Time, Talking and Trade-ins

This week's blog was delayed due to family - my sister is visiting this week, and darn it if I just did not have time yesterday to finish things up. So there. :)


April 20 - Wheel of Time(-lieness)

The news back in 2007 that Robert Jordan( nee James Oliver Rigney, Jr. )had died shocked a lot of Wheel of Time fans. The massive series, which I have been following since its inception back in 1990( wow, has it been THAT long? )has had some exciting news last month: the announcement that the final book A Memory of Light will be broken up into THREE books, totalling nearly 1 million words. Finally, an end is in sight, and it looks like one that will satisfy the many WOT fans out there. Well, most of them, anyway... those who haven't become dazed and confused somewhere along the massive journey that is the WOT series.

Thankfully, legions of fans out there have managed to create concise Plot Summaries for every chapter of every book, which you can peruse in case you haven't read any of the books in recent years. Another good place is the WOT FAQ, which has sections on almost every question you can think of regarding plot or character. You can also visit the official DragonMount Forums, where quite a few ideas are posted and being chewed over on a daily basis. The best place to go for following plot threads is Encyclopaedia WOT, where a visual 'plot thread tree' at the bottom of each book chapter list shows WHICH chapter in each book touches on a particular thread. This amazing feature means you can follow a particular plot thread through EACH chapter from book to book, start to finish... which is damned handy considering the sheer size and scope of the series.

April 21 - Mucho MMO's

Those of you who peruse this blog on a regular basis( love ya folks! Stay the course! )know that I am a fan of MMORPG's... but that I do not subscribe to any. Which is odd, as subscriptions are the basis for any successful online gaming community to succeed, making money for the company releasing it. Many an MMO has fallen by the wayside over the years, while a few such as WoW have continued to remain successful - it's a numbers game, and there aren't THAT many people out there with tons of free time to kill every week playing an elf running around collecting l00t.

MMORPG.com is a good place to go to get an idea of what's already out there and what's slated to come down the pipe in the near future. It also has a ton of info about less mainstream MMO's, of which of course I love any that are free to play. The site also contains some good blogs concerning MMO's, like Vicarious Existence, which has recently looked at how hype helps sell new MMO's. One little game I may jump into is Galaxy Online, which looks to be in the style of the old Star Control series of games for the PC, with the added strategic depth of an MMO - looks cool, may stink, in other words. Ever since the days of Tradewars( which is still online in various forms adapted for the internet )there has been a deluge of space strategy games - the most recent contenders for the crown are Jumpgate: Evolution and Eve: Online... neither of which is big on actually stepping OUT of your cool spaceship to get your feet dirty. In fact, despite its popularity, Eve is NOT a game for those who enjoy space combat - it is more about corporate trading, as this great little article explains.

April 22 - Red Versus Blue... bacon?

All right, all right... I chose the losing side in the HD-DVD( red box )vs Blue-Ray( blue box )war, I admit it. While I still believe HD-DVD was the better technology, the market decided otherwise and I have to live with my decision... and my collection that cost me some fair change. Now, there comes news that Warner has started a trade-in program for HD-DVD owners who want to go Blue-Ray - great news for people who want to jump the fence to the 'winning' side.

Not to be confused with Red Vs. Blue, which is a long-running machinima series based on a dysfunctional squad of troopers from the Halo universe. Damned funny too - you can find almost all the episodes here at Machima.com, all of which can be viewed full-screen.

Speaking of good ideas, how about this one: wrapping your iPhone in bacon. No, it's not real bacon, but a very realistic facsimile of our Fave Food in case form. Perhaps if you combined it with Bacon Spray, you could get a little closer to a non-greasy, preservative-free non-organic bacon case. Yum!

Can you tell I like bacon? *grin*

April 23 - On Blogging

Previously, I have written in this blog about, well... blogs. Coming up with new and timely postings every week is not easy without falling into a retreading rut. Unless you live a life on the run, Twittering your way though your day, getting new material for your blog is not all that easy.

ProBlogger.com has an article on how to come up with new material for your blog, so you can aspire to appearing on the Top 100 Blog List. While you may not be as popular as Neil Gaimon's blog, you can perhaps steal some eyeballs from Icanhazcheeseburger.com... and in the process give a few of them grammar lessons.

