Every time I try to block a word or paragraph to copy and paste it, why do you also auto-select an extra space for me? You make me shift+backarrow or be super precise with my mouse and it really bugs me.
I mean, if your extra space were consistent it wouldn't bother me so much. Let me clarify. Often, the extra space isn't even copied. It's just kind of a "ghost" space. If I only had to deal with a ghost space 100% of the time, I'd still be annoyed but could probably make myself not really care.
But sometimes it's an ACTUAL space, which is annoyingly annoying. Consistency, please. This must makes your products feel mushy. Oh wait, your products ARE mushy. I forgotted . Aren 't extra spaces annoying ?
26 January 2011
14 November 2010
My old AMD
So my old AMD has some fun history. I think I got it back in early '04 back when I used to prefer AMD over Intel (the AMD I got after that converted me to Intel, but that's a different story).
I had my computer in a wireless network situation, and found out that WEP (the old wireless security) takes like 4 seconds to crack, and wanted to upgrade to WAP, which is better but probably still takes less than 20 minutes. But I digress.
I had an old-technology WEP card that worked with it, but I wanted to upgrade my security. The rest of my wireless network was running on WAP so I popped in the other card I had. It made my computer freeze. I tried and took back at least 5 different WAP-capable network cards, none of which worked. I came to find out that my particular motherboard's PCI bus had a weird timing issue with the Atheros-based network interface cards, which is pretty much all of the network cards out there. I tried a few odd brands hoping they weren't atheros based, and I may have found one but it didn't work either.
I ended up running a wire.
Today I was given the options of letting my son play kid games on my own computer (which would consist of a. me not using the computer and b. the keyboard and mouse getting sticky. And I hate that.) or getting the old AMD to work.
Somehow I came up with the idea of trying a USB-based wireless adapter.
I bought the WUSB100 from Linksys for $40 and plugged it in. I burned the latest Ubuntu client (3 times- the first was a flat data CD with a .iso file on it, the 2nd tried to write too quickly and was corrupted, third times the charm at reliable 4x speed.) and installed it up. It's a really slick installer, by the way. I probably like it better than the old XP installer. I can't tell you how I like the vista/win7 installer because so far I've managed to avoid that train wreck.
Anyway, it all worked flawlessly minus the wireless turning off about 15 seconds after bringing up the google page and repeatedly asking me for my password. I found this fix (not really sure why it worked but it did) and then had to mess around with flash and quicktime plugins (oh, not to mention a pretty painless Nvidia driver install) and the machine is good to go in all its 2004 glory.
Of course, by WAP I mean WPA.
I had my computer in a wireless network situation, and found out that WEP (the old wireless security) takes like 4 seconds to crack, and wanted to upgrade to WAP, which is better but probably still takes less than 20 minutes. But I digress.
I had an old-technology WEP card that worked with it, but I wanted to upgrade my security. The rest of my wireless network was running on WAP so I popped in the other card I had. It made my computer freeze. I tried and took back at least 5 different WAP-capable network cards, none of which worked. I came to find out that my particular motherboard's PCI bus had a weird timing issue with the Atheros-based network interface cards, which is pretty much all of the network cards out there. I tried a few odd brands hoping they weren't atheros based, and I may have found one but it didn't work either.
I ended up running a wire.
Today I was given the options of letting my son play kid games on my own computer (which would consist of a. me not using the computer and b. the keyboard and mouse getting sticky. And I hate that.) or getting the old AMD to work.
Somehow I came up with the idea of trying a USB-based wireless adapter.
I bought the WUSB100 from Linksys for $40 and plugged it in. I burned the latest Ubuntu client (3 times- the first was a flat data CD with a .iso file on it, the 2nd tried to write too quickly and was corrupted, third times the charm at reliable 4x speed.) and installed it up. It's a really slick installer, by the way. I probably like it better than the old XP installer. I can't tell you how I like the vista/win7 installer because so far I've managed to avoid that train wreck.
