Via Sangre

I've Moved!

2008-02-14T13:50:00.002-05:00

Just to let everyone know, I no longer post here. I'm over at EricMartindale.com now. Direct your comments there!

Notepad++

2008-02-04T13:00:00.000-05:00

http://xkcd.com/378/

me: All coders who aren't babies are from Unix (pre Windows)
Ashish: I use Notepad all the time. So easy for quick notes.
me: Notepad++ for me
I don't think I ever close it
Ashish: I assume Notepad++ is my Notepad on steroids.
me: It's notepad with tabs
And natural growth horomones
Ashish: oooo tabs.
me: With a couple implants, too
Ashish: That sounds sexy.
me: The sexy derives from the implants, actually
Sent at 12:58 PM on Monday

When Girls Don't Put Out

2008-01-24T08:57:00.000-05:00

Ladies, have a sense of humor and don't rake me over the coals about this. Story came from a chain letter that was floating around.

One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed.

Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says, "I don't feel like
it, I just want you to hold me."

I said, "WHAT??!! What was that?!"

So she says the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to hear...

"You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man."

She responded to my puzzled look by saying, "Can't you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?"

Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went to sleep.

The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits. She couldn't decide which one to take, so I told her we'd just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, so I said, "Lets get a pair for each outfit."

We went on to the jewelry department where she picked out a pair of diamond earrings. Let me tell you... she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn't even know how to play tennis.

I think I threw her for a loop when I said, "That's fine, honey." She was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement. Smiling with excited anticipation, she finally said, "I think this is all dear, let's go to the cashier."

I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, "No honey, I don't feel like it."

Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled, "WHAT?"

I then said, "Honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You're just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman."

And just when she had this look like she was going to kill me, I added, "Why can't you just love me for who I am and not for the things I buy you?"

Apparently I'm not having sex tonight either....but at least that bitch knows I'm smarter than her.

Douche Parking Job by Nissan 350Z; Leaving a note for them

2007-10-29T14:29:00.001-05:00

Nicole Lee writes, "...while I understand that all people have their moments, the above photo is what gets to me. People who don
’t care about anyone at all, or are so absorbed in their own worlds that they forget that other people, and other people’s property exists as well. So, I left a friendly reminder..."

Oh yes, Cole. This is golden.

This has been done before, but it is NONETHELESS a very loser-ish thing to do. It truly is not that difficult to put the car in reverse and give it another shot - you are NOT beautiful and unique snowflake. No matter how awesome your car is.

There is no excuse for this douchbaggery. You should've done more.

read more | digg story

Update!

Cole looks like she got a resolution!

Before:

After:

Score, darling. Score.

What A Friend Said About Me.

2007-09-26T14:07:00.000-05:00

Just caught this over a MySpace (gasp!) bulletin. Actually, I'm lying, Shannon called me when she posted this to make sure I saw it. Because you know I wouldn't have.

Girls - pick the first guy on your top friends.
Unless their family than pick the next one.
Guys - do the same, but the first girl .

- Don't change it
- Enter their name
- Be honest
- Repost this so your friends can do it too

1. Who is it?
...Errriiiccckkk.

2. How did you meet?
6th grade, baby. We go back.

3. If you were crying would this person cheer you up?
Always.

4. Where is this person?
Wendell

5. Have you ever spent the night with this person?
I've crashed at his place. But not with him. We don't roll like that, s0n.

6. Will this person repost this?
Lol, Never.

7. Is this person family?
Yup. Always will be part of it.

8. Do you trust this person ?
Uh Hu. He knows me better than anyone.

9. If you could change something about them, would you?
Nope. Well, I'd make it so he called more often. But we're both so damn busy.

10. Does this person live close to you?
5 minutes away.

11. How much does this person know about you?
TOO much...=). Just kidding.

12. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with this person?
We'd probably do stuipd shit so the people monitoring the elevator cameras
would be laughing their asses off. And then I'd probably be fussing him out, saying this was all his fault and he'd just sit there trying to take apart the damn elevator keypad and claim it was something he's always wanted to do. What a retard... ;)

13. Do you argue with this person?
God yes. And we fight. I'm Talking an all out BRAWL. ;)

14. If you guys went to jail together, what would it be for?
Running from the cops. Hacking into some top secret government website. Aiding and Ebedding. TRYING to get into Lake Royal. ha...

15. Do you want to see this person right now?
Sometime soon, Yeah. I miss him =(

"MY TOP BOY"- if you're a girl and "MY TOP GIRL"-if your a guy

I love you too, Shannon. You're... mostly correct. On which parts... I'm not at liberty to disclose. :D

You're Not Cool

2007-09-26T07:57:00.000-05:00

Replacing English characters with non-English characters does not make you cool.

See the Oasiz Community for examples.

It almost reminds me of the kids on MSN chats back in the day.

DMOZ launches Blog

2007-09-25T12:45:00.001-05:00

"Since 1998, the Open Directory Project has been the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a passionate, global community of volunteer editors." - and they just launched a blog.

read more | digg story

Content is Dead. Community is King Now.

2007-09-18T12:11:00.001-05:00

The foundation for the empire has been laid, and upon it shall be built the future. Long live the king!

read more | digg story

Fantasy Author Robert Jordan Passes Away | RolePlayGateway: WeBlog!

2007-09-17T13:34:00.001-05:00

The author of the particularly famous Wheel of Time series passed away yesterday due to cardiac amyloidosis. Diagnosed with the disease in March of 2006, Jordan, born James Oliver Rigney Jr., vowed to fight the disease and continue his legendary writing career for many years to come. It is a great loss to the fantasy community...

read more | digg story

MMA legalized in North Carolina; Are You Ready?

2007-09-10T18:03:00.000-05:00

August 30th - the day MMA became legal in North Carolina. I've been waiting for this for a long time. Virginia and South Carolina are long drives - especially for me, I live right in the capital area. With any luck, they'll shortly be finalizing rules and regulations for leagues, at which point I'll be joining and grabbing every fight I can get.

I'm big into mixed martial arts. I currently train a style of Okinawan Karate called Isshinryu, which is an in-your-face discipline. It's one of the younger styles, named in 1956 by Grandmaster Tatsuo Shimabuku.

I've trained many styles in the past, including Judo and Muay Thai. I've never been beaten in a traditional art, but I'm sure hoping to find a challenge in MMA. I'm so ready for this.

Are you?

Google Reader: Interface Updates Going on NOW!

2007-09-04T22:58:00.001-05:00

Google Reader is updating their interface at this very moment. Is it possible that they felt threatened by the most recent Bloglines updates?I encountered this when browsing late night feeds - a very weird feed showed up in my subscription list, and my feeds began to break.

read more | digg story

Why I'm a Ninja

2007-08-30T13:32:00.000-05:00

I'm a ninja because I get cool things, like the ninja star. Copy and paste my ninja star, then start typing. I'm so definitely a ninja.
‫‬‭‮‪‫‬‭‮҉

Dell Tech Chatbot Tries His Best

2007-08-29T17:21:00.001-05:00

April's Dell said it couldn't find "systems 32 config" and after going through a series of troubleshooting steps with a Dell tech in chat, he said it was due to a bad sector on the hard drive and it would need to be replaced. While that very well may have been the case, we were amused by how the conversation wrapped up...

read more | digg story

BioShock PC Demo Leaked

2007-08-22T19:15:00.001-05:00

The glory.

read more | digg story

Outlook. Google. Go.

2007-08-22T12:18:00.000-05:00

I just bought a subscription to the Google Calendar/Microsoft Outlook/Windows Mobile syncing tool, OggSync. It's going to allow me to (finally) sync Google Calendar, my phone's calendar, and my Outlook Calendar. Isn't that hawt?

It's $29.99 per year, and after resolving an issue or two of duplicate events - it's well worth the money.