Myself, I am writing for my friends who might want to know what I am up to way out here, as well as my thoughts on various subjects near and dear to my daily life. When nothing much comes up in regards to Daily Life, I put in some Near and Dear. Which has worked fairly well, so far!

April 24 - Yo Joe!

Something of note today though: the creators of Bacon Salt appeared on Oprah today, via Skype. Talk about major celebrity endorsements... Oprah's audience of millions are already shooting the sales of Bacon Salt through the roof. I wonder if those millions know they ALSO make Baconaise?

Towards midnight, I watched G.I. Joe: Resolute on Teletoon, which was a totally new take on the much-beloved toy-driven Hasbro series from the 80's. This was not for kids however: the guns in this version missed a lot less, and the blood was front and center when they hit. I imagine it was aimed squarely at the grown-up kids from the 80's, such as myself... and I liked what I saw. Considering the long history of G.I. Joe, I hope that Resolute brings things to a new level and keeps the theme alive - considering that almost every north american male has at one time owned a G.I. Joe toy, it's a huge market.

April 25 - Ubuntu!

Another Not-Much-Save-Working Saturday, most of which I spent working the evening shift at the Colwood branch. Despite some annoyances, it was a good shift, especially since I had no last-minute doorcrashers like last week to delay me.

It seems that my old PC is not quite up to the task of running a NWN server within the parameters my project group is setting. So I spent a little time tonight putting in a spare hard drive and installing the latest version of Ubuntu, which in case you were not aware is a very popular easy-to-use version of the Linux operating system. Linux, besides being free( and open-source, meaning thousands of people around the world work on improving it on their own time )makes far better use of computer resources than any other OS, including Windows. Hopefully that extra 'leanness' will make the difference in getting things going for the project in the next few months, once it is all set up. And once I learn how to run Ubuntu... which won't be TOO long, thanks to this excellent FREE guide!

April 26 - Yard Talkin'

More yardwork today, in the lovely sunny weather. The lawn had been begging to be cut the last few weeks, but the weather had not co-operated until today. I despaired of using the massive gas-powered mower in the garage, as the fumes and noise from those things really bother me. So I went down to the local Canadian Tire and bought a reel mower, after doing some research at the LawnMowerGuide.com about some other alternatives. The mower( by Yardworks )was inexpensive and it was assembled in only a few minutes. It took me only a few passes to get the hang of it, so from there it went rather smoothly despite the bumpy nature of the lawn and was no harder to push than a regular heavy cordless or gas-powered mower. The cut was excellent too: the scissoring action is kinder to the grass tips than a duller powered blade would be, keeping the grass healthier.

I used the new version of Dragon Naturally Speaking again tonight, and really enjoyed it - it runs VERY well on my new laptop, compared to the old Blue Frankenstein of a PC I had run the previous version on. The speed is incredible, though the accuracy is still around 98% but training and correction will improve that considerably. There are a ton of other things you can do with it as well, depending on the application - I like the voice commands the best: tell your PC what to do, and off it goes! I love new tech. :-)


Well, my sister is visiting us this week all the way from Banff, AB, so I should really finish this off and close down the laptop for the evening. TTYL all!

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!

Who, What, When?

By the time you read this, the blog should have passed 1000 hits - remarkable, really, as that's about 2.1 hits a day for the last 18 months. Which incidentally, is how long I have now been in B.C. ... 'nuff said, the blog below awaits! And it is not bacon-free.

April 6 - Web Newz Iz Bttr?

A few times a week I pop in and check on io9.com, where I find news tidbits faster than say, watching SpaceNews on cable. Other places I like to stop in from time to time are AintItCool.com, ToplessRobot.com, BoingBoing.net as well as looking at what's new at WorthPlaying.com and GameSpot for my video game habits... which of late have been rather minimal. No time spent, really - my thumbs thank me. However, this image makes my stomach NOT thank me... and no, it's not gory or disgusting in any way, having come from BoingBoing.net.

And apparently this Sc-Fi news is NOT an April Fool's joke from last week. Good, or bad?

April 7 - Time travel Clockz

Time travel: everyone wants to do it, yet it still remains out of reach... for now. Unless you are Doctor Who, it just isn't possible to go back and fix that bad day you've just suffered through. Though according to current physics, you CAN visit the future if you go fast and far enough... and have a really, really good navigator. If you DO manage to find yourself travelling the timestream, make sure you have a Time Machine Cheat Sheet handy - you never know when you will need it. And if all that makes your head spin, you can just sit down and build this really cool-looking LED clock. Snazzy!

