I'm waiting for the first person to explain how that incident was a product of the Canadian culture of fear and violence, and how the other passengers should have just held hands and beamed some Care Bear Happy Rays from their tummies to make the guy feel loved and accepted.
~Marko
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Dwarf Fortress damp stone
Unfortunately, the page this search linked to doesn't explain Dwarf Fortress's use of a damp stone.
When you get a notification of a damp stone, it interrupts the dig action of your miner dwarf. To understand why this happens, imagine you are digging with a pick into a rock wall. You chip away some rock, and notice that the rock has a small stream of water trickling down. You strike the rock again, and notice more streams of water. This is a damp stone. You strike it again at your watery peril.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Quote of the I'd vote for him... twice.
‘Proportion’? Are you serious? A presidential candidate threw out a random tidbit about how he wants to make the largest change to the US government since… well… ever… and that’s ‘out of proportion’? Out of proportion would be digging a trench around Washington DC, filling it with lava, and then using trebuchets to launch plague rats into the city, only that would cost less.
Hmmm… If I ran for office and used my Lava Plague Rat Plan as a platform, I might actually get somewhere.
From Larry
Head on over there and give the whole thing a read. He fisks an commenter who supports Obama's forced volunteerism, and on the way explains in very simple terms why Democrats and Liberals are the real fascists.
fsck will save your fscking life
fsck, or the unix/linux command "file system check" is the answer to that horrible pit-in-the-stomach feeling you get when you boot up your computer, and by no fault of your own, you get a message indicating your hard drive is buggered.
When I ran windows at home and at work I had experienced about 8 random cosmic ray-related hard drive buggeries. All 8 resulted in complete rebuilds and tearful attempts to recover data.
Since I've switched to linux I've experienced no less than 5 of these buggeries. fsck saved me from all but one (fucking Maxtor!). One of which occurred quite literally four hours before a large project was due.
fsck was there to save my fscking life.
Thank you fsck, and thank you linux.
When I ran windows at home and at work I had experienced about 8 random cosmic ray-related hard drive buggeries. All 8 resulted in complete rebuilds and tearful attempts to recover data.
Since I've switched to linux I've experienced no less than 5 of these buggeries. fsck saved me from all but one (fucking Maxtor!). One of which occurred quite literally four hours before a large project was due.
fsck was there to save my fscking life.
Thank you fsck, and thank you linux.
Chapter 7 teaser
"So what's that now?" He quickly bent forward, and swatted at the handle of the shovel hanging off my load-bearing vest. "That so you can dig a hole and hide in it when the zombies come?" His lunge toward me to touch the shovel nearly met a reflexive knee to the jaw, but I caught myself in time. Wait, why did I stop myself? I made a mental note to try not to catch myself next time. "It's not for digging. It makes puzzles." Chris scoffed, "What the hell does that mean? You talk in fucking puzzles, you don't make them." I unsnapped the shovel from its hanging sheath, and gripped it in my hand. "It's not that complicated. See this tree branch?" He looked at the branch as I pulled the shovel back, and chopped cleanly through a narrow section. "Now it's a puzzle. If you put it back together it'll be a branch, and if you make another move at me like that, I'll make you a puzzle." I pulled the shovel back again for effect, and Chris took a step back...
My chilled core warms considerably
To the James Broadnaxs of the world;
Smith & Wesson 442
I will not give you my life.
I will not give you my loved ones.
I will not give you my money.
I will not give you my cigarettes.
I will not give you my change.
I will not give you the time of day.
What will I give you?
If you're lucky; I'll give you 5 shots of 38 Special +P 125 Grain Silvertip.
If you're unlucky; I'll give you a lot more.
So I'd recommend you stop making excuses for your actions, before someone gives you some action right back.
UPDATE 7/4/12: Not that I expected anything different, but he laughed. I looked repeatedly for confirmation of his death or some schedule so I could know that this chapter was closed. Being Texas, I can only assume he is no longer burdening us with his existence. I sometimes wish I could have been there to witness his lethal injection, as grim as that sounds. I think I wanted to see if he truly didn't care until his last moments, or if the evil left him scared and alone with the consequences of listening to the whisper. Or maybe I just wanted to make sure this symbol of antipathy, hate, and ultimate indifference no longer shares my plane of existence... No... He may be gone, but his animus is not. It remains. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. What a sour world we live in.
Smith & Wesson 442
I will not give you my life.
I will not give you my loved ones.
I will not give you my money.
I will not give you my cigarettes.
I will not give you my change.
I will not give you the time of day.
What will I give you?
If you're lucky; I'll give you 5 shots of 38 Special +P 125 Grain Silvertip.
If you're unlucky; I'll give you a lot more.
