blitzenslayn

Blah blah blah

2009-11-11T14:05:00.002-06:00

I don't even remember when I posted last, think before I moved up here to KY. Needless to say things have changed for me.

Was unemployed for a while, then I picked up a manager's position for a retail store. Now, that too is ending, but only because I've found a different job.

Better hours, better pay, benefits, more time with my baby. All of these are good things.

Just feeling weird. The dreaded two weeks notice went well enough, I suppose. Now I just feel out of place. Trying to motivate yourself to go through the motions at work, when you know you're leaving soon, is hard hard work. The knowledge that I still have people to tell weighs on me.

Have been spending way too much time playing various facebook games: Farmville, Cafe World, Country Life. Sheesh...

Did download the Torchlight demo, and it's a lot of fun. :D I'd recommend it to people that enjoyed the point and click slash/caster fest that was Diablo. Good times.

Counting down the days

2009-05-26T12:20:00.003-05:00

Handful of days and counting. Yet each day closer just reminds me of how much left I still have to pack, throw away, destroy, or find other means of disposal.

Craigslist ftw.

Don't suppose any of you want any of my tasteful, expensive, designer (yeah right) crap? :D Didn't think so. *sighs*

Have managed to sell my Cd carousel though, so that's cool. That'll pay for part of a tank of gas for the Uhaul. Or food. Or a hotel room. If I can sell enough things maybe it'll pay for a full whatever.

Eleven days until I leave Houston.

Windows 7 RC

2009-05-26T12:16:00.002-05:00

Really don't have much to say about it. I'm not very fond of it. Granted it is a release candidate and not a finalized OS. But still...

It might be my hardware or maybe I haven't tapped into Microsoft's brain enough to fathom why the OS behaves as it does.

The thumbpad and eraser nub pointer don't really work on my laptop. Not sure how you screw that up. But instead of a nice casual scrolling, I get 15,000 windows and applications trying to open after the cursor spazzes out.

Crappy audio support too. Not happy with the video display drivers either.

And yes I know it's a RC and not an official release version.

Want to run Ubuntu 9.04 and still be able to play WoW under Wine please!

Lucy: The Protector

2009-05-14T08:48:00.003-05:00

She's either making sure that Innocent doesn't wander off with my tools or she's decided that I need to stop taking things apart around the apartment.

Regardless, she's claimed my toolbox as hers.

Ubuntu what?

2009-05-10T08:08:00.002-05:00

I'll be the first to admit that I've always had a secret crush on linux.

After working on unix systems right out of high school, the idea that I could have something similar on my computer at home always thrilled me.

But then I actually tried playing with linux. Believe it was Corel Linux, which really didn't last that long. Then I tried one of the Red Hat distributions, don't recall what version. That didn't last long either. I kept going back to windows.

I needed access to all of my games.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. I started noticing that my computer was behaving oddly. Random shut downs, that kind of thing. So I took it upon myself to back up all of my important data. (You always forget a file, don't you?)

I had made cds from various recent linux distributions, with the intention of slapping linux on a spare laptop to fiddle with. Was very glad that I had those cds when my system restore fragged my primary laptop.

IBM really should include windows cds with their laptops instead of making you have to create your own through built in recovery software.

So, once I had reduced my computer to smoldering slag, my only choices were to install linux or track down someone's windows xp professional cd and use my key. Opted to go with linux since I had the cds on hand and didn't want to lose my computer for a couple of days. (Only way I can talk to Tammy during the day. We aren't at liberty to talk on cell phones while she's at work.)

So after much debate and refomatting, installing, wiping etc. I'm now running Ubuntu 9.04 on my laptop. And I like it.

Just getting it to play nice with an online game is frustrating. But I think I'm in the home stretch now. *crosses fingers*

Links!

2009-05-06T11:05:00.003-05:00

You know you love clicking links from someone's random blog. I know you do.

Only two today, you can let out the sigh of relief already.

