Dragon, Doom and Development

The weather is warm, the sun is shining( sometimes )and the dandelions are spreading fast... it must be spring!

April 13 - Talk To Me PC

I spent a good part of today on the computer, despite it being the third of my days off... since it was raining on and off all day, being outside was not really an option( cool winds, too ). I managed to work through an entire season of Arrested Development, which was surprisingly watchable with back-to-back episodes - I usually have to tune out after a bit with some shows / take a breather, but not this one. Again surprising, as it deals with the tribulations of a dysfunctional family. Hm.

I worked on various things on the laptop, which has proven to be surprisingly versatile in handling a LOT of tasks - I was impressed all over again with my purchase, well worth it. Typing is a chore though, so I was pleased as all heck today when I received an email from Nuance, makers of Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 - they FINALLY came out with a version that works with the 64-bit Vista that shipped on my laptop. As a bonus, I could have my upgrade for 1/2 off retail since I already own the previous version, so I ordered it... and I am looking forward to all the cool things I can do with it once I have it installed.

What about my old PC? Well, it is running lean & mean, all set up as a server for my NWN project, though it is capable of a lot more. It does look rather cool now though, despite being antiquated:


April 14 - No More Drives?

After all these years, it seems fiction is finally becoming reality in terms of new tech replacing old: hard drives. This stolid technology has reached its pinnacle, where we see incredibly cheap storage readily available year after year. I have actually reached the point where I have more space than I have data, at least in terms of things I want to store locally and not just download from the net.

So what is slated to replace the spinning platters and whining motors of the ubiquitous hard drive? Why, the Solid State Drive, of course! Based on the same concept as flash memory cards, like those found in USB keys and camera picture cards, these drives have NO moving parts and are totally silent. Not to mention they use very little power and are very light in weight - perfect for laptop drives. Also, the speeds are incredible - have a look at the video on this page and note the fairly reasonable price! These things can already be found in devices like the EEE PC, tiny lightweight netbooks that are the hottest tech segment going right now. Too small for my needs, though some people are looking at how they perform for games.

April 15 - Other History

I enjoy stories that posit "What if?" when it comes to history, as in stories told by authors such as Harry Turtledove and his peers. The tales are sometimes based on fact, and that fact is sometimes hard to believe. Take the information at this link, for instance: German secret weapons from WWII that we thankfully did NOT see in action.

Similarly... well, not really, but it's still cool: a faster way to tie your shoes! Not to be confused with the better way to tie your shoes, listed at 17 Better Ways to Tie Your Shoes - great stuff! Too bad I switched to velcro years ago, despite its tendency to pick up things as I walk.

April 16 - Mid week, home early movies

Hokay... who wants some Bacon Popcorn? I know that you do... but I am not sure the 99-cent Chef would consider it an actual recipe or not.

It felt very strange to be leaving work ON TIME after 4 today, but that was my shift - many more like it, I hope! I am getting used to the no-glass thing, as I have said before... things are more relaxed with my customers, especially as my voice is MUCH lower in volume without a barrier between us. I am still somewhat leery of the cash dispenser, as it is not 100% perfect and has a slight hunger for bills... but I am learning to appease its odd tendencies.

I watched a few movies tonight, enjoying the acoustics of my new Man Cave. The 5.1 surround system I purchased a few years ago does a bang-up job in combination with the wood-ribbed ceiling to bounce the sound richly around the room. Makes movies and media most enjoyable, I must say.

April 17 - I owe you WHAT?

I am SO glad I did not take a vacation this spring... not that I planned to, or had the budget for it. Why? Well, yet another thing to blame on the current economy: trapped tourists. Seems that when Conquest Vacations collapsed, most of their clients were stuck with the bills wherever they were in the world... talk about culture shock.

Maybe they should go to WhatItCosts.com - where you can search out the cost for almost anything, from Alaskan Cruises to Weddings. They didn't have anything about what the value of a soul was though, so I surfed to the Devil's Tramping Ground to explore for a bit - creepy, in the dark.

Want to have a little fun with a website that has been bothering you? Surf to NetDisaster.com, type in the offending website and Choose Your Disaster. Minutes of fun, guaranteed - I like Meteors, myself.

If natural disasters make you nervous, head on over to StormPulse.com to keep track of all the latest on various storms around the globe. It has some excellent up-to-date weather graphics and a TON of information - since I live near the coast, I think I will be coming back to visit fairly often.

April 18 - Singing Sensations

Today I filled in again at our Colwood branch, which has the usual bulletproof glass and money in drawers. It was odd to go back to that, requiring me to shift some mental gears a bit, but easier than I had thought - especially since there is a Tim Horton's literally steps away( about 22 - I counted ). Not that I eat out much any more, but a nice English Breakfast Tea is always welcome, and as a bonus you get TWO teabags with the XL size - frugal as always, s'me.