So I'd recommend you stop making excuses for your actions, before someone gives you some action right back.
UPDATE 7/4/12: Not that I expected anything different, but he laughed. I looked repeatedly for confirmation of his death or some schedule so I could know that this chapter was closed. Being Texas, I can only assume he is no longer burdening us with his existence. I sometimes wish I could have been there to witness his lethal injection, as grim as that sounds. I think I wanted to see if he truly didn't care until his last moments, or if the evil left him scared and alone with the consequences of listening to the whisper. Or maybe I just wanted to make sure this symbol of antipathy, hate, and ultimate indifference no longer shares my plane of existence... No... He may be gone, but his animus is not. It remains. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. What a sour world we live in.
Storytelling Firearms
They say that some guns can tell you stories. I never really understood the idea, but figured it seemed like something that would be true.
When I picked up my used GP100, I had spoken to people smarter than I about checking the quality of revolvers. My initial inspection made it obvious it had not be fired very much. Subsequent inspections by aforementioned smart people confirmed that this gun was, in fact, near new.
Extremely pleased with my purchase, I took the gun to the range to see how well I shot it. The first few cylinders seemed to be high and to the right, which was confusing because no manner of flinch I usually experience should put the shots there, and I shot the range's GP100 extremely well. I switched to my left hand, and found the shots to still be high and right. Afraid of dusting off the cliche, "Obviously, something's wrong with this gun..." I waited until one of the range workers was free, and asked them to shoot my new revolver. (we're quite friendly, first name basis and all :) Three of them wound up shooting, and each (in addition to shooting extremely well!) shot high and right. Sights were adjusted, and it was discovered they were turned severely up and to the right. Once the correction was made, I returned to shooting out the X, and generally marveling at how well I shot my new gun.
It wasn't until later that I realized that the sights being turned up and to the right meant the previous owner was shooting low and left. This is usually indicative of a new or otherwise untrained shooter, as flinch (in a right-handed shooter) causes the shooter over squeeze the trigger, pulling the muzzle down and to the left the split-second before the gun fires. This creates the illusion that the sights are off. The fact that the sights were adjusted so liberally, seemed to indicate the previous user did not seek help when he or she experienced trouble with the gun. That the firearm was in such good shape, and had little wear where wear quickly develops indicated it was barely fired. Personally, I've often heard spoken to new gun owners, "All you need is a big, scary revolver." and thought this "advice" might have played a part in this obviously new shooter's decision.
Pardon me, while I indulge in some extrapolation of the story of this Ruger GP100.
A man or woman saw fit to buy a gun, and spoke to a friend or family member who simply replied, "Get a big, scary revolver." and offered no follow up instruction or training. The man or woman bought the revolver, and a few boxes of ammo, and went to a local range to try it out. The man or woman was unaccustomed to the loud noises of the range, and the skill required to accurately shoot a handgun. The man or woman developed a nasty flinch which manifested as shots that fell low and left. The man or woman later spoke to their friend or family member who simply replied, "Adjust the sights, then." The man or woman returned to the range, screwdriver in hand, and adjusted the sights as he or she shot, moving them higher and to the right. However, once the sights were realigned, flinch still put the shots in the same spot, low and to the left. The sights were moved up and right until they would go no further, and the man or woman became frustrated with either the obviously broken gun, or the whole experience. The Ruger then made it's last trip to the local Turners, where it was sold at a significant loss.
I don't think I've been too presumptuous. In fact, I feel quite confident this is how things happened (or at least, as the revolver tells me).
Only the details remain.
Was this person simply an interested person, who thought they might give guns a shot?
Could this person have been a woman in need of protection from an angry ex-boyfriend?
Why didn't whomever made firearm recommendations suggest training, or offer assistance? Maybe this firearm "expert" couldn't shoot the revolver either.
But what happened next?
Did this person simply put down the revolver to try his or her luck at an automatic?
Or did this person, finding no support, or help, (nor seeking it) give up on the entire firearm ownership idea?
I take minor comfort in the knowledge that if this gun was meant for protection from a specific threat, it seems unlikely it would be given up just because it shot low and left; as the gun would still be effective at close range, and certainly retain effectiveness as a visual deterrent. Maybe it wasn't sold until the 10 day wait was complete for an automatic. Also, that the previous owner sought no assistance makes it likely the previous owner was a man. (sorry guys, it's just statistics.)
Now the gun makes me a little sad when I think of the last owner, who's ignorance denied him the opportunity to get the most from this exceptional firearm.
But I feel better when I start shooting clovers with a practically new gun that cost me about $100 less than I expected to pay!
Besides, with the internet and instant knowledge on any topic across the globe in the blink of an eye, I just don't suffer ignorance well.