Anyway, it all worked flawlessly minus the wireless turning off about 15 seconds after bringing up the google page and repeatedly asking me for my password. I found this fix (not really sure why it worked but it did) and then had to mess around with flash and quicktime plugins (oh, not to mention a pretty painless Nvidia driver install) and the machine is good to go in all its 2004 glory.
Of course, by WAP I mean WPA.
05 October 2010
The way of Kings: Brandon Sanderson
This book is good. Unlike most epic-fantasy writers, Sanderson usually picks 1-3 people to be the "main" characters. He's good at letting you really know who the main characters are, what they think, and what their motivations probably are. A lot of epic fantasy just focuses on the what. Which is interesting, but missing a lot of the puzzle.
The first three pages of the intro describe some warriors who come back to fight evil every few thousand years, and then go into some sort of hibernation mode where they are mentally attacked by evil until the next round. If they die, they automatically go into slumber and come back for the next fight. If they live, they have to choose. This time, 9 of 10 of them live, and none are willing to go back to the torment.
Then we get started with the main story, which follows a few cool people (there are probably two main characters, one of which I liked better than the other, and he's probably more "main" than the other.) through their struggles. They have a really interesting caste system based on eye color, which Sanderson does effectively. He has a bunch of other interesting stuff that is interesting but doesn't get in the way of the storytelling.
It's cool, and it's 1,000 pages long. So basically, you get to pay the price of one book and get enough pages for three, which it essentially is. The only real drawback is that he does a bit of rewinding to fill us in on the timeline, while I found myself just wanting to know what happens NOW. But I suppose that was the point, and the back info was pretty interesting, too. I recommend this book!
There's a bit of combat, obviously, and people die but it's not terribly graphic. Brandon does a good job of making you kind of care about even the minor characters before he kills them off.
The first three pages of the intro describe some warriors who come back to fight evil every few thousand years, and then go into some sort of hibernation mode where they are mentally attacked by evil until the next round. If they die, they automatically go into slumber and come back for the next fight. If they live, they have to choose. This time, 9 of 10 of them live, and none are willing to go back to the torment.
Then we get started with the main story, which follows a few cool people (there are probably two main characters, one of which I liked better than the other, and he's probably more "main" than the other.) through their struggles. They have a really interesting caste system based on eye color, which Sanderson does effectively. He has a bunch of other interesting stuff that is interesting but doesn't get in the way of the storytelling.
It's cool, and it's 1,000 pages long. So basically, you get to pay the price of one book and get enough pages for three, which it essentially is. The only real drawback is that he does a bit of rewinding to fill us in on the timeline, while I found myself just wanting to know what happens NOW. But I suppose that was the point, and the back info was pretty interesting, too. I recommend this book!
There's a bit of combat, obviously, and people die but it's not terribly graphic. Brandon does a good job of making you kind of care about even the minor characters before he kills them off.
08 September 2010
Nerds vs Dorks
I'm sure most nerds have had mini-crises wondering if they are actually nerds. In playing some online games I have come to question the definition of nerd, and if I should be associating with the "lower tiered" nerds who obviously are complete and utter morons, but seem to picture themselves as top tier nerds. After getting frustrated over the years and being able to find very little to satisfy my frustration, I finally found this Venn-Diagram.
Let me just explain a little. The three attributes, Intelligence, Obsession, and Social Ineptitude which we could see as the triumvirate of nerd-dom, are each required. I'm not totally sure I agree with the word choices for Geek and Dweeb, but since we need to label Obsession + Intelligence and Intelligence + Social Ineptitude as something, they work for now.
As previously stated, there is a lot of room when playing online games, or really doing anything, to run into morons. On the Venn diagram, they probably have Obsession and Social Ineptitude, but lacking intelligence. These Dorks are out there making true nerds look bad!
Geeks (Int + Obs) can readily observe that they aren't socially inept, and may actually be more comfortable as a Geek, or consider themselves "cool" nerds or closet nerds.
Dweebs (Int + S.I.) at least are OK with not being obsessed, because they can just see themselves as "casual" nerds. Maybe Jack of all trades nerds.