The Crew (MetroCon 2)

2007-08-16T11:16:00.001-05:00

Metrocon pictures 065.jpg
Originally uploaded by eric.martindale

This is a bunch of the peepz from GundamWing.com and AnimeMetro.com - getting together way back at MetroCon 2.

HOWTO: Seamless MS Windows in Edgy with VirtualBox and Beryl!

2007-08-07T14:38:00.001-05:00

UbuntuForums user has integrated MS Windows into Ubuntu, so there's now a lot less dual booting...

read more | digg story

Same Old Story

2007-08-07T09:39:00.001-05:00

You know what I hate? Seeing the same story over the course of a few weeks as multiple blogs cover the same "hot" story. Case in point? Starcraft Origami.

Amazon Unspun - the next Squidoo?

2007-08-04T14:06:00.000-05:00

There's been a lot of talk about how Squidoo is getting punished because of how they are getting used by spammers. The idea there was to go in, create something called a "lense" that is relevant to something about your niche, and then do your marketing thing there.

Well, I just ran into "a new service from Amazon. It appears to let you create your own list and present it to the social community. I'm definitely thinking about using it before the Googledance makes it another cesspool.

I didn't do my Ubuntu reload yet, either.

Top 20 Linux Apps

2007-08-01T14:02:00.000-05:00

An awesome list of applications for Linux that is mainly for my use (when I get home tonight), but you might get some use out of it, too.

Some of the better ones are mumble and murmer, some Teamspeak and Ventrilo replacements that I've never heard of. And the list is forcing me to finally get around to using Deluge (woot).

I think I might end up doing a full reinstall of Ubuntu tonight, just because I've mucked with the system so damn much it isn't even funny. Maybe this time around, I'll get my Motorola Q, in all of its new screen goodness (I recently replaced the LCD screen), to actually charge while connected via USB to my Linux box. And, if I really wish to aim high, maybe I can get sync working!

World Clock

2007-06-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

This thing is incredibly cool. A world clock that counts in all sorts of things, deaths, births, and even abortions. A statistician's dream. :)

Dr. Quantum - Double Slit Experiment

2007-06-13T07:26:00.000-05:00

Dr. Quantum explains one of the phenomenon that get me very excited and intrigued by quantum physics.

What Happens If You Stop Smoking Right Now

2007-06-12T12:04:00.000-05:00

Social Solution

2007-06-11T16:43:00.000-05:00

All of these Social Networking sites have been giving me a real headache since... well, since forever. There's too many of them. I can't keep track of everything. I've always had the idea of creating a service that'll link all of these together, check and update them all. Well, someone beat me to the punch.

Sara show this to me, but it's take me a while to post my results. Well, here I am.

Now, the other question is what am I supposed to do with all of these accounts that work as an OpenID, like Facebook? Do use one of these as my primary OpenID? Or should I go with one of the many OpenID providers? If so, which should I pick?

Ranger Whittaker

2007-06-11T14:39:00.000-05:00

Amber, Chenoa, Stephan, Dylan and Zack Harper star in a random improv movie made illegally (without my permission) at my apartment while I was at work. Rofl.

Sorry about the audio quality. They used a non-digital video device (you know, those clunky old things that record to a VCR tape?) - and I had to spend three or four hours editing the video alone.

I CAN'T SEE WHITE PEOPLE IN THE SNOW.

PHP5, Scraping, and XPath

2007-06-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've been building a scraper using PHP5 and the newly added XPath functionality. The idea here, as an exercise in programming, is to scrape complete records from Google Maps, including name, address, and phone number.

Here's a snippet of what I've been trying to do. This probably isn't the best approach, but I can't quite figure out how to pull a child of a resulting element, PHP is forever returning an error when I try to use firstchild.

   //start our result counter
   $i = 0;
   //try setting higher than 1000
   while ($i < 1000)
   {
    //show status so we don't get lost
    echo "Currently extracting data from records ".$i." through ".($i + 10)."...";

    $raw = new domdocument;
    $clean = new domdocument;

    //special to Google
    $url = 'http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&q='.$what.'&near='.$where.'&view=text&start='.$i."&radius=".$radius;

    @$raw->loadHTMLFile($url);

    $HTML = $raw->saveHTML();
    @$clean->loadHTML($HTML);

    $xpath = new domxpath($clean);
    $xNodes = $clean->getElementsByTagName('td');

    foreach ($xNodes as $xNode)
    {
     if ($xNode->getAttribute('valign') == "top")
     {
      //echo $xNode->nodeValue."\n";
      $output .= $xNode->nodeValue."";
     }
    }

    echo "...done\n";

    //add to our counter
    //10 results per page, so we add 10
    $i = $i + 10;

   }
  
   //fix bugged double comma, can't figure out where this is happening
   $output = preg_replace("/,,/",",",$output);
   
   $somecontent = make_csv(strip_non_ascii($output));
   echo $somecontent;

There's a bit of extra and unrelated code here, but that's the basic process I'm using.

Magic Marketing Button

2007-05-30T14:48:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking about how awesome it would be to have a button with the text "Magic Market" on it. This theoretical button would do all of the things I do on a daily basis, automatically, since most of them are menial and procedural anyways. These would include:

<ul>

<li>StumbleUpon</li>

<li>Directory Submission</li>

<li>MySpace Promotion</li>

<li>Sitemap generation</li>

<li>Keyword Ranking Check</li>

<li>Backlink Check</li>

<li>Traffic Trend Check (Google Analytics!)</li>

</ul>

Oh, the fantasy.

On second thought, maybe this is a viable project...

And tangentially, I figured out why this didn't post the first time. I sent it to "blogspot.com" instead of "blogger.com". Problem solved, and this makes it a bit easier for me to update, now. :)

RolePlaying Blog

2007-05-30T09:15:00.000-05:00

I've been seriously slacking in getting RPGateway's blog up and running, but I've finally gotten around to re-posting the files and re-connecting Wordpress to the database. Now all I've got to do is to get a couple of our admins (and hopefully, one of our loverly owners) to start posting and managing it.

The idea here is to create a single update page where watchers who don't want to be involved in the site can still read updates from the staff. A buzz can be established, and hopefully, some real momentum can be generated with content that is updated daily. The so-called 'blogosphere' (I cringe too, relax.) is a very powerful force in the tubes today, and I think it's important to at least begin to establish some sort of presence here.

I was recently pointed to Trevor Somerville's 30 days to success, and I'm only reminded that articles are the Queen in a world where daily updates are King. Good luck to Trevor, I'll probably swing by once or twice to check up on his progress and see if he has any useful tips.

I started fiddling with some new posting options again, in particular the email posting. Blogger lets you set up a secret email to which you can send blog posts, at which point they'll automatically be added to your blog. I had a contact set up in my Gmail as of (insert long period of time) ago, and I sent a post to it, but I haven't seen anything of it. It looks like the same email, but... apparently not. I guess I'll be reconfiguring this later.

I've been having great experiences with SEO and RolePlay Gateway, we're rising in rankings rather quickly, even after the domain migration. Many thanks to the folks over at DigitalPoint for my education over the past few months. I'm sure I'll be telling these success stories soon, but right now I have to head off to Winston to run a few service calls.

Peace out!

A Place Between Us

2007-05-14T17:02:00.001-05:00

This is a pretty damned awesome service.

2007-05-11T07:49:00.000-05:00

Number of times that I've removed the Microsoft Office Language Bar in the past 7 days: 17

On another note, we've put up a technology forum, and hopefully this will help us keep things organized. Additionally, as I'm sure some of you have seen, we've launched the Role Play Academy.

Look for FreeForm Roleplaying Chat soon, too.

GMail, Old Domains, and Spam

2007-05-08T09:16:00.000-05:00

Recently on DigitalPoint, I posted in response to someone who had some old domains forwarding email to his Gmail account - high traffic domains that received tens of thousands of spam messages per day.