Clocks, well then...this is an old favourite clock site of mine. Another fave topic: Alarm clocks are a necessary evil, but they don't have to be. These clocks are very different, but they all contain an element of fun. And maybe a few radioactive elements too.

April 8 - Tech Progrezz

I have always kept an eye out for new ways to use personal computers, be they 3d headsets or programs for improving your desktop workspace, like Project Looking Glass. While most just pretty up a Windows desktop or extend it( like 360Desktop ), there is a new app out there called BumpTop that aims to do more. Since almost every new(-er )computer has powerful 3d video capabilities, it makes sense to take that confined 2d desktop and open it up with the new generation of hardware into a three-dimensional experience. I've been using it for a few weeks now and while not perfect, it is a fun and liberating experience - makes the 'old desktop' seem clunky by compare, though this idea for a 2d desktop app tickles my fancy somewhat.

On another tech note, the new router seems to be working beyond my initial expectations - in addition to great speed and configurability, I can get a full-strength signal on the back deck, which was something the other router couldn't manage - read my scathing review of that junkbox here. As well, the new router has a USB port on the back with SharePort technology, which means I can plug in my plethora of exteral USB drives and share their data wirelessly - recorded TV on the laptop, at last!

April 9 - Love Smellz Like...?

Today the Toronto Star ran an article that confirms what I have long suspected: when love is involved, the brain turns off - have a read through, then see this older related article here.

Not to be confused with Love Stinks, one of my more favourite songs... or the smelly mess that seems to be Victoria's( dirty little )Secret. Honestly, I had NO idea when I moved out to Vancouver Island that some basic things were so lacking... but at least I haven't notice any smells, yet.

Speaking of smells: who wouldn't want to wake up to the smell of fresh sizzling bacon?

Well, now you can, thanks to this!

And if that wasn't enough, CrazyAboutGadgets.com has a ton of things that you only used to see in such quality stores as Radio Shack, The Sharper Image or The Den For Men. Now, it's all online... which means you can't play with it in the store before buying, to see how flimsy the plastic really is on most things.

April 10 - The New Store

Just a shorter shift today, since the Millstream branch was only 11-7 for the Good Friday holiday. I just love the fact that it is less than a five minute drive from my home here in Langford - I can wake up late and STILL get to work on time! The good weather is almost here, so I will be checking out how long it will take by bike, once I feel up to it after May 29th as well.

The new branch is quite a change for me, in many ways. While I cannot go into specific details, I can talk about a few things: that there is no glass between the customers and I. This makes for a far friendlier atmosphere, though I do miss the sneeze guard / smell shield, which worked both ways. That there is no cash in the store that isn't stored in a large computer-controlled box that, creepily, reminds me of something from 2001. Put a glowing red eye on it and you'd have... well, you know.

I also had a customer tell me today that things for them weren't going so well, as they'd just... moved back in with the parents. Now, it was a young woman, a few years younger than me, and I thought "Wow, I wonder how society views that." Women at home? No issues. Men at home? Issues. Double standards, y'all.

April 11 - Sunshiny Saturday!

The clouds held off for today, shockingly - the sun sprang out and did its best to warm things up and for the most part succeeded.

I took a walk a little after noon, down to the massive CanWest shopping area here in Langford which is only 15 minutes by sneaker. While not the Pen Centre in size, the mall area still has a good selection of stores, in addition to being surrounded by big-box stores like Canadian Tire, Rona and yes, even a WalMart. I zeroed in on the A&W for lunch, as I can still enjoy their chicken grill which I have not had in several years. What I didn't enjoy: the price of nearly $10.00 for the combo... yikes! While inflation is something we all have to live with, it really comes to the fore when you haven't had a product or service for some time, and the price is a LOT more than you remember.

Back from the walk, it was still gorgeous out, so I did a little yardwork. Three hours of it... amazing what needs doing when you look a little more closely. I transplanted whole bunches of tulips from a dilapidated planter in the middle of the upper driveway to the front garden. I cleaned up the driveway itself, which was littered with dozens and dozens of pine cones, giving it a diseased look - ick. I also tided up the front and rear yards, getting rid of fallen branches, leaf piles and other debris. It was great to just get out and get my hands dirty.

