How long can you hold it? HoldTheButton.com
I didn't hold it very long. I had to go help Julie do the dishes. Yeah.
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What I'm Reading: The Dark Knight Returns, The Tomorrow People
What I'm Playing: Jak 2, WoW
What I'm Watching: 24, my CPU overheat and crash when I play WoW, my new vid card cooler fan buzz along happily
Monday, February 28, 2005
Friday, February 25, 2005
Finally, a use for those LARPing skills
A company in Germany put together a feature-length adaptation of Terry Pratchett's 'Lords & Ladies' for all of 300 Euros. According to the website, they used a lot of Live Action Role-Players because they had their own costumes :)
Beware the killer special effects!
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What I'm Reading: Fray, some other graphic novels
What I'm Playing: WoW, Minish Cap, Jak 2
What I'm Watching: Daily Show, Dilbert
Beware the killer special effects!
---
What I'm Reading: Fray, some other graphic novels
What I'm Playing: WoW, Minish Cap, Jak 2
What I'm Watching: Daily Show, Dilbert
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Doo Doo Doo De Doo Doo Dum
This is cool.
Some guys down at UCSC made a 4-storey tall mural depicting scenes from Super Mario Bros. on the windows of one of the buildings. It's pretty cool, especially concidering they made it out of Post-It Notes.
Some guys down at UCSC made a 4-storey tall mural depicting scenes from Super Mario Bros. on the windows of one of the buildings. It's pretty cool, especially concidering they made it out of Post-It Notes.
Old Man Garrett
Garrett's 8 months old tonight!
To celebrate, he's been pulling himself up all over the place. He just started doing that on the weekend. Sigh.
We let him have a couple french fries at Wendy's tonight to celebrate. Of course, he hasn't quite grasped the concept of not crushing your food before eating it, so it got kind of messy when we let him hold the fry. But still.
---
What I'm Reading: Fray
What I'm Playing: WoW, Jak 2
What I'm Watching: The Dilbert DVD set.
To celebrate, he's been pulling himself up all over the place. He just started doing that on the weekend. Sigh.
We let him have a couple french fries at Wendy's tonight to celebrate. Of course, he hasn't quite grasped the concept of not crushing your food before eating it, so it got kind of messy when we let him hold the fry. But still.
---
What I'm Reading: Fray
What I'm Playing: WoW, Jak 2
What I'm Watching: The Dilbert DVD set.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Drool...
Here's how good my new monitor is, compared to the old one.
I was booting it up for the first time and there was a black screen with just an arrow cursor on it.
It was so crisp and bright (but not washed out) that I called Julie to tell her how much I loved my new monitor.
Suffice it to say, I'm glad I went with this rather than sticking with that broken 21" monitor. It's so nice to actually be able to read websites and online comics without squinting and guessing at the words based on what the shapes of the letters vaguely look like.
And the games. Oh, the games look marvelous. Heck, because this is a flat-screen with anti-glare and anti-reflection stuff on it, I can even do the unthinkable... Play Thief during daylight hours! AH!
---
What I'm Reading: The big stack of graphic novels I took out from the library.
What I'm Playing: With my monitor settings, WoW, Thief 3, Jak 2
What I'm Watching: The NFB Animation Greats DVD that I got from the library... and I'm watching it on my computer!!
I was booting it up for the first time and there was a black screen with just an arrow cursor on it.
It was so crisp and bright (but not washed out) that I called Julie to tell her how much I loved my new monitor.
Suffice it to say, I'm glad I went with this rather than sticking with that broken 21" monitor. It's so nice to actually be able to read websites and online comics without squinting and guessing at the words based on what the shapes of the letters vaguely look like.
And the games. Oh, the games look marvelous. Heck, because this is a flat-screen with anti-glare and anti-reflection stuff on it, I can even do the unthinkable... Play Thief during daylight hours! AH!
---
What I'm Reading: The big stack of graphic novels I took out from the library.
What I'm Playing: With my monitor settings, WoW, Thief 3, Jak 2
What I'm Watching: The NFB Animation Greats DVD that I got from the library... and I'm watching it on my computer!!
IT HAS ARRIVED!
Well, I just got my new monitor home. It's a Viewsonic E90f+SB, it that means anything to anyone. It's actually a good monitor according to Newegg, so that's a step in the right direction. According to Luke, I've got a reputation now for buying crappy computer products. Sigh.
The fun part was trying to load the box into my car. I tried getting it into the back seat, but it wouldn't get past the door. I tried getting it in the front seat, but I couldn't close the door. I actually contemplated driving home with the front door open (I'd drive slowly and on the back streets) but then I was able to wedge it into the back seat after some gentle 'persuasion'.