When I picked up my used GP100, I had spoken to people smarter than I about checking the quality of revolvers. My initial inspection made it obvious it had not be fired very much. Subsequent inspections by aforementioned smart people confirmed that this gun was, in fact, near new.
Extremely pleased with my purchase, I took the gun to the range to see how well I shot it. The first few cylinders seemed to be high and to the right, which was confusing because no manner of flinch I usually experience should put the shots there, and I shot the range's GP100 extremely well. I switched to my left hand, and found the shots to still be high and right. Afraid of dusting off the cliche, "Obviously, something's wrong with this gun..." I waited until one of the range workers was free, and asked them to shoot my new revolver. (we're quite friendly, first name basis and all :) Three of them wound up shooting, and each (in addition to shooting extremely well!) shot high and right. Sights were adjusted, and it was discovered they were turned severely up and to the right. Once the correction was made, I returned to shooting out the X, and generally marveling at how well I shot my new gun.
It wasn't until later that I realized that the sights being turned up and to the right meant the previous owner was shooting low and left. This is usually indicative of a new or otherwise untrained shooter, as flinch (in a right-handed shooter) causes the shooter over squeeze the trigger, pulling the muzzle down and to the left the split-second before the gun fires. This creates the illusion that the sights are off. The fact that the sights were adjusted so liberally, seemed to indicate the previous user did not seek help when he or she experienced trouble with the gun. That the firearm was in such good shape, and had little wear where wear quickly develops indicated it was barely fired. Personally, I've often heard spoken to new gun owners, "All you need is a big, scary revolver." and thought this "advice" might have played a part in this obviously new shooter's decision.
Pardon me, while I indulge in some extrapolation of the story of this Ruger GP100.
A man or woman saw fit to buy a gun, and spoke to a friend or family member who simply replied, "Get a big, scary revolver." and offered no follow up instruction or training. The man or woman bought the revolver, and a few boxes of ammo, and went to a local range to try it out. The man or woman was unaccustomed to the loud noises of the range, and the skill required to accurately shoot a handgun. The man or woman developed a nasty flinch which manifested as shots that fell low and left. The man or woman later spoke to their friend or family member who simply replied, "Adjust the sights, then." The man or woman returned to the range, screwdriver in hand, and adjusted the sights as he or she shot, moving them higher and to the right. However, once the sights were realigned, flinch still put the shots in the same spot, low and to the left. The sights were moved up and right until they would go no further, and the man or woman became frustrated with either the obviously broken gun, or the whole experience. The Ruger then made it's last trip to the local Turners, where it was sold at a significant loss.
I don't think I've been too presumptuous. In fact, I feel quite confident this is how things happened (or at least, as the revolver tells me).
Only the details remain.
Was this person simply an interested person, who thought they might give guns a shot?
Could this person have been a woman in need of protection from an angry ex-boyfriend?
Why didn't whomever made firearm recommendations suggest training, or offer assistance? Maybe this firearm "expert" couldn't shoot the revolver either.
But what happened next?
Did this person simply put down the revolver to try his or her luck at an automatic?
Or did this person, finding no support, or help, (nor seeking it) give up on the entire firearm ownership idea?
I take minor comfort in the knowledge that if this gun was meant for protection from a specific threat, it seems unlikely it would be given up just because it shot low and left; as the gun would still be effective at close range, and certainly retain effectiveness as a visual deterrent. Maybe it wasn't sold until the 10 day wait was complete for an automatic. Also, that the previous owner sought no assistance makes it likely the previous owner was a man. (sorry guys, it's just statistics.)
Now the gun makes me a little sad when I think of the last owner, who's ignorance denied him the opportunity to get the most from this exceptional firearm.
But I feel better when I start shooting clovers with a practically new gun that cost me about $100 less than I expected to pay!
Besides, with the internet and instant knowledge on any topic across the globe in the blink of an eye, I just don't suffer ignorance well.
Pistolcraft Level up!
A short range trip this last weekend revealed a developing comfort level with my 1911. The act of shooting felt more natural, and the sights regained their alignment quickly after firing. A few more range trips like this, and I think I'll be ready to get something out of pistol matches.
Gimme the gas muthafukka!
(sorry about the title, but I just watched the verbally and visually anachronistic, yet philosophically current movie Death Wish)
A weekly task gets me up at 5am, which I take advantage of to get cold gas at a station that has consistently low prices. I've been doing this for the past several months, and have thought very little of the chore.
The last time I filled up, I noted a man sitting on a nearby bus bench. This was a little odd, since the preceding months only had one woman occasionally sitting on the bench at the same time, on the same day of the week. After I started pumping I looked around, as I usually do, and noticed an older truck parked partially behind the gas station office, with a man in the driver seat idly looking around. A thought flashed into my head, and I felt very exposed. I looked again at the man on the bench, who was still looking forward, listening to his headphones, and giving zero hint of malfeasance.
