Still Plays With Toys

The Braid Soundtrack

2012-02-11T14:37:00.005-06:00

I am listening to the main theme again to make sure that this YouTube embed that I am going to put here is good quality...

It is still sending shivers down my spine.

This game was absolutely amazing, quite possibly the best example of Video Game as Art that I have ever seen (or played).

I came across the soundtrack completely on accident while working overtime today, it has completely changed the tone of the day. This main theme sums up everything that there is to know about the game, but you will never fully understand why until you have completed the whole thing.

If you haven't yet, please get this game and FINISH it. I know a lot of people have started it, but this is a game where you are truly rewarded for finishing it. My jaw was completely agape for the entire ending section. Truly, literally, I was awe-struck.

Just... so unbelievably good...

[adam]

Absolute must have mods for Skyrim.

2012-02-04T13:44:00.002-06:00

Skyrim is an amazing game.

Bethesda is really pushing the envelope on what makes a game like this fun. Each iteration makes their games one step closer to that all-encompassing sandbox RPG that we are all looking for.

HOWEVER -

There are some significant problems with the way that things are set up in the game. Luckily, the developers are extremely accomadating for Modders, so the number of mods already out for the game is astounding.

What I have here, is my list of absolute must-install mods. These aren't mods that I think you should install on your second playthrough, or after seeing what the vanilla game is like. These mods change aspects of the game in such a positive way that I think they should be patched in.In order from most important to least:

No NPC Greetings
This one is by far the best mod I have installed. It is so simple, but it makes the world so much more real. In the vanilla game, EVERYONE has something to say to you. It is as if all these people are just waiting for someone to run by so that they can spout their one liner. After a very short while, you start hearing repeats from everyone, and it gets really annoying. By turning this off from the beginning of the game, you eliminate the repeats almost completely, and running through a town no longer entails listening to every single NPC's inane nonsense.

Realistic Lighting
The game looks beautiful, there is no doubt about that. The gamma, however, is ridiculous. I understand that in order to have a game like this the user needs to be able to see what they are doing, but come on, the way night works in vanilla Skyrim is just bland. Everything just turns to a washed out grey, not attractive at all. Realistic Lighting adds a vital element to the game: True darkness. If you are in a dark cave, you will need a damn torch to see. If you are wandering around at 2am, you will get ambushed by wolves, because you can't see them. This is as it should be! There are candlelight spells in the game for a reason!

Better Sorting
The naming conventions in this game are built to drive you insane. The menus are great, I love the way that works, but when you have to keep track of five different types of arrows, and they are organized alphabetically by Elven Arrow - Iron Arrow - Steel Arrow, with a mess of other weapons in between, it gets annoying. This mod changes the item names to a much easier to organize format: Arrow- Iron, Arrow-Steel, etc. It does the same thing for potions, soul gems and various other item types. Quite useful.

Deadly Dragons
The dragon fights in this game start off pretty cool, but they fall off in difficulty almost immediately. The point has been made that when 4 bandits can take down a dragon, what need is there for the Dragonborn? The only real option in the main game is to ratchet up the difficulty, which makes all the base enemies ridiculously hard, and a gaggle of bandits can still completely destroy a dragon or two. This mod even in it's base settings makes the dragons MUCH more interesting. It scales the dragons based on your level in a really interesting way, so once you start getting up above level 30, the dragons start turning into badasses. They can cast most mage spells at that point, including the nastier ones like paralyze. It really makes the dragon fights something that you have to plan for, and if you aren't prepared, you need to RUN.

Of course there are dozens of other really good mods out there, all the flora mods are great, the lush grass and lush trees mods being particularly good if you have a moderately nice computer. There are some fun ones out there too, including some adult versions that make the game completely ridiculous (I am not linking those here, you can find them on your own).

The actual modding package comes out this week, I can't wait to see what appears when some real tools are given to these folks!

[adam]

2012-01-30T13:24:00.003-06:00

Absolutely stunning.

See the rest of the set here.

(I especially like the Mutalisks)

I am just so damn impressed. His Space Marines work is ridiculously cool as well.

[adam]

Ninjagoing Somewhere

2012-01-28T14:28:00.001-06:00

Ninjago. Not my first choice of title for a ninja line of Legos, but I am not going to get too bent out of shape over that. The set that I just finished is called "Fangpyre Truck Ambush"... The naming conventions here leave something to be desired.

I bought this set primarily due to a need to have some kickin' wheels to use, and I am just tons of impressed with it, I am glad I didn't let something as ridiculous as a crappy, crappy name dissuade me from spending my x-mas gift cards on it.

There are a lot of custom pieces, but they are pretty ingenious. The way the wheels are built into this thing is absolutely fantastic. Once you are done building the chassis, you immediately want to go off in a different direction from what the instructions are telling you. The head of the... truck... is interesting to build, but kind of silly. Same thing with the tail. The way that they have these moving parts set up is pretty neat, but really they are more of a detriment to the set because they are so bulky.

I won't even go into the minifigs or little snowmobile thing that comes with it, suffice to say that they are all fairly ridiculous. The ninjas are okay, the snakes are just annoying.

The real fun for me started after I took the extraneous bits off and started building on to the chassis. The rear axle is solid for some reason, so after you take that center piece out you are left with a pretty agile and sweet looking dune buggy/rally style frame. There are angular elements that hold the wheels away from the center mass, and the rear wheels are on a nice shallow angle, tipping the whole thing up into a real neat aggressive posture.

Here is the my first attempt at staying true to the chassis:

SO. I am pretty happy with that. I may make a larger one here shortly, because I am just damn impressed with they way it is set up.

The green, too. I thought I would hate it. Turns out I am pretty happy with it.

[adam]

2012-01-13T11:10:00.002-06:00

Angry at work right now.

I know, I know, 'First World Problems'. I can still be pissed.

Starting 2012

2012-01-11T15:41:00.002-06:00

Hokay. Stuff happens. To adapt a popular phrase; "no plan survives contact with the real world."

I was getting real excited for 2012, SO MUCH was about to happen, everything would change very rapidly very shortly. I only slightly knew just how right I was. I approached the new year with the intent of reinvigorating this blog, getting some things set up so that I would be motivated to post every week, and to incorporate a number of fancy additions.

Then things changed.

Vicki miscarried sometime around Christmas, and we found out about it on January 3rd, 2012. This was at the 20 week mark in our (her) pregnancy that we found out, and it came as a complete shock. We were extremely close-lipped about the whole thing until we were well out of the first trimester, exactly because we were very wary of this outcome. Once we passed that point, heard the heartbeat, and saw the little one on the ultrasound at 16 weeks, I was firmly assuming that we were out of the danger zone.

Well, we were, statistically speaking.

The half hour or so that we spend in the ultrasound room when we found out still feels incredibly surreal. I keep on telling people that it feels like waking up after a dream where you are failing all your classes in college or high school, even though you graduated years ago. Thinking back on it, my first thought, every time, is "what a weird dream". Of course, it wasn't a dream, it was very real, and we had to confront that firsthand a few days later. I'll spare you the details of that day and a half, suffice to say that it was traumatic. It brought to a close the physical aspect of the ordeal, but turned the emotional side up to 11.

As I write this, I am still dazed slightly. Nowhere near as bad as when I found out, (at that time, I could barely drive us home) but I still get ever so slightly dizzy when it comes up. Everything that I have read suggests that this will take months to fade back to normalcy, and from my experience thus far, I believe that completely.

It is extremely tough; because it happened so late, EVERYONE knew about the pregnancy. We had a gender reveal party scheduled five days after the 20 week ultrasound. Sending out all those notifications were some of the hardest moments of my life up to this point. Some people reach out to people when traumatic experiences come up, I am not one of them.

BUT, we are over the hump. From here on out, it should get easier every day. I have to hope that is the case. I do feel a lot better now than I did this past weekend. At the very least I am able to get back into my normal routine, and watch Star Trek regularly.

Skyrim helps too. Damn that is a good game.

Lastly, THANK YOU, everyone, for being so supportive. I have not encountered a single friend that has tried to brush this off, or tell me that it isn't too big a deal, and I want to thank you all for that.

Looking forward to 2012

The Future

2011-10-07T12:11:00.005-05:00

Graphene walls could allow for chips with 100 trillion FETs per sq. centimeter

What it means to me:

The lower boundary of computer chip sizes, and thus the ablility for humankind to cram more processing power into smaller spaces, is receding fast enough for Moore's law to continue uninterrupted. This suggests to me that Ray Kurzweil's Technological Singularity is still on track.

Transparent carbon nanotubes for cheap, flexible solar cells

What it means to me:

The era of clean, nearly free energy is coming. Perhaps not incredibly soon, but with the advent of a mostly affordable photovoltaic system, energy starts to become so cheap as to be meaningless. In my younger days, I had fully assumed that highly advanced fusion power sources would be our cheap source of energy, but now I am starting to realize that these cheap photovoltaics are much more straightforward and logical.

Welcome to the genomic revolution

What it means to me:

We are quickly entering an age where having a genome will be regular medical procedure. It will be as common as taking your blood pressure in 5 years or so. The implications for diagnosis and treatment of disease is massive, but the main thing to take away from this is that as we grow older, technologies like this will be pushing our life expectancy back faster than we are approaching it. I will leave the implications of that up to you.

I'll just leave this here.

2011-08-03T10:39:00.002-05:00

Amazing Swiss Underground Home

2011-07-12T15:31:00.007-05:00

Just... look:

On Productivity

2011-07-12T15:16:00.003-05:00

It is really difficult to be productive when one has a few dozen different things to do all at the same time. The same applies to video games, when one has a couple dozen different video games to play, one usually ends up playing none of them.

That is my experience, anyway. The Steam Summer Sale just wrapped up, and I got a few games that I have been wanting for a long while now. I feel like playing none of them, however, because it is so overwhelming to think about how much time it would take to play ALL of them.

I have a system for getting things done outside of video games, I really should apply it here as well.

What is the system?

Well, it is real simple, follow along:

Get a pad of paper
Write down the date, and the things you need to do
Cross them off as you do them
copy the uncompleted items to the next page at the end of a week (or 2)

So, perhaps I will add a video game section on the list. I do usually have plenty of room below the main list, since I use a full size notebook for this illustrious purpose.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[adam]

The Money Game

2011-04-12T10:01:00.006-05:00

Let's play!

