Hell's Not So Bad

I'm officially moving

2006-02-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Blogger, This is really hard for me since we've been together for over a year. When we started out together we were perfect for each other. I felt like we were both entering a brave new world and we would explore it together. But I feel that while I've grown, you have not. Your features used to be enough for me, but as I've experienced more on the web, your features have stayed the same. Your spell check still doesn't know the word Blogger. It's not you, it's me. I've changed too much. I still want us to be friends, though. We've had some great times and I will always remember them and how much you've taught me, but it's time to move on. I hope you find someone new that will make you happy. Still with love, Hobbes PS - My new address is http://akanthos.wordpress.com Please update any links and bookmarks accordingly.

More Meme

2006-02-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged again. I will answer the challenge here, at my new blog site. Please adjust links and bookmarks accordingly.

I may be moving

2006-02-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

But if not, you should still check out this very cool blog site.

RSS

2006-02-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

I've decided that rss is a good. What is RSS you ask? It's short for Really Simple Syndication. The idea is that you have a sort of feed (you can think of it like a live bookmark) that is created from the content of your site. People then subscribe to the feed with an rss reader and then they get the most recent changes. This works really well for blogs and news sites that change content daily, if not hourly. Right now I'm using Sage, a Firefox extension as my rss reader. I recommend you try it out. If nothing else, it makes reading it very simple for me to keep up on 10+ blogs every day.

In my day...

2006-02-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

I used to post here once a day. Sometimes twice! I would post through 5 feet of snow, both ways! I had to fight off dinosaurs to make a post, but I did it. Nowadays I'm part of the slacker generation and I'm lucky to get in one post a month. Ah well. This week I watched Donnie Darko for the first time. I loved it. I've never had a fear of bunny rabbits, but after Frank I was thinking about developing one. And yes, I do believe in time travel.

Habitual Meme

2006-01-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

I was told last night that I have been tagged. Not only that, but my lame priorities like work and school are no excuse for not getting this done. So what does getting tagged mean? Well... The Rules: The first player of this game starts with the topic "five weird habits" and people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don't forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says "You have been tagged" (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours. 1) The theme song from "I Dream of Jeannie" is never far from my mind. I've tried to overwrite it, and I've tried therapy but it just won't go away. 2) When driving, I sing along with Tenacious D. At the top of my lungs. 3) I reorganize my desk almost every month. I have to make sure my nice pens are in order. 4) I organize my closet by color. (I know of no support group to help me with this) 5) Despite all my insane organizing "habits" (read: compulsions), my CD's are organized in a much more organic method. People who know how OCD I can be with my clothes and CD's and such are surprised that my CD's and are in no apparent order. And now, I officially tag Tracy, Beau, Amy, Colton and Victor. So I wash my hands of this and await posts from you five slackers.

Not sure how I missed this one

2006-01-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

I got a few things on my Amazon wish list for Christmas this year. A lot of books, some movies and a couple of games. I played Call of Duty 2 all the way through on Easy and I'm just starting back through on Regular (as is my custom with games, to beat every level). I was a huge fan of the first Call of Duty. I loved the progression through the various missions and the gameplay. The graphics were great and the whole thing felt very solid. The expansions was good, too. But the sequel is just more of the same. It doesn't advance the genre at all and I've heard the support for the online gaming experience has been awful. Too bad. The other game I got was Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. I know it's an older game (2004 actually) but I never picked it up and since I had heard good things about it I left it on my wish list. I started playing it last night (in total darkness for effect) and I really like this game. It's a combination of classic first person shooter and stealth in a very unique way. The story is helped by the fact that Vin Diesel voiced Riddick. That's what I'm doing post-Christmas. What about you? Beagle Status: Fully fed. With tummies full of kibble, it's time for a nap.