I presented him a solution, which might work for you, too, if you're in a similiar situation.

Up at the top of your Gmail, click "Create a Filter". It's to the right of the search box.

In the "From:" box, type the domain name of the affected domain. Click "Next Step".

Select "Delete It". Click "Create Filter" and you're done.

Kevin Rose, HD-DVD, and the Letter

2007-05-02T00:46:00.000-05:00

I'm waiting on Kevin Rose's official statement on the matter. Does anyone think it'll be here by morning?

Digg Digital Riot over HD-DVD key?

2007-05-02T00:23:00.000-05:00

It looks like after a long day at work, without real net access, I missed out on the 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 goodness.

Digg seems to have chosen sponsors over its users. Sure, users are your power, and that's cliche and all. But damn. Is it cliche enough to forget?

Oh, and for the record, DRM sucks.

2007-04-30T13:45:00.000-05:00

I take phone calls from customers, diagnose and estimate the length of time it will take to fix their problem, and schedule an appointment for an engineer to be there. It is then my duty to dispatch this appointment to the engineer, at the appropriate point in time.

At this point in time, I am no longer associated with your on site service. If the engineer does a bad job, it is my job to talk to you and determine if the problem requires the engineer to go back out and solve the issue, and determine whether or not it requires billing.

Do not vent your stress to me. I will get the engineer in contact with you as soon as possible.

Do not yell at me because the engineer was unable to make it at the scheduled time. I will have an engineer to you as soon as we can, I promise. Sometimes appointments take longer than expected, and sometimes cars break down.

That is all.

Rawkin' Guitar

2007-04-25T10:12:00.000-05:00

Comments and Misclicks on Digg

2007-03-14T19:19:00.000-05:00

How many of you have gone to digg a user's comment and accidentally clicked on the wrong button? Maybe your mouse was being wonky, or you were just being silly. I know I have, several times. I know it's a minor annoyance, but I think it's an important issue. I don't believe that there should be any sort of interface change, but perhaps Digg could add a timer, maybe 5 seconds, that you have to change a rating?

Ventrilo and DotA

2007-03-13T10:36:00.000-05:00

Don't ask how I missed this. Totally hardcore.

Ladies, is that guy hot? Or is it just me?

Gamers, unite. ;)

Elation Insomnia

2007-02-25T05:03:00.000-05:00

There's an amazing feeling you get when you know there is a robot in your kitchen sweeping the floor for you.

So, I get in from gaming at about 3AM this morning, and on my table is this box that my roommate brought in, because it had been delivered. I knew immediately that it was my Roomba Discovery. I have charged it up for a bit, tested it out, watched it, and now I trust it not to get stuck or break anything. Problem is, I'm way too excited to get to sleep. Hello, 5:07 - I'm going to sleep now.

Linux Mobile Phone

2007-02-16T11:34:00.000-05:00

Oh, yes. I think I will.

FIC has announced an on-sale date for its Neo1973, expected to be the first low-cost, high-volume phone with a user-modifiable Linux-based operating system. Additionally, the OpenMoko project building open-source software for the phone has published a wealth of technical resources.

See the link for more information. This is a huge step towards my dream phone.

Mac versus Linux

2007-02-16T09:20:00.000-05:00

I had a pleasant conversation with a Mac fanboi, this morning.

(08:51:01 AM) Linux User: Do Macs come with an SSH server by default?
(08:51:12 AM) Mac User: bluh...huh?
(08:51:19 AM) Mac User: just woke up
(08:51:22 AM) Linux User: Oh, lol.
(08:51:26 AM) Linux User: Good morning, sunshine.
(08:51:30 AM) Mac User: lol
(08:51:40 AM) Linux User: I've been at work for an hour. ;P
(08:51:57 AM) Linux User: Anyways - does the default Mac have an SSH server?
(08:51:57 AM) Mac User: now...what are you babbling about?
(08:53:25 AM) Mac User: no, but ssh is supported for X11 apps
(08:54:22 AM) Mac User: ....x11 being the x window environment in the Mac OS
(08:54:47 AM) Linux User: Right.
(08:55:22 AM) Linux User: So - X11 applications can SSH to other locations?
(08:55:58 AM) Linux User: And - what's the Mac equivalent of a repository, and/or aptitude/apt-get/yum?
(08:56:01 AM) Mac User: I really don't know, I haven't messed with it
(08:56:12 AM) Mac User: what the fuck are those?
(08:56:46 AM) Linux User: I can go to the command line here, and say... "apt-get install " and it'll download and install that program from the repository.
(08:57:53 AM) Mac User: ...99% of Mac users don't go "Command-Line Commando" on their system....
(08:57:59 AM) Linux User: Also, if the program has any dependencies - it'll get those, too.
(08:58:00 AM) Mac User: so...enjoy that....
(08:58:11 AM) Linux User: Oh, it has a GUI, too.
(08:58:22 AM) Mac User: website?
(08:59:02 AM) Linux User: It's a core component, it doesn't particularly have its own site.
(08:59:22 AM) Linux User: Mac doesn't have an application finder and installer type thing?
(08:59:24 AM) Mac User: of what?
(08:59:27 AM) Mac User: no
(08:59:30 AM) Linux User: Weird.
(08:59:38 AM) Mac User: OMFG!!!! NO!!!! WHAT WILL I DO!???!?!?
(08:59:51 AM) Linux User: I was trying to install openssh-server on a friend's mac...
(08:59:57 AM) Mac User: y'all pc ppl always find the weirdest off-beat shit to pick at
(09:00:05 AM) Linux User: Mac's are PCs to, ho.
(09:00:16 AM) Linux User: Understand the word Personal Computer?
(09:00:21 AM) Mac User: uh, by the definition "personal computer" only
(09:00:38 AM) Linux User: PCs also don't have to run Microshaft.
(09:00:43 AM) Mac User: but be it known that a pc is a pc and a Mac is a Mac
(09:01:01 AM) Linux User: Considering Macs aren't "Macs" so much anymore, without the kooky PPC crap.
(09:01:10 AM) Mac User: ?
(09:01:42 AM) Linux User: They're regular PCs, now. I can install Windows on a Mac, I can install Plan9, MacOS, Linux.
(09:01:52 AM) Linux User: They don't use PPC anymore, right?
(09:02:05 AM) Mac User: you can't remove the Mac OS, though
(09:02:10 AM) Linux User: ...want to bet?
(09:02:13 AM) Mac User: yup
(09:02:16 AM) Mac User: go ahead
(09:02:20 AM) Linux User: LOL.
(09:02:31 AM) Mac User: remove the Mac OS, and then lemme know what you plan to do
(09:02:35 AM) Linux User: Anyways - MacBook pro - does it have more than one button?
(09:02:45 AM) Mac User: FUCK NO!!!!
(09:02:49 AM) Linux User: Alright, nevermind then.
(09:02:58 AM) Mac User: now, shoo
(09:02:59 AM) Linux User: I was going to buy one, because they're sexy.
(09:03:01 AM) Mac User: go buy a dell
(09:03:22 AM) Linux User: Dell is increasing their Linux support.
(09:03:23 AM) Linux User: :)
(09:05:19 AM) Mac User: that is to say that they now have some kind of linux support?
(09:05:52 AM) Linux User: They've always had Linux support, but it's been somewhat hidden.
(09:06:00 AM) Mac User: pphhhht
(09:06:12 AM) Linux User: They're increasing client awareness of the option, now.
(09:06:29 AM) Mac User: ya know, it really doesn't mean anything to me
(09:07:11 AM) Linux User: I was considering purchasing a Macbook and installing Ubuntu on it, for my laptop.
(09:07:25 AM) Mac User: I can run any other OS I want, should I happen to have a sudden drop in IQ, and my machine is pretty awesome.....so....
(09:07:55 AM) Mac User: why would you buy a Mac to run something you can run on a dell?
(09:08:01 AM) Mac User: why?
(09:08:04 AM) Linux User: Because Macs are sexier?
(09:08:08 AM) Linux User: I don't want an ugly dell.
(09:08:23 AM) Mac User: uh, yeah, and at least half the "sexier" is in the GUI
(09:08:28 AM) Linux User: Not at all.
(09:08:35 AM) Linux User: My GUI is 100% more teh sex.
(09:08:45 AM) Mac User: ......wow
(09:08:47 AM) Mac User: um
(09:08:48 AM) Linux User: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzb3MSp82Vs
(09:08:49 AM) Mac User: no
(09:08:51 AM) Linux User: :)
(09:09:05 AM) Linux User: You can't install Beryl or even Compiz in MacOS, can you?
(09:09:46 AM) Mac User: ooh....pretty....gimmicks.....
(09:10:08 AM) Linux User: Oh, is there an equivalent of workspaces in MacOS?
(09:10:17 AM) Mac User: in Leopard, yeah
(09:10:24 AM) Linux User: That's this next version, right?
(09:10:30 AM) Mac User: yizzur
(09:10:34 AM) Linux User: Awesome.
(09:10:43 AM) Mac User: "Spaces"
(09:10:49 AM) Linux User: Lol.
(09:10:59 AM) Linux User: We Linux folk have had that for years.
(09:11:00 AM) Mac User: http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/spaces.html
(09:11:01 AM) Linux User: But anyways.
(09:11:15 AM) Mac User: again....I don't care, and you're the only one who noticed
(09:11:34 AM) Linux User: LOL. Awesome argument. :x
(09:11:43 AM) Mac User: I don't argue anymore
(09:12:03 AM) Mac User: If you've bigoted yourself into using PC
(09:12:10 AM) Mac User: s, thats ur own fault
(09:12:44 AM) Linux User: Well, if I can't "uninstall MacOS" - or heaven forbid, order it without MacOS, like I can order most PCs without any OS, for a significant price reduction...
(09:12:49 AM) Linux User: It's not worth getting a Dell.
(09:12:52 AM) Linux User: Or any "PC".
(09:13:02 AM) Linux User: Or an Apple, for that matter.
(09:13:08 AM) Linux User: Dell, I can do that with, though.
(09:13:17 AM) Linux User: I share your Microsuck hatred.
(09:13:18 AM) Linux User: I really do.
(09:13:23 AM) Mac User: you make that sound like a feature
(09:13:24 AM) Linux User: But I also hate MacOS with a passion.
(09:13:32 AM) Mac User: for no reason
(09:13:37 AM) Linux User: No, for full reason.
(09:13:42 AM) Mac User: there's 2 sides of the fight, dude
(09:13:46 AM) Linux User: It's a *nix OS, without all the good stuff.
(09:13:48 AM) Mac User: Apple, and mico$ith
(09:13:57 AM) Linux User: Then there's Linux. ;D
(09:14:05 AM) Linux User: We're not part of the fight, we've already won.
(09:14:06 AM) Mac User: you're out in the woods trying to be a nonconformist
(09:14:22 AM) Linux User: Not at all, actually, I started using Linux because most of my friends were.
(09:14:23 AM) Linux User: :/
(09:14:28 AM) Mac User: yeah, 2% market share. WOO HOO!!!!
(09:14:36 AM) Linux User: 55% of the server share. :/
(09:14:48 AM) Linux User: I think it's above 60, actually?
(09:14:58 AM) Mac User: http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/
(09:15:01 AM) Mac User: > you
(09:15:16 AM) Linux User: Why, exactly, would I run MacOS as a server? When I have Linux?
(09:15:23 AM) Linux User: You don't have a package manager (apt)
(09:15:40 AM) Linux User: apt-get install apache2 php mysql
(09:15:42 AM) Linux User: Done.
(09:15:48 AM) Mac User: you wouldn't
(09:15:58 AM) Mac User: and that's your business
(09:16:04 AM) Mac User: why are you talking to me again?
(09:16:20 AM) Mac User has signed off.