This is something that Alan and myself talk about from time to time.

It is amazingly easy, you just decide what you would spend each level of money on. The idea is that you just won/found/received this amount of money (after taxes), and have it in hand:

$1

Big Ol' Snickers Bar.

$10

Chipotle.

$100

A couple video/board games.

$1,000

This is where the savings might start coming into play. I would probably save $2-300, and spend the rest on a couch.

$10,000

Here is where it starts getting interesting. I would likely save about $5K, and use the other 5K towards a convertible.

$100,000

Save $20K, use $10K for a long vacation, use $20K to pay off remaining student loan debts, put $50K toward the principle on the home loan.

$1,000,000

Now it starts getting real complicated, so I will switch to list format:

$5,000 - Amazing bikes/equipment for Vicki/myself.

$15,000 - Purchase 2006-2009 Model VW Golf TDI.

$15,000 - Purchase Jaguar XJS Convertible.

$30,000 - 6 months off work.

$35,000 - Outfit house (furniture, electronics, etc.)

$200,000 - Save/invest.

$200,000 - Pay of home loan.

$500,000 - Purchase land and underground home.

$10,000,000

This is where things start to go off the rails. At this point it starts to become less of an exercise in goals, and more one of pure fantasy.

$45,000 - Brand new VW Scirroco imported from Europe.

$55,000 - Various frivolities (computers, furniture, bikes, etc.).

$150,000 - Ford GT.

$250,000 - Pay off all debt.

$500,000 - Purchase condo downtown.

$1,000,000 - Gifts to family/friends

$1,000,000 - Savings account.

$1,500,000 - Purchase land and underground home.

$5,000,000 - Invest, stop working full time, live off dividends.

Obviously, we could keep going, but at this point each iteration would start turning into its very own post. Still, it is illustrative. I always used to think that $100 was a LOT of money, and to a lot of the world it still is, but perspective changes so easily...

It is dangerous to think this way, also, if one is susceptible to things like the lottery. That is part of the reason that I stop at the 10M mark, going higher is just laughable.

Regarding Convertibles

2011-03-17T11:21:00.010-05:00

I wrote a while back about looking for cars. I am still looking.

However:

I have narrowed the list down significantly.

Mazda RX-7 convertible

This car is typically listed at around 5-7,000 bucks, so it is expensive, but not so much so as to be a waste of money. It also meets all of my criteria from that post linked above:

The car must be small, sporty, and moderately efficient.
The car must have a manual transmission.
The car must have a good deal of character.
(Bonus - not required) Convertible top.

Snazzy, yeah?

Now some folks will likely bring up the fact that a convertible is not really the most practical thing for life in the great snowy North. To those people I say: "You are exactly correct."

Yes, it will be expensive to store it during the winters, and it will be a hassle to switch it out with whatever car I use for the winter... but come ON. If you can't see the appeal of a convertible, you probably have never really participated in one. I used to be ambivalent in regard to convertibles, until I was driving one in a light rain, with the top down. Did you know that as long as you are going at least 45 MPH or so, the rain just goes right over the top of the car? Yeah, it is amazing. Like driving around with a windy forcefield.

I only have 700 bucks saved right now, but I am hoping that I can build the rest up over the course of the following year.

OOOH - NEAT!

2010-12-10T12:19:00.004-06:00

This is friggin great:

http://www.jmbamboo.com/home.htm

Check it out, this is how I envision most plans that I have surrounding our own house possibilities.

Wicked awesome.

[adam]

Underground House!

2010-12-02T13:00:00.003-06:00

I have about four too many blogs.

A blog about 'Deep Thoughts' not used since 2007
An aborted webcomic not used since 2008
One that categorizes a bunch of useless links
And lastly, the Underground House Blog.

That last one is superfluous, to be sure, and I haven't put anything there since 2007, but it is something that is gaining traction in the States as more people become aware of the myriad efficiency issues with traditional housing.

Reading some of the crap that I had in there is pretty funny now, though:

b) How awesome would an underground house be if WWIII happens? Very."

Oh funny day!

There is a lot of really good stuff there, though:

A green underground gas station from Malcom Wells!

SO, yeah. I am going to start moving that stuff over here. Originally the plan was to build a house that was absolutely massive, 7,000 sq. ft. or so. The thought was that if you gather a group of people, the cost would be sufficiently dispersed so as to make much more extravagant things possible.

After living with friends, I know know that was a bit overly optimistic. Don't get me wrong, it was a good time, but it was also a bit more stressful that would be smart for a forced long term living situation. It is all about control, primarily.

Aside from that, I think that the original design should still be the baseline:

The main reasons for having a simple box house as opposed to the "u" shaped one that you see in the earlier post are thus:

We will have to excavate the same amount of dirt regardless, so it would make sense to fill in our excavation with actual livable area.
A four walled design allows for uniform earth coverage over the entire structure, as opposed to having very little or no coverage at certain corners of the building.
A courtyard design is much more logical and efficient in terms of keeping the summer sun out of the house and allowing the winter sun into it.
The extra space gleaned in this four wall design alleviates the need for a second or lower level for storage, or could even be used as a small garage or workroom.
Perhaps most importantly, it allows for the most bang for our buck and makes excavation and construction much easier.

True that.

I had so many little drawings... I need to go find those again and get them up here.

[adam]

Ahhh, Maxis.

2010-11-24T16:44:00.000-06:00

Taking a look at my blog traffic, it seems like the vast majority of my traffic is directed at a single place:

Top 5 Maxis Games - February 2007

Interesting, no?

Of the groups accessing that page, the vast majority are from the U.S., but it only represents 35% of the total. Canada, Europe, and Australia represent the other 65%.

What does this tell me?

Well, first of all, since the bounce rate is over 50%, that most folks aren't finding what they are looking for. Perhaps more importantly, though, what it tells me is that THE LANGUAGE OF MAXIS IS UNIVERSAL.

Seriously, I think that those old school Maxis games listed on the post are some of the most universally appealing things in gaming history. They had something going there, and it pains me to think that this once great developer has been relegated to maintaining and upgrading The Sims.

Regarding Money

2010-11-11T16:27:00.000-06:00

So, yes, I am careful with my money. I cringe at the mention of consumerism, and malls seem to be designed to confound my brain. The food court is the only part of a mall that I can navigate effectively, I think the perfume and flashing lights addles my head.

In case the image of a doddering old man is not solidly in your brain yet, I also hold on to used screws and nails in case I need them, and am a champion napper (I am 27 years old presently).

Some people may call it boring.

That may be the case for some people, but I can't see a way that consumer-driven lifestyle is sustainable unless one is well above a middle-class income level. Part of the problem of our economy is its volatility, and all I am trying to do is to limit the amount of impact that volatility is able to have on the life of my budding family.

What brings this up, you ask?

Maybe you didn't ask, but this is my blog, and I asked. The reason I bring this up is to plug the most socially useful blog that I have ever encountered:

Check it out.

the guy has a book, too.

SO USEFUL.

It is real basic stuff. Try to spend less than you earn. Save some cash for an emergency. Maybe save some for retirement.

From someone who has lived paycheck to paycheck for his entire adult life, being in a place where I can put all my bills on automatic payment (including the mortgage) and just think about disposable income (I hate that phrase, it seems so wasteful) is HUGE.

Saving money is a bit dry, but there it is framed as a means to an end. You are not here to make a bunch of cash. You are here to pursue yourself some friggin happiness, and help your loved ones do the same. Money is just a means to an end. If you live beyond your means, you won't have such a great end.

So take a look at the blog. Here is the link again:

Get Rich Slowly

Wah-shing Machine

2010-11-09T17:05:00.000-06:00

Homeownership! Amiright!?

Nothing like finally getting the gumption to take the washing machine apart, certain that you will find the precise little easily fixable bitty bit. Maybe you won't even have to go to the hardware store to get the replacement part!

OR

Maybe instead when you crack that old beast open, what you are greeted with is a rusting mass of horror, held together by hatred and mouse poop.

In related news:

New washing machines are kind of expensive!

Starcraft II impressions!

2010-09-03T16:51:00.004-05:00

First off, we need to get out of the way the fact that I am a big Starcraft fan. I have never really been 'GOOD' in the same way that professional Korean players are, but I really enjoy the game.

Second, I was really pissed off at the way that the sequel was released: No LAN support, BattleNet controlling all tournaments, etc. REALLY pissed.

I have gotten past most of that, because Starcraft II is an amazingly good game.

Of course the first thing that I did was to load up the single-player campaign. Fancy. Great music, seamless menus, Raynor doesn't look like such a goober anymore, and of course the first mission has you cruisin' around with a few marines, tearin' up a backwater outpost. GOOD TIMES. Then I got to some of the other cut-scenes, and my friggen jaw dropped. Kerrigan is a goddamn hottie now, instead of the horse-faced sprite fromt he first part of the first game. Watching a dark templar vanish into clouds of smoke in the middle of a battle scene made me clap my hands involuntarily. This is how you make video games. If the other two race's storyline games are this polished, it will be well worth the wait.

Point #1: The production values of this game are through the roof.

Even the multiplayer "Searching for players" graphic has a perfect little visual buzz every once in awhile that actually makes it kind of fun to watch.

And oh, the multiplayer.

My placement matches were tense, my heart was pounding throughout. I have seen enough high-level Starcraft matches to know how wide the spectrum of skill-levels is for this game. Happily for me, I placed right into the center of the middle league. Still, though, every time I fire up a 1v1 random multiplayer game I start getting all pumped up right away, leaning forward in my chair, eyes widening, forgetting about my slowly warming beer next to me.

Point #2: Any game that makes your heart beat faster deserves recognition.

I think the reason for this in-game excitement is precisely the fact that there is such a high-level of play going on across the world, and it is eminently possible for ME to get into it, if I get good enough. Obviously I never will, but I am IN THE SYSTEM, as it were. It is as if Major League Baseball encompassed all baseball games going on in the country, and if you start doing well, you automatically get bumped up into the minors, then the majors. Rediculous. Very exciting.

Of course, it wouldn't be worth the time if the game wasn't eminently enjoyable. I can't speak too deeply about the balance of the three factions, but they are so much FUN to wage war with. Protoss shields shimmer beautifully, the flames rising out of Terran structures are the perfect warning that they are "in the red", and holy hell how scary it is to see a Zerg building being morphed... The units all sound hilarious, and the game absolutely OOZES style, without foraying into the silly cartoonish graphics of Warcraft and its offspring.