Cryptonomicon

2005-12-30T23:38:00.000-07:00

I really thought that when school finished I'd have more time. As it turns out, I have less. See, school forces a kind of routine on me that makes me do things like check my email every day and read my web comics and feel guilty about not posting. The holidays make that guilt go away and thus, no posts. However, I have found a new author that I like very much and I thought I'd share. I just finished reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I also got three more of his books for Christmas. (w00t!) Cryptonomicon, other than being hard to spell repeatedly, is a fantastic book that tells three major stories, with a host of supporting cast perspectives. It takes place during the modern day, as well as following some amazing WWII stories. The main character is Randall Lawrence Waterhouse. Randall, or Randy as his friends call him, is a Unix geek and is just starting a new business venture with his friend Avi. They end up in the Philippines on some crazy idea that turns out to be only part of a larger business plan. Meanwhile, we meet Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse. Randy's grandfather. We follow him through his days at Princeton earning a degree in engineering, but he's more suited to pure mathematics. He meets some nice friends there, like Al. Al prefers to go by Alan but Lawrence isn't good with names. Alan, last name Turing, is a British chap that's working on applied mathematics. Bright chap, probably go far. Anyway, Lawrence ends up in the Navy and because of his music talents, made part of a band in the USS Nevada stationed at Pearl Harbor, December 1941. After the "day which will live in infamy" the Navy decides it doesn't need bands, but all those musicians might be able to help type in the new war effort. In training to be clerks for the Navy's Cryptanalysis, Lawrence proves he's far more valuable cracking Japanese codes than taking dictations. Soon they ship him off to Europe to work with the British on the Enigma problem, and he meets up with his old friend Alan Turing. Bobby Shaftoe is a hardass US Marine. He's done his share of fighting in the Pacific theater. So after being a particularly nasty battle, he's sent home with a Purple Heart, Silver Star and a Navy Cross. He wants back in the fight so he's assigned to a special unit, Detachment 2702, where he meets people like Enoch Root and Lawrence Waterhouse. All these stories tie together with others to take you on a fantastic epic that, despite some heavy mathematics, reads fast and intense. I couldn't put it down for the week it took me to finish the 1000+ pages. I've already started my next Neal Stephenson book: Quicksilver. I'll let you know how this one turns out.

Get Lost

2005-12-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

And then found. I may have talked about this before, but I find it fun, so I'll go over it again. Geocaching.com. What is that, you say? It's where you can learn all about Geocaching. What is geocaching? IT's a high tech treasure hunt using GPS technology to find hidden caches all over the world. There are 218706 active caches in 219 countries. There are several thousand in Utah alone. For some, you don't even need a GPS device. But for most, that's about all you need. YOu can get a decent GPS for under $150. It's a lot more fun than it sounds. You should try it. If you don't have a GPS device and want to check this out, (and you know me) let me know. I'll take you with me on a few caches.

Thanx Givin'

2005-11-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

And now we're less than a week away. Yippee! Seriously, Thanksgiving is my no-contest, hands-down, all-time favorite holiday. First off, there's delicious turkey. Mmmmmmm.....turkey. *gurgle* Ah, where was I? Oh yeah. Great food. But this isn't all. It's a gathering of friends and family, but minus all the hassle that goes with Christmas. I'm going to try really hard to really enjoy Christmas this year. (Normally I'm a bit of a humbug) But I still draw the line at Thanksgiving. At my house, it is FORBIDDEN to play Christmas music until the Friday after Thanksgiving. Go shopping, play your carols, start decorating. Whatever. Go nuts. But not until AFTER Thanksgiving. So, in preparation for Turkey Day, here's a list of just some of the things I'm extra grateful for this year: My wife. I try to tell her often that she's wonderful. I really mean it in a not too cliche way, too. She gives my life meaning and direction. I love you, H. My family. This is not restricted to those who happen to be related by blood. Family is more than that. This includes GreatWolf, Jumpboot, Psycho and Tracy. Good friends. Hard to find and harder sometimes hard to hang on to, but worth your time. My beagles. I love my dogs. They love me unconditionally. Plus they're damn cute. School. It's starting to wear on me but it's taught me more about life and about myself than I expected. Plus, I like getting A's. I have some more things, maybe I'll post in a day or two. In the mean time, what are some things you guys are glad you have in your lives?