Ikea Hacker: DIY hack and slash site for modifying "cheap" Ikea furniture into something more useful or better looking.

desktopgaming: video game backgrounds, look at all of the Super Mario ones! I really enjoy the multiple monitor sets. :D

Other than that, I'm in the process of removing all of the .m4p files from my laptop. Do you realize how long it takes iTunes to burn a cd? Sheesh. At least, then I can re-rip the music to the normal .mp3 format that I prefer. Since I don't even use iTunes or WinAmp anymore.

foobar2000 is my new music player of choice. I've been using it for three to four months now. It's not as minimilist as my old old version of WinAmp, but it hogs up less resources than both iTunes and WinAmp. So that makes me happy.

What problem?

2009-04-30T11:42:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I think I might have a problem.

I can't stop downloading various linux distributions and installing them on my crap laptop. I fiddle with one for a day or couple hours, before I wipe it with a different distribution...

I have yet to find/stumble across one that I completely love, or that recognizes all of my hardware off the bat. And to make matters worse, I don't even know all of the hardware on that laptop, so it's not like I can go look for proper device drivers or anything. Frustrating.

But some LiveCD versions play wonderfully on my IBM ThinkPad. >.> Just not quite ready to back up everything and wipe this laptop yet. That's a scary thought.

But I haven't had any real work lately, I'm too focused on the move to even be looking for work. So do I really need to keep the laptop in fully functioning order? So long as I have internet access and a web browser, I'm happy to talk with Tammy, write posts, check out other linux versions, etc...

Just want to tinker.

Currently checking out SimplyMEPSIS, Linux Mint, and Good OS.

So yeah... I may have a problem.

Updates

2009-04-28T14:36:00.002-05:00

Random updates and links. Be warned!

Adam Savage: My quest for the dodo bird, and other obsessions
Very interesting, sounds like the man has a bunch of interesting hobbies. Might need to start saving all of the interesting crap I find online for my future projects.

Like these.

http://colorschemedesigner.com/
Helped finalize the color scheme for the new look.

Unofficial World of Warcraft Papercraft blog. I love the full size gnome... Would so love to have one of those. I need to make that happen.

Slax, one of the reasons I wish my dinky linksys router was still working. Trouble shooting the latest Slax 6.1.1 on a super old laptop that Aaron gave me.

Stumbled across Blender last night while I was fiddling with Slax. When I first came across it, I wasn't that impressed, because I was being taught how to use 3ds Max. But now... I might start fiddling with it again. 3d modeling was the only time when I was at AIH where I felt like I actually was creating anything of my own, instead of modifying what other people had created.

Experience

2009-04-24T16:08:00.002-05:00

"When analytical thought, the knife, is applied to experience, something is always killed in the process. That is fairly well understood, at least in the arts. Mark Twain's experience come to mind, in which after he mastered the analytical knowledge needed to pilot the Mississippi River, he discovered the river had lost its beauty. Something is always killed. But what is less noticed in the arts--something is always created too. And instead of just dwelling on what is killed it's important also to see what's created and to see the process as a kind of death-rebirth continuity that is neither good nor bad, but just is."

-Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Workspace Planning

2009-04-22T11:22:00.003-05:00

With the move just around the corner, I've started to cull all of the useless and unnecessary junk from my apartment. This has made me question why I even bothered to purchase a lot of my possessions.

So, I've been selling books, giving away clothes, hauling trash bags full of once valued junk to the dumpsters. And then I turned my gaze toward my poor jumbled computer desk.

I spend way too much time in front of the computer, sitting in odd positions to reduce back pain, muscle fatigue, etc. Unfortunately, I can't get rid of the computer desk or chair yet, and I do plan on bringing them with me. But the situation has made me really think about what I need and want out of a desk and workspace.

Browsing Lifehacker, checking out people's desk setups, looking at furniture stores. I think I know what I want. I want to be comfortable, be it sitting or standing. Ergonomics and all of that.

Then I found this ergonomic workspace planner, which I'm eager to put into use.

I find myself walking, more pacing really, when I do any serious work/thinking. And I feel my workspace should reflect that. So ultimately I think I need to make/buy a desk that will adjust from sitting to standing height. Having two seperate desks would be impractical to say the least.