Point #3: This shit is fun to play.

Battlecruisers don't just fire a single big laser! Why would they!? What is the point of having a big unit like a Colossus unless you can watch line after line of Marines writhe around in flames as they are set alight by the power of the sun itself? Similarly, watching a huge mass of Terran infantry hold their ground while Zerg Banelings explode around them and turn them into a gooey pile is absolutely disgutingly brilliant. Everything in this game is a little reward.

I still am angry at Blizzard for taking a dump on LAN play, but I can live with that. There will be workarounds, and a game this good deserves a little bit of slack to be cut.

I had told myself that I would wait for StarCraft II to come down in price a bit before purchasing it. Obviously that didn't happen. Nonetheless, I am supremely happy with my decision to buy it now, because with a game like this, riding the wave is half the fun.

[levit]

Starcraft II

2010-05-05T14:14:00.000-05:00

Release date announced: 7.27.10

http://us.starcraft2.com/preorder/index.xml

Starcraft II Campaign Footage

2010-02-16T18:36:00.000-06:00

Getting very excited for this.

We had a LAN party recently, and once again, we played three games of Starcraft. This game just has enormous staying power, and I have no doubt that Starcraft II will be the same way.

Flash Game Friday

2010-02-05T15:25:00.000-06:00

Every once in awhile, you come across a flash game that is light-years ahead of most fully produced games. It is always a bit odd.

4 Differences

Check this out, please.

The premise is extremely simple, it is a 'spot the difference' game. The presentation... well, the presentation is absolutely beautiful. The music, the settings, the animation, everything points to someone who truly has a vision for what they are creating. The game gets difficult at some points, but please see it through to the end, the last level is something to behold.

Planning for the Zombie Apocalypse

2010-02-03T16:21:00.000-06:00

What better way to plan your lifestyle once the undead hordes claw their way out of the ground than to do it in lego!

See the whole flickr set here

My personal favorite:

Pure genius. Even down to the minifigs.

Flight Director

2010-01-28T14:33:00.000-06:00

Similar to Flight Plan on the iPhone, the next awesome thinghy on the Android market:

So much fun. Well worth it.

Lego Universe Preview

2010-01-13T12:01:00.000-06:00

Over at Ars Technica:

"You can focus on earning bricks and building objects to play with, and in fact there is a programming language built into the game so that you can build an animal and tell it how to react. One of the developers had a mushroom garden on a hill, and with a few clicks made them hop when players walked through. An elephant was built and taught to patrol a spire. You can focus on the minigames, such as the racing or the shooting challenges. Or, you can play the game as a straight platformer, taking challenges and fighting the chaos."

How sweet is that. I'll be interested to see how robust the virtual Lego assembly tool is!

Lego Universe

2010-01-11T14:29:00.000-06:00

This sent chills up my spine, this might be the MMO that actually brings me in!

Regarding Legos

2010-01-05T15:23:00.001-06:00

I got myself some Legos this Christmas.

Nothing big, mind you, and it was mostly on accident. It was meant to be a White Elephant gift, but the exchange did not happen, so I humbly accepted it into my life.

It has been at least 10 years since I last opened a real live Lego set, and I tell you now, the happiness has not dimmed.

It has gotten brighter.

About 15 minutes after tearing the cardboard I was done, but the completed set still stands to this day; proudly on the coffee table in the front room.

Yes, I am being melodramatic, but that it the way it feels to play with toys after so long a drought! Video games are a good approximation of the fun that we had with toys, but they are ultimately lazy. We play with the things on the screen because the act of organizing a similar experience in real life with people near you would take a lot more effort.

So, thus, I exhort you: Play with something this year. Real play, not toying with a dongle like an adult. Boardgames, drawings, Legos, tag, hide and seek, whatever.

I think that is what I am going to dedicate this space to from here on out.

Google Has the Best Sense of Humor:

2009-11-24T13:24:00.003-06:00

Type "Google Space Station" into google and this is what pops up first:

Google Copernicus Center is hiring

"Google is interviewing candidates for engineering positions at our lunar hosting and research center, opening late in the spring of 2007. This unique opportunity is available only to highly-qualified individuals who are willing to relocate for an extended period of time, are in top physical condition and are capable of surviving with limited access to such modern conveniences as soy low-fat lattes, The Sopranos and a steady supply of oxygen."

Hilarious.

Must... blog...

2009-11-10T16:35:00.003-06:00

I need to take a good hard look at what this blog is...

If I don't keep it updated, it is pretty much dead space. If I fill it with links and images not created by me, it just becomes noise.

I guess I have some contemplation to do, and some re-organization as well. This whole site needs to be externalized a bit more; photos need to go to Picasa, Videos need to go to YouTube, and I need an actual usable website portfolio.

I'll get right on that.

Hee hee!

2009-09-22T11:53:00.000-05:00

Adam in 50 Years

2009-08-10T12:45:00.001-05:00

superpoop.com

On the merits of organization:

2009-07-14T14:05:00.002-05:00

Alan:
bookshelves!

Adam:
Noononononooo
You just toss the books around.
make a pile.

Alan:
on the floor!

Adam:
Yes!

Alan:
ooooooooooooor...get shelves?

Adam:
hmm.
I hadn't thought of that.

Alan:
wooden shelves
not even wooden shelves made of reconstituted wood

Adam:
That might keep them up off the floor

Alan:
real woods and all
yeah!

Adam:
And help keep them away from being stepped on.

Alan:
no more stepping!

Adam:
But wait.
How do you put a pile of books on a shelf?
They would spill all over the place!
Alan you clearly haven't thought this out all the way.

Alan:
hmmm. Could I stack the books side by side?
maybe in an organized fashion?
possibly by genre?

Adam:
Oh snap.
I didn't think of that!
Jeez, this sounds like the type of thing that I might want to do in my own home!

Alan:
and all it took was a small discussion to work out the kinks in the plan

I jumped out of a plane.

2009-07-13T13:05:00.002-05:00

And it was awesome.

Literally awesome, as in the real original definition of the word.

Awe-some.

I was filled with Awe.

4 minutes of the most intense and fantastic experience of my life. Like packing a weekend at Valleyfair into 4 minutes.

Everyone that has ever had an inkling or a thought to do it should DO IT.

Jesus Effing Christ, Hells Yes.

2009-07-09T16:05:00.001-05:00

Yes Yes Yes.

Huge Effing Robots

Yes Yes Yes.

Epic Conclusions

Yes Yes Yes.

999 Hoyt!

2009-06-23T10:33:00.001-05:00

We bought a house!

We have not closed on it yet, so nothing is FINAL-final, but barring any tornadoes or loss of employment, it will be ours.

More pictures will come soon, it has been a very interesting couple of weeks.

999 Hoyt

[adam]

Adam on MPR

2009-06-02T15:55:00.002-05:00

'Short sales' a foreclosure alternative, but process can be difficult

'Adam Leistico can relate. He's not trying to sell a house, he wants to buy one.

He and his wife looked at more than 40 houses, but they fell in love with a little blue rambler in St. Paul.

"We felt something we hadn't felt in the other places," Leistico said. "Both of us were grinning throughout the entire walkthrough and we finally just decided: This is the one. We're going to wait and see what happens with this place." '

I want this in my basement

2009-05-21T11:57:00.001-05:00

I am featured!

2009-05-05T16:30:00.002-05:00

MPR's site on gather centered around the MN Economy has a post up inspired by me!

Pretty exciting, here's an excerpt:

"With job security, low debt and a bright economic outlook, Adam Leistico sees this as a great time to buy a house. The potential boost from the $8,000 federal home buyer credit makes it even more alluring."

Here's the full article.

My frustration laid bare to the world! I keep on getting a little adrenaline rush every time my phone starts vibrating, I want it to be news on the house.

Experiment: Part Deux.

2009-04-17T10:17:00.002-05:00

For my week of laid-back-driving here are the results:

372 miles on 13.9 Gallons.

That gives me an average of 26.76 MPG.

Not bad for a car rated at 23 MPG. last tank I did 23.85 MPG, and that was under normal acceleration. I wonder what it would look like if I drove like a madman; probably about 19 or 20 MPG (I am not going to test that, I want to LIVE).

So, by altering the way I drive by just a little bit, I can save a bit over 10% on gas. At current prices, that works out to about 50 bucks a year. At $4 a gallon, it is over $100.

I consider that worth it. This also proves that I really need a new car, I could be saving about $15 a month on gas.

In conclusion, if you see someone driving slowly, or accelerating slowly, please try not to get angry at them. They might just be trying to save some cash.

Experiment

2009-04-01T10:07:00.003-05:00

Very loose controls, essentially just a localized thing.

I am testing the difference that moderately aggressive driving has on gas mileage.

For this past tank of gasoline in my 1995 Grand Prix, I have been driving the way that I used to in High School, above the speed limit, accelerating quickly.

I went 322 miles on 13.5 gallons.

That gives me 23.85 Miles to the gallon.

Not bad, certainly better than I had expected for that car.

The next couple of weeks, I am going to drive like a catatonic old lady, similar to the way I have been in 2008.

Stay tuned for the new numbers!

Stunning

2009-03-26T17:27:00.000-05:00

World Builder

Why I liked the BSG Finale

2009-03-23T12:32:00.004-05:00

I get that a lot of people didn't like it.

I didn't like it a whole lot right away either.

(Don't read any further if you are trying to avoid spoilers)

I have altered my perception somewhat over the weekend, however. I absolutely loved the entire first hour of the finale. I was literally gripping the arm of the couch and holding my breath. When they jumped the Galactica out of there, and you see it torquing around... I can truly say that I had feelings for that damn ship.

Then things started going awry. The first huge clue was when Lee started spouting off about ditching the ships in space. A huge suspension of disbelief was needed there to accept that the remnants of the human race would be willing to give up all of their technology.

From there, it got more and more heavy-handed. "God" started showing his hand everywhere, Starbuck disappears, we find out that the natives are essentially a genetic match to the humans in the fleet, and we are shown that Hera is in fact the common genetic ancestor of all of us modern humans.

Yeah, pretty weak.

HOWEVER, I have had something of an epiphany as far as this story is concerned. In the same way as 'Oh Brother Where Art Thou?' was a retelling of 'The Odyssey', 'Battlestar Galactica' has been a retelling of the biblical myth surrounding Noah and his ark. The flood in this new version just happens to be a few hundred nuclear weapons.

