Monday, 15 June 2009, 18:59:39 EDT
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Today was my first day back at work. I started a new full-time position in Administrative Systems at Clayton State University. It was a pretty good first day. I got plenty of warm "welcome back"s from everyone around OITS. It's nice going to work where people already know you. It alleviates the first day awkwardness. It's also nice knowing how things work so you can get all of the necessary stuff done quickly (parking permit, staff id, etc.).
Mr. Simpson and I spent a majority of the day wrestling with the ICVerify software in ... (view rest)
Thursday, 14 May 2009, 22:19:36 EDT
Early last week I learned of some cheap MIDI controllers from Korg. Evidently they released the nanoSERIES recently. I've been needing some sort of MIDI controller for a long time. I just couldn't advance my occasional music production without one. So I looked around on eBay and found the complete nano set, brand new, for about $20 off retail with free shipping. I decided I couldn't pass it up. The package arrived on my doorstep this past Tuesday. I immediately set to playing with the "nanoKEY" and "nanoKONTROL."
Today, I give you Space Dream. Another ambient tune. I had the song mostly finished a few hours after I started messing around with it. But I wanted to get some feedback before releasing it. My buddy Jason, who doesn't even like this kind of music, was kind enough to help me out. After a few more hours of work I decided it was done. If Jason likes it, then it must be pretty decent.
In regard to the MIDI controllers. So far, I have only used the nanoKEY and nanoKONTROL. They are ... (view rest)
Thursday, 30 April 2009, 21:34:17 EDT
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After my post on not being able to find a job some things started picking up for me. I got a message back from a job I had applied for (but nothing from them since), a call from someone else about a job that I can certainly do (and have applied for it), and, most exciting, I've started a web design/development business with a friend.
I was going to wait until we had completed our first project before writing about it here, but this site needs some new content. So, I introduce you to Platypus Web Productions. Our site is still undergoing heavy development, but it is in a decent enough state to unveil (hopefully Chris agrees). It looks great in every browser except one — Internet Explorer 6. Actually, it looks just fine in IE6 after the fix for transparent PNGs is applied, but that takes place after the page has finished loading.
Which brings me to a question: why are you people still using IE6? Almost 50% of the traffic to this website for the month of April has been from user agents claiming to be IE6. I realize IE8 has only been out for a month, but IE7 has been a "critical" update for Windows for a long time, now. Are that many of you really using Windows 2000? Can you not upgrade? Or install any ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 17 March 2009, 18:35:34 EDT
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So it has been a couple of months since I have written anything here. I really just don't have much to write about. I haven't been doing anything technically interesting. I've mostly been sitting around the house wasting the days away, occasionally doing something constructive. I watched Lost In Translation last night and came to the conclusion that my life, right now, is a lot like the character Charlotte's. She is "lost" and doesn't know what to do with her life. She sits around her hotel room, occasionally wandering around Tokyo, trying to find something interesting. That's pretty much what I have been doing since I graduated.
There is a difference, though. I know that I want to program for a living. Be it traditional application development, web development, or game development, I know that that is what I want to do. There are just two problems:
The economy sucks and isn't getting any better any time soon.
All of the jobs that are available I don't qualify for.
I believe we all understand point on ... (view rest)
Monday, 28 July 2008, 21:21:12 EDT
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It has been over two months since I last posted anything here. I have been so busy with school I just didn't feel like writing about anything. But now... I have finished! Earlier this afternoon I turned in the final draft of my senior paper. Unless I get an e-mail from my advisor in the morning, with some last minute suggestions, it is done. Once that grade is committed to the record I will officially be a graduate.
The mathematics program at CSU has a capstone course MATH 4990, or Senior Seminar. In this course, you are required to do independent research on some area of mathematics that has not been covered in the degree courses. Each student is paired with an advisor who will work with them on their research. At the end of the semester the student has to present their work in a thirty minute presentation. The student also has to write a thorough paper on their topic.
I chose to research the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), specifically the Haar wavelet. The typical research application is image compression. Instead of doing the same thing that has been done numerous times, my advisor suggested I compare wavelet image compression with some other image compression. So in my paper I compare using the Haar wavelet to compress images with using the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). The DCT is the basis of JPEG image compression.
I started my research back in January. When the spring semester was coming to a close my advisor and I agreed that there wasn't enough time for me to finish the paper. So I took an incomplete in the course to finish the paper over the summer se ... (view rest)
Sunday, 30 March 2008, 10:07:36 EDT
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One year.
... (view rest)
Monday, 05 November 2007, 11:06:46 EDT
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I'm not usually one to give to charities. I'm not exactly brimming with cash, time, or empathy to give. But Friday evening I contributed to the Child's Play Charity. I had told myself in the past that if they ever hooked up with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta I would do something. One of my good friend's daughter spent a lot of time at that hospital. I guess, in a way, I feel like I'm supporting my friend and not just random people I've never met.
Anyway, you can click the image above to visit the charity's website. You can contrib ... (view rest)
Friday, 31 August 2007, 17:13:59 EDT
Twenty-eight years completed. Maybe it's because I've never left school, but I haven't felt "older" until recently. I suddenly find myself an adult with real responsibilities. Sure, I've been paying rent and such for several years, but now I have to keep up with a business while working on my degree. My brother does all of the hard work, but I'm making sure our bills get paid on time without us running out of money. I have stacks of paper on dinner trays all around my desks. It's a mountain of work that is constantly calling out to me. And the piles are just going to get higher, I have to do my classwork first; and that's no light task.
Year twenty-eight hasn't been fun. It's been one thing after another, everything from vandalism to loosing my father. Of course, all of my other "troubles" this year pale in comparison to that one event. It's been hard to deal with, but I think I'm coming around. That, or I've just managed to bury it while I finish school. I have no idea.
So I'm hoping year twenty-nine is a better year. I really can't fathom it being wo ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 12 June 2007, 22:48:28 EDT
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I want to punch things.
Rip things apart.
Pick them up and smash them to the ground.
I want to stomp them. Hit them with a sledgehammer.
I want to scream.
None of it will do any good.
... (view rest)
Friday, 08 June 2007, 19:00:03 EDT
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Thursday, 24 May 2007, 07:38:16 EDT
I'm posting a track I created on 14 April 1998. I had the house to myself, so I cranked up the speakers and starting playing with ReBirth. I'm a big, big, fan of the TB-303's sound. So, instead of playing around with the drum machines built into ReBirth, I created a bunch of 303 patterns. After creating the 303 patterns, I set ReBirth to record my actions and started playing with the default drum patterns and the ones I had created. The result is a sixteen minute track I like to call "3ohMadness". It really isn't very impressive. In fact, unless you just really like listening to 303 sounds on a rather dry drum track, you probably don't want to listen to it. Aside from a couple spots where the 303 ... (view rest)
Monday, 16 April 2007, 10:05:03 EDT
First, I would like to express my appreciation for all the words of comfort everyone has expressed to me; via this site and other methods. I don't know what to say other than thank you.
Moving on, I added another button to the list of buttons. As with the Bluehost button, the Giganews one puts a little money in my pocket if you sign up for their service through my links. With Giganews, I don't see any money unless you stay with them for ninety days. I don't really expect to ever get anything out of putting the link up, but it's worth a shot, I suppose.
Until recently, I've been using BitTorrent (BT) to download missed episodes of television shows. BT is really nice when the torrent is well seeded, but that hardly ever happens. That, combined with limited peer-to-peer traffic on campus, makes for some really long downloads. I'm talking about days, not hours. I got sick of it, knowing that the files I want would be available on the Usenet. In days of old, ISPs and major universities provided Usenet access. Nowadays, most ISPs write off Usenet services as low priority since most of their users don't even know what it is. Speedfactory, for example, use to provide access but it was slow and had horrible data retention. They flirted with better Usenet service for a while, but then dropped it altogether. That left me without Usenet access at home. Since CSU isn't a very large university, it has never provided Usenet access to its students (at least, not that I am aware). So I broke down and signed up for a Giganews account.
I must say, I'm impressed. Their servers are really fast, and the ten simultaneous connections is awesome. I quickly burned through my three day free trial and activated the actual account. I also like how the trial data limits don't affect the first month's service. However, I think that is going to be moot in my case. I'm currently signed up for the 25GB/month service; my next service period doesn't start until 9 May and I've already hit 11GB. I think I'm going to be upgrading my account to unlimited service soon. I haven't decided, though. The price may be too much for me right now; I'll have to see if I run out of bandwidth before the ninth and then make my decision.
Another thing that has me excited about newsgroup access again is a new file format — NZB. Instead of having to download days worth of headers, an NZB file can be used to tell your newsreader what files you wish to download. It is real ... (view rest)
Thursday, 05 April 2007, 21:04:03 EDT
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Wilburn Bradshaw Sumners Sr., 64, of Pullman, died Friday, March 30, 2007, at his home.
He was born Feb. 21, 1943, in Leachville, Ark., to Julius and Drucilla (Thomas) Sumners. Wilburn worked in construction, specializing in roofing. He was also a blueberry farmer.
He is preceded in death, along with his parents, by a brother, Wayne Sumners.
He is survived by three sons — Wilburn Sumners Jr. of Livingston, Mont., Steven (Angie) Sumners of Hartford and James Sumners of Fairburn, Ga.; one granddaughter Faith Sumners; three sisters — Sue Harn of Grand Junction, Mich., Carolyn Sumners of Pullman and Diane Bury of Pullman; one brother, James Sumners of South Haven; and several nieces and nephews.
There are no words to describe how I have been feeling the past week. It's the worst thing I have ever had to endure. There are so many things yet to come that I would want to share with him, but I won't be able to.
I can remember when I was fiv ... (view rest)
Sunday, 07 January 2007, 19:31:00 EDT
I love music. If you look, you will find that my collection is one of the most eclectic ever. Everything from Them to Orbital. By far, though, my favorite kind of music is techno. Thus, the following post is going to be all about techno, my history with it, and the history of the music as I see it and have lived it. This is going to be a rather long, and involved, post. If you take the time to explore all the links, and their information, it could take you quite some time to get through it. Hopefully you will find it interesting and informative.
I've been listening to techno since at least the early '90s, when I was about fourteen; I'm sure I've been listening longer than that, though. Album 88 has had a techno show since at least that time. The show used to air at the odd time of 15:00 (or thereabouts) on Sunday afternoons. I can remember tuning in and playing video games with audio on the television turned down so I could hear the music. I also remember calling the station once and requesting Racer X (something I have yet to find for purchase). The DJ said he didn't have it with him but he would bring it in next Sunday. During this time, and for a couple years afterward, the techno show, I think it was called Planet 8, played single techno tracks. So in one show you could hear The Prodigy, Orbital, The Orb, and Psykosonik among others. The show changed times as regularly as the hosts. The format of the show also evolved over time. Now there is the Beatscape Lounge on Wednesday nights, Subterranean on Friday nights, and Houseworks on Saturday mornings (00:00). Until the time of this writing, I was unaware of Beatscape Lounge so it may still be like the older format. Subterranean and Houseworks, though, are mixed sets; quite frequently they are performed by live DJs in the studio. Of the two I have listened to, Subterranean is my favorite as it is dedicated to Jungle/Drum & Bass. To this day, Album 88 is the only way to hear techno on the radio in Atlanta. Frequency 99.7 has experimented with it when it was called Power 99 and a couple times while under the moniker 99X. Their audiences have never taken to it.
As techno has aged it has evolved quite rapidly. In the old days there were very few sub-genres. There was distinctly techno techno, hardcore, acid house, house, and trance. Many more sub-genres have emerged from these beginnings, and all evolved from vanilla techno. In my opinion, techno is music made with mostly with synthesizers, samplers, and drum machines, or such devices as emulated by a computer. So all sub-genres of techno are really just techno to me. As such, my opinion differs with that of the description at Wikipedia. Early techno is best exemplified by listening to "Basket Case" on Eon's MySpace page. This, what is now considered "old school," type of music is still my favorite music and is the type of music that used to be played on Album 88's techno show. Early hardcore is best exemplified by The Prodigy. Early trance is a sub-genre that I don't particularly like but is captured quite well in my "Strance" song (found on the music page). The early acid house scene is best represented by my favorite (former) band, Orbital; go to the discography page and listen to a selection from the Green Album under "Albums" (anything but Speed Freak, which is a Moby mix). House is really the same today as it was then. Listen to just about anything on Bad Boy Bill's MySpace page for an example; at the time of this writing, "Happy" is a prime candidate. The melodies and mixes have become more complex, but the "four on the floor" beat is still the same in today's house music as it was when it was first conceived.
It is my opinion that regular techno is dead, or at least is very rarely produced any longer. Most of the stuff produced today is either drum & bass, some form of trance or house, and a smattering of other less popular forms. The trance of today has much more complex melodies and even varying beats. I would say that Tiësto is the current pinnacle of trance music. He is quite probably the most popular DJ/producer on the planet right now; I know of no other techno artist currently touring that fills stadiums. Orbital is the only other that I know who use to draw such crowds; maybe The Prodigy. Drum & Bass is a direct descendent of the old hardcore scene and sounds almost nothing like its ancestor music. From hardcore, the sub-ge ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 19 December 2006, 12:37:56 EDT
The last time I rewrote this site, and implemented the theme I'm using now, I said that I would eventually get around to rewriting the print stylesheets. That was a long time ago. I've finally got around to it, though. Instead of just writing styles for printing, I also created a sort of print system. If you are using a browser with Javascript enabled, you should see a "Print This" item beside the comments link in each article. Clicking on "Print This" initiates a print of the single article with this it is associated. So if you wanted to print this article, but not the previous ones also visible on the page, you can do so without having to go to the comments page for the article. I think my solution is pretty swanky. There are no popup windows involved; everything is done with the content you have already downloaded. I've tested it with Safari, Firefox, Camino, and Opera. All of the browsers work except for Opera. I'm not entirely sure what Opera's issue is, but it does some craziness. I suppose I will write up a test case and file a bug report.
