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June 30th, 2009
June 15th, 2009
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 A note to anyone playing Fallout 3: If you've installed the Broken Steel add-on before attempting the Finding the Garden of Eden main story-line quest, there's going to be a section of the quest where you're walking through Vault 87 (I'm pretty sure it's the Lab section--it might be the Crew's Quarters, though). You're going to come across a two-story room (like in every other Vault) that'll be the second door on your left after going up a set of stairs. Once you enter, two Super Mutant Overlords will come out and blast the bejebus out of you. This is a pre-programmed encounter that I'm guessing was with Super Mutant Masters before I decided to pay money to up my character's level cap from 20 to 30. As soon as you step into that room, the encounter activates. So here's a hint: Backtrack to the stairs, and go into the first room on your left. Walk across that large room, and exit through the door on the other end. After taking care of all the other Super Mutants around, enter that same room from the other side (where the Overlords would be coming from). The encounter will activate, but this time, with the original Super Mutant Masters without Tri-beam Laser Rifles. Much easier to deal with. I hope my seventeen hours of gameplay yesterday (note: not all at that part of the game) helps you out. |
April 22nd, 2009
April 20th, 2009
2009.0420.1400::Tell me about you (or tell me about me through questions about you) |
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April 18th, 2009
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 - The E3 Trailer for Prince of Persia that I downloaded a while ago on my Xbox 360.
- The haunting music from the trailer: Saeglopur by Sigur Ros.
- The Android app Shazam (originally developed for the iPhone) which told me what the music was without the need for me to do various permutations of the search: "Prince of Persia trailer music."
- My Playstation 1 memory card has somehow lost my save game data for my not-even-through-with-disc-1, but-spent-over-a-week-of-playtime game of Final Fantasy VII.
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April 14th, 2009
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Tired of all of those surveys made up by high school kids?! 'Have you ever kissed someone? Missed someone? Told someone you loved them? Drank alcohol?' 49 questions for the people who are a little older... ( What bill do you hate paying the most? ) |
April 8th, 2009
March 31st, 2009
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I work. I go to my job in the morning, and I get on the computer. While I sign on to all my various communication services, I do not closely monitor them all the time. Where am I going with this? - If you ask me what's going on, I'm going to tell you that I'm working. This is not an invitation to tell me everything that's going on with your day, your weekend, your life. While I am genuinely interested in what you would like to tell me, the middle of the workday is not necessarily the appropriate time, as it's more than likely that I'm either in the middle of creating code for my job or speaking with my co-workers about creating code for my job.
- If we have a conversation, and I stop responding for an extended period of time, there is a high probability that I have been distracted with work-related subjects. This is in no way out of any disinterest to communicate with you. It is work.
- If I don't answer you immediately after you message me, it's more than likely because I'm doing something work-related (such as creating code or having a meeting). If you're interested in talking to me, please don't just message me and then log off. That is akin to calling someone, hearing them pick up, saying something, and then hanging up.
- I have this nasty tendency to leave myself logged in to my messaging clients around the clock. If you message me and I do not respond at all, it's likely because it's after hours. Send me a note on Twitter or Facebook, and I'll more than likely get back to you in a more timely fashion than if you wait for me to see your instant message when I come back to my computer at work.
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March 20th, 2009
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 This has nothing to do with the new Facebook layout. Back in 2002, I started this Livejournal, because, as ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) batnandu suggests, I'm something of an emotional exhibitionist. Drawing compelling content from the dross of my daily life, however, is a Herculean task--were I more dedicated to poetry, short fictions, photos, or videos, I suppose I could have some gems to offer every day. As it stands, I'm that post-modern, neo-geek, sarcastic, hipster-douchebag that only ever drops the occasional grain of wit (I'm guessing this is why Twitter might be so popular) amidst a sea of memes and self-absorbed whining. So if you go back and look at the succession of posts following that November, 2002 debut (no, really, don't waste your time), you'll find a series of memes and quiz results offered from sites like quizdiva.com, quizilla.com, or okcupid.com. With such a frequency that one of the people who (for some yet-to-be-determined reason) follows this LJ said, "please stop taking quizes, for the love of god." And yes, I did eventually tire of seeing the insipid things populating my friends page--I even wrote a filter for my friends page to automatically cut them. So it's with a supreme sense of resignation that I see the latest items scrolling onto my Facebook homepage: - "What painting are you?"
