The Cool Kids Call it a "Blog"

"This is The End. My Only Friend, The End."

2005-08-14T17:58:00.000-04:00

This is a bittersweet entry for me today. You see it is now time for me to say good-bye to Blogger and thusly this original blog. I am going to miss "The Cool Kids Call it a Blog," but I'm moving on to bigger and better things. Today I finished putting the final touches on my nuclearnuisance.net homepage and WordPress setup for my new blog ("Jeremy's Blog of Love".) I'm excited because I will be able to do more using WordPress than I was able to do with Blogger as well as creating and displaying more content than I have the ability to do right now.

So first off I want to thank you for following my little rants, raves, stories, and nearly constant mention of dead guinea pigs. I'm so happy and privileged to have as many followers as I do. Secondly I wish to invite you check out the new site at http://nuclearnuisance.net. It is a little rough around the corners right now, but I plan on working on it when I get some free time so that I can clean it up and make it more pretty.

Thank you for following my life, and I hope to see all of you at my new site.
Jeremy

This Post Goes out to Ryan

2005-08-05T00:12:00.000-04:00

So I was hanging out with Ryan and B today (happy anniversary you two) and Ryan said to me, "Why aren't you posting on your blog anymore?" I gave him a lame excuse saying that I didn't think anyone was reading it, but apparently Ryan checks it like a bajillion times a day while at work How was I to know? The real reason is that I'm really close to getting this blog moved over to nuclearnuisance.net. Yeah, I won't have all the neato stuff in place, but I will have a better site that is my own.

So what has been going on in my life besides that? Well I beat Half-Life 1 on Tuesday. I was so proud of myself. It had taken quite awhile to get there and I finally did it. The game is awesome and that is even though its graphics aren't breath taking like modern games. I really enjoed it (and can easily see where Halo copies it and where it improves upon.) I'm currently working on the Blue Shift expansion for Half-Life 1. After that I may need to break down and get Half-Life 2 if I can afford it.

That's the other thing. Rita and I are taking a trip to London in September and I just looked at my credit card. I'm so po'. I need to curb my spending in a rather serious way if I'm going to be able to buy a house a year from now. I originally thought that I could afford a house with a yard and stuff, but now I'm thinking that I might need to settle on a townhouse or really nice condo since the housing prices are so insane. The thing that worries me though is that the housing bubble will burst and then I'll be stuck in a place with a loan that is over priced on a place I didn't want to live out the rest of my days in. I can see why many people are starting to prefer renting to buying right now.

Lastly, take a look at this post on The New Wisdom concerning free will. I am on the side for free will but I am quickly learning that almost everyone else on that thread is a computer programmer that likes to think everything is a program. So swing by and please give me a little support. Please. I'll be your best friend :)

Pot Luck #4: Catching Up

2005-07-24T02:16:00.000-04:00

Well I am starting to get/make free time for things I need/want to do. So let me fill you in on what has been going on in my life.

Light at the end of the Tunnel:
The last couple weeks have been rough on me. Between work and school I feel like I've been living in a bubble away from the rest of the world. Fortunately I really turned the corner on both this past week. Several of my things have tested out aok and even though I still have a little bit to go my spirits are high. In fact with all the overtime I've been banking I shouold be able to take my vacation with Rita without having to use any vacation time. Extra time off for me, w00t!

London:
So Rita and I are finally getting ready to take our trip to London. We bought our tickets the day before the second wave of "bombings" took place. That hasn't convinced me not to go, yet. But I did post a poll at The New Wisdom asking, "Would you go to London now?" Stop by and make a vote. I don't think you have to register to do that.

Cars:
Damnit! Ryan went out and got a new Jeep long cab this past week (which is very sweet. It actually has leg room!) and then I find out today that Jeff went out and bought a new Chevy Colorado pickup! I just plunked down $700 on my car for new tires and other maintenance things, and since she is paid off my car is quite the bargain (not to mention she still runs real good for 76,000 miles). But I want a new car too :( Oh well guess I'll just have to wait until after I get a house.