On a personal note. Final grades are in for fall semester 2006. I made a 3.00 for the semester. It brought my overall GPA up only three hundredths of a point, but that still an increase. I made a B in macroeconomics (I didn't really try in that class), an A in ordinary differential equations, and a C in combinatorics. I have no idea how I mad ... (view rest)
Sunday, 10 December 2006, 21:39:38 EDT
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One of the most vivid memories as a child is of sitting in the library at Cedar Grove Elementary, in Fairburn, GA, listening to the librarian tell us how to treat books. I was probably in kindergarten at the time. She told us to treat books with respect, and not to dog ear the pages or other such atrocities. Sure, she was probably just trying to convince us grubby little kids not to destroy the books because the school couldn't afford to buy new ones all the time; but, it is something that has stayed with me. It makes me cringe when I see someone writing in a book, folding its pages or covers back on themselves, and, in general, treating them like a newspaper or comic book. It's why I don't loan out my books to just anyone. Even when I do, I do so hesitantly. Because, who knows what could happen to the book once it leaves my sight? All sorts of disastrous things are possible.
I was just thinking about one of the classes being offered next semester — Introduction to Numerical Methods. One of my classmates is signed up to take the course, and I know ... (view rest)
Thursday, 16 November 2006, 08:33:09 EDT
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I read a post a couple of days ago about the elective requirements for the mathematics degree at CSU. It prompted me to reexamine my degree path. I was under the impression that I had to complete an approved minor, and was planning on minoring in computer science. There are advisement sheets available for the math majors; I keep one of these sheets (the 1113 version) in my computer bag. After the grades have been recorded each semester, I mark my grade in each course on the sheet. On the second page of the sheet, should I really be calling it a sheet?, there is a box that details the elective requirements. For some reason, I wasn't quite understanding the wording in this box so I went to talk with my advisor about it yesterday. It turns out I don't need to minor in anything. Also, the twelve hours of computer science I thought I had to take is canceled out by my current plan to take three business courses. I just need to fill in the remaining hours with twelve hours of upper division courses and whatever else I wish to take.
Later in the day, yesterday, I ran into Justin (the author of the aforementioned post) and told him about this. He was relieved and said "That could work. I've taken a lot of crap." His statement made me realize that I, too, have taken several classes that don't necessarily apply toward my degree. So I went back to my desk and printed out my transcript. I then crossed out everything that I have taken which I've either failed, is already accounted for on my advisement sheet, or doesn't count at all toward my degree. I ended up finding eleven hours of credits that I can use as electives. That leaves me with nineteen hours of electives left to take, with twelve of them being upper division. My preliminary estimate, based on this information, is that I have forty-five total hours of credits left before I graduate. If I keep taking nine hours per semester, I have five semesters to go before graduation. If that is the case, I should finish school in the summer of 2008. This is a very exciting development. One that makes the stress of these last couple semesters worth it.
Of course, all of this is contingent upon me passing every single ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 04 October 2006, 19:36:49 EDT
I cannot believe it is October already. Midterms have come and gone. I've been so swamped in homework I haven't had time to do anything extracurricular. My workout schedule is almost nonexistent; all I'm doing there is maintaining previous work (if anything). I just hope to make it out of the semester with at least three Cs. I'm not worried about my macroeconomics class, and my differential equations class should be okay. It is the combinatorics class that is killing me. If I make the C I need in that class I will be amazed. The subject eludes me; evidently, counting is not my thing. Maybe I will get it, though.
The personal update out of the way, let's shift gears a bit. I'm sure you heard about the president of Venezuela and his lunacy at the United Nations a few weeks ago. I don't recall how I learned about it, but several weeks prior to his speech I learned that the Citgo oil company is owned by Petroleos de Venezuela. It had been a while since I had purchased fuel from a Citgo and I decided at that time to keep that trend running. I have no desire to send my money directly to a country that harbors a hatred for my own. Well, after Chavez's speech, other people decided the same thing. At least one of my friends has joined me in the endeavor. I also just read ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 10:36:56 EDT
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I suppose I should post a followup on the situation with my truck. I have had the damage repaired. I took it to a body shop last Tuesday morning and picked it up last Thursday morning. They did a good job for a fair price. It isn't possible to look at the truck and tell that there was ever any damage. However, when I tried to open the door from the outside the next morning it wouldn't open. The inside handle operates just fine and the outside one was working the day before. I imagine something came loose.
As to who might have done this, I doubt that I will ever know. Last Tuesday, one of my neighbors stopped me as I was walking up the stairs to my apartment. She said she was sitting out site about 02:00 the previous morning and saw some teenagers causing trouble. She says she saw them throw something into another parking lot an ... (view rest)
Monday, 04 September 2006, 14:57:29 EDT
I was going to spend today catching up on homework. Instead, I spent most of the day dealing with some bullshit. Sometime last night someone decided to chunk a brick at my truck. It broke out the passenger window (which I had replaced about a year and half ago), damaged the window frame, and dented the door in such a fashion that a new window can't be put it without the dent being fixed. It seems that someone drove by the parking lot and threw the brick from the car as they were moving; glass was in the handle of the driver side door and the imprint of the brick is too deep to have been thrown from a standstill. I filed a report with the police, but I have no hope of them finding the responsible party. I doubt they will even try. No, that was mainly for my own satisfaction. Though, if by some miracle they do find a responsible party, it will make the cost of this crap a little easier to bear.
This has already cost me a good bit and is definitely going to cost me a lot more. I spent a couple hours cleaning up the glass from the parking lot and out of my truck. I had to go spend $3.00 on a coin operated vacuum to get a majority of it out. I know that the window is going to be around $200 - $300 itself. The body work is probably going to equal that amount. I was hoping to use the remainder of this semester's student loan to pay down some credit card bills ... (view rest)
Thursday, 31 August 2006, 18:34:36 EDT
Well, I've used up twenty-seven of them now. Not very much happened on this, my twenty-seventh birthday. The most significant thing, at least at the time of this writing, is that Iran refused to stop enriching uranium. Today was the day the United Nations had mandated they stop or sanctions may be placed on the country. I really don't know what to think of this situation. I agree that a sovereign nation should be allowed to develop technology that it feels is necessary for advancement into the modern world. But, I also agree that a country that would possibly sell nuclear weapons to terrorists should not be allowed to develop the technology necessary to do so. By all accounts, Iran was supplying Hezbollah with weapons and other military items in the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah. That doesn't exactly help Iran's case for developing nuclear technology. It will be interestin ... (view rest)
Friday, 25 August 2006, 19:16:19 EDT
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I have some more numbers for you. On my way up to, and way back from, Michigan I kept track of the distance I traveled in each state. I didn't decide to do it until I was entering Kentucky, and I only used the last three digits on the odometer; so the numbers are not extremely accurate. There is a bit of error introduced by exiting the freeway to get fuel and/or lunch and my missed turn when I got to Michigan. Still, I find the numbers interesting. So here we go.
Traveling north, I entered Kentucky at 98232, Indiana at 98375, Michigan at 98658, and arrived at my destination at 98738. Thus, I traveled 143 miles in Kentucky, 273 miles in Indiana, and ninety miles in Michigan. I went 222.7 miles after my last fill-up in Indiana and a total of 817.0 miles (these two figures were taken from the Trip A and Trip B counters on my truck).
Traveling south, I started the trip at 99058, entered Indiana at 99131, Kentucky at 99435, Tennessee at 99576, Georgia at 99736, Tennessee(!) at 99741, and Georgia at 99757. So I traveled seventy-three miles in Michigan, 304 miles in Indiana, 141 miles in Kentucky, and 176 miles in Tennessee. I forgot to write down my final odometer number and trip numbers when I got home so I don't have totals for Georgia and overall distance. I was just too tired when I got home and forgot about it the next day.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I took a different route home than I did going to Michigan. The new route wasn't too many more miles and it kept me on the freeway the whole trip. However, it seemed like it took me more time to make the journey back than it did going up. I did hit a few more slow construction areas on the new route, so mayb ... (view rest)
Thursday, 24 August 2006, 13:48:10 EDT
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I was driving to my friend Jay's place to meet him for lunch on the fifth of this month when I had an idea. I decided to drive to Michigan and visit family during my break between semesters. I would have left that following Tuesday, but I had a rather important job to get done at work that week (which I didn't remember until Sunday). Instead, I left Georgia on the twelfth at about 7:00; actually, I got on I-75N at 6:50. I made it to South Haven, Michigan at about 21:00. I would have been there earlier, but I got mixed up on my directions and missed a turn. I spent about forty-five minutes fixing my mistake. Anyway, I spent all of last week in Michigan visiting with family I haven't seen in seven years and working (a little bit) with my Dad. I really enjoyed my visit. It was quite a change of pace from my normal day-to-day activities. I took more naps that I think I have ever taken and spent more time away from a computer than I have since, well, I can't remember. I haven't decided if I will try to go back up next year, though. I think I would like to, but I don't want to put the extra 2,000 miles on my truck every year. Maybe that is a lame excuse, but I'm going to have to drive this thing for many years.
Speaking of driving 2,000 miles. It is about 800 miles between Stockbridge, Georgia and Pullman, Michigan. Depending on the route you take, and the stops you make, it is a twelve to fourteen hour drive. As a result, there is a lot of time to observe traffic. Maybe it was because I drove through on Saturdays, but I found that there is a lot less traffic in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Michigan than there is in Georgia. When I got back to the Atlanta area I think there was more traffic at 20:00 than I encountered in Chattanooga, Nashville, Louisville, and Indianapolis combined. I feel somewhat sorry for the people who come into Atlanta and don't know how to drive here. Our traffic moves at almost twice the speed of the cities I mentioned (posted speed limit be damned) with twice the number of lanes to navigate. Then you have to deal with the people; it must be a frightening experience for out-of-towners. I eased right back into it, though. Around Barrett Parkway, some ricer got so far up my rear he should have bought me dinner first. I was in no mood for that so I slowed down to forty. When he passed I gave him a taste of his own medicine.
I also found out how well the FM transmitter for my iPod works in other states. The station I usually broadcast on, 89.1, doesn't work so well between Georgia and Michigan. I used it exclusively while ... (view rest)
Thursday, 10 August 2006, 07:58:56 EDT
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I've been going to the gym for a year now. I went three days per week during the fall and spring semesters, but have been going four times a week (on average) this summer. I haven't really lost any weight, only ten pounds, but I think I am doing rather well. I definitely have more cardiovascular stamina than I did when I started and the weights I use have increased a decent amount. Here is a list of the machines I use, the weights I set them at when I started, and the weights I currently use in parentheses: chest press @ 90 (140), seated row @ 80 (120), shoulder press @ 60 (120), lat pull-down @ 100 (150), triceps press @ 70 (120), biceps curl @ 60 (100), back extension @ 100 (150), leg press @ 140 (260), leg extension @ 8 (150), leg curl @ 7 (140), and pec deck @ 7 (130).
My legs, shoulders, and arms are looking pretty good. My torso still needs a lot of work, though. I've been trying to concentrate on my chest area this summer, and I've stepped up my cardiovascular routine to try to burn more fat. I use an abdominal crunch machine, with thirty-five pounds of resistance, on which I do at least forty crunches. My stomach is starting to take shape, but I need to loose some more fat off of it for the work to really show. It would help a great deal if I could manage to fix my horrible diet, but that has been very difficult to do.
Some days I really don't feel like working out, but I (usually) force myself to do so. I have two motivators. The first is that I like the way my appearance is starting to look and the increased ability I have to do things. For example, it is nice to be able to stand from a crouch without feeling li ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 01 August 2006, 19:51:14 EDT
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Whenever I tell people that I am a mathematics major they ask me what I plan to do with it. I usually respond with something akin to "I don't know; whatever I want. I'm just working on getting a degree right now." Truly, I don't know. I do know that it is a worthwhile degree, though. How many people do you know that say math is hard? I bet the number is more than you can count with your natural abacus. Attaining a degree in mathematics is sure to show prospective employers that I'm no nutball from off the street. Lately, though, I have been wondering what I will do with it myself.
Regular readers will remember my rant about Slashdot, in which I complained about a particular section of the site — the "Ask Slashdot" section. Well, this morning there was actually a very good question posed to the Slashdot crowd. Someone, doing pretty much the same as me (switching from computer science to mathematics), asked what sort of jobs are available for math majors. Even more amazing are the lucid responses. I particularly like response number 15823381. He points out a government job search that brings up a number of positions at NASA, in the aerospace technology field, that have a mathematics bachelor's requirement. That amazes me; that I could possibly get a job at NASA with a BS in mathematics is astounding. So there you have it. I don't know what I'm going to do with the degree once I have it, but I should definitely have some options.
Speaking of graduation. As I was going through the old posts and categorizing them I came across a post I wrote when I started taking classes again. In the post I wrote on 24 August 2004 I said that there would be a chance I could graduate at the end of the summer 2006 semester. I'm not sure how I came up with that projection, but it was dead wrong. I am certainly not graduating this weekend. My best guess for a graduation date right now is summer 2008. After this fall semester I will have four math courses (that includes my senior project), twelve hours of computer science (basically four courses), two business courses, and a complete science section (chemistry or physics -- three semesters) left to take. I am pretty sure that my remaining math courses will be offered in such a fashion that I can complete them all before summer 2008. I'm signed up for two of them in the fall; as well as Principles of Macroeconomics. I'm not sure when I will start taking the CS courses.
