Grant's Blog Archive

03 July 2009 13:46:31 EDT

Should be playing a game of Battlestar:Galactica today.

02 July 2009 18:36:08 EDT

PHONE: Just got 27 miles to the gallon.

02 July 2009 10:13:10 EDT

Still alive, just busy.

26 June 2009 23:06:18 EDT

Testing.

26 June 2009 14:50:48 EDT

PHONE: Generally, if someone can't communicate through their slides, it's a rare individual that does a better job speaking about them in person. Not impossible, but rare.

26 June 2009 12:26:43 EDT

PHONE: We have decided to try going without the DVR. I will hook up the VCR as a backup, but for the most part we will get our TV shows from Netflix, Amazon and occasionally Hulu or Fancast. We get digital cable through our apartment/condo complex and will now only pay Comcast for Internet.

25 June 2009 23:23:41 EDT

So the SO is coming home soon and I know I only have a moment for video games. I fire up the Genesis and, while any of the older games are short, I want to talk about full-motion video, or FMV. I fired up Double Switch, an early game that allowed you to switch from camera to camera and trigger traps like the classic Night Trap.

There are some obvious points to criticize about the design. Like Dragon's Lair, it's basically a memorization game, where you have to know the sequence of camera swtiches.

But it has its virtues. The same charge can be leveled at Adventure games, which somehow survive. Even the classically difficult games like Defender can go on for a long time if you're good. But no matter how good you are at Double Switch, a game will last no more than about 15 minutes.

Our high-polygon rendering has not yet given us a better picture than full-motion video. Perhaps a multi-camera setup can bring the medium back, rendering a human at enough angles to fool the eye.

25 June 2009 14:26:59 EDT

Just found out that I have to buy an air conditioner today for my renter. I believe that was the last big item on my list. I published a book, got my teeth whitened and now I'm getting a more efficient air conditioner with a ten year warranty, even if I can't enjoy the benefits myself. I guess the next big thing is tuition.

24 June 2009 15:25:48 EDT

Ready for my first exam on Friday. After that, class gets tougher. I'm about to get into the part of the book I haven't read. Will need to set aside more time for studying.

24 June 2009 14:00:11 EDT

For those of you in Houston who can't make it to Origins, check out Apollocon.

24 June 2009 10:58:31 EDT

Was able to work out and power-nap before going to work this morning. I feel more alert than usual.

24 June 2009 09:48:39 EDT

A shout out to everyone going to Origins this weekend. Wish I could be there.

24 June 2009 09:16:39 EDT

A night packed with gaming and Netflix watching. SO and I engaged in epic duel of Dr. Mario. Then we watched Quantum of Solace (OK) and Shaolin Soccer (how did I not see this sooner?)

23 June 2009 12:03:26 EDT

Learning about parameters (Goto/From) in Simulink.

22 June 2009 14:45:05 EDT

Spent Sunday getting ready for the games I'm running at GenCon by sitting them all out and "playing" them briefly. For me, the point of running at GenCon is to get committed players for the overlooked gems in my collection.

First up was Grey Ranks. I stepped through the scene summary to make sure I understood the mechanics. Rather than the suggestions in the book, I decided to run chapters 3, 6, and 9. The difficulty looks about right and it will cover the highlights of the Warsaw uprising from its beginning, middle, and bitter end. I see a lot of rerolling here and will need to purchase five twelve-sided dice. I photocopied one rules summary for each player and one copy of the Reputation and Thing You Hold Dear rules, as well as the scene elements chapter. Although the book specifically states that you don't have to use the scene elements, some people will insist and this keeps them from holding the book all the time.

Next up was Diceland. I sent some Lightspeed, then Terran/Lightspeed, fighters up against an Ogre Mark III. I think I'll have to ban the Ogre in the name of an interesting game; there are few tactical options when playing the Ogre and if it's me against one other person, I want an interesting stand-up fight. If it turns out to be multiplayer, I don't even know how you implement the Command Post rules. If everyone gets a shot at the Ogre in their turn, it won't last long with or without Command Posts. But as it is, there is still only one ticket sold, so sign up: event NMN0900387.

Finally, the Star Wars Collectible Card Game from Decipher back in 1995. I made up a pair of decks with only - I think - Common Premiere cards. It took some time to get back up to speed on how to play, but I think I can get through it. I wonder if people will insist on sleeving them before play; if they do, it's going to have to come out of their trading time or they can skip the first round.

22 June 2009 09:00:23 EDT

Forgot my phone again. No email.

19 June 2009 13:59:52 EDT

Looks like a game of PE for tomorrow.

19 June 2009 12:32:48 EDT

So I was in Best Buy yesterday, pondering a purchase of Mirror's Edge. I didn't buy it, which I reveal first because it isn't the point. When I showed it to the SO, she noticed that it was for the PS3 and said, "so you wiggle sticks and push buttons to play it, right? You don't actually run around."

So we ended up purchasing an exercise mat and heart monitor for the Wii Fit. To her, the Wii is the serious machine and the PS3 is the toy. Whereas to a gamer, the PS3 is the serious machine and the Wii is the toy.

17 June 2009 14:20:22 EDT

Trying to work out on campus yesterday was an epic fail. For now, I plan to work out with EA Sports Active and continue to record my activity on the Wii Fit. Active doesn't weigh you and I already have so much data stored on the Fit. Hopefully they will come up with a way to migrate that data somewhere. An assistant on the DS would be nice.

17 June 2009 10:36:05 EDT

Watched the last three hours of Harper's Island last night, catching up to this Saturday.

16 June 2009 11:44:03 EDT

So Wired's Chris Anderson says that everything digital will be free, based on the assumption that the price drops to zero as the marginal cost drops to zero. I have to take issue with this idea.

First of all, the marginal cost of producing something digital is not zero when a person's time is taken into account. Time spent writing online is time that could be spent either working, looking for work or enjoying leisure time. Yes, some people will enjoy writing for free, but that content will be unreliable and, by definition, amateur.

Second, there is reason to spend money on digital content because money is just as ephemeral as digital content. As the Federal Reserve buys US Treasuries, it is in effect printing money to get it flowing into the system. This is fiat money, not backed by gold or silver. We use it as a convenient medium of exchange to keep the global economy humming. Most of the money I spend is already digital. With money and content existing at the same level of reality, there is no reason not to exchange one for the other.

16 June 2009 10:07:34 EDT

Completely blew off studying last night to watch 3 more episodes of Harper's Island with SO.

15 June 2009 14:01:07 EDT

Caught 3 episodes of Harper's Island on streaming Netflix this weekend. Was pretty good. Also watched a DVD called Planetes, which we both enjoyed.

15 June 2009 09:15:50 EDT

A very productive weekend. Saw the Terra Cotta Warriors at the Museum of Natural Science. Saw Terminator:Salvation, which was fun but not something to add to the DVD library. Played some video games, finally. Finished one chapter in Finance and started the next. Had dinner with friends, where we watched some Doctor Who. Didn't get the frames hung up or the garbage disposal installed.

11 June 2009 09:51:03 EDT

A cardinal rule of buying media from the cloud is not to pay until you're ready to play. Never buy something in anticipation of watching it later in the evening. Make sure that the SO is on board with your plans. The only exception is for package discounts (e.g. an entire season of a TV show) that you want for your library.

This kind of 'just-in-time' purchasing can be applied to all kinds of consumption, but is especially applicable to video and books on demand because there is no cost overhead (gasoline, for instance) and no extra time of shipping or travelling to the store. I live across the street from a supermarket and am happy to wait until I run out of something before running over to get it. The only thing I like about bulk shopping at Costco is that they have Mexican Coca-cola.

10 June 2009 09:14:36 EDT

For some reason, YouTube is no longer blocked at work. I can't wrap my head around that. I stay away from video sites on general principle, but YouTube seems like it would be one of the all time time-wasters.

10 June 2009 08:43:11 EDT

Started using the Active for the Wii last night and this morning. I was able to work up a sweat, something I usually couldn't do with the Wii Fit. Had a little trouble detecting my movements on the second run, and running harder to please it was a mistake. Seems like a serious fitness program, even on the Easy setting. I'll keep track of my workouts in both the Fit and the Active for now, see how it goes. I am also enrolled at the Fitness Center at school, so I can try to get over there.

09 June 2009 11:00:37 EDT

Went to Wal-Mart to pick up a hanging shoe rack and a set of suit hangers. I hang them from the wire mesh ceiling of my storage unit and use them to store DVDs and computer games. Did you know that 2 Liter bottles are only a dollar there?

09 June 2009 10:58:47 EDT

On the way to work this morning, picked up EA Sports Active for the Wii at Wal Mart.

09 June 2009 10:40:44 EDT

My Star Wars CCG event at GenCon sold out! Yay! Now if only Diceland would fill up.

09 June 2009 09:24:57 EDT

Update to yesterday; found a couple more books in my library.

Hero System

Vertical Jump: 1 meter
Horizontal Jump: 2 meters
Run: 4 meters/second
Augmentation: 1 character point (a pittance) adds another meter to your vertical, 2 to horizontal. Every 2 points improves your run by one sixth. May also buy Speed at 10 points each (starts at 2) to increase your Phases in a turn. And, of course, Hero System has a Flight superpower that would break everything.
Variability: Push your movement for 1 Phase by spending Endurance equal to the character points above.

Tri-Stat

Vertical Jump: 2 meters
Horizontal Jump: 4 meters
Run: 4.8 meters/second
Variability: none

Augmentation: For jumping, not a thing. For Running, each point of Body over the base of 4 increases your run by 25%.

So we have two systems with no variation in running and jumping. That might actually work for a carefully-constructed map.

08 June 2009 17:44:07 EDT

So after Mirror's Edge came out, I wondered what it would take to run a parkour RPG, where the map used the height dimension instead of both length and width. It would be like Super Mario Bros!

This got me to thinking about how various RPGs on the market handled the moves necessary for this game: Vertical Jump, Horizontal Jump, and Running. I decided to find out:

What an average human could do
How much variation there was
What a character could purchase to improve their distances

I checked several 'full-featured' RPGs in my library to see what their rules were. I found them in GURPS, Dungeons and Dragons, TORG, and Shadowrun.

GURPS, DD and Shadowrun all have a rule that your jump is halved unless you take some time to prepare. The Horizontal numbers below all assume running jumps.

GURPS

Vertical Jump: 20 inches
Horizontal Jump: 7 feet
Run: 15 feet/second
Variation: One can try Extra Effort, a roll of 3d6 with a base of 10 or less, -1 for each Fatigue point and, more importantly, -1 for each additional 5% of distance. So variation will be minimal and costly.

Improvement: 5 points (2% of a typical starting character's) gets you an extra point of Move, good for 6 inches vertical, 2 feet horizontal and an extra 3 feet/second of run. You could buy up your Will, but that seems inefficient. There is a super power that doubles your move per 10 points, but that would quickly break the game.

TORG

Vertical Jump: no rules. I would say 1 meter (typical DEX minus 8) or 39 inches.
Horizontal Jump: 4 meters (13 feet).
Run: 4 meters per second.
Variation: Called Speed Push. With a base difficulty of 8 and a minimum +1 bonus, you are guaranteed a 50% bump and maybe 150%. But there is a heavy cost in fatigue unless you roll high (which is easy for player characters, but I'm analyzing baseline humans).

Improvement: A higher Running or Jumping score can reduce fatigue on a push, but nothing improves your basic movement.

Note also the lack of granularity: you either get a 50% bump or 150%, nothing else.

TORG and GURPS also have rules for long-distance running. An average GURPS human should last 300 seconds but could go on forever. A TORG human can last 400 meters, or 100 seconds, and then have a bit of discontinuity where they have to wait 150 seconds and thereafter must run at 1.5 meters per second.

Dungeons and Dragons, 4th Edition

Vertical Jump: twenty-sided die divided by 5 feet, round down. Average is 20 inches, standard deviation is 15 inches .
Horizontal Jump: one twenty-sided die roll in feet. Average is 10.5, standard deviation is 6.9 .
Run: 6.67 feet/second.
Variation: quite a bit, as noted above. No variation at all in running.

Improvement: For jumping, add half your character's level and half their Strength over 10 to the 20-sided die roll. Add +5 if they choose the Athletics skill.

For running, almost nothing. Elves run a bit faster and Dwarves run a bit slower. There is a level 10 Ranger Utility that bumps it up to 10 feet per second, then a smaller bump at level 16. Movement rate is a carefully regulated thing for the benefit of dungeon design. The variability in jumping, on the other hand, will result in a lot of short falls and bruises.

Shadowrun

Vertical Jump: A bit of a GM fiat, caused by lack of granularity (see Variation). Average is 27.7 inches on a free jump, but actual is either 0 or 1 meter. Also if you are aiming for a specific target, it's more like 19 inches.
Horizontal Jump: 2 meters (6.6 feet).
Run: 25 feet/second
Variation: Here's the thing: you are rolling 3 dice, the average Human Agility. For jumping, you need one of them to be a 5 or 6 or else you don't jump at all. Running is steadier; each 5 or 6 gives you a boost of 2 feet per second.