I finished fueling, and left without incident.
The thought I had was about an article I had read years ago about gas thieves. The driver would wait partially hidden, while the pan handler would wait for someone to use a card to buy gas. Once someone started pumping, the pan handler would approach and ask for change, and get close enough to threaten the target with a knife. The knife would be pulled, and the target threatened not to move, while the driver drove to a pump opposite the target, and filled his tank with the target's pump.
Due to the early hour, and sleep interruption, I barely remember to bring so much as my wallet.
I shall remedy this in the future.
A weekly task gets me up at 5am, which I take advantage of to get cold gas at a station that has consistently low prices. I've been doing this for the past several months, and have thought very little of the chore.
The last time I filled up, I noted a man sitting on a nearby bus bench. This was a little odd, since the preceding months only had one woman occasionally sitting on the bench at the same time, on the same day of the week. After I started pumping I looked around, as I usually do, and noticed an older truck parked partially behind the gas station office, with a man in the driver seat idly looking around. A thought flashed into my head, and I felt very exposed. I looked again at the man on the bench, who was still looking forward, listening to his headphones, and giving zero hint of malfeasance.
I finished fueling, and left without incident.
The thought I had was about an article I had read years ago about gas thieves. The driver would wait partially hidden, while the pan handler would wait for someone to use a card to buy gas. Once someone started pumping, the pan handler would approach and ask for change, and get close enough to threaten the target with a knife. The knife would be pulled, and the target threatened not to move, while the driver drove to a pump opposite the target, and filled his tank with the target's pump.
Due to the early hour, and sleep interruption, I barely remember to bring so much as my wallet.
I shall remedy this in the future.
Drowning my dwarves
Since the death of my last fortress, I started another fortress in the forest for a different experience.
Being in the middle of a forest, you build your fortress down instead of into the side of a mountain. I picked a spot near a river, and quickly built three large farm plots for different plants. My grower quickly went to work tilling the soil (rock must be wet to grow on, but soil or sand works fine if near a river), and quickly began planting. I struggled with fortress design since I was no longer building from left to right, but settled on having most stockpiles above ground, and cutting the corners out of my dividing walls to make it easy to get around the fortress quickly. After most of the digging was done, I got my miner working on connecting the many lakes in the area to the river, to make a moat for the fortress (though there weren't really any nearby threats). All the while, I was building barrels, and constantly brewing plants, which generated plenty of seeds, and kept the food and drink development working brilliantly well.
After the moat was complete, I sent the miner down to the bedrock, and had him dig patterns to reveal any veins of precious or useful metals. I returned to the workshop development, and consulted the dwarf fortress wiki to find out how to make the clothing that the trader said they needed next year. A few missteps later, I was making pants from the pig tail plants I was growing. Sweet! I've never made clothing before! Around now the elven traders arrived, and demanded I have a trade depot, which I was happy to build. But for some reason, my carpenter was selected to trade instead of my trader, and he didn't know the values of the items. After a few attempted trades, the elves were becoming testy, and began acting like douche bags. This would not do. I ordered walls built around the trade depot, and screw pump parts, and floodgates built. I surrounded the trade depot with walls, and floodgates on one side controlled by a lever. Then I devised a method of pumping water from the nearby river up a few levels, and then how to dump it into the trade depot to drown snarky traders, and "acquire" their goods. Of course, once I started planning, I wanted to make it perfect, and the traders left long before I was done, but when I finally got the waterworks figured out, I skipped down a level to check on my fortress, and found it in the middle stages of flooding.
In my haste for good waterworks I dug out a corner of one of my farm plots very near the river, and it began flooding as I worked on my sophisticated trade depot trap. Genius.
I quickly ordered everyone to ground level, except my legendary miner who could swim, and got him building retaining walls (which was difficult because you can only build in one level of water, and it was spreading fast), but wasn't able to keep up. The cut-out corners, and many shortcuts that made my fortress efficient, were also making it very hard to segment off the water. Within minutes, I lost almost all of the fortress, and stranded three dwarves who couldn't make it around the rising waters.
I quickly modified the pump, and powered it up to buy myself enough time to build a retaining wall at the source of the leak, but I couldn't work it out. Due to the liquid dynamics, and the fact that the water level was so high on both sides of the leak, any attempt to approach the leak would result in widening the leak, and I wouldn't be able to get another pump working on the approaching area. Logistically, I couldn't stop the leak. The game mechanics made it almost impossible. After a while of trying anyways, I gave up, knowing I would restore to another save I had backed up for fear of save file corruption.