I also need to complete "an approved minor" and I would like for that to be computer sc ... (view rest)
Saturday, 10 June 2006, 19:52:24 EDT
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Friday I took the day off to go tour the state capital. Actually, I took the day off to go to the zoo but changed plans because Jay and Jacky want to go with me on that trip. My plan for the day was to park at the Camp Creek MARTA station and take the train to Five Points. That didn't work out. The parking lot was full. Well, full minus the one space that could have been used had someone not straddled the line of two spaces; it should come as no surprise that they parked backward. I ended up driving to downtown and parking in the Underground parking deck. It seems they now accept Visa and Mastercard as payment. Good stuff.
Any way, the tour of the capital was nice. There is a lot of stuff there. I took a few pictures outside before going in for the tour. After the tour I started taking pictures in the museum and had to slow down about half-way through. I was running out of space and battery life. In all, I snapped 144 pictures. After getting rid of some obviously bad (flash reflections and such) pictures I was left with 140. Sifting through the rest, I came up with ninety-three okay, and decent, pictures to put up in the gallery. I am very disappointed with a lot of the ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 16 May 2006, 20:11:53 EDT
First, an update on my recent semester for those that may want it. I finished off the semester with one and A and one B (not counting the A in gym). I made the A in Numerical Methods, which was a bit of a surprise. I was expecting to make a B in that class, and numerically I did. There were four of us in the class and the point spread ended up being one A, one B (mine), and two Cs; so, the teacher handed out two As and two Bs. I made the B in Transition to Higher Level mathematics. Evidently, my B is one of only two in the class; no one else did that well or better. It was a hard class, sure, but it is a rather important class for a math major. I was amazed at the people that didn't show up half the time and the constant lack of effort put forth. I worked hard on both courses, and am proud of my accomplishments because of it. But I am saddened by the people I will be spending the rest of my degree with (those in my Numerical Methods course have graduated or are graduating next semester). Basically, I won't be able to really work with anyone other than my instructors. Study groups I attend, if any, will probably be like the one I put together for my Transition final — me doing the work and trying to explain it to others. Oh well, I knew the major would be tough when I switched to it. I am doing well, regardless. This past semester I made a GPA of 3.57 (just 0.03 shy of the Dean's List again) bringing my overall GPA up to 2.68 from 2.59. Calculating a rough estimate of my GPA using the courses that are counting toward my major, I have a 2.94. That is just adding up all the letter grades, and taking an average, of the courses I have taken which apply, and count, toward my major. It is by no means accurate. I have no idea how the school calculates a GPA because it involves something called "quality points." Quality points basically give more weight to some classes in the average than to others.
With that out of the way, I want to talk a little bit about why I chose Zen Photo instead of finishing my own gallery script. I wanted my script to be very basic on the management side. Just upload images to a directory, and sub-directories, and be done with it. I had done a decent job with the script until I started implementing sub-directories. I came to the conclusion that starting over would probably be beneficial. That wasn't a problem, but it meant I couldn't finish it up between homework assignments so it got put off. It gave me time to think about the project, though. My main goal was to use AJAX methodologies to make the end user experience to the gallery more pleasing. I had it setup so that the user never saw a .php extension or loaded any page other than "index.html". The navigation of the gallery was done completely by Javascript requesting data from the remote server. I showed my work in progress to a couple friends and they complained about the back button not working. I was confused by this because I thought they were talking about the navigation system I had written for the gallery. Which brings me to a post I have had in the pipeline since November.
Back in November, I read a post on someone's website that talked about this person and a friend starting a new project to develop a "blog content management system" with the possibility of some AJAX being used. After reading this post I put virtual sticky note on my Dashboard that reads "Write about AJAX (e.g. using it for no reason other than to use a buzzword)." I couldn't, and still can't, think of any useful applications of AJAX in a site such as the front page of the one you are currently reading. I never got around to writing the post because of classes and lack of content. My recently dead gallery project gives me a couple items to talk about why succumbing to the buzzword hype can be bad (hey, I did it myself!).
The biggest problem with trying to work new buzzword technologies into a project is that you are letting that technology control the project. That shouldn't happen. If i ... (view rest)
Monday, 01 May 2006, 19:30:39 EDT
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I suppose it was because the semester was so stressful, but it is almost surreal that my last classes of the semester were today. Now I have to complete a take home final and finish preparing for one on Thursday. I have a review sheet with seventeen, tough, questions; the final will be comprised of about eight of these questions. Just a couple more days...
Yesterday, my brother and I went to the Braves game. He wanted to see a game before he heads back to Montana (tomorrow). There was a threat of rain but it held off. It was unseasonably cold and overcast, but the sun broke through the clouds enough to keep it comfortable when not sitting under an overhang. We had awesome seats, too. About two weeks ago I found out that one of my class mates works at a bar at Turner Field. Last Monday I asked him about the price of drinks at the place where he works and what the name of it is. Turns out, he bar tends at the 755 Club. To my surprise he said he would bring me a couple passes to the club. I am glad he did (thank you again Stephen); the club is really nice and the seats outside were open (probably because of the weather). So, we got to sit right beside the left field foul pole for most of the game. Before the seventh inning we decided to go check out the seats for which Brad had purchased tickets. They were great too; they were down close to the field, over the Braves dugout. The only downside to those seats was having to look over people to see the game. I had a great time at the game and got a bit of sun. Thanks for the ticket, Brad :)
Unlike last year, I was smart enough to take my camera. I took a lot lot of pictures. This was the second weekend in a row where I have actually used my camera. I hadn't been using it for a while because I feel silly when I am taking pictures. But I do find it nice to be able to take them. After looking at my pictures from these past two weekends, I realized just how crappy my camera really is. I would like to get a Nikon D50, but they are really expensive. I like to think that if I had a good camera, like that D50, then I would be more eager to learn how to take good photographs and not be so anxious while taking them. Plus, even my crappy pictures would be a lot better than they are now. For example, I managed to take a picture of Jeff Francoeur making the winning, diving, catch yesterday, but the picture doesn't have the effect that it should because my camera can't take pictures that far away.
While we were in Atlanta I made a decision about this summer. I planning to take at least a couple days off for little vacations up to Atlanta. I think on one of them I will go up and check out the capital building and the surrounding area. Maybe go to the zoo on another. Just something to get out of Stockbridge/Morrow and relax. They should be cheap one day vacations. Park at the closest MARTA station, take the train into town, and then walk to the rest of my destinations. Should be fun and make for good pictures; though, not too good considering my horrible camera.
Speaking of pictures, I decided to go with ... (view rest)
Thursday, 06 April 2006, 14:26:30 EDT
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Kind of dead around here, I know. I've been super busy with school; I just haven't had time to think about much other than numerical methods, relations, and partitions. The last two have really been giving me trouble, not sure why. My numerical methods work, though, has made me realize something — PHP is nasty.
A major part of my numerical methods class is programming methods and analyzing them. At the beginning of the semester I weighed my options and settled on C as my primary language (I have done one program in C-sharp, though). I considered Python, but it has horrible array support and the math precision is not good enough [referring to a basic installation]. C is a weak static typed language and PHP is dynamically typed. Before getting serious in my numerical methods class, I kind of preferred the latter kind of typed language (dynamic). In a dynamically typed language you don't have to worry about whether or not your variable is a string, a number, or whatever else. The runtime interpreter figures all of that out during execution. It should make writing a program quicker with some trade-offs. The problem is that it also allows sloppy programming habits to develop.
Discounting BASIC, my first programming language was Visual Basic 4 (VB). VB, prior to VB.NET (I have no knowledge of VB.NET), allowed the programmer to specify that variables be statically defined ala C; this is how I programmed in VB. So, when I took my computer science courses at CSU, the static nature of C++ (the language we used in class) was not a difficult transition for me. I had already developed decent programming habits because I eschewed the dynamic typing VB was capable of; it made debugging a lot easier. Later, when I got into web development, I moved to PHP as my primary language. Unlike VB, PHP does not have any method with which to enforce static typing and over time I got used to it. I became so used to it, in fact, that going back to a lower level language has proven troublesome. More than once I have forgotten to properly type my variables in my numerical methods homework. This lead to all sorts of weird errors (why GCC even compiled the code is beyond me) that ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 01 February 2006, 22:10:20 EDT
Quicksand. Some times I feel like I am pulling myself out of quicksand. It is as if I had been walking along, not paying attention, and suddenly found myself neck deep in the stuff. I feel as if I am having to pull myself out of it; slowly dragging myself to the other side. Some times I will be sitting in class, or doing homework, and think, "how am I going to do this?" To which I reply, "just suck it up and do it!" One more step closer to the other side. Maybe I am just tired of school and living pay check to pay check. Every day is nothing but wake up, go to work/school, come home, and do it again the next day.
I must admit, that since I started taking classes again fall semester 2004, I have come a long way as far as school is concerned. I still have a long way to go, though. Out of a 120 hour program, I have completed sixty-five hours; seventy-four if I manage to pass this semester, and it will be tough to do so. The two courses I am taking this semester are two of the hardest I have ever taken. Numerical Methods is a survey course and it is still a senior level course; the work isn't easy. The Transition to Higher Level Mathematics course is more my speed but it is vastly different than anything I have taken in the past year and a half. There isn't any calculating in the class; it is all about the logic of proofs and how to write them.
Part of the problem is how stupid I was when I started school. I wish I had been smart enough to understand what college is and why I should have been focusing solely on completeing it. I should be applying for my second degree this semester, not planning for the next semester of ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 09:26:28 EDT
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I haven't been very lively lately. A particular R.E.M. song sort of gets my recent mood; it is more extreme than my actual mood but it is similar. Any way, that is the reason there haven't been any posts recently — apathy. That is also why I haven't finished my gallery script. I got to the point where I need to parse sub-albums and just haven't felt like writing the code to do it. Plus, classes have started and the ones I am taking are not easy and are very time consuming.
Having said that bunch of garbage, I have a small rant to vent in Hewlett-Packard's general direction. I don't have a scanner, so I use one that is available in Student Software Support Services on campus. It is an HP ScanJet. Since it is a USB scanner I just plug it into my laptop and scan directly to my computer. Well, the scanner, being an HP product, isn't so simple to use where that is all I have to do to use it. I had to download a 50MB driver package, which comes with way more software than anyone needs, just to be able to scan with the scanner. I've had this stuff installed on my computer for a couple semesters now because I like to scan in my graded assignments and tests for future reference. That way I don't have to keep stacks and stacks of paper. When I first installed the software, it placed an application in my dock that automatically started every time I logged in. I quickly got rid of that; I don't want crap software starting up that I use only occasionally.
Thinking I was done with that, I went on my merry computing way until I need to track down a rogue process and noticed that the damn thing was still running on start up! It seems that HP really wants their "HP ScanJet Manager" to run all the time after it is installed. Evidently, the application just waits for buttons to be pressed on the scanner so it can intercept their signals and do fancy "one button scan" garbage. As I write this, it is using almost 7% of my processor's time to do absolutely nothing. In other words, HP installed a constant battery drainer on my computer. I finally got fed up enough with this program today to track down how I can prevent it from starting. There are a lot of old posts, one or two years old, on the internet that say to remove it from either a) "/Library/StartupItems" (which I didn't know existed) or b) your user profile startup items under system preferences. If the application were installed in "/Library/StartupItems" I would be able to delete it from that location and all would be well. If it were in my user profile, it would be as simple as highlighting the entry and clicking a remove button. Neither is the case.
Some time in the past couple of years (so it seems), Hewlett-Packard got crafty. They found an API called AutoLaunchedApplicationDictionary in Apple's Core Foundation classes. How did I figure this out? It wasn't too simple. There is no information, that I have been able to find, on the internet about this. First, I had to find the "HP ScanJet Manager" application since it isn't installed in a typical "startup location". Spotlight to the rescue! Using Spotlight from a finder window, I was able to find the application in "/Library/Application Support/Hewlett-Packard/HP Scanjet/Scanner". This directory contains three files: the offending program, an XML data file, and an application to install the offending program to the system startup items. Using ... (view rest)
Thursday, 15 December 2005, 14:29:20 EDT
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The semester is over! Finally. This semester has felt like an eternity compared to the swiftness that is summer semester. As you may be aware, I made the Dean's List this past summer. Sadly, I didn't manage to do the same for fall semester. I came close, within about thirty points close, but I didn't quite get there. I needed to make an "A" in all three courses to make the list. I already have two of my grades and one is a "B." I didn't do as well as I should have on my Calculus III final to make an overall "A" in the course. That is fine by me though. I don't like trying to put pressure on myself to make a specific grade. Sure, it is nice getting perfect grades but that isn't learning. If I were to make straight As all the time then what good would college be doing me? If it is that easy I shouldn't even be wasting time with it. That being said, I think I am going to make an "A" in Linear Algebra. The odd thing about it is I had a rough time with Linear Algebra and found Calculus III to be much more enjoyable. I don't have that grade back yet though. The grades are not due, and won't be official ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 01 November 2005, 07:56:02 EDT
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My Beta Splenden, Babu, died some time last night. He was such a happy little fish.
When I woke up Sunday morning and went to feed him I noticed that one of his eyes was bulging; that certainly isn't normal. Noticing the water was really cloudy, I immediately changed his water but I didn't know what else to do. After some searching around on the internet, I learned that he had a bacterial infection. So, yesterday at lunch, I went to PetSmart and bought some treatment for him. All of the information I read said, that with proper treatment, he should survive and that I had probably caught it in time. I don't know what I did wrong. His water was quite fresh, because I had recently changed it, so I don't think it was poor water that caused the infection. I think it was ... (view rest)
Sunday, 16 October 2005, 15:46:02 EDT
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A few weeks ago I came to the conclusion that I need some place to jot down notes. Sort of like a scratch pad. I had the idea to write an interactive website to solve the problem. Then slashdot ran an article with a link to a site that does 98% of the idea I had. So, I decided not to waste time on that. At least one of the other 2% of my idea required a unique login to access the notes because I don't like the idea of a notepad with as easy access to the notes as mailinator gives to spam mail.