Finally, here are some pictures of the place, since the weather cooperated today. The last one has our cat Tristan enjoying the deck too, as there are no gaps he can wriggle through:





April 12 - No Bunnies on Easter

For some odd reason, Sunday mornings are better for cartoons than Saturdays - can it be that the old tradition of the Saturday Morning Cartoon is shifting demographics? Hmmm... not likely, it's probably just me. In any case, I enjoyed my morning relax immensely, the more so because of the rain that was drifting down outside - I say drifting, as it made no noise I could hear on the roof. Quite different from rain back in Ontario, which scrabbles noisily at shingles and windows with hard pattering fingers.

Happily, the indoor time paid off, as I managed to get my NWN server to become visible to the world... something it was apparently loathe to do for the last few weeks. Some creative use of static IP's plus a whole lot of trial and error, but it works now, so the project can move forward.

My parents and I shared our Easter dinner in the early evening with our downstairs neighbour, who was quite impressed with the spread. We again went with the stuffed turkey roll, for ease of preparation and lack of too-many leftovers - it is the Just Right size for four people to feel comfortably full. While the religious overtones of the holiday were wasted on me, I still felt that it was important to take the time to appreciate my family - none of us are getting any younger, and as we all age more and more health problems crop up. Par for the course... but still something you don't think about much in your twenties.

After dinner, we watched Ratatouille - a strange experience, as my parents apparently remember seeing a different version sometime in the last 2 years since its release in theatres back in the summer of 2007. It is a lovely film, which looked great and sounded even better in my Man Cave... despite my unfortunate aftereffects from such a rich meal. Ah well... May is coming soon enough.

Toodles - I need sleep.

Friends, Fools and Floppies

We passed 900 hits today on The One, The Only... Blog!

March 30 - MoN-DaY Off

My good friend Mike has created a link to The Jinx Project which he will be covering during its creation in a Production Journal, to culminate in a finished animated short by Christmas 2009. I am thrilled to see Mike finally being able to pursue this project that he has talked about for some time, and will wait with bated breath to see the final glorious production. Check out his website too, at MikeHogue.com... tons of great stuff there!

In case some of you don't already know, Brian has also posted a site containing some of his amazing artistic work - check it out at BrianThomasWoods.com!

Unfortunately, not much went on today as I spent most of my day off installing a railing, several door bolts and some replacement cabinet lights. The lights took up the most time, as the display cabinet I now have used the stupidest style of halogen lights - little bulbs with two fragile metal socket pins that are impossible to get into place without bending or eventually snapping. So I snapped too, went down to Home Depot and came back with a set of replacement under-counter light pucks that went in after I removed the useless old ones. Not perfect, but now at least I can replace the bulbs more easily AND the cabinet is brighter, to better show off my selection of collectibles in a dust-free environment. Argh...

On the bright side, I got a last-minute call from one of my former neighbours: it was her boyfriend's birthday and they would love to have me down at May St. to celebrate. So I headed out into a dark, rainy night to drive the 20 minutes to Victoria, and was rewarded with a light, happy few hours basking in the company of good people. I even managed to work in some speedy YouTube video searches at the end, though my performance could not match my last evening spent at Pierre & Faith's place before I left Niagara in late 2007. A good night - with mini apple pies made from local-grown apples right here on Vancouver Island.

March 31 - Beating Family Cancer

One of my cousins has been battling breast cancer for the last few months, since it was diagnosed by a routine exam. I have been amazed at her strength and positive attitude, for she has gone through a lot in an incredibly short period of time. We are all happy here that she is pulling through, and that the internet has allowed the family to remain constantly updated as to her status, moreso than any phone calls might have done. Kudos to the doctors and their treatments... which in Canada won't put you in debt for the rest of your now-spared life.

My money tree seems to be doing well, even though the light here is not the same intensity as it was getting in the window at May St. The official name is Pachira Aquatica, an asian swamp plant which can apparently grow up to nearly 60ft tall in the wild and has been a popular ornamental plant only since 1986. Who knew I was being trendy? I wonder if anyone grows kite-eating trees...

