Naginata

Dreams

So, one of the last things I did last night before I went to bed was read some d'Kos comments on SCOTUS nominee John Roberts. Over at d'Kos, they believe that he hates both women AND minorities.

That being said, my dream went roughly like this:

You see, Longinus, Roman Centurion, was on trial for killing Jesus. The defense's case was that Jesus was already dead when Longinus pierced him with his spear.

First, the Judge in the case (that being God) had to recuse himself, because of personal involvement, so John Roberts heard the case. The first thing he did was interrupt the prosecution's opening statement to tell Mary Magdelene to "go get me a latte, toots". It went downhill from there.

Ultimately, Roberts found Longinus not guilty, not because of his actual case, but because "An officer of the law killed a minority, possibly a criminal, possibly not. What's the problem here?" followed by "I mean, come on Jesus, you're not even dead, you can't accuse him of murder!"

I just want to point out that that is TWISTED. What the hell is going on with my subconscious?

Nawlins

New Orleans is basically underwater at this point. A few thoughts on the aftermath:

1) Do the right thing and help the people living there. I suggest a donation to the American Red Cross, a fine organization, which calls the international red cross to task whenever the european body does something dumb. Plus, you know, they're the RED CROSS, so that money is going to get where it needs to go. Donations of cash are better than donations of material goods right now.

2) I have several friends down in that area, not to mention that I was nearby in MS for work days before the hurricane hit. Jizma, Bip, Fanya, and the rest of you people, we're all pulling for you.

3) Imagine what it would have been like to be on board one of those river "boat" casinos during the hurricane. Not that you'd be alive, but... well, maybe those casinos would be better off on land, that's all I'm saying.

4) Isn't it great that German newspapers are already blaming this disaster on the United States? We deserve it, they say, because we didn't ratify the Kyoto nonsense. Already Robert F Kennedy Jr has placed the blame on Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. I'm not sure how that math works out, exactly... but I'm sure they'll move on to blaming Bush soon.

5) This hurricane is NOT "our tsunami". Yes, the city of New Orleans is underwater right now, and swaths of Mississippi have been destroyed. The difference is that we had days of warning and a means to get out. The Tsunami victims had 8 minutes of warning. We weep for all the dead in the south right now, but realize that the butcher's bill is going to be a LOT lower.

6) Finally, can we shoot looters on sight? If I lived in an area that a hurricane was coming for, and owned a business, or maybe even if I didn't, I'd stick around. In fact, I'd make sure I had a shotgun and plenty of ammo, to deal with looters. Apparently some of these people think that they're entitled. I saw one quote from a looter, who was stealing BLUE JEANS - not loaves of bread and gatorade but BLUE JEANS - saying "this isn't their store, it's everybody's store now" or somesuch rubbish. Yes, there's exemptions for people that are getting food, water, and considering the temperatures down there, deodorant. If you're wading or floating down the streets of the Big Easy right now with an armload of stereo equipment or designer clothing, well, you're glad I'm not there and armed.

Update: Before you donate, Go here. For the record, the ARC is around 91% programs. That is to say, for every dollar you give them, 91 cents get to people in need. Not bad.

On the Gaza Pullout:

I think this song expresses how I feel about the Gaza pullout in a very tounge in cheek manner. My question is this: after they forced people out of their homes, did the Israeli army then go through them to see if there were any valuables left behind that they could sell or melt down for profit?

Also, it's a Beatles song. If you don't know which one after the first line, this post probably isn't for you.

Hey, Jew, don't throw a fit
Even if Sharon has made you bitter
The bombers are swarming over your land
It's all in the plan to make you bitter

Hey, Jew, don't lose aplomb
If the bombers come for Ashqelon
The minute you pack up and you flee
That's when they see how to make you bitter

And any time a bus explodes, hey, Jew, lay low
Don't retaliate past your borders
Well don't you know that the UN, they won't begin
To condemn Hamas mortars

Hey, Jew! Don't build that wall
It is all just so damned offensive
Expensive, though getting blown up may be
Mazen decrees, don't get defensive

So force them out and let them in, hey, Jew, begin
There's a plan you must conform with
And if Hamas swears genocide, hey, Jew
Don't hide, get ready to deal with Palestine

Hey, Jew, don't throw a fit
Even if Sharon has made you bitter
The bombers are swarming over your land
It's all in the plan to make you bitter

Naaaaaaa naaa naaa na na na naaaaaaa
na na na naaaaa Hey, Jew

&c. &c.

If you don't get "the tone" of what I'm saying here, or misunderstand my position, let me make it clear: I'm against the gaza pullout. As long as the Palestinians are strapping bombs to 14 year olds and sending them into Israel, I'm in no hurry to help those people get their own state.