When I look at it from this perspective, I find that I can get a lot more enjoyment out of the series. The overt religious and anti-technology sentiment that reared its head in the finale seems less egregious when one is aware that the narrative is a cover for a more religious message, and I can file it away in the folder marked 'myth' and the preachy aspects of the show. It makes it much easier to keep thinking of it as a great show, in the same way that the bible is a great example of ancient literature.

Essentially, it is very easy to like the show as a retelling of the popular myth of Noah's Ark. In my perception, the angels are characters, they are not meant to mirror anything real, the same with this God dude that they bring up all throughout the series. They are all fiction, and it makes for a pretty good (if heavy-handed) ending to an absolutely amazing show.

My favorite character? Saul Tigh.

The Beard Song

2009-03-13T16:18:00.000-05:00

Andy Richter wins.

2009-03-12T10:51:00.001-05:00

HAAAAAhAHAhahahahahaaaaa

Hack! Hack!

2009-03-12T09:59:00.003-05:00

My PayPal account got broken into.

Technically, it did not get 'hacked', because there was no problem on PayPal's servers, and no-one broke any of their user databases. I have gotten over being angry at PayPal, they have actually been the paradigm of excellence through the whole ordeal. I will relate why in a bit.

Alan dredged up a news item that Monster.com got hacked. They had a major security breach and a ton of usernames and passwords were shown the light of day. Normally this would not be a big deal, but two things conspired to make this a bigger problem. The first was my own damn fault, in that I had used the same username and password for so many of my site registrations. The second was Monster's fault, in that they did not send me a notice saying that their servers had been hacked, only notifying me after the fact when I went to login after hearing of the problem from Alan.

In essence, the first sign that I had that something was wrong was when I got a 'Fraud Alert' email from PayPal. Here is where PayPal starts saving my ass. I got four emails from paypal last Thursday, which initially I thought were phishing scams. Reading closer, however, I noticed that there were no links therein, and that they looked surprisingly real. Just in case, I figured that I should probably check out my PayPal account.

$885 was withdrawn from my bank account.

I should clarify, they attempted to take $885, PayPal actually caught the biggest one, so they only actually got $385. PayPal stopped the final $500 transaction before it was taken out of my account, so it is in there waiting for me presently. The remaining three I put claims in on immediately, and had Wells Fargo do the same. As of yesterday, I received emails saying that the money would be returned to me within 5 days, and as of right now, the $885 is back in my PayPal account, waiting for me to unlock the account and transfer it back to Wells Fargo.

Thanks, PayPal. You truly were a massive help on this one. Initially, I had thought about closing my account with them, I was kind of scared and angry. After talking to some folks and thinking about it, I have realized that PayPal did a masterful job handling the issue, and that it was my own fault for doing three things stupidly:

I used the same username and password for multiple accounts
I attached PayPal to my PRIMARY bank account, the one that has all the money in it, instead of a secondary acount.
I assumed that this type of crap only happens to non-computer-savvy folks.

So, take this as a massive endorsement of the PayPal system. I could have lost a lot more, and they could have made this process MUCH harder than it was. I don't use PayPal often, but I know that I will not kill my account, only change it to be more responsible.

Also, Monster.com can suck it. They were the LEAST useful job search engine that I used when I was looking, and they clearly have security and customer service issues.

The Credit Crisis Visualized

2009-02-24T19:22:00.001-06:00

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Overtime Taxes.

2009-02-24T12:51:00.003-06:00

I'll be working overtime a whole bunch for the next few weeks. I am drawn in by the idea of time and a half, and need the cash for a down-payment. I got to thinking; "I wonder just how much I'll get after taxes..." Turns out, probably not a lot.

"The payoff for overtime work appears to be a very good deal for the employee. But here's some unpleasant news. Thanks to the rising burden of taxes, the bonus income actually received from working longer hours is much less than one might think."

Check out the article here: Working Overtime Is More Taxing Than You Think

If I make 350 bucks for 8 hours, I'll probably see about $200 of that. Kind of lame.

Friday Top 5: Home Styles

2009-02-20T09:58:00.003-06:00

Home Styles

Having looked for houses for about a month now, I feel like I am on my way to understanding the myriad styles of architecture that dot the urban Twin Cities. Here are my top 5.

5) Victorian

I don't know why, I would like living in a big old victorian. Something about having a turret really gets me, I can easily picture myself spending a lot of time reading up on the third story, gazing down at the street below every once in awhile.

4) Tudor

A bit out of our price range, but nice looking houses. Haven't really looked at the inside of any, but I do dig the style.

3) Arts & Crafts/Bungalow

We have seen a lot of these. Evidently they were pretty popular around the 1920s when the neighborhood that we are looking at was filling in. They are pretty affordable, if a bit large for a normal city-sized plot of land, and make for a very cozy house.

2) Craftsman

We have seen a few craftsman style homes in our search, always just out of reach. They are just ever so slightly out of our price range, and as such are made all that much more desirable. This is the real goal that I am looking for, this style is absolutely beautiful. The good thing that I have found recently is that it is not hard to make a house look like a craftsman, all one has to do is to add a nice porch, and viola!

1) Prairie

Obviously, we have not seen any of these in our search, as there is no prairie in the area that we are looking, and these are usually long and large. I was a huge Frank Lloyd Wright junkie in my high-school days, (and still am, to a lesser extent) but a house of this style is painfully expensive and requires a pretty good sized plot of land to succeed. Perhaps as a retirement home, but it would have to contend with the prospect of the underground house.

Scirocco Skips Across the Pond?

2009-02-09T12:13:00.003-06:00

It does look very capable of doing so, all smooth and rounded like a weathered stone, and VW is saying that it wants to try to bring the Scirocco over here, perhaps as soon as mid-2009.

I would be in heaven were this summabitch to make an appearance in North America, even in limited quantities. I might even go as far as to say that I would start saving immediately in order to get one of these, as they will probably be a limited edition, and will probably go fast.

And boy will they go fast. The styling alone is enough to get many VW fanatic's underwear moist, and I am finding myself identifying with that crowd more and more (though I assure you, my underpants are clean and dry, for the time being).

I find myself in the interesting dilemma of needing to save money for a house, and really wanting to set money aside for this fine automotive gem (~40K). I fully realize that a home should be my first priority, that this is really nothing more than a glorified toy, and that going further into debt for a toy is never a good idea. 'Needs' should always trump 'wants', but, dammit! I'm an American! I need a flashy car to survive, right? Sadly, wrong; I must be responsible. I will probably just have to wait until I can get one of these used for half price. Probably in 2015 or some such.

It looks so COOL, though.

Busy busy.

2009-02-05T12:44:00.003-06:00

Buying a house is a lot of work.

Not necessarily for me, mind you, there is just a lot of stuff that needs to happen in a specific order to get it all worked out. Not to mention the emotional roller-coaster of finding a place, then missing out on it, then finding a place and discovering that it is a dump, then finding a place and trying to make an offer...

It is, as I'm sure everyone is aware, stressful.

Mr. President

2009-01-22T10:13:00.002-06:00

Señor Obama takes his seat in the big chair. I guess this means I can relax for a while.

The speech he gave at the inauguration was quite good; many layers of depth, lots of great imagery. Really, I feel that it set the stage for a real shift away from President-as-peer that we have been living with, and toward President-as-leader.

Sure, I have my hopes for the coming couple of years, but I feel that I must be skeptical. It is a weird feeling to experience patriotism after my entire young-adult life with an intense dislike for the government. I was one of those jerks who mentioned moving to Canada to get away. Seems silly now, but I bet there are a bunch of folks on the other side of the aisle feeling similarly (though maybe not in Canada's direction). Still, it pays to be watchful. I am quite sure of my choice to support this guy, but one never knows.

So all of us who now feel vindicated for our years under what we considered to be a dysfunctional government must hold our tongues. I am confident in Mr. "Smarty Pants," but he needs to do his thing in order to earn some trust from others. If he can turn this boat around, perhaps finally people will start to migrate over the aisle more. I confess, in my dreams the election in a couple dozen years will be a contest between the Democrats and the Green party, Perhaps with the Libertarians tossed in there as a third party.

A Tough Choice

2009-01-12T15:02:00.002-06:00

OR

Thoughts?

I could see myself in one.

2009-01-06T15:58:00.001-06:00

The Five-Car Garage.

2008-12-18T13:23:00.002-06:00

AKA: "Top 5 Cars I'd actually use"

In the first stall:

Here we have the Daily Driver. The car that I use on a regular basis to get to work and cart myself around. I'd have to ship one over from Europe, since they aren't available here.

2010 Scirocco

Next to that, we have the Cruiser. This car is there for the odd trip to the movies on a nice summer night, or for taking a drive around the lake, or along the river.

2005 Thunderbird

In the third stall, sits the All Terrain Vehicle. Used for camping and the like, this is there to attach a snow plow on, and brave the weather in.

2007 Wrangler

The SuperCar is next. This is the car that I would take around the track, go the the high school reunions in, and perhaps learn how to drag-race with.

2003 Ford GT

And last, but not least, is the Wild Card. For me it is a mud buggy. For use in the mud.

Game Review: Red Alert 3

2008-12-09T10:12:00.002-06:00

This picture says it all.

The game is fun. I will allow it that, but only because the rest of this review will dismantle it, and I want to make clear that it is indeed moderately enjoyable to play. It is also moderately enjoyable to watch, but only to a certain extent.

Style

When you first load the game, you are greeted by women. Women in the startup screen, women in the cinematics, women throughout the game. All of these women are attractive, and they are all scantily clad. The adviser that you are faced with for the soviet missions is dressed is what looks like light bondage gear. Some degree of sexuality is expected in video games, but RA3 takes it so far beyond any degree of normalcy that it makes the game immediately ridiculous. If a normal computer game is something like a SciFi novel, RA3 comes across right off the bat as something more akin to Maxim.

I am not sure how I feel about this rampant sexuality. I know that because of it, my wife would likely find the style juvenile and pathetic, even though she enjoys most of the RTS style games she's played. Heck, I find the style juvenile and pathetic, and I am supposed to be the target audience. I also understand that it was almost certainly engineered to be over-the-top in exactly this way, and while I do see the humor in it, it comes across as very forced, and the first Red Alert game achieved the effect with essentially zero budget.