I'm off to hook it up. Expect a ecstatic post in the next few minutes once it's set up!
The fun part was trying to load the box into my car. I tried getting it into the back seat, but it wouldn't get past the door. I tried getting it in the front seat, but I couldn't close the door. I actually contemplated driving home with the front door open (I'd drive slowly and on the back streets) but then I was able to wedge it into the back seat after some gentle 'persuasion'.
I'm off to hook it up. Expect a ecstatic post in the next few minutes once it's set up!
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
How Fast Are You?
I'm sure most of the techy people know about this already, but there's a cool little bandwidth meter over on Cnet.com that lets you find out exactly how fast that high-speed of your's really is.
It's kind of cool to see that my DSL is faster than a T1, but not as fast as a T3. Ah well.
It's kind of cool to see that my DSL is faster than a T1, but not as fast as a T3. Ah well.
Federal Finance is Fun!
CBC.ca has a fun little flash game that lets YOU decide how the federal government should spend the inevitable surplus that will follow tomorrow's budget announcement.
It's actually a very witty and informative little game. I didn't put any money into tax cuts and the government didn't fall, but I got a little sound blurb about our GDP to debt ratio that taught me something I didn't know.
It's actually a very witty and informative little game. I didn't put any money into tax cuts and the government didn't fall, but I got a little sound blurb about our GDP to debt ratio that taught me something I didn't know.
The Odd Sleeping Habits Of Babies In The Wild
We'd put Garrett down for the night in his crib and when Julie went to check on him a few minutes later, she found him trying to make a break for it. 
The continuing saga of Brock and his Monitor
Well, I couldn't fix my 21" monitor so I took it back and thankfully had little difficulty getting my money back. Even the guys at the store where I bought it were surprised at how bad the burn-in was after they tested it.
So I went to the local computer store and now have a 19" CRT flat-screen monitor on its way here tomorrow. The nice thing is that it's brand new, so I won't have to worry about something wonky going on because it's used.
Unfortunately, I have to use my old monitor for another day. Yuck. Just going back from the 21" to the 17" was a bit of a step, but I can handle it. Having to try to squint to make out the words on the screen isn't fun. I didn't realize this monitor was as bad as it was till now. Yuck!
I also picked up a USB hub so I can have my digital camera and MP3 cables plugged in at the same time. I also picked up a funky new LED mousepad. Garrett loves it. He keeps trying to grab the colours :) Plus I think it looks pretty cool. I'm just debating whether or not to put my old mousepad on top so I'll still have the wrist support or not.
---
What I'm Reading: Not much. I want to read, but I've been too busy fighting with my computer and playing WoW.
What I'm Playing: WoW, Jak 2, Zelda: Minish Cap
What I'm Watching: Battlestar Galactica, my eyes going fuzzy from this crappy monitor.
So I went to the local computer store and now have a 19" CRT flat-screen monitor on its way here tomorrow. The nice thing is that it's brand new, so I won't have to worry about something wonky going on because it's used.
Unfortunately, I have to use my old monitor for another day. Yuck. Just going back from the 21" to the 17" was a bit of a step, but I can handle it. Having to try to squint to make out the words on the screen isn't fun. I didn't realize this monitor was as bad as it was till now. Yuck!
I also picked up a USB hub so I can have my digital camera and MP3 cables plugged in at the same time. I also picked up a funky new LED mousepad. Garrett loves it. He keeps trying to grab the colours :) Plus I think it looks pretty cool. I'm just debating whether or not to put my old mousepad on top so I'll still have the wrist support or not.
---
What I'm Reading: Not much. I want to read, but I've been too busy fighting with my computer and playing WoW.
What I'm Playing: WoW, Jak 2, Zelda: Minish Cap
What I'm Watching: Battlestar Galactica, my eyes going fuzzy from this crappy monitor.
Monday, February 21, 2005
My monitor needs warning labels.
Well, today we went out and in the midst of our shopping Julie got me my early birthday present.
I got a replacement monitor. Granted, my constant complaining about how my old one was making me blind helped speed up the process.
Anyway, I got a new monitor. It's a used IBM 21" Trinitron Flatscreen. It only cost $249! I love it so far. I can actually read websites and surf around without going blind from the fuzzy text. Not only that, it's freakin' HUGE!
I swear I'm going to need a new support leg for my desk just to keep it propped up.
World of Warcraft looks amazing on this new puppy. I'm going to fiddle around a bit more. It is a little bit washed out, but I'm going to tweak some more of the settings first. On the whole though, my complaints, such as they are, are very insignificant compared to the improvement over my old monitor.