Improvement: Great room for improvement. Agility can be doubled to 6 (or higher, through magic and technology) and the Gymnastics skill gives more dice to roll. Maximum jump distance doubles along with Agility.

Conclusion

So which system should you use? Probably none. In a platforming video game, the thrill comes from knowing that you timed the jump just right to make it to the next platform. In a pen-and-paper game, that thrill goes to a die roll and you feel ripped off when it goes bad. Also, a lot of the excitement of parkour comes from intimate knowledge of the course, something that would have to come from letting the players scrutinize the map for a long, boring time. In a new environment, you would have a lot of falls without the restarts of a video game. Also, if the game is set in one static environment and the players know it's a parkour game, then they can all specialize in the skill (or Move, for GURPS) and there is no variety. Overall, it looks like you would need to design the game from the ground up (so to speak).

02 June 2009 12:07:16 EDT

If all new shows next season are available on Amazon/Netflix, we are considering getting rid of the DVR. We would buy shows one at a time at the moment we were about to watch them. I would have to set up the VCR again for a few shows.

02 June 2009 10:32:06 EDT

Modern software developers create computer programs by drawing pictures. I work with two such tools at the moment: Mathworks Simulink and Telelogic Rhapsody.

Simulink gives you a menu of boxes with inputs you connect to outputs. With the Embedded Real-Time Workshop, you can generate C code from this system of connected boxes.

Rhapsody creates documents in the Unified Modeling Language (UML), a series of diagram formats used to describe a system (not necessarily a computer program). One of these diagrams, the Class Diagram, can be used to generate C++ code.

At work, we are on the edge of this new way to write programs. When computers were first invented, programs were written in a binary (or even analog) form, and the transition to human-readable languages such as C and C++ probably provoked great skepticism. Today, C/C++ (called source)are the trusted forms of software and the generated code is meticulously examined for quality. In a generation, we will be comfortable with the diagrams and reading the C++ code will be as unusual as reading the machine language is today.

That doesn't meand that you can ignore the source. A competent engineer knows how all of his tools operate and can dig into the fundamentals when necessary. In college, you learn how electrical signals feed into magnetic gateways, into truth tables, into binary commands, into parsed languages, and now into diagrams. It all builds up into a new way of unlocking productivity and empowering creativity.

02 June 2009 10:11:18 EDT

Testing.

I seem to have mis-coded last week, stripping out tags before posting the message. I was concerned that stripslashes would take out the backslashes, so I stripped tags first. Seems to work now.

02 June 2009 10:07:53 EDT

Those of you who follow this site know that I don't talk about work on it. It is not out of a concern that I will reveal company information. I will say that if I didn't like my job, I wouldn't complain about it here. Conversely, if I have good things to say about work, I will say them here.

01 June 2009 13:51:55 EDT

I don't think I have mentioned this: I have renewed my subscription to the Economist since I am back in school. They give a good discount for students. To me, the web site (most of which is subscription-only), magazine, and podcasts are three separate products which happen to be bundled together. I use all three as time permits. For instance, this weekend I got to finish the magazine flying to and from Philadelphia. When I started, I would download their entire podcast for my workout, though lately I have been reading the magazine online. I would pay separately for each of these media, just as I do for RPGs. I don't see a moral imperative to bundle all three media together, though there is certainly a fiscal imperative not to give it all away for free in the web browser.

01 June 2009 13:42:28 EDT

Note to Sony: Get in the cloud! All you have to do is make PS3 downloadable content re-downloadable.

01 June 2009 13:10:00 EDT

I think that I, like many others, want to establish a presence on the Internet as an affirmation of my own identity. In a world where so many people trust you on the basis of your password, your Social Security number, your driver's license, and especially your credit/debit card numbers, I want to leave a lasting impression that humans will identify me with. If someone stole my social networking password, I want people to be skeptical of what they read, and for a couple of people to ring me up for confirmation. Credit card companies monitor your spending patterns and use this to keep an eye out for fraudulent use; an impersonal profile, but a useful one nonetheless. Giving my shopping and browsing preferences to Amazon and Netflix allow me to visit the site and feel that the site recognizes me, though in those cases there is a schizophrenic identity made up of me and my SO. All of this comes together so that one tries to leave a footprint in the ephemeral digital world. Is it futile? Perhaps. But it speaks to a human need out there.

01 June 2009 09:22:06 EDT

Visited Philadelphia and Gettysburg this weekend. Visited Independence Hall where they had first printings of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Saw the Liberty Bell. Visited the U.S. Mint, but didn't have time to get to the Federal Reserve. Visited the Betsy Ross house and Christ Church cemetery, gravesites of Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush. We were in a hurry to and from Gettysburg, but I visited the National Cemetery and the site of the Gettysburg Address. SO saw an Amish person; I only saw the top of a horse-drawn carriage. Saw some houses that looked very simple but brand new. Stayed at the Westin thanks to Priceline; that place is amazing. Downtown shuts down at 7 PM. Drove through a lot of neighborhoods that prosperity has forgotten. While picking up breakfast on Sunday Morning, drove by the site of a mini-riot about five hours before.

28 May 2009 16:20:02 EDT

So I wrote this web page for an online grocery list. SO and I could update it at work, then I could check it at the store. SO was thoroughly unimpressed and project is shelved. It's no good unless both of us use it. This morning, I noticed how quickly I could jot down an item on paper with pen. She's right, pen and paper wins hands down.

27 May 2009 16:20:29 EDT

Made an overdue change to the style of my web site.

27 May 2009 14:56:28 EDT

Testing some code.

27 May 2009 11:20:22 EDT

I feel thin today. I am most certainly not thin, but somehow I feel it today. I cleaned out my fanny pack, but that shouldn't make a big difference.

26 May 2009 10:03:41 EDT

Whatever kind of RPGs you like, check out Colonial Gothic:Elizabethtown before someone comes to their senses and charges what it's worth.

22 May 2009 15:15:17 EDT

PHONE: The new Polk County rest stop is very nice.

21 May 2009 16:13:08 EDT

Fewer credit card applications in the mail? Don't tease.

21 May 2009 12:10:41 EDT

Testing some changes. I've changed the code to strip slashes before sending to Twitter.

21 May 2009 12:03:01 EDT

If you're using your Twitter feed as a link dump from your web site, then I'll head over to the site and see if I like the content consistently. If so, then I'll add it to my recurring links. If not, I don't. Either way, I don't generally follow Twitter feeds that are nothing but link dumps. Note how I summarize these blog posts on Twitter/Facebook but don't link back to them.

21 May 2009 10:18:31 EDT

SO has rediscovered 'The Legend of Kage' on WiiWare. Calls it 'Cage'.

20 May 2009 15:19:27 EDT

I knew I would be hungry again after eating at China Star. The other guys like eating there. But I bring more than half of it home, which makes Minerva happy.

19 May 2009 16:17:25 EDT

It is such a gorgeous day outside, I wish I could work out at the picnic table all day.

18 May 2009 22:56:19 EDT

Remarkable. I find myself wishing that the Wii was capable of windowing.

18 May 2009 22:35:43 EDT

Removed the forum from plumbagolounge.com. The game didn't generate enough interest to require a forum and it represents a security risk to the site. I'm happy to answer any questions people have about the game, Secrets and Lies.

18 May 2009 16:14:47 EDT

It's gaming madness at the Davis household. Check out my Now Playing list. I am actually playing all these games, and the SO is positively addicted to the Wii ones (except Wii Fit; that's all me).

18 May 2009 13:24:36 EDT

Reading ahead on Finance for summer school.

18 May 2009 10:22:53 EDT

From MediaWeek: Chuck has been renewed by NBC!

15 May 2009 22:37:42 EDT

WII: SO is kicking my butt at Dr. Mario Online.

14 May 2009 10:28:12 EDT

So in the dentist's chair yesterday I started a game of Civiliation: Revolution on the DS. Stayed up way too late last night finishing it.

I love that they were able to cram this incredibly deep, complex game onto a device you can carry around, but I do have one nit to pick. If I had never heard of Civilization, this game would probably lose my interest before I got out of the Medieval Age. The PS3 version, on the other hand, has enough artistic and narrative assets (even without Leonard Nimoy) to draw you in and keep you entertained.

13 May 2009 21:47:33 EDT

WII: Showing my web site to Jon.

13 May 2009 15:47:47 EDT

Quote of the day: 'If you don�t cannibalize yourself, somebody else will do it for you'. link

13 May 2009 09:08:22 EDT

Getting my teeth whitened today. When I told the guys I have lunch with, they moved the time so that I could make it. So now I'll have to make up three and a half hours. I can cover two hours today and the rest tomorrow.

11 May 2009 10:55:57 EDT

Missed the start of sumo this weekend, but will try to catch the replays daily.

11 May 2009 10:50:49 EDT

PHONE: Reconnected the PS2 and Genesis. Finally got to play Sewer Shark.

08 May 2009 10:02:38 EDT

Saw Star Trek last night. An amazing weave of old continuity with new vigor.

07 May 2009 12:06:09 EDT

I haven't read the novels, but several of my friends have: HBO is set to produce a Game of Thrones: http://bit.ly/pHSC7

07 May 2009 09:12:05 EDT

Strange exchange last night. I, the geek, am excited about the new high-action Star Trek movie, which we have tickets for in IMAX tonight. The SO, the normal one, thinks it won't be cerebral enough. She's also trying to wrangle a showing of 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past' out of this.

05 May 2009 21:58:10 EDT

PHONE: Just played a great card game called Dominion. Reminds me of Puerto Rico in that you buy buildings for incremenal advantages that spiral into great advantage at the end of the game.

05 May 2009 11:28:21 EDT

Podcasts in my queue: 2d6 feet, Independent Insurgency, Have Games Will Travel, Walking Eye, Pulp Gamer, Podge Cast, THACO, Yaruki Zero.

05 May 2009 11:18:08 EDT

Twitter is just a way station on a path to ubiquitous online identity. There will be more applications that send a tweet, usually branded, as you do something else. Actual composed tweets will decline to a minority.

Web 2.0 has failed to monetize user-generated content. Data miners have plenty of access to open information without having to cut deals with the providers. Expect a shakeout followed by either ad-based or microtransaction models. And expect GrantDavis.net to still be around.

05 May 2009 11:00:46 EDT

I could spend a lot of money on Amazon's new video on demand. On the exact same device (Roku), I have a queue of free shows (Netflix) and a couple of purchased shows (Amazon). Despite my backlog of free video, I am still compelled to shop for new video. Overall, the pay video is newer, selection is wider and I can browse from the Roku rather than the computer.

UPDATE: Have I mentioned 30 Rock? SO is big fan of 30 Rock now thanks to streaming Netflix.

04 May 2009 18:05:03 EDT

Plane Ticket to Chicago: $100. Ticket to Madison: $500.

04 May 2009 09:35:20 EDT

Saw The Soloist on Friday; loved it. Got tickets for Star Trek in IMAX on Thursday.

01 May 2009 17:16:49 EDT

WII: SO and I enjoying Defend Your Castle.

01 May 2009 13:06:40 EDT

To all my pals on Facebook: I can't respond because FB is blocked at work. But I do get e-mail notifications. Thanks.

01 May 2009 10:49:53 EDT

My vacation time is now a scarce resource. I don't think there will be enough for the travelling I want to do this year. Plus, my workplace takes the whole week off for Christmas but my contract shop does not.

30 April 2009 23:51:27 EDT

Now I should be able to post from grantdavis.net, to twitter, to Facebook.

30 April 2009 09:51:19 EDT

Scored a copy of Dawn Patrol at Half Price Books. Slight damage to the box and the map is missing, though any square grid should do for air combat. Looks like a solid game; I see why it has remained popular for so long.

29 April 2009 13:55:38 EDT

So I've been playing Star Trek: Conquest again, and I want to write something about the review I gave it. I till stand by the score of 6.5, but that doesn't mean that a 6.5 game can't be fun. The game is still strategically shallow and the lack of multiplayer is just unforgivable, but I had some epic battles for the Alpha Quadrant last night. I also had some cheesy moments where I bombarded a turret from just outside its range, and where I ran the Kingons back and forth with a Subspace Disruptor. But just because a game isn't as good as it can be doesn't mean it can't be enjoyable.

29 April 2009 09:46:26 EDT

Wanted to point out this thread on Story Games about creator recognition. I don't have anything more profound to add to it; I just wanted to say 'me too' to everything said so far.

