Buttons, Balance and (Re)Boot

The word of the week is gratitude.

Nov 24 – Thanks

It occurred to me this week that I haven't said thank you lately.

I'm not the sort of person takes things are granted, but sometimes overlook the obvious. When talking about is you: someone who's dropped by to take a look at the blog this week.

Typically, I get about a dozen to two dozen people checking out the blog every week. Most are having a look at the newest entry, but I do get a fair number of folks who likely randomly land on one of my posts from months or years past. They're not the ones I'm talking about though.

It's those people who come by again and again each week to read what I have to say that I want to thank. While I would write this blog anyway, regardless of whether numbers of people were reading it or not, it does my mind good to know that more than one or two people are eyeballing it on a regular basis.

Thanks for stopping by; it really does mean a lot to me that you're here.

Nov 25 - Skivvies!

Underoos are back!

If you don't know what these wonderful things are, you're likely under the age of 30 or just couldn't be bothered to remember when you saw them in the stores as a kid. They were pretty hard to miss, however:

 

As a young lad, I never actually owned a pair of these, as they were rather expensive, or least that's what my perception was. I would've gladly owned a pair of Spiderman Underoos, but that never really materialized; I can't complain though, as I made out like a bandit in many other material ways as a kid. 

Even so, Underoos remained on my list of ‘Always Wanted, Never Had’ to this day. But just like the original Green Machine, I thought I would be too big for them now…

Well, I was wrong, and happily so:

While there’s not a lot of selection right now, here's hoping that sales are brisk and that the temptation of piles of money being poured over the manufacturer Hot Topics leads to new lines of Adult Underoos soon.

I’ll be the first in line for Spiderman!

This is not me, but a very close replica - note the books!

Nov 26 – ReBoot!

One of my favorite shows of all time is returning to television!

ReBoot, the first CGI-animated television show, debuted back in the 1990s and remains one of my favorite animated shows ever. Late in the second season of its run, the writing suddenly became far richer and deeper as the show found its feet and I was sucked in instantly.

After three full seasons and two TV-movie specials( which only rarely aired )ReBoot essentially disappeared from the airwaves and was even hard to find on DVD for many years. For that same amount of time, fans despaired of ever seeing any sort of sequel or, if you'll pardon the awful pun, a reboot of ReBoot. Until this week, when this showed up:

While there is a much more detail than the image above and reassurance from the studio, Rainmaker, that the show is indeed going forward, it's absolutely fantastic news all the same.

Given the computer technology that we have now compared to the 1990s, I am practically bouncing up and down on the edge of my seat contemplating what may grace the screen in the near future. Even if most of the main characters only make passing appearances, it will be a huge step forward from the vacuum that has been the ReBoot universe for the last 10 years.

I come from the net…

Nov 27 – Overclocking

A few weeks ago, I pushed a dangerous button…

Metaphorically speaking, that is: I actually just clicked a virtual button on my computer and made it faster. It was surprisingly simple and something Anthony need do for a while now.

Overclocking is something that can be done to most computer systems, though it's not recommended as there's the potential for damaging or destroying your equipment. Most overclocking is done by gamers, who pushed the limits of the systems cooling abilities in order to eke out the maximum speed available. If it's done wrong, you end up with a puff of smoke and a very expensive paper weight that used to be your computer.

For the longest time, I resisted overclocking my current desktop system, as there is no way I could afford to replace it if I screwed up the attempt. As it turns out, waiting turned out to be the key: the software available from the manufacturers website for overclocking advanced to the point where it could be used by someone with as limited knowledge as myself. I am no expert when it comes to overclocking and being able to just tweak a few settings and push the ‘Apply’ button was extremely freeing in terms of getting over my extreme hesitation of taking that final step.

Now that my system has been running stably for a few weeks, I can breathe out a final sigh of relief. In general, I've noticed a speed increase of about 25%, which is quite noticeable: programs open faster and I do a lot less waiting overall, which helps me make better use of my more limited time each day. There hasn't been any substantial heat increase, thanks to the excellent heat sink I invested in several years ago along with the half a dozen fans that provide airflow in the system.

If and when I decide to upgrade the computer or replace it in the future, I'll be less hesitant to overclock, as I can see that methods have matured quite a lot from where they were back in 2008 or so. While it's still possible to fry a CPU by doing something really stupid while overclocking, it's far less likely now thanks to the safeties built into the software available nowadays - not to mention guides for newbies like this one.

My patience has been rewarded in this case, it seems!