And that was him blocking me. Mac people really do think differently.

Nickolodeon Animators Regress, Back On Acid

2007-02-15T12:14:00.000-05:00

How oddly amusing...

Progeny of Monotony

2007-02-02T21:04:00.000-05:00

A big subject of contention in my life is my job. I work 60 hours a week, for less than minimum wage. I deal with clueless customers who are often surprised by my perfect greeting, as I am often complimented, sometimes chastised, on my well-rehearsed voice. Sometimes I think we lose call volume because I sound like an answering machine. Hah! It shall be no more, tonight was a successful night of Trixbox PBX goodness, our entire system is on the first run using the IVR answering. I digress.

My job sucks. I earn $5/hr, working what is supposed to be 60 hours a week, but is slowly dwindling downward. The stress of paying rent, utilities, and heaven forbid taxes on such a budget is indomitable: I can't imagine adding insurance and gas to this, when I get a car up and running. The love of my life chastises me for it, and I can't tell her enough how much I really do hate it. I do not have a working car, and I do not yet have insurance to provide the DMV with proof that I do have insurance, so I don't have a license. There are fast food places within walking distance, surely. Ideally, if I had a car, I could be an on-call Engineer and earn maybe an extra hundred bucks a week. Sure, I earn $33/hr as a consultant, but when business is the equivalent of dysentery on a hot summer day, I earn jack for nothing. Of course, in this scenario, it is difficult to find the finances to afford a car to begin with.

It's hard in these circumstances to even consider such things as school, a degree, or better living conditions. It's devastating to me, my life, my relationships, and everything that cascades on from such. It doesn't help when the doors in my house are left open, dissipating what little heat I've trapped in the kitchen into the other frozen rooms of my apartment. Piles of dirty dishes plague the sink, and I'm never home to wash them. Wait, remind me again why I'm washing someone else's dirty dishes? Oh, that's right - my apartment would be even dirtier if it weren't for the thirty minutes a night I spend after getting home from spending the remainder of my free time with Amber. Of course, directly after, shower and bed. Only to wake in the morning for work at 0800. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Saturday.

If only people were patient, if only I could let them into my world. Unfortunately, I'm expecting a box to be placed on my doorstep any day now, with all of the various items I've gifted out over the past year and a half. There's nothing I can do to stop it, as far as I can tell, except to go work at Subway. I wish I could tell her that it'd be by the grace of God if I got out of that position, once I went there. No, it's not understood. It can't be understood. How long can one love without being loved in return? The sad thing is, it is in both ways. How sick and maniacally twisted is that?

MTV Cribs - The Cobbett House

2007-01-22T10:20:00.000-05:00

So, random improvisational moment of the week...

The Dream Phone

2007-01-19T13:47:00.000-05:00

I've been in the market for my dream phone for almost a year now. Products have been released left and right, but none of them seem to have the functionality that I am desiring. Okay, I admit - "phone" is a bit misleading. What I'm really looking for is a smartphone... no, not a smartphone, a digital companion.

Things I'm looking for:

Phone

Camera

Media Player

Freedom

Phone
I want a mobile phone with what has become industry standards, including the dual-mode functionality of GSM and WiFi connections. I should be able to take this phone to any service provider, and get service using this device, keeping both my number and my contacts.

Camera
I want a decent camera that gets decent lighting. While a 2 megapixel camera is about the range I'm looking for, most important is the quality of the resulting pictures. The functionality of a modern-day camera should be available, including light temperature and balance. I should be able to record video using this, as well.

Media Player
I should be able to play any format of media on this device as I can play using my home Linux box. OGG, MP3, MPEG, AVI...

Freedom
I wish to be able to install software freely, from wherever I may choose. If I choose to install emulators and play me some NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis games, I should be able to do this freely, and have the necessary hardware resources to do this. I want to be able to make changes to my device's software at any point in time. I should be able to sync my calendar, to do list, and contacts with my choice of repositories.