April 1st - Foolish

April Fool's Day... and I had nobody to enjoy a little joke with at work. Last year, I sent around a tiny hoax about a group of scammers dressed as clowns trying to pass bad cheques. This year? Nada.

I always like to check up on how the world is doing by logging into NewsOfTheWeird.com, where you can get your fill of seeing how people manage to mess up reality, large or small.

Another site for odd happenings is at Canoe.ca here you can satisfy your cravings for odd news from around the world. My favourite one to date is

This idea started out as an April Fool's joke, but apparently there was an overwhelming response of people wanting to buy. Just goes to show that sometimes the joke is on the joker.

April 2 - And you thought I'd forgotten!

No joke here: what would the blog be without bacon? In this case, we're talking Squeez Bacon, an invention from( of all places )Sweden... not somewhere I would have picked for bacon know-how.

Thoughts...

Nope. Not this week. Too tired from work, really. Lots going on and frankly, I spend about 11 hours most days away from home, so just BEING at home is enough to make me want to nap on the nearest couch. Not feeling well most days doesn't help, but I DID get some good news today: my gall bladder operation is a go. I go under the knife( scalpel? )May 29th, and so will finally be able to remove THAT little medical issue from my checklist.

I hope it will take the nausea with it when it goes. I really, really do.

If not, then it's back to trial, error and elimination - in more ways than one.

April 3 - Positive Day

I headed into Victoria early this morning, so I could have breakfast at the Shine Cafe on Fort St( their website appears to be down ). I dug into a half-stack of apple cinnamon pancakes, which were delicious and in such quantity that I couldn't finish them in the time I had before needing to be at work. I ate there today because this will be my second-last day at the branch; I am being moved to the Millstream location, which is going to be interesting as it is a glassless location. Makes my fingers twitch just thinking about it as I type.

However, today turned out to be a really good day at work, for many reasons. It was bright & sunny out, so I think that helped a lot. Also, most of the people who came in were regulars, whom I have been telling about my branch transfer as I see them - the nice ones, anyway, and there's a surprisingly large number of those who said they would miss me or even come out to see me when they were in the Millstream area. It was great day, despite the long hours I have spent this week catching things up to hand over the branch to its new manager this weekend. Tired but happy.

Our head office here also received a spectacularly positive customer comment about me today too... it practically glowed when I read it( more than a few times! )with the phrase "If he were my employee, I have no doubt my business would flourish," standing out. The comment was picked up on by the head honcho for all the BC stores and sent out across Canada, with the notation that "This is the kind of positive feedback we want people to give when they come into MMart as customers." Tickled, I was, really... as it's so rare for such comments to be made; a hundred people will take the time to complain than just one to send in a positive note.

Which are you?

April 4 - Floppy what?

Sometimes I feel a little nostalgic about tech, like when I look at my old PC and see there's still a floppy disk drive in it - newer computers are almost all diskless, with even DVD's eventually going to vanish when some new and better flash medium comes along. Still, some tech ideas refuse to die... and my old favourite is on that list - see if you can figure out which of the 25 it is.

Saturdays... y'know, I cannot recall the last time I had a Saturday off without consulting my work calendar. I just don't seem to do things anymore on Saturdays... not that I did much this last year on Saturdays, but thinking about it now, I am going to browse through my blog and see what stands out.

I know I didn't watch a lot of cartoons, that's for sure.

April 5 - 16 hours of Relaxation!

I started the day out right today: Josh called, and before we knew it 45 mins had ticked by while we caught up on things.

Part of my day was spent outside, sitting on the deck and just enjoying the weather - turned out to be 16 degrees C out there mid-afternoon, plus warmth from lovely sunny skies. I even had my cat wandering around the deck, enjoying the weather in perfect safety with no gaps in the railings for him to try wot wriggle through. A few hummingbirds also stopped by, sounding like giant-size wasps as they buzzed in for a drink from the sugar-water feeders.

Other parts of my day were used up working on this new NWN project with a few people... made possible by today's advances in communication. While one of my friends was remotely accessing my old PC to get things installed, I was conferencing with a few others over MSN about various details. Turns out one of those folk has spent 3 years in university taking Game Design, and I cannot believe our luck that he's willing to spend so much of his time helping to shape the initial Design Document to spell out how this new world will be built. It's just lovely to work on this with such talented, energetic people... I only wish we could all pay ourselves for our time, but I guess that's why it's called a labour of love.