Today, I decided that I want to keep track of how many calories I consume and burn. I want to be able to figure out how close I am to my basal metabolic rate so I need to keep a rough tally for a while. There are plenty of programs specifically designed for this sort of thing. The problem is all the good ones are shareware and since I am a cheap bastard I don't want to pay for such a thing. Thus did idea number two strike me.
I was thinking about all of this on the way home from the grocery store today and came up with a solution. I determined that a ... (view rest)
Friday, 14 October 2005, 21:14:28 EDT
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I dig the hell out of Garage Band. After my last post I started messing around with the program again. Today, I finished up a new track. I didn't do much beat slicing in this one, though. I concentrated more on learning how to modify software instruments and apply effects to them. I think it turned out rather well. Give it a listen.
In other news, midterm week is now over. It arrived in a hurry and departed even quicker. So far I have a B in each of my three classes. Since midterm grades don't include all of the work done thus far they are a rough estimate of how you are doing in classes. My calculus and Smartbodies grades are on the high end of the range and my linear algebra grade on the low end. I will be completely satisfied if I keep the B in linear algebra; I cannot stress enough how bad the book is for that class. If I can finish off the semester with As in the other two classes, though, I should make the Dean's List again. That is my goal. If I can swing that, my GPA will continue going the way of the Jeffersons.
I've been listening to The Financial Aid Podcast recently. I really like it. It is a half hour show about everything relating to finances that would concern a college student. Everything from credit card debt to bills before Congress that will affect federal financial aid. I highly recommend giving it a listen if you are in school. It has reminded me quite effectively that I need to qu ... (view rest)
Thursday, 29 September 2005, 12:41:13 EDT
This past weekend I went out to Covington for the christening of Davin Wayne Davis; the youngest son of one of my oldest friends. On the way out there I started thinking about our time growing up which led to thoughts of another friend — Mick. Very few of you reading this will know who that is. Mick is the only person I have ever met that I have been able to start a conversation about techno music with and not have to explain a word of what we are talking about. Everyone else I have had educate. Some refuse to be enlightened [ ;) ] but most come around.
Any way, the first time I met Mick was when I stopped by his house because I saw Dennis' car parked in the drive way. I basically just knocked on a strange door and asked if my friend was inside and was invited in. So, I was chilling in Mick's room with Dennis and Gabe (another friend of mine) when Mick left the room to do something. While he was gone I decided to peruse the CDs behind is DJ booth to see what he had. Lo and behold he had a copy of Best of Rave: Volume 1. When Mick got back I asked him if he would play "Silicon Jesus" (a track by Psykosonik) and he wanted to know how I knew he had that. I told him that I looked at the CDs he had and saw the Best of Rave album. That was how we established our friendship — a mutual love for techno music without having to explain it to the other person first. But, Mick has been in and out of jail over the years (currently in it seems) so our friendship has essentially disintegrated.
Whilst thinking about all of this I decided to put my Psykosonik CD in and listen to it just to complete the reminiscing. The CD is still in my CD player and I was listening to it today while picking up lunch. The last track on the CD is one of my favorites and it was the last to play at lunch; ending just as I pulled into a parking space on campus. The song inspired me to kick it old school here and post the lyrics. So, here they are (I love this track — it rocks hard):
'i, Caesar Have Destroyed Faiths.'
'hail Caesar'
'hail Caesar'
'i, Caesar...'
'i, Caesar Have Destroyed Faiths.'
You Think Your Loving This, But You're Too Blind To See.
If I Told You I Was Jesus, Would You Turn To Follow Me.
Inside Of Me, Inside Of You.
The Myth That We've Been Coming To.
If I Spoke Of Eternity, Would You Crucify Me Too.
Why Build A Shrine To The Race Of Man?
There's No Separation.
Why Can't You Understand?
I Am God.
You Are God.
We Are, We Are, We Are God.
I Am God.
You Are God.
We Are, We Are, We Are, We Are God.
Give Your Money To Me.
Just Give Your Money To Me.
And I Can Set You Free.
'i, Caesar Have Destroyed Faiths.'
Look Deep Within You And See The Nature Of Your Soul.
Extend Your Mind And See The Essence Of The Hole.
Inside Of You, Inside Of Me. Free Will, Responsibility.
You Must Save Or Damn Yourse ... (view rest)
Sunday, 25 September 2005, 17:55:32 EDT
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At CSU there is a series of courses PHED 1010, 1020, 1030, and 1040. The official name is "Physical Education" and, like all courses, has successive "levels." No matter what level of the course you are taking, it is known around campus simply as "Smartbodies." It is known as such because that is the name of the facility where the "class" takes place. The course is simple on paper, you take a couple open book quizzes through the semester and go to Smartbodies a minimum number of times and you will make an A in the course. In addition to Linear Algebra and Calculus III, I am taking Smartbodies this semester; specifically 1030.
Over the past few years I have put on some weight. I am actually about fifty pounds overweight and couldn't run from a gimped turtle if I needed to. I am just plain out of shape. I took 1010, 1020, and 1030 (yes, I managed to fail 1030) about two years ago to try and stave off the impending weight. It didn't work. I didn't take the class very seriously and only ended up temporarily increasing some muscle mass. Why didn't it work? I didn't do anything about my abysmal diet. I kept eating like it was going out of style and putting away twelve packs of beer on the weekends. In other words, I kept consuming a massive amount of calories that I would never burn.
Well, this time is different. I have been re-taking 1030 again for about four weeks now and this time I am trying to change my diet. I haven't lost any weight yet but I have stabilized at a specific one; instead of fluctuating back and forth within a five pound range. I have decided to get serious about this because I don't having to buy new clothes every few weeks, and that is what I was doing. That, or I was cramming my fat ass into pants that literally hurt to put on. I won't be shedding the pounds very quickly, though. The Smartbodies work out is very much a combination of a cardiovascular and strength training work outs. Both of which are not the most efficient at burning fat. But, I think by watching the amount of calories I consume, overall, I am not going crazy and saying to myself "only XXXX number of calories per day," and sticking to working out three days every week I will get back down to my ideal weight. It sucks, though, because I love food that tastes good and food that tastes good is fatty. My friend Dennis is Sou Chef at ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 14 September 2005, 14:27:49 EDT
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Why haven't I posted in a while? There are several reasons. The foremost being classwork. I have a ton of classwork to do every day; especially since I seem to love being at least one section behind in every class I take. I currently have about four sections of Linear Algebra work and 3.5 sections of Calculus III to catch up on. The Linear Algebra is actually rather simple. It is just time consuming because of all the matrices and the lameness of the book's author. Calculus, though, is different.
It is interesting the way calculus courses are split. The first course covers differential calculus; the second builds on that and covers integral calculus with sequences and series. The third course steps it up a bit and starts dealing with three dimensional space. My first test, this coming Monday, will cover vectors, planes, surfaces, and lines in space. It is all very pretty but it is also all very complicated. For example, finding the equation of a plane that contains the intersection of two given planes and a given point takes a wee bit of thinking. If I had my calculus book with me right now I would actually go through that problem here but it, and my work, is at home; so, I will do that later.
When I haven't been working on classwork I have been watching the first season of Lost on DVD. My roommate got me interested in the show at the end of the season a few months ago and I can't resist a good story line. Best Buy always sells new release DVDs at a discount and I got an extra $10.00 off because of my store card. So, I bought the season set a day or so after it came out and have been watching it whenever I can since then. I will have the first season wrapped up before next Wednesday's season two premiere. The show itself is good but the DVDs are poorly produced. My first complaint with them is the movie trailers that automatically start playing on the first disc. Sure, put them on there as "features" but don't start them automatically. I didn't buy the DVDs to watch movie trailers; I can do that online. The other gripe I have is the lack of editing for DVD. Every time an episode would fade to black for on-air commercials the DVD episode will fade to black even if it would work without the fade. If the show is going to cut to a completely different sequence after the break, which it does frequently, then it is okay to leave the fade in. But, if the s ... (view rest)
Friday, 02 September 2005, 15:12:51 EDT
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Typically, when I receive a letter from Clayton State University it is either telling me I need to appeal to get financial, my financial aid appeal has been granted, or that I am on academic warning and need to get my ass in gear (haven't had one of those in a long time, though). Here is the letter I got from CSU today:
Ad ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 31 August 2005, 21:19:37 EDT
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Today! Today!
Another year gone by.
Twenty and six
have come and gone.
Twenty-seven
is on the run.
This is being posted later, way later, than I intended. I wanted to post this earlier in the day instead of an hour before it ends but the day conspired against me. I came up with that little "poem" a couple weeks ago and really wanted to use it for this post; I am not the poet, that would be my brother, so that is why my poem sucks. I'm not even sure how that one came to me. I was trying to get to sleep and it popped into my head. Any way, I left the poem at home this morning so I couldn't post from work. Then, when I got home my room mate and I went out to dinner and over to Best Buy where he surprised me by buying Midnight Club 3 for me; that, of course, sucked up the rest of my evening. The game rocks! So, here I am writing my birthday post at the end of the day. This turns out to be a good thing because it has given me an idea for these birthday posts. I am now going to try and write something about what has happened in the world on this day every year. Well, for as long as I keep this up any way.
First, I would like to thank everyone for making this birthday another good one. As I have already mentioned, James, my room mate, hooked me up with a game I have been wanting for quite some time. So, on with the others. When I got to work this morning I was told to seek out one of my old supervisors because she had something for me. It turns out she was baking me some delicious chocolate chip cookies. After lunch, my current supervisor walked into the office carrying a Great American Cookie Company cookie cake; I love those things. This evening, my Dad called to with me happy birthday, actually calling on my birthday for the first time in a long time; not that it bothers me when he doesn't, but it was still nice. Lots of other people wished me a happy one as well. I can't link to all of you or this post would go on for days, but you all know who you are. And, finally, me, my Mother, Grandfather, Grandmother, and little brother all went out last night for dinner at Pilgreen's (I got home too late tonight to have such a dinner on the actual day). There you have it. Lots of nice personal stuff that made the day nice.
Now for the "what happened today" part of the post. This morning it was announced that the major Atlanta area had been using fuel from its ten day reserve for the past two days. Hurricane Katrina knocked out power to a couple pumps that pump fuel through a couple supply lines that feed into Atlanta. These supply lines evidently provide a majority of the fuel in Atlanta. Upon hearing this news the major Atlanta area collective lost its mind. Everyone started running to the gas stations to fill up before the commodity became extinct in the area. It seems ... (view rest)
Monday, 22 August 2005, 18:57:05 EDT
For the first time ever, I took an unforced week off from work. Typically, the only time I get off is due to campus being closed for holiday. After six straight years it was time to take a personal week. I took the time to get some things done around my apartment and catch up on some sleep. I feel quite refreshed this week. The interesting part of the vacation is that it feels surreal. It is like starting everything at school and work as new again. Today didn't even really seem like the first day of Fall classes even though campus was packed. It is just very weird; I don't know how to describe it.
While on my vacation, I decided to burn a new CD to listen to in my truck. I was going to burn a copy of Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell but I was unable to find my original. Actually, I stopped looking for it when I came across my copy of the Butthole Surfers's Independent Worm Saloon. I purchased this album because I like the first track, Who Was In My Room Last Night?. Another track on the CD quickly became my favorite on the album, though. The track is number five on the CD and is titled Goofy's Concern. Before I share the lyrics with you I should tell you a couple of things about this band: 1) they rock and 2) they are as far from serious as any band can be. So, here are the lyrics for Goofy's Concern:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
I don't give a fuck about the FBI
I don't give a fuck about the CIA
I don't give a fuck about LSD
I don't give a fuck about anything
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 10 August 2005, 09:08:38 EDT
I used to loathe writing. In fact, I am still not that fond of it. Writing feels more like a task than something fun to do for me. A couple of things have helped me with it though: 1) college and 2) this web site. College, if you want to actually do well at it, will teach a person to write in a hurry. I think the only classes that I have not had to do a lot of writing in are math classes. There is only so much writing that, with words not symbols, can be done in math unless you are explaining some concept. It was the massive amounts of writing in my first year that really killed my GPA and thus my college career. I have spent every semester since those first few making up for the damage. But, I now get at least a 'B', if not an 'A', on every paper I write for class; can I get a "hellz yeah!"? I think the pinnacle of this is when my Regent's Writing instructor stopped reading one of my papers to exclaim, "Proper use of a semi-colon!" That, and the fact she was always saying I write really well. It is a real boost to one's ego getting that from someone with a Masters, working on their PhD, in English.
This web site has also really helped out. I don't write in the typical structured paper style here, but it is the act of writing that helps — it seems that the old adage has some merit. As I compose the writings for this site I constantly police what I am writing. One of the things that I really try to avoid is overusing words. I am constantly repeating the same words over and over again in a composition. I thought it was a personal problem until just a few minutes ago. I came across ... (view rest)
Saturday, 23 July 2005, 23:54:44 EDT
"It’s ironic that the one person I always considered to be the independent loner inadvertently provided the only consistent avenue for contact between all of us." -- Jonathan Gillespie
Independent loner. That is a difficult label; I am not saying it isn't accurate. It is just difficult to deal with at times. It is not as if I want to be a "loner;" I am just picky about my associations and I don't decide on them very quickly. I tend to observe people for a long time before I really even talk to them. It is sort of like I need to figure the person out before I decide if I even want to talk to them. It makes being a social person very difficult.
What I find ironic is that Jonathan posted this today (Saturday). While helping two of my closest friends move today, I was thinking about how all of my close friends are moving up and away, in this case only thirty miles, but still, in a way leaving me more of a loner than before. I am ecstatic for all of my friends that are accomplishing things and getting ahead. I just wish I could join them a little quicker than I am.