Exactly

2009-04-21T19:02:00.005-05:00

Perfect example of me before coffee. Courtesy of garfield minus garfield.

Intents

2009-04-21T18:40:00.003-05:00

1) Fix the blog's layout
2) Update with new content
3) Blatantly steal ideas from everyone else
4) Pet the warm kitty on my stomach

Various free MMORPGs

2009-04-18T09:57:00.008-05:00

Let's see, within the past week I have downloaded and tried two free mmorpgs and am working on the third download/install.

Dungeon Runners
Cheesy low poly graphics with the old school charm of Diablo set in the 3d world. You have a handful of classes that you can play, I picked the ranger. And as soon as I disabled the mouse-click to move feature I was able to stand in one spot and send arrowed death to my foes.

All of the dungeons are random creations, in fact the first real zone where you kill stuff is a 5 level dungeon with a rapping rat as the final boss. All of your quests take place inside the instance, with a nifty scroll of teleport letting you poof back to the start zone to sell junk. Nice feature about this, which I still haven't played with yet, is that when you use your teleportation scroll, you can port back into the instance exactly where you left. No more running back through 3 levels to pick up where you left off slaughtering various baddies.

The game has an interesting sense of humor, your starting weapon is usually made out of cardboard. Think I was using a cardboard crossbow, not really sure how that works, but I still managed to kill things. Diablo and WoW fans will recognize the suffixes on armor and weapons, "of the whale, of the hawk, etc" is still live and kicking.

You can pay for extra features, a bigger bank, better armor, potions to stack. But why? True it's only $5 a month for those features, but that defeats the purpose of the game for me. I wanted something that I can pick up, spend half an hour clearing out a dungeon, grabbing loot, selling stuff and log for the night. This suits my needs. And makes me smile while doing it.

Shaiya
Pure frustration for me for the first two hours. I rolled a fighter to run around hacking and slashing to get a feel for the game. Almost every UI component in the game can be moved, except for some key items. And it's those key items that bug me. You can semi-modify the key binds in the game, unfortunately not the ones I wanted to change either.

The ~ key is set to target the next mob and begin to auto-attack. Well, that's also my vent button. Tab switches between running and walking. Why you'd ever want to walk, I don't know. I could change the run/walk button, but not the target enemy button. And no explanation why. Even fiddling with the configuration files on my hard drive didn't help. Though, I was finally able to set a proper monitor resolution.

After I fixed the resolution, then I actually started enjoying the game. Doesn't help that I played it all last night with a crappy resolution. But that's ok.

The game does have several features that I do like though. The minimap and full map have color coded dots indicating where you can pick up quests and where you can turn quests in. Very nice when you're lost in the middle of the zone, looking for the next quest hub.

Levels earn you points which you can spend on your stats. On normal mode you get 5 points per level. I chose to dump 3 into strength and 2 into dex on every even level, then switch on the odd levels. But I could have put them into LUC (crit rating as far as I can tell) for a crit based fighter. You earn skill points which are used to unlock a skill or it's next level. Higher level skills have level restrictions.

Passive skills, active skills, buffs, specials all use the same skill points to unlock. Once you've spent your points you can't get them back. So any skill investments are really that, investments. I purchased first level ranks in a couple of skills that I will never level up. But even those first level skills are useful.

I can see myself playing this game for a while, probably not as much as I used to play WoW, but it does have a draw to it. Once I got over my preconceptions about it, it became an enjoyable game.

Runes of Magic
Installing it now. From what I've read and seen, this looks to be my new game, unless something just goes horribly wrong.

Dual class leveling game. Think I'll make a Rogue/Fighter, a Scout/Priest, or a Knight/Mage. Those combinations seem the most appealing to me without even playing the game.

Woots! It finally installed, off to see what I think about it. :D

...and now it's patching. *sighs* That's ok. I'm patient, right? >.>

Asleep at the wheel

2008-06-19T07:22:00.003-05:00

So I'm going to counseling. I've been in a self-destructive suicidal spiral for about half a year now, ever since my grandmother died last Christmas. Not many of you know about my grandmother. I didn't really want to talk about it. I couldn't talk about it.