I finished off the day by alternatively working on my blog and finally watching The Dark Knight, where I have to say I was impressed with Heath Ledger's final performance. It was a well-deserved Oscar win, and I am sad that it had to be posthumous.

Ta for now!

TC3, TDI and TNG

After fighting with my PC yesterday, I spent today( Mon )doing a ton of necessary handy-fixy things around the house today, which took up far too $%#@! much of my day off. Hence the late-evening blog.


March 23 - Say, wasn't that whatshername...?

Apparently my previous Destroy the World with Science blog section wasn't up to some ppl's standards. So, this week I present their choice on how to go about it, as well as a rather more in-depth list of 11 items, 6 fall-back methods and 8 not-so-probable alternatives. Take that, mother earth! And for those of you not wanting to wait for one of the methods listed above, you can always destroy the earth... with a coffee can. Who knew?

On a lighter note: just in case you missed it from last week, here's the Code Monkey video by Jonathan Coulton - I've had the tune in my head for the past 7 days, so you've been warned.

Now that I have cable TV again, I've been noticing some things while watching it. Have you ever wondered "Hey, haven't I seen that person before?" when watching a commercial? Obviously actors will work on as many jobs as they can get, and I found it funny that the first time I remember seeing Carrie Dobro was dressed up as Wonder Woman in one of the first Listerine commercials with Christian Potenza, of Total Drama Island fame, whom I mention later on in this blog. Another one that was hard to track down was Kate Kelton, the TicTac girl... whom I haven't seen in anything else.

March 24 - Hanging Out

It's been some time since I last attended a WorldCon, but I've been giving serious thought to attending this year's, which is being held in Montreal. Called Anticipation, it has quite a few top names on the attendee list, including Neil Gaiman and Julie Czerneda, both of whom I last saw at TorCon in 2003 in Toronto.

Among some of the site's I've StumbledUpon, there was GeekStreet.ca. Although not the prettiest site out there, it IS Canadian which I like. There's also EarthAndBeyond.ca, which I talk about a little more below.

I spent the evening out with a friend, part of it just people-watching from the second-floor Starbuck's at Chapters in downtown Victoria. Kind of a blah afternoon weather-wise, but it was enjoyable to sip some tea while watching other people scurry about their business for a change. I had dinner down the road at The Sticky Wicket, which looks to be quite the summer hangout spot coming up. Too bad I live outside of town in Langford... but hey, this town has quite a few of its own charms too, most of them being outdoor activities, which is fine by me.

March 25 - MMO... what?

Age of Conan: Hyborean Adventures is a recently-released MMORPG that's proven quite popular this past year, mainly because it finds new ways to make chopping people into bits more fun.

Quite different from one of my favourite classic multiplayer games of yesteryear: Battlefield 1942. While it had no roleplaying to speak of, the fun lay in the then-new concept of teamwork with other people: even today, AI has still not developed to the point where your squadmates won't get stuck on a wall, wander around in the open to get killed, or even kill you... by mistake, of course.

A spiritual sequel is coming out this summer: Battlefield 1943. While not in the same vein as the 1st-person shooter that BF: 1942 was, the same addictive gameplay and quick jump-in to make it a fun and fast experience.

Another game I am keeping an eye on is Jumpgate: Evolution, which is a space sim with vast potential... if it catches on. While games such as World of Warcraft and Everquest seem destined for longevity, the MMO world is littered with failed starts, such as Tabula Rasa and my own lamented choice: Earth & Beyond( which is actually being revived in stages here by a small, dedicated community - way to go! ). I happen to LOVE the concept of exploring a vast and complicated universe set in a sci-fi space sim; too many MMO's these days are focused on combat, not exploration.

March 26 - Routing Work

So far, my new Dlink-655 router seems to be living up to my expectations, both for speed and configurability. Which is good, as just this very night I've started a rebel roleplaying group on my long-term NWN server... as a good many of us are dissatisfied with how that particular world is turning out. I've enjoyed my time there, but a lack of focus, rules enforcement and regular story / plot progression has seen quite a few people stop gaming there. Tonight, I was asked by one former DM if I would lead a group of the top players in a new direction: creating our OWN place to game, with our own rules, focus and so forth. Needless to say, I was floored as well as flattered, to be chosen by a group of what amounts to to the top gamers on the server... most of whom are my friends already. A dozen of us had an hours-long chat tonight, and you could feel the excitement as we aired out our ideas and tossed around plans for the future. It will be a lot of work, but I am proud to have been chosen by acclaim to lead such a talented, energized group of fun folk towards our common goal.