Nov 28 – The Force Awakens!

There was some incredible Star Wars news yesterday!

A trailer for The Force Awakens was released, quickly making the rounds of every imaginable social media outlet. While it was brief, it was memorable and most importantly: it absolutely embodied the ‘magic’ of Star Wars. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out:

Immediately, rampant speculation as to what each of the brief tantalizing glimpses of various scenes meant for the Star Wars universe. There were some pretty interesting things presented: new stormtroopers, the Millennium Falcon under attack and a Sith with a triblade lightsaber… lots of fodder for fans.

Typically, it didn't take long for people to add their own spend to the images and the trailer, to come up with humorous takes, like the one below:

Sith Army Knife, Lightsaber Edition

Then... here's what the trailer would look like if George Lucas had got his hands on it for a Special Edition Release:

I am practically beside myself with anticipation and I'm doing everything I can not to read any spoilers on what the movie is going to be about. I want to be as surprised and thrilled as I was when I saw the original Star Wars movies for the first time and in this, the age of the Internet Spoiler, that's a tall order.

Maybe I should go into seclusion until they release the movie?

Nov 29 – Wobbly Weekend

I barely made it through today, as I had quite a difficult start to it.

While meeting a friend for breakfast at 9 AM, I found my 14 hour day yesterday had left me utterly exhausted and I could barely walk around due to my fatigue. Taking things slowly, I nibbled on nutritious and energetic snacks until it was time to meet my parents for lunch to celebrate my father's birthday today. I felt better after having a chicken Caesar salad, which gave me enough energy to get through the afternoon with the addition of a brief nap which I sorely needed and which didn't do much more than keep me going.

My evening was spent first at gaming, which I was determined to attend as I'd missed the last two sessions. It turned out to be a very social evening, with the group simply acting out encounters with a caravan that we’d run across and later on heading into town. It was a lively session with much laughter and while I was still quite tired by the time it ended, I had really enjoyed myself.

Then there was a quick stop at a birthday party that I've been invited to out to Langford, courtesy of a ride from a friend and 15 min. later I was on my way home. I hit the hay around midnight, extremely pleased to have made it through the day and feeling quite overdue for a long rest.

Weirdly, I dreamed about a very busy day shopping; the subconscious is strange, sometimes.

Nov 30 – Less Wobbly

I worked my first overtime shift for the government today, which went all right.

The morning wasn't so great, as I was still feeling quite woozy and exhausted. Again I nibbled energetic snacks all morning to add to the oatmeal I'd had for breakfast and by the afternoon I was feeling somewhat normal. I didn't have the energy to focus on invoices today so instead I simply stuffed envelopes, which was actually perfect for how I was feeling: I did need to concentrate overmuch and the repetition did a lot of good in keeping me from noticing how tired I was. The office was almost empty today, as only dozen people had volunteered for overtime today to help us catch up with month-end; it was still a rare thing to be able to work on a Sunday and that's why I stuck with it instead of simply dozing all day long at home - for no additional pay.

My earnest desire is for this coming week to be free of fatigue, where I can go to work in the morning without feeling like I've pulled a five-pub bender the night before. I'm really trying to get a handle on why I’m feeling so out of sorts: it could be any of a half-dozen things that my doctor is checking out, so for the moment I just have to do what I can to moderate my energy levels and not worry too much about why am feeling so crappy. 

It's puzzling and worrying to me that I show no sign of having a cold, yet I'm dizzy in the mornings and late evenings despite having eaten regularly and well all day long without over doing it. I can't put it down to stress or any other factor that comes to mind, so I'm just going to have to wait until I can get a firm answer from my doctor - for all I know I'm just experiencing symptoms of low blood pressure and need to just rest more.

Wish me luck for the coming week!

That's all I've got for you right now; I barely made it through some days last week and you are you know what happened the week before that when I ended up stuck on a couch with no energy for an entire weekend. I have five full days of work this week, along with other commitments and I'm determined to see all of them through as best I can - we'll see if my body agrees with me on that. Right now, it's 10:30pm and I'm utterly beat, so: seeya!

Digital Discoveries, Dinky Digs and Dolls

The word of the week is renewal.

Nov 17 - Back To Normal

Not much happened this week, surprisingly.

I was back to work today and got through it all right, feeling only a touch tired by day’s end. Seeing as a good portion of my job on phones is relating information to people and advising them in a general way about policies and procedures, there's not a lot of mental gymnastics going on, which I appreciate. I certainly don't leave for home feeling like I've been put through a wringer, even on the busier days and that really helps to preserve my creative energies.