She was a headstrong argumentative bible thumper. But I loved her. She loved me too. Wasn't pleased with any of the choices I've made as an adult, and would explain in detail exactly what I was doing incorrectly. Last thing she told me before dying, was that I was fat. This I already knew, but thanks for the wisdom Grandma.

Life fell apart long before then for me though. I've been angry and bitter for as long as I can remember. Forced feelings toward my family, friends, co-workers, etc. I hated everyone and everything. Mostly myself. Especially myself.

I have so much that I want to say and apologize for, that I hardly know where to begin.

Let's start with the apologies.

I am sorry for my lack of respect towards my friends. I haven't treated any of you nicely, and it's been like this for too long now. I skipped Crystal's birthday party, even after I said I would come, because I was afraid. Not afraid of seeing my friends and having a good time, but afraid that I wouldn't meet their expectations of me. A fear of rejection by the very same people that I had already rejected. Crowds of people terrify me now. They might have always, which would explain my constant drinking. Liquid courage perhaps. Loss of brain cells, that could have been used to figure out the right thing to do.

I have missed and been absent from so many gatherings, I don't answer the phone because I don't want to be yelled at or cursed at. So instead of talking to me, people talk to Leslie. That tells me that I've failed in so many respects. You shouldn't have to talk to my girlfriend just to find out what's wrong with me. Fuck, I need everyone's support, just like you need me to be who I was. If you want to talk, call me or email me.

There was a time when I was a good friend. That too was so long ago, that I've forgotten how to be that person.

Old Dragons Lose Their Teeth

2007-10-04T18:56:00.002-05:00

Dragons don't scare me anymore. At least not the old ones that I'm seeing again. These figures used to be titanic gods that trembled the very ground that they proudly walked upon. Their utterances were received as blessings from on high. A glance would smite the undeserving.

Get the gist?

Not anymore. Now they are just embittered old fools. Rehashing outdated concepts and applying a new veneer to old crap. Cackling to the old used jokes.

Perhaps I've become disillusioned to the process. Perhaps these dragons should still be worshiped. Perhaps I should stop complaining and accept my fate linked to these beasts.

Beasts of burden now. Old dragons lose their teeth.

I should weep for them. But I don't care anymore. Just give me a fucking A.

Ethics

2007-09-26T06:56:00.005-05:00

I laughed so hard after reading this Girl Genius. The final panel did it for me. No wonder I enjoy the company of cats so much.

Cookie coma

2007-09-05T17:49:00.000-05:00

Wow these cookies are good...

And since I care about everyone else, here's the recipe off the back of the butterscotch chips.

Oatmeal Scotchies
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract of grated peel of 1 orange
3 cups quick of old-fashioned oats
1 2/3 cups (11 oz pkg) nestle toll house butterscotch flavored morsels

Preheat oven to 375

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated suger, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes for chewy cookies; 9 to 10 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies (that you will really enjoy).

Dead in here

2007-09-04T06:51:00.001-05:00

Think I just saw a tumbleweed.

I hope to start posting entries soon. School is on week 9, 11 weeks per quarter, so things are kinda moving along now.

Tivo and TCM have been nice to me lately, there was a Sean Connery marathon. So I was able to watch a bunch of his older work while I was drawing/shading: Shalako, The Great Train Robbery, A Fine Madness, The Wind and the Lion, and others.

That's all I have for now. Back to the grind. I'll write more later.

Movie Review 01

2007-08-19T18:25:00.002-05:00

I hate reviews, let me just say that. I can't write them either because, well, I don't want to sound like a pretentious douche bag. So let's get to it.

Night Watch turned out to be almost as good as I was hoping it would be. And if I ever can locate a copy of it in town, I'll probably buy it, though I might just order all 3 books (Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch) from amazon and be done with it. My only complaint with the movie was the dubbing being off a couple of times. So if you can find a version with Russian language track and English subtitles, go for that. Or just torrent a subbed one. Otherwise, I really enjoyed it.