[Editor's Note (updated around 8:45pm):
To prove that I have THE WORST LUCK IMAGINABLE when it comes to computer products, this monitor, which I loved at first, is now giving me a migraine.
It's a pretty snazzy monitor, but I've spent about 3 hours now trying to get it so that I have a true black background, as opposed to a kind of grey thing, and nothing works. I've tweaked every setting I can find on the monitor. I've fiddled with my Nvidia software till I can quote RGB values at passersby. Nothing works. If I were to use this monitor to just surf around, I'd love it. But games are all looking washed out, which I could have done on my old monitor, thank you very much.
Sigh. Looks like I'll be taking a trip to Georgetown with Garrett tomorrow to take this thing back. I try to buy a used product and look what happens. Sigh. At least the local computer store has a brand new 19" for roughly the same cost. So help me if the guys I bought this monitor from don't refund my money!
I got a replacement monitor. Granted, my constant complaining about how my old one was making me blind helped speed up the process.
Anyway, I got a new monitor. It's a used IBM 21" Trinitron Flatscreen. It only cost $249! I love it so far. I can actually read websites and surf around without going blind from the fuzzy text. Not only that, it's freakin' HUGE!
I swear I'm going to need a new support leg for my desk just to keep it propped up.
World of Warcraft looks amazing on this new puppy. I'm going to fiddle around a bit more. It is a little bit washed out, but I'm going to tweak some more of the settings first. On the whole though, my complaints, such as they are, are very insignificant compared to the improvement over my old monitor.
[Editor's Note (updated around 8:45pm):
To prove that I have THE WORST LUCK IMAGINABLE when it comes to computer products, this monitor, which I loved at first, is now giving me a migraine.
It's a pretty snazzy monitor, but I've spent about 3 hours now trying to get it so that I have a true black background, as opposed to a kind of grey thing, and nothing works. I've tweaked every setting I can find on the monitor. I've fiddled with my Nvidia software till I can quote RGB values at passersby. Nothing works. If I were to use this monitor to just surf around, I'd love it. But games are all looking washed out, which I could have done on my old monitor, thank you very much.
Sigh. Looks like I'll be taking a trip to Georgetown with Garrett tomorrow to take this thing back. I try to buy a used product and look what happens. Sigh. At least the local computer store has a brand new 19" for roughly the same cost. So help me if the guys I bought this monitor from don't refund my money!
Bit Torrent strikes back
This is a nice little site about how to fight back against the MPAA and RIAA and any other bunch of litigious monkeys who like to shut down bit torrent aggregation sites.
And it's a nice tweak of the 'You can click, but you can't hide,' schtick that the MPAA put up on lokitorrent the other week.
And it's a nice tweak of the 'You can click, but you can't hide,' schtick that the MPAA put up on lokitorrent the other week.
Worst... Drive... Ever...
Julie & I decided to drive home in that lovely little storm that decided to dump on us the entire drive home from Sarnia yesterday.
It was horrible. The snow itself that was falling didn't really affect us (except for around Woodstock/Kitchener). It was the fact that even though the storm had been going for about 3-4 hours at the time we left, the entire stretch of Eastbound 401 hadn't been plowed!!
It wasn't so bad from Sarnia to Kitchener. Sure, we were going about 60 km/h at our top speed, but there were actually spots where the wind and traffic had worn the snow down enough so that you could find a good groove and not shimmy all over the road.
But man, from Kitchener to Milton... it was horrendous. I don't think a single plow had been down that stretch. We passed about 8 plows heading west, but the eastbound 401 was horrid. I was going from one side of the road to the other and not even realizing it unless I had a car behind me that I could use to get my bearings. Even then, they usually were following my tracks, so it wasn't a pretty sight.
Suffice it to say, my hands, arms and shoulders are rather tense. What normally takes us about 2 1/2 hours tops to drive home took us about 4 1/2. Bleh.
But the good thing is that my fear of changing lanes in a blizzard on a snow covered road is pretty much gone. And we proved that if you don't drive like a yahoo, you can do fine in winter storms.
---
What I'm Reading: Grass For His Pillow
What I'm Playing: WoW, Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
What I'm Watching: All the stuff we taped last weekend.
It was horrible. The snow itself that was falling didn't really affect us (except for around Woodstock/Kitchener). It was the fact that even though the storm had been going for about 3-4 hours at the time we left, the entire stretch of Eastbound 401 hadn't been plowed!!