29 April 2009 09:15:59 EDT

Forgot my phone again, but this morning I have an amusing anecdote about it, not just a sad statement regarding my facilities. I put my Nintendo DS in my fanny pack with the intent of getting it into the trunk of the car, part of my essential hurricane evacuation supplies. When I picked up the pack this morning, it had the proper heft (I have an older, bulky smartphone). So I didn't find out until I got to work. I do feel a bit edgy without it, but I'll manage.

28 April 2009 13:53:08 EDT

Thanks to Fred Hicks at Indie Press Revolution for this link to a thread about games rejected by IPR. I submitted Secrets and Lies to IPR and received no response. Hearing that other publishers have had problems with IPR, that my game may have been arbitrarily dismissed, makes me feel a lot better. I signed on with Steve Jackson Games and I feel that Secrets and Lies absolutely belongs on their "shelf".

28 April 2009 10:56:51 EDT

Saw Chuck live last night so that I wouldn't miss what may be the series finale.

28 April 2009 09:55:16 EDT

The weatherman in Houston says stay home today. I didn't notice anything catastrophic on the way to work, but it sounds like the West Loop is in bad shape.

28 April 2009 09:36:47 EDT

Significant other has discovered 30 Rock and is hooked. Of the office comedies, I like 30 Rock and Better Off Ted. Don't like the Office and Parks & Recreation.

27 April 2009 09:59:18 EDT

Took the NASA 1 Bypass for the first time today. Crazy drivers on the road, but it was nice not having to fight the traffic on Bay Area Blvd.

27 April 2009 09:56:44 EDT

Visited Galveston yesterday for the first time since Hurricane Ike. The town has definitely not recovered. Maybe half the stores are open on the Strand. I didn't realize that the Flagship hotel, on a pier into the bay, was never repaired. Now it is covered with grafitti and its vehicle bridge is still a pile of concrete and twisted rebar. The waves were higher and angrier than I remember.

23 April 2009 22:03:26 EDT

Yesterday I bought the PDF for GURPS Mars, a 3rd edition product. Today I picked up the physical copy, realizing what I had been missing. I can pick it up and peruse without using the magic box. I can bring it to a game and run it. But I think I can read the PDF more closely, that it is more present, even though I can probably multi-task more on the computer.

23 April 2009 13:58:29 EDT

Just found this article on Condolezza Rice's approval of waterboarding. It occurs to me that 2001-2008 may be this black hole of US public service that taints a whole lot of potential appointees in a future Republican administration.

23 April 2009 11:48:54 EDT

Last night I went through all the powers and defects in Mutant City Blues and translated them to my game, Secrets and Lies. Nothing against the GUMSHOE system; I think this setting gives S&L a real shot in the arm.

23 April 2009 09:45:05 EDT

Up too late every night watching Millenium. Almost done. The last season became very much like the X-Files, so SO is enjoying it more.

22 April 2009 09:52:50 EDT

Having a very hard, good time with Valkyria Chronicles downloadable content. Wish I could buy a copy without the fan service. Paradoxically, also wish I could buy a copy with Japanese dialogue.

22 April 2009 09:50:22 EDT

So I had to register for GenCon events at exactly 2 pm on Sunday. I assumed that they had rented some extra bandwith and servers; I was wrong and things slowed to a crawl as thousands of gamers raced for slots at the exact same time. I got most of what I wanted, but not all. My friend Josh thought it started at 3 pm Central time and missed out.

They don't allow you to buy tickets for overlapping events, but the code to enforce that doesn't always work. Once you buy a ticket, there's no automated way to release the ticket and free up the time slot.

They are starting to have events on Wednesday. Only National Security Decision Making took them up on it this year. I grabbed a ticket, but don't know if I want to start gaming so early.

22 April 2009 09:44:48 EDT

Netflixed a fantastic show: Secrets of Body Language from the History Channel.

22 April 2009 09:42:04 EDT

I sure do talk about games a lot, don't I? Be assured, there are other things going on in my life. It just isn't proper to talk about them on an open forum. So I guess this is my way of talking about the weather.

20 April 2009 13:41:30 EDT

PHONE:I notice that I'm getting fewer job postings from recruiters over the last couple of weeks. Is the engineer job market in a dry spell?

20 April 2009 11:59:38 EDT

Millenium definitely makes more sense now than when I saw it the first time.

20 April 2009 11:34:20 EDT

Hours later, I can still recall a dream I had last night. I was on Texas highway 38 (no idea where that is), driving through the hills (no hills around Houston) very late at night. I looked up into the sky and saw an absolutely gorgeous view of the stars, galaxies that were too close, all surrounded by some kind of broken yellow boundary, as if I was zoomed in on one section of the night sky. Last night we were watching a spot about the Northern Lights on the Travel Channel, and I would like to see more stars where I live.

16 April 2009 17:30:18 EDT

Just read GURPS Metro of Madness. I'm not a fan of magic, but a huge fan of prepackaged locations and maps, especially for modern settings. The map is serviceable: no shading and a distinct lack of offices and closets, but it will work. The characters are great and are introduced at graduated levels of weirdness for tailoring to your own game.

16 April 2009 17:20:20 EDT

Taco Cabana seems to have some aversion to fast service inside the store, but drive-thru service always moves like lightning. This didn't just happen to me, it happens every time.

16 April 2009 10:33:58 EDT

Added the Houstonist and Bibliophile Stalker to the Hotlinks. The Houstonist just reminded me of the International Festival this weekend. Kumusta Ka, Stalker?

16 April 2009 10:27:03 EDT

Last night I played a game of Civilization:Revolution on the DS. I felt that I wasn't catching all of the user interface, so I played a whole game on Chieftain, the easiest level, in order to trigger any tutorials. Today they're releasing new content for Valkyria Chronicles, so that will be taking my time.

16 April 2009 10:23:07 EDT

Last night I started streaming 'Ghost in the Shell' on Netflix. I swear I had seen it before, but now I'm not sure. Also started 'Paprika'; very trippy.

15 April 2009 13:35:14 EDT

People should not demonize those who disagree with them. Down that path lies Nationalism. Toleration of dissent is the mark of character.

15 April 2009 09:59:50 EDT

So I get online to register for classes. Obviously, everyone else is trying to do the same thing and I can't get a login. When I do get a login, it lasts for a few clicks and then I'm kicked out again.

So...I got my classes, for both Summer and Fall. Everything worked out in the end.

I've decided to go with all online classes for now. As the degree progresses, I will have to go on-campus, but I haven't had good experiences with that lately. Sitting in a classroom for hours has always been hard for me, and the lack of class time seems to motivate these teachers to come up with new ways to reach out to students.

I still plan to sign up for the Fitness Center, but I was kicked offline before I could get to Financial.

15 April 2009 09:53:46 EDT

Had an Epic Fail getting to work this morning. I needed to get there at 8 AM to register for both Summer and Fall classes, and everyone gets to register at the same time. Don't know who thought that up. First off, I'm five minutes late getting out the door. The first road I hit in the morning had a flashing red light and I turned right instead of braving left (which someone else was quickly let through). Then I ducked into my storage unit rather than waiting for the turn. Sure, I got a chore done, but would have gotten through the light faster. Then I hit another red and turned right instead of waiting. Big mistake. I took a scenic tour of the industrial park with a GTA-like maze of roads back to the freeway. Obviously, they are trying to keep ignorant fools like me away from a potential high-crime area. By the time I get in, registration has been going on for 15 minutes.

13 April 2009 14:46:58 EDT

Welcome to everyone searching the event list for GenCon 2009. Be advised that I have asked that event RPG0900394 be cancelled, replaced by RPG090320.

13 April 2009 10:08:43 EDT

Played Wings of War and Battlestar Galactica boardgames this weekend. BSG is supposed to take 2-3 hours; took us 6 hours. There were too many Cylons (traitors) shuffled into the loyalty deck: 3 players out of 5 rather than 2 out of 5. The Admiral was a Cylon for the entire game, so the fleet traveled as slowly as possible. Nevertheless, the humans nearly won.

10 April 2009 12:07:49 EDT

As technology evolves, it is becoming more difficult to know the best way to contact a particular friend or loved one. Some of your friends are on Facebook, some on MySpace, some on Twitter. Some never check their email anymore, some check it all the time. Some hover on particular message boards or use instant messaging all day.

Almost everyone has a mobile phone, but you don't know if it's a good time to call. Text messages are less obtrusive, but some people can't recieve them, or don't know how to operate their phone. Some people even have to pay a quarter to recieve text messages, so sending one has already imposed on them.

Know how your friends are connected, what their schedules are like: when are they at work, when are they in class, when is the baby trying to sleep. Ask them if they are text-savvy.

Advertise your own connectivity: the best way to reach me is by text message. Email and Facebook are the worst ways (that I haven't cut off entirely). Twitter is good during the day; I don't like having to login everywhere, so I tend not to use it at night or on my mobile. However, I don't like to use Twitter for conversations; I know that's the trend, but it seems like a lot of noise. The PS3 is a decent way to reach me, as I use it for DVDs and Blu-Ray.

09 April 2009 10:27:23 EDT

Listening to Clyde Roher talk to The Walking Eye about Silence Keeps Me a Victim was not nearly as 'prickly' as I thought it would be. Clyde was animated and articulate and I will definitely be checking out his own podcast again.

08 April 2009 10:18:14 EDT

Found a gem of a book over at Borders yesterday: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Official Log 1. It's a reference for fans of the anime series.

Originally published in Japanese, it seems to be an official translation, bound but with no proper cover or spine. I can't find an ISBN number, though there is a link on the Borders site. Too bad I'm not an affiliate. Because it is packaged with a DVD of extras, it was classified by Borders as a DVD, all of which are currently marked for clearance at 40% off.

I'm sure there are lots of books like this in Japan, but I've never seen an official translation before. The book only goes up to Episode 19 of the first season, so it doesn't answer all the questions. But it's the kind of thing I would love to sit down and convert into an RPG like R. Talsorian did with Bubblegum Crisis. It picks apart the series, provides lots of early sketches, and has a section on technology. It's not encyclopedic, but I'm happy.

07 April 2009 16:37:47 EDT

Thanks to @catalystgamelab for the tip and InsideIndianaBusiness for the dates of future Gen Cons: Aug. 5-8, 2010; Aug. 4-7, 2011, Aug. 16-19, 2012, Aug. 15-18, 2013, Aug. 14-17, 2014 and July 30 � Aug. 2, 2015.

07 April 2009 10:25:27 EDT

Was playing Rebellion last night (Supremacy in the UK, because they don't talk about those lost colonies) and it crashed after two or three hours. I've lost Star Destroyers before, but rarely does the whole game crash like that. Trying to enjoy it while I can; haven't been able to run it on Vista.

07 April 2009 10:16:32 EDT

Odiogo takes my blog posts and voices them as audio files. People can download them to mobile devices and listen to them on the go. I don't think that Odiogo is going to set the world on fire, but I appreciate it. I see that they are willing to insert some promotional bits at the beginning; that should help with monetization in a way that Twitter still struggles with. The main issue I have is that I'll need to monitor the audio to make sure they don't advertise anything I wouldn't support.

06 April 2009 21:32:45 EDT

Just added an Odiogo feed to the site. If you're listening to this on Odiogo, welcome. I have to say, the file sizes look very reasonable for this service and I don't have to worry about how my own voice sounds.

06 April 2009 15:30:16 EDT

Thanks to...someone on Twitter I can't find now, sorry, I listned to an interview with one of my favorite RPG writers, David Pulver. Of particular interest to me is his association with R. Talsorian and Guardians of Order (around 50:00).

03 April 2009 11:51:25 EDT

So I just made a closer perusal of Minimus, a free RPG over on e23. It isn't just a stripped-down, essential RPG. It has some 'indie' elements of its own, including a collaborative character creation system like I have for my own game, Secrets and Lies. You are encouraged to derive some bonuses from your traits and the environment, just like FATE. Character death is at the discretion of the player, something I see rarely (I think the Skies of Glass beta has something similar). It uses relationship connections like several 'story' games. I don't want to make it sound like Minimus is derivative, rather that it is part of the effort to give gamers a new experience. I don't think that Minimus is the magic bullet that will break the industry out of its decline, but I would be willing to run it straight from the PDF on my cell phone if people asked me what an RPG was.

I did notice one thing at the end of the document, regarding combat. The phrase 'margin of success' is conflated to mean two things. First it is the difference in die rolls, just like you expect. Then the phrase is used again after weapon and armor modifiers are applied. I was able to suss out what the designer meant, but the term is overloaded.

Overall, good enough to charge a buck for even though it's free. Check it out.

03 April 2009 10:12:00 EDT

Last night I saw an epic Starcraft match between Hwasin and Luxury.

02 April 2009 17:38:42 EDT

After saying that I would start with my less liked DVDs, the first one I ripped last night was Homicide:Life on the Street. Then I stayed up too late watching it - to verify the copy, of course. Homicide was shot in a way that harmed the picture quality, so less was lost in the transition. For the same reason, Babylon 5 may be next.