The style for the rest of the game is disjointed and horrible, pretty obviously an afterthought. The entire menu system is formulated around a stylized version of soviet propaganda materials from the post WWII era. This could have been done well, but the way it turned out it was just flat and boring.

Gameplay

The game is an RTS, through and through. For the company that (arguably) invented the genre, Westwood had been able to refine their skills through the first three iterations of the CnC franchise. Then they were bought by EA, and they released RA2. The game was a cartoon, and while fun, it was completely predictable. Westwood seemed to lose the progressiveness that had brought them the first RTS ever, and that hasn't changed for RA3.

The combat is interesting enough, complex and fast paced, requiring a lot of attention to large groups lest an entire army be lost to mismanagement. The economy of the game is centered around ore collection like in previous CnC games, but it is executed poorly, forcing the player to build a collection facility essentially directly on top of centralized ore 'nodes,' and still maintain collector units and separate buildings. I am definitely down with the concept of point-based resource collection, but the execution here is overcomplicated and unsuccessful. The graphics are top notch, as expected, but nothing awe-inspiring.

Overall the gameplay is acceptable, but nothing more, The sole shining light in the game is the inclusion of Co-op campaign modes. This is absolutely fantastic, and should be included in every RTS from here on out. Of course, it has been done in countless mods before this point, so it is definitely not new, but it is a welcome addition to the game. The inclusion of water as a integral and playable surface is welcome as well, but more of a gimmick than anything. It really only serves to flatten the battlefield and it doesn't alter tactics too much, since most units can traverse both mediums with no real trouble.

Overall

The game is for me a failure because it is firmly lodged in the 'sequel' mentality. The style is clearly half-assed, and the gameplay is clearly a copy-paste from RA2. This game could have really made the CnC franchise stand out, but instead it ended up being nothing more than another EA cash cow. It is fun to play, but that is where it stops; there is nothing that stands out, nothing that would make this game anything other than one iteration in a series. EA understood what they needed to make a buck on this game, and once they put forth the minimum effort that is exactly where they stopped.

If you need proof of this, you need look no further than the DRM shipped with the game. Not only does the game come packaged with 'security' software, it is also nothing more than a rental with an install limit, subject wholly to EA's whim. I won't go too deeply into the maddening way that EA insists on punishing game owners, suffice to say that it is the primary reason why I will not buy the game (I played it on a friend's computer to write this, obviously).

So, next time they need to bring something to the table. With Spore's lackluster gameplay and now this, I will most definitely be trying any large EA game in a free capacity, with some pretty hefty criteria for success before I even consider buying. The game is purely adequate, nothing more. Perhaps worth 20 bucks, even less with the DRM.

What is Killing PC Gaming?

2008-12-01T12:34:00.003-06:00

It took me a good 10 years to get back into the console market. From the middle of the PS1 all the way to the end of the Xbox's run, I was a PC gamer exclusively. I picked up an Xbox because it was pretty cheap ($150 when I got one) and I figured there would be a game or two that I really would enjoy.

All the way up until the 360 entered my living room, I still considered myself primarily a PC gamer. Consoles were the side dish.

Now the 360 is my primary gaming platform, but not because it is the superior system. If I had my way, I would still be primarily a PC gamer, but the market has had a different effect on the two mediums. The games on the Xbox are no better than the games on PC. In most respects, the PC is a much better system due to the huge number of inputs available.

Alas, oh, the DRM!

The first game that really started to kill my PC as a primary gaming platform was Bioshock. The game was top notch. The SecuROM DRM was something that I was not willing to abide. I now own the game for the 360. Spore was the second big blow. The game is still excellent, despite its inability to live up to its own hype. The DRM is inexcusable, however, and sadly for this one I don't have a console alternative. Now, one of my favorite game franchises of all time, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, has its third installment available. I will not be purchasing it, can you guess why?

The last game that I bought for the PC and felt good about was Sins of Solar Empire. The game comes with only a CD key. No invasive DRM, just a great game that has made tons of money for Stardock. Perhaps PC gaming as a whole is not dying, but for me, DRM has nearly been a system killer. Every big name title to come out in the near future will likely have some form of horrible security software bundled with it, and I won't buy it for exactly that reason.

Steam is a compromise that I am willing to accept for the time being, and since Fallout 3 has been released on Valve's system, perhaps that is one way to successfully abate the layer of dust settling on my keyboard. I can only hope, for my own sanity, that Blizzard does not go the way of EA, and has mercy on us when they release Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. Their BattleNet service has been a nearly flawless way to enforce piracy restrictions, and I can only hope that they continue that format.

I guess it's time for me to draft a letter to the RA3 folks, to let them know my distaste.

My Blu-Rays

2008-11-26T11:45:00.002-06:00

I am a big proponent of digital media. All my music is digitized, and Vicki and I have recently gotten rid of 75% of our DVD collection, now that streaming media has begun to come into its own. We have the bare minimum remaining, our favorite movies, things that we would want to have when we move and don't yet have an internet connection, or when the world ends and we have a week to live before the fires reach St Paul.

So Blu-Ray for me is not a proposition of revamping my entire collection. I used to think in those terms, but there are so many good movies out there, I can't even hope to own a tenth of them. A conversation with Alan got me thinking, if I really had to choose 10 movies to own on Blu Ray, and they would have to be IT, what would they be?

I might add Sunshine to the list if I like it when I watch it, from everything that I hear about it, it would probably replace 9 or 10.

From what I have seen of movies, this would probably be where the list ends, until some really fantastic movie comes out and I need to update it (though there isn't anything on the horizon yet that would boot these off).

On GM and Ford Failing:

2008-11-10T16:43:00.003-06:00

I am a car guy. For awhile that has been somewhat difficult to reconcile with my treehugging personality, but the advent of a wave of attractive and performance-oriented electric cars, I find myself like a kid in a candy-store again. I keep on catching glimpses of a world that runs on energy gathered above ground, and it has freakin' sweet sportscars in it.

But the Detroit automakers have always had a place in that futuristic image. I never really see myself driving a Toyota, even if it is a sporty one. My dream car is an American one, and though I am a European car fanatic as well, the American aesthetic really has something going for it. All you have to do is look at the design team over at Ford to see that the US really has a vision all its own.

What will happen if they go bankrupt, though? One must assume that they will come out the other side with some semblance of their former selves, but what will have been lost? Is it too much to hope that if Ford (and GM as well, though I really am a Ford guy) goes under, that they will cut all the fat, keep their design team, and become an agile next-generation carmaker? Probably wishful thinking. It seems more likely that bankruptcy would mean nothing more than massive job losses and an expansion of the Truck units.

I guess all I can do is hope. I posted a while back about Jaguar's possible renaissance, perhaps this is Ford and GM's chance at a major re-organization. Or maybe I'm just way too optimistic.

Nov 4th, 2008

2008-11-06T09:26:00.000-06:00

Halloween!

2008-10-31T13:24:00.003-05:00

Possibly the best Halloween costume that I have ever worn:

2 Weeks of Halloween - Thursday 30th

2008-10-31T09:08:00.001-05:00

2 Weeks of Halloween - Wednesday 29th

2008-10-29T15:31:00.001-05:00

The History of Halloween, presented by the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre:

2 Weeks of Halloween - Tuesday 28th

2008-10-28T15:02:00.002-05:00

The MN Zoo had its scarecrow competition without me, I just didn't get done in time.

Looks like I actually didn't miss much, the top three are all comical pun-inspired stuffed animals, not really scarecrows. I wonder, had mine come together, might I have won? Or would I suffer the fate of so many Halloween enthusiasts who put forth their most scary and dark creations only to be defeated by bright fluffy cartoon characters...

Ah well, for this year we may never know. I probably wouldn't try for this next year, since the animal themed aspect tends to dull the supernatural feel that Halloween is supposed to instill. Also, the winner was called "Scare-Moose," that is a pretty harsh indictment right there.

2 Weeks of Halloween - Monday 27th

2008-10-27T15:09:00.005-05:00

PumpkinRot.com

Part of what activated my Halloween enthusiasm last year, PumpkinRot is the king of scarecrows. The pic to the right is his creation for this year, the Hollowman. He also puts together a pretty amazing yard haunt as well, definitely among the best I have seen. I have found myself formatting my own Halloween around the way his site is organized, with one central project each year, and a series of smaller ones that will hopefully grow my haunt into something worthwhile in a few years.

Actually, it bears mention that one of the criteria when Vicki and I go looking for a house will likely be how 'hauntable' the yard is.

That picture is still my favorite, one of his earlier 'Crows, Johnny Appleseed. My project this year still needs some work, right now it looks painfully stiff and all-together un-scary. It also looks a bit too much like garbage bags for my taste, so I will need to layer something else over it to dull that shiny look. I always find myself looking to PumpkinRot's projects for ideas on how to make my own better, and combining them with stuff that I find across the net.

2 Weeks of Halloween - Friday 24th

2008-10-24T14:23:00.000-05:00

Make A Cool Hologram Illusion! - video powered by Metacafe

2 Weeks of Halloween - Thursday 23rd

2008-10-23T15:59:00.002-05:00

Resources galore:

2 Weeks of Halloween - Wednesday 22nd

2008-10-22T22:14:00.000-05:00

My major project for this year, the crow, needs some work. Right now it looks more like a garbage pile than anything actually scary. Hopefully I will be able to work on it this weekend and have something to show for Halloween.

In other news, I know that everybody wants more Cthulhu mythos to read, especially near Halloween, so here is a classic that has been reimagined in that vein, see if you can pick up the original setting:

"This quest led me into mouldering libraries, cramped basement antiquaries, far-flung correspondences, and, on one occasion, frightening and persistent telephone conversations with a lunatic in Boston. The last raised alarms in my family. I promised them I would turn away from my studies, all the while resolving to continue them in secret. I committed everything I knew to memory, burned all my papers, and embroidered my most unfathomable and precious secrets in near-invisible thread on my security blanket, which as you can see, I carry still.

Read the rest of the story.

2 Weeks of Halloween - Tuesday 21st

2008-10-21T08:41:00.003-05:00

I've seen many absolutely fantastic Halloween ideas this year, but the ambiance of this one is pretty unbelievable:

I plan on putting a few of these up this year, on nice long wires so that they have a hearty sway to them. Lighting is always a bit of an issue, I am wary of having cords running all over the place, but stuff needs to be lit well or else the ambiance is all lost. I think some strategically placed candles just might do the trick!

