March 2003 Archives
Gods, what a fine day! Get outside if you can!
Hey, here is an opportunity to see David Rees, the man behind "Get Your War On". Next Thursday, April 3rd, at the Koffler Institute of Pharmacy Management in room 108. 569 Spadina Ave, south of Bloor. Its free but space is limited. I'm quite looking forward to it, i think it will be interesting to hear what he has to say, especially to those that have criticized him.
Heh, go see the Mel Lastman site before its removed by law enforcement... Thanks to Elliott S for this one.
Ha, while futzing with CSS i managed to make the blog unreadable to Mac users. I think i've got that one licked. Let me know if it looks ok on your browser. Using CSS is cool, and you can do some pretty good looking stuff with it, but it is also so full of cross-browser issues its not even funny.
I know that i haven't said much about, you know, the war. Its mostly because i find it too difficult to get into print my thoughts and feelings. And, for once, perhaps too personal as well. I have made some oblique references to stuff that, to some degree, echo my feelings or thoughts about this. This editorial at The Star is another. Thanks to AJ for the pointer to this.
I'm in the midst of updating the look of the site. Please don't freak-out.
I have lots to say about Hayao Miyazaki, his films and recent Oscar win for Spirited Away. But for now i'm just going to point to this excellent article which is all about Miyazaki and his work, and Ebert's review of My Neighbor Totoro.
Mini-rant. I hate Windows XP. I've been using Windows 2000 since, well, 2000. I think i've only ever had one, maybe two BSODs with it in all that time. Since i started using XP, two days ago, it BSODed and corrupted the OS, prompting a re-install. Needless to say, i've switched back to win2k.
Reasons we need to buy a GBA SP: It will give Ciara something to do while in labour.
After hearing so much about the new GBA (see previous post) i went over to Tony W's to check it out. I take back all my sarcasm about the screen and graphics. It is lickable. I was playing "Kirby - Nightmare in Dreamland" and could not put it down. It was like playing all the fun old platform games from the SNES days. It was great - not too hard, even i could get through the levels. My desire for one is on the rise, however convincing Ciara that we need one is going to be tricky. If anyone has any good suggestions on how to convince Ciara, please drop me a line!
Through a strange route of blog's i've come to find a new (to me) online activity. Creating 'dolls'. Somebody makes a base on which others draw/create doll images. They then post them on their blogs, or wherever. I'm sure this is not really new, but i've never run into it before... Interesting and weird.
Interesting - both Tony W and Michael H picked up the new GameBoy Advanced SP this weekend. Tony's got a review up in which he says "The colour is so good you'd want to lick the screen". Well, i've never heard of a screen looking so good that it is "lickable", but MH also raves about the screen quality, so i guess it must be good. I've been holding off buying any new game platform tech for a while, as my gaming spirit comes and goes quickly, but i could see using something like the GBA for a quick fix of gaming goodness. And it is cheaper then the cube or ps2. Hummmm. Should i start making rationalizations now?
Get your war on. Have a taste:
In the quest to become a better photographer, i found these free digital camera lessons. They are good, small digestible bits of learning. I'm tempted to purchase a membership to the main site to access the other pay lessons.
A blog from Baghdad. Or not? Added More about the veracity of the Baghdad blog.
What the hell is it with the tv people and the shitty crazy logo's and sayings to cover this war? "Attack on Iraq" on the CBC. With star's and some kind of design. this is not a fucking baseball or football game, christ, we don't need slick graphics and catchy phrases. "Strike on Iraq" on CNN.
I'm in hide your head in the sand, i'm not watching CNN, turn on 'The fast and the furious', stuff your face with cookies cuz what the hell does is matter anymore anyway, of course it matters i've got to think about the kid christ the kid what are we thinking having a kid now if we are lucky we won't wake up choking on our own lungs shit i cant help it turn ctv or some kind of news on find out about how many people have been killed, the bombing, the attacks, what Bush has to say like i give a shit god here is Stockwell Day spouting off about some shit who cares what you have to say you mother fucker we are at war people are dying bombing starts at dawn or some shit like that here comes bush on tv
I'm working on a post relating to how blogs and the 'net in general could allow our (my) kids to get a better understading of their parents. Well, at least the ones that post stuff to the net.
If you have some time, "The Arrogant Empire" (Fareed Zakaria) and "Only in America" (Norman Mailer) are both excellent, if long, articles. Ok, and honestly, i haven't read the Mailer one yet. There are only so many hours in the day! The Arrogant Empire talks about how the USA has changed, post 911 and post Clinton, and how it finds itself at this percipitious point in history. Mailer's article is also about the middle east troubles, Iraq and Afghanistan. Thanks to Hauke H for pointers to these (must have been a slow day at work).