That is just a little rambling and a sampling of th ... (view rest)
Thursday, 21 April 2005, 20:20:06 EDT
You may recall me complaining about the Georgia university system's mandated test for graduation — the Regents' Test. Well, the results were due back before the end of next week and I decided to check up on it before going to bed. It seems that I passed with a score of '3'! The papers are graded by three people and rated on a score of one to four, four being the highest. The lowest passing grade is two and the paper has to be rated as passing by at least two of the reviewers. Third try, score of three, and I don't have to take that damn test again. I am extremely pleased.
Also, I updated my winfo utility today. It now gives a listing of any non-hidden wireless networks, and the AP's MAC address, within range if any are available. It will make finding the APs that broadcast the same ... (view rest)
Sunday, 10 April 2005, 19:47:12 EDT
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Here is one of those rare posts where I won't be talking about anything remotely thought provoking or technically interesting. I went to the Braves vs Mets game today with my brother and father. It is only the second time I have been to Turner Field. When I ordered the tickets the other night I thought that I was ordering tickets which would be on the second deck, i.e. off the ground; it seems that I ordered tickets which were under second deck. Our seats were simply awesome; I wish I would have taken my camera but I didn't think we would be so close. One foul ball went over my head and landed a couple rows back — I was almost able to catch another. I have never sat in such a seat to my memory. Evidently, my father and me used to move down to the seats behind homeplate after a couple innings when the Braves were not quite the team that they are now but I don't remember that; I just remember being at the games having the time of my life. Today was reminicent of those days. The game may have been lost, in part because of some poor managerial decisions, but I still had an aweso ... (view rest)
Friday, 21 January 2005, 16:29:12 EDT
Last semester I was able to acquire financial aid by appealing to the financial aid office. I had not been completing school fast enough for them to consider me a "good student" to support with financial aid. Well, my appeal was successful and I was granted financial aid on the stipulation that I not earn below a "C" average in any class. I finished the semester with a 3.0 GPA, as mentioned previously, so I figured I was good to go for the Spring 2005 semester. I registered for classes in December and made sure that my financial aid was covering the fees via the Digital University Campus Kiosk (DUCK); I was good to go. Wednesday, my calculus instructor mentioned an email that she had sent to the class email list which I did not recieve. So, after class I checked on the DUCK to see why I didn't receive the email. It turns out that I was no longer enrolled in any classes! This was a complete shock to me so I went up the registrar's office to learn why I was no longer enrolled in any classes. It seems that I was dropped from my classes because I never paid for them. The folks in the registrar's office called financial aid to inquire why I never paid for my classes and they said that I violated the terms of my appeal. After doing a little more inquiring I found out that financial aid views my not having passed the regent's test, a required test in the state of Georgia, as not having passed the regent's remedial class.
Let me explain this remedial class. Every student in the state of Georgia is required to take a test that covers reading comprehension and writing ability. You can take this test once a semester, every semester, without penalty until you complete forty-five hours of school credit. I was dumb enough to wait until I had completed forty-five hours before taking the test. As I mentioned in my previous post, I am not a very good writer (at least not when confronted with time and topic constraints) and thusly failed the test. So, last semester I was required to take RGTE 0199, the remedial writing, course. During the orientation for that course last semester the program coordinator discussed how they had changed the grading scale from the traditional four point scale to a "U" or "S" classification for "unsatisfactory" or "satisfactory" so as not to conflict with financial aid. I ended up failing the writing test for a second time and earned a "U" in the course. Well, when financial aid got my final grades from last semester last week they decided that the "U" constituted a failing of the course and a violation of my appeal; it doesn't matter that I probably would have made a "B" average in the class were they still on the four point scale. Keep in mind that the remedial class is nothing more than a class to teach you how to pass the test. This class does not affect your GPA or graduating credits. It is mandated by the state that you take the class if you do not pass their test.
So, I spent the better part of three hours Wednesday trying to figure out how to get this resolved. I ended up writing two letters of appeal: one to the financial aid director and one to the registrar's office. I appealed to the director of financial aid to get reinstate my aid because I was never informed that my aid was being revoked. I never received and email, phone call, or even an automated letter on the DUCK. They just refused to pay my tuition and proceeded to not give a damn if I knew about it. I had to write an appeal to the registrar's office in hopes that they would let me re-enroll in my overfilled classes and pay tuition today by 5:00PM EST. My appeal to the registar's office was successful, probably because they realized I was getting screwed, and I could pay my tuition plus a late fee today. My appeal to the financial aid director took a little more work though.
When I turned in my letter to financial aid one of the higher ups in that office sent an email to my old boss to inform her that I should hear a ... (view rest)
Thursday, 13 January 2005, 14:41:12 EDT
First, an article that details why I prefer that people who disagree with me back up their disagreement with some evidence. It isn't difficult to do and something I wish people would realize as being beneficial. Second, I want to thank an old teacher of mine (who will probably never read this) for teaching me how to write somewhat coherently. In high school, I was required to take a remedial course because of my inability to write well. I was not happy with having to take this course and stubbornly fought it. The teacher, Jean Austin, wouldn't let me win though. I didn't realize it at the time but what she did for me is one of the most invaluable services anyone could have ever done for me. As I read websites and miscellaneous forum posts my mind reels at the incoherence of the words and paragraphs I read. One of Austin's exercises for me was to write instructions, in paragraph form, on how to put together a sandwich, e.g. a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and she would follow the instructions line by line. If I didn't clearly write how to build the sandwich I could end up with a sandwich that would have peanut butter and jelly on all sides of the bread and the slices may not even be one on top of the other. No, I am not a perfect writer, I am not even close to one, but, I do make a conscionable effort to write clearly. I just wish others would realize that doing such a thing is imperative to convey your thoughts to other people.
Slight change of pace... I read a review of an independent installer for XFCE. I had tried out XFCE when 4.0 was in the final stages of beta and found it to be a rather decent desktop environment. However, the project was still very early in the re-engineering process so some things were lacking. Stuff like the file manager and desktop were not quite polished up yet. My biggest gripe with it was the panel; by default the panel does not extend across the whole bottom of the screen, in fact there is not a setting to make it do so, which would leave large empty areas on the screen when an application was maximized. I really don't like that and almost every application I use, I use in a maximized state. After reading this recent article I decided to give XFCE another chance. The installers provided by OS-Cillation.com are very well done. I agree with the author's assertion that Gnome and KDE should take a queue from them and create similar installers for their products. The installer tells you what dependencies your system needs to meet before it can continue and proceeds without a hitch after they are met.
As I write this, I am using XFCE on my laptop. It has certainly come a long way since the last time I used it; the XFCE-Goodies packages certainly helps it out (you can get them from OS-Cillation). Having made Gnome my default environment for so long I have become accustomed to using the desktop as a sort of temporary directory and a place to store items I use regularly. XFCE doesn't support launchers or items on the desktop; instead, XFCE uses the desktop a place to put a pretty picture and allow access to the system menu. I remedied that problem by using nautilus to manage the desktop — every thing else is managed by XFCE. The window manager is excellent. It beats the hell out of metacity, Gnome's default window manager, hands down and it comes with some good themes (I like "Smallscreen"). Sadly, there are three problems I have with XFCE: the panel (still), the desktop manager, and customization options.
The panel still defaults to the bottom center of the screen. There is still no option to make it fill the screen from edge to edge. I was able to pseudo-fix this by adding a few "goodies" to the panel and making one of them "Expand to fill screen" (the taskbar item). This fix "works" but the panel will expand and contract at random some times as I change desktops or monitors that I have in it change text. This bugs me quite a bit as it is very distracting. I think that problem alone ... (view rest)
Saturday, 01 January 2005, 15:19:49 EDT
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Yeah, I didn't post much during December. It isn't that there wasn't anything going on in December, I just didn't have a lot to say.
But, December is over and with it 2004. Overall, 2004 was a good year. I started school again, switching majors at the same time, and finishing the Fall semester with a 3.00 GPA bringing my overal GPA up to 2.31; not exactly stellar but on the right track. Spring semester, starting on the tenth, will be more difficult but if I maintain good study habits it shouldn't be a problem.
I also acquired a new job that is a lot less stressful than my previous one. I moved from face-to-face customer service to backend support; essentially, my job is to keep the wireless network on campus running and make sure it has the optimal coverage. There really isn't much to my job other than walking around and using the wireless network in various places. While the job is easy I feel rather useless a lot of the time because of the lack of anything to do. But, it is steady and has a brighter future than answering phones and everything else I used to do which is a good thing considering the next paragraph.
Thursday I bought a 1999 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner. No more 1989 Ford Escort! Yay! I got it for a rather fair price but it is still the most expensive thing I have ever p ... (view rest)
Monday, 20 December 2004, 00:42:03 EDT
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Life decisions are extremely tough to make. I suppose that is why they are called "life decisions." If they were as easy as figuring out where to go for lunch then what would be their point? If the results of the decision didn't impact you in some profound way then it wouldn't be much of a decision now would it?
Recently, I was presented with a path that would affect my life quite profoundly. At the end of the path is something I have wanted for a long long time. The problem is that the path does not lead to a sure destination. If everything were to work out optimally the destination would be sweet; it wouldn't be the land of milk and honey (not that I like either) but it would certainly be better in a lot of ways. But it wouldn't come without cost. The path would take me far away from what I know and hold dear.
For the first time ever I feel really good about school. I feel like I can actually graduate. I am actually looking forward to classes. I still need to apply myself better to the task but I have already improved so much that I am like a completely different student.
I have realized that I am a grown ass man and that I need to start playing the part. Piddling around isn't going to cut it any more. I have to make a decision and I have to stick with it. Whatever decision I make will have to take me somewhere and be able to sustain me and any desires or responsibilites I may have. I can't try for something that may not happen or, ... (view rest)
Monday, 06 December 2004, 10:55:18 EDT
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I just touched up a couple more things around here. No longer will you have to scroll to the bottom of long posts when you want either read the comments or post a comment. I have tried once again to get the comment form to remember the stuff you fill in but web cookies suck so it probably still doesn't work.
I have been playing entirely too much World of Warcraft lately. It is a good thing that I waited until classes were basically over for the semester because that game is too addictive. Hopefully I will get all of the fresh addictive gameplay over with during the winter break. If you haven't played it I suggest you head over to the website and download the gameplay video to see what you are missing. At Jason's party, more on that in a second, I was able to see Everquest 2 being played and I am very happy with my choice. From what I remember, lots of beers, I did not like the graphics in the game. I think they tried to make it look too pretty. WoW is pretty but it is cartoony and I like the cartoony look of the game. EQ2 tried to be too real in some aspects while looking too fake in others. I don't know, I should probably look at the game again when sober to make ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 01 December 2004, 00:29:07 EDT
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For almost a month I have been idly playing Vendetta Online. It is a space based Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). I enjoyed it for a while and was particularly happy with the monthly fee and initial investment; it cost $9.99 per month and was a free download with a free eight hour trial to start. However, after playing it for a while I realized that to accomplish anything of any significance it would take me several play sessions and the work would be highly repetitive. Plus, I was not very good at attacking higher level bots or other players. Those two factors, combined with an elitist attitude held by a majority of the players that had been playing for the past four years during the alpha and beta phases, quickly turned me off of that game. I should never have played Vendetta because it reawkened a desire in me that I had killed off after the first couple years of Everquest (EQ1) — the desire to play a continuous online game.
After deciding that I would no longer play Vendetta I started thinking about my options. I had my choice between Star Wars: Galaxies (SWG), Everquest 2 (EQ2), or World of Warcraft (WoW); the later two were just recently released. I decided against SWG because the game already has an expansion out, which would mean even more initial cost, and its reputation for requiring massive amounts of time to accomplish anything. I have already quit one game because of that why would I start another? About the only thing EQ2 had going for it is the fact that Jason plays it and it would be a good way for me to keep in touch with him once he moves to L.A.. However, I have not heard anything about EQ2 addressing the issue of time investment for casual players (a.k.a. me). So, taking that in to consideration and the reason I left EQ1 (long story) I decided not to get EQ2 and settled on getting WoW.
So, last night I drug my roommate out to town and bought us both a copy so that we could play (he had been expressing interest in wanting to play a new game as well). One of my biggest gripes with MMORPGs is the initial cost followed up by a monthly fee. They claim that you "get the first month free" but you have really just paid a great deal more for the fist month than you will pay each consecutive month. My purchase of WoW has not changed that opinion; in fact, it has strengthened that opinion. I believe that if you are going to pay $50.00 for the box, and everything that comes in it, and then be required to pay a monthly fee to play that the packaging and contents should at least be worth a good portion of that initial investment. If you take a look at this picture you can see that the WoW box contains very little for that $50.00. All that is in the box is four CDs (why couldn't it be on DVD?) with a very poor container (paper sleeves? wtf?), the game manual, and a couple advertisements. That is pathetic. Oh well, at least I can play right?
And play I have. I played for about an hour and a half last night and attained level four with my gnome mage. The little bit that I played last night impressed me quite a bit. Today, I read a bit more about the game and how to play it and realized that this game really will cater to a casual gamer. I think the most important aspect that affects the casual gamer is the resting system. Basically, if you can't play for long periods of time you can be compensated by logging off in certain areas so that when you return to the game you are able to get twice the experience you normally would. That is really awesome. There are also two other features that help out the casual player ... (view rest)
Monday, 22 November 2004, 13:13:00 EDT
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I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate my good friend Jason McCord. This morning he recieved a job offer and materials via FedEx from Activision. It sounds as if he is going to accept the offer.