My writing group has become a familiar fixture in terms of sociability, meeting every few weeks on Monday nights like tonight. However, this evening I actually had off, as my critique group has decided to take a break for November and December and regroup in January. I'll be sending them sequential chapters from the first draft of Book 2, which makes sense considering the feedback I've been receiving on the third draft of Book 1: I want to ensure that I am continuing the story in the same footsteps and not missing anything vital from the reader's perspective.

So far, the feedback on the third draft has come in only from a few folk; out of the 13 copies I had printed, I've received detailed notes from only three people. It’s my hope that sometime early in the new year that I will start to get feedback from the rest of the folks I sent the book out to this past August.

Until then, I'll just keep plugging away at my writing – Muse permitting.

Nov 18 – INTO THE FIRE, AT LAST!

I never thought I'd see this day!

Beyond hope, a lost treasure from the past has appeared on the Internet! The playable Alpha demo of Into The Fire, the unreleased Babylon 5 space combat simulator from 1998, was posted publicly for download today!

I have a treasured mousepad with this image on it!

This game was supposed to be the ultimate space combat simulator of its day, created by the then much-vaunted Sierra Studios… who for the most trivial of reasons cancelled the game mere months before it was released. They went into a long decline after some bad decisions and only recently came back to the industry. It’s a sad story, made more so because the studio refused to sell the rights to the game long after it was no longer worth anyone's time to try to pick up where the designers had left off more than a decade ago and so the game vanished into history.

Until today. Have a look at what could have been:

I’ve downloaded the demo and have yet to install it, as I'm working through the instructions to ensure that I don't mess anything up: it’s an Alpha build and as such there's a few things to get straight before I can play it. However, it doesn't look to be too difficult to pull off and I'm itching to play a game that, to be honest, I never thought would ever be loaded on my computer.

How's that for wishes coming true?

Nov 19 – That’s … small!

This is perhaps the tiniest apartment I've ever seen.

Located in Paris, this apartment is less than 100 ft.² in size but it packs everything that a single person can need for life in the City Of Lights. Considering how costly living in Paris is, minimizing one's living expenses is vital to actually being able to enjoy life there.

Tiny apartment in Paris (8sqm only) from Kitoko Studio on Vimeo.

After watching the video, I did wonder why the apartment’s owner didn't have any shelves above head height on the bare walls, to make use of even that much spare space for storage. I would think that even with minimalist lifestyle, there would still be a need to have as much storage as possible, otherwise it would be more like living in a hotel room than one's own home. You can read more about the project from its designers here; I did pick up a few more tidbits, like the fact that if you live alone in a small apartment in Paris, the government will actually give you a not-inconsequential subsidy – not bad, for those who like their solitude and tiny apartments!

Too bad I don’t speak the language; to live in Paris, well… c’est tres bon, non?

Nov 20 – Fan Fest and Workshop Photos

Sorry about the delay.

I’ve finally put together two photo albums of my trip to New York last month and figured out what I wanted to do in order to share them. Here they are:

The Jim Henson Company NYC Workshop Tour 2014

The Dark Crystal Fan Festival at BAM NYC 2014

It's taken a little longer, because I wasn't sure what photo sharing service I wanted to use. I needed something that would allow me to easily upload pictures AND add descriptions to them, which you can't do with simple Dropbox links. I also couldn't link to the almost-identical FBook albums that I've created, as my privacy settings don't allow those to be viewed publicly.

In the end, I decided to go with Flickr, for several reasons: they offer 1 terabyte of free storage and the rights 12 pictures remain with me, the originator. For some time, I've been concerned that any photos I uploaded to photo sharing sites could possibly be used for commercial purposes without my consent, as that consent would be implied by the site’s Terms Of Use.

Flickr does make it quite clear about the photo rights remaining with their users by default and I was comfortable enough reading that to create the albums today. I might end up creating some more albums in the future, as the massive free space Flickr offers as well as the simple interface means I can share quite a few photos easily rather than trying to post them through Fbook or other, clunkier interfaces.

Enjoy the photos!

Nov 21 – Dollhouse, Phones and Clones

This was supposed to happen last week, as I was feeling rather unwell, I pushed things out until tonight. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself: I should mention that work today was rather slow. Our computer systems were being upgraded, meaning that save for myself and two other people answering phones, nobody else had access to the databases, so it was a skeleton crew in a mostly-empty office today. Our phone message indicated that we wouldn't be able to do much for callers, so we had a vastly reduced number of people actually ringing through and for the most part I dealt with mail today rather than people on the phone, which was a nice change of pace.

