Monday, February 18th, 2008
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9:03 am - The psuedo-news make me laugh
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Thursday, February 7th, 2008
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12:06 am - Random line from today's email
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"I knew Batman. I fought crime with Batman. Batman was a friend of mine. You, sir, are no Batman."
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(comment on this)
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Monday, November 19th, 2007
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5:48 pm - Presented without commentary
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Wednesday, November 14th, 2007
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8:47 am - New Lexicon
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It occurs to me that I forgot to mention that there's a new Lexicon brewing. I'm used to thinking that everyone interested in such things is already reading ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jeregenest's journal, but a quick look over FWoaN reminds me that this is not exactly the case.
So - Museum of the Missing, a lexicon about art theft and whatever we can tack on it. Jere's given very little starting parameters, but I'm pretty sure conspiracies and the occult are all but required (this is Jere we're talking about). I'm personally going to hold off on the aliens for now, but that may be just me.
Oh, and I'm writing my first entry on Carmen Sandiego, so you know where my mindset's at.
First entries are due today, and it's not too late to jump on board. I foresee lots of people are going to be late (I'm probably going to be late).
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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Monday, November 12th, 2007
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11:49 am - Apparently I've given up on webcomics too soon.
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"It's a falling machine. I'm so impressed."
"Weird. It worked perfectly on paper."
I've just discovered Girl Genius. I've just discovered it now.
All of you that call yourselves my friends? Shame on you.
EDIT - it appears that several people had pointed it out already, and I just wasn't paying attention. Serves me right, then.
Also - starting to percolate ideas for the new Lexicon. I'm worried that I might not have the time and be forced to drop out, but I figure I might as well have fun while I can.
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(12 comments | comment on this)
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Friday, November 9th, 2007
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11:06 pm - People that I hate, part LLXIV
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It's been a while since I spent a Friday night alone in BS, and even longer since I did it while not playing WoW. At least I still have funny Internet movies!
Part 1, Part 2
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(comment on this)
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Thursday, October 18th, 2007
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1:04 pm - Science of happiness.
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Data indicates that there is a linear connection between improvement in the quality of the subject's Internet connection and the general happiness of the subject. It is perhaps worthwhile, though not surprising, to note that the reverse does not appear to be true.
We theorize that there is an upper limit to this connection, above which improvements in the former will not not affect the latter, because at that point the subject will not be able to notice any subjective difference in the quality of his connection. We have not, to this point, been able to reach this limit under controlled conditions.
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(comment on this)
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Saturday, October 13th, 2007
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10:49 pm - A definition of Love
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I just came back from coffee and chocolate with my kid sister.
According to her how much your friends love you is measured by how many text messages they send you.
Judging by the last two hours she remarked that my friends must not like me very much. I had to concur.
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(comment on this)
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Wednesday, October 10th, 2007
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1:59 pm - Today's academic writing
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It is common knowledge that due to the unstable nature of the spatial translation through the event horizon it is impossible to precisely predict where a vessel will emerge from a wormhole, even knowing it's vector and location when entering. It is due to this fact that entering a wormhole while another vessel is "in transit" (contrary to popular opinion, wormhole travel is not instantaneous, though this is mostly of academic interest) is high inadvisable, as there is a high likelihood of the two vessels colliding, and causing heavy damages to both. Some evidence suggest that certain properties of gravity are altered inside a wormhole in such a way as to cause traveling vessels to be attracted to each other more then would be expected in normal space, increasing the risk of collision.
On the other hand, the suggestion that any such explosion caused by collision will cause the destabilization of the wormhole in any way is purely theoretical and completely unsupported by empirical evidence. And furthermore, the hypothesis that such an event will cause a galaxy-wide event throughout the wormhole nexus is frankly preposterous.
This is the version the players got, with the citations removed. It goes on to describe an experiment with several unmanned probes. There's even some math.
I guess I have to go back to writing about fixed assets constraint theory now...
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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Sunday, September 23rd, 2007
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12:01 pm - Starting the week with Dostoyevsky
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I actually read Crime and Punishment for class when I was in high school. I can't really recommend it.