01 April 2009 10:20:57 EDT

Decided on a compromise for my DVD collection. I'll rip and put away the less-watched titles that don't depend on high-budget, lush vistas such as Lord of the Rings. I can compromise a bit on file size since I am already compromising on picture quality.

01 April 2009 09:44:14 EDT

Got my Windows laptop patched at the last minute yesterday against Conficker.

30 March 2009 10:54:15 EDT

Want to jump on the cloud computing bandwagon here, but not because of computing muscle.

As I have been moving, my DVD library is taking up a lot of space and, drowning in video as I am, I don't have a chance to watch much of it. So how to reclaim that space?

Yesterday I ripped a DVD to an SD card and played it back over the PS3. Even if I can fix the stutter, the picture just isn't as good as upconverting directly from the DVD. Perhaps I can go to a lossless format, but then I need a drive greater than 2GB that can interface with the PS3 and I doubt it will be upconverted, which looks better than I expected.

So ripping the library isn't an ideal solution. What then? Well, HD video on the Roku box looks quite good. I can start purchasing videos on amazon.com and watching them on Roku. DRM is a potential stumbling block, so it isn't a perfect solution, but there is more to this than video.

There is a new gaming service launching called OnLive that delivers a Roku-like service, a cloud service, for video games. A computing cluster performs the heavy lifting and delivers the video output to your screen. It remains to be seen whether OnLive can deliver, but if it does, another library becomes virtual.

There is already a virtual library on the Nintendo Wii, where you can purchase and download emulations of games for the Sega Genesis, TurboGrafix and older Nintendo consoles. Nintendo allows you to re-download games you have purchased, whereas the PS3 does not. When you sell or stow the PS3, your downloaded content goes with it. So don't get too attached to those Rock Band tracks.

For my pen-and-paper role-playing games (RPGs), I use e23.sjgames.com and www.indiepressrevolution.com. When I purchase a PDF, it is available for download in perpetuity. I need hardcopies for actually running games, but not for keeping up on the latest innovations in the industry. Amazon's Kindle provides a virtual library for books in general, though I don't care for the way they are locked down.

Last but certainly not least, there is music. Others can speak to this better than I, but consider that some sites offer a subscription to listen to whatever you want, while iTunes and others sell you individual tracks. Then apply that to all the other markets: video, games, and books.

While I am willing to pay for individual titles, I would rather pay for a subscription with access to everything. Netflix has unlimited video on demand, but its selection is limited. A subscription for games (and there are such services) would let me try games that I would never take a chance on buying. Same goes for books.

There are drawbacks. Netflix (and good shows on free, over-air-tv) have crowded out my DVD library, and people in general don't know what they want. Also, you are depending on the continuation on the service. If you buy individual titles, you can't download them and the service goes under, you are out of luck. Even if you can download them, it is a pain to have chosen the wrong cloud. But all of these media industries are on the cusp of a new business model that will definitely work out for some of them.

27 March 2009 15:08:57 EDT

Updated my resume with the UML diagrams I'm making in Rhapsody.

27 March 2009 09:15:57 EDT

Left my phone again today. This happens too often. Again, no phone means no email.

26 March 2009 09:50:46 EDT

Found this blog posting comparing life in the Philippines to the Gibsonian Cyberpunk future.

25 March 2009 19:00:26 EDT

Want to say that I like the adventure in the latest issue of Pyramid. I could see myself running that in a pinch. As a lazy GM, I am always looking for complete solutions.

25 March 2009 10:00:05 EDT

Read an article about video gaming via cloud computing. I don't think this will work for action games, though it could result in some deep strategy games. More importantly, I think that the downloadable content (DLC) that exists now for console games will need to move to a subscription model. When I bought and downloaded Flower for the PS3, that copy of Flower is tied to the hard drive of the console and can never be moved. We buy things in order for them to be persistent, and persistence requires permanence. If something can't be persistent, then it needs to move to a subscription model. Speaking of which, I may be reconnecting my Sega CD again. I've got a hankering for Sewer Shark and Double Switch.

25 March 2009 09:39:07 EDT

Yesterday I bypassed the converter box and connected our Sony Bravia straight into the wall. Picked up 68 analog channels and over 70 digital channels. This is the basic cable package we get as part of our maintenance fees.

24 March 2009 11:01:58 EDT

The owner of West End Games, Eric Gibson, will be participating in a chat session tomorrow night. Eric will be discussing his plans to open up his d6 RPG engine for all publishers.

24 March 2009 10:07:49 EDT

Got a three-man game of Starcraft together last weekend (rather than Mutant City Blues). Good to see friends again.

20 March 2009 16:41:53 EDT

GrantDavis.net is back up again.

19 March 2009 21:52:37 EDT

Just saw Kings on Hulu. Forgot to record it; won't miss it next Sunday.

19 March 2009 16:52:31 EDT

Trying to put together a game of Mutant City Blues this weekend.

19 March 2009 11:18:22 EDT

PHONE: Beat Flower last night. Visuals and sound are stunning. I think that for something to qualify as a game, there should be some kind of failure state.

18 March 2009 10:43:08 EDT

After reading this story on inflation and deflation, I want to point something out. We have already been experiencing the deflationary spiral in housing prices. People have been holding off on buying until the prices stop falling. However, in my opinion, the average consumer is not waiting around for similar things to happen to other goods. Food and energy have to be purchased continuously. Big-ticket buys might be delayed if you are worried about losing your job, not because the price might fall. Economists take all prices as an average and then talk about this ideal, rational consumer who does not exist. We need to examine the individual components and realize that we can have deflation in housing and rampant inflation in other goods. Housing is important to the overall inflation number, but rising costs of everyday items will inflict more damage on the well-being of the general public, representing a true destruction of wealth.

17 March 2009 12:52:32 EDT

Just followed the Twitter conversation between George Stephanopolous and John McCain. Thirty minutes for a dozen exchanges. It seemed stilted and, as Robert Scoble noted, you can't make a permanent link to it. I hope that reporters take away the lesson that Twitter conversations have to be spontaneous, not planned.

Generally, I don't see conversations as being the future of Twitter, though I may be in the minority. Consider the other communication options and see how Twitter fits into the model.

A text message goes straight to a phone. It cannot be ignored, but can be deferred without insult. A Twitter post is only seen if the user visits Twitter. This makes it similar to a forum post. Publicly trying to draw someone out is generally seen as bad form. A Direct Message is possible, but reduces Twitter to a primitive form of email.

Overall, I see Twitter as a simplified blog hosting platform. It is less of a commitment than checking someone's blog regularly, but more of a commitment than Facebook. It depends on how many posts and how many external links you are willing to tolerate. You can tinker with your Follow list until you achieve a stream of tweets that fits with your Internet consumption habits.

17 March 2009 10:08:17 EDT

PHONE: Facebook seems somewhat inappropriate for the kinds of posts I like to do on grantdavis.net, where I expound on some thought to get it out of my head.

Why Twitter and not Facebook? On Facebook, your audience is people who haven't seen you in ten or twenty years, but don't really want to know what you have to say about this and that. On Twitter, people have actively sought you out to follow. If they just wanted to know how you turned out, that's what Facebook and LinkedIn are good at.

Certainly, my posts have been shorter since I started using Twitter, but at least I'm posting again.

16 March 2009 20:41:54 EDT

PHONE: I bought Flower for the PS3 and so far it has taken an hour to download 400 megabytes. I know that it has worked faster with the PC, and it was also slower when I had DSL rather than cable. Clearly the Playstation's network connection is crippled.

16 March 2009 11:38:21 EDT

Cancelled most of our digital cable tier last week and so far it hasn't been missed at all. Comcast had bumped it from $11 to $16/month. The only channel I watched very much was CNBC World. But I have a backlog of shows on the Roku and I haven't even seen the season finale of Burn Notice. I don't know how I'm going to catch up on Battlestar Galactica, but it's not on the front burner. I don't watch much tv online because I prefer not to use the PC at home. After seeing this screen all day at work, it's the last thing I want to look at.

16 March 2009 10:23:55 EDT

When you stop writing the "what is an RPG" section of your RPG, you are giving up on the market ever being more than it is today.

16 March 2009 10:08:51 EDT

Just heard that Fox is discontinuing shorter commercial breaks for Dollhouse and Fringe. I want to say that the change was working in our household; we record Dollhouse but were letting the commercial breaks run without fast-forwarding.

12 March 2009 15:12:37 EDT

So at Origins last year I picked up several books of the Babylon 5 RPG by Mongoose Publishing. I almost dumped them at the airport due to weight limits, but they survived. Now that I am moving out of my place, I decided that these books needed to be read or culled. The background is actually quite well-written.

12 March 2009 13:49:39 EDT

Engineers pack so much text on a slide, it's like someone is rationing their slide count. When I was a kid, I would write as much as possible on a single sheet of paper, even though there was plenty. But you can make as many slides as you want. Your limited resource is the attention (and eyesight) of your audience.

11 March 2009 20:07:53 EDT

PHONE: Finished a chapter in Finance. My plan to study during rush hour worked. Think I will add Management book into the load.

11 March 2009 12:47:20 EDT

I'm going to be running the role-playing game Grey Ranks under the Indie Games Explosion banner at Gen Con 2009. Thanks to Scott Acker for heading up the effort.

10 March 2009 09:54:37 EDT

My SO is encouraging me to write again.

09 March 2009 12:56:46 EDT

Was just put on hold by Verizon for 20 minutes because they knew I was cancelling my service.

06 March 2009 12:48:08 EST

Updated my resume. Took off 'willing to relocate' and mentioned that my security clearance has been lapsed since 1993. My apologies for leaving it like that for so long.

06 March 2009 10:28:33 EST

Gen Con registration is back up again. But the urge to run Pax has passed, especially after I found out how long it takes.

05 March 2009 12:11:39 EST

Gen Con registration is down. Got the urge to run some Pax Britannica. Maybe my local group will be up for it.

05 March 2009 09:51:08 EST

So last night I had Battlestar Galactica, Season 4, Disc 3 from Netflix. The night before I had watched 2 episodes on the disc. Thinking that I had 2 more to watch, I sat down and discovered there was only one left, called "Guess What's Coming to Dinner". After watching it, I *really* wish I had the next disc at my fingers.

05 March 2009 09:34:24 EST

Last night I made good progress in shoehorning my old stuff into my new place. Moved the Rock Band faux drum into storage but kept the guitar and mike. I got some hanging storage from Wal-Mart and used four hangers to suspend it from the wire mesh ceiling against the back of the unit. Strength is weak, so I only put in mostly-empty game boxes and some VHS tapes. Accidentally destroyed the box for the Wii Fit, but I am still using it after 135 days. We're getting a new washer and dryer today; doing our part for the economy. I'm concerned that it won't fit in the nook, but if so they will take it back and we can exchange it for a smaller unit.

05 March 2009 09:14:11 EST

Forgot my phone again.

04 March 2009 10:12:47 EST

Spent last night watching Galactica (I'm a half-season behind) and ripping my CD collection to put them into storage. Not happy with my options for ripping DVDs; I value my picture quality and I like to see the box spines on the shelves, imploring me to play them. For now.

03 March 2009 16:56:24 EST

Just found out that the tv show Life on Mars is being cancelled. I had just stopped recording it, but now I might be interested in finishing it, knowing that it will be able to end properly without wasting a lot of my time.

03 March 2009 16:20:15 EST

Over lunch, sold some games at GameSpot. I am amazed at how well PS2 games are retaining value. Three games for $30 in store credit, which for me is good as cash.

03 March 2009 12:05:30 EST

This morning at McDonalds, I was heading out while another gentleman was heading in. There is an antechamber with a door on each side. We were holding each door open for each other at the same time. We chuckled and went on our ways. Something like that would rarely happen in Miami.

02 March 2009 14:24:21 EST

Hung out with Eric, Evan, Angela and Jon this weekend. Good times. Jon pointed out that I may be having some stress over job uncertainty. I didn't realize that.

27 February 2009 17:22:16 EST

Just sold my television on Craigslist.

26 February 2009 14:36:21 EST

Just found out that my sister is pregnant with her second.

26 February 2009 11:30:43 EST

This morning I was dropping some stuff off at the storage unit. Between trips, I left the unit open and the keypad, controlling entrance to the facility, chose that moment to die. Left a message explaining what happened; hoping to speak to a human when they open.

UPDATE: Everything is secured. I can pick up the key on my way home.

25 February 2009 14:22:21 EST

Just got a fascinating fortune cookie: 'Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you.'. Which happens to be Memorial Day.

25 February 2009 10:41:17 EST

Got back on the elliptical yesterday. When I logged the time into the Wii Fit, I reviewed my data and saw that my last time on the elliptical was February 8, two weeks ago. The Wii is my repository of shame now.