James Doohan:
I was saddened to hear of James Doohan's passing. He was always one of my favorite characters in Star Trek. Not to mention he was a linguist that helped develop the Vulcan and Klingon languages, was a soldier that landed on Juno beach on D-Day (and was shot SIX times by a machine gun!), and had his last kid at 80! The best thing? He never cheesed out and did Priceline commercials.

iPod, iProblems:
I had bought one of the black and white screen 20GB iPods back in Febuary and loved it. I tried to explain the joy of the iPod to Rita who didn't believe me, until our honeymoon. She swiped my iPod from me and listened to it for the whole 12 hours to and from Hawaii! Shortly after that we both got promotions and raises so I splurged and got myself a new iPod Photo with a color screen and 30GB of space. I then gave Rita my old one (before you get snippy, Rita didn't want the color one, she just wanted the black and white model so there.) Well Rita went on to fall in love with her iPod and uses it everyday. I, on the other hand, got a lemon. The iPod Photo I got must have been defective because eveytime I tried to upload music to it the thing would crap out. It got so bad last month that I stopped trying to connect it at all! So today I went to the Apple store and explained my problem. Net result? A brand spankin' new iPod Photo that is downloading my 10GB of music like a champ right now. I must say I was very pleased with Apple's Genius Bar and their service to me. That alone is worth getting the iPod over other brands of music players (not to mention it is oh so sexy.)

A Call for Happy Thoughts:
Lastly, without getting into too much detail (as it is not my place), I want to ask you to take a minute and send a warm thought out to Ryan and his family. They have had a bit of a rough time this past two months and could use some positive mojo sent their way.

Disclaimer: It was too horking late at night to try and proof read. I'm sorry but you'll have to put up with my many mistakes.

The Crunch

2005-07-17T22:00:00.000-04:00

Well here it is. I have a big deadline at work on Friday and a final in my Database class on Tuesday. I've been coding like the ninja monkeys of yore at work and spent the bulk of this weekend studying for my class. Why is it all my deadlines have to fall in the same week? This happened last year too. Why is that? Are deadlines social creatures that simply want to be around one another? Or does God/Allah/Elvis simply have it out for me?

The worst part is that my class isn't over on Tuesday. It ends the following week with group presentations on our databases that we made. Yeah I know it is going to be a cheesy little demo thing, but it is still another week of hard coding (as opposed to a great Tenacious D* song that I won't mention here as I am trying to cut back on my cussin'. Lets see how long that lasts.) That and I'll probably get another metric ton of smurf at work that will continue my ninja coding monkey pace to make the next release.

The even worst part (OK, I lied just then) is that I haven't been able to do anything other than think loving thoughts towards NN.net I can't wait until I get past this class so I can go crazy on the website.

All this makes me think that Brooke has the right idea. When she grows up she wants to be rich. I used to laugh at her, but now I think she has the right idea. I think I could deal with being independently wealthy. It would fscking rock to be able to just lounge and work on my website all day and do what Tenacious D sing about in the above-mentioned song.

*FYI - The gif on the left hand side of the Tenacious D site is hysterical.

Fantasy Football Team Update

2005-07-13T21:12:00.000-04:00

Ok I have decided to drop most of my previously stated ideas for team names. Frankly I have almost completely decided in favor of "The Johnny Chimpo All Stars." In fact I would have outrightly decided upon that team name if Kevin hadn't sent me this as a possible team logo. I crack up everytime I see that thing.

So it is now between "The Johnny Chimpo All Stars" and "The Fighting Whities" (or a better name if one is suggested.)

Let me know!

Too Long of an Absence

2005-07-11T18:40:00.000-04:00

Wow! A week since last posting! I've fallen behind a bit. Well I'd like to say that I have a lot to report but saddly that is not the case. All I have to report is that I have not yet failed my Database class and I haven't got as much done on NN.net as I would have liked. I am getting closer to where I want to be when I launch, but it is going to take me a little longer so hang in there.

Now for today's content. I have two things that I wanted to share with you.