Today, however, Dostoyevski Comics lets you enjoy the plot of the original, now with 100% more Batman!
Dead russian writers just don't get much better then that.
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(comment on this)
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Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
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12:34 am
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Statistical studies have shown that replacing any or all occurrences of "UFOlogist" with "crackpot" enhances the humor value of a passage by roughly 30%, while not damaging it's factual accurateness. This figure is slightly increased if "UFOlogist" is preceded bt an adjective such as "noted" or "renowned".
(Raw data courtesy of kadath)
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(comment on this)
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Monday, September 17th, 2007
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9:50 pm - Prepare now or rue your disorganization later!
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Sunday, September 16th, 2007
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3:30 pm - For great communication!
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Permissions structure
Is now prepared for migration
Proceed to next step
Today I am answering all office mail in haiku form.
When told of this (with some glee on my part, I confess), all three of the people I share an office with (2 women, 1 man, all around 30 years old, all engineers) confessed that they don't know what a haiku is.
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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9:55 am - 20 most bizzare experiments
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I'm not sure that "bizarre" is exactly the word I'd use, but I couldn't think of another word that would encompass this list.
The list runs the gamut from ridiculous to grotesque to shocking, and while some are widely famous such as the Milgram- and Stanford Prison experiments most of these were new to me.
Not recommended bed time reading.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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Thursday, September 13th, 2007
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10:37 pm - Thinking out loud.
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I've been re-reading GURPS: Infinite Worlds for the past couple of days. For one thing, I'm stuck at home and I ran out of novels (a shipment is on it's way, but if someone has something good they can loan me that will also be lovely). For another, I'm still toying with the idea of putting a game together. This is the same deal from a couple of weeks ago; the new job kind of derailed me for a while.
I've been trying to think about what kind of game I'd like to run. Nothing jumps to mind, which is sub-ideal, but I've worked with it in the past. In general I prefer my games to be grand in scope and fairly high on scale, and to allow me to design fantastic sets, characters and situation. I'm big on the sense of wonder, and I guess after many years of running away from it I decided it's my favorite genre (classic fantasy, which I detest, is the obvious exception). It's quite telling that my game of choice (for prolonged games) changed from Mage: The Ascension to Nobilis, while settings like In Nomine, Amber and Armageddon remained on my peripheral radar.
My first instinct was to try Nobilis again, but I don't really feel like having discussions about the meaning of Grass or the deep symbolism of Tears. Something a bit more hands-on is called for.
The first time I read G:IW I ruled it out because it seemed to focus on the alternate history and cross-world cold war angles. But I've been thinking if there's some way that I can shift the focus more to the Myth parallels or the "weird" worlds, while still keeping the game rooted in a familiar reality (I firmly believe in giving the players solid ground to stand on as well as tools to do things - the "lost in a strange land" motif is one that I detest whole-heatedly). There's also a lot of other things I'd love to throw in, and it's not an easy framing job.
This is where I'm stuck right now.
Also, nothing is going to happen unless I get a couple of players together which I'll actually enjoy playing with. I'm stuck on that as well.
------
I've also jotted down "Where in the Worlds is Carmen Sandiego" and "The Journeyman Project" as one-shot ideas. The latter in particular I think could be really good.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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Sunday, August 26th, 2007
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9:50 am - miss mah bucket
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How sad is it when you have to learn about Internet fads from the Wall Street Journal?
Of course, I had heard of the eponymous Bucket before (thanks citizentim!), but I had no idea that there was a whole sub-genre of lolrus. It's like Sunday morning has meaning again!
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(comment on this)
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Thursday, August 23rd, 2007
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11:17 pm - A Perfect World
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Friday, August 3rd, 2007
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11:18 pm - Making one's own fun, because who else is going to?
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Since I woke up this morning I have responded to every single email with a lolcat (note - some pictures involved animals that are not technically cats).
Such emails included mails from my father, Simulation project team, and faculty advisor (who is also the vice-rector of the university).