2 Weeks of Halloween - Monday 20th

2008-10-20T14:35:00.003-05:00

All Halloween themed posts this week and next, and I've been saving this one for exactly a day such as this:

A Murder of Scarecrows

Gotta love it when someone gets the style of something spot on. The game is extremely simple, but extremely creepy and elegant.

Check it out, and ask yourself if Halloween is not the best holiday of the year.

League of Conservation Voters Scorecards

2008-10-17T09:19:00.002-05:00

The LCV has its most recent representative scorecard up. They go through and take a look at every bill that went through the legislative branch, check it for environmental content, and look at who voted for and against it.

Obviously, Democrats are far and away more willing to engage issues surrounding the natural environment, so they are clearly in the lead.

Minnesota is an interesting case, though:

Scores for Minnesota Sorted by Last Name

Senate

Senator	State	110th, 2nd session Score
Norm Coleman (REP)	MN	73%
Amy Klobuchar (DEM)	MN	100%

House

Representative	District	110th, 2nd session Score
Michele Bachmann (REP)	MN-6	8%
Keith Ellison (DEM	MN-5	100%
John Kline (REP)	MN-2	8%
Betty McCollum (DEM)	MN-4	100%
James Oberstar (DEM)	MN-8	92%
Collin Peterson (DEM)	MN-7	85%
Jim Ramstad (REP)	MN-3	62%
Tim Walz (DEM)	MN-1	77%

What is interesting to me is that the only two people that have low scores are Bachmann and Kline. Bachmann is obvious because she is completely nuts. Kline I have not really heard of, but this makes me very wary of him. Both Norm Coleman and Jim Ramstad, however, are actually not looking too bad (Ramstad got a 95% in 2007, and a 82% overall this year, I'm impressed). Their scores aren't great (a C+ average), but it shows that they are willing to at least vote for some environmental initiatives that they might support, as opposed to a big null across the board.

Check it out here for links to each representative's individual scorecard.

Another Sexy EV

2008-10-13T09:27:00.003-05:00

These EVs are getting to be more sexy and modern than normal ICE cars.

Venturi Volage

Daaaaaamn.

Top 5 - Serious Games

2008-10-10T11:11:00.005-05:00

Ars Technica recently posted an article about serious games, which was interesting, but which I believe missed the mark. They talk about Super Columbine Massacre, and Imagination is the Only Escape in the games as art genre, and mention Metal Gear Solid 4 in reference to the games as political discussion sphere, but it feels like they missed some valuable additions to their list.

Hence;

Top 5 Serious Games

5) Shadow of the Colossus

Definitely a part of the 'Games as Art' subsection of serious games, Shadow of the Colossus and its ilk (Braid, Rez, etc.) really stand out in a medium dominated by over-the-top plotlines and scantily clad women. This game in particular strikes a chord due to its sensitive subject matter, dealing with the concepts of what life is worth, and how futile our efforts are at changing the natural cycle of death.

The game has provides a sense of scale not seen before its time, and it contains a whole sub-strata of questions about morality, literally laid bare as the hero character goes about murdering massive columns of life in order to save the life of the one that he loves.

Very touching, and extremely unsettling.

4) Second Life

While definitely not art, Second life occupies the social experimentation seat well. It is a real and open world with very few constraints, most of which can be gotten around in one way or another. The experiement centers around the turn of the century ideals of free society, and virtual spaces. What we see, not surprisingly, is mostly fetishistic sex acts, and a few interesting virtual innovations. Very telling, as far as what is on our minds as a species, even when we are supposedly freed from our mortal bounds, the first thing that we want our digital selves to do is screw in every way possible.

The sex aside, however, Second life is truly promising in its conception of what an online virtual world could be. It plays with rules, and if they aren't needed, it throws them away completely.

3) Wii Fit

Not a social statement, and not art by a long shot, Wii Fit makes it high on the list because it is exactly the opposite of what a videogame should be. Normally, videogames are there so that you can do something that you normally have no capacity for, like killing Nazis or Driving a car at 200MPH. Wii Fit takes that notion of 'easy' and twists it into something actually productive.

It is primarily a way of tricking yourself into exercising, much in the same way that people will watch an exercise video so that they don't have to actually go outSIDE to work out. It works, though. The game actually allows you to train yourself, all the while feeling like it isn't work, it is just a game.

2) Black and White

God is kind of a big deal. He'd tell you so himself, but he doesn't talk. Black and White takes on the idea of god, and turns it into an interesting game based on pretty narrowly defined notions of good and evil. The interesting thing about this game, however, is not that you can decide whether your godly hand helps or hinders the villagers. What is truly fascinating is the way that you raise your creature.

The game starts you out with a cute little manifestation of your godly will, an anthropomorphic animal. Throughout the game, this creature learns from you and the world around it, eventually becoming nearly as powerful as your avatar in the game. Most interesting about this is that the creature is actually quite difficult to mold the way you want. For example, I wanted the creature to stop pooping on the villagers, as this would kill them, so I would slap him every time he did that. He ended up learning that it was not okay to poop at all, anywhere.

Expanded out to the limits of the game, and you have a myriad of possibilities for your creature. The hand of god in the game was somewhat limited, but the creature developed a real personality, usually quite interesting due to the player's choices.

1) Sim City 4

Sim City 4 is at the top of the list not only because it is one of the best games ever made, but also because it is one of the most complex games ever made. On the surface, the game is extremely simple. You build roads, and people build buildings in spots where you point them.

In practice, however, Sim City 4 is one of the best educational tools that I have ever encountered. The game is balanced perfectly, as your city grows, you need to balance your budget with extreme vigilance, lest you go into the red and people start moving away. It is easy to say that we need more social programs and our schools need to be better, but what if the city budget is already maxed out? What if you have to choose between a new school and the bus stops that people need to get to work?

I am notoriously a tree-hugger, and have been for some time, and Sim City 4 has helped me round out some of my more extreme viewpoints and 'plans' for the world. It is easy to say that we need to live off renewable energy, but what does that actually take? I have run through many cities with many different energy policies, the ones that focus on green alternatives like wind and solar have a much slower growth rate, but they are much easier to manage once the city starts getting dense.

These types of lessons abound in the game. Transportation alone could be a game in itself. Sim City 4 should be a college level course for anyone with ideas of political or social leadership, as it seems like the basic ideas in the game are things that many politicians are completely oblivious to (like a balanced budget).

Jaw-dropper

2008-10-09T09:44:00.001-05:00

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Debate Commentary

2008-10-08T10:46:00.002-05:00

"That guy should be named 'Ham'"

Debates are much more enjoyable when you can feel free to make fun of everyone involved, including the people asking the questions. It lightens the mood, and makes it feel less like a major world event. It also keeps the candidates from seeming like a couple of bickering kids.

This debate, like the first one, was pretty non-committal. Both candidates answered very few questions directly (YES OR NO, seriously), though each had a couple of places where they stood out a bit. McCain always looks very uncomfortable, he just looks painful and old. we couldn't help laughing at that all night, as each of us took our turn mimicking his tottering old-guy walk. Obama really needs to learn to shut up sometimes. He had some great answers, but a couple of them were really floundering and he just kept on going, way over time, and making it look even worse.

I doubt that the polls will be affected much by this debate, the independents have been leaning toward Obama a bit and that probably will not change due to last night.

Whatwhatwhaaaat?!

2008-10-01T09:26:00.002-05:00

Has my head just been under a rock for the past few months?

How do I miss something like this?

The Pandora

It might not look like the prettiest thing in the world, but judging by everything that has been said about it, it might be the most perfect handheld device of the modern age.

Sure, it has the normal suite of PDA capabilities, WiFi, and is open source, running on Linux. These are all fantastic things. Vastly more important than all this, though, is that it is built as an emulator as well, or even primarily. That's right, all those SNES, NES, and even Playstation Roms that are languishing on my hard drive will have a place here. Conceivably, this could even easily play PSP and DS Roms, since the Roms are out there, and there is already Linux emulators for those systems.

I am impressed, and I will buy this once it is out of limited edition, barring any major unforeseen problems.

Oh Hell Yes, Falcon 1 Made it into Orbit!

2008-09-30T10:34:00.002-05:00

Falcon 1 is the first privately funded launch vehicle that got shot off earlier this week, and successfully reached orbit. Truly fantastic. I am optimistic about our future in space.

Vivid Dream

2008-09-26T10:52:00.001-05:00

I had a very memorable dream last night.

It started off nicely enough, I was building and installing some of my new scarecrow stuff in the backyard of some folks that I went to elementary school with (it is a dream, don't question it). I got the new 'crow up, and for good measure, set up my scarecrow from last year for ambiance. I thought that it looked good. I went to bed happy. When I got there the next day, however, my stuff was in tatters.

Evidently, somebody from the neighborhood planning committee thought that my work was too scary and decided to take it down. I went ballistic. I remember being so angry in my dream that I could barely contain myself. The lady who made the decision to take it down was the stereotypical fear-driven book-banning suburbanite elder, and I remember that the desire to punch her in the face was very strong.

Not only did they destroy me new 'crow when they took it down, they SAWED MY OLD ONE IN HALF. For no apparent reason. Then they buried it in the woods. I was pissed. I was yelling. I might have even been murmuring in my sleep I was so angry. I made them tell me where it was so that I could go dig it up and repair it.

I woke up this morning contemplating how to put my scarecrows back together again. It took until the end of my shower for me to realize that it was a dream. I guess the moral of the story is not to wreck my Halloween stuff, because I evidently have some strong unconscious attachment to it.

Shit yes! Dodge EV Sport

2008-09-24T10:02:00.002-05:00

Dodge follows in Tesla's footsteps with a sexy Sports EV. This is absolutely fantastic. It is happening even faster than I had hoped.

The Tesla has shown without question that an electric car can be just as crazy as any high-end internal combustion sports car. Perhaps more so, for some of us. I have been hoping to see other car companies follow suit, and have been silently rooting for American car companies to jump on this train before Europe and Asia get a firm hold of it. Detroit is feeling the squeeze, and more stuff like this and the Volt could lift them up out of the gutter.