I watched the water level raise, and noticed a few things. First, the water was taking longer to get through the door to a bedroom one dwarf was trapped in, this made sense, because the door is an obstruction. I might have had time to save my fortress had I just used more doors in those cut-corners that connected my fortress so well. Secondly, the dog in the same room as the dwarf drowned before the dwarf did. After thinking about this a little bit; this made sense because the dog was closer to the ground than the dwarf. Just another reminder that it's the little details that makes this game different from all the others.
Just as my dwarves began getting hungry, and thirsty (all the food and drink stores were underwater) I quit, and restored to the save which was literally two steps from digging out that fateful section of ground. Lucky, I guess. I continued playing, knowing my dwarves were living on borrowed time, and completed the trade depot flood machine. I then dug a wider moat, and built a draw bridge out of some purple stone I found in the bedrock. The first year passed quickly, and I eagerly await migrants.
Being in the middle of a forest, you build your fortress down instead of into the side of a mountain. I picked a spot near a river, and quickly built three large farm plots for different plants. My grower quickly went to work tilling the soil (rock must be wet to grow on, but soil or sand works fine if near a river), and quickly began planting. I struggled with fortress design since I was no longer building from left to right, but settled on having most stockpiles above ground, and cutting the corners out of my dividing walls to make it easy to get around the fortress quickly. After most of the digging was done, I got my miner working on connecting the many lakes in the area to the river, to make a moat for the fortress (though there weren't really any nearby threats). All the while, I was building barrels, and constantly brewing plants, which generated plenty of seeds, and kept the food and drink development working brilliantly well.
After the moat was complete, I sent the miner down to the bedrock, and had him dig patterns to reveal any veins of precious or useful metals. I returned to the workshop development, and consulted the dwarf fortress wiki to find out how to make the clothing that the trader said they needed next year. A few missteps later, I was making pants from the pig tail plants I was growing. Sweet! I've never made clothing before! Around now the elven traders arrived, and demanded I have a trade depot, which I was happy to build. But for some reason, my carpenter was selected to trade instead of my trader, and he didn't know the values of the items. After a few attempted trades, the elves were becoming testy, and began acting like douche bags. This would not do. I ordered walls built around the trade depot, and screw pump parts, and floodgates built. I surrounded the trade depot with walls, and floodgates on one side controlled by a lever. Then I devised a method of pumping water from the nearby river up a few levels, and then how to dump it into the trade depot to drown snarky traders, and "acquire" their goods. Of course, once I started planning, I wanted to make it perfect, and the traders left long before I was done, but when I finally got the waterworks figured out, I skipped down a level to check on my fortress, and found it in the middle stages of flooding.
In my haste for good waterworks I dug out a corner of one of my farm plots very near the river, and it began flooding as I worked on my sophisticated trade depot trap. Genius.
I quickly ordered everyone to ground level, except my legendary miner who could swim, and got him building retaining walls (which was difficult because you can only build in one level of water, and it was spreading fast), but wasn't able to keep up. The cut-out corners, and many shortcuts that made my fortress efficient, were also making it very hard to segment off the water. Within minutes, I lost almost all of the fortress, and stranded three dwarves who couldn't make it around the rising waters.
I quickly modified the pump, and powered it up to buy myself enough time to build a retaining wall at the source of the leak, but I couldn't work it out. Due to the liquid dynamics, and the fact that the water level was so high on both sides of the leak, any attempt to approach the leak would result in widening the leak, and I wouldn't be able to get another pump working on the approaching area. Logistically, I couldn't stop the leak. The game mechanics made it almost impossible. After a while of trying anyways, I gave up, knowing I would restore to another save I had backed up for fear of save file corruption.
I watched the water level raise, and noticed a few things. First, the water was taking longer to get through the door to a bedroom one dwarf was trapped in, this made sense, because the door is an obstruction. I might have had time to save my fortress had I just used more doors in those cut-corners that connected my fortress so well. Secondly, the dog in the same room as the dwarf drowned before the dwarf did. After thinking about this a little bit; this made sense because the dog was closer to the ground than the dwarf. Just another reminder that it's the little details that makes this game different from all the others.
Just as my dwarves began getting hungry, and thirsty (all the food and drink stores were underwater) I quit, and restored to the save which was literally two steps from digging out that fateful section of ground. Lucky, I guess. I continued playing, knowing my dwarves were living on borrowed time, and completed the trade depot flood machine. I then dug a wider moat, and built a draw bridge out of some purple stone I found in the bedrock. The first year passed quickly, and I eagerly await migrants.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Official acknowledgement of the Zombie threat!
In the wake of the 5.4 earthquake that shook Southern California, Arnold Schwarzenegger warned that we must prepare for "anything and everything."