- "Which Great Philosopher are you?"
- "Where should you be living?"
These are the same kinds of things I stopped posting a long while ago, and it seems that Facebook is just recycling the whole Online Junior High Slambook concept again. But here's where it's even worse--each application that Facebook approves for its users need approval from each individual user before they allow it to post on that user's page. The quiz application developers, in their idiocy, instead of creating a single quiz framework application to access the user's information, set their quizzes up so that each individual quiz has to ask for access to the user's details. So every Facebook user wanting to take the both the "Where should you be living" quiz and the "Which 80s band are you?" quiz has to approve access for both quizzes individually, when the access required for both is essentially, "Can this application post its crap onto your news feed?" And all for those unspecific, non-committal gestures at your personality. |
March 19th, 2009
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On February 13, 1998, I drove up to Gainesville, Florida from Miami after work in preparation for a weekend visit to my long-distance girlfriend as well as a consultation with my graduate advisor. I had planned a nice evening out with my girlfriend for the next day, following a stop-off at a friend's birthday party. I had high hopes that we'd have a nice intimate weekend with one another.
As we waited for the meal to arrive, we talked about the various things that were happening with our lives--the details that don't come readily when exchanging email or instant messages. I talked briefly of my job, and the boring minutiae of my days in Miami. She told me a short story about one of her classmates, who had asked about our relationship. She recounted the details of that conversation, how her classmate had asked if we were still together. I asked for more detail on her answer.
"Well, I told her that we're not."
I would glance at my watch then, and see the clock hands near vertical, the longer one just slightly past the shorter one. I've convinced myself that I'm the first person in the Eastern timezone to be dumped on that Valentine's Day, some eleven years ago.
If only because it makes for a more interesting story.  |
March 17th, 2009
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 Based on a recent request for movie recs to add to a Netflix queue, here's a couple from my 5-star rating list: ( 12 Angry Men... ) |
March 11th, 2009
March 10th, 2009
2009.0310.1637::Yet another of the memes that I keep getting tagged with on Facebook |
Yes. Another meme. Not feeling like writing anything beyond a short description of how I'd like to punch anyone and everyone I meet in the balls. So, yeah...meme: ( Four things... ) |
March 6th, 2009
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 Watchmen succeeds in capturing the main plotline of the comic, and there are some lovely sequences where Snyder emulates the slow-paced pull-out that Moore and Gibbons created when introducing a new issue. You can tell that Snyder used the comic as storyboards, using the art to set up angles and shots. There's a bit of over-exposition in a couple of places, where the script has characters Legolas the plot points. The guy playing Ozymandias is at times so soft-spoken and wooden, it robs his particular scenes of power--Ozymandias is supposed to be cool and emotionless for the majority of the plot, but there are a couple of scenes in the books where he emotes more, and I didn't really see any of that in the movie. I would have preferred an older, more mature actor in the role. Pacing was odd--for a three-hour movie, it flowed pretty well, but emulating the comic in plot and focus gave the movie a certain meandering quality, pointing the audience in different directions as to who to empathize with or pay attention to. Not a problem during a 12-issue comic series, but an issue for a largely single-threaded movie. Part of me thinks this would have worked a great deal better as a television mini-series. There were some changes to the ending that I would have preferred unchanged. I'm not talking about THE BIG THING, but the epilogue. I think the changes undermine some of the themes of Watchmen, but for the most part, I thought the movie a very, very good adaptation of the comic. Incidentally, for those of you who haven't read the comic, both the movie and the source are very, very dark and violent. You have been warned. As I've twittered way too many times, "3 out of 4 'HURM's." ( And now, a tagged meme... ) |
February 28th, 2009
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 Today, the automated process that I set up for reminders sent me a message about the upcoming birthday of the piece-of-shit former friend who started dating the woman that I wanted to marry six months after she broke up with me. FML |
February 23rd, 2009
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 When you're plugging your phone into your computer, you draw your hand across your keyboard, and the edge of a piece of paper there slices open your cuticle. Oh, no, wait. That sucks. |
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 From ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) coffeeachiever: Think of 10 albums, CDs, LPs (if you're over 40) that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life. Dug into your soul. Music that brought you to life when you heard it. Royally affected you, kicked you in the wazoo, literally socked you in the gut, is what I mean. Then when you finish, tag 10 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it! ( Herbert von Karajan... ) |
February 20th, 2009
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Uncle Patrick's Ball-Punch Theory Punching someone really, really hard on the balls can potentially flip their breaker switch, ideally resetting their personality to something more manageable.
