Monthly Archives: November 2004

Laptop Amusement

Posted on by

Sitting around at the Tiger Tech Talk at the Seattle Marriot Waterfront, in a room filled with other Mac Geeks. I’ve NEVER seen this many laptops. It’s really pretty impressive. Entire 12 person tables were filled with people’s various Powerbooks at every seat. I don’t know why, but this amuses me greatly… that and the fact that I can turn on iChat and see half a dozen people on Rendezvous. Slick slick slick.

Umm, I can’t really talk about what I’ve been learning, quite yet… they made it clear at the beginning of the conference that this information is Confidential, and pointed out that we signed a general NDA when we signed up for the seminar.
Continue reading →

Need a New Computer

Posted on by

[NOTE: This is going to be an image-heavy post, so 56k-ers, be forewarned (the images total about 470k together, so it shouldn’t be too bad). All the images are in the extended entry. – Nabil]

A little background: I am a computer user by hobby and (so to speak) by trade. I do graphics work (3d and 2d), I write, I program, I design, I research, all on my computer. This is in addition to blogging, MUDding, chatting (IRC and otherwise), and web browsing in general. When all said and done, I AVERAGE 12 hours a day on my computer, daily, with the range going from 4 hour to 20 hours at a time. I make myself available 24 hours a day for the systems I help administer (the MUD, for instance), as well, so my computer is running (albeit idle) pretty much all the time.

Suffice it to say, my computers see a LOT of use. I travel with it regularly to a variety of locations (whether across the country or down the street to the local coffee shop). As such, despite keeping it in padded protected carrying cases, it sees some physical abuse in addition to just processor cycles. All of which… well it takes its toll. I’m documenting the abuse my current computer has received in the past two years as an example of exactly why I’m needing a new computer now: basically, I honestly don’t believe it will last even until I graduate next year.
Continue reading →

Freya and Finding Time

Posted on by

Silly me, when I posted my previous puppy post, I forgot to mention puppy details. Her name is Freya (we named her; her previous name was a generic “Babe”), and she’s 12-14 weeks old (we don’t know precisely… I’m erring on 14 weeks, Mickey is erring on 12 weeks). Looks like she has some husky, some yellow lab, and some german shepherd in her, making her a VERY smart little pup (which has already gotten her in trouble a few times, but nothing too serious). She’s currently napping on the couch next to me, hence why I have the time to write this post.

Y’see, this past week, my life has been largely consumed by the dog. We’re still acclimating her to the house, and she’s still learning the finer points of house training, so I’ve ended up spending most of my days either taking her for walks/potty breaks, or keeping her occupied inside. I’ve found that if I just sit down on the couch and work at my computer, she’ll play for a bit on her own and then curl up next to me and go to sleep. Of course, this took me a few days to figure out (my first dog and all, plus every dog is different on this sort of stuff). The drawback to this technique is that sometimes I don’t catch her making messes as quickly as I would have otherwise. Mostly she just stays within eyesight even when playing. Also, if I need to get up to get anything (even a drink of water), she wakes up and the process starts over again.
Continue reading →

Writing to Avoid Writing

Posted on by

It makes sense, trust me. As Mickey mentioned last night to me (and which I’ve been saying myself for quite some time), it’s a matter of writing every day, even if it’s just writing about not wanting to write. Right. Correct.

A few things I haven’t talked about from my trip: the early early morning drive to the airport was an interesting (and perhaps intense) experience. We listened to volume 2 of a compilation I’d made, and rode up the empty interstate, stopping in Lebanon for gas and coffee. I remember remarking as we pulled from 91 to 89 that what I dig so much about compilations and playlists that you share with others is that at any time that you put it in, there is the chance that someone else out there is listening to it right at that moment. By the very act of thinking about that, friends become closer, more immediate.

We pulled in for gas, and got out: it was warm for a 4am in November, and I could see the stars clearly in the sky: Orion was in full armor, with all his stars full and bright like they only get during the winter. Riding on, I remember looking back and to the north and seeing the sky start to shimmer, the northern lights illuminating the sky like moonbeams without a moon to originate from. It was a damn good trip.
Continue reading →

Sites To Note

Posted on by

In case you haven’t been paying attention to comments, my friend Chris has a new website: http://www.longhello.com. It’s got writing and music and fun stuff, so you should definitely go check it out, regularly. At the very least, update your bookmarks and RSS subscriptions, because his stuff is worth your time, damnit.

Another website I found recently that I think is worth checking out (thus far, anyway, I just found it today) is http://www.heavenbesideyou.com. I’ve been chatting with this guy on IRC for probably over a year now, and am just now getting clueful to the fact that he has a website (and some nifty music, but I’ll leave it to him to decide where and when he posts that stuff).

And yes, I am in fact writing this blog post because I’m avoiding work. Thanks for noticing.

Eternal Sunshine of the Waking Mind

Posted on by

It’s currently around 12:30am, and I’m sitting on the couch at Uri’s place, staying up all night so I can catch my 6:30am flight in Manchester. We’re watching Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman’s commentary on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, an absolutely brilliant film that I am the proud recent owner of. It’s interesting just how quickly the movie became one of my favorites.

Uri and I were heading home from Eli’s tonight, and listening to a compilation I made while I was out here, which opens with Beck’s “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime”, a song from the movie soundtrack, which is this beautiful surreal song, and I remarked on how it fit the feeling of the moment, of driving along late at night, with the wind blowing the fallen leaves across the road. Uri commented that it was midnight music, and I found it that the moniker absolutely fit, not just about the song but about the movie as well: it’s a midnight movie. The feeling of the movie feels VERY much (to me) the same feeling of driving down an empty road very late at night (or very early in the morning, depending on your point of view).
Continue reading →

They Can All Suck It

Posted on by

In case you hadn’t heard yet (don’t see how you could have not, but maybe you’re in a media black-hole… if so, can I visit?), but Kerry Conceded before all the votes were even in.

Both candidates can go fuck themselves, because it’s clear that’s all they’re capable of doing. Next election, both sides can jump off a pier, I’m voting third party, and anybody who tries to tell me how important it is that we back the lesser of two evils can jump with them.

To quote Randy: “Now I want to punch out most of America.”
Continue reading →