a demonstration of my technical prowess. This meant setting up a web-based store demonstration on my site (when it's done, you guys can check it out). The actual work will take me four or five hours, tops. There's just one, eensy little problem with all of this. I was stranded on very, VERY spotty dialup and had to upload about 4 MB of files to my server before I could even BEGIN.
Our original plan (I brought the mother-person with me to Sharon, PA) was that we would stay in Sharon until Thursday or Friday, and if there was a call or email, we'd head back. The new plan as of about 6PM last night was to head home early Wednesday morning and work at the library. I admit I was in a bit of a huff as I left for the bookstore last night. So when I saw the "WIRELESS BROADBAND ACCESS POINT" sign on the door of the coffeeshop attached to the bookstore.... Well, it was nothing short of a miracle.
I'm VERY, VERY glad my laptop has built-in wireless.
The NEW new plan is that I work my fur off trying to get this done. To that end I'm trying to FTP the files I need so I can begin the real work. Except.... now my site has stopped responding. We'll see what is going on here....
EDIT: Lookin' good! I'll keep you all posted, but we may be in business sooner than I expected.Thursday, February 12, 2004 8:32:10a: *
Well, the store is complete.
The forums are now broken.
I've got to take care of this later, though. We'll see how long it takes, however for the time being if you have something important to say, I suggest you use email. Or even if you don't have anything important to say. I'm bored out of my mind because I can't find volumes 3-6 of Cardcaptor Sakura.Thursday, February 12, 2004 12:12:25p: *
OK, so the forums aren't broken.
I think.
In either case, it's probably a good idea to make sure you close your browser window between visits to the forums or the store.Monday, February 16, 2004 2:03:48p: *
All right, I'm a nice guy and all. I try very hard to be a nice guy. In fact I just finished watching Trigun as a meditation on Love & Peace. But when an image being leeched off my server gets 300 times as many hits as my largest file and consumes two and a half times the bandwidth (the largest file, of course, being the Weapon of CX), I think it's time to take a bit of a stand. I'm going to be nicer this time, though.Monday, February 16, 2004 2:21:55p: *
There, all better. Incidentally, I have nothing really against the use of images off my site-- as long as someone ASKS first. Honestly, is that so much to ask? Not once have I received an email asking "Can I link to this for use in a forum such as Gaia?" This is probably because I explicitly said "no" in the About the Server page, but still-- I'm flexible on certain things. One thing I'm not flexible on is the theft of bandwidth without my knowledge-- and to be honest, if I were still on broadband, this probably wouldn't have gone as far as it did; but like I said before, I'm trying to be a nice guy here. I expect the same out of my visitors-- and so far you all have been wonderful, you know who you are-- but, you know, one bad apple and all that. Let's not go there, shall we?
By the by, I checked out that Gaia up there a little while ago. Not bad-- think of it like Neopets for anime avatars, or Gunbound without all that irritating game-playing in between. Call me when they get the casino up and running. 'Till then, I've got job hunting to do, Unreal II to play, and life in general. We'll discuss things more later, of course.Tuesday, February 17, 2004 11:00:32p: *
I had a really long and very nifty game rant all typed up.
Blogger ate it.
I'll re-do it later.Wednesday, February 18, 2004 9:38:24p: *
Only one other phrase could top this headline in sheer joy-factor for me: "Acclaim HQ Firebombed by Pro-Gaming Extremists; Analysts Fear No More Turok Games".
A guy can dream...
By the way, covering that game rant I promised previously:
Metroid: Zero Mission was fun, but too damn short. I want a long, drawn-out, involving Metroid game. They don't all have to be beatable in two hours. Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles has a steep learning curve in single-player. What makes it much harder is that you can't use the GBA as your controller in single-player, but you must use it in multiplayer; the net result being that you have to learn an all-new control scheme to play cooperatively. Sure, you can set up a multiplayer game with just one player, but you have to haul the chalice yourself and set it down when you get hit... I'm getting too in depth here, but there're a few neat touches to the game that I'm really impressed with. Unreal Tournament 2K4 is shaping up to be my next major purchase. Considering the fact that owners of 2K3 get a discount, you damn right I'm going to buy it. I still have yet to snag the demo-- but reports from Penny Arcade et al indicate that I will not be disappointed. I'll still probably just play against bots, though, and at "easy" or "medium" difficulty. Not too spicy, but fun nonetheless. On a related note Unreal 2 is now officially on the back burner until they patch the bug that inexplicably compresses all the subtitles into an itty bitty column in the center of the bottom of the screen. I like the game, and wanted to get back into it, but for whatever reason that's not gonna happen just yet. Finally, with some extra credit, I picked up dot hack part 1. It's been a year since I played the demo, and since that time the entirety of the story has been released. I'm eager to get in and find out what drove that guy to write that damn good story we published in the last update. But it's on the back burner, too, till I get some time together to sit down and start yet another game.