I'll grow and review this as necessary. Until then, the Apple iPhone looks bitterly disgusting, while the Motorola Q's use of Windows continues to push me away.

Circle of Masters

2007-01-04T09:36:00.000-05:00

We went to the Circle of Masters tournament a while ago, and kicked some serious ass. Here's some photos that were taken at the event, with Amber, myself, and Sensei scattered throughout.

Circle of Masters

Error In Translation

2006-12-18T16:36:00.000-05:00

Amber and I have been yelling at each other on and off for the past hour or so, due to the problems she is having with her current math project. I'm glad she's sloughed off her English project, as doing five people's annotations, comparisons, and evaluations of Shakespeare's Othello on her own was clearly wearing thin on her.

Unfortunately, she doesn't own a copy of Microsoft Office, which includes Excel, which is apparently what she needs. A few months ago I pointed her in the direction of OpenOffice, but errors in conversion and viewing (Comments made in Word won't display in OpenOffice, but they will work vice versa), changes and differences in interface and menu placement, broken features, etc etc., have been an endless source of frustration for her. I really wish I knew how to use it at an expert level, but it just seems like I can't help her, because I know so little about the software. Having to communicate via the phone doesn't help, either.

I'm heading over there after work, maybe I can help her more then. Hoorah for another night of sleep deprivation!

2006-12-18T10:10:00.000-05:00

I'm working on a document that will be printed and posted in various places around my apartment.

"No more parties until the apartment is spotless."

I'm livid.

Extravagant Self Gratuity

2006-12-08T15:21:00.000-05:00

I just invested in $500 worth of targeted advertising for GWing Roleplay. So, what's the total impact upon my wallet?

A grand $5 in activation fees.

Big shoutouts to Computers.net for pointing this out. I was thinking of organizing a group of friends to throw multiple instances of these offers into advertising for GWing, but I realized that it would be difficult to target the advertising properly, as I found it rather complicated to create my own template of keywords and negative keywords to match the optimal result for what we desire in our community. If you sign up for these offers, be sure to carefully monitor your expenses! The billing is most likely set to recurring, and will continue to charge your credit card after your account balance has been used.

Alternately, I woke this morning to find DoesMyGeek's New Podcast, and was greeted by a shoutout and a link over the air to yours truly, and GWing Roleplay. What an amazing podcast, talking about the classic combination, roleplay and beer. Here's to you guys. ;)

One more - I just got linked to Michael Robertson's Evaluation of a College Degree, and found the article particularly interesting in this time. And now: back to work.

Early Enough?

2006-12-04T06:42:00.000-05:00

Is the reckless abandonment of normal sleep hours for the purpose of seeing someone for a grand three minutes considered obsession or insanity?

Early Resolution

2006-11-28T22:40:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I'm a new person. I'm going to wake up at 6:00, I'm going to go see Amber, and then I'm going to run an undetermined amount that is greater than 1 mile. I'm going to do ten pushups every hour at work, as well as ten crunches. I'm going to watch my diet, and not take seconds. I'm going to beat my ass into shape.

I'm going to start actively job hunting a little more, and I'm going to strive to save my money. I'm going to explode into studying, I'm going to start looking more seriously at my education options, and how I'm going to get to that point. I'm going to start looking at my potential.

I'm going to become a better listener, a better friend. I'm going to be more understanding, caring, and loving. I'm going to become a better lover.

Silver and Gold

2006-11-26T18:53:00.000-05:00

Christmas time is here! The incessant Christmas music on the radio, the lights around this quiet little town, the music played over the speakers on main street, and the greenery and otherwise unusual happiness of the general populous. The best time of the year, many say - I can see why. I just hope the radio music doesn't wear thin on me too soon...

I'm getting over my sinus infection, with only a minor headache right now. Church went extraordinary, and life (as of right now) is good. Earlier this afternoon, Amber and I put together a French Meringue for her class at school, which looks absolutely gorgeous. We used an old lace napkin to pattern the surface with a delectable pattern of powdered sugar, and it came out well.

I just cleaned off her computer desk, just on one of those random cleaning spree (read: obsessive compulsive) things. I sorted her father's CDs, to much satisfaction. We also raked the yard... and now we're decorating her house. Well, they are - I'm cleaning up her father's computer now, too. What a day!

Spats lost!? I feel that he deserved the win, but that's not what the judge determined. I'm glad that Kouketsu took care of those flames in the "who do you think will win" topic, because I don't think I can last much longer dealing with such complete and total disgraces to the ideals of quality text fighting.

GWing seems to be picking up some more, there is a lot of progress being made in the Growth area. Several new moderators (critics...), namely Circ and Dovey, are preparing an awesome system for reviewing authors' submissions. I think I'm going to try and influence Amber to provide SOME input, as it is her forum, and it'd help her to get back into writing.

Dinner time. Ja ne!

Sick!

2006-11-24T11:16:00.000-05:00

I have a sinus infection. It feels like someone punched me in the face.

Had a good thanksfiving day yesterday, mostly spent sleeping.

I love my Amber. Poor girl - she had to go in to work at 3 this morning. She will be receiving a lot of love tonight, provided she's still awake. Heeeaaaart.

Pine cones go in here...

2006-11-20T11:08:00.000-05:00

Early this morning, somewhere within an hour of me getting in to work, there were a large number of sirens in my otherwise quiet town. Come to find out, the IGA (International Grocer's Association) down the road got robbed at gunpoint. The police showed up, chased them down the road and through town, crashing just near our watered version of downtown. Apparently one suspect has been apprehended, and two are still on the loose. There have been helicopters circling the area for a while, and intermittent sirens. The police and of all things the fire department have blocked off sections of roads, last I heard.

A wonderful start to a week, don't you think? Hey, at least there's something going on instead of the usual droll mood of a small town. To some ill effect, however: the internet here, Bellsouth, seems to have slowed to a complete and utter crawl. It seems to be letting up slightly now that the excitement is over, but this is unacceptable from a business class DSL service. It likely has to do with the news channels showing up and perhaps plugging in to landlines for their newscasts?

I had a good rest on Saturday, after a rather long night on Friday, and enjoyed my time with Amber. Sunday turned out to be a work day for me, as I was looking through a client's server logs in the morning, fixing my own computer woes, and then fixing an install of Linux for my family while my laundry ran. I left to fix MORE personal computer troubles, then headed out to finally relax with my love that evening.

Alternately, I found an awesome five things to know when you switch to linux post. Check it out. :)

Fights begin, finger prints are took, days is lost, bail is made, court dates are ignored, cycle is repeated.

Oekaki Contest

2006-11-17T12:06:00.000-05:00

Kindigo posted an awesome Oekaki contest over on GWing, and will be awarding 10,000 GWing Credits to a winner, every week. I can't wait to see some of the submissions. I think I'll participate, too. Maybe. <3

An Oekaki, for those of you who don't know, is a sort of online version of Photoshop. You can use an Oekaki to draw, sketch, and discuss all the little splurge-arts that you might have. A lot of fun, indeed. For an example, you can check out the GWing Oekaki, and maybe even draw something while you're there.

Don't be afraid - take a look at some of the shameful submissions I've posted!

ZOMGFRIDAY

2006-11-17T08:42:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's Friday already. Payday. Christmas gift time.

So, I've been pondering if I should go to an online university, a community college, or just straight to an in state school (UNC, NC State, possibly Duke)?

Scissors and Strands

2006-11-14T13:03:00.000-05:00

I got a haircut last night - I'm down to maybe half a curl of hair. I don't have any pictures yet, but as soon as I do I'll post them here. Tonia killed me two or three times over when she found out. Sorry!

On another note, I'm writing this post in Google Docs. Since I'm using the Blogger Beta, I wasn't able to do this up until about a week ago, but I'm only now testing it out. It's a fairly easy setup, all I've had to do is select "Blogger (Beta)" from the Blog settings here in Docs, and then enter my username, password, and finally which blog I'd like to post to. This last bit of information is optional, and they said that they'll post to the first blog they find if you don't specify it.