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(21 comments | comment on this)
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Monday, July 30th, 2007
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3:32 am - PREAIR
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"Come with me if you want to live"
- The Terminator
A few years ago pilots for new series and first episodes for new seasons started leaking out to the net during the summer off-season. While I'm pretty sure this was all pretty sneaky at first, during the last two years I'm getting the impressions that some producers are doing the leaking intentionally, either to gauge reactions to new shows or create "buzz". I don't really know how this "buzz" thing works, and I'm guessing most of them don't know either, but it's not like they have anything to lose.
And from my side, it is the off-season, which usually dwindles my watchables (is SO a word) reserves down to the point where I'm watching anime. And this is not the good kind of anime. Year-round broadcasting my @$$.
And so I sat down to watch the preair pilots for two new shows with hot women kicking ass. My impressions (with very light spoilers) follow:
Bionic Woman - meh. The lead actress carries the role well enough, but the rest of the pilot left me distinctly underwhelmed. Characterization was weak, a lot of the more "emotional" interaction seemed forced, and I felt that a few of the characters weren't sufficiently based, which made it difficult to relate when, for example, they got horribly wounded. The fight scene, indicative of the special effects, was unimpressive. BW is not a very FX show (and no reason it should be) so this is not a major problem, but a better fight scene between the two bionic women would have been a nice saving grace. The show did seem to show a lot of potential for growth in both the characters and action departments, so I'm not giving up on it just yet, but as an opening episode it leaves a lot to be desired.
This seems like a good place to note that last year I was similarly underwhelmed by the Heroes preair pilot, to the point of only picking up the show when the regular broadcast hit episode 6. Which is to say, a weak pilot does not a bad series make.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles - wow. Frankly, I did not hold high hopes for The Terminator TV show (set 2 years after T2, ignoring T3). I knew I had to watch it because of the rule that says I have to watch anything with Summer Glau beating people up while naked (oh, such harsh laws I live by...), but I was not expecting much else from this pilot. I was very pleasantly surprised. The characters were very well presented, and their interactions felt very real and immediate. All 3 leads do a great job (Glau makes an adorable terminator, and Dekker manages to portray John without making me want to punch him). The action was excellent, and completely in line with the Terminator movies (you don't see that many 90's action sequences nowdays). Best of all, this pilot does an excellent job of introducing the show, it's premise and it's characters. Finally, I have to note the small touches - Sarah and John's alias surname is Reese, the new terminator is called Cameron, the "come with me if you want to live" line... it's nice to show the viewers that you actually like the franchise you're developing a new show for.
I do wonder if Summer Glau ever gets to play a normal well-balanced (happy - optional) human being, but for the moment I am not complaining.
Also on PREAIR:
Pushing Daisies - a guy can bring people back to life for 1 minute freebie, or forever if he lets someone else die. But if he touches them again they die permanently. Cute and weird, slightly reminiscient of Dead like Me. Can't really see this one find it's niche like DLM did, and subsequently I expect it to fail.
Californication - David Duchovny is a no good writer addicted to drugs and sex, with an ex-wife and a 12 year old daughter. Hilarity ensues. I don't see why this is billed as a comedy seeing as it's not one bit of funny, but it's not bad drama. I do not recommend watching this alongside Dexter, or you might become Warren Ellis and start planning the murder of all mankind.
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(9 comments | comment on this)
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Saturday, July 28th, 2007
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2:10 am
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I was doing a bit of research into Fanfare for the Common Man (one of the best names for pieces of music ever, by the way) when I was amused to discover that America, Fuck Yeah is also listed under "Patriotic Music of the United States".
Yes, the encyclopedia cracks me up.
I'm looking for any of the rock versions of FftCM (studio recorded, not live) for a project. Seeing as my dirty thieving file sharing programs are on the fritz, any help would be lovely.
current music: Requiem for the Living
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(comment on this)
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Friday, July 27th, 2007
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11:28 pm - An order from the future.
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Next to my Desk hangs a calendar. It's usually the cheapest calendar that meets my sole requirement - that each day has a big block of empty space where I can write stuff. On this calendar I mark important or just noteworthy items as well as how much detail I think I need to have six inches from my head at all times. So, you know, it's not a special calendar or anything, but it's one of the primary ways by which I do my macro-scale time management.