Heading home, I tidied up the place a little, as I was having company over tonight. A friend of mine wanted to introduce me to the underrated TV series Dollhouse, which as one of Joss Wheden’s works I'd of course heard of but not really had make it onto my radar.

Fortunately, my friend had noted this lack and as a fan of the series they insisted that I tried out for a few episodes while they sat nearby and tried not to explode with glee as they watch my reactions - positive ones, as it turned out. While I found that Dollhouse had some similarities to the earlier Alias series by J.J Abrams, these were only superficial and Dollhouse definitely has its own vibe. I'm quite excited to see what the rest of the season has in store and it looks like my Friday nights are going to be well-spent,as I also introduced my friend to The Clone Wars, much of which I haven't seen myself.

It's good to have friends like that, don't you think?

Nov 22 – Retail Workaday Redux

It was another day at my old job today - a really nice one, as it turned out.

Seeing as I missed last week’s Saturday shift due to my fun with sugar, today was my first full shift at Staples in over 2 months. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised when the day passed both easily and quickly, in large part due to the fact that I was extremely relaxed on the job compared to how I was in early 2014. The place was extremely busy for a few hours at a time, not unexpected for this time of year and as usual I managed to get all too little done apart from dealing with customers, but that was actually alright as I really enjoyed just interacting with people and garnered quite a few compliments today for my efforts.

 

This is probably having TOO much fun at work...

It really is strange in some ways to work in retail. Apart from my legs aching due to being on my feet for hours on end which I'm unaccustomed to now, not really giving a fwoof about meeting sales targets or goals set by others allows me to actually enjoy the job for all the positives that it can bring when one isn't stressing out about being let go for some silly reason. Not taking it seriously is one thing, but setting aside the inconsequential for the social is perhaps the best way I can describe how I feel about the position now. Working only a couple of times a month also has summoned to do with it: I am a little out of touch with things. While I'm an experienced employee, I am in no way pushing the envelope in terms of my job performance anymore - it's barely a second job that I'm keeping, for now.

I'm okay with that.

There was no gaming tonight with my Pathfinder group, so I spent a few hours visiting with my parents who came into town to help me run a few errands. It was great to catch up with some, reminding me of our early days here in Victoria when I'd spend a few hours with them every other day or so, having dinner or shopping for necessities or just being social. Now that I'm regularly employed and don't have to worry nearly as much about my family’s well-being, I hope that I'll be able to spend some more time with them on a regular basis, working around my busier schedule socially and professionally to make better use of my time to visit with them.

That's important to me; it always has been, really.

Nov 23 - A New Week Is Nigh

It's time to say goodbye - to my old phone, that is.

My sister has decided that she'd like to try out my old Samsung Galaxy S3, to see if it can meet her needs. I did warn her about its unusual hunger for batteries: with the main battery and a spare as well as a handy charger, she believed she can make it work for and it would be a substantial upgrade in hardware from her Samsung Galaxy S2 model, which is almost 4 years old by now. So for a little while this morning, I ‘scrubbed down’ my S3, removing almost 200 apps and resetting a lot of its functions; I didn't want to Factory Restore the phone, as that would have meant a lot of unnecessary updating as the unit still works just fine overall, apart from the known thirst for power - electrical, not political, thankfully.

I took the afternoon off to visit a friend on the other side of town, cycling into a rather brisk headwind and enjoying the exercise in the unexpected sunshine. We chatted on their patio, a pleasant spot off a secondary road, sharing our writing experiences and generally g33king out. Tea and low-sugar treats were enjoyed, laughs were exchanged and a good time was had by all, even after the sun dipped behind a building and things went all chilly fast-like.

It felt like this, really...

All in all, it was a good day off. I'm definitely feeling centered now, able to get through a workday without carrying anything with me into the evening or the weekends. I hope that any day now my Muse will stir, tapping me on the shoulder and tell me that it's time to seriously dig into writing again. It's been a very long dry spell these last few months, with little actual progress on my trilogy and once I hear my characters knocking at the doors inside my head, wanting to talk again.

That should be any day now.

 The week ahead looks to be a busy one, where I have something going on every evening after work - very unusual for me, especially as not a one of those things is writing-related. I should end up hitting the weekend at a run, hopefully to relax again!