We're (GWing Roleplay) looking at some excellent affiliate options, and will be presenting the community with a good number of resources in the near future. There are some outstanding opportunities that have presented themselves, and we're striving to give GWing the best environment possible for the roleplayers. We'll keep you updated as things progress, we promise!

How to Kill a Roleplay

2006-11-13T09:42:00.000-05:00

I was putting together a "Top 10 Ways to Kill a Roleplay" list, and I figured I'd post it on the GWing Roleplay site to get everyone's input on the issue. Roleplayers there should spread the votes across all of the options, for the most part. I'll probably take the top 10 and make this top 10 list a bit more intuitive.

On another note - a friend from my childhood found me on Facebook last night, and we were talking this morning a bit. It's good to hear from her, it's been a few years. Her mother called me on Saturday, and we chatted for a short while. It's always good to stay connected. Okay, maybe not always, but this circumstance DOES apply.

Though, it doesn't quite make up for Facebook's broken note import feature.

Life

2006-11-12T23:14:00.000-05:00

An amazing, life-changing, and pivotal chunk of knowledge was imparted upon me today.

Afterwards, I spent the most WONDERFUL afternoon with Amber. Never mind the rain and cold - I cuddled inside with my sunshine until far beyond sunset.

The Weekend

2006-11-06T21:41:00.000-05:00

I just found an awesome list of Open source applications for Windows, and thought I'd take the time to update.

I think I'm sick or getting sick from the weekend, which was awesome all in itself. Rode over to Ian's on Saturday, enjoyed a good night with some new friends, playing Unreal Tournament (the original, what else?) until somewhere around 3AM. Ah, good times. I woke up the next day in time to give Amber a call before she left for work. We got to gaming shortly after lunch, and for once, our ship didn't esplode! (partly because we left it behind for the majority of the game...)

Sunday we relaxed and watched football, both American and World. Poor poor Chelsea! I ended up rolling in at about 4PM, and proceeded to put together some home cooking for when Amber got off work. Unfortunately, my plans were foiled by her work schedule, and she got off at six instead of the planned five, denying us the opportunity of going to the park to eat while the sun set. We enjoyed ourselves nonetheless, and had a good cuddly evening.

Work today was a pain, though. Internet was out, and Bellsouth took until 5PM to bring us a mediocre solution. One of our major clients was having email problems, which I couldn't troubleshoot until the internet was up. Pity.

And, now I come home, GWing is having some people problems, and the GT League is bumbling along as usual. Now, about that roleplaying social reform...

Today is mulling along

2006-11-02T12:47:00.000-05:00

Work is work, as per the usual. I'm work at a company called TechNoggins, doing all sorts of various things. Primarily, I am Callcenter Manager, handling calls for three states and eleven major cities. It's unfortunately fairly slow today, which means my salary isn't augmented by the influx of web development work. Sad day.

I've been messing around with some of Facebook's features, recently. I just linked "My Notes" to this blog, which seems like a cool feature, but it needs some work. It imported my posts what seems to be twice?

Someone posted LeekSpin on the Grand Tournament forum. I've been subtly amused by the music to which this has been put, and have been listening to it for just over an hour now. You want to talk about overplaying, hrm? Full immersion, hrrrm?

Well, looks like I have a PC here in the office that I need to fix. So, until later, I'm gone. :P

IRC Nerdiness

2006-11-01T16:39:00.000-05:00

I'm growing weary of the community that thrives on IRC, particularly of the fighter portion. (When I say fighting, I refer to a sport called text-fighting.) Andrew describes them quite eloquently: arrogant. They seem to believe that the IRC world is all there is, and that it is necessary to determine which channel, and perhaps even network, is better through means of blind hatred and ignorance.

Take, for example, this Animelab and SurrealChat thing. The GWing chat is hosted on SurrealChat. We often get users from Animelab telling GWingers that they suck and should die, in much more vibrant color, because SurrealChat is stupid, and they hate SurrealChat. Granted, this conflict has died down, but it does seem to be an epidemic.

I love when a conversation of these IRC nerds proceeds as follows.

"I'm the best roleplayer on this server."
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am."
"How about a hybrid match to determine that, then?"
"Okay. Stance up."

Does my point need to be exemplified any more clearly?

Fighting a hybrid match is NOT ROLEPLAYING. Morons.

A Resolution

2006-10-31T23:01:00.000-05:00

We ended up wandering the neighborhood to see a couple of the spectacular "haunted candy walks" with Max, the German exchange student. We headed back inside by about 7:30 to watch The Punisher and to cuddle on the couch until it was time to leave.

Hrm, I wish I could get pictures of the pumpkin I carved for them - I'll try to do that tomorrow night, maybe.

I love my Amber. <3

Halloween and Sweets

2006-10-31T15:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween, everyone.

We (Amber, her mother, and myself) went to see Marie Antoinette on Saturday (At least, I believe it was Saturday. My recollections are always somewhat hazy...) after a decidedly long day for me. Amber had been wanting to see it for some time, and I think she was satisfied with it. Something of a chick flick, I suppose - but a well done movie, overall. The first half of the movie was about the utter lack of sex in Marie's arranged marriage, and the drama that such a scandalous endeavor would entail. The movie evolved into further drama, and proceeded to end as a glorified drama. I wasn't particularly impressed, but I did enjoy my time.

So, converging back from the semi-related tangent to a more relevant topic, Amber and I are trying to decide exactly what we're going to do tonight. I'm still stuck here at work, and she's finishing up some work for school. We're likely going to end up snuggling on the couch watching a movie of some sort. Perhaps there will be some horror films on SciFi, or something of the like?

Here's to a Happy Halloween night for everyone.

Halloween Party and Love

2006-10-30T01:46:00.000-05:00

Well, Amber, Chenoa, Catinka and myself went to a halloween party tonight...

My legs are exahausted, my head hurts (from the music), and I'm only slightly sleepy at 1:52. Perhaps it's only 12:52 in my mind. But then again, this is the last year for daylight savings time, isn't it?

Here's what we looked like before we left. :)

From Amber

I'm a priest, and she's a little girl. Think V for Vendetta, here. Actually, her mother(!) made the comment, "Shouldn't you be a little boy...?". So, dun dun dun.

So I come home, clean up a bit at the apartment, and sit down on GWing. I didn't feel it was worth my time to respond to anything as of yet, and thought like usual that I would leave it to the community to say more effectively what I would say in a single sentence or word. After browsing around and reading all the new posts since this morning, I thought that I'd look at DiggDot.us' newest posts, since they're on my Google Homepage.

I found an interesting post on what love is, and thought it was a touching read. Kids certainly do say the darndest things don't they?

Why I Hate Beauty

2006-10-27T09:28:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting article on the effects of beauty on the human (particularly the male's) mind. It raises several awesome points, particularly on the matter of the damages to intimate relationships caused by beauty.

It's particularly interesting to see this in relation to Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty and the accompanying marketing video. Our society proves once again to be vain.

Food for thought.

Pimp Status and further updates...

2006-10-27T08:51:00.000-05:00

Now that I've upgraded to Google's Blogger Beta, I'm tweaking a bunch of controls on my blog. I am continually running into the user-friendly syndrome, where a feature is too user friendly and I can't get down to the nitty-gritty tech side of the application. While it saves me the five minute trouble of setting up a Wordpress or similiar in-house blog, it constantly reminds me of the merits of having the Wordpress, and consequently influencing me to neglect posting here at all.