Stats for the Dodge EV Sports Car:

200kw (268 HP) electric motor
0-60mph in less than 5 seconds
Top speed of more than 120mph
Driving range of 150 to 200 miles

It looks like Daimler Chrysler is really going gung-ho with the full electrics, as they put out a press release for a Jeep Wrangler EV at the same time as this Sporty Dodge model.

Excitement.

The Daily Rhyme

2008-09-23T09:56:00.003-05:00

I am completely entranced. Completely. The Daily Rhyme is a poetry blog with a sense of humor so fine-tuned that regardless of the content, the poem makes me laugh out loud, in the literal non-web way.

It wasn’t all that long ago
  that manly bods were hairy.
A guy without some fur was thought
  a creampuff, wimp, or fairy.
But now the virile types, I’m told,
  are shaving by the billions.
They pluck, they wax, they depilate,
  they undergo Brazilians!
Perhaps it sounds unhip, but still
  if that’s the price of mating,
Then I’m one grateful married dude.
  I couldn’t handle dating!

SNL Palin Clinton

2008-09-15T10:17:00.001-05:00

Faaaaaaantastic.

Scarecrow Alley

2008-09-10T12:50:00.003-05:00

Hoooo-wee, Halloween is just around the corner. Many of you have probably already heard me muttering about my plans for Halloween this year, I am, as the Taiwanese say; 'Excited.'

To that end, I just signed up for entry in the MN Zoo's Scarecrow Alley contest.

Not only does this mean that I get to make another scarecrow this year, it means that I might actually win something for it if I can pull together something classy! The entries are group based, so if you want to join up with group Crow-Scare, send me an email, we'll see what you could do to help the team.

I better go start sketching right now, I have a pretty neat idea, but it might be somewhat difficult to create, I better think about what media I'm gonna use...

New Old Car Time.

2008-09-09T10:22:00.002-05:00

It's getting close to time to trade in the old Grand Prix for something significantly smaller and sportier. I must say that the Grand Prix has been one of the nicer cruising cars I have driven, and if it were smaller or less than 1.5 tons I might hold on to it for longer. Sadly this is not the case, and I must go off in search of pastures that accelerate and handle a bit more responsively.

I have three criteria for the new used car, all of which need to be fulfilled, plus a bonus:

The car must be small, sporty, and moderately efficient.
The car must have a manual transmission.
The car must have a good deal of character.
(Bonus - not required) Convertible top.

Here's what I have been looking at thus far, ordered approximately from most desirable to least:

Volkswagen Corrado
BMW 325is (1992-95)
Saab 9000 (preferably turbo)
Volkswagen Scirocco
Mazda RX-7 (1982-85 Wankel version only)
Pontiac Fiero
Audi A4 (1994-95)

I've checked out a bunch of other stuff too, a Miata is just barely on the edge of the 'character' category, but for the right price might be an option. The Escort was a great car, but I really did not feel happy about owning it, as it was about as boring as you can get in regard to style. Larger BMWs and Mercedes Benz cars would be nice, but would break out of the efficiency criteria.

Anybody have any suggestions? Any weird little sporty cars that you owned that you don't see very often on the road?

Barack Obama on the O'Reilly Factor

2008-09-05T15:21:00.003-05:00

There are a couple of spots where Bill gets kind of nasty in his inflection, and you can tell that there is a kind of uneasy truce going on, but what we have here is a fantastic interview:

The questions are pretty precise (though slightly leading), and Obama gives pretty precise answers. They butt heads briefly on a couple of issues, but really, this clip makes it clear that even two people that disagree on almost every single issue can find pretty significant common ground. One impressive thing about Barack is that he's able to go into a situation like this and keep his cool (for the most part), trying to find areas that they can agree on, as opposed to going on the defensive immediately. I'd be interested to see McCain on Olbermann's show, I bet that would be a pretty good counterpart to this.

The conventions are over.

2008-09-05T11:26:00.003-05:00

So let's get over the self serving BS.

Both conventions definitely lived up to their expectations; they were huge rounds of people patting themselves on the back for being amazingly great. Awesome. So maybe now we can move on and actually have an election.

The candidates have an almost identical message:

"I am a person of change coming to Washington to shake up the status quo and cross party lines. Also I will save you money."

Yeah, I think we get that much. Since both of them are saying essentially the same thing it actually makes it much easier to choose between them. The main thing that we have learned from the past two weeks of self congratulation from both parties is that these candidates really should make the decision process very straightforward for any of the undecideds. All one has to do is look at a issue comparison chart, and there is your answer.

Obviously, I lean heavily to the Left. I disagree to a lesser or greater extent with almost every single one of John McCain's stances on any given issue. For me, there was never really a big question as to who I would vote for. At worst, Obama might lose my vote to the Green Party candidate, but even that seems unlikely as they don't have a strong platform this year.

Still, I'm very interested to see the debates this year. I thought that the debates between Gore and Bush were just boring, and the debates between Kerry and Bush were painful to watch. These debates should be very interesting. Both candidates are expressing their respect for one another pretty early, so I have hope that they will be civil discussions of the issues, without a lot of mudslinging. I guess that is not very likely, but it would be nice to see them act like a couple of adults who realize that they both want to do good for the country, and simply have different ways of going about that.

(keep dreamin')

A tale of two fairs.

2008-09-03T11:28:00.002-05:00

State Fair:

The Cow barn made me sneeze uncontrollably.
Always get a small. It doesn't matter how good a deal the next size up is.
Deep fried green beans = Delicious.
Deep fried Snickers bar = Mediocre.
Cheese curds are getting way too salty and expensive.
The French Fries are fantastic as always.
Same with the Corn Dogs.
Same with Pronto Pups.
I'll bring my own water bottle next year, the only drinking fountain I could find was in the grandstand exhibition area.
As usual, the roasted corn was the best thing there.

Valleyfair:

90 degrees is right on the verge of TOO WARM.
The High roller is getting a bit too bumpy to be comfortable.
Evidently Wild Thing is now a second tier ride, the lines were almost non-existent for it.
Renegade is the best coaster in the state. Probably in the Dakotas, Wisconsin and Iowa as well.
They are rebuilding the bumper cars, I wonder what they are planning...
Valleyfair corn is a major letdown after state fair corn.
Renegade is my currect favorite roller coaster of all time. Did I mention that it is fantastic?

RenFest shall be cataloged in the coming weeks.

How would the U.S. military fight attack by a zombie army?

2008-08-29T10:09:00.001-05:00

From the Straight Dope, a funny Mythbusters-esque Q and A pre-blog:

"We need to understand the zombie threat before we can formulate a practical plan for combating it. A review of zombie movies tells us they have the following common characteristics: they're generally slow, stupid, and unaffected by bodily damage, they don't have working circulatory or respiratory tracts, they're not fazed by heat or cold, they can't drown, and their thought processes are degraded to the point that shock and awe don't have an appreciable psychological effect. This leaves you with basically three options: immobilize them and leave them to rot, decapitate them or destroy their brains (they apparently do still have central nervous systems, demonstrating that even a modicum of intelligence can be a fatal flaw), or obliterate them entirely.

Read the rest here, it's pretty entertaining.

Xbox gets political

2008-08-26T10:29:00.002-05:00

Not partisan, mind you, but Microsoft has teamed up with Rock the Vote to provide voter registration services on the Xbox, as well as surveys and debate groups.

Cool.

While it won't flip the apathy of my generation around and make kids come out to vote in droves, it is a step in the right direction. The political process needs this type of incursion, making everything slightly more accessible and appealing to folks of all age groups. The arcane system is slowly being disassembled, and hopefully in the moderately near future, registration and voting will be as easy as ordering a package on Amazon.

My only misgiving is that I know how aggravating the Xbox can be if one does not have a keyboard hooked up to it, so I'm not sure how much traffic this new feature will get.

Space, the final frontier.

2008-08-22T12:27:00.002-05:00

So, Google doesn't even care. They do what they want. If they want to own the internet, they just do it. Who's gonna stop them?

This is why Google should build their own space-station in Earth orbit.

They funded their own Lunar X-prize (30 Million dollars, w00t!), but really, someone needs to just take the reins of this trotting buckskin and bring it up to a full gallop.

I get the idea of having these "prizes" for free-market competition, but it doesn't generate lasting industries, or, it hasn't yet. I've given up hope for the governments of the world to make any more bold strides out into space, the leaps of the 60s and 70s have faded away completely, and we have stopped walking essentially right outside our door.

A trip to Mars is nice, but really quite useless. Our trips to the moon were good proof of concept stuff, but again, useless beyond stress testing technologies that are well past their second and third generation.

What is really needed for space development is a concerted effort to get a industrial base in orbit. As soon as we can build a durable way-station around earth, the rest of the solar-system gets opened up. This is where Google can invest. They are geniuses at pushing and predicting innovation, here's their chance to start their very own second boom! If they develop the infrastructure for making space development feasible on a regular basis, they will be set up to be the first truly inter-planetary entity.

A large investment, to be sure, but it seems like no-one else is doing anything about it, and Google is just crazy enough to make it work. The International Space Station is bogged down in typical fragile government funding and international squabbling. Google's orbiting platform would be a business venture, aimed at long-lasting impact, construction, and development of extra-planetary resources.

Screw all of this touchy-feely astronaut with a camera stuff, we get that, the Earth is a pretty blue ball. What we need out there is a group of tough folks in heavy-duty spacesuits with fusion welders, building a huge cargo ship that is gonna go out to the asteroid belt and pull back a huge hunk of iron.

OMG STFU

2008-08-19T19:29:00.000-05:00

9 Nine Shane Acker Short Animation
Uploaded by FrFKmeron

FINALLY! It is back!

2008-08-15T15:39:00.001-05:00

'Sup.

2008-08-14T10:31:00.001-05:00

One of the best test videos ever.

2008-08-13T13:42:00.001-05:00

Home Movie from katman on Vimeo.

Geographical IQ Test!

2008-08-11T10:00:00.005-05:00

Fun little flash quiz thinghy. Beat 246,608; that's what I got.

This Traveler IQ challenge compares your geographical knowledge against the World's First Travel Blog's other 2,926,857 travelers who have taken this challenge as of Monday, August 11, 2008 at 03:00PM GMT. (TravelPod is a member of the TripAdvisor Media Network)

The Energy Plan:

2008-08-06T11:02:00.004-05:00

Yes, I am learning more than ever with this campaign that I lean heavily to the Left. Obama's energy plan is making me all giddy.