He then got in a biohazard suit, put on a lead apron and lead gloves, donned SCUBA gear, took three inoculations, squeezed into a space suit, opened a hatch, and climbed a ladder down to a fallout shelter. Then a cement truck backed up, and poured a concrete foundation over the hatch, and another truck pulled up, and they placed a statue of Ahh-nold as the Terminator, standing atop a pile of dead unicorns, punching Genghis Khan in the face.
He then got in a biohazard suit, put on a lead apron and lead gloves, donned SCUBA gear, took three inoculations, squeezed into a space suit, opened a hatch, and climbed a ladder down to a fallout shelter. Then a cement truck backed up, and poured a concrete foundation over the hatch, and another truck pulled up, and they placed a statue of Ahh-nold as the Terminator, standing atop a pile of dead unicorns, punching Genghis Khan in the face.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Have you guys been watching that video?
Have you guys been reading that woman's words?
Good.
Pay close attention. There are many more James Broadnaxs out there. They feel no compassion, or mercy. And they feel justified in murdering because they had what they perceive to be a hard life. Somehow I seriously doubt that.
I didn't mean this break to last this long, but some demanding network security work intrudes, and it must be delivered by the end of the month. Limited hours of engagement have turned my days upside-down, and I'm feeling it. At least it's Friday.
In the mean time, check out the Brilliant Posts by Other Bloggers and Read the classics sections on the right. They're all worth your time.
I'll be back on the 30th. (after 2:16pm, for a hint)
See you then.
UPDATE: Oh yeah, Josh selling some stuff, so give him a click, and help a blogger out. Oh yeah, don't bother trying to buy that Limited Edition Benchmade Skirmish... It's taken. :)
Have you guys been reading that woman's words?
Good.
Pay close attention. There are many more James Broadnaxs out there. They feel no compassion, or mercy. And they feel justified in murdering because they had what they perceive to be a hard life. Somehow I seriously doubt that.
I didn't mean this break to last this long, but some demanding network security work intrudes, and it must be delivered by the end of the month. Limited hours of engagement have turned my days upside-down, and I'm feeling it. At least it's Friday.
In the mean time, check out the Brilliant Posts by Other Bloggers and Read the classics sections on the right. They're all worth your time.
I'll be back on the 30th. (after 2:16pm, for a hint)
See you then.
UPDATE: Oh yeah, Josh selling some stuff, so give him a click, and help a blogger out. Oh yeah, don't bother trying to buy that Limited Edition Benchmade Skirmish... It's taken. :)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Chilled to my core.
Xavier has an unbelievable post up.
Two Texarkana teens rode the train from Dallas to downtown Garland Texas to commit a crime because, "dat's where the rich white folks stay at." They ran into two men in front of a Christian music studio, and engaged them in conversation. At some point the conversation ended, and the teens left, then returned to ask for a cigarette. One of the teens then drew a gun, and shot the two men, then as they tried to retreat, he executed them by shooting them in the head.
The following is a video of the teen's confession, and a twisted glimpse into the unfathomable mind of a remorseless murderer.
This video should be aired once a day on each channel to make people understand that evil exists in this world. Pure. Plain. Inexplicable. Evil.
You can argue until you're blue in the face about what drove this BOY to do what he did, and feel nothing about it. But it won't change a goddamn thing for Matthew Butler and Stephen Swan.
*pauses for a tissue, and a little prayer (for the first time in a very long time)*
How could such unflinching evil exist?
Because eternal love, and forgiveness exists.
I break down crying for the first time in years.
no blogging for a while. when you come back to my blog and find no updates. just watch that video again, and read that woman's words. it's hard to sit here and write to change people's minds when people just keep dying. You read, and you read and you read and you read, and you come here, and youtype little messages in your little corner of the world and you feel like maybe just maybe you're doing omething right. but there it is. evil. brought to you by youtube. delivered all the way from texas straight to your eyes. what can you do? these aren't words on a blog, or pixels on a screen or ones and zeros of electricity flying aroudn the world. they're people. and they're evil. and they're innocent. and they're dying. and they're living. and they're getting off on good behavior EVERY FUCKING MINUTE. people don't fucking care. not you guys of course. if you're here is'ts because you understand what's out there. it's everyone else. the ones who just skip around waiting for the next great thing to happen to them, and voting for whomever's going to promise that next great thing. this country doesn't hav a problem with rose colored glasses. it has a problem with the people who DON"T wear them. "how could you be so negative? how could you think like that? how how how?" That's how. look at that fucking video. that's how.
Update here
Two Texarkana teens rode the train from Dallas to downtown Garland Texas to commit a crime because, "dat's where the rich white folks stay at." They ran into two men in front of a Christian music studio, and engaged them in conversation. At some point the conversation ended, and the teens left, then returned to ask for a cigarette. One of the teens then drew a gun, and shot the two men, then as they tried to retreat, he executed them by shooting them in the head.