I'm an ass

2005-11-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

I try not to be, but sometimes it just happens. There are a few things on my mind lately and I'll try to get to each of them over the next few days, but first the latest thing that bugs me. It seems that quite a few people that I know have decided to start blogging. That's very cool. I really like hearing all about the mundane and insane and deeply intense and personal things that my good friends have shared. However, sometimes I read things posted by people I've known for years and wonder if I really know them. Sometimes this is a sad thing, but most of the time it's awesome that my friends are still surprising me and we're still changing and growing as people. I love it. But today I had one of those "I don't really know this person" moments and it was not the good kind. I realized I'm an ass. I hope that by confessing my ass-ness and resolving to pull my head out and keep it out that I might find some forgiveness. You may have read the blog of my good friend Psycho. His wife, Sign Foo, just started her own blog recently and I spent some time this morning skimming through it. I was struck by how very smart and articulate she is. Now, I knew this. If you were to ask me I'd say yes, she is a very smart person. But since she's deaf, she doesn't come off as articulate as you or I might like to think that we sound. On paper, or in a blog, it's all the same. We're all playing on a level field. So as I was reading through I realized that my surprise at finding her so expressive and smart was actually disturbing. You see, I realized that I'm an ass who just judges by what I see or hear and not by what is really there. Mostly this was a rude awakening because she and I read some of the same kinds of books and we've talked about them and I know she's insightful and intelligent. She's very well read. But, because it takes more work to follow her in a conversation, I discount it somewhat. I knew better and I still caught myself being stupid, patronizing and perhaps condescending. See? I'm an ass. Foo, I'm sorry. I know it can be hard to fight prejudice and bigotry. Especially when people don't even know they have it. I will most definitely try to be more respectful and less of an ass. Please forgive me so we can talk more about the books we read and I can benefit from your wonderful insight and opinion.

Happy November 5th!!!

2005-11-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

Today is a red letter day in science. Can anyone tell me what historical scientific event happend on this day in 1955?

My god! It's full of stars!

2005-10-25T12:52:00.000-06:00

My friend Harold is in the National Guard. Right now he's helping clean up in New Orleans and he's been there for at least the past month. While he's gone I've been picking up his mail, and this week that included a package from Dell. He went and bought himself an XPS laptop. Now, for those of you who don't know, this is along the lines of the Alienware laptops. It's a mobile gaming machine. It has a 17 inch display, 2 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, 100 GB HDD and a screaming video card. And right now it's in my hot little hands. He said I could opened it up and check it out. (I was going to if he said it was ok or not) The display on this thing is awesome. If you're looking for a desktop replacement laptop then this is your machine. So choice, if you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.

2005 or 1984

2005-10-18T14:07:00.000-06:00

Almost everyone has heard of the phrase "Big Brother" when talking about the government keeping tabs on us. The thought frightens many, even some who don't own every season of the X-Files on DVD (but I don't know these people). So is it any better when the 'parents' behind 'brother' are private companies instead of the government? Not only no, but hell no. Here's why: Joe Jones goes into a job interview and is told politely, but firmly, no thank you. He wonders at this since he's a model employee and his previous boss gave him glowing recommendations. Turns out that the company he was applying at checked up on Mr. Jones. They went to one of these data mining companies and said what do you have on Joe Jones. They said, looks like he's a drug addict. Now how would they know that? They tracked his online habits and found him pricing and purchasing hypodermic needles but no medicine. Further more his medical files say he doesn't need any kind of injection. Whew, close call there. Almost hired a druggie. But wait, is Joe a druggie? No. He buys extra hypos for his grandmother who is on a fixed income and has diabetes. He's not a druggie, he's a saint. Can this really happen? It already happens all the time. Are there legitimate uses for this kind of stuff? I suppose if you wanted to screen your dates to make sure none were psycho stalkers (or to make sure that they were psycho stalkers if that's what you wanted) but where is the line and who draws it? Do you check just criminal history? Mental health? How about tax receipts and income statements? And who regulates what data can be stored? Where do you go to if there's a mistake? And what's to stop this data from being misused? If this were regulated in some way I might sleep a little better. But not only can you not correct any data they have on you, they don't have to tell you they have it. “But wait,” you say, “let me get this straight. A company that I don't know can collect data on me without my permission, without my knowledge and then sell it without problem?” Yup. And it gets worse. In 2001 America saw a tragic act of terrorism on it's own soil. This finally shocked many Americans into realizing that not only is America NOT the center of the solar system (gasp), but there are some people that actually hate us (and after we gave the world McDonald's, too). After our eyes opened a bit we scrambled to feel like we were protecting ourselves. In conjunction with some things like the so-called Patriot Act the government started looking at options. How can we see this coming next time? One company that collects information about people stepped up and volunteered to help the FBI step around our constitutional rights and established freedoms. You see, the FBI and law enforcement agencies can't legally open a file and investigate US citizens without reason. They can only open a file on you if you're being investigated for a crime. But what about crimes that have yet to be committed? No, they can't just randomly check up on you to see whether or not you *might* break the law. So a third party said, “Hey, we have tons of info that we collected and we did it legally. Wanna see it?” Duh. So not only do we have to worry about the spyware companies creating technology that is prime for identity theft, not only do they intrude into our lives to sell us crap, but then they turn around and tattle on us. It's bad enough that companies use this data to screen job applicants, but it's shocking to think that this unregulated and personal information can fall into just about anyone's hands. And it often does.