XFire

So... I made a post last night and then must have forgotten to save it before I shut things down. Silly me. Here's a much shorter version, which is probably what you wanted anyway:

This seems like a pretty handy tool. Certainly, the value of glancing at a friends list and seeing who is online playing what is valuable, so that you can coordinate gameplay without sending tons of IMs. The program's in-game chat thing is also nice, speaking as someone who sometimes ignores IMs while involved in a particularly intense gaming session. Rather than get a pop-under IM window, or an IM on a second computer, the person will get a quick toast window in the game they're playing.

In short, its features are legion, and for the most part, highly desireable. The burning question is this: is it spyware. The answer, of course, is yes. It monitors all the games you play. But it is the good kind of spyware - it gives you a list of what it's monitoring, and you control that list, plus you can remove it and it's actually gone, if you decide you don't like it anymore. I think their revenue model is fairly obvious, and pretty clever, really. I'm betting that EA alone gives these guys a few suitcases full of gold bullion every quarter.

Anyway, on to more Dungeon Siege 2. The multiplayer in Dungeon Siege 2 is where "it" is at.

Whoops, sorry about that. The multiplayer is great, that's what I'm saying. It only starts being great, however, once you join a game. Getting from zero to being in a game can be somewhat vexing. Let's be clear - if your hosting and matchmaking are all working, not only is it relatively simple to join a game, you can actually join a game IN PROGRESS, possibly the greatest feature ever. Plus, people in the game "staging area" can talk to people in game, so you can see what they're about, and if they're working on the things you want to work on.

Getting in a game, however, is basically impossible. We configured, oh, how we configured that router. We spent an afternoon trying to make it work. Professor Brobst and Comrade Steeeve couldn't even make it go on their LAN, which is particularly pathetic. In the meanwhile, we're waiting for a patch from Microsoft that may never come, and avoiding the single player game because you can only import one way - from SP to MP. You can't take your characters back and forth.

That being said, note to microsoft, dropping my firewall and plugging directly in to the cablemotron isn't a "solution" so much as a "travesty". It's like cutting your foot off to cure a sprained ankle. Your game may very well be destined for greatness, but no one will know, because it is, in one word, an abortion.

Now I present my revised Dungeon Siege 2 ratings. Current rating systems are confusing, stars, pirates, hammers, percents... I'm the wave of the future, my rating system encompasses all things:

Graphics: 1 slightly abused 1964 1/2 Mustang convertable
Gameplay: 4 18 carat gold backscratchers
Multiplayer: 2 palestinians and a backpack full of C4
Voice Acting: 3 shots of Robitussin
Story: 1 skull of Yorick

Meme Again

Modern, Cool Nerd 86 % Nerd, 56% Geek, 30% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd. Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)! Congratulations! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in either of the following: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Professional Wrestling Love & Sexuality Thanks Again!

From Argy

Dungeon Siege 2

Here's my review for Dungeon Siege 2:

If you didn't like Dungeon Siege 1, you won't like Dungeon Siege 2.

If you liked Dungeon Siege 1, how do you have time to read this? Shouldn't you be busy playing Dungeon Siege 2? GO BUY IT.

That's about it. A lot of little things have changed (autocast spells are so nice), but the core functionality of the game is pretty much what it was. Which is good or bad, depending on how you feel about the first installment.

Update: All this, and the multiplayer is... hard to get working. I had like 2 pages on the topic, and I must have forgotten to save it. Let's just leave it at "poorly implemented" and "waiting for a patch".

I mean, the in game stuff is implemented pretty well, it's the matchmaking that bites.

News Roundup

Here's a little roundup of all the things that have my blood pressure up.

First of all, 630 WMAL radio has fired Michael Graham, for refusing to apologize for his statements on the nature of Islam and the War on Terror. You can read the story on LGF with their ususal spin. Update: a better link. In this case, well, it's WMAL's decision whether or not to fire, and I'm not going to get into the politics of that decision right here. Personally, I would have kept him on, but what's done is done.

What I will say is this: couldn't they have found a better replacement? The couple times I've tuned in for the "Michael Graham Show" when they had a guest host, the guest host was solid. Today they have some sort of heavy breathing guy who... look, he's bad. I could do a better radio show than this guy. And of course no mention on-air of Michael. I guess if I were the replacement host I would have lasted about 5 minutes, because my introduction would have been roughly this:

"Hello Washington and internet listeners, welcome to the Michael Graham show on 630 WMAL. My name is Naginata, and I'm just keeping this seat warm until those losers at the home office grow themselves some spines and figure out that CAIR is not the sort of group to take orders from. I look forward to being fired on the day that Graham returns but... it looks like I'm not going to get that long, as my manager is coming down the hallway carrying a pink slip. Good bye, Washington!"

Number Two:
The Daily Show calls it "The Jew Carry Show". My feeling is this: if the Israeli military is going to physically pull people from their homes, and then bulldoze the whole thing, are they at least going to go through all the houses first? You know, take any valuables that are left behind, melt down the jewlery, etc etc? Seems like the proper thing to do.