Some nice photos of Toronto by Kevin Steele. Interestingly Kevin is one of the guys that started/ran Mackerel, one of the first multimedia studios anywhere. I remember wanting to get a job there, as it was the cool place to work, back in the day. Here is the sad story of Mackerel's demise.
New Battlestar Galactica series in the works! Thanks to Geoff H for point this one out. Unfortunately, Richard Hatch, the "official" carrier of the Battlestar Galactica torch, does not seem too enthusiastic about this new series. I do hope that it is good, but also have to admit that it will most likely disappoint.
Great post at What is The Message about how "Parliament is, and has been for many years, obsolete". Fav quote "...the populace responds to carefully crafted and managed mass-media barrages, each using well-researched behavioural modification and motivation techniques".
Just posted some photos from our walk in the park today. I hope everyone managed to get out to enjoy the first taste of spring weather this weekend! What a pleasent break!
Very interesting article "Jihad Vs. McWorld: The two axial principles of our age -- tribalism and globalism -- clash at every point except one: they may both be threatening to democracy". Published in March 1992. When i first followed the link, i was thinking to myself, "gee, you'd think that i might have heard of this before", but it was published before "the web" was a going concern.
On the list of crazy, right along with "freedom fries" comes the passing of the "Hague Invasion Act" Law. What does this mean? Well, "the new law authorizes the use of military force to liberate any American or citizen of a U.S.-allied country being held by the court..." (source). Alright! Not enough to be at war with Terrorism and Iraq at the same time, lets also go after the Dutch! The Dutch are already preparing, and others are blogging about it.
I am going to point you all to the new Get Your War On strips. Its been months since i've last visited so there are 8 or 9 new pages of vitriolic goodness. I'm going to post one of the strips here, but you must go and read the others.
John Q weighs in on the naming issue with the following suggestion, "George W". Hum. Well, thanks, but i think we will just let that one fall off the end of the list, ok?
Pierre-Alexandre Garneau has a new post up at PaGTech about the differences between broad and deep games. Chess and Go are examples of deep games (lots of ways to play), where as Diablo is broad (lots to discover). There are several other interesting posts on his site, especially the ones about emergence, which i've pointed to before.
Todays word: pusillanimity, found in this post by Greg Costikyan. If you are interested in the business of computer games you should read the last 3 posts there. He and Warren Spector (!) are talking about the future of CGs. Very interesting stuff.
Through some arcane trail of links i ended up on this aurora borealis page. There are links to wonderful aurora images, including some taken from space, very cool.
It seems that Rowan is mostly being though of in the context of Rowan Atkinson aka Mr. Bean. Mark Q also says "It also reminds me of Roweena, or Roweiner. I guess you could just call him Weiner. He would be a tough kid". Too right. Who would call their kid Roweena? A quick google search shows that there are lots of folks called Roweena or Rowena. Who'd a guessed? Not me.
Early feedback so far is that Fiona sounds good. And that Rowan can be used as both a boy and girl name. Declan also got a nod.
There has been much discussion around names at my house lately. Having to do with, particularly, what we are going to name our child. This is a thorny issue. Using the wonderful technology of the internet and the babynames.com web site we have both come up with fairly long lists. I've allowed myself some indulgences with my names - Balthasar is just not going to pass Ciara's muster. But we now come to the narrowing down of the list phase of the search. Very tricky. I present here a first pass at a short list. If some of these are particularly poor choices, for one reason or another, please let me know.
So to start, the Girl names: Fiona, Samantha, Ada and Emily. Yes, i know, most of those are names that end in 'a'. I just noticed that as i was typing this up. Sigh.
Ok, now the Boy names: Declan, Connor, Calum and Angus. I really like Aiden, but i know some folks that have already used it for their kid. I also like Rowan. I might replace Declan with Rowan actually.
As i said, this is a work in progress. Expect updates.
I've been playing Nation States for the past couple of days. Quite fun and funny - worth checking out. Its also interesting to note that the site is basically an advertisement for the authors book. It seems to be wildly popular, i hope it helps him sell books!
You can check out the status of my country - The Rogue Nation of Pejitei.
An interesting Art/Science event coming up next weekend (March 21-22): "Cyborg Echoes: Collective Consciousness beyond the Post-Cyborg Era" at DECONISM. Ok, like, how do you even come up with crazy-ass titles like that? Love the art world. Anyway, Steve Mann will be there, so it can't help but be interesting.