It wasn't so bad from Sarnia to Kitchener. Sure, we were going about 60 km/h at our top speed, but there were actually spots where the wind and traffic had worn the snow down enough so that you could find a good groove and not shimmy all over the road.
But man, from Kitchener to Milton... it was horrendous. I don't think a single plow had been down that stretch. We passed about 8 plows heading west, but the eastbound 401 was horrid. I was going from one side of the road to the other and not even realizing it unless I had a car behind me that I could use to get my bearings. Even then, they usually were following my tracks, so it wasn't a pretty sight.
Suffice it to say, my hands, arms and shoulders are rather tense. What normally takes us about 2 1/2 hours tops to drive home took us about 4 1/2. Bleh.
But the good thing is that my fear of changing lanes in a blizzard on a snow covered road is pretty much gone. And we proved that if you don't drive like a yahoo, you can do fine in winter storms.
---
What I'm Reading: Grass For His Pillow
What I'm Playing: WoW, Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
What I'm Watching: All the stuff we taped last weekend.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Best Anti-PK Quote Ever
I love this line that I found on Gamespy's review of WoW. It sums up my feelings about PvP on MMORPG's perfectly.
"In my own case, I don't really care much for PvP; it may not be implemented well, but it's not going to affect my enjoyment of the product one whit. I'll be over on the PvE and role-playing servers having fun and meeting new people, not squatting in my basement planning the digital equivalent of hitting kittens with rocks."
"In my own case, I don't really care much for PvP; it may not be implemented well, but it's not going to affect my enjoyment of the product one whit. I'll be over on the PvE and role-playing servers having fun and meeting new people, not squatting in my basement planning the digital equivalent of hitting kittens with rocks."
You know your MMORPG is desperate when...
Ok. The fact that Everquest 2 is getting its butt kicked by World of Warcraft (and rightfully so) is bad enough for the people at Sony. Heck, the fact that there IS an EQ2 is bad enough.
But now they've gone and done something that is either really desperate or a sign of incredible genius.
They've added a /pizza command to the game. So while you're sitting around, spending 8 hours waiting for the Grand Fuzzy Hat Of Retribution to respawn, you can just type in /pizza and order a pizza from Pizza Hut without even leaning over and picking up your phone.
Sigh. It's so pathetic, even I'm not impressed.
Now, if WoW had a /thai or /sushi or /chili button, that'd be nice :) I should start a restaurant called The Chili Hut. Mmm...
---
What I'm Reading: Grass For His Pillow, the World of Warcraft backstory
What I'm Playing: Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap on the GBA. Cool game!
What I'm Watching: Not much. The shows I want to watch on G4 aren't on until later.
But now they've gone and done something that is either really desperate or a sign of incredible genius.
They've added a /pizza command to the game. So while you're sitting around, spending 8 hours waiting for the Grand Fuzzy Hat Of Retribution to respawn, you can just type in /pizza and order a pizza from Pizza Hut without even leaning over and picking up your phone.
Sigh. It's so pathetic, even I'm not impressed.
Now, if WoW had a /thai or /sushi or /chili button, that'd be nice :) I should start a restaurant called The Chili Hut. Mmm...
---
What I'm Reading: Grass For His Pillow, the World of Warcraft backstory
What I'm Playing: Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap on the GBA. Cool game!
What I'm Watching: Not much. The shows I want to watch on G4 aren't on until later.
Sickos
Garrett is sick now. He seems to have some kind of version of whatever Julie's got. His fever seems to be going down now, but he is still relatively warm. He slept most of today and isn't too happy when he's awake.
Sigh. I hope I don't get this. At least not until everyone else is over it. It's not fun, whatever it is!
Sigh. I hope I don't get this. At least not until everyone else is over it. It's not fun, whatever it is!
Friday, February 18, 2005
Coolest Drive To Sarnia... EVER
Today we headed to Sarnia after Julie finished her half day of work. She'd been off sick since Wednesday and didn't want to get a doctor's note so she dragged herself into work today. Silly policies...
Anyway, we were able to get on the road at around 4pmish today. Now the cool part of the drive happened just past Kitchener on the 401. The traffic was slowing down and pulling into the far left lane. A big cloud of black smoke was in the air and Julie said that she could see a fire up ahead.
I thought it was an ambulance on fire, from the looks of the doors at a distance. It turned out that it was no ambulance...
IT WAS A WELDING SUPPLY TRUCK!
I've always wondered what would happen if one of those bombs on wheels ever ignited. Now I know. It was pretty spectacular. No explosions or anything (at least while we were there) but the entire back end of the truck was in flames. There were a couple cars that had pulled over ahead of the truck and the driver seemed to be with them, but it must have just happened as there were no emergency vehicles in sight.