One last thing. I've begun work on what will be the last of my Xenogears fanfics, and I don't think it's giving anything away by saying that it'll tie together all the loose ends and answer all the questions I posed in my previous two stories (conveniently enough available on RPGamer). It focuses on everybody's lovable 'trash', Ramsus, as he contemplates suicide. Trust me, there's a lot more twists to this story than that brief description does justice to. That is, after all, just how the tale begins...
I'm copying this in case something goes wrong, but here goes. Talk to you all later.Thursday, February 19, 2004 10:12:39p: *
Things are heating up here, so let me just say this.
You know how I said FF:CC might be more enjoyable in multiplayer? I may have a chance to prove this experimentally. Well before Otakon.
MOMO is wearing pants in this episode. Yes, her panty-flash antics shall no longer plague mankind, even four thousand years in the future. That is all.
EDIT: And this disgusts me. Thank God I graduated from college two years ago and have no interest in having kids. Ever.Monday, February 23, 2004 9:08:27a: *
Slept in. Can't talk, headhunters will get me. We'll discuss the weekend later, perhaps this evening.Tuesday, February 24, 2004 11:30:35p: *
Once again, I am proud to present Something I Noticed:
In anime and manga, whenever a character is not watching where he or she is running, he or she is bound to run into someone else.
If the person they hit is male, that male will be an immovable object and miraculously catch the runner just before he or she falls.
If the person they hit is female, the runner will invariably crash face-first into the victim's boobs, regardless of how tall the woman and the runner actually are.
This has been Something I Noticed.Wednesday, February 25, 2004 10:38:14p: * This is probably one of the funniest things I have read on Slashdot in a very, very long time. I don't know, something about the phrase "vibrating death cactus" always cracks me up.Friday, February 27, 2004 8:21:23p: *
Speaking of Slashdot, is it just me or has anyone else been deluged with moderator points of late? Seems like as soon as I use 'em, I get them back about a day later. D'you think they might like me?Friday, February 27, 2004 11:13:05p: *
OK, folks, we've got a bit to cover here. Let's start at the beginning, with stuff that is amusing but in the long run doesn't matter too much.
Rina has apparently discovered Neopets, which puts me at a bit of a moral crossroads. I knew she was warped when she liked the Happy Tree Friends, but now I harbor some doubt as to the Divine Miss Tay's mental state. (Note to Rina: Not really, of course not. I know you're nuts, just like all normal people are.) So do I suddenly shift my viewpoint and say "Neopets good" to my sister, who has used the site for about two years now and still enjoys it, despite how many times I told her it was evil? Or do I maintain my anti-Neopets stance and remain firm in my beliefs? It is an interesting conundrum.
Today was Worldwide Slack Off On Your Webcomic Day, I guess... I can appreciate the personal issues that crop up from time to time; issues which can prevent one from fulfilling his or her promised goals. For an excellent example of this, look at the post I made on Monday evening. Can't find it? That's because I was a dumbass and never posted it after promising information that morning. Anyway, getting back on track, I just find it to be a really neat coincidence that Megatokyo, Penny Arcade, Neko Machi, College Roomies From Hell, and RPG World all missed today's update. Not placing blame-- heaven forbid-- but weird nonetheless.
In other news, MARS NEEDS MANGA-KA FOR EATING! ARRR UMMM NUMM NUMM
I don't think of myself as a "nice guy". I tend to run away from situations in which my niceness could be really tested. Usually this running is accompanied by screaming, something along the lines of "NO NO NO DON'T NOT THERE OW MY APPENDIX". Yes, I have done this. In public. Anyway, the bottom line is that I'm not typically the friendliest of people in person. Well, to random strangers anyway. Even to people I know, I can be weird and off-putting.
So this morning, I drove into Olean. I got an MP3 player (more on that later). I also saw an old friend from high school. She was walking down the street, you know, just chilling. She hadn't ever seen my car before, so I had to slam on the brakes, roll down my window, honk the horn, and call out to her. Eventually, I gave her a ride back to Cuba. For the rest of the day-- even as I drove back into Olean-- I pondered this. How did she take the offer for the ride? I wondered for a minute if she thought I was, you know, trying to get her in a dark alley or something. Even though it was 10 in the morning. Well, to make a long story short (too late), we swapped stories, we chatted, she got back to Cuba in one piece (which I was especially proud of), and we went on our ways.