The following is a video of the teen's confession, and a twisted glimpse into the unfathomable mind of a remorseless murderer.
Do not watch this video if you want to remain ambivalent about carrying the means for your own self protection.
This video should be aired once a day on each channel to make people understand that evil exists in this world. Pure. Plain. Inexplicable. Evil.
You can argue until you're blue in the face about what drove this BOY to do what he did, and feel nothing about it. But it won't change a goddamn thing for Matthew Butler and Stephen Swan.
*pauses for a tissue, and a little prayer (for the first time in a very long time)*
How could such unflinching evil exist?
Because eternal love, and forgiveness exists.
Jamie had a message for the person who took away her husband and the father of their children.
"I hope that whoever did this that they would come to know Christ," she said.
"I hope and pray that my husband gets a chance to meet them in heaven and gets a chance to shake their hand and gets a chance to forgive them himself."
I break down crying for the first time in years.
no blogging for a while. when you come back to my blog and find no updates. just watch that video again, and read that woman's words. it's hard to sit here and write to change people's minds when people just keep dying. You read, and you read and you read and you read, and you come here, and youtype little messages in your little corner of the world and you feel like maybe just maybe you're doing omething right. but there it is. evil. brought to you by youtube. delivered all the way from texas straight to your eyes. what can you do? these aren't words on a blog, or pixels on a screen or ones and zeros of electricity flying aroudn the world. they're people. and they're evil. and they're innocent. and they're dying. and they're living. and they're getting off on good behavior EVERY FUCKING MINUTE. people don't fucking care. not you guys of course. if you're here is'ts because you understand what's out there. it's everyone else. the ones who just skip around waiting for the next great thing to happen to them, and voting for whomever's going to promise that next great thing. this country doesn't hav a problem with rose colored glasses. it has a problem with the people who DON"T wear them. "how could you be so negative? how could you think like that? how how how?" That's how. look at that fucking video. that's how.
Update here
Rifle case preparation for reloading
Carteach0 has a great set of blog posts about getting that used brass ready for reloading.
Good information for those interested in the process, or still on the fence about reloading.
With my Savage 10FP waiting eagerly for me to pick it up, and the ever-increasing price of 308, I'm getting a lot out of this information.
Give him a click, if only out of curiosity;
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Good information for those interested in the process, or still on the fence about reloading.
With my Savage 10FP waiting eagerly for me to pick it up, and the ever-increasing price of 308, I'm getting a lot out of this information.
Give him a click, if only out of curiosity;
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Worst database structure ever...
The last version was pretty simple, so I didn't expect them to go nuts in the database with the new versions.
WRONG.
It's weird because very few functionality changes were made.
I gotta relearn the damn database all over again :X
WRONG.
It's weird because very few functionality changes were made.
I gotta relearn the damn database all over again :X
Monday, July 14, 2008
3 ways to lower gas prices from Newt
A few ways to lower gas prices, some immediate.
I rather like number one.
UPDATE: Blogi changes my mind on number one in the comments.
UPDATE the second: Josh fires back!
I rather like number one.
UPDATE: Blogi changes my mind on number one in the comments.
UPDATE the second: Josh fires back!
California's flavor of freedom
It was Saturday night, and it was hot. My girlfriend and I were baking in our apartment, wondering what to do at half-past-midnight. We just needed to get out, so we settled on hitting a fast food place for a midnight snack. On the way back, I opened the window and found the air to be perfect. Just short of warm, with a slight breeze.
"Tonight would be a perfect night to go to a park, and eat, and look at the stars."
Of course, no sooner had the words left my lips than I remembered that an attempt at such an activity would be illegal.
The public parks in our county close at 10 o'clock. But this is just so the cops can kick out people up to no good, right?
Does it matter?
The result is the same.
Any sweeping law or regulation that is meant to stop or block a small percentage of the population still blocks the rest. Punishing the many because of a few bad apples.
People seem to think that just because the legislation isn't pointed DIRECTLY at them, it's no big deal. Wrong. If it affects you in any way; it IS pointed directly at you.
I can't even go to a damn public park.
This sure makes for a confusing, and angering "Freedom is..." statement...
Freedom is... being able to go to a public park.
"Tonight would be a perfect night to go to a park, and eat, and look at the stars."
Of course, no sooner had the words left my lips than I remembered that an attempt at such an activity would be illegal.
The public parks in our county close at 10 o'clock. But this is just so the cops can kick out people up to no good, right?
Does it matter?
The result is the same.
Any sweeping law or regulation that is meant to stop or block a small percentage of the population still blocks the rest. Punishing the many because of a few bad apples.