We all like underdogs, where someone achieves success or greatness despite the odds, rising from the ordinary to the top of things through sheer talent. One such is Susan Boyle, whom you may have already heard has wowed the world with her vocal performance on Britain's Got Talent.

Another underdog I liked was Farscape, that sci-fi show from Muppet-master Brian Henson of the Jim Henson Company. While it never achieved a huge popularity( akin to Babylon5 )like Star Trek, I was sad to see it go, despite the fan base being pushy enough to get a two-hour movie made to complete the series. So the news back in 2007 that a new 'webisode' series was in the works was great, and just recently it appeared online - how's that for new life for old series?

April 19 - Sunday is Doomsday?

Some more morning cartoons, the best of which was Batman: The Brave & the Bold... again. Hearkening back to previous days of superhero comics, it is a good fun romp without brooding overtones - much like the old Batman show, but without the camp, odd as that may sound. Afternoon saw me doing the usual around the house, as well as painting a TV stand outside and doing some more yard tidy - MAN, things grow FAST out here, like sentient green carpets! I relaxed in the hottub for a bit, despite neighbours taking advantage of the sunshine to run all sorts of power tools - typical, but that's what earplugs are for.

Some sad news today for authors: one of our greatest, J.G. Ballard, died today. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, have a look at this lovely page here and see why you should pick up a few of his stories soon.

Today was also the Doomsday Sunday Blitz on the History Channel, meaning they played some interesting shows that were right up my alley for apocalyptic shows. One show I had on DVD already: Life After People( and the similar Aftermath: The World Without Humans ). They both posit the same question: what would happen to the Earth if the human race just up and vanished one day? Some excellent CGI and extrapolating techniques are used to show how the passing of years would affect what was left behind and how the planet would adjust to the sudden passing of humanity. Somewhat less impressive was the movie Deep Impact, which also had excellent CGI but a not-so-stellar story.

Warmer weather is moving in, which should be an interesting experience here, as the house does not have any central ducting or air conditioning - which seems to be quite common here in B.C. oddly enough. So, we will be relying on window blinds to keep out direct sun, as well as open windows to catch cool breezes from the lake.

That about does it - my next day off is Tuesday, and it's already looking rather busy... but SUNNY, so I WILL be taking time off outside. Give me a ring anytime!

Shazam, Superheroes and Simultenaity

Well, this is what you get when you combine a day off with being too tired to do more than sit on the couch... a link-heavy blog. Try not to let the monitor tilt forward from the weight...

March 16 - Man Caves?

As some of you know, I have a penchant for the apocalyptic... which is odd, as I have NO desire to try to survive post-holocaust mutant attacks with only roasted rat and crunchy cockroaches for food. Still, there are many ways to destroy the world with science( and even random asteroids )so you never know if something will just creep up on us all unawares...

These days, the phrase 'rec room' seems to have died off, to be replaced with things like 'home theater' or 'family room' or even the ubiquitous 'den' ... any of those describe a place where people gather to relax, to entertain themselves and to socialize.

So where does a Man Cave fit into the above categories? I have to admit, I'd rather tell people we'll be watching a movie in a home theater than a man cave... sounds like a place where one goes to hide from the world. Still, there are TV shows about the subject, and there's debate on which term to use to describe such a place( Man Cave or Manctuary ). Since the term Man Cave has made it into the Urban Dictionary, I guess it will be with us for a while... though hopefully not as long as wassup has been.

Then we have the ultimate Man Cave... well, at least if you're feeling somewhat insecure.

March 17 - Green Day! No, wait a sec...

Happy St. Patrick's Day to y'all... in case you thought you knew all about the holiday, this site has some facts about today's celebrations that perhaps you didn't know. There are a few more by this guy who is odd in his own unique way. A more official site is here, which may be more towards the mainstream taste.... if you're feeling green - I wonder if Oscar The Grouch is Irish?

I guess I have a soft spot for St. Paddy's Day, as my favourite colour is green. Though I don't have as much of a fondness for Oscar The Grouch, despite this excellent pic that my friend Mike made of me as Oscar a little while back. Maybe because I am less of a grouch than I was back then? Hmmm.

Last year, I posted about how McDonald's was bringing back the Shamrock Shake in 2008 "for a limited time" only. Have a look a little further down that page... the ingredients may make your eyes pop and your heart stutter in fear - yikes! Sadly, or perhaps not so sadly, McDonald's did not offer the Shamrock Shake to the public this year... so no memories of minty-green goodness were formed.

I guess that's what all the green beer is supposed to substitute for. Probably better, in the long run... especially in this, the age of the iPhone, where people have created programs like the Green Beer Finder to help thirsty iPhone owners out on St. Paddy's day. My, how the times are a-changin' ... though it's REALLY COOL that iPhone users now have Shazam, an app that can identify ANY song you hear playing simply by holding the iPhone up to the music! Incredible!!!!