All your base(16) are belong to us

2005-10-10T20:16:00.000-06:00

We've been messing with multiple number bases in two of my classes. In Computer Organization and Networking we've been messing with binary, octal decimal and hexadecimal. I started looking into all the different number bases, and there are a lot, and some of the cultures that used them. For instance, we use a base 10 system (decimal) and the Mayans used a base 20. The Babylonians used a base 60 system.(Insane) Anyway, there's a guy in one of my classes that breaks into a cold sweat when we start talking subnet masking or IEEE 754 floating number standard. Tell him to convert a 32 bit hex number with the 754 standard and he whimpers and cries. 64-bit? He wet himself. Poor guy. You take CIS because they tell you there's no math and now this. Tsk tsk.

Beagle Update:

2005-10-04T11:39:00.000-06:00

I know you're not supposed to feed them after midnight and you're not supposed to get them wet. But I got Toby wet and now there are two. We have another puppy in our home. Her name is Kaylee and she's adorable, as you can see. So far Toby loves her and they get along great. She has a very sweet temperament. We love her already.

One time I hired a monkey...

2005-10-03T09:04:00.000-06:00

So I'm sitting here in class listening to the lecture. I'm reminded of a "School Daze" moment from Brak on Space Ghost. "One time I hired a monkey to take notes for me in class. I would just sit there with my mind a complete blank while the monkey would scribble on little pieces of paper. At the end of the week the teacher said,"Class, I want you to write a paper using your notes." I wrote a paper that said: Hi. My name is Bingo. I like to climb on things. Eeek! Eeek! I got an F! When I told my mom she said,"I told you never trust a monkey". The end.

I'm LOST

2005-09-30T09:49:00.000-06:00

I'm LOST and I'm Jack. How 'bout you?

Photos for all

2005-09-26T09:20:00.000-06:00

I've had a Flickr account for a while now. I like it for uplaoding pics in batches so if I have s single snapshot I'll post it here but for a series I'll send you to Flickr. Why don't you go get caught up here?

Seen these?

2005-09-23T12:07:00.000-06:00

You may have seen some of these pictures and read this guys accounts. But if not, get over there and do it.

M-O-M-O-R-ARG!

2005-09-18T00:33:00.000-06:00

I've got this song by Morningwood stuck in my head. They start spelling their name out in this song and for some reason my brain finds that facinating. I also loved Saturday Night sung by Neds Ataomic Dustbin off the So I Married an Axe Murderer soundtrack. I don't know what this addiction with songs that spell things is, but I'm sure it's related to too much Sesame Street.

I want it!!!!

2005-09-15T10:42:00.000-06:00

You've seen my alias on Blogger. Yes it means what you think it does. And I want this SO BAD!

I knew it

2005-09-15T10:11:00.000-06:00

Ok, maybe not in the sense that I had the slightest idea, but I knew that there was something I didn't know. Oh, and it's a fake news story.

Wakka wakka wakka

2005-09-14T14:47:00.000-06:00

I must have missed this add last election season.

Names you may want to avoid

2005-09-08T13:06:00.000-06:00

In case you've always wondered where they get the names for hurricanes, now you know. And in case you were watching the news and noticed that the storm parked off the coast of Florida is called Ophelia and wondered what happened to L,M and N, they were used for hurricanes that have so far stayed far out to sea. Get your updates here.