First off I want to share a site I found back when this whole interweb was new. I lost it for awhile but it always was on my mind and I always wished I would find it again. Today I finally did. Ladies and gentlemen I give you Jesus Dance.

Next up I need a little help from my army of faithful spam bots and dead guinea pigs. I joiined my first fantasy football league today at work and I need a name for my team. A name that strikes fear into the hearts of my many adversaries. A name for the ages. Here are the names I have thought of to date. If you like one of them or you have a better one let me know in a comment and who knows, maybe I'll use it. Oh and you will win, um, a mention in my WEB LOG! Isn't that hot!?

The Johnny Chimpo All Stars

The Blight Beer Guzzlers

The Red Headed Step Children (i.e. what I'll be beaten like)

Jeremy's Jabronies (somebody else has Joe's Jobbers, I don't want to look like I'm copying.)

The Fighting Whities

Oh I Almost Forgot to Mention...

2005-07-01T09:49:00.000-04:00

My first essay is up on The New Wisdom. It is about a trend I have noticed in the press releases lately regarding our reason for being in Iraq. Remember all the other reasons the administration have given us so far have been proven false:

They have weapons of mass destruction (no they didn't)

Saddam had links to al Qaeda (not according to the 9/11 report)

We are here to help the Iraq people (over 8,000 Iraqi civilians have died since we invaded and they still don't have many basic necessities like running water or safety)

Its to spread Democracy (Right. I won't hold my breath for Saudi Arabia and Iran to convert over)

Which brings us to my article on TNW today. Check it out.

Too Many Passwords

2005-07-01T09:27:00.000-04:00

Lately I have noticed a weird trend as I use my computers at home and work. Each time I go to log into a site or account I am suddenly unable to remember my password. I then close my eyes and mentally go through my list of passwords with what I am doing to try and figure out the one I need. This has been getting especially bad at work where I have over four different passwords and logins that I use daily. Throw on top of this the passwords and logins for this blog, my new site, my main email, my Villanova email, my Amazon account, my iTunes account, ATM pin, cell phone voicemail, online banking... ARGH!

Now the security trend is talking about moving towards "pass phrases" of 32 characters or more!

"Its easy! Just take an expression like, 'This is a dumb idea' replace all the instances of the letter 'i' with '1' and voila you now have your new and improved passphrase, 'Th1s 1s a dumb 1dea' and all you have to do is type it in properly with the only visual cue being this '*******************'. See simple! Oh but the real version has to be longer than that."

Sure. Whatever you say pal. (Don't even ask how many times I had to backspace to get the Passphrase typed in properly.)

I just want to have a little wire that I can connect between my head and computer that will linearly go through all my passwords until the right one is found. Is that so hard? Yeah I know that would be a bad idea with viruses and all. I wouldn't want Windows to catch the flu.

I think I just figured out why so many people use only 1 or 2 passwords for everything. Too bad I can't/won't. [Sigh.]

Quickie #5: A Public Service Message for Dogs

2005-06-29T22:39:00.000-04:00

Remember that you aren't just humping a leg. You are humping all the dogs that have humped that leg.

How to Ruin a Superhero Movie

2005-06-27T20:30:00.000-04:00

The following was in response to Duc's current blog about Joel Schumacher ruining the last series of Batman movies with "Batman Forever" and "Batman and Robin". I decided I would set Duc straight in a comment on his blog and I liked it so much (and I'm so pressed for time due to Midterm studying) I decided to share my comments here. [/end disclaimer]

If you are implying that the Joel Schumacher movies featuring neon lights on machine guns, terrible story lines, and lots of glow in the dark paint ruined the last series of Batman movies I would have to disagree with you. It was nipples on the Batman (and later Robin) costume that did the series in. Why you ask? Simple, when one sees Batman's nipple costume you subconsciously think, "What is he going to do? SUCKLE the baddies with his batmilk and that will turn them to justice?" I think we can all agree that is the kiss of death for any superhero. If you are still in doubt ask Marvel how they fared with their CGI Hulk nipples. I rest my case.