-- http://tr.im/gCRL Unfortunately, there's no shortage of test subjects. |
February 12th, 2009
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 It occurs to me that one thing that some women are attracted to about me initially is my ability to sit quietly and listen to what they're saying. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that eventually translates to boring a few months/years down the line. |
February 11th, 2009
February 10th, 2009
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 I think I have a superpower. It's one I think I can't control. The power works subconsciously And scares me to my bitter soul. I got the news as I drove home Eight years ago (this very day), A man had died, a man I knew-- The man who stole my love away. His fearful widow, full of tears, the greatest love of my short life. I cut her heart and cut her child. My guilty will was the knife. Am I the fulcrum upon which pivots, Karma's lever, scythe, and hammer? Does my mind speak in secret words, The syllables of Death's own grammar? I couldn't find my love today, She gave her heart to another. I thought the man was my friend. Betrayed and failed by my brother. I think I have a superpower. It's one I think I can't control. But days like this, I can't help wish, I'd flex my mind and take my toll. Dear Romie: I'm sorry. |
February 2nd, 2009
2009.0202.1434::Sea of Heartbreak (or more memes people keep tagging me with on Facebook) |
The Rules? Only one rule. Two men enter, one man leaves. OK, here's another rule. Never get involved in a land war in Asia. Anyway, I made up 25 pieces of trivia about me. There are an additional 2 that are true...ish. Go ahead and figure out which is which. IF YOU DARE. Or not. Really, I don't care. This is just me getting all meta on Facebook (or LJ). Enjoy! ( 25 Untrue and 2 Unexpectedly True Things About Me... )Magic 8 Ball 1. Put iTunes/WMP/iPod on shuffle. 2. For each question, advance to the next song. 3. Write down the song name no matter how stupid your friends are going to think it is. 4. Tag 5 or more friends + the person who sent it. I'm not tagging anyone. ( If someone says... ) |
January 30th, 2009
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Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you OR I've already read yours and think we have a lot in common. Honestly, I'm not going to tag anyone because either you've already been tagged or you're getting tired of this whole thing... ( I've done this before... ) |
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If you have a MicroSD card, and you volunteer its use to someone who wants to get a file off of a Samsung Helio phone, be aware that you might lose the 1.5 Gigabytes of MP3s, photos, and customized ringtones that you've built up when in an unknown series of steps, the phone reformats your SD card. Just so you know. |
January 29th, 2009
January 27th, 2009
January 26th, 2009
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iPod, WinAmp, doesn't matter. If I tagged you, put your playlist on shuffle and tell me what the next 10 songs are. Then tag 10 of your friends and ask them to do the same. Because, as we all know, you are what you listen to. ( Results... ) |
January 23rd, 2009
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The Rules:
A. Pick 15 of your favorite movies.
B. Then pick one of your favorite quotes from each movie.
C. Post the quotes in your journal.
D. Have those on your friends list try to guess what the movie is.
NO GOOGLING ALLOWED. EITHER YOU KNOW IT OR YOU DON'T.
E. Strike out the quote once it has been correctly identified and place the guesser's username and the title directly after the quote.( The quotes... ) |
January 21st, 2009
January 20th, 2009
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Superman had come to town to see who he could rock.
He blew away every crew he faced until he reached the block.
His speakers were three stories high with woofers made of steel.
And when brought our set outside, he said "I boom for real."
 He said, "I'm faster than a speedin' bullet when I'm on the set.
I don't need no fans to cool my ass, I just use my super breath.
I could fly three times around the world without missin' a beat.
I socialize with X-ray eyes, and ladies think it's sweet."
And then he turned his power on and the ground began to move.