Seriously. Palestinian Terrorists are like dogs - they chase you because you run away. To think that this will end the conflict is foolish.

For a little perspective on the issue, I suggest A Stab in the Heart, a video in which we learn about why Ariel Sharon will never be re-elected. Personally, I think Sharon's next residence should be as close to the Gaza Strip as possible.

And part C: Gas Prices

I'm listening to the radio, and one guy is saying that he blames the government. They could do a little more to control the prices, he says.

Perhaps he's remembering the cheap gas available in SOVIET RUSSIA! Das Vidanya, tovarich, I'm done listening to you.

Here's my three pressing questions about the gas prices -
1) Why is this on the news? If everyone is so upset about the gas prices, don't we already know about it? I mean, do we need the news to tell us that everyone is upset, if we're all upset to begin with?

2) I'm not upset by the gas prices. I am the exception. My commute is approximately 2 miles each way, and I get about 12 miles to the gallon, on average, because I let my car warm up for a good minute or more before I drive. I fill my tank about once every 4-5 weeks. I also pay a premium for that commute, and not a small one.

3) Why are we not drilling in ANWR yet? Why aren't we building new refineries? Why aren't we removing the "special blends" that places like the People's Republic of California have forced on us? Why don't we have facilities being constructed RIGHT NOW to process heavy crude?

Why aren't we solving this problem? There are solutions, not permanent solutions, but solutions right there, waiting for us to take hold of them. Yes, we'd all like to be driving vehicles that get 200 miles to the gallon and are powered by renewable energy. We dont' have that today, and what we need today is more fuel.

Of course, there's one man smiling over this whole affair, and that's Al Gore. Not that he's a mover or shaker anymore, but none of us can forget what's in his book. He declares war on the internal combustion engine. He calls for much higher fuel prices. He... well, I'll let Al Gore speak for Al Gore:

"Higher taxes on fossil fuels … [are] one of the logical first steps in changing our policies in a manner consistent with a more responsible approach to the environment."
- Al Gore, Communist Hippie, Earth in the Balance, p. 173

And I'll let someone else talk about that passage a little more, because his brain is bigger than mine:

"In Gore's book, "Earth In The Balance", he claims that the internal combustion engine is the single greatest threat to mankind and the way to combat that threat is with higher fuel prices. Now that the OPEC cartel has managed to push oil prices from 1998's $10 a barrel to nearly $30, instead of Gore publicly thanking OPEC for helping to save the environment, he's calling for an investigation of "Big Oil" for price-gouging."

-- Walter Williams, 2000

The point is, gas prices are higher, and the people really feeling the pinch are exactly those people that Democrats pretend to champion. It must be tough to be a Dem on this issue, not knowing which side of the issue it's more important to pretend to take.

Now then, you ask, why am I bringing up Al Gore and articles from 2000 right now? Because the debate is FUNDAMENTALLY UNCHANGED since then. Everything is exactly as it was. There's no need for new quotes because the old ones still work.

Ok, ok, so the party no longer embraces Algore, and they're smart enough not to suggest that high gas prices are a good thing (even if, deep down, some of them believe it (Feinstein, I'm looking your way). Are they ready to drill in ANWR? To build a refinery in their district? No. And don't even get me started on the Republican "majority". What a bunch of buffoons. It would be one thing if they were unwilling to take steps to solve the problem, but to be unwilling to step back and let markets and industry solve the problem... they may as well be Democrats.

And of course, we all know exactly where the Demorats really stand...

Quarm Down

I try not to drop EQ crap in here, because 99.5% of you don't care, but...

QUARM DOWN! First try and everything!

(For those that dont' know, Quarm is the last boss in the Last plane in Everquest)

We rule!

It got serious

So it's been a little serious around here lately. As an antidote, I present the following idea for crafting within a video game:

Have a certain amount of "book learning" xp that you can gain, and then your "hands on" xp. So if you get a book that teaches you how to make a basic sword blade, or you go to blacksmith school on that day, you'll gain 20 points of book xp in blacksmithing (blades). Then every time you make a blade, you gain 1 point in hands on blacksmithing (blades). The consequences:

The further behind your H xp is from your B xp, the slower your B xp will go up.
You can attempt any item that you have enough B xp for, but the gap between that item's difficulty and your H xp will determine your failure rate (proportionately).

I like it.

Herndon: WTF?

The city council of Herndon voted 5 to 2 to build a "day laborer center" in the city. This will be a place for day laborers to gather, with a roof over their heads, so that Herndon employers have an easier time locating and hiring them.

Now let me put that in "how I really feel" language:
The city council of Herndon, ignoring the will of the residents of Herndon, voted 5 to 2 to build a day laborer center in the city. This will be a place for day laborers, most of who are here illegally, to gather, so that Herndon employers can hire them, which is also illegal.