Also I would like to point out that it must have been a very strong acid that Harvey Dent was hit with in Batman Forever since it turned Billy Dee Williams into the half crazy, half WHITE Two Face. My friends, I think we may have finally found out what Michael Jackson used that made him white and crazy.

No Good at Secrets

2005-06-22T19:22:00.000-04:00

I am so disappointed with myself. I really wanted to keep Project X under wraps until I had something completed but instead I fell down a slippery slope. By now a good chunk of people know what "Project X" is. In fact so many know it isn't even worth keeping it a secret anymore. The whole blabbing went something like this:

I'll only tell my parents and Brooke.
Oh I have to tell Rita I'm buying the domain.
Damn. Jeff has got to see this.
Well Kevin asked me what Project X is so I had to tell him.
Emily guessed (I forgot how smart she was.)
Look, Duc, Hardydance is back.
Look, Pinto, Hardydance lives.
Hey, spam bot, I've got this project I'm working on...

So I'm sorry to Ryan and everyone else for keeping it from them (though I may have told Ryan too.) But now that I have a bare minimum done I think I will unveil it all official like. Mind you there isn’t all that much there, but I plan on making this totally sweet. It’ll r0x0r your s0x0rs, trust me.

This is going to eventually be the home for this blog, my comic archive, and new comic material!

Now it is your job to harass me if the Progress-O-Meter hasn't moved in a couple of days ;)

Batman Begins. One Word, Awesome!

2005-06-21T08:47:00.000-04:00

Rita and I went to see Batman Begins yesterday. It was fantastic! This was the best made movie I've seen in a long time. The great thing is that they didn't cheese out the back story at all and at the same time did the evolution of Batman beautifully. As Rita put it, "This movie answers all the nerdy questions that you have ever asked about Batman." Absolutely wonderful flick. Go see it!

So what do I rank it? 8.5 bats out of 10. You see it does do a couple things which made me go, "Hey wait a second I don't remember that EVER happening." It wasn't enough to ruin it and if they use this as a new start for a series of movies it will work out all of my issues.

Now for the best part, the previews. I love the previews

Sky High: This is a live action Disney movie that has somehow slid under the radar. It is a highschool for the children of superheros. It looks cute and fun (and has Kurt Russell, Linda Carter, and BRUCE FUCKING CAMPBELL! It can't be bad!)

Serenity: (trailer here) This is the movie release that continues in Joss Whedon's Firefly universe. As a recent discoverer of the Firefly series I am amazed that this show was canceled (I blame Fox's mismanagement.) This movie looks awesome and its about time we had a sci-fi flick that wasn't cheesed out.

Fantastic Four: (trailer here) If you haven't heard or seen anything about this movie it is time to crawl out of your bomb shelter and rejoin society. It looks damn good. But despite that I'm worried that it is going to cheese out the four heros. I am also worried because I heard they were talking about marketing it as, "The feel good movie of the summer." If that isn't the kiss of death I don't know what is! Please don't kill it, Marvel!

The Island (trailer here) Out of all the trailers I saw I thought this was the weakest, but that is ok because I still thought it was pretty damn good. It looks good, but it won't be the end of the world if I miss it in the theaters.

War of the Worlds: (trailer here) Normally I don't like remakes, but this trailer looks like Spielberg knows what he was doing. It looks absolutely awesome! I can't wait for this to come out.

Dukes of Hazard (trailer here) OK, When this preview was starting I rolled my eyes and let out an audible groan. After I saw the trailer I felt like they may have pulled it off. Pros: Jessica Simpson seems to nail the Daisy character (though she should have been a brunette.) Burt Renolds as Boss Hog it seems so wrong and yet so right. Willie Nelson as UNCLE JESSIE, perfect casting! Cons: Oh God not Ashton Kutcher and Johnny Knoxville as Bo and Luke! They seem to play Bo and Luke as punks and idiots. Bo and Luke were not dumbasses! They weren't upper class, but were smart. This is the riskiest move in my view. If it can pull it off it'll be great, but it will be hard for them to do that.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (trailer here) Oh, God, no! Please make the bad man stop! Bring back Gene Wilder! His Wonka can kick Johnny Depp's Wonka any day (Please, God, don't let them ruin another one of my childhood movies! Wasn't Episode I and II enough!? How much does a man have to suffer?)