Some of you would be wondering why I'm giving you this seemingly-redundant bit of exposition about my perfectly normal calendar. Well, let me tell you. About a week ago I was adding some information to August when I noticed a note on August 25th - "first session". It's written in my own handwriting. On my calendar. I have absolutely no recollection of writing it there, but I guess I must have, because it's not like the calendar is adding notes by itself now. That's just weird.
A short conversation with gryphonk convinced me that the important question isn't "how do I get back in time after the session to write the note on my calendar thus making sure it happens?" (because those have a way of working themselves out, after all) but rather "what am I running on August 25th?"
Now I am not one to argue with future-me, so I'm trying to figure it out. August 25th is actually a very good time for a first session - it's a Saturday, and about a week after the last tests and projects for the semester wrap up. A short, probably 4-6 sessions, to get at least most of it in before next year gets into gear. Weekly sessions. 3-4 players.
I have no idea what I'm going to do. I'm trying not to think about the fact that the last time I ran a game was three years ago.
------
Also - I really miss Charles Tennyson.
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(8 comments | comment on this)
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12:51 am - "God's in his Heaven, all's right with the world"
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After months of WoW sucking my Internet time (which is to say, my free time) like [analogy NSFW], I reactivated my aggregator today and tried to play a bit of catch-up. And the first two things I discovered were that I'm much more fond of lolcats then I remember being, and that they're making NGE movies (animated ones, the live-action version remains a purple/orange plaid unicorn).
Neon Genesis Evangelion was the first anime I've watched as a semi-adult (which is to say, not as a nine year-old). I was sixteen, and we watched the whole show in one sitting. In retrospect, not even close to a good idea. NGE (or "Eva", depending on what part of the fandom you're from) has been described with many adjectives, many of them positive. "Friendly" was never one of them. It's dark, the pacing is weird, it's incomprehensible, and most characters you just want to kick in the teeth. I liked it anyway, but it was only on my second watching (two years later) that I got past the giant robots and Angels and managed to see what got everyone so excited. There really was brilliance there. I just always wished it wasn't buried under such a sucky show.
And now I'm hearing that they're making four movies to retell the story. On the one hand, I think there's definitely a better way to tell that story, and 6 hours is a much better time frame then 11, which gives me some hope for the pacing. On the other hand lies my complete lack of faith in everyone. Well, that's a bit too extreme, but you know what I mean.
I mean, was it so hard to write a decent Transformers story? I don't think it was that hard.
There's a trailer. It's bad, but Japanese trailers are usually bad (or at least I usually think they're bad), so that doesn't mean a lot. The graphics sure look better.
------
Meanwhile, in Exams Season - aced three tests, failed one. No middle ground for me!
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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Saturday, January 6th, 2007
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7:47 pm - It makes *toys*
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After writing the documentation for my final automation project since 10am (it's now almost 8pm), I find it very touching to be writing the user manual, the last part, with Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah in the background. Maybe "touching" isn't the right word. Some other word.
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah...
I think I've been doing this for too long.
current music: Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Thursday, December 21st, 2006
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11:56 am - Transformers trailer
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Saturday, December 16th, 2006
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11:34 am - An imperfect Metaphor for life:
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Friday, December 8th, 2006
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5:02 pm - Hey, look:
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Thursday, December 7th, 2006
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1:41 pm - Remember:
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Responsible adults use sexual consent forms.
I really wanted to insert a joke here about one-time arrangements and long-term contracts, but my legal-fu doesn't seem to be up to it today. I leave it to your imagination.
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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Wednesday, October 18th, 2006
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11:43 am - It's a job, and unfortunately I have to do it.
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There's nothing I hate quite so much as cheerfulness combined with ignorance/stupidity (sometimes they're hard to tell apart), especially in the guise of "help" ("what, I was just trying to help!").
All I need is not a positive outlook. All I need is an electric screwdriver.
UPDATE - the electric screwdriver did not get the job done. I had to get creative.
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Ten point to whoever guesses what I'm doing!
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(12 comments | comment on this)
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Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
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6:26 pm - In other news...
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Friday, October 13th, 2006
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8:20 pm - Holy... fucking... ****
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