I woke up this morning to a completed upgrade from Ubuntu's Dapper Drake (6.06 LTS) to Edgy Eft (6.10), after encountering some problems resulting from my own stupidity. Upgrading from the servers took a grand total of 16 hours, start to finish. This includes my time working out the kinks from my said stupidity, which I won't go into further here. Due to the complications, my personal alarm clock (XMMS and an alarm plugin...) failed to wake me at the goal of 5:30 AM, having not rung at all. Sadly, this caused me to miss the chance to see my beautiful Amber, with her leaving for school at 6:30, and me waking at 7. *grumble*

After rebooting the machine to seal the deal, I opened up my shiny new Firefox 2.0 to look at the GWing RSS feed. I clicked the most important thing at the time, a new topic titled A Tale of Two Wreckages: A True Story. I then proceeded to heartily laugh my way through the time I had remaining before I had to leave for work.

Pimp status, hrm?

Interfaces?

2006-02-13T14:27:00.000-05:00

Touch Screen.

Whoa.

--
Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net
http://gwing.net

Female Lycans

2006-02-12T18:24:00.000-05:00

Amber and I were walking home from a walk, when I look up and beaming
through the trees was a huge moon.

"Hey, look! It's a full moon tonight." I immediately exclaimed,
regardless of whether or not it really was full.

Amber casually glances over and says, "It'd suck to be a female werewolf."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Because they have TWO times of the month."

We got inside about ten seconds later, and I began to type this entry.

--
Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net
http://gwing.net

PWN3D

2006-02-07T12:23:00.000-05:00

Random videos of people getting pwned?

I like it.

PWN3D!

--
Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net
http://gwing.net

Duality

2006-02-02T18:32:00.000-05:00

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a really weird movie, and it really scared me. Not only is the concept nail-head-on, but I used to be called Jim Carrey, and some say I bear a striking resemblance to him in my expressions. Well... yeah. It's difficult to explain.

So what, I got over that. But then, just when I thought the worst was over, I was *randomly* Googling - the verb form of to search the google search engine - and then... BOOM! HEADSHOT!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/A5089836

Okay, I can handle someone from WW2 looking almost like myself - and the fact that he's a pilot, one of my dreams. Okay. I can handle that. And then...

http://www.artofcombat.com/instructors.htm :
The training group (SOI) in Dallas was small and under the guidance of Eric Martindale (which promoted Ralph to 9th kyu), ....

I can handle a martial arts instructor being named Eric Martindale as well, a little odd, but then again, I've always been involved in martial arts, haven't I? Eric apparently promoted that guy to 9th kyu, right? So don't you have to be 10th kyu? So he's 1337 like that, right?    ... And then...

And of course there's the soccer referee, or is he a player? I don't remember. He's another Eric Martindale. A little weird, too... but I've played soccer since the age of five. And then...

http://www.rtpnet.org/troop200/history/T200Eagles.html

I became an Eagle Scout, too. When I was a young boy... I was once a cub scout aspiring to be an Eagle Scout. Dun dun dun. The plot thickens.

http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showpost.php?p=211703&postcount=15

Once again, I am involved in a martial arts situation, and I believe referring to the same Eric Martindale. And then...

http://nhpresbytery.org/pdf/Graduates01.pdf

Holy crap, that IS me. For real. Only slightly unexpected at this point... after all of these STRANGE entries. Slightly. O_o ....

And then...

I've apparently lost myself on http://lostfriends.org - or is someone looking for me? Oh... that's what I meant to say. I haven't *found* myself there yet... but apparently Google did. And then...

http://north-carolina.injuryboard.com/view.cfm/Topic=77/PAGE=2

I WAS on this page at some point... and this one is somewhat entertaining. Apparently, in Charlotte during some point about a year ago, someone named Eric Martindale died in a car accident. I believe I had four people come up to me that day and ask if I had died... I was about two hours north of charlotte at the time, and the "Eric Martindale" news had reached most parts of North Carolina and Virginia, and I got two phone calls, one from my mother - asking if I had died.   .... ... ... ... ....   And then...

http://www.faqs.org/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/rec/rec.autos.rotary

I'm the president of a North Carolina rotary club. I've always been a fan of rotary engines... but this is ridiculous... WTFH? .... I'm becoming very frightened at this point... very frightened. I love rotary engines. That rotary club is two cities away. ... And then...

http://www.wrestlingusa.com/02%20wusa%20web%20root/highschoolnews/wisconsin.html

I used to wrestle, but I've never been to Wisconson. Or.   Have I.

"The One", any one? Whoa! The Matrix! 42!

--
Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net

The Great Gamer Championship

2006-01-31T14:50:00.000-05:00

Jayme and I have decided to determine which one of us is the best at playing games. We're in the process of choosing the games to be played to determine the best of the best. (Or atleast between us two.) We're trying to get an equal amount of games on both the console and the PC, since he's a console gamer, and I'm a PC gamer. The winner of this will get bragging rights an' all that, but I think we'll need to write an agreement of some sort stating that the winner is final, no bitching about how the choices of games are sucky, and how lag killed you, and that when entering, you agree that it is FINAL. So yeah. Here's what we have so far, and by no means is this list final:

FPS (Console): Halo 2 (XBOX)
RTS (PC): Starcraft w/ Expansion

Fighter (Console): Guilty Gear (X or XX) - (Playstation/PS2)

Simulation (PC): Mechwarrior 4:Mercenaries w/ MekTek's MekPak 3

Sports (PC?): Pong

Puzzle (Console): Tetris

Arcade (Arcade): Initial D v3+ -OR- DDR

So that's a tally of 7 games so far, 3 console, 3 PC, and one arcade. Of course, I'd like to have two more, including a FPS for the PC, such as Unreal Tournament... and an additional game on the console to account for this. Perhaps a 3D Fighter such as Tekken 4/5, Mortal Combat: Deception/Deadly Alliance, or King Of Fighters: Maximum Impact?

We'll see.

--
Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net

GWing.net - Home

2006-01-31T07:57:00.000-05:00

GWing.net - Home

Got a new face for GWing - kinda exemplifies the idea that it ISN'T JUST GUNDAM. But it still has a picture of a Gundam like, RIGHT THERE. Grr.

My Kids....

2006-01-30T00:29:00.000-05:00

Glancing through some of my old text documents (I have a file called 'New Text Document (97).txt' ) and came across this:

Master says:
I took a Dremel and cut into the back of the thing.
Master says:
Removed the embedded battery
Master says:
>=D
Elijah says:
x_x
Master says:
Duct tape works wonders man, I tell ya.
Elijah says:
If you have kids, I hope they go to bed when you tell them.

ABC News: Saddam Hussein Removed From Court Room

2006-01-29T08:05:00.000-05:00

Is anybody seeing this?

ABC News: Saddam Hussein Removed From Court Room: "Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein argues with chief judge, Raouf Abdel-Rahman after his half brother, Barzan Ibrahim, not seen, was forcibly removed from the trial held in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, Sunday Jan. 29, 2006. Saddam Hussein's trial quickly collapsed into chaos after resuming Sunday with one defendant dragged out of court and the defense team walking out in protest. The former Iraqi leader was then ejected after shouting 'down with traitors' and 'down with America.' Saddam and his seven co-defendants are charged in the deaths of about 140 Shiite Muslims following an assassination attempt against the former Iraqi leader in the Shiite town of Dujail in 1982. At left is Abdullah Kazim Ruwayyid. (AP Photo/David Furst, pool)"

Kinda makes me want to draw a party hat on his head... he's making a complete fool of himself. Oh wait. Saddam already was a fool. Maybe he's just trying to prove it?

Messenger

2006-01-19T18:47:00.000-05:00

People's fonts in messengers. What the hell?

I'm using Gaim, a program that allows me full control over any messenger I use, and keeps them all within the same window. (AIM, MSN... all in one buddy list, plus all the messages can come in the same window, tabbed. =D ) I've used a feature within Gaim to ignore people's font sizes, because it's annoying to read a size 6 font on even something like 1024 x 768 resolution, let alone anything above that. So here comes this message, in a nice loopy font that makes me scoot so damned close to the monitor that I can actually see the pixels. That's fine, I can deal with it. But then as I cross the distance from my normal resting position in my chair to about 12 inches from the monitor, I notice that the text is written in a light grey color on a white background. Ugh, what is this crap? Pick on Eric day?