Dorks (Obs + S.I.) are where the problems start. Lacking intelligence and being unable to comprehend it, they automatically assume that Obsession is the definition of a nerd. They wear being socially inept as a badge of honor. Dorks are the people ruining the reputations of the true nerds everywhere. Worse yet, Dorks think that they have attained nerd-dom and make all other categories of nerd question themselves. Do we really want to be lumped with socially inept morons? No. The true nerds then have to find a new way to keep their identity.
I think the days of nerd-gamers are over. In the past, it took some amount of skill to get a computer to work, and to get it to play games. This entry pass in itself usually marked one as at least having intelligence. But with computers getting so much easier to use and the internet much easier to use, the flood-gates have opened and the unwashed masses of Obsessed, Socially inept have diluted the previously clean environment.
From a gaming perspective, the unwashed masses, unable to handle the level of difficulty that the real nerds are capable of, have no option but to whine and moan about it so the games are "fair". They are obsessed and socially inept, but not intelligent enough to play the game "for reals". Because the dorks have superior numbers and due to the lure of the mighty dollar, they eventually get their way.
Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of nerds who get pushed out of nerd-dom not due to lack of intelligence. Time constraints could limit obsession, and push Nerds to Dweeb status. A nerd may learn to cope with his social awkwardness and become a Geek. You can't take their Intelligence away, unless they do drugs or something stupid to lower their thinking abilities.
One commenter tried to say, "Hey, I see myself as pure intelligence. I don't even need obsession or Social Ineptitude." Well buddy, my real fear is that you're probably just a confused dork, but let me try to explain this better. The Venn diagram may work better of we think of the three traits as Intelligence, Social Ability, and um... Moderation? In this way, a true nerd has Intelligence and lacks social ability and moderation. I think these three values may all be able to be seen as "positives".
Anyway Dorks, don't get too down on yourself. It's always possible to bump up your intelligence factor. Plus, we really shouldn't see "Nerd" as the goal. We probably want Intelligence, Moderation, and Social skills to be the goal. Maybe someone can come up with a name for that. Maybe then all of us confused nerds/dweebs/geeks/dorks can figure out what to do with our lives.
Let me just explain a little. The three attributes, Intelligence, Obsession, and Social Ineptitude which we could see as the triumvirate of nerd-dom, are each required. I'm not totally sure I agree with the word choices for Geek and Dweeb, but since we need to label Obsession + Intelligence and Intelligence + Social Ineptitude as something, they work for now.
As previously stated, there is a lot of room when playing online games, or really doing anything, to run into morons. On the Venn diagram, they probably have Obsession and Social Ineptitude, but lacking intelligence. These Dorks are out there making true nerds look bad!
Geeks (Int + Obs) can readily observe that they aren't socially inept, and may actually be more comfortable as a Geek, or consider themselves "cool" nerds or closet nerds.
Dweebs (Int + S.I.) at least are OK with not being obsessed, because they can just see themselves as "casual" nerds. Maybe Jack of all trades nerds.
Dorks (Obs + S.I.) are where the problems start. Lacking intelligence and being unable to comprehend it, they automatically assume that Obsession is the definition of a nerd. They wear being socially inept as a badge of honor. Dorks are the people ruining the reputations of the true nerds everywhere. Worse yet, Dorks think that they have attained nerd-dom and make all other categories of nerd question themselves. Do we really want to be lumped with socially inept morons? No. The true nerds then have to find a new way to keep their identity.
I think the days of nerd-gamers are over. In the past, it took some amount of skill to get a computer to work, and to get it to play games. This entry pass in itself usually marked one as at least having intelligence. But with computers getting so much easier to use and the internet much easier to use, the flood-gates have opened and the unwashed masses of Obsessed, Socially inept have diluted the previously clean environment.
From a gaming perspective, the unwashed masses, unable to handle the level of difficulty that the real nerds are capable of, have no option but to whine and moan about it so the games are "fair". They are obsessed and socially inept, but not intelligent enough to play the game "for reals". Because the dorks have superior numbers and due to the lure of the mighty dollar, they eventually get their way.
Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of nerds who get pushed out of nerd-dom not due to lack of intelligence. Time constraints could limit obsession, and push Nerds to Dweeb status. A nerd may learn to cope with his social awkwardness and become a Geek. You can't take their Intelligence away, unless they do drugs or something stupid to lower their thinking abilities.
One commenter tried to say, "Hey, I see myself as pure intelligence. I don't even need obsession or Social Ineptitude." Well buddy, my real fear is that you're probably just a confused dork, but let me try to explain this better. The Venn diagram may work better of we think of the three traits as Intelligence, Social Ability, and um... Moderation? In this way, a true nerd has Intelligence and lacks social ability and moderation. I think these three values may all be able to be seen as "positives".
Anyway Dorks, don't get too down on yourself. It's always possible to bump up your intelligence factor. Plus, we really shouldn't see "Nerd" as the goal. We probably want Intelligence, Moderation, and Social skills to be the goal. Maybe someone can come up with a name for that. Maybe then all of us confused nerds/dweebs/geeks/dorks can figure out what to do with our lives.
26 August 2010
I like this song. It's fun.
I think Baker man is funny and his song is catchy, so I'm linking it. Plus it's a way to say thanks to my follower!
09 August 2010
Mac wins again.
So the past two movies I've purchased, are unreadable on at least two Windows XP machines. I pop the disk in, and the DVD light turns on and off and may or may not lockup my computer to the point of needing to reboot or simply close some programs. Autoplay seems to have something to do with it (Bad DRM?), but I did a registry hack to disable autoplay, but I still get problems. Once I was able to boot with the disc in the drive and I could watch it, but what a pain. I almost wanted to break my dvd drive in frustration.
I popped the disk into my Mac, loads up immediately and plays. Epic win for Mac, epic fail for Windoze.
I popped the disk into my Mac, loads up immediately and plays. Epic win for Mac, epic fail for Windoze.
03 August 2010
I'm not a multi-tasker
I know that multi-tasking is a huge buzzword for resumes, and corporations are always looking for people ready to work in a "fast-paced, multitasking environment" but honestly, multi-tasking is a waste of time.
How many things can you really do at once, not including walking and chewing gum? Anything that actually requires concentration and is worth doing needs full attention. If I try to do 5 things at once, I might be able to handle the gum-chewing and walking, but the important tasks are just going to sit.
In the business world, if I try to juggle too many tasks at a time, I'm going to end up being so distracted that nothing gets done and multi-tasking becomes a necessity since I have to juggle calling all the people back, spending all my precious brain-cycles coming up with reasons why the thing person 1 wants isn't done, all the while trying to come up with something to tell person 2.
Honestly? I'm a one-at-a-time kind of guy. I like to get a task, no interruptions, get it done, and move on to the next. Actually, for things other than gum-chewing and walking, this is more efficient because I spend less time wasting brain cycles on crap to come up with. And, that slush-pile that piles up if I try to multitask? It gets gone.
Embrace your single-mindedness, pick a task and just get 'er done. No use wallowing around in-between tasks.
Now to go attack that list of goals that must not be named.
How many things can you really do at once, not including walking and chewing gum? Anything that actually requires concentration and is worth doing needs full attention. If I try to do 5 things at once, I might be able to handle the gum-chewing and walking, but the important tasks are just going to sit.
In the business world, if I try to juggle too many tasks at a time, I'm going to end up being so distracted that nothing gets done and multi-tasking becomes a necessity since I have to juggle calling all the people back, spending all my precious brain-cycles coming up with reasons why the thing person 1 wants isn't done, all the while trying to come up with something to tell person 2.
Honestly? I'm a one-at-a-time kind of guy. I like to get a task, no interruptions, get it done, and move on to the next. Actually, for things other than gum-chewing and walking, this is more efficient because I spend less time wasting brain cycles on crap to come up with. And, that slush-pile that piles up if I try to multitask? It gets gone.
Embrace your single-mindedness, pick a task and just get 'er done. No use wallowing around in-between tasks.
Now to go attack that list of goals that must not be named.
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