23 February 2009 10:53:24 EST

Releasing a game without playtesting is like releasing software without trying to compile it first. There is a remote chance that it will run right the first time, but most likely it will fall on its face. I am not trying to be hypocritical: Secrets and Lies needed more playtesting before release. It's just difficult for me to use my friends to such a great extent.

20 February 2009 12:27:55 EST

Moved KTRK's hotlink time to evenings and gave the Chronicle an extra hour in the morning. KTRK is running a thumbnail video when you arrive at the screen, and I make a point not to stream video at work. There is no specific policy against it, but it increases load on the network and could eventually lead to a crackdown.

19 February 2009 15:56:34 EST

I have bought three role-playing games in digital form this week. Conversely, I can't even look at boardgame news and reviews: I have absolutely no room to store them.

18 February 2009 16:01:41 EST

Just heard from my manager that NASA Parkway will be closed across I-45 for demolition of the overpass. Not clear if the on-ramps or the NASA Parkway Bypass will be affected.

18 February 2009 12:08:16 EST

Left my phone at home today. Again, no phone means no e-mail.

18 February 2009 09:51:41 EST

This morning I was greeted with the not-unfamiliar sound of foreign object debris hitting my windshield on the freeway. It took me a second to figure out where it came from. The most likely suspect was an 18-wheeler ahead of me, even with another car between us. This was the filthiest truck I have seen in some time. Whatever kind of hauling you have to do, please have the courtesy to hose down your truck before you get on the major roads. This is a constant hazard and there ought to be a law against it.

17 February 2009 15:15:32 EST

Remembering the Atlantic Ocean rolling onto the shore at Boca Raton, and how small it made you feel.

17 February 2009 12:46:18 EST

I have spoken before about the Story Games movement and how there seeems to be a revolution against the Game Master. But you know, if I put weeks of effort into a game world and an adventure for it, I want some narrative control.

17 February 2009 12:26:08 EST

Just got a room for Gen Con. Registration opened at noon Eastern. In the 15 minutes it took to type in the link from the registration email, dig out a credit card and call my roomie - who is busy at work - I missed out on the hotel across the street. Got the Omni instead.

17 February 2009 07:55:43 EST

PHONE: OK, beat Valkyria last night. I understand there will be more content for sale online. Wonder if they can patch the AI to make it smarter.

16 February 2009 15:08:08 EST

MSG(tm) is a pen-and-paper role-playing game by Wood Ingham. It is available at Indie Press Revolution as a PDF and/or for preorder as a book. The game is written in corporate-speak and intentionally reads like marketing literature, though the photography makes it unsafe for work. The book is laden with deliciously dark humor and makes you want to surround your game table with motivational posters from your office supply store.

In MSG, everyone takes on the role of an employee at a late-21st-century post-moral conglomerate. Each player takes a turn as the Company, presenting the other players (the Corporate Reps) with moral dilemmas. Despite its protestations, this is a science fiction game in that it engages in speculation about unrestricted corporate activity and the loss of self through technology.

MSG touts itself as having a winner, the player who ends up with the most Resource points at the end of the game. There are two Resources, Self and Compassion. To gain resources, each Rep engages in a bidding contest with the Company.

First they negotiate the narrative stakes: what happens if the Rep wins and what happens if the Company wins. The Rep role-plays to try and get some Soap points that can be bid as Resources. Then each side secretly bids an amount of Resources. The side who bids more gets the Resources (but not Soap) that the other side bid and their declared stakes come to pass.

Thus, the total pool of Resources is on a steady decline: both sides have to spend what they bid and the winner only gets the lesser amount, the amount spent by the loser. Each Rep bids against the Company in turn, and each player gets to be the company once, for a total number of conflicts on the order of the square of the number of players. Each player starts with 11 Resources divided between Self and Compassion. They can also gain any amount of Soap during a single scene, though it must all be spent. An example in the book shows a Rep gaining 4 Soap for a single action.

I have to wonder if this game was played all the way through with 5 players, as I don't see how you could get to the end without depleting the Company and necessitating one or more Bailouts. Soap will also rapidly deplete the Company coffers whether the Company wins or not. Also, the person running the Company is disconnected from consequences for his/her bid (much like real life). Consider: the Rep is spending Resources whether they win or lose, and must spend at least one. The Company can spend zero; the Rep wins Narration but loses whatever Resources they spent. If the Company overspends (hey, it's not their money) and crushes the Rep, the Rep loses just as many points. Only if the Company underspends does the Rep get anything back. Also, Soap makes things seem rather hopeless for the Company altogether.

There is a vestigial skills system called Expertises. They are a way for the Rep to gain more Soap. The skill writeups are delightfully subversive and only three pages are spent on them. Reps also get Perks, which are bits of genius that I won't spoil for you.

I have to say that while the game is definitely worth the $8 PDF price for the setting, I cannot bring this rules set to my gaming table without some modifications. While it's true that I haven't proven this at my own gaming table, it's a catch-22: I won't subject my friends to the unmodified rules just to prove the point. With some more work, there is a fantastic game to be had here.

16 February 2009 09:50:00 EST

PHONE: Got to the final boss battle of Valkryia Chronicles. Lost on the first attempt, in a way I thought was cheesy. Why do boss battles have to be cheesy? The final mission in Grand Theft Auto is always good.

15 February 2009 00:43:04 EST

WII: Catching up on streaming Netflix. 30 Rock and Sukiyaki Django are ok.

14 February 2009 21:30:20 EST

PHONE:Just played 4 games of Pandemic.

13 February 2009 13:35:16 EST

Just bought and read MSG™. The best part is how much it looks like a corporate report. I fear that my giggling gives it away.

12 February 2009 16:29:40 EST

Updated my personal blogger to forward posts from grantdavis.net to Twitter. Seems to work, though it is relying on the browser for some conversion.

12 February 2009 14:24:44 EST

Fred Hicks tweets that Mutant City Blues is on the way. Seriously considering running a game of it.

12 February 2009 14:19:44 EST

I want to give a shout out to GURPS Mass Combat over on e23. Despite its protestations that it is a tool for facilitating roleplay, not a wargame itself, I want to sit down with the guys and play this. No characters, just kingdoms. All kinds of crunchy goodness. They would never go for it, though.

12 February 2009 09:56:44 EST

I've noticed that even with the largest roleplaying game lines out there, some companies are not putting out entire prepackaged settings and adventures. If your game uses range, that includes maps.

11 February 2009 12:19:11 EST

I can't believe this: I'm in too deep with Netflix, and this time I can't declare bankruptcy. This morning I sent back Disc 2 of Damages, I'm still working to get through Galactica and today I'm getting the feature-film cut of Stand Alone Complex.

Why can't I just sit on these discs until I feel less pressure? Because I live with another, and I'm keeping her from her Philippine soap opera.

10 February 2009 14:22:35 EST

Testing some new code.

10 February 2009 14:19:47 EST

PHONE: My friend Evan has gotten through hip surgery and is doing well. He should recover just in time to begin fatherhood.

09 February 2009 15:30:47 EST

PHONE: I notice a lot less spam these days. An economic indicator?

09 February 2009 10:10:38 EST

Got a neat new game at Owlcon this weekend called Pandemic. It's a completely cooperative, short, exciting little game. I think Eric will love it.

06 February 2009 17:53:02 EST

Earlier this year, I had an idea rolling around in my head that I might try updating Torg to utilize some of the more recent RPG theories coming out. To spoil the ending, I changed my mind.

The central framework of Torg is actually quite advanced and holds up well under these theories:

Players have plot points (possibilities) that they use to dictate a desired outcome, though their power is not absolute.

Players narrate Approved Actions, negotiate with the Game Master for a desired outcome, and on 17 or more result points, get complete narrative control. On less than 17 points, perhaps not so much, but the groundwork is there.

The game is explicitly broken up into Acts and Scenes. Scenes are deliberately labeled for different flavors of pacing.

Combat is turn-by-turn rather than freeform narration, but those turns are structured in a way that heightens tension. Remember that the GM can stack the next five cards as he wishes.

Plot points can be countered by the enemy. Darkness Devices get to spend additional plot points and can generally break the rules.

Players introduce characterization subplots when they feel like it.

So as far as Story theory goes, Torg is way ahead.

No, the major flaw I am seeing in Torg is in the details, what theorists would call the "Ephemera":

Magic is broken.

Miracles are broken.

Psionics are broken.

All of Tharkold is broken.

Card play is not broken, but leads to an escalation of power.

Shapeshifting is broken (sorry, Ben).

Gadgets...well, I think gadgets and powers are fine.

One-point Enhancement Packages are too cheap.

When a piece of Torg is broken, you can't really ignore it in the standard setting. You have to play in a setting where the broken cosms didn't invade or play in a Pure Zone.

So what Torg really needs is an overhaul of the Ephemera.

06 February 2009 13:35:46 EST

If anyone is reading this and needs help getting their television ready for the digital transition, or if you know somebody who does, drop me a line. I would be glad to help or answer questions.

06 February 2009 13:13:04 EST

Netflix has updated the software (firmware?) in their Roku player for high definition video. I am AMAZED at both the picture quality and at our internet connection (cable modem).

05 February 2009 16:09:08 EST

I'd like to take a moment to call out for hot-seat Civ. That is, I would like to see some single-console multiplayer for the next iteration of Civilization:Revolution for consoles. Civilization IV for the personal computer has such a "hot-seat" mode, so called because each player has to take turns sitting at the computer. With a console, each player can have their own controller, patiently waiting for their turn. There is a LAN party mode, but for a console that means each player needs their own console and their own television or monitor.

05 February 2009 10:02:44 EST

PHONE: Studied a chapter in Finance last night. Even though I didn't sign up for the class, I have the textbook from the first semester.

On a related note, Minerva and I were watching a movie and there was a scene with an 8-year-old carrying a small suitcase filled with his textbooks. I think that schools need to move to PDF readers and schoolwide PDF licenses as soon as possible. The textbook industry is literally crushing our students.

05 February 2009 09:37:44 EST

PHONE: Over at Half-Price Books, bought a copy of the book I am using for my role-playing campaign, Shadowrun. It was half price, of course. I had to get over the dissonance of owning two copies of a book and the slight extravagance of it. The fact is that I have desperately needed another copy for the players to read.

04 February 2009 21:32:40 EST

WII: It just occurred to me that we are seeing a bit of crowd behavior with the current spate of layoffs. Because other companies are laying off, and because there is the perception of a recession (whether there is one or not, the perception is what matters here), each CEO feels that they have "cover" to lay off workers now whereas they might have felt some loyalty before. At some point, everyone they wanted to lay off will be gone and the stampede will end. Given the current rate of layoffs, I would expect the end to come soon and suddenly. Most people laid off will, similarly, have the "cover" that they were caught up in the madness and should be able to find work elsewhere.

04 February 2009 16:38:55 EST

Keeping an eye on this bill to postpone the Digital TV transition. Since the transition is on February 17, the Congress is cutting this one close.

UPDATE: The bill has passed; the transition will be delayed to June 12.

03 February 2009 12:39:27 EST

PHONE: Made up main antagonist NPCs for Shadowrun. Each one is built just like a player character except for the Big Bad Guy.

30 January 2009 14:41:59 EST

Correction to my comments on Mutant City Blues: it is one die against a target number.

30 January 2009 10:17:35 EST

Left my phone at home today. No phone also means no email.

29 January 2009 10:39:29 EST

PHONE: Picked up the RPG "Mutant City Blues" yesterday. I ordered the book bundled with a digital copy. The book will arrive in a month, but the digital copy is available now.

The game takes place ten years in the future, after the spontaneous appearance of metahuman abilities in one pecent of the population. The characters are police, belonging to the Heightened Crimes Investigation Unit. Their job is to investigate and deal with metahuman crimes.

Character creation is, by their own admission, unbalanced from a combat perspective. There are no atrributes, only skills and powers. These are divided up into three pools of points rather than a single pool as in GURPS or Champions.

Solving mysteries is the primary activity. A large part of this involves deduction of what superpowers a criminal has, because all powers are connected in groups on something called the Quade Diagram, used in-game for this deduction and out-of-game for character creation. A single person can't have powers too far apart on the diagram. There are also genetic defects on the diagram, both physical and psychological.

The core mechanic is two six-sided dice against a target number, emphasizing speed over strategic gameplay. There are also a great many instances where players expend their skill and power points, not regaining them until the next adventure.

In particular, the "Investigative" skills and powers do not require a die roll when advancing the mystery is at stake, only expenditure of the points. This is touted as the great innovation of the system, though you still have to have the right skill and declare that you are spending the points.

I would really like to run a game of Mutant City Blues. The Quade Diagram, available for free on their web site, is an absolute gem and weaves a bunch of super powers into a unique experience.

28 January 2009 12:48:08 EST

PHONE: Had a good meeting with a property manager about renting out my condo.