Big Things Ahead

2005-06-20T08:59:00.000-04:00

I've started work on something bigger and better than ye olde blog. I may have mentioned my plans to a few of you out there, but for all intents and purposes I will simply refer to it as Project X when blogging on it for right now. This will be at least until I have something ready to reveal. Please don't ruin the surprise for others if you know (and believe me, there is more than you know! ;)

An Open Letter to Killian's Irish Red (i.e. Coors Brewing Co.)

2005-06-12T20:20:00.000-04:00

Jeff said in a comment to my last post, "... F Killians for being stupid with their website."

After I read that my first thought was, “That seems a little over the top.”

My second thought was, “Wait a second. If he wants over the top, I can give him over the top!”

That gave me the idea to write an open letter to Killian’s Irish Red (actually Coors Brewing Co since they own Killian’s.)

Dear sir and/or madam,

I am writing you with a most urgent request. It has come to my attention that the website for your deliciously intoxicating Killian’s Irish Red is not Mozilla Firefox compatible. As I’m sure you are aware the Linux and OSX operating systems do not support Internet Explorer and as such when you limit your advertising to Internet Explorer you limit yourself.

Granted Microsoft’s evil Internet Explorer dominates the computer world much like Hitler dominated Europe in the early years of World War II, but you need to think about the crowd you are trying to reach. The typical Microsoft Internet Explorer user is often an uneducated pretentious poser that apes sophistication by drinking Merlot and commenting on how the mixture of highly sweet and dry flavors as well as the syrupy format give one the impression that that they are drinking the nectar of the Gods, when in fact they are imbibing menstrual products. As such, trying to sell beer to Internet Explorer users is like threatening to reveal George W. Bush as an idiot.

Yet there must be a presence out there that is willing to not only frequent your site, but also purchase your product. Those people would be Linux users. You see the average Linux user is still a programmer or hacker at heart. They haven’t sold their souls to the Devil to for a paltry sum in software revenues, but instead strive to create a real operating solution for the masses that above all else is free. Actually the term in full is, “Free as in beer.” This shows the difference between Microsofties and Linux users. Beer. Linux users are creating a work that someday will surly surpass the Great Pyramids, the Mona Lisa, and perhaps even American Idol. They are working hard on their own time and when it comes time to party, they like to party hard as well. And they do it with beer!

Lastly I would like to state that starting right now I will boycott your fine beer until such time as your website becomes Firefox compliant. I still have 21 of the 24 bottles I bought last week so I should be good for another season or two with my tolerance. Then perhaps I will try to the likes of Pabst Blue Ribbon, or Budweiser. Please don’t make me though, my thirst for good beer is in your hands and on your conscience!

Sincerely,
Jeremy

Adventures in Car Repair

2005-06-10T19:43:00.000-04:00

Last night Ryan and I had a small adventure. It didn't concern fixing my car. It was in determining where to meet up. Earlier that day, Ryan and I had decided to meet at the train station in Camden so we could ride home together. Well I called him when I left as planned and started walking towards the station (yeah that's right! I walk several blocks in Camden! Who needs Grand Theft Auto?) Anyway, when I got to the stairs that lead to the underground PATCO station I didn't see Ryan. I thought that maybe he was hanging out at the station (i.e. IN the station.) So I went there and bought my ticket and looked for him at the station.

No Ryan.

After about 15 minutes of waiting I figured he had already grabbed a train and I decided to jump onto a train and head out. You see he works closer to the station and I thought he probably already grabbed a train and left since he never showed at the station.

Apparently Ryan had been waiting at the stairs to the station shortly after I got there and was still waiting there when I decided to head out. So there he was in his nice suit and tie, standing on the streets of Camden, right next to the Methadone Clinic (yeah, Ryan is even more of a badass than myself!) Needless to say when Ryan showed up at his place 15 minutes after I did he was not pleased (What's not to like about hanging out with Meth addicts?)