Congratulations, Jason. ... (view rest)
Monday, 15 November 2004, 14:11:00 EDT
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I am not sure if anyone reading this page is considering getting me something for the upcoming "buy everyone you know a lot of random stuff" holiday, but, if you are considering such a thing, I will save you the trouble of wondering what in the hell to get me by linking you to my Amazon.com Wish List. I have rated things on their "want" scale to make it even easier for you. Truly, I don't mind not getting anything but some people are crazy and want to buy me more stuff to keep up with.
Unrelated to the "buy everyone you know a lot of random stuff" holiday, I wrote a short story this weekend. I will be posting it here soon but it needs a bit of work ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 14:24:33 EDT
You might recall that I said this post would be a "geeky" post. Well, it isn't. The post that I was going to write languished in writer's block for so long that I have forgotten what I wanted to write. So, instead, I am just going to babble for a bit because it has been so long since I have written anything. I think the reason I haven't been writing much lately is because of school. I am trying to focus more on school than anything else and it takes a lot of time. When I get done with school, a.k.a. not in class or doing homework, I just want to relax. Relaxing, as of late, means not doing anything remotely stimulating intellectually which is where I get most of my material to write about.
I suppose one could argue that today I truly matured as a citizen of the United States. I voted in the 2004 presidential election this morning before work. I really reccommend that you vote early; I got in line at 8:40AM and walked out of the voting room at 9:20AM. Not too bad but think about how it will be in one week.
There is one very big problem though — Henry county, along with most of the rest of Georgia's counties, uses the Diebold election machines. A simple Google search gives plenty of explanation why I do not like this. When I got in the voting room I looked around at how they have everything set up; it is pitiful. The machines are plugged straight in to regular wall outlets. Not even the pollster's machine was plugged in to an UPS. If a power outage were to occur then every single one of the machines in the room would crash which would mean a possible loss of every vote taken that day up to the point of the power outage. I didn't have any problems using the machine and it was actually fairly quick and easy. The problem is that I am worried my vote might get lost. The Diebold machines are probably the worst machines developed for electronic voting; well, according the everyone with half a brain they are. I do believe that the voting process needs to be quicker and easier to tabulate. There are way too many people for hand counting to be effective, or efficient, any more. But, I would prefer that the electronic method be more secure. I mean really, if monkeys can crack the system what is stopping a well paid poll worker from doing so?
In somewhat related matters, I was able to pick up my pre-ordered copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas yesterday evening. I played it for about three hours last night and I can assure you that this game lives up to the standards that have been set forth by the previous two games. I love this series because it is completely blatant in its content. They are not promising fluffy bunnies and roses. The game is a satirical representation of society during the time period in which the game is set. This iteration just happens to be set in a central L.A. environment in the early 1990s when gangland warfare was at its height. The language is harsh, the w ... (view rest)
Thursday, 09 September 2004, 21:41:18 EDT
...How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
What can I say? I am stunned. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a tremendous movie. I am Joel and hopefully one day I will blunder in to what he ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 01 September 2004, 21:57:10 EDT
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I would like to thank everyone who wished my birthday well yesterday. I was greeted with "happy birthday" just about every where I went and that was strange for me as it has not happened in a long time. It is odd how such a small thing can make a day better. That and the time spent with friends Saturday evening was certainly a good end to my twenty-fifth year. Yes, that is right, I have lived a quarter century now; it is amazing how quickly the time is starting to pass.
Any way, let's get on with the geek portion of the post shall we? It seems that Firefox is slated to reach version 1.0 on October 11. This release is going to incorporate some really nice new features. If you are not yet using Firefox I don't know what is wrong with you. The browser is really living up to its namesake (it used to be called Phoenix) - it is ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 24 August 2004, 15:26:19 EDT
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A couple of weeks ago I decided that I really need to attend classes again so that I can get finished with school. I went through all the motions to get financial aid and was approved. However, when I tried to register last week I was informed that I needed to reapply for admission since I had not taken classes in so long. I was quite sure that I would not be able to register for this semester and was resigned to starting school again next semester. Well, yesterday a co-worker asked a friend in the registrar's office if there was anything they could do to speed my application along. When I got in to work this morning I was informed that I could register for classes. So, I sat down and looked at all of my options. I could either work towards finishing my associate degree in computer science or work towards another degree. I have been at this metaphorical crossroad for a while now and today I chose the road I will travel. First I investigated changing my major to information technology; I decided that I will not go that route, even though it would be the easiest, because I do not like the curriculum. I just can not take any curriculum seriously when one of the classes focuses on how to write a resume and dress for an interview. I also wrote off the english major as I don't feel that will do me much good in my career. This left me with two options, continuing the computer science degree in which I would have to transfer in order to get my bachelor's degree or I could choose to get a bachelor degree in mathematics. I decided ... (view rest)
Thursday, 19 August 2004, 23:09:39 EDT
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Slow month here I know. It is probably just the end of the year blues as the end of my year is coming up very soon. Or, it could be that I just haven't had much to write about. Jonathan links to my site saying it is a very technical place and that is the way I like it. So, when I am not really doing anything interesting, technically, or reading about interesting things I don't post much.
Lately I have been doing some new stuff at work. Mainly, I have gotten to try my hand at wiring data closets. Some would say it is an insanely tedious and boring job. I can see that; but, if you are working alone and allowed to go at your own pace it can be a very acceptable task. To clarify, when I say "wiring data closets" I mean plugging patch cables from patch panel to switch and fitting them in the wire manager. I must have done at least 700 ports this past week or so and I evidently did a good job. Everyone who saw my work said as much. However, the true test came today when the closet nazi had the time to take a look at the closets I worked on. Evidently the words used to describe my work were "he is my new closet boy." I would post some pictures of what I did but they are not that exciting and rather blurry. Today I had to go back and document which patch cable relates which port on the switch to which port on the patch panel. Doing it the way I did it made the documenting a snap. When I got to the only closet that is undocumented an ... (view rest)
Sunday, 01 August 2004, 22:16:00 EDT
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Since it is the first of the month I should make a post to get the page rolling. I have finally finished moving and will be doing the move out inspection in the old place tomorrow morning. I don't think it is going to be too bad as nothing we did goes beyond normal wear and tear; the neighbors upstairs though, that is a completely different matter. Speaking of which, it is so nice to be upstairs where things of that nature are not a problem. I just hope that I don't do all of the things that have annoyed me in the past to annoy my neighbors downstairs.
As per usual, moving has cost me a small fortune. I had to have a washer and dryer but didn't want to take my father's as he would need them when he gets back from Michigan. So, I bought a basic washer and a basic dryer from Sears. I am happy with them; especially the dryer because it actually dries clothes. No more guessing how much longer to leave the clothes in the dryer. I also decided to get a new vacuum cleaner. I needed to be able to vacuum in my old apartment to make it presentable for tomorrow and I couldn't find any bags for the vacuum my mother had given me. I decided that I just don't want to fool with this having to buy bags, and then a new vacuum when they stop making the bags, thing nor deal with the vacuum not vacuuming when the bag gets the slightest bit of dust in it. To solve these problems I just threw caution, more like reason and money, to the wind and bought a Dyson DC07. This thing is absolutely amazing. It is very quiet and picks up an astounding amount of dirt and dust. Not only that but it is easy to clean and use. To empty the bin you just press a simple button to remove it from the vacuum and then pull a lever to drop the bottom open. I am not going to full out review this thing since all of the information on their site is adequate and accurate. I will just say that if you want a vacuum that is worth its price then this one is worth the investment.
I am ... (view rest)
Thursday, 29 July 2004, 15:13:54 EDT
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At first I was skeptical. At first I thought it was just another scam meant to attract the morons of the internet. I had seen it spammed all over orkut and random websites the past couple of days. Then, today, I was sent a link that changed my mind. So, I decided to head over to freeipods.com and give it a shot. I made sure to read the priavcy policy and the terms of agreement, which I had to use Internet Explorer to do before proceeding. Evidently, they will only send you emails and the device you chose, provided you get the required refferals. Since that is okay with me I initially tried to proceed with a mailinator.com address but they have those address filtered and will not allow them. So, I headed over to crapmail.com and made an account just for this little adventure. I then proceeded to fill out the registration. In order to get a free iPod you have to complete one of their sponsors' offers and have five other people do so. I decided to do the AOL offer; it is one of the two offers that do not not cost you a single penny to do. The other free offer requires you to create an eBay account and place one bid. I did that one as well, as it is easy to make a bid that quickly gets outbid, but have not been notified that the offer process on that one has completed. It took a few hours for the AOL offer to be marked as completed. The AOL offer requires you to sign up for AOL Broadband with one month free, it can be canceled at any time, and sign on to the service at least once.
I realize that what I am proposing here sounds too good to be true but evidently it ... (view rest)
Monday, 26 July 2004, 16:11:01 EDT
I am about half way finished moving in to my new apartment. Jay spent a great majority of the day moving almost all of my heavy or awkward stuff. It took a lot longer to take my futon out to my grandparent's and exchange it for the bed I was using out there than I anticipated but we still made it back to Morrow in time to pick up my washer and dryer from Sears. We managed to get enough of my stuff moved in and set up that I was able to stay the night in the new place and I must say that I am pleased. I didn't have to listen to a kid running track upstairs, I am on the top floor for a change, or any other noise that would keep me awake. I didn't get to sleep until about 1:30AM and still woke up at 7:30AM feeling a lot better than I have any other mornings (excepting when I would sleep on a real bed at my grandparent's house). I think I am really going to like this place. The bedroom is much bigger than any room I have had before and the general apartment is quite a step up from my previous apartments. Once James and I get the apartment set up the way we want it I will post some pictures.
In other news, a website was brought to my attention today that does a good job of pointing out some of George W. Bush's shortcomings (for lack of a more gentle word). The site is Reasons to Dispatch Bush. All the site does is list eighty-one, at this time, facts about Bush, his actions, and the actions of those he associates himself with. I say they are facts because each one has at least one source linked or listed to back up the statement. I had ... (view rest)
Friday, 16 July 2004, 19:05:39 EDT
I have made some various updates to the site. I realized, after talking with an old friend last night, that it is difficult to find my email address, and then use it, on this site. So, I have added and email link in the menu and used a transparent method of encoding it. It should be much easier to find and use now. I also added a new album to the site; it is a collection of photos from the new University Life Center on the CCSU campus. As I have been walking around in there doing various things I decided that I would take some pictures and share them with you all before the building is officially open. I hope to get some pictures of each classroom model and the auditorium before that date but it is hard to do because all the doors are locked. It seems some vandals decided to cut up the walls and such at some point so they started locking every door in the building. It makes working very difficult because no one has keys. But, I digress. I also added a couple new pictures to the miscellaneous album. Aside from adding picutres I also touched up the way the gallery actually works. Instead of showing the picture description under the picture there is now a tooltip. This allows me to display the albums in a more uniform, and better looking, manner. And lastly, I added a new download to the code section. It is a simple little script to run an Unreal Tournament 2004 dedicated server on Linux, particularly Debian Woody with a 2.6.x kernel.
Enough site news, time for some random babbling. Every Friday I go to the local Steak n' Shake for lunch. I walk in, sit down, and relax. Cortnea, the waitress running the counter and cash register, asks me if I want a platter, usually the answer is yes, and brings me exactly what I want — chili with Tabasco, rootbeer, fries, and a hamburger. It is really nice to be able to go in and just take a break from everything. Today, som ... (view rest)
Monday, 12 July 2004, 19:04:54 EDT
What a conflicting day. It was a mixture of good and bad. It was good because I was finally able to do something at work other than find obscure locations to use the wireless connection; I helped install equipment in the two wiring closets on the first floor of the new University Center and tomorrow will be more of that just on another floor. Although, at the end of the day a curse that afflicts me arose. I seem to be cursed in that I break things without even trying; at least what I broke is easily fixed with some plastic epoxy. I still feel like a complete jackass for having broken something though. But, nothing to do about it now other than fix it.
Before I left for work I managed to completely mess up my FireFox configuration so I had to delete it this afternoon when I got home. While I was at it I decided to quit waiting on the person maintaining the Debian package and reverted to installing 0.9 to `~/bin/firefox`. I am a little disappointed that the flashblock and session saver extensions won't load but that will be fixed in due course. I am pleased, however, with the single window extension. It fixes the broken behaviour that almost every site out there seems to want to use — opening links in a new window. Links are not meant to be opened in a new window unless the user decides they should be. It is insanely annoying to have to switch between five different windows just because the website authors do not want you to leave their site. I hate to burst your bubble mister "you can click the links but you are going to stay here" site maintainer but if I want to leave your site then I am going to do so. When you open windows I didn't request then that is probably going to make me leave it quicker. Not quite as quick as if the site required a flash file that makes no sens ... (view rest)
Monday, 05 July 2004, 21:39:25 EDT
Yesterday I went out to Covington to spend the fourth with an old friend as I do every fourth of July. We went swimming in the river down the road as we usually do. About an hour after we got back to the house my ear started hurting really badly and I had to go home early because I just couldn't hang out in such pain and be good company. When I got home I tried laying down and watching television hoping the pain would subside enough for me to get to sleep. At about 9:45PM I decided that it was just hurting too badly for entirely too long and went to the hospital. As I was sitting in the hospital room waiting for the doctor the pain stopped. I am very glad that it stopped hurting before I was treated because I just can't afford a visit to a doctor right now.
Today was an extremely lazy day. I have lain in bed pretty much all day watching television. At 6:00PM I decided to finally get up and do something; I decided that I would finally burn off some of the stuff eating up my hard drive space and went to CompUSA to buy a stack of DVD+Rs. It seems that I got in the door just in time because they closed at six today. Since I don't have too much cash to spend on DVDs I looked around for the best deal I could find. I ended up finding some Memorex ten disc stacks for, what I thought to be, $6.99 per spindle. After I completed the purchace I realized that the final price was twice what I was expecting to pay. When the cashier and I went over to check the price I noticed that the ten disc spindles were hung under a three pack price tag. Since I didn't feel like wasting anyone's time arguing that they should be placed under the appropriate price. Instead, I returned the three spindles I had just purchased and bought a twenty-five disc spindle which had a $20.00 instant rebate making them $20.00. So, now I have thirty DVD+RWs and five DVD-RWs and a lot more free space on my hard drive.