27 January 2009 10:44:06 EST

My car had a flat tire this morning. Took 16 minutes to change, then I drove 25 miles on the temporary so that I could drop it off near where I used to live, then walk to work. There's a new sandwich shop on the way; I think I'll try it out.

26 January 2009 10:32:28 EST

Went to see Underworld 3 this weekend. Worst film this year. It doesn't have a '3' after its title, and it should: it offers zero context by itself and makes no sense if you aren't a fanatic about the first two films, like Minerva is. Every shot is dim and lifeless, all the better to mask the poorly computer-generated werewolves. The violence is absolutely pornographic and dull. You don't care about anyone or anything happening, and you can't understand half of it.

26 January 2009 09:37:02 EST

Minerva bought a Nintendo DS game called "Millionheir" on Saturday. Finished it on Sunday after about 15 hours. Loved it. Need to get her Professor Layton and the Curious Village.

22 January 2009 10:28:10 EST

My constant use of the phone has destroyed its ability to hold a charge. I'll have to order a new battery and cut back on usage. That means I won't be following Facebook and Twitter like I had planned. I can still step up my podcast consumption with my new MP3 player.

22 January 2009 10:25:49 EST

Valkryia Chronicles is one of the most beautiful, moving games I have seen in years. Not that the story couldn't be better, and not that the artificial intelligence continues to do shockingly stupid things, but I have just seen one of the great dramatic reversals in video games, better than Final Fantasy 10.

21 January 2009 17:53:17 EST

PHONE: After reading a Story Games thread on Achievements, working on some for my Shadowrun game.

20 January 2009 11:33:24 EST

PHONE: Watching the inauguration. So proud of my country today.

19 January 2009 12:49:33 EST

PHONE: It seems that Twitter empowers you to manage your signal/noise ratio, though I imagine that @replies could get out of control.

19 January 2009 11:29:24 EST

PHONE: Had a great game of the Starcraft boardgame with the Brood War expansion, and I'm not just saying that because I won. The game adds no more players, but a lot more things to do.

16 January 2009 13:25:42 EST

PHONE: Last RPG night, I mentioned to the group about how I may have made them feel interchangeable during my last campaign. Now I think I have identified the problem: I am both an RPG player and a boardgamer.

When you are planning a boardgame night, and you don't have a regular weekly thing and a vast library like my friends Paul Sauberer or Marvin Knighton, you call the people who are interested in that type of game and/or know how to play it. All you need is enough people with enough interest.

Populating a roleplaying game night is a different thing. You need to start with the group rather than the game. When you're young, you usually have a regular weekly thing and the game is usually the same each week. As we get older with children and wives, we can't play every week but an RPG still needs that group cohesion. A boardgame is finished at the end of the night (usually) whereas an RPG continues the same campaign from session to session. People develop an attachment to the flow of the game and shouldn't be cut off from it as long as they are making an effort to show up.

There is a new kind of RPG called 'Story Games' which seem to lend themselves more to one-shot games; I don't know what their group dynamic is like, but wanted to mention them.

It's a difficult balance, but one worth striking. We have a guy in our RPG who will be out of commission until March for surgery. I have decided to hold off on the game until he is ready to play again. Since I'm sure most of them don't read this journal, I have some text messages to send.

15 January 2009 12:00:39 EST

PHONE: I have started following Facebook (Grant Davis) and Twitter (grantrdavis). I intend to do most of my original posting here, so that I am hosting and unambiguously owning my own words. If you would like to comment on my posts, please post to Facebook or Twitter and I will probably see it soon.

15 January 2009 11:56:49 EST

PHONE: So the hardwood floor in my living room was ruined. Fortunately no carpet was damaged and insurance covered the floor damage. So I am rearranging the house and moving valuables up to Minerva's place and selling the condo. If you are in the market, give me a call.

15 January 2009 11:53:23 EST

PHONE: Now that it's over, a little info on my drama this year. We went to New Orleans the week after Christmas. First time for both of us. On the way there, I get a call from maintenance saying that I have a leak into the carport from my unit. I explain that I can't get back. So it sits for 4 days, and on Friday the plumber finally came and fixed the problem. He did so by knocking through the carport wall, which he would have to do anyway. In my opinion, there was no need to wait. Continued...

14 January 2009 10:15:46 EST

PHONE: Taking the semester off for now. Can't justify a second Master's degree without a clear plan for what to do with it.

13 January 2009 10:23:55 EST

PHONE: I disagree with the call to postpone the digital TV transition on February 17. The government has done what it can to inform people about the transition and I do not see how a new administration can do a better job with more time. The channel frequencies have already been auctioned off and the government should uphold its obligations.

12 January 2009 11:25:23 EST

PHONE: Since I returned from Florida, I use the Comments section of my timesheet to write in a daily status report on what I did for the day. Then at the beginning of the month, I synthesize the daily comments into a monthly list of accomplishments. When evaluation time comes around, I gather the monthly reports into a list of accomplishments for the year. I just noticed how much my daily status looks like some people's Twitter feeds, only work-related. So if my own Twitter feed (and of course this web site) looks sparse, rest assured that the people who pay me are getting the bulk of my attention.

09 January 2009 09:29:05 EST

PHONE: Thanks to Netflix, we now have a new level of perceived video quality. I'm referring to the overall quality of a movie or TV show, not the technical quality of a video.

First, there was the film in the theatre. It's an investment in tickets (one per person) and popcorn as well as making a trip out of the house. Then came the video store; also a trip, but cheaper.

Then, in 1992, Terminator 2 is released for 20 dollars. We have a step up, where you can choose to own a film rather than rent it. The equilibrium point for most films turned out to be $10-15, but it was done.

Now we have Netflix, where you choose your video on the computer and have it mailed to you for zero marginal cost. This has created a level below rental, where one can try out a bunch of films you never would have spent a buck on. As a result, you find films that turn out to be gems. Small-release films can get attention if they deserve it, and society is enriched as a result.

05 January 2009 14:26:59 EST

PHONE: Playing my first dedicated MP3 player. The first thing I notice is how I am no longer tethered to the desktop. When I turn my head, I don't have to worry about the earbuds being yanked out. I can even get up and go somewhere.

05 January 2009 13:08:26 EST

PHONE: I am well and truly hooked on Valkryia Chronicles. Obviously designed by a miniatures player, you move around in third person but with a ruler at the bottom to show you how far.

28 December 2008 14:52:26 EST

PHONE: Just gave blood for the first time in years. Need to order a lechon.

23 December 2008 11:59:46 EST

PHONE: at 888 restaurant on El Camino Real. M likes the dishes on the Chinese menu.

18 December 2008 09:28:36 EST

PHONE: Finally beat Civilization on the Playstation 3 at the highest difficulty, with every ounce of AI the computer would throw at me. I have been trying to beat that AI for years.

18 December 2008 09:26:49 EST

PHONE: I just wanted to mention the Gallup channel on YouTube (GallupNews). It's a travesty that it only gets a couple hundred viewers. Gallup is a polling service, and the videos are professional and informative.

16 December 2008 11:31:28 EST

PHONE: Just lost access to the Internet at work, on account of this Microsoft vulnerability.

05 December 2008 09:21:54 EST

Just finished my final paper for economics class.

26 November 2008 17:42:52 EST

Made a shopping list for Black Friday.

26 November 2008 17:41:21 EST

Finished the first draft of my final paper for Economics class. It's an analysis of the Belo Corportation's strategy of spinning off its newspaper division into a separate company.

10 November 2008 12:04:44 EST

My provider switched language versions today. Have to update code. Testing changes.

07 November 2008 09:54:05 EST

Thanks to the guys at the Phoenix Command Yahoo group for a link to a Flash representation of the Aliens boardgame.

04 November 2008 09:47:00 EST

Was up until 2 AM playing Civilization: Revolution. Can't remember the last time I slept so well.

04 November 2008 09:27:54 EST

Just voted. It took about 15 minutes and there wasn't a hitch. Everybody get out and vote today.

31 October 2008 23:31:23 EDT

Hey there, welcome to everyone I just invited on Facebook. I haven't been posting to my blog much, but you can read the whole thing here.

14 October 2008 13:03:42 EDT

I am declaring video bankruptcy, and that's a good thing.

Last night, I spent the entire night watching NBC - Chuck, Heroes and My Own Worst Enemy - without intending to. I'm about a half-dozen episodes behind on Heroes, and Chuck loses out every Monday to How I Met Your Mother and the Sarah Connor Chronicles. But the baseball playoffs are on Fox this week and Chuck catches a break.

This was quite a feat, considering that I can't get NBC on my television. First off, I don't have cable. Four years ago, I was able to get the digital signal, but not today. I meant to bring the portable TV, but that will stop working in four months. So I Slingboxed the signal from my girlfriend's place.

In general, I don't watch TV on my computer. I don't want to take up bandwidth at work. When I get home from work, I don't want to look at the computer.

So I spent all of last night watching television, something I never do anymore. I'm following a half-dozen heavily plotted shows, not to mention that I just finished season three of Battlestar Galactica. There is literally something good on television nearly all the time, at least for now.

So I am giving up. No longer do I have to hunt around for quality scripted programming. From now on, other things take priority, such as schoolwork. When I want to take a break, the TV will be there, at least until the holidays. Next year, perhaps I'll Netflix the shows where I want to fill in the holes.

I still need to get that VCR hooked up, so that I can somehow record when the need arises.

09 October 2008 12:30:27 EDT

Monday night I watched four episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The first was live with limited commercial interruptions and some hilarious product placement shots. Then I caught up with the last 3 episodes of Season 1 on Blu-Ray. As I am watching this, I realize that it's an ideal setting for your role-playing game. The characters are going around a familiar city committing acts of terrorism in the interest of saving humanity. Like the TV audience, the players would have unlimited freedom of action along with whatever morality they bring to the table, not enforced from the top. But that's not the point of this post.

Leading Edge games was supposed to put out a Terminator RPG in 1995, but it never materialized. They did, however, put out a miniatures combat game and two other licensed RPGs in 1993, Dracula (based on the 1992 film) and the Lawnmower Man. Checking the minis game, it seems servicable for a Terminator RPG. Though it is 15 years out of date, there is an active Yahoo Group providing support.

Then, being further distracted, I started reading The Lawnmower Man RPG. Besides the fact that they "got it wrong" on Virtual Reality (and really, how could they not?), is the game itself playable as 1993 retro-tech science-fantasy? Two hours later, I concluded that the answer is yes.

Let's get the bad out of the way. The game hews very close to its miniatures gaming roots. While its core 3d6 mechanic is fine and its combat system is dear to my heart, the game is strictly about building people for fighting, not deep characterization. Along that line, it and Dracula introduced a couple of mechanics I haven't seen elsewhere: Reputation and Investigation.

Player characters start out with three Reputation points. This corresponds to three Supporting Characters that follow them around and act as henchmen. If they do something heroic, they can gain a Reputation point and eventually another Supporting Character. For vaguely defined unheroic actions (actually a chance to slip in some role-play), they can lose a Reputation point and thus a servant. While this system made sense in Dracula with its social class divisions, it's completely out of place in Lawnmower Man. Once Supporting Characters know about the Virtual Reality war, they would certainly want to stick around if for no other reason than to affect the fate of the world.

The next system is Investigations. The Game Master breaks the day into 4 hour blocks and the Players make a die roll to uncover clues. The only tactical decision to make here is the Risk Level to take, a number from 1 to 10 that adds a bonus to your roll and represents the possible danger you face. This looks like a long, boring slog and a tremendous absence of fun. To be fair, when you gain some Virtual Reality Gear you can decide whether to Investigate or Train up your skills.

The game seems to lend itself to adverserial play, where each team takes their henchmen and goes off to search by themselves. The game supports this and seems to encourage it. Competition among player groups - with open table talk, by necessity - seems to be the only way to make this interesting.

The Comptuer Intrusion and Virtual Reality Combat systems, which are integrated but subtly different, don't seem broken on the surface. It needs some playtesting to be sure; I chuckled when I noticed the lack of playtester credits in the book. But the VR combat has several tactical options: Attack, Loop Attack, 2 kinds of defense, 2 kinds of Escape, and even a Melee attack where you materialize any weapon in your hand and do damage based on that real-world weapon type. Cheesy? Of course! But that's the point here, and their example actually seemed to work, though I can imagine the legions of players asking for a virtual polearm instead of a virtual axe or knife.

Finally I want to talk about Training. You can use portable, low-powered computers (costing as little as half a million 1993 dollars!) to train Mental skills, slightly more powerful ones to train Physical Skills, and the highest-end mainframes to achieve Physical and Mental bodily enhancements. In order to get the ulitmate Cheese, where Jobe from the film reduces the enemy agents to globules, you have to find the "Angelo Programs". Remember that the Internet didn't and won't be mainstream in this setting, so its plausible that a computer program can pass as an Artifact of Power. Without Dr. Angelo's work, you can "only" train characters to go without sleep, to survive wounds and heal rapidly, and achieve something called Mental Acuity, which allows them to exceed normal human levels of comprehension.