I have to wonder about it, but not too long, I guess.
Anyway, the MP3 player. It's a Lyra, with 60 megs of space and it weighs, well, nothing. Next to nothing. Even with the battery you'd hardly notice you're carrying anything. I went with the Lyra instead of a cheaper off-brand for two reasons: I refuse to buy off-brand stuff for electronics, since nine times out of ten you get exactly what you pay for; and, more importantly, it has an expansion slot for an SD card. I checked out my finances, and I figure I could probably swing an additional 64MB card on my next trip into town... or more, depending on the price.
So I've spent most of the afternoon experimenting with MP3 encoding, trying to squeeze every last second of music out of my 60MB that I can. I did some fooling around with a few MP3 files I had lying around and wound up deciding that 56Kbit/s sounds like ass, and 64Kbit not much better. Well, at least the one time I tried it-- before seeing the "quality" option box set to "normal" and not "super ultra mega 'melt your processor now, and it will sound better on the road' high quality".
So I tried a different approach. I had just finished ripping a new CD (Foreigner-- Greatest Hits; gee, I wonder how many google searches will lead MP3 downloaders here now?) so I decided to re-encode the 128Kbit/s (my standard bitrate) files down to 64, but using the super quality option. Oh, it encoded them, all right. But when I tried to listen to them...
Somehow, inexplicably, it re-encoded the files at 50% playback speed. I swear, "Juke Box Hero" had the brown noise* going at least once every fifteen seconds. That didn't happen the first time. I'm going to finish messing around with that later-- probably tomorrow. For the moment, I feel like leveling up. I finally made it to White Mage Level 9. My goal is to hit 13 or so, giving me some room when I go back to Red Mage with White as my subjob. Either that or I might go re-equip the Greataxe and take Warrior to 15 just for kicks. We shall see. Later, folks.
*According to a South Park episode, the 'brown noise' is a pitch so low that it causes anyone to hear it to immediately lose bowel control. As Cartman so eloquently elaborates, "That's the scientific term for crapping your pants". In that particular episode, somehow the brown noise is played as the final note to "My Country Tis Of Thee" as played by four million children on plastic recorders, so everyone watching the worldwide broadcast-- to wit, everyone on Earth-- well... you can figure it out.
...
Don't look at me like that, I didn't watch the episode. Somebody sent me the sound clip, that's all.Sunday, February 29, 2004 10:18:00a: * A story at my esteemed place of work gives a few details on Final Fantasy XII and Dragon Quest/Warrior VIII. Forgive me for being a little unnerved, but every time I see the Roman numeral 'VIII' something inside me just snaps and I start going off like so: "Kurse you SeeDs! I vill kompress time unt kill you all, ja? I'm an eeeeeewil sorceress from Yermany, ja? Farvergnugen!" To which my more sensible side always seems to reply: "...whatever."
Of course, actually hearing about the next FF kinda frightens me. "[Square-Enix's team] are not content with the traditional format of walking, watching cut scenes, fighting, and getting special items." Gee, I wonder why, it's only what you've done for the past eleven games (I'm counting X-2 and not XI here). Even down to the changing stuff bit each game. I'm interested to see what comes of it, despite all the kidding, but part of me is thinking this is going to be the kind of 'innovation' that frightens die-hard believers in the format.
See, deep down we're all Munchkins. The only reason many of us slog through the latest FF or Lufia is solely because we want to kill bad guys and take their stuff. Sure, the stories are really well done, and a lot of times we'll gladly stare at the rear end of the female lead for what seems like far too short a time, but it all boils down, really, to killing and looting. That's the basis of all role-playing games.
You know, one of these days someone's going to make an RPG with an exceptionally open-ended battle engine, literally thousands of combat options, and the setting will be just a ten-foot by ten-foot room with an orc guarding a chocolate pie. It will be the most exquisitely detailed orc you have ever killed, and the most highly interactive ten-foot by ten-foot prison you've ever seen, with a story that encompasses the entire world but never leaves that room. But the ultimate goal is to kill the orc and eat the pie. Finishing the last bite triggers the end credits. I don't know how, but I guess you could put a "New Game+" option in there, depending on if you want seconds. Maybe in the second quest it's a coconut pie. I don't know.
Anyway, off to see That Jesus Movie, as I've dubbed it. Later, folks.
This religiously offensive flippant parting shot brought to you by Morning. Morning. It's not just for breakfa-- all right, so it is just for breakfast. Shut up.