Since I was freeing up space I decided to see what I could download. I thought about downloading the Cannes screener of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 since it is officially sanctioned by Michael Moore and Lion's Gate studios. Well, maybe not sanctioned but they don't really care nor are they going to track people down that download it. I decided not to download it because I could only find a copy that was acquired through a personal video camera. If I could have found a workprint or something I would have acquired a copy as I really want to see this film.
While looking for a good quality version of Farenheit 9/11 I found the complete Æon Flux series available for download. I fully intend to buy the ... (view rest)
Thursday, 17 June 2004, 22:35:37 EDT
In the middle of composing the previous post I was called over to my boss' office. It seems that tomorrow will be my last day, at least for a while, working at the CCSU help desk. Starting Monday I will be working for the networking department. My job will be to help install the wireless network in the new University Center with the goal of achieving the maximum coverage area possible. Once that is done we will be going back and re-working the current wireless network across campus to make it better. I am very excited about this progression; I think I am going to have fun with this project and hopefully something more permanent can come of it. I just figured I would mention that before getting in to the real post – CD reviews!
Last week I went to Best Buy to pick up the new Velvet Revolver album; it seems I was a little too early as it was not on the shelves and would not be until the next day. So, I wandered around the store for a while and eventually made my way to the techno music section. Looking through the CDs I found that Dieselboy just release a new album a couple weeks ago and that has tracks from Josh Wink, BT, and Tiësto. How could I resist? One of my favorite acid house artists, one of my favorite break beat artists, and, basically, the only trance artist I like all on the same album and remixed to wicked drum and bass (which I am slowly deciding not to call jungle - just ask if you think you can stand the explanation). I must say, this album rocks! The Wink track is very identifiable and makes me remember why I love that acid sound that comes out of well tweaked Roland TB-303. The other two tracks are not so easily picked out but if you listen you can hear them. Another cool thing about this album is that it was produced as a sort of tribute to the DJ's AD&D buddies and the whole game in general. The album runs just like a campaign; it goes from real dark and evil to ever so slightly melodic all the while being narrated by a dungeon master. If you like d&b and DnD then you should pick this album up.
Since I wasn't able to pick the Velvet Revolver album that day I went back last Saturday and picked it up. After having listened to it for almost a week I can safely say this is an excellent album. At first listen it is rather bland but after listening to it a couple of times the style grows on you. I guess I was just expecting a Guns N' Roses type sound since three-fifths of the band is old GNR band members but the sound is quite different. The music is really mature and is definitely not heavy metal; I would say that it is straight up hard rock. My favorite tracks from the album are Big Machine (#3), Headspace (#7), Superhuman (#8), Slither (#11), and Dirty Little Thing (#12). Quite a few out of thirteen tracks but I ... (view rest)
Sunday, 06 June 2004, 23:02:55 EDT
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I would like to thank two very good friends for keeping me off the road Friday evening. Wolven and Leviathan formed a dynamic duo and drew me away from the car and relieved me of my keys. I had had way too much to drink without even realizing it; that is what I get for drinking whiskey out of a plastic party cup instead of a glass better suited for such things. I don't know why I decided it was time that I leave but I was fairly intent on doing so, although I do believe I willingly handed over the keys. I could be wrong about that – I don't really remember. So, thank you Wolven and Leviathan for not letting me a complete dumbass and I apologize if I was a jackass about it.
On a less somber note, I went to XPlayground in Peachtree City for a friend's birthday party Saturday night. It was rather fun; the best part about it was just hanging out with friends and playing some games. The place was pretty much as I expected it to be – a big Halo arena. We did try to play s ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 02 June 2004, 14:43:37 EDT
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If you ever plan to move to the Morrow, Georgia area I do not recommend you choose Windsor Landing. I just tried to pay my rent for June but their credit card line is out again for the third time; well, second time since it was out for two straight months the first time. It seems the last property manager did not pay the DSL bill so the service got cut off. And therein is the reason why I say you should not consider Windsor Landing. There is evidently some shady stuff going on because this is the fourth management in less than a year and the second one in as many months.
Back to the lack of credit card services. So, I went in to pay my rent and dude, being new and someone I have never met before, didn't realize I was there to pay my rent. After establishing that I need to give him money he asked if I was paying with a credit card to which I responded in the affirmative. He proceeded to tell me about the credit card line being out because of the previous management and asked me to come back Friday unless I had a check. I told him that I do not have a check and that the rent would be late on Friday. He said he would "write a note" like he was going to go write it down on a sticky note or something. I put a halt to that bullshit and had him write it on ... (view rest)
Monday, 17 May 2004, 21:00:35 EDT
Today was my first day working a "normal" work day. For five years I have been working from either mid-afternoon or mid-morning until closing, which used to be 10:30PM but is now 8:30PM. Getting out of work at 5:30PM just might be worth getting up at 7:30AM every morning; although, I am going to have to make that thirty minutes earlier due to my Friday schedule which is 8:00AM until 5:00PM. By the end of the summer I should have a pretty good idea if having all day Friday off, making a three day weekend, is actually better than getting out of work at a decent time. I think getting out of work at a decent time is going to prove to be the better situation. I am just so tired of not having any time during the week to do anything like wash clothes, buy groceries, go to a baseball game, etcetera.
After work today I went over to Target to pick up some things I needed. After getting what I went in for I decided to walk around the store and see if there was anything else that would strike me as worth buying. Nothing really caught my eye until I was walking to a register. At the end of one of the checkout lanes on a bottom shelf was Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here for $9.99. I don't know how my eye caught it but I decided that I needed to expand my growing Pink Floyd collection and bought it. After I got home I immediately ripped it and listened to the rip to be sure everything was good with the resulting Ogg files. Since I had my ... (view rest)
Friday, 14 May 2004, 22:32:20 EDT
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I suck at tennis. Probably the biggest problem is that I am a baseball player at heart. I am sure a lot of that is carrying over in to tennis and totally messing me up. I am sure I was frustrating Jacky with the way I was hitting the balls. I am used to guaging a ball coming at me in the air and then creaming it. So, trying to guage the way a ball is going to bounce and then try to hit it with something that has spring is not very easy. There is a lot more involved than just sizing up the ball and bashing it. Evidently there is a certain basic set of motions that will help you hit a tennis ball correctly and they are not easy to figure out when you are still trying to figure out where the ball is going to go. I am going to figure it out though. While I had my fair share of frustration I had a lot of fun as well. Since I am probably never going to get to play baseball again this will be a good replacement. Both games boil down to a one on one best of competition. In baseball it is the pitcher versus the batter. In tennis ... (view rest)
Monday, 10 May 2004, 11:14:43 EDT
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Saturday night I went to see George Carlin at the Fox Theatre. The opening act was slightly funny. Some of his jokes were predictible but others had me laughing. George was sort of a disappointment though. I was expecting him to be absolutely hilarious and possibly rant about current political issues in a funny manner. Sadly, there was very little new material and the new stuff was funny about 50% of the time. Overall, I had a good time going out with friends and seeing the show but I had hoped it would be a ... (view rest)
Thursday, 29 April 2004, 22:40:03 EDT
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I just read this post over at Viper's site and I just finished watching the last episode of Band of Brothers. I think it might be the combination of both that made me realize something. I have realized that lately I have been looking forward to Sundays. Just about every Sunday morning I wake up around 10:30AM or 11:00AM and go out to my grandparent's. Usually when I arrive a home cooked lunch is just about ready and it is the best meal I eat every week. After lunch I spend the rest of the day working with my Grandfather around the house. Everything from cutting the grass to fixing farm equipment. I am sure that soon I will be helping him with his garden.
As I sit here typing this I can't fathom what it would be like to live more than thirty to sixty minutes away from my Grandparent's place. Sure, I have stayed in Michigan over the summer many times but it isn't like I was permanently living there. I can't imagine what it would be like to feel like I am obligated to spend time with t ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 21 April 2004, 18:47:43 EDT
I write this in a moment of shock and astoundment. My favorite band in all the world will not be touring again after the release of their next album on June 21, 2004. They will play a show in Brixton, England on June 25 in promotion of the album. On June 27 the will play a retrospective all out bash in Glastonbury, England as their last show ever. This show is already sold out and the news just came over the official mailing list. The last show I was able to attend was on October 5, 2001.
... (view rest)
Tuesday, 20 April 2004, 14:04:59 EDT
One of the songs from my music section has been featured in this month's edition of Proud Freak Nation. Evidently folks like the tune so far and some have even come here and downloaded the rest of my so ... (view rest)
Monday, 12 April 2004, 14:11:50 EDT
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This past weekend was pretty good. Thursday I went out to my grandparent's and slept there so that I could wake up Friday and work on my car. My grandfather and I managed to get it in a drivable state so I am no longer driving my grandmother's car. I still need to get the back struts installed correctly but they are not going to fall out any time soon. Jay and I are going to work on that this coming weekend I believe.
Friday evening I went over to an acquaintance's apartment with a friend and had a few drinks. Aside from the Braves loosing a very close game in the fifteenth inning it was a fun night. Just about everyone there was already smashed when we walked in the door. For some reason they all decided that they needed to get me smashed as well. They weren't very successful, having all passed out before I could open an eighth Killian's, so I just got a bit tipsy. After everyone passed out me, Lulu, and some other girl (I don't know how to spell her name) went over to Steak N Shake. We just happened to get the new guy who couldn't even take orders correctly much less get them to the table. After getting my hamburger wrong he came back with a double fixed the way I asked for the single and just completely forgot about my fries. I didn't really care since I got my hamburger but Lulu decided that I had to have my fries as well so she told him about it. Dude brought me the largest plate of fries I have ever seen to make amends for his mistake. Not only could I not finish the burger but I couldn't even finish a quarter of the plate of fries. I was drunk not malnurished.
For some reason Saturday I felt like crap. I don't know why though; I didn't drink too much - just enough to loosen me up. That didn't stop me from shipping my phone back to Virgin Mobile for a refund. I finally just gave up on them and told them to give me my money back. They accepted it a lot easier than I thought they would and just told me to ship the phone with my receipt to ... (view rest)
Monday, 05 April 2004, 22:32:31 EDT
Dejected \De*ject"ed\, a.
Cast down; afflicted; low-spirited; sad; as, a dejected look or countenance.
-- {De*ject"ed*ly}, adv.
-- {De*ject"ed*ness}, n.
That is a fairly accurate description for my mood lately. It was only compounded by the fact that, after getting the correct parts, I am still unable to fix my car and get it out of my grandparent's way. I hate that pile of junk.
I will fix the layout of the picture alb ... (view rest)
Sunday, 28 March 2004, 23:10:33 EDT
Well, my grandfather and I are quite possibly the slowest mechanics on the planet. We spent five hours this afternoon replacing one of the struts on my car and we still have three left to go. It probably would have gone by a little quicker had we actually read the directions before we took everything apart. Spending more time searching for sockets and wrenches than actually using them probably didn't help matters either. No matter though; at the end of the day we each had more knowledge than we started with and it was a good way to spend the day. I can tell you one thing though, when you go to the mechanic to have the struts and/or shocks replaced in your car and he tells you that it will be about $230.00 in labor he isn't kidding with you. It is a severe pain in the ass. I like the fact that I now know what it takes to do such a job and will have a better idea of a good price for the job in the future should I have to have it done on another car (I won't be doing it again).
Aerosmith has a new album coming out on the thirtieth of this month (Tuesday). The first single has been getting a fair amount of air play the past month or so. Just about every time it is played the dj has to make some sort of comment about it. On 96 Rock the djs seem to think it is an original tune and hype it like the best thing since Walk This Way. This afternoon I heard it on Z93 (which has really changed recently - for the worse in my opinion) and the dj claimed it to be a Who "classic!" Who is he kidding? To the best of my knowledge The Who never even recorded a cover of the song. They did record Please, Please, Please which is very similar in the lyrics at least (I don't think I have ever heard the song). The song that I am ranting about is called Baby Please Don't Go and was made famous by the band that gave Van Morrison, whom is the man by the way, his start. The song was orignially written by Big Joe Williams, a delta blues artist. I just want to make sure some people out there, that may have heard it on the radio and the resultant dj blather, realize that Aerosmith did ... (view rest)
Thursday, 25 March 2004, 11:50:35 EDT
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If you have ever gone out to eat with me you know that I don't tip as well as the server would like (sorry Jason) 99% of the time. I make a great deal less that a good waiter/waitress makes during the week so I tend to get the cheapest item on the menu and put down $2.00 on top of the bill. I basically rely on other, better paid, patrons to cover my cheap ass and hope the server doesn't get pissed at me. I vaugely remember getting in to this discussion with some of Jason's friends from work last year at his birthday party (damn one of them for getting me to drink half a bottle of Crown Royal) and their argument was that I should just not go out to eat. That is completely retarded in my opinion, it isn't like I want to short the server. When my buddies say "Hey, let's go over to hoosawasa and get some grub" what am I going to do? I am going to go get some grub that is what. Any way, I digress. The whole point of this was to point you in the direction of a really moving post that deals with this subject.