And you can Train up your stats: all your stats, including the stats which affect your rate of Training. The main stats that affect your Training limits are Perception, which keeps you from going mad, and Motivation, which you must roll less than or equal on three dice for every single Training attempt. If you fail a Motivation roll, you can never try to Train that Skill, Stat or superpower. Thus, it behooves you to train your Motivation first until it gets to 18; unlike GURPS, there are no automatic failures in this game. The Angelo programs don't require a Motivation roll, but do require you to have a low Perception and Will, which is how Jobe was able to progress.

Thus the game is really about mankind's imminent progression towards a Singularity, which is consistent with the theme of the film. Normally these would be unbalanced game design decisions, but when everyone is racing towards the singularity, it makes sense. This race can be between the party members or between the group and external enemies, according to your play style.

One more thing about Motivation for player characters. Motivation is a Secondary Characteristic, so you determine MOT by rolling 3 six-sided dice. You get an additional die to split among 3 Secondaries, but trust me, you want all of it on MOT. So you will average a 14. A MOT check is made on 3 dice, so that's a 90% chance of success for an average starting character. A slightly above-average start will make it a near-certainty, while a below-average roll will cripple you on your quest for the Singularity. This is a severe flaw in character creation, and MOT (inherited from their Aliens RPG) should have been promoted to Primary for this game.

In conclusion, the game seems to hold together on paper, against all odds. However, it doesn't offer anything inspiring unless you want to do it as a gag or if you are entranced by the virtual landscapes of the 1993 film. I recommend trying to find the Extended version, which has some good Singularity-related scenes.

22 September 2008 17:20:56 EDT

Traffic was a nightmare this morning. What was usually a 35 minute drive took 80 minutes and all my navigation skills. Meanwhile, the radio traffic report is basically cheery with nary a hint of problems.

19 September 2008 12:40:21 EDT

PHONE: I want to thank all the people out there, from all over the country, working to restore power to the Houston and Galveston areas. When we saw power restored all around us, we figured it would be a long time before anyone could get us up and running. We are very grateful.

19 September 2008 03:58:05 EDT

PHONE: Power came on at 1:15 am. Been cleaning.

18 September 2008 08:47:52 EDT

PHONE: Power is still out at my place in Webster. Work starts Monday. Did manage to get gas. The biggest problem with not having power is how long everything takes. I haven't studied for next week. I feel like I can't make progress on anything.

17 September 2008 09:30:07 EDT

PHONE: On the way back, I saw the same pattern of gas stations with power but no fuel. So the stations are being emptied out one at a time, each with a four-hour wait. Prices seem too low; my mother saya gas is 4.14 a gallon in Little Rock, 3.59 here. Price gouging has become a mantra, while every Houstonian thinks they can go right back to being gas-guzzlers. If letting prices float would get stations replenished, then I say gouge away.

17 September 2008 09:24:05 EDT

PHONE: Yesterday I took a friend to the airport. On the way back, I saw a gas station with prices but no lines. Curious, I stopped at a pump and Inquired within. The harried manager said the fuel truck might come today, might come tomorrow. I bought a paper and waited in the car. It was a nice day and I could wait for fuel without burning fuel. Just as I finished the paper, another man came out and said that there wouldn't be gas until Friday.

17 September 2008 09:05:49 EDT

PHONE: Finally found a reason to exercise. half of our complex has power, including the exercise room. Last night the room was filled with charging laptops and one child playing his Nintendo right there, but only the regulars are here this morning.

16 September 2008 08:10:48 EDT

Got to the Starbucks in my local Kroger around 6:30 this morning. First time to use the real computer since the storm. Lines are still long for gasoline all over town. It doesn't seem like I will be returning to work this week, though only today and tomorrow are confirmed. Stood in line for ice last night at Kroger; turned out that they had enough for everybody. Can't find Lantern Batteries and we're burning through the ones we've got, though they haven't given out yet. Wish I could get together with the guys and do some boardgaming.

15 September 2008 13:35:54 EDT

PHONE: I'm at work; the building has power but not enough water pressure. Grocery stores are open in Clear Lake, but they don't have lights or air conditioning. Plenty of water, but no ice. I did find D cell batteries (the last eight) and some milk at Walgreens on El Camino near Reseda.

14 September 2008 11:39:14 EDT

PHONE: For now, I have moved my personal home page to the root of plumbagolounge.com and grantdavis.net. I have moved the Plumbago Lounge over to the side and updated the 'Secrets and Lies' link. So if you're looking for plumbagolounge.com, click on 'Secrets and Lies'.

14 September 2008 11:28:31 EDT

PHONE: I don't have reliable power (and this phone can't hold a charge, with the miles I put on it), so I can't stay in constant contact. I am staying near Reliant Stadium. Most buildings around us had power restored last night, meaning that we may not have power for some time. I'm posting this from inside a Target, using their power to keep the phone charged. The flood waters haven't receded from the parking lot at my place, though everyone is at least one story up and the water didn't get into homes. Power has been restored at Johnson Space Center, but I work at a building off site and JSC doesn't want to reopen before its supporting partners can. Roads are driveable but not clear and not safe. Target does not have hot food, milk or juice. They have AA and AAA batteries, but not C, D, or lantern. The Kroger here will open in 90 minutes. That's what I know. I'll post as I can.

11 September 2008 08:57:02 EDT

For those who are following Hurricane Ike: I am in the mandatory evacuation area and will be leaving at noon today.

04 September 2008 18:00:02 EDT

Heads up: my school is hosting its first annual game convention. Note that Rice University's OwlCon is one week later.

03 September 2008 10:28:31 EDT

I have the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii set up to browse the Internet, and I want to say that the PS3 is clearly slower. I've never heard of a client slowing down a download - normally, it's the internet connection - but the PS3 has somehow been crippled.

02 September 2008 09:21:59 EDT

Went to Little Rock over Labor Day. Came back on Sunday to beat the storm, after it seemed highly unlikely to hit Houston. Getting over 30 MPG on the highway when I can cruise.

28 August 2008 17:26:05 EDT

So last night I stopped by my local game store, Nan's Games and Comics, to see Secrets and Lies on the store shelf. Flipping through some of the old boxes, I came upon a second edition of Champions. Cost: twelve dollars, just like the day it came out in 1982. Nan's never marks up or down.

25 August 2008 23:52:48 EDT

School started today. I have two courses - one online, one in person - in addition to the day job. Neither course has a required textbook.

19 August 2008 09:49:43 EDT

Some interesting thoughts from the director of the Internet Storm Center regarding Cyber War, particularly Russia and Georgia.

14 August 2008 19:41:02 EDT

So here it is, launch day. The PDF seems to be up on e23 without a hitch. No word from GenCon yet. If you came here because you heard of the game, please check out the forums and sign up.

12 August 2008 20:42:47 EDT

Bought another copy of the Shadowrun game for Sega Genesis. I was seeing greyscale, half-laced images. I guess I really did wear the cartridge out.

12 August 2008 20:41:41 EDT

Received the ashcan of Misspent Youth in the mail today. Just finished reading it.

12 August 2008 13:48:31 EDT

Pricing has been set for Secrets and Lies. Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price is $19.95, but you can get it at GenCon for $15. If you can't make it to GenCon, a PDF of the game goes on sale on August 14, just two days from today.

07 August 2008 19:51:13 EDT

Hey, welcome to everyone from e23. The full version of Secrets and Lies will be out one week from today, on August 14. On the same day, it will be available at GenCon at the Ashcan Front/PlayCollective booth.

29 July 2008 10:07:11 EDT

PHONE: In Seattle. Played in the snow on Mount Ranier yesterday. Had dinner late at a place called 13 Coins. Food was exquisite, service wasn't.

26 July 2008 15:48:59 EDT

The Canon Puncture podcast is now online. It was a great show; check it out.

18 July 2008 20:01:52 EDT

Welcome to everyone from Steve Jackson Games. The full version of Secrets and Lies will be available at e23 on August 14. Meanwhile, if you have any questions please visit the forums or drop me a line: grant@plumbagolounge.com.

16 July 2008 00:14:36 EDT

Just finished a roundtable for the Canon Puncture podcast. We talked about our games and the travails of getting ready for GenCon.

15 July 2008 15:21:11 EDT

Got a reference from a techno-thriller magazine about my description of techno-thrillers.

10 July 2008 21:02:32 EDT

Cold-called into a town hall teleconference with my Congressman, Nick Lampson.

Question from Matthew: What about the jobs gap [between discontinuing Shuttle and beginning the new Constellation]?

Congressman Lampson: China is well on their way and their goal is to beat us to the moon. Need to emphasize Math and Science in schools. Thanks to Citizens for Space Exploration for their efforts. Lampson seems to be in line for chair of Space & Aeronautics subcommittee.

On July 18 at 11:30, meeting with the Space Advocacy Task Force at Franca's on NASA Parkway. Check it out at lampson.house.gov

Allison: At JSC, remembers when X-38 project was shut down. What do we do as shuttle winds down?

Lampson: JSC plays to our need to stay strong in space and Science. NASA Administrator Griffin says that no job losses are expected at JSC, only realignment. SATOP has also won a million dollars of continued authorization from Congress.

Chundra: As gas prices increase, Houston is one of the worst places for mass transit. What is being done about the commute to Galveston?

Lampson: I am on the Rail Subcommittee and we have a great deal of work to do in the US. 5 years ago, won a project to demonstrate train service from Clear Lake to Galveston. Demonstrated overwhelming support and showed that it would be a success. Continuing to work on commuter rail, ride sharing and other means of commuting. Work will soon start on rail line to Fort Bend County. Park & Ride from Pearland to Medical Center. Big proponent of rail.

Town Hall coming up on July 21. Panel discussion on past 50 years of NASA at UH-Clear Lake.

Priscilla: My husband was a contractor at JSC for 30 years, laid off last year. Perhaps 10% of employees left at LM. What are contractors supposed to do?

Lampson: We are not hearing about that number of layoffs. I don't think it's going to be significant. There will be skill changes from one kind of job to another. I would have to investigate by contacting the contractor. I was told by the NASA Adminstrator that he is not expecting that level of job loss.

Margaret: I work at JSC for 23 years. Secretary to Project Manager. On the View, Whoopi asked what people are doing down here. People need a better idea of what we do here. Need a better appreciation and explanation of why things cost so much.

Lampson: We have not done a good enough job of selling the spinoffs of NASA. Better quality of life in anything we can imagine. I had bypass surgery last year and the improvements from 25 years ago have been amazing. What we are learning is giving us better ways to do things on Earth, saving money and creating jobs. Those are opportunities that we can have again. We have done a poor job of exciting the public. I hope people will continue to talk about it. A program called Earth Camp was going to be done away with. I was able to get its funding saved. Children will be able to remotely operate a camera on the Space Station.

Dan: As far as funding for different programs, what are the plans for NASA and how will that affect funding?

Lampson: Our goal is to bring NASA's budget up to one percent of the nation's budget. It is currently at six tenths of one percent. This will let us take on the tasks that will bring great returns.

Jason: There's a lot of international competition with NASA. What do you think the fallout will be?

Lampson: I hope we will find ways to engage other countries in space. We were able to engage with sixteen countries on the Space Station. We can't be angry with friends. Mike Coats of JSC said that 70 people graduated from A&M last year, 65 from other countries. We need to inspire Americans to this field and grow our interests to compete with other nations.

Liesha: I am working with public access channel 16 at Nassau Bay. NASA's achievements need to be communicated to the public. I also would like to know how to get my calls answered by JSC for interviews.

Lampson: Let's see if we can't get you connected to the PR officers there, if you would call my office at 281-461-6300 and we can set you up with someone who can change that. NASA owns hundreds of inventions and patents that have changed people's lives.

Tim: I'm sure you appreciate the benefits of the oil & gas industry. Interested in your position on offshore drilling.

Lampson: Worked to promote all those exploration efforts. Made some difficult votes along the way to show our attempt to be balanced in this matter. Worked on RIPSEA for underwater recovery of natural gas. Hope that we don't get caught up in the rhetoric coming out of Washington that the only solution to our energy problem is to drill for oil. Need a balanced solution to our energy needs. We are using more energy than we can get of the ground. Must grow our sources. That means research. Hope that we will take steps now to lessen our dependence on oil.

Jan: If there is a Democratic President in 2009, do you see any major changes in NASA leadership or mission?

Lampson: NASA's current mission is clearly laid out. I don't think there is going to be a dramatic shift in overall mission. I want to make sure that we get back to the moon before any other nation. Need to continue to show our leadership in technological development. Going to make sure that the public knows the benefits. Not long before we have a base on the moon that can generate electricity for Earth. Hope to see a manned Mars mission in my lifetime. Don't see a dramatic change from this year's authorization. Hope to see an increase in support. Working to be chair of Space Subcommittee.