We listened to the radio to see if they'd report it in their traffic reports and it wasn't until about 40 minutes later, as we were nearing London, that we heard anything. Turned out they'd shut down both the East- and West-bound lanes of the 401 at that spot. Phew! Good thing we got past before we'd gotten stuck there!
We also had an interesting drive, weather-wise. It went from sunny to cloudy to blizzardy and back to sunny as we went through London. Crazy snowbelt.
---
What I'm Eating: Yummy Thai food... IN SARNIA!!!
What I'm Playing: Not much. Just looking for something to play on my GBA while I'm here in Sarnia.
What I'm Watching: Satellite TV! Gotta love the G4 (well, not really, but still)
Anyway, we were able to get on the road at around 4pmish today. Now the cool part of the drive happened just past Kitchener on the 401. The traffic was slowing down and pulling into the far left lane. A big cloud of black smoke was in the air and Julie said that she could see a fire up ahead.
I thought it was an ambulance on fire, from the looks of the doors at a distance. It turned out that it was no ambulance...
IT WAS A WELDING SUPPLY TRUCK!
I've always wondered what would happen if one of those bombs on wheels ever ignited. Now I know. It was pretty spectacular. No explosions or anything (at least while we were there) but the entire back end of the truck was in flames. There were a couple cars that had pulled over ahead of the truck and the driver seemed to be with them, but it must have just happened as there were no emergency vehicles in sight.
We listened to the radio to see if they'd report it in their traffic reports and it wasn't until about 40 minutes later, as we were nearing London, that we heard anything. Turned out they'd shut down both the East- and West-bound lanes of the 401 at that spot. Phew! Good thing we got past before we'd gotten stuck there!
We also had an interesting drive, weather-wise. It went from sunny to cloudy to blizzardy and back to sunny as we went through London. Crazy snowbelt.
---
What I'm Eating: Yummy Thai food... IN SARNIA!!!
What I'm Playing: Not much. Just looking for something to play on my GBA while I'm here in Sarnia.
What I'm Watching: Satellite TV! Gotta love the G4 (well, not really, but still)
Thursday, February 17, 2005
I've been mugged!
I love surveys. I keep getting cooler things.
I filled out a Reader's Digest survey a little while ago and today a package arrived with a really nice stainless steel travel mug. It even has my name on it (well, it says, "SUPERHERO", so that's close enough).
This fits in nicely with the instant coffee I broke down and purchased yesterday. I have a huge tub of ground coffee in my freezer, but I rarely brew a pot of coffee because it makes too much. Since Julie doesn't drink coffee and my friends all live on the internet, it's hard to e-mail a cup of coffee and I end up drinking it all and being wired for 3 days straight.
So I figured that if instant coffee was good enough to drink at work, I could drink it at home. I'm also going to stop going to Tim's for a while now since I have my handy travel mug.
OH! And I picked up a container of Southern Butter & Pecan creamer. Yum. It's like drinking butterscotch coffee...
As Teen Girl Squad would say, "SOOOO GOOD!"
---
Smart People Listen To Electronica
What I'm Reading: Grass For His Pillow: Tales of the Otori Book 2
What I'm Playing: Thief 3 (Storming the Keeper Compound tonight!), Xenosaga 2, WoW
What I'm Listening To: Amon Tobin: Out From Out Where AWESOME ALBUM!
I filled out a Reader's Digest survey a little while ago and today a package arrived with a really nice stainless steel travel mug. It even has my name on it (well, it says, "SUPERHERO", so that's close enough).
This fits in nicely with the instant coffee I broke down and purchased yesterday. I have a huge tub of ground coffee in my freezer, but I rarely brew a pot of coffee because it makes too much. Since Julie doesn't drink coffee and my friends all live on the internet, it's hard to e-mail a cup of coffee and I end up drinking it all and being wired for 3 days straight.
So I figured that if instant coffee was good enough to drink at work, I could drink it at home. I'm also going to stop going to Tim's for a while now since I have my handy travel mug.
OH! And I picked up a container of Southern Butter & Pecan creamer. Yum. It's like drinking butterscotch coffee...
As Teen Girl Squad would say, "SOOOO GOOD!"
---
Smart People Listen To Electronica
What I'm Reading: Grass For His Pillow: Tales of the Otori Book 2
What I'm Playing: Thief 3 (Storming the Keeper Compound tonight!), Xenosaga 2, WoW
What I'm Listening To: Amon Tobin: Out From Out Where AWESOME ALBUM!
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