So my question to you, my faithful spam bots and dead guinea pigs,is this: do you think the phrase at the station means down and in the station or above the station at the entrance?

Oh and Ryan and I got a battery, replace the one in my car with it, and my car started right up. Afterwards Ryan and I got hammered on Schuylkill River water and Killian's Irish Red (website is not Firefox friendly!) while eating Rita's awesome enchiladas.

F.O.R.D. - Found On Roadside Dead

2005-06-08T00:15:00.000-04:00

Well my first database class is over and I am still here at Villanova almost an hour after it let out. You see when I got to my Ford ZX2 (named Sinthia) and tried to start her all she did was dim the lights. It seems that the battery gave up the ghost after almost 6 years of service. Can't really blame it, and God knows I should have given her the ol' 75K mile service by now.

Still this does complicate my life a bit.

First I need to wait for AAA to show up and try to jump me. Hopefully that will be a lot shorter than the two hour estimate they gave me over the phone. If that works I'm in OK shape. Secondly I'm replacing the battery PRONTO! Lastly, if the car won't take the jump I am going to have to take a train to work tomorrow and then beg Ryan to help me out by giving me a lift to Sears or something.

There are two small blessings in this. You see Rita had been hassling me for months to renew my AAA and eventually she just did it herself. Well I would have been absolutely screwed tonight if I didn't have AAA. Thank you honey! You are the best. Love you.

Secondly I forgot my cell phone today. Figures the one day where I really needed it. Well some guy I didn't even know came over to try and help and let me use his cell phone to call AAA and also Rita. He tried what he could but there just isn't any juice left in the ol' battery. I doubt he will ever see this but I just wanted to say thank you for your stopping to help a stranger.

Boy I hope I can get this car jumped. I don't like the look of the battery, I think it may have oozed some of its juices out. If this is like what The Sable did before I got rid of her, then the jump won't work and I'll need a tow.

UPDATE:
10:29 The service guy showed up. The jump worked, but I barely had enough electricity to get home. It kept almost stalling and the lights kept going out whenever the RPM's dropped. Then when I got home I parked it and it wouldn't restart. Guess its the train for me tomorrow. Man I'm beat!

(Hey, Ryan, if you read this expect a call ;)

R.I.P. Transmeta 1995 - 2005

2005-06-05T20:57:00.000-04:00

I was just reading Slashdot (/. for the uninformed) and the top story right now is how Transmeta has sold off it's chipmaking business to a Hong Kong based company better known for its comic books.

The death of Transmeta is sad to me because they made the kick ass processor in my laptop, the Crusoe. It was a CPU with a different type of processor than the x86 and used a software shell (partially designed by Linus Torvalds) to allow the x86 programs to run on the VLIW Crusoe processor. Since the VLIW processor is far simpler than modern x86 processors (i.e less transistors) it required far less power to run allowing for longer battery life. This is what prompted Intel to come out with their Centrino brand of processors.

Good-bye, Transmeta. You fought the good fight and changed the attitude toward power sucking laptop processors (and check out the Transmeta powered OQO. Now that is a hot computer!)

Fear #1: Public Speaking

2005-06-04T17:24:00.000-04:00

For years now I have been deathly afraid of giving presentations in front of an audience. I always clam up and stammer out what I am presenting. The funny thing is that I can ask or answer questions in class without embarassment. I just can't stand up front and speak.

So this week I had two presentations that I had to present. Needless to say I wasn't happy about this. The first was a group presentation on How Cell Phones Workfor a training class at work and the other was for the Cherry Hill Linux User Group on installing Linux on an XBOX.

The cell phone presentation was on Wednesday and I totally messed up. I didn't feel I presented very well and was not very confident. Afterward I was just glad it was over.