People seem to think that just because the legislation isn't pointed DIRECTLY at them, it's no big deal. Wrong. If it affects you in any way; it IS pointed directly at you.
I can't even go to a damn public park.
This sure makes for a confusing, and angering "Freedom is..." statement...
Freedom is... being able to go to a public park.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
:(
Here's the latest screenshot of my fortress Leaftome.
Dwarf fortress is still in alpha, and though many times you can play year after year, sometimes you can only make it to the second year before something happens, and your save gets corrupt.
The new year brought 18 migrants, and Leaftome really needed the extra hands. Unfortunately, they arrived from the south, where a particularly ill-tempered magma man was hanging out. I had been afraid of him early in the first year, and had sectioned us off, so he couldn't get to us from where he was. Unfortunately, this also meant the migrants couldn't make it to our fortress. They ran around as the magma man began shooting fire at the newly arrived dwarves, unsure of where to run. I quickly ordered a passage opened, and positioned my legendary miner (ultra-mighty) around a corner, so if the magma man made it through the passage, he would be attacked close range, instead of letting it shoot fire at the miner as he ran up to attack. Three migrants were down, and the magma man was following the remaining ones, already running for the safety of the fortress. I drafted another strong dwarf, and set him to join the miner when I got the message that my planter interrupted his task 'put item in stockpile' because he was 'interrupted by magma man.' I found him, running to pick up the items the dead migrants had dropped, and quickly forbade all the items near the magma man (which canceled the jobs of three dwarves, who had already started that suicide run). I drafted the planter (who was not very strong at all) so he'd fight, but he was no match, and was torn limb from limb. Literally. There was an arm lying a few spaces from the planter's final resting place. (Dwarf fortress is VERY specific with damage, you can literally rip off a monster's arm, and beat him to death with it)
The planter's death was not in vain, however, as he distracted the magma man long enough to stop him from following the migrants through the opening. I quickly ordered a wall built to block access again, but the magma man seemed satisfied with four dead dwarves, and didn't seem particularly interested in trying to make his way to the fortress. With the extra hands, (yet no blacksmith) we actually managed to get ALL the stone cleared out of the fortress! The magma moat was filling in nicely, and more of the craft jobs were getting done. Things were chugging along quite smoothly when I took another screenshot, saved, and quit.
It wasn't until I attempted to restore that I learned the fate of Leaftome.
Terrible.
I think I'll be backing up saves from now on, so at least I can restore back a save, and see if I can get around the corruption, of if it's inevitable once some unknown set of actions is set in motion.
Dwarf fortress is still in alpha, and though many times you can play year after year, sometimes you can only make it to the second year before something happens, and your save gets corrupt.
The new year brought 18 migrants, and Leaftome really needed the extra hands. Unfortunately, they arrived from the south, where a particularly ill-tempered magma man was hanging out. I had been afraid of him early in the first year, and had sectioned us off, so he couldn't get to us from where he was. Unfortunately, this also meant the migrants couldn't make it to our fortress. They ran around as the magma man began shooting fire at the newly arrived dwarves, unsure of where to run. I quickly ordered a passage opened, and positioned my legendary miner (ultra-mighty) around a corner, so if the magma man made it through the passage, he would be attacked close range, instead of letting it shoot fire at the miner as he ran up to attack. Three migrants were down, and the magma man was following the remaining ones, already running for the safety of the fortress. I drafted another strong dwarf, and set him to join the miner when I got the message that my planter interrupted his task 'put item in stockpile' because he was 'interrupted by magma man.' I found him, running to pick up the items the dead migrants had dropped, and quickly forbade all the items near the magma man (which canceled the jobs of three dwarves, who had already started that suicide run). I drafted the planter (who was not very strong at all) so he'd fight, but he was no match, and was torn limb from limb. Literally. There was an arm lying a few spaces from the planter's final resting place. (Dwarf fortress is VERY specific with damage, you can literally rip off a monster's arm, and beat him to death with it)
The planter's death was not in vain, however, as he distracted the magma man long enough to stop him from following the migrants through the opening. I quickly ordered a wall built to block access again, but the magma man seemed satisfied with four dead dwarves, and didn't seem particularly interested in trying to make his way to the fortress. With the extra hands, (yet no blacksmith) we actually managed to get ALL the stone cleared out of the fortress! The magma moat was filling in nicely, and more of the craft jobs were getting done. Things were chugging along quite smoothly when I took another screenshot, saved, and quit.
It wasn't until I attempted to restore that I learned the fate of Leaftome.
Terrible.
I think I'll be backing up saves from now on, so at least I can restore back a save, and see if I can get around the corruption, of if it's inevitable once some unknown set of actions is set in motion.
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