If the city council won't take a stand against criminal activity, who will? I have yet to talk to a single person who is for this thing, though I'm sure a few of you will be. I don't expect any of those 5 city council members to be re-elected, and there's already some talk of recalling the mayor.

I could keep going at some length, but I'm very busy, and you have the facts, anything I'd add would be pure vitriol. Ok, maybe a little bit more: I suppose that I'm ok with building this shelter, if the people who show up without proper identification (the "undocumented workers") are removed from the shelter and immediately deported or arrested or both. Or at least denied employment, as they should be.

Drinking Game

WHITE NOISE DRINKING GAME:
Ingredients:
BSD-based systems with random number generators, need to be the same or it's just unfair.
Your favorite method of compression.
Alcohol

Steps:
1) each of you dd if=/dev/urandom of=./noise.txt for however big you want the file to be. Bigger is better, imho.
2) bzip2 noise.txt or your favorite compression algorithm
3) whoever's file size is the highest has to drink.

From /.

Me and other people

So last night I decided to do my good ol "Pyramid at Giza" workout, and I wasn't feeling tip-top. A little past halfway, I felt pretty sick. A normal person would have probably quit, but instead I took longer breaks between sets, and slowed the pace way down... ultimately it took me 58 minutes instead of the usual 30-35 minutes, but dangit, I finished. That's the difference between me and other people.

Also, this should probably go on "the workout blog", but it has fallen into disuse. We'll see if that changes any time soon.

I Return

I have returned from my vacation in Minnesota and am ready to get back down to business. For example, today's business is making fun of Chuck Colson.

From his latest "Breakpoint" radio address:

Christian parents know that when their children head off to college, they face a host of new temptations—not the least of which are sexual temptations. With co-ed dorms and little adult supervision, young people need to know how to defend themselves against the standard "lines" that they will encounter.

Now, pardon me Chuck, but aren't most college students also adults? I know that parents want their kids to make wise choices, but it seems to me that your statement comes primarily from an understanding that many parents do a terrible job preparing their kids for life, rather than concern for children.

Besides, you know who runs colleges, do you really want them as the "supervising adults" in co-ed dorms?

It's funny to me to see how the concept of "supervising adult" changes as we age. When you're 8 years old, you need a 16 year old babysitter. When you're 16 years old, you need someone over the age of 25 keeping an eye on you. Apparently when you're 19, you need someone still older keeping you in line. By the time you're 40, the only place you're properly supervised must be in a nursing home.

I'd keep going, but I think that's enough for now. Everybody do the joel.

Running on

I did the 16-20 lap last night again... 24:48, hitting my personal goal and coming within striking distance of my best time ever. Unfortunately with my impending vacation, I'm going to lose a little bit of condition over the next few weeks, but the fun part is building that back up.

For those of you who have interest in such things, I'll be in Minnesota from the 4th through the 14th, and then in Mississippi from the 23rd through the 25th.

Anyhoo, it was a good run. The most exhilirating part was passing the 7-11 at around 19 minutes (which is a great mark), and then realizing at the last turn I didn't have enough juice left to push the tempo up for the last 2-3 minutes. Had I posessed a little bit of my reserve, I could have probably gotten well under 24:30, but as it was, I spent all that on the big climb.

The point is, I'm getting stronger. I'm curious if my time would be better if there was less car exhaust every step of my route.

Foolishment

Here's a quote for you from everybody's favorite Insane Liberal.

"New Ohio Democratic superstar Paul Hackett went into the lion's den of pure Red Southern Ohio and scared the pants off of the GOP losing by less than 4 points in the face of a NRCC promise to "bury him."

No spin - the GOP is on the run.

Congratulations to Southern Ohio Democrats, the Lefty blogs, especially Swing State Project, and Dems everywhere. We have delivered a lesson - Fighting Dems will win the day."

For those of you who don't care about district 2 in Ohio, let me give you the summary:

Schmidt (a Republican) said he'd "bury" Hackett (a Democrat) in the election. It's traditionally a VERY Republican district. Schmidt won 52% to 48%.

I don't want to be the one to rain on the parade over at dKos, but perhaps you've forgotten that you lost? Sure, you came close. You poured your time and energy into thie election and did much better than anyone thought possible... but you lost.

The "GOP" is not "on the run" after this election. They won. I mean, let's say your grandmother is jumped walking down the street by a gang of a half dozen bikers. She manages to knock one of them unconcious with a blow from her purse before the other five pummel her into geriatric goo. Sure, she did better than you thought she could - she knocked that biker on his ass. Now she's dead. I'm sure those bikers are "on the run".

Look dKossacks, if you want to define this as some sort of victory for "fighting dems" and for "superstar" Paul Hackett, that's great. I for one hope you have many more victories just like this one.