On a funnier note, George Carlin will be coming to Atlanta on ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 23 March 2004, 00:42:55 EDT
I am considering purchasing a domain in my family's name and moving this site there. The problem is, there are evidently more people out there that want a sumners.[tld] than I figured there would be. There is one that the lease is running out on on April 11 but the owner will, more than likely, have at least a fifteen day grace period to renew. When I started thinking about really wanting a separate domain for this site, and anyone else in my family that might want one, I sent the guy an email asking if he would mind transferring the domain to me since he didn't even have a web page up on it. Well, the email bounced back because the address he had listed with the registrar is dead. I then sent an email to the root account on the domain and have yet to receive a response from him. The funny thing about it? He lives in Scottdale, Georgia which is about thirty minutes from my apartment. I suppose I could just drive over and ask him but now he has a web page up (after about two ... (view rest)
Sunday, 21 March 2004, 16:02:53 EDT
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Aside from going alone (well, I did meet up with Tsaroth there), the show last night was awesome. Actually, Tsaroth was there so I didn't go completely on my own but the birthday boy didn't go so neither did Jason. There was not quite as many hotties there as I was hoping there would be but it isn't like I would have had the gumption to talk to any of them any way. Speaking of hotties, there was a chick there that is evidently fairly well off who had a body guard. Why would you need to have a body guard at a rave? People are there to dance and have a good time not get in fights. At the end of the show the body guard decided he didn't like some guy standing next to him and got violent - that was just uncalled for. Any way, the music was bangin' and the crowd was lively. There were very few rave kiddies there which was good. I liked the fact that the crowd was mature and not running around like a bunch of tweeked out junkies. I would have pictures for you but I didn't take my camera. I thought about taking it but I am glad that I didn't because the way I dance (badly) it would have been hitting me in the face all night. There was a dude taking pictures who seemed to be with the DJ so maybe I will make it in some of those and will let you know if so. Bad Boy Bill took over the turn tables at about 12:45AM, about ten minutes after I got in the club (traffic was freakin' crazy; half a mile took forty minutes), and would have kept spinning until he ran out of records had the promotors not told him to wind it down at 2:55AM. Atlanta has taken the stance that all the clubs need to close at 3:00AM which is just lame. He did do a quick encore though; and by quick I mean like a two minute encore. Overall I had a blast - you all should have gone.
And now for some seriousness. There is an abby just outside of Conyers. They are falling on hard times because of mounting medical costs. The youngest monk at the abby is forty-five and the older monks are suffering from old ... (view rest)
Thursday, 18 March 2004, 21:18:48 EDT
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I was going to ignore it but I feel that I should touch on this for those of you that might think the same thing. This comment, associated with the previous post, is rather uncalled for. I do not force anyone to read my site. I may, from time to time, ask someone to go there and check out something I have linked to but I do not go out of my way force people to read this. No, not everyone cares what happens in my life and I don't expect them to. But, I do think some of my friends that I don't get to see very often like to keep up with what is going on in my life and so does my family. I am not good with verbal communication, text is rather impersonal and easier for me to communicate with. This site is here for me to let those people what is going on with me at their pace as well as for my private enjoyment. I like it when people ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 17 March 2004, 12:46:36 EDT
The weekend is nearing and that means it is getting closer to the Bad Boy Bill show at The Crescent Room on Saturday. I can't wait; it is going to be insanely fun - bust out the Jägermeister shots and the glasses of Jack on the rocks! If you are not doing anything Saturday night and you like hard house, hot women, and a rockin' good time go get yourself some tickets and meet us up at the club.
In other music news, the next best thing to Guns N' Roses has finally set a release date for their first album. I love the Velvet Revolver track Set Me Free from the Hulk Motion Picture Soundtrack. Velvet Revolver is best described as this:
This is the band that brings together three f ... (view rest)
Thursday, 11 March 2004, 21:45:43 EDT
I am searching for words to describe the site I am about to share with you. It is very difficult to find the right ones because this site is so...unbelievable yet seemingly true. I am sure that many of my devoted (you will get the joke soon enough) readers know by now that I am not exactly a Christian. I am sure that many of you know that when I hear about absolutely stupid things being done in the name of Christianity that it upsets me greatly [please have the sense enough to know that I am not saying all Christians are assholes]. Well, this website I am about to introduce you to takes all that and steps it up a notch and just plain astounds me. Here is an awesome quote, "Take for example Apple Computers, makers of the popular Macintosh line of computers. The real operating system hiding under the newest version of the Macintosh operating system (MacOS X) is called... Darwin! That's right, new Macs are based on Darwinism! While they currently don't advertise this fact to consumers, it is well known among the computer elite, who are mostly Atheists and Pagans. Furthermore, the Darwin OS is released under an "Open Source" license, which is just another name for Communism." Isn't that amazing? That came from this page.
I was just going to post that bit and talk about how retarded they are about evolution and the "science of creationism" but before I came here to post I decided to read some of the other pages on that site. Upon doing so I came across this other tid bit of enlightenment: "The Internet was created by the United States of America - a Christian nation [ref. 1, 2, 3] - and should not be used to spread anti-Christian, secular, or non-Christian propaganda and hatespeech. This is our Internet, and we should exercise our position as its owners and as the guardians of civilization to stop its misuse." You can read the rest of it here. I really don't have anything else to say about this site. If I tried to come up with words to describe my feelings about it I am scared to find out what they would be.
On a more positive note, I have recently started going nuts about exercise. Around late November early December of last year I picked up a couple fifteen pound weights and have been doing various exercises with them at least three nights a week along with a couple different types of situps. That has done some good. It has toned up a few areas and I generally feel good about the routine I have with them. Well, now that it is starting to warm up, last week I started going to the "gym" at my apartment complex to do some cardiovascular exercises. I have been doing twenty minutes on the elliptical machine and the recumbent bike they there. I would use the treadmill but running makes my chest hurt and I am really just looking to get my heart rate up and keep it up for a while. I like using these two ma ... (view rest)
Sunday, 07 March 2004, 01:22:28 EDT
Yesterday evening I went to see Hidalgo with my mother and little half-brother. The day before I watched a special on the History channel which left me with the impression that this movie is based on a legend rather than a true story as the promoters will lead you to believe. Don't get me wrong, this is a very good movie, I just don't think they should be pushing it as true when no one can find any substantial evidence to prove it thus. Aside from that, I really liked this movie. There were a few slow parts and a couple scenes where I could tell that they used CGI in place of real action but what movie doesn't do that now *sigh*. The overall story is one that seems to be more and more common now - a mixed Native American, in this case Sioux and white man, becoming jaded after a terrible act and then finding himself by embarking on a soul seeking journey. I have mixed feelings about this scenario. The movie studios are actually showing the way things really happened, that being the U.S. screwing over the original tenants of the land, but they are also using the story to make a quick buck. I dunno, it sort of (loosely) hits close to home.
Before we went to see the movie we hit up Truett's Grill. They have a new menu item there - Buffalo Chicken Strips. Basically it is a plate of six Chick-Fil-A chicken strips with a cup of some thick buffalo style hot sauce to dip them in. It is simply awesome. If you go there I highly recommend you get it; you won't regret it.
This evening I decided to try my hand and making a pizza. I went to the local Publix since I just wanted to pick up a few things without having to stray too far from home. Damn that place is retarded. Trying to find things there is like trying to find a specific grain of sand at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Regardless, I picked up a Boboli pizza crust, a can of Heinz tomato pureé, some Italian seasoning, two fresh ja ... (view rest)
Sunday, 15 February 2004, 20:17:46 EDT
Yesterday I picked up a copy of DJ Dara's Breakbeat Science - Exercise.01. This album is really good if you like stuff such as Teebee or Loxy & Ink. No, they are not featured on the album but the album is full of dark mind crunching acid synth and soul beating bass. Towards the end it gets melodic and leaves you on a very groovy beat. I highly recommend this album to anyone who like to trip the broken beats.
Today I went out to help my grandfather with some more chores around the house, as well as set up ... (view rest)
Thursday, 12 February 2004, 00:22:04 EDT
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Maybe I am going in the wrong direction with my "career." Check out this article for, as they do a good jo ... (view rest)
Friday, 06 February 2004, 20:12:14 EDT
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I stopped by the local Sprint PCS store today and found out that I am not bound by any contract. I evidently have just been paying a monthly fee for service and could have left at any time since last April. I am happy they made it so crystal clear (thick sarcasm). After find out this choice bit of information I went over to Best Buy and picked up a Virgin Moble Slider V5 phone. If you are considering switching services and keeping your number before the end of March you should call whomever it is you wish to sign with FIRST. Evidently, if you do not live in a "majorly populated" area you can not have your number ported just yet. Luckily enough, I was able to sound pissed off enough that she checked my number with the first six digits as opposed to just the area code (it seems the are not "supposed" to do this) and I turned out to be eligible after all. I would have been pretty ticked if I could not have ported today; the phone was not cheap and I didn't want to buy it and not use the damn thing. So, by 6:00PM tomorrow I should be rid of Sprint and the high monthly bill and on with Virgin Mobile. If you know you are in my phone book and want to have a personal ring go pick one out in their ring tone store and choose to "give me" a ring tone (there are LOTS to choose from); they are $2.00 for my model phone.
While I was out today I heard some awesome news on the radio. It seems that the state senate just ... (view rest)
Monday, 26 January 2004, 12:11:19 EDT
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This article could not have come to my attention at a better time. I am currently, ermm, unhappy with my current job and am looking to get a new one. I love it where I am because it is so flexible and the job security is second to none. The problem lies in the fact that the job is going absolutely no where. I also need to make more than nine dollars an hour. I want my own place fiercely bad and that won't ... (view rest)
Monday, 19 January 2004, 22:01:52 EDT
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Yeah, this month has been pretty lax on the posts. Just haven't had too much to say since the new year started. Speaking of the new year, you may be wondering about the post just after the strike of the new year. I was, ummmm, slightly drunk and in a low mood. It was night that I affectionately term "bottom bottle whiskey night". Thankfully I was smart enough not to go out and buy a bottle of whiskey; I just had whatever was already in the apartment.
Anyway, I was in CompUSA the other day buying a cheapo video card to go in my Linux box since the motherboard I put in it does not have a built in card like the old one. I went in, looked at the cards to see the prices, and then walked around looking at network cards while I decided whether or not to buy one or continue using the ancient ATi card I have. Eventually I decided to pick up a $50 GeForce 2. So, I picked up the card and walked up to the front of the store - the two lines were not moving so I decided to go look around some more. I ending up wandering over to the digital camera cases to see if they had one I would like for my camera. I was fidling around with them, unzipping them, feeling the material on the inside to see how soft they were (I don't want the view screen on my camera getting scratched). Well, I decided that none of them suited my picky needs and started walking back up to the front. It was at this point I noticed the manager standing about twenty fee ... (view rest)
Thursday, 01 January 2004, 00:01:15 EDT
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So, it is evidently the year 2004 now. Yay. I love sitting at home drinking alone watching everyone on television have fun ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 14:10:40 EDT
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I would like to thank my two room mates, John and Mohsin, for the completely unexpected christmas presents. Sorry I don't have the cash to reciprocate.
Why would anyone ever buy something like ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 17 December 2003, 11:07:28 EDT
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In fifth grade I was forced to attend a school that I had no desire to attend. I was perfectly happy at the school I had been attending my whole life up to that point. Today, someone sent in an email to my work and their email address was at fultonschools.org. I decided to see if the place that I like to call "hell on Earth" was listed on this web page; indeed, it was listed. Here is the offic ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 02 December 2003, 19:29:39 EDT
Ok, so it is that time of year again *sigh*. So, if any of you intend to get me anything (for some unknown reason, I don't really need anything other than cash) take a look at this link.
Oh, and classical is always better when a harpsichord is present. Speaking of h ... (view rest)
Saturday, 22 November 2003, 21:49:13 EDT
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So, I'm sitting here playing what is probably my eighth straight hour of Need For Speed: Underground (awesome game by the way) when my buddy Mick calls. The last time I talked to him was the beginning of May. Evidently he is now living in New York. You should let people know you are ... (view rest)
Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 19:15:15 EDT
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It has begun. I have finally started in on something actually worth my time and made a monetary commitment to it. Check out my new software site http://itcouldbe9.com. Maybe it will turn out to be ... (view rest)
Saturday, 20 September 2003, 23:17:01 EDT
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I want to say thank you to everyone who came over to my place last night. I had a fuckin' blast. Today's hangover wasn't t ... (view rest)
Sunday, 14 September 2003, 23:12:51 EDT
You must go see Once Upon A Time In Mexico. The movie fuckin' rocks! It is very much like Desperado in that, while it is a sequel, it is also a stand alone movie. It is also an action flick while at the same time a well made movie. You can either just sit back and enjoy the action or try to figure out all the symbolism.
I went up to Elijay, Georgia for a friend's bachelor party this weekend. It was a blast. We played pool, video games, and messed around on the lake. I LOVE playing on the waver runner. I had never ridden on one before and I am astounded at the toll it can take on you physically. My arms and legs are sore from using the thing but damn did I ever have fun. I almost threw myself off of it once when I did a really sharp turn - but that was fun as well. I tried to wa ... (view rest)
Tuesday, 09 September 2003, 18:00:58 EDT
A couple of people that actually read this site were a little put off by my post on the 31st of August. I was just disappointed in how my evening turned out because I expected much more of it. I posted that after everyone had left and I was just venting in a drunken stupor.
That is basically the sum of this whole site, which I am surprised anyone even reads. I use this site as a way to vent, talk about random shit that has happened, or point out cool stuff I find from time to time. If I post something I will not go ba ... (view rest)
Sunday, 31 August 2003, 02:57:02 EDT
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So today is my birthday. I had a birthday "party" on the 30th. I had a real good time with Jay and Jacky.
Although, I think that Jay only stayed as long as he did because I was feeling so down about other people skippping out so early.
I just don't get it. I know I am not that exciting of a guy but why do you have to make other plans on my birthday when I have given you a heads up a month and ... (view rest)