And all the buildings for miles around were swayin' to the groove.
And just when he had fooled the crowd and swore he won the fight.
We rocked his butt with a 12 inch cut called "Disco Kryptonite."
Well, Superman looked up at me, he said, "You rock so naturally"
I said, "Now that you've learned to deal, let me tell you why I'm so for real
I'm Prez O.B. from outer space, I came to rock the human race.
I do it right 'cause I can't do it wrong,
That's why the whole world is singin' this song..." (Apologies to Newcleus) |
January 17th, 2009
January 16th, 2009
January 2nd, 2009
2009.0102.1816::In which our hero is exposed as the freak he really is... |
I just finished Simon Baron-Cohen's The Essential Difference: Male and Female Brains and the Truth about Autism, an exploration of the general differences between the way men and women look at the world, and how much our genes and hormones go towards affecting those outlooks. ( Baron-Cohen suggests... ) |
December 30th, 2008
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Some artists and physicists, working their wares in metal and acrylic and quantum theory, build Time from ceaseless moments, an ever-present path we dance upon, an array of immutable seconds waiting for us to step into them, our past, permanent and passed. And while their construction pilfers our choices from us, filches our will like coins from our pockets, I find a small comfort in believing that a series of moments breathe where our fingers still entwine amidst our laughter. |
December 18th, 2008
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If there are one or more people on your Friends List who make your world a better place just because they exist, and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the Internet, then post this same sentence in your journal. |
December 11th, 2008
December 9th, 2008
December 5th, 2008
December 3rd, 2008
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This is yet another illustration why Malcolm Gladwell's works are little different from The Secret. |
November 20th, 2008
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For a while now, I've been reading blogs that one could very well call emotional voyeurism--from postsecret to Found Magazine's found_mag. The latest addition to these is Dear Old Love ( dearoldlove on Livejournal), a collection of anonymous short notes from old lovers to their estranged former companions. One that struck me today as especially clever was the following note: I upgraded to unlimited texts for you. Now what? Why, you ask, did I think that particular note was mentionable? Because the title of said post was " I'll Send an SMS to the World" |
November 8th, 2008
November 6th, 2008
October 30th, 2008
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Copy this sentence into your LiveJournal if you're in a heterosexual marriage, and you don't want it "protected" by the bigots who think that gay marriage hurts it somehow. |
October 29th, 2008
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If you want a truly original Halloween costume, do the following: - Dress up in Sarah Palin clothes.
- Put on Joker makeup.
- Talk in a high-pitched, gravelly-voiced Alaskan-nee-Midwestern accent.
- When people ask you who you're supposed to be, answer "I'm 2008's two most over-done Halloween costumes."
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October 21st, 2008
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People who are sick at home with the flu should not leave sandals in the dark spaces between the bedroom and the bathroom if they don't want to trip onto ceramic tiles. |
October 19th, 2008
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 I really, really wish that the grill of the A/C unit right outside my bedroom would stop choosing the weekend that I get the flu to start hitting the fan. I think this is like the third year in a row this has happened. |
October 10th, 2008
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Last night, I rushed home to meet up with ifuwereafrog for dinner, but when I went to my car to go pick her up, I noticed that the driver's side door was not fully closed. My initial thought was that I didn't close it properly when I last drove, but I realized that all my belongings in the car had been rifled through. Urgently needing to meet up with Erin (and having a dead battery from the dome-light), I locked up the car and decided to go over it today. Around lunchtime today, I called up AAA to get a battery boost, and when they arrived, took a quick inventory of things that I should expect to find in my car, but are not in there: - A ziplock bag of quarters amounting to about ten dollars in the change cup
- Other change in the driver's side hand-hold.
- My portable air-compressor for use refilling tires when they go flat.
- An emergency car kit including various tools and a set of jumper cables.
- An FM Transmitter for portable music players (and included cable) which could also play mp3s off of USB drives.
- A CD case full of CD-Rs burned with music.
- Who knows what else?
Silver linings: The thieves didn't break a window or anything to get in, so no damage, and they didn't take the CDs located on the visor which include actual purchased-from-store CDs. Still, getting burgled sucks the bag. |
October 8th, 2008
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