Then yesterday I presented the XBOX-Linux and I felt in the groove. I gave details beyond what was on the slides as well as answered all the questions that were presented to me. After I presented I was amazed that I had presented for 35 minutes and I still had my demo to give. When I was done I had presented for almost an hour! Many people even came up to tell me afterward that it was a really great presentation (except for Justin that said it sucked, but I know he was just harrassing me.) It was such a positive experience that it made me think that maybe I am starting to get past this fear.

Pot Luck #3: Memorial Day

2005-05-30T08:42:00.000-04:00

Overtime:
Ah a day off from work. I've been working overtime for over two months so today is a true luxury for me. Since I came back from Hawaii I have been working 50+ hours due to a rapidly approaching deadline. I was getting to the point this past Friday where I just could think straight anymore about computers. A long lazy weekend was just what doctor ordered. Other than two Bar-B-Q's Rita and I have done very little but chill and straighten up the place. Yeah I'm up real early today but I plan on napping later today to make up for it. Besides its peaceful right now.

Looking Down a Double Barrel Shotgun/Dodging a Bullet:
Speaking of overtime. So at work I had two assignments whose deadline was rapidly approaching. I was starting to feel that I would never make the mid June deadline with them. This made me feel like I had a double barreled shotgun aimed at me (one barrel for each assignment.) Well Wednesday I stayed at Work with my co-worker Stacy until 11pm and we got one of the problems fixed. I was so relieved since I felt like I had just dodged a bullet. Well things got better the next two days as I created prof-of-concept solutions for my other assignment. Heading into Friday afternoon I was starting to think that I had just managed to pull off that Trinity move from The Matrix where she kicked the shotgun out of the guys hands and used it herself. I was flying high, until I tried testing a third problem I thought I had finished implementing and discovered Friday afternoon that my solution didn't take certain cases into account. So I didn't leave work Friday in high spirits as I had been earlier that day. Needless to say I'm not looking forward to tomorrow when I'll need to explain this to my manager.

Congrats Kevin!:
Last night was my bud, Kevin's, graduation Bar-B-Q. He now has his Masters in Computer Science. I am really happy for Kevin since he has worked especially hard the past couple years to get this done before his wedding in August and he has pulled it off. Also if it hadn't been for him I may never have gone back to school myself. He was part of the motivation and I tagged along on his coattails to sign up for my first pre-requisite class. He went on to get accepted to Drexel before me and I have gone off to Villanova to get my degree since Drexel was very bastardly to me. One more year and I will be graduating too!

Windows Almost Ready for the Desktop:
I just saw this article by the author of Point & Click Linux discussing Windows XP installation and use from a Linux users point of view. The results are the same as Microsoft's main complaints against Linux. It is a funny read especially if you think that most of the "professional reviews" out there are crap anyway.

An Audience with the Squirrel King:
I am writing this from my balcony since it is such a beautiful morning. I just looked up from the laptop's display and realized the King of Squirrels is on the roof looking down at me with a squirrelly entourage of two other squirrels (one of whom I think is the Prince since he is a baby and only the size of a normal squirrel). Rita had told me earlier this week that his highness had made a similar appearance. Apparently the King is a hands on chap that likes checking on the happenings in his realm. He probably wants to keep a watch on my apartment after threatening me last week. Last week the King didn't take to kindly to my parking under his tree. When I went to drive to work the next morning the King was there and he squeaked several times at me in what sounded like a very angry tone. So I haven't parked under that tree since. I don't want to cross the Squirrel King, I think he might be able to kick my arse! (Please picture myself getting attacked by a giant squirrel and his entourage. My job is done here.)

Quickie #4: The Reistance Grows

2005-05-27T20:10:00.000-04:00

Ryan has just finished installing Debian on his spare computer. He has never used Linux before, and you know what? He really likes it!

Viva La Resistance!!

A Surprise...

2005-05-23T23:48:00.000-04:00

I was not looking forward to going to work today. I had a review, both of my assignments just missed their deadline, and it was a Monday. I decided to not call out sick and went to work expecting to roll with the punches all day. I was doing good with the "punches" thrown my way until my project manager called me into his office in the late morning. The first thought I had was, "Crap, what did I do that was that bad?"