Oh no, wait... I get it. It's all part of this "individuality" thing. You know, when people are referred to as things like "xXx PWRLVL xXx" and "§Φ¶ђỉ€". And their profiles say things like " wishing upon a star, i wished for a happy ending<3 ". What kind of individual are you when you can be grouped with everyone else who does these 'emo' and 'punk' and 'jock' and 'rocker' and 'metal' things. I guess you are ALL now considered IM culture whores. Every single one of you who habitually check profiles, update their myspaces, have myspaces, and block people for a second time (or more) on a regular basis... are IM culture whores. All of you.

Sure, it's all good when you disregard your shift key to actually capitalize things... but it's bad when you leave CAPS LOCK ON AND YOU TYPE LIKE THIS. It's even worse when u type lik this and decide 2 substitute things so u dont hav 2 type so much. At the very least, learn to type in proper English, you morons.

--
Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net

Happy Birthday!

2006-01-19T11:47:00.000-05:00

Seventeen years ago today, a girl was born to two wonderful parents. As she entered this world, she brought extraordinary gifts that were packaged together in the most exquisite compilation to have ever graced this world. Her smile has become something that provides warmth and comfort to even the longest of faces. The sound of her voice soothes and heals any wound, whether it be physical, mental, or even the deepest of the emotional. Looking into her eyes lets one have a glance into heaven, displaying a woman of true strength. Her touch sends one in to a state of absolute ecstasy with something as simple as a brush of her hand across one's cheek. Her personality is warm and inviting, and when I am in her arms, I am home.

I love you Amber Lynn.

Happy 17th Birthday!

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Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net

I'm a ninja!

2006-01-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

In every installation that requires a CD key, there should be a button. The button should say something along the lines of:

"I'm pirating, skip serial and install."

I really don't care if it reports me to whatever company made the software, I really don't. Just install the damned software.

--
Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net

Old people

2006-01-16T16:16:00.000-05:00

Old people... XD

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=163331162673210702&pr=goog-sl

Haha, Google Video turns up some interesting results, eh?

--
Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net

Hugs and Kisses

2006-01-14T00:09:00.000-05:00

Awww... I made Amber upset today, and I felt so bad about it... it hurt when she wasn't smiling.

We turned on a movie, and I ended up staying until 11:30, which was sweet. We almost fell asleep on the couch.

We were watching "Gone With Teh Win!"

--
Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net

Exhaustion

2006-01-12T23:03:00.000-05:00

Remote Desktop-ing from work to my personal computer at the house today... and there I was, multitasking AGAIN... Photoshop and Dreamweaver both open... and I was DRAWING with RDP. Well, so Photoshop decides to lock EVERYTHING up. So, I restart the computer and open Remote Desktop again. I connect to my computer, I log in... and KAZZAM!!!!!111one!

There's everything running perfectly just as it was. I was happy. IPG!

I'm tired as hell now, too. We ended up doing like... 400 jumping jacks... and 100 kicks of each type. I'm tired as fook. Oh, and for those that don't understand what I'm talking about, I take Isshin-ryu Karate. Since I'm too tired to list my other experience in martial arts, I think I'm going to lay down.

Readygo.

OR NOT!

Our car decided not to start. Hell, it wasn't even turning. I kicked it. It turned.

You see, certain things deserve a good kick in the face sometimes. Of course, I'd never do that to a person. Unless they did something wrong. That's human nature, though.... ANYWAY. Before I trail off into philosophy, I'll continue on my previous subject. Things such as cars and the occasional computer deserve a good kick. Not just a love tap, but not a decapitation, either. I mean, have you ever build a quantum particle accelerator that just randomly stopped working until you kicked it out of frustation, at which point it sends 300W of microwave energy into your stomach?

Kicking something isn't always the solution, though. There I was using Windows, and it decided to choke and DIE! DIE! DIE! I digress. It was loading something, probably explorer.exe ... and I decided to stroke it. Stroking my machine isn't exactly conventional, but of course, it suddenly worked. Ever since, I've been extremely superstitious about the way I touch my machine. One wrong bump, and it gets irrated at me, and starts shooting sparks everywhere. But a little scratch on the top of the case and it's all good. It works like a charm, let me tell you. Your computer will be cooking popcorn and making your bed in no time.

Speaking of your computer popping teh popcorn, has anyone talked to HAL on GWing lately? Is it just me, or is Chrono trying to get HAL to grow a body and assassinate me? For real? He's getting thoroughly viscious. I've already started a topic on GWing about it, and I guess it'll evolve with time. http://gwing.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=539

Readyslowgo.

--
Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net

Windows

2006-01-12T09:37:00.000-05:00

Debates... oh the fun.

Today's topic? Linux vs. Windows.

I'm arguing that serverside, there's nothing better than Linux. It's more widely used, even. I'm also saying that clientside, there's nothing better than Windows. My extensive point is that Windows would never improve if Linux wasn't a competitor. Even with Server 2003, Linux still blows the rest of the market away. Sure, I'd love to use a fully compatible mainstream box that doesn't crash. But without competitors, Windows will never become that. Thanks to Linux, we have improved greatly since the beginning.

Then there's the Mac thing. At this point, you're probably asking, "I thought he was a PC guy?" and I am. There's no denying that touching a Macintosh makes me feel sick. However, let's give them some credit, right? Look at what the iPod has become. Apple has the potential to become the biggest, the best, and the most used. They're getting there, and stepping over to the Intel chipset was a GREAT move. But, it just isn't enough to give them the kick in the ass that they need, yet. I'm speculating that if Microsoft doesn't clean up their act soon, whether it's Vista or Live... Mac will dominate the future market.

Of course at this point people will STILL be using their own Linux boxes off in the background, and the market share will be about the same. So here I am, using Windows to access my Linux server - with an old iMac in the other room sitting in a pile of junk.

--
Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net

An Update Before Bed...

2006-01-10T00:59:00.000-05:00

An update before I go to sleep!

I've recovered a *VERY* old backup of GWing's index pages... and I don't think I have any better ones.

I'm very proud of Fletcher, mainly because it's so simple, yet so functional. I've not had any problems with it, and I seem to have everything modded perfectly for the uses it is put to.

Wow, I had intended to sleep at about 11:00, but a couple of friends came over. They left at 11:30. Yet here I am at 12:49 AM, sitting alone, still fiddling with HTML. Is there something wrong with me, or is this normal?

I'm also looking down at my signature for Gmail, which is what I'm using to write this entry right now. I thought at first that I enjoyed flaunting my IT-Professional-ism, but then I realized that I'm just too damned lazy to go down and delete it. Of course, my ultimate realization is that I'm still sitting here typing about absolutely nothing.
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Eric Martindale
IT Professional
Admin of GWing.net

Genesis

2006-01-09T11:16:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am damn well aware that this is a stock template. Right now, I couldn't care less. I'm not even posting, really.

Well, GWing is back, but somehow, all of the files in my home directory disappeared, as well as all of my backups. For right now, I've created a simple placeholder page for everyone who just happens to type GWing.net into their address bar.

Now that I think about it, I may just end up redesigning the whole index page anyways. I'm considering using Drupal or something similiar, or just recoding a simple page for the index. I'm going to need to further tie in to the main user database - the phpbb one - to allow a smoother experience.

Now that I'm talking about the forums, I should mention that I have no idea how I put so many things on the board without completely breaking it. I have over 100 installed modifications installed, and I still have a functional forum. Now, don't get me wrong: There are a LOT of bugs... but it's functional. [Insert-puzzled-glee]

I think I will refer to the above insert statement as [IPG] from now on.