Perfect Creature looked promising, but then I watched it. Watched the whole thing. Wish I hadn't. I don't know quite what I was expecting from the movie, since it had vampires protecting society. I think I was hoping for another Equilibrium, but it wasn't. It was crap. Please avoid this movie. I could go on as to why you should, but I'm not going to. Just save yourself that slice of time and do something worthwhile instead. Maybe grow a cactus. Something like that.

Children of Men was very good. Really wish I had seen this movie in the theater. Watching it at home was great too, I wasn't missing out on anything by not seeing it in the theater. Sometimes things just deserve to be bigger, and this is a big movie in scope. I actually had decent thoughts about my fellow humanity after watching this movie. Until I went to class the next day and was forced to deal with putzes. Oh well, good will lasted for eight hours or so, what more can you hope for.

Arrested Development: Season 2

2007-08-19T18:19:00.002-05:00

Well, the three discs that comprise Arrested Development: Season 2 arrived yesterday. I held off watching them until today, where I did them all in one sitting...

As outlandish as the characters are, they are also some of the most human that I've seen on tv in a long time. Of course, most of my favorite shows have a sci-fi/action bent to them, so I can't voice much on "human" characters.

There's just one more season to watch and it's only two discs long. So I'm kinda bummed about that, but am still really looking forward to completing the series. Which I suspect I'll do in another sitting.

Yeah, I need help.

Then my netflix queue goes back to anime. Might need to rethink that. Spend some more time exploring tv shows that I meant to watch but never got around to.

Netflix movies!

2007-08-13T17:02:00.002-05:00

There are three movies on their way to my mailbox for this Tuesday: Children of Men, Night Watch, and Perfect Creature. Needless to say I'm looking forward to watching them all.

Really wanted to see Children of Men when it hit the theater, but I never made it. I've heard great things about Night Watch from my friends who bit torrented it prior to the US theatrical release. The trailers for Night Watch, Perfect Creature, and the upcoming Day Watch, sold me on at least wanting to watch the movies.

Here's what I know so far about the movies:

Children of Men, somehow nobody can have children anymore. Interesting.
Night Watch, the struggle between Good and Evil in Russia. More interesting.
Perfect Creature, vampires are humanity's protectors, then one goes rogue and munches on flu victims. I was mostly sold by the visuals and vampires. I loves me some vampires.

If I like Night Watch, I'll probably end up buying the three books: Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch. I've heard good things about them all. We'll see if the screen adaptation of the novel is compelling enough to sell me the book.

Arrested Development

2007-08-09T11:48:00.002-05:00

Season1: Discs 2 and 3 arrived yesterday from netflix. I put them in while eating dinner. Next thing I know it's 2am and I've finished them both.

Really wish I had watched the show when it was on tv. Those half-hour episodes were pure gold.

Ok.... I've just rewritten my thoughts on the show four times and each one had more cheese than the previous. So I'll keep it simple.

The writing is great. The acting is great. The premise is great. The stories are amazing. Again, I really wish I had watched this when it was aired. I could have used the laughs then.

People should to themselves the favor and rent at least the first disc of season one. Go home and watch it, I think you'll agree that it is a show worth watching. And since the entire show only lasted about three seasons, if you do get hooked on it, it should be a quick watch.

Mmmm coffee

2007-08-08T06:57:00.001-05:00

Shafts of morning sunlight strike his tired face. Hiding under blankets only make things worse due to the stifling heat. The creature must awaken for the gods have determined that there is much to do.

RAWR! Zombie Matt staggers forth ready to claim his destiny.

A hot cup of coffee.

Sitting in class, wanting to go home

2007-08-06T21:05:00.001-05:00

Here I am, it's 9:05pm, just came back from a dinner break, and we're delving back into code.

It's officially mid-term in this scripting class. In 11 weeks we're going to cover javascript and php programming. Being the mid-term, we've "finished" with javascript. For what that's worth.

Onto PHP!

Variables. I bet we're going to be given homework over this too. Some glorified Hello World script due before the next class. Sometimes I wonder why I opted to take this class...

I still haven't figured that one out yet.

And she just mentioned the Hello World script, then handed out the final project and take home mid-term. Joy.