March 18 - Super Funny

Almost everyone, at one time or another, has dreamed about having superpowers. This thread here has people talking about what superpowers they would have, if they could have them. Of course, most superhero origins are ones beyond the soon-to-be-hero's control... I can't think of a superhero in any media that chose his/her superpowers; radioactive spiders don't take direction very well, y'know.

And, since today is mid-week hump day, and I can't let a blog entry go baconless, I present... bacon porn! It's family-safe, surprisingly.

Also humping nicely along is Arrested Development... well, the series is. Put it a different way: I'm really enjoying it so far, and that's only the first season... dry, witty humour tossed around zany dysfunctional family units... love it! I'm watching it on my PS2( thanks Rene! )which is working surprisingly well with a DVD remote and looks great on the big screen... sure beats swapping DVD's in and out all the time. Too bad DVD changers were always too expensive... which I guess really isn't too bad after all, as it's lead to media being stored on hard drives and not easily-scratched or lost discs... which have to be swapped out all the time to watch things. The Rise of the PVR, friends... or TiVO in the US: trend, or Evil Plan? You decide.

March 19 - Two Calls at once!

In the midst of work's grinding fatigue, some good news today, somewhat indirectly: Crazy Lady's hubby came in today to send some funds back home... where he apparently is going too! Not that I disliked him, really, but it gives me hope that his wacko wife will follow shortly and so leave my sphere of interaction forever. One can cope... I still have flashbacks of her head starting to spin around, moments away from emitting streams of vomit while voices chanted unholy dirges in the darkening lobby... oh wait, that was from The Exorcist. You get the point.

Some more good timing: as I finished work today, later than I'd have liked( as usual )my just-now turned-back-on cell rang: it was Josh! I'd not managed to talk to him for some time, so I was delighted... except that I was trying to leave and that meant I needed to talk to my security company. So I asked him to call me back in 10 mins and hung up... only to have my phone ring AGAIN before I could dial - would you believe it was BRIAN? Imagine what the odds are that two good friends of mine BOTH decide to call me with ten seconds of each other, after months of no contact?

So that was a nice evening... I managed to talk to both Brian and Josh in detail, which was great given the time difference. Brian and I chatted on Skype, which ran rather well on my laptop... until the router choked - see the entry for the 22nd below on that. All in all, a great end to a crappy day.

March 20 - Watching the weather

Today was the first day of spring, and it was a doozy. Sun, rain, wind... all within an hour's period. I've heard a few of the long-time residents here say "If you don't like the weather in Victoria, wait 30 mins." It's true: living on an island, large as it is, does make for changeable weather. Plus, having the massive heatsinks of the Olympic Mountains to the south keeps things cool sometimes, if the wind is from that direction... brrr! Some people disagree with this assessment however; this one in particular, who like me lived in the Great Lakes region for a long spell before moving to Victoria.

Also, Watchmen opened 2 weeks ago, and apparently hasn't done as well as everyone had expected. Perhaps they should have released this alternate trailer... which has footage from Wall-E set to the music from Watchmen. It clicks rather well, actually... a dark, edgy Wall-E? Come on, you wanna watch it...

March 21 - On Gaming

I was thinking recently that I don't have anyone to game with out here, and that it's been years since I last gamed with a group. My last gaming group kind of fizzled out, for various reasons, and I've missed it - I grew up playing things like DnD, Heroes Unlimited and TMNT. I can see that part of the reason I liked gaming was being able to tell a story as much as participate in one... the interactivity between the storyteller and the audience was very personal and fulfilling, at times. Other times, it was intensely frustrating and quite often boring... but then, life is like that too, right?

There's quite a few things that've been written about gaming, that are out there in the wilds of the 'net. Some are funny, and creative. Others aren't.

Then again, when things get a little TOO nerdy, this happens.

March 22 - On Routers

I went out and purchased a new router today, as I've HAD it with my Belkin N router. Over the past year that I've owned it, it's become increasingly flakier: for no reason, it will lose connection to the 'net and I'll have to reset it. This is VERY annoying when gaming, downloading, surfing... anything, really. So after the router did it to me several times a day for the last week, and didn't respond to ANY of the tech tips I dredged up from various support forums, I packed it in - apparently I'm not the only one who's had issues with this model. Good riddance; I now have a new, expensive doorstop.

The replacement? Not this one by Dlink - while I'd love to splurge on it, I won't use a lot of what it is capable of. Instead, my pre-purchase research led me to the Dlink DIR-655 - not much of a name, but it's a solid router with a lot of good reviews. After a fairly simply setup, getting the other PC's hooked in and the other routers configured was less painful then I had thought, and the results speak for themselves - holy speed increase! If I was a twitch gamer I'd be dancing for joy, for my ping times dropped down into the teens, legitimizing my claim( if I wanted it )as an LPB. Which, back in the early days of cable modems, was around 50ms... snail-slow these days.


TTFN...