That's about all I have for today. Work is going well; I'm getting the hang of the manager thing, despite some expected snags. Nice that I've managed to move along as well as I have on my own, which is the usual way I've learned things with this company after my initial training. It also looks like I'll be moving branches in the next few weeks, closer to my new home here in Langford. Yay!

March 27 - TV and DVD

While watching the not-so-good movie Van Helsing, I discovered that Kate Beckinsale is a mere 1 week younger than me... which is interesting, when one considers where each of us is in life. More interesting in that I can say I've never made a bad movie... or any major motion picture, at that.

It has been a while since I followed the Family Guy TV show, but I found something today about an upcoming show that may make me tune in. io9.com has a clip here about it - the entire cast of Star Trek: Next Gen is reuniting for the Family Guy episode this Sunday the 29th.

I also popped my Venture Brothers DVD series back in for viewing this week - the show is a sendup of the old Johnny Quest cartoon show from the 1960's with modern twists and a TON of satirical and black humour. Just my thing, really, and it's just so darn funny at times too.

Total Drama Action is the sequel to the cartoon hit Total Drama Island, which followed the antics of 22 animated young adults competing for a million-dollar grand prize. It has some great voice actors, as well as a fast-paced story and eye-pleasing animation - flash, of course, as everyone's doing these days.

March 28 - Earth Hour

At 8:30pm PST tonight, we turned off all our nonessential lighting and electrical gear, to participate in Earth Hour. I was heartened to see that it was an event participated in globally, that shows people are interested in DOING something, however small to start with.

Driving along the highway, I can't help but notice all the streetlights as I pass by... especially one just outside of Victoria. Located below the highway, between two bridges over an underpass below. This solitary light has a cover, a shield over it that blocks light from blinding drivers on the highway, who are at the same height as the top of the streetlight. While the shield was obviously placed there for this purpose, it also serves to block stray light from rising up, contributing to light pollution in the city. Too bad it's only one light.

Just a block away from my place here in Langford is a recycling centre, that takes practically anything that can be recycled. Here in BC there is an Environmental Handling Fee charged on ALL new electronics sold, 100% of which goes towards the Return-It Electronics program, disposing of the old stuff that has reached end-of-life, like floppy disk-based computers( won't miss those, really ). Anyway, it's incredibly convenient to be able to recycle some of the stuff I've dragged around instead of throwing out; the landfills are too full of things that could have been recycled. I remember being rather put out during a Hazardous Waste Day in Niagara, when I was told the 50+ fluorescent tubes I'd collected from work were not on the 'accepted' list... I was annoyed because nobody could tell me where TO dispose of them properly, apart from dumping them. Nice to see they've got their heads together here in BC on the topic.

March 29th - Beer Can Fishing

Sundays... lovely days to relax, to do what is needed and not worry about things too much.

That was the plan anyway, and I managed to stick to it for some of the day. Some morning cartoons after sleeping in, a nice breakfast and some quality Me Time - though I don't drink coffee.

I did have to politely remind some fishermen to keep off the dock down the end of the yard; the fence doesn't quite reach the shore of Langford Lake, and we're right next to a small park with its own fishing dock. I guess it was a little crowded on the public side, so some folks decided to use our dock too. I've no problem with that... except when one smart alec decided to start crushing beer cans on the wooden deck. They left quickly once I stood in view on the back deck, coughed loudly once and waited with crossed arms for them to pack up and move. Smarter than your average bear, they were, as I didn't have to say anything... which was appreciated, as I was trying to relax today and didn't want to see it develop into a "get off mah land" conversation. Nice that people around here are so relaxed and accommodating... too bad they had to bring the beer along, or they could have stayed.


I'm writing this late Monday night, after a last-minute invite to attend a friend's birthday party in Victoria. Now that I'm back home, I'm listening to the wind howl outside again... seems to do that a LOT here on the south shore of Langford Lake.

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...