Ha! Reading the site, it mentions that one of the events will be broadcast at the Ad Astra (wow, what a terrible site) sci-fi con! Crazy. I could blather on about how i used to go to that con and some of the craziness gotten into there, but i will refrain.
Oh, and on a slightly lighter note, i've licenced all the text content on this site with a Creative Commons licence. You can view it by clicking on the logo at the bottom of the page.
Interestingly, with all this talk of TV, i just watched two excellent shows. Junkyard Wars "flight of the century", which had 3 international teams building turn of the previous-centrury planes, using period tools. Very interesting, tho the show was 1 1/2 hours long, it felt a bit drawn out toward the end. Then last night, Building the Impossible: Roman Catapult.
So, i'm now wondering "are these shows something i'd show my kid"? I certainly learned a lot from both, and was filled with awe when watching the Junkyard Wars show, when the planes took to the air. I know that if i was a kid, i'd like these shows even more then i do now. But are they actually any good? What are the negatives?
Well, they are filled with commercials, which sucks. But, using our fancy new PVR, we can record all the shows we want to watch and fast forward though all the commercials, assuming that we don't watch the shows live. Which we do now, actually. So, if the shows are commercial free, is there a real drawback to having your kid watch them?
I don't think there is, really, with the proper parental supervision and in moderation.
Another of the cool things about the PVR is that you can "pause" live (or recorded) TV. What this lets you do is, if you are watching something and are interested in getting more info, you can pause and look up whatever it is you are interested in. This assumes, of course, that you have an easily accessible computer with internet access. Which we do. And let me tell you, this is a handy thing. Many times watching shows on TLC i'll pause to look into some aspect of the show i'm watching. Again last night we were watching "The Saint" and wanted to know how long it was on air, and when. No problem. Pause the show, look it up at google, and bob's your uncle. 1962 to 1969.
I could see how being able to do this sort of thing while watching with your kids could really help make tv less of a zombifing experience. Even back when i was growing up, my mom would take the time with me, which watching tv to explain and talk about stuff we were watching. ultimately, its less about the technology and all about the time taken by the parents to, well, parent.
I know this study (pdf) of the relationship between watching TV violence and "aggressive adult behaviour" will be linked to from everywhere shortly, but i did want to point to it myself (also see this MSNBC post). This is one of the many issues that we, Ciara and I, are going to be faced with shortly, with our kid. For the longest time i was a proponent of getting rid of the TV as soon as the kid comes. I have to admit that i've softened on that stance, but i still have fears about TV viewing, and all the horrible crap that the kid could be exposed too. I know that ultimately its up to us, as parents, to control what and how much the kid gets access too. And there are many great shows and movies i'd like to allow the kid to see (insert plug for most of Hayao Miyazaki's films). Anyway, this study just reaffirmed my fears and concerns. We just have to keep talking about it, and be aware of it.
I've been listening to the latest VNV Nation CD (futureperfect) over and over again. Will i burn it out? Yes. But its so worth it.
Hey, i'm looking for a easy to use sequencer. Its gotta be cheap. Like, really cheap. Like free if possible.
I've got an idea for a bit of audio i'd like to make, but i don't really have any tools. Well, ok, i've got Rebirth 338, but that's not what i need right now. If you have any suggestions, please drop me a line.
Hurm. Things don't sound too good for the future of computer games. I could wax poetic about the vid's from my youth, how interesting they were, focused on gameplay rather then just eye-candy. How every other game that came out seemed to have something new and fresh.
I could do that, but i wont.
Reality TV meets the bible online in The Ark: "On Easter Day 2003, Noah's Ark sails again... this time on a virtual voyage of 40 days and 40 nights. Twelve people will be onboard, but only one of them will win and step out onto Mt Ararat."
http://www.ship-of-fools.com/theark/ - from AJ
Forgot to mention - check out Yermum On Toast, AJ's new blog. He goes on about games, interactivity and all kinds of fun stuff like that.
I think i'm going to be making the switch over to MovableType as a blogging tool soon. I've also been looking at NewsMonster as an aggregator. Very very cool - with this and Mozblog you have a whole Mozilla/Blog/Aggregating system.
Now all i have to do is switch over to an ISP that will sell me a static IP and allow servers... Canadian ISP.com here i come!
Cold enough for you? -25 before the wind-chill. -33 after. So cold my bikes gear shift stoped working.
I was bundled up enough that only my fingers and cheeks got really cold. The say that its supposed to warm up by tonight, so it will only be in the negative teens. Great.
Crazy weekend of many people staying at our place! I managed to almost screw up the two major dinners, friday and saturday night.