I sat down in his office and he said to me, "I have something I want you to read." He then passed over a single piece of paper. I took the paper and read it.
"I'm getting a promotion?"
"I know this is a little earlier than you were expecting," my manager explained, "But it came through now, congratulations."

So now I am a SENIOR Member of the Engineering Staff. I was working toward getting this promotion near the time I graduated from grad school next year. To get it now is amazing! This is why I love my new company, they don't try to screw their employees every chance they get (unlike my last job.)

Live from the Turnpike

2005-05-22T23:20:00.000-04:00

So here I sit in the passenger seat of Rita's car driving back from a weekend in Long Island. Its nice to have the ability to just sit back on the road home and not have to worry about actually getting there. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy driving to a point, but when you've been at it for more than two hours it gets a bit tedious. Its times like these I wish there was a smart car that could do all the driving or even a really thorough mass transit system. Oh well, you drive the transportation arteries you have, not the transportation arteries you want.

So I got to thinking while I was driving out to Long Island yesterday about how the maze of roads out there are just that, a maze. You spend the majority of you traveling time on a certain chunk of this maze and you get to know it rather well. Then when need or opportunity arise you traverse a little farther out from the familiar roads to less familiar ones. In this way you learn more about the maze we live in and how to get to the “cheese” du jour.

[blech we just past the strong smell of Road Kill a la skunk]

Star Wars: Redemption

2005-05-21T09:50:00.000-04:00

Ryan, Duc and I caught the 6:10 showing of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith yesterday. I was excited and I was worried.

My fear concerning Episode III was that it would cheese out like episodes 1 and 2. I was afraid it wouldn't explain enough or would contradict too much from the original trilogy and would fail to tie up the previous two movies. After seeing it I have to say that I'm completely impressed with how Lucas answered the questions of how Anakin Skywalker turned into Darth Vader, and it was not ridiculous either. It was plausible and understandable.

The story was complex but even though I knew where it was going, I didn't want to see it get there. I cared about the fate of Obi-Wan, Yoda, Anakin, Padame, and all the other characters. I didn't want to see the inevitable happen.

But once it did, I could never have looked away!

To say I was impressed would be an understatement. I think this episode does not deserve to be grouped with the previous prequels. It deserves to be grouped with the original trilogy! I'm not sure it is better than any of the original movies, but the fact that I am even comparing them shows that Lucas finally found his movie making mojo and treated a prequel right! I plan on seeing this again in the theaters with Rita, and I can't wait!

(As an added bonus, after you see Episode III, and you will see Episode III, go over to the local book store and look at the book adaptation. Read the last 10 or so pages about Anakin's awakening as Vader. It answered the only question I had left after I saw the movie, "How does it feel to be Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith?")

"Carbonite"

2005-05-20T08:37:00.000-04:00

This is the last of the fan flick recommendations. The great news is that I got tickets for tonight's 6:10 showing of Episode III. So Ryan and I are going there and checking out Episode III! w00t! Maybe I'll blog it later, with spoilers (Like Anakin turns into Vader! OMG! OMG!)

To wind up this series of posts I present to you "Carbonite." I will not ruin this guy in advance with a disclaimer but I will say this, it isn't a parody. It is a really well made little flick that I deeply enjoyed (maybe enjoyed most of all the others.)

Runner up films include:
"Cheap Seats"
"Tiny Toys"
"Han Solo: Switch Parody"
"Dark Side Switch Campaign"
"The Yody Years"
"Star Wars Help Desk" and
"Pink Five"

"Figure Club"

2005-05-19T18:12:00.000-04:00

"Figure Club" is a fan film that somehow combines the anti-consumerism philosophy of "Fight Club" with obsessive Star Wars merchandise collecting. I really enjoyed this film and it expresses many of my thoughts about the Star Wars merchandise (summed up in my 13" Greedo sitting on my desk for years outside of his original packaging.)

Warning: This film contains spoilers if you have not seen "Fight Club." If you have not seen "Fight Club" shame on you! Go rent it now! I will wait until you get back. Go on! GET! (Are you still here!?)