Increase Fuel Economy Standards: Obama will increase fuel economy standards 4 percent per each year while protecting the financial future of domestic automakers....

Invest in Developing Advanced Vehicles and Put 1 Million Plugin Electric Vehicles on the Road by 2015: As a U.S. senator, Barack Obama has led efforts to jumpstart federal investment in advanced vehicles, including combined plug‐in hybrid/flexible fuel vehicles, which can get over 150 miles per gallon of gas...

Partner with Domestic Automakers: Obama will also provide $4 billion retooling tax credits and loan guarantees for domestic auto plants and parts manufacturers, so that the new fuel‐efficient cars can be built in the U.S. by American workers rather than overseas.

Mandate All New Vehicles are Flexible Fuel Vehicles

Develop the Next Generation of Sustainable Biofuels and Infrastructure

Establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard: ... The standard requires fuels suppliers in 2010 to begin to reduce the carbon of their fuel by 5 percent within 5 years and 10 percent within 10 years.

Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy Source--Energy Efficiency: Barack Obama will set an aggressive energy efficiency goal--to reduce electricity demand 15 percent from DOE's projected levels by 2020. Implementing this program will save consumers a total of $130 billion, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 5 billion tons through 2030, and create jobs. A portion of this goal would be met by setting annual demand reduction targets that utilities would need to meet.

Set National Building Efficiency Goals: Obama will establish a goal of making all new buildings carbon neutral, or produce zero emissions, by 2030. He'll also establish a national goal of improving new building efficiency by 50 percent and existing building efficiency by 25 percent over the next decade to help us meet the 2030 goal.

Overhaul Federal Efficiency Standards: The current Department of Energy has missed 34 deadlines for setting updated appliance efficiency standards....

Reduce Federal Energy Consumption: ... He will make the federal government a leader in the green building market, achieving a 40 percent increase in efficiency in all new federal buildings within five years and ensuring that all new federal buildings are zero‐emissions by 2025. He will invest in cost‐effective retrofits to achieve a 25 percent increase in efficiency of existing federal buildings within 5 years.

Invest in a Smart Grid: ... Obama will pursue a major investment in our national utility grid using smart metering, distributed storage and other advanced technologies to accommodate 21st century energy requirements: greatly improved electric grid reliability and security, a tremendous increase in renewable generation and greater customer choice and energy affordability.

Weatherize One Million Homes Annually....

Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities....

Flip Incentives to Energy Utilities: An Obama administration will "flip" incentives to utility companies by: requiring states to conduct proceedings to implement incentive changes; and offering them targeted technical assistance. These measures will benefit utilities for improving energy efficiency, rather than just from supporting higher energy consumption. This "regulatory equity" starts with the decoupling of profits from increased energy usage, which will incentivize utilities to partner with consumers and the federal and state governments to reduce monthly energy bills for families and businesses. The federal government under an Obama administration will play an important and positive role in flipping the profit model for the utility sector so that shareholder profit is based on reliability and performance as opposed to total production.

Require 10 Percent of Electricity to Come from Renewable Sources by 2012 [and 25 percent by 2025]. Barack Obama will establish a 10 percent federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to require that 10 percent of electricity consumed in the U.S. is derived from clean, sustainable energy sources, like solar, wind and geothermal by 2012. Many states are already well on their way to achieving statewide goals and it's time for the federal government to provide leadership for the entire country to support these new industries. This national requirement will spur significant private sector investment in renewable sources of energy and create thousands of new American jobs, especially in rural areas. And Obama will also extend the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) for 5 years to encourage the production of renewable energy.

Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology....

Safe and Secure Nuclear Energy: ... It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power as an option. However, before an expansion of nuclear power is considered, key issues must be addressed including: security of nuclear fuel and waste, waste storage, and proliferation.... As president, Obama will make safeguarding nuclear material both abroad and in the U.S. a top anti‐terrorism priority. In terms of waste storage, Obama does not believe that Yucca Mountain is a suitable site. He will lead federal efforts to look for safe, long‐term disposal solutions based on objective, scientific analysis. In the meantime, Obama will develop requirements to ensure that the waste stored at current reactor sites is contained using the most advanced dry‐cask storage technology available.

Implement an economy‐wide cap‐and‐trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Invest In A Clean Energy Economy and Help Create 5 Million New Green Jobs. Obama will strategically invest $150 billion over 10 years...

As president, Obama will continue this leadership by investing in advanced vehicle technology with a specific focus on R&D in advanced battery technology. The increased federal funding will leverage private sector funds and support our domestic automakers to bring plug‐in hybrids and other advanced vehicles to American consumers. Obama will also provide a $7,000 tax credit for the purchase of advanced technology vehicles as well as conversion tax credits. And to help create a market and show government leadership in purchasing highly efficient cars, an Obama administration will commit to:
Within one year of becoming President, the entire White House fleet will be converted to plug‐ins as security permits; and
Half of all cars purchased by the federal government will be plug‐in hybrids or all‐electric by 2012.

Emergence

2008-08-04T13:05:00.008-05:00

Real Art! Check it out:

Emergence

A great grey dystopian After Effects video. Really top notch.

Disillusionment.

2008-07-30T14:59:00.003-05:00

It turns out that one of my favorite authors is a complete douchebag.

"The first and greatest threat from court decisions in California and Massachusetts, giving legal recognition to "gay marriage," is that it marks the end of democracy in America."

Holy crap.

I had a feeling when I read the synopsis of his new book Empire that he leaned pretty heavily to the right (it's a book about an extreme leftist army killing the president and starting a new civil war), but now I see just how much he has deviated from my perception of him.

Most conservatives I can deal with, as long as they are intelligent, moderate, and willing to debate civilly. When people start throwing assertions of their superior morality, that's when I tune them out. Card has just fallen off my radar. It's sad when someone that you have looked up to turns out to be a cretin, or in this case a homophobe.

On the bright side, we still have a bunch of fantastic books from him, back from the days when he wasn't campaigning against gay rights. Perhaps I can call this phenomenon "Michael Chrichton Disorder."

Carl Sagan, Redux.

2008-07-28T10:23:00.001-05:00

DocPop is on BoingBoing

2008-07-22T12:31:00.003-05:00

I don't know DocPop too well, mainly through Josh, but boy was I surprised to see him on this post at BoingBoing.net.

Small world.

Dawn of war 2

2008-07-21T16:13:00.003-05:00

Lots of spectacular Dawn of War II footage here. Well, not lots, but about a minute's worth, which is enough to get me very excited.

Dawn of War has been a staple of recent LAN parties, so I've been immersed in it for quite awhile now. The sequel looks to be taking a excellent direction. Destructible landscapes, better and more custom animation, and some of the most amazing blast/bullet rendering that I have ever seen.

I'll add it to the list of amazing things coming out in the near future.

Great news for my peace of mind

2008-07-15T14:29:00.002-05:00

I have often said that Thomson is a great place to work, and a pretty darn acceptable work environment (we get free coffee, milk, and pop to drink while we play Mario Kart on our Wii). I have also often said, however, that I cannot stand the commuter lifestyle, and the corporate games that go with my job here. I'm not ungrateful for what this company has tried to do in order to make me feel comfortable (the only dress code is that we can't wear shorts), but they can't hide the fact that they are a huge organization, and that I am a very small part of it in a cubicle next to the production facility. I still can't wait to get out of here at the end of the day, to go home and relax.

So, great news!

The manager of my "team" is piloting a telecommuting program this Autumn! If it goes well, it likely won't be available for a couple of years, but the fact that they are moving in that direction is really great for my sanity's future prospects. I've told many people that I would likely be at Thomson for good if they offered some kind of flex time or telecommuting option. Well, I might get the chance to try my own words on for size.

They'd have a hard time keeping me at work full-time anyway once there are little Leisticos and/or a puppy running around the house.

The Lilypad

2008-07-14T12:24:00.002-05:00

This is possibly the coolest thing that I have seen in a year or more.

It is called the "Lilypad," and it is the most awesome futuristic floating town that I have ever seen. Designed as a concept to house "climate change refugees," this floating city is meant to provide living area for 2100+ people in a sustainable and energy-neutral fashion. It boasts a central freshwater lake, generated from either desalinized seawater or rainfall, surrounded by vegetation. Around that lake are residences, businesses, and light industry. Three marinas provide easy access to the Lilypad, and something of a negative tower projects down into the water for a fantastic view of the sea from below. It generates far more energy than it would need, making use of tidal, wind, and solar power sources that are abundant on the oceans.

Who cares, though? Look at the design! It looks like a futurist's brain exploded to create this thing! The architect says that it was modeled after a lilypad found in the amazon, which is nice, but really, it is better described as a sci-fi buff's wet dream.

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Absolute must have mods for Skyrim.

Ninjagoing Somewhere

Starting 2012

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What it means to me:

Transparent carbon nanotubes for cheap, flexible solar cells

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Welcome to the genomic revolution

What it means to me:

I'll just leave this here.

Amazing Swiss Underground Home

Just... look:

Read more about it at Trendir.com

On Productivity

What is the system?

The Money Game

Let's play!

$1

$10

$100

$1,000

$10,000

$100,000

$1,000,000

$10,000,000

Regarding Convertibles

However:

Snazzy, yeah?

OOOH - NEAT!

http://www.jmbamboo.com/home.htm

Underground House!

I have about four too many blogs.

Oh funny day!

Ahhh, Maxis.

Regarding Money

Wah-shing Machine

Starcraft II impressions!

Starcraft II

Starcraft II Campaign Footage

Flash Game Friday

Planning for the Zombie Apocalypse

Flight Director

Lego Universe Preview

Lego Universe

Regarding Legos

Google Has the Best Sense of Humor:

Must... blog...

Hee hee!

Adam in 50 Years

On the merits of organization:

I jumped out of a plane.

Jesus Effing Christ, Hells Yes.

999 Hoyt!

Adam on MPR

I want this in my basement

I am featured!

Experiment: Part Deux.

Experiment

Stunning

Why I liked the BSG Finale

The Beard Song

Andy Richter wins.

Hack! Hack!

The Credit Crisis Visualized

Overtime Taxes.

Friday Top 5: Home Styles

Home Styles

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Busy busy.

Mr. President

A Tough Choice

OR

I could see myself in one.

The Five-Car Garage.

AKA: "Top 5 Cars I'd actually use"

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