Tony says we're just about out of time.

Lampson thanks everyone for joining us. Working together, we hope to support NASA and all the activities of the 22nd Congressional District. Stop by my offices at 10701 Bay Area Boulevard. Let's keep fighting for NASA. Makes a greater quality of life for all of us.

03 July 2008 11:14:17 EDT

Some work-related video showing how we are working to return to the moon. This is real. We are working on this today.

02 July 2008 08:28:46 EDT

National Security Decision Making was excellent as always, though they steadfastly deny being a LARP.

I want to thank Evan Tormer for some great games of Mortal Coil and Steal Away Jordan.

Bought Grey Ranks and Dogs in the Vineyard. Finished Dogs by the time the plane touched down on Sunday.

I found a great little Rio Grande game called "Stone Age". I think the S.O. will go for it. Also liked "Gangsters" and "Lascaux".

Finally scored a copy of Advanced Civilization.

Dread was a blast. Need to get a Jenga tower.

27 June 2008 09:24:36 EDT

PHONE: Having a good time. Picked up some new games and am in the process of reading them.

25 June 2008 07:18:16 EDT

Had this horrible feeling this morning, that I was about to leave for Origins without my badge. Like showing up naked for work. Fortunately, the Internets say that Origins doesn't mail out badges. You pick them up at pre-registration. Sounds like a nice long line to me.

24 June 2008 19:55:53 EDT

PHONE: School is going well. Online course. Tests are multiple choice and, of course, open book. I am graded on the best ten tests out of 13 and I get two tries on each. Halfway there. But I don't think it will work for 'Human Behavior in Organizations'.

24 June 2008 19:48:26 EDT

PHONE: At the hospital. A friend had a seizure for the first time. The room was getting crowded.

23 June 2008 09:20:35 EDT

On my way to Origins this week in Columbus, OH.

17 June 2008 18:11:36 EDT

Finally added tags to my weblog. It only tags the topic name, but its a start.

17 June 2008 11:43:10 EDT

Picked up the new Player's guide for Dungeons and Dragons yesterday. I didn't have a lot of exposure to the previous edition, and I haven't gotten very far into the new book, but I don't see a great departure from D&D's design goals and techniques. They are clearly and explicitly spelled out at the beginning of the book. The game focuses on combat and on detailed mapping of the fantasy environment.

I admire it as a design aesthetic. It made me realize that my own game design is more of a "sandbox" game. The players have freedom to explore the whole world, which in the case of Secrets and Lies is the modern world. This is easier than dungeon design, but less disciplined. A dungeon is a finely crafted mechanism, each room's challenges depending upon the ones that came before. To sit down and design a dungeon requires patience and thoroughness. It is is to be admired. In the age of multimillion-dollar video games, it is also quite the marketable skill.

But it can lead to disappointment for the designer. Even in a best case, most of a dungeon probably goes unexplored, its best traps untriggered. In the worst case, the players want to skip it entirely; sometimes innocently, sometimes to tweak their friend who worked so hard. It's reasonable to want to cushion yourself from that kind of disappointment.

Enter the sandbox. The Planner describes the setting in general terms and lets the players make the next move. In the case of Secrets and Lies, the next scene can be pulled from a Florida guidebook or the day's newspaper. The Planner improvises and play moves on.

But it's important to own up to the fact that this sandbox play relies on improvisation over preparation, and to appreciate the intricacy of a well-stocked dungeon.

Personally, I try to have it both ways by cultivating a library of maps, settings and adventures that can be easily translated from one game system to another. Modern settings are more difficult to find than fantasy settings, but there are a few. I want to recommend the GM's Companion for Millenium's End (long out of print), a d20 product called the New Glory Naval Base, and the Floor Plan series from Steve Jackson Games.

16 June 2008 13:12:54 EDT

Good news and bad news about Netflix. The good news is that it has won over the girlfriend. The bad news is that the cable companies are experimenting (thanks to I Want Media for the link) with caps on bandwidth, and Roku uses lots of it.

For now, cable companies are trying to fight illegal video file sharing. But Netflix has the potential to transform this into a problem with legal file downloads. The cable companies would lose their moral high ground and have to face up to the real issue: that this video sharing is a threat to their core business. For now, Netflix has replaced cable for me, though that's because the TV season is over and I have a lot of other things on my plate.

The service providers (cable and DSL) have a legitimate concern here, and a bandwidth cap is a major threat to the disruptive technology of the Roku. We'll see how it plays out.

UPDATE: I meant to mention another potential use for the Roku, for parenting. The Roku interface should be simple enough for a small child (not that I have one to test it on) and the worst they can do is remove videos from the Roku. You need a computer to add videos to the device. So a parent can regulate exactly what a child can watch, but the child might be able to navigate through hours of video on their own.

11 June 2008 18:40:29 EDT

Just got the prototype of Secrets and Lies from Lulu.com. A printer friend of mine thinks that book-binding such a small page count (currently 85) will cause the pages to fall out quickly, so the jury is still out on an actual print run. But I will print them for distributor review and for conventions.

11 June 2008 09:48:09 EDT

The Roku box came in. But with class starting, I don't have time to play with it.

UPDATE: Yes, I connected it. Component didn't work, had to use Composite. It has wi-fi; used virtual keyboard to enter security code. Video quality is nice; will want to get Component working.

ANOTHER UPDATE: There are 4 'levels' of video quality, depending on your network connection. Only level 1 looked pixelated.

It's a bit inconvenient to have to queue movies up on your computer, then watch them on the box. It seems like at least a top 10 list would be a simple software update. The virtual keyboard is already there as well.

So the delivery works fine; Netflix just needs to improve the content offering. I'm still interested in the really obscure titles. In 2008, it's probably easier to mail them out than to have them queued up on a server for a handful of people to download. But that will change, and this Roku box is the right way to get it done. Now that I've gotten rid of cable, it's a keeper.

09 June 2008 14:32:50 EDT

Got my girlfriend connected to Comcast high-speed Internet this weekend. I want to say that Verizon DSL actively helps to get your wi-fi router connected while Comcast actively hinders it. Comcast wants to charge a $150 service call and a $15/month rental for wi-fi. With Verizon, the support person was able to control the desktop remotely and configure the router for networking. Now that's customer service.

04 June 2008 16:24:36 EDT

Spent some more time with Grand Theft Auto 4 last night. Finally met the feds.

My last save file is two weeks old. I'm really not being pulled into this one.

Just read that the Civilization demo for consoles will be available on Thursday. Finally a little strategy gaming for the next-generation consoles.

So far I have Star Trek: Conquest and Battalion Wars 2 for the Wii, if you can call the Wii next-gen. Star Trek is very shallow. BW2 turned out to be a third-person shooter and the online multiplayer got old fast.

04 June 2008 10:20:50 EDT

Just filed a complaint with the Do Not Call registry. It was remarkably easy.

03 June 2008 10:55:20 EDT

Just registered for my first class towards a Masters in Finance. Wish it weren't Internet-only; they don't deliver as much as face-to-face. Will see how it goes.

02 June 2008 08:48:15 EDT

The playtest went well. We recorded it, but there was a lot of sharp, painful noise created by the forks on plates at the beginning. Also, a transient was created whenever someone put something on the table.

The game itself went very well. This was the first version that didn't need major changes afterwards. While I have made a few changes, we will be using the same hardcopies for the next game.

30 May 2008 09:09:16 EDT

Separated my personal web site from the main page. Now the main page is sparsely populated, but it's all about the game. Next playtest is tonight.

28 May 2008 14:45:06 EDT

PHONE: Bought stock in Netflix today. Will let you know what I think of the new media player.

27 May 2008 23:52:41 EDT

Updated the demo for Secrets and Lies to match the current changes to the rules.

27 May 2008 13:05:14 EDT

WII: Just ordered the Roku box from netflix. Great deal on cables to go with it. Will see how it goes.

26 May 2008 23:31:50 EDT

Finally finished Moby Dick on audio. Any particular passage is brilliant, but precious few of them move the plot forward. If only Melville had been appreciated in his own lifetime, perhaps he would have attracted a better editor. My mother says that Tale of Two Cities is plotted much more tightly.

22 May 2008 10:07:54 EDT

It hasn't been updated, but I have restored the Demo at a player's request.

20 May 2008 11:15:28 EDT

Something interesting happened on Sunday. It was easier to use the Wii to check something online than it was to use the PC. I didn't have the wi-fi card plugged into the PC. A transitory event, but significant for the future.

19 May 2008 02:50:07 EDT

PHONE: Bought and connected an antenna today. ABC looks good. My emancipation from cable is nearly complete.

17 May 2008 18:15:58 EDT

PHONE: My game demo will be down until May 30 so I can do some revisions.

17 May 2008 13:51:18 EDT

Playtesting went well last night. The Draft sheet needs bigger cells, but generally went over well. We had another short combat and will be taking some things out.

16 May 2008 10:07:47 EDT

PHONE: Playtest tonight. Will experiment with video and audio recording.

15 May 2008 08:31:01 EDT

PS3 : Finally got DSL. Plan to cancel cable and get HDTV over the air.

09 May 2008 19:50:20 EDT

Welcome to everyone from Story Games. I don't know if you'll find my game to have a strong emphasis on story. There are so many talented players out there that I can concentrate on the game-related aspects and let Game Masters do what they want with that.

07 May 2008 14:12:22 EDT

I'm finally ready to announce my new role-playing game, Secrets and Lies. I've had playtesting and now have a sample ready for release.

I downloaded some forum software called Vanilla and have set up plumbagolounge.com to overlay my web site. I'll continue to use the main page for blogging.

02 May 2008 09:24:19 EDT

Played Grand Theft Auto IV again last night, past 12:30 this time (though I was writing for most of the evening). My character got drunk and while I had him take a cab home, I now understand what this article is about.

In my opinion, MADD couldn't be more misguided on this one. Drunk driving in GTA seems like a strong incentive *not* to try drinking and driving in real life. Once again, the grown-ups show how out of touch they are.

30 April 2008 12:26:41 EDT

PHONE: Bought GTA4 yesterday. Played until 10:30 last night. If it was awesome, would have played until 2. Pretty, though.

29 April 2008 16:28:23 EDT

PHONE: My girlfriend is asking me about our slingbox because she heard Kelly Ripa talking about it. Could be a real boost for them.

28 April 2008 13:49:16 EDT

Now that this document is fairly stable, Here are my character creation notes for GURPS Transhuman Space. The campaign has been dead for six months, though I will talk to Michael and Ben on Friday.

07 April 2008 13:45:42 EDT

PHONE: Griefed on Advance Wars. Exploit allows you to move the same unit over and over. Very disappointing.

03 April 2008 09:37:01 EDT

As I may have mentioned, I download my checking transactions into Quicken, match a receipt to each one (except online ones), assign each to a category, then shred the receipts.

This became very tedious for dining out, which I do at lunch every day. Sure, I could save money, but the point is to rent some table space away from the office each day. The point is that this generated a lot of receipts, and sometimes I would let them pile up.

A few weeks ago I went to paying cash only for dining out. A few years ago I was playing with Pocket Quicken for a Palm Pilot, and I found that 70% of all cash transactions were for eating out. Now it's probably closer to 90%; I'll even use the debit card for a small non-dining payment, so as not to pollute the category.

Quicken insists on classifying AMT withdrawals as Cash, and I got tired of fighting it, so I have to remember that Dining really equals Dining plus Cash. Someday I can do a mass reclassification of all those Cash transactions to Dining.

So now the number of receipts is way down, less than a half-dozen last week. Since the pile is smaller, I don't put them off as much, creating a virtuous cycle of a tidy receipt spike.

27 March 2008 00:04:42 EDT

Just saw an episode of CSI: New York about Second Life. Insultingly bad. Sets virtual worlds back a decade. I might as well be watching the Lawnmower Man.

21 March 2008 09:09:50 EDT

Got my tax refund today. I want to thank the government for their rapid turnaround.

17 March 2008 08:16:37 EDT

Went to see "The Bank Job" last night. Really enjoyed it. Statham was great as usual, the bank heist was a simple caper story, and the politics were remarkable in the way that British media could just be shut down in the days before Drudge. Saffron Burrows does a much better job here than in "Timecode".

14 March 2008 20:18:38 EDT

PHONE: I agree with what the President said about the mortgage crisis today. As someone who didn't buy into the obvious housing bubble, I don't think that those who did should be rewarded.

07 March 2008 17:01:39 EST

After two and a half years, finally fixed a bug in the RSS reader. If there was more than one valid link found, it would concatenate the two. So I had to decide; do I want the first valid link or the last one? I chose the first one and am checking out all the feeds.

27 February 2008 20:44:12 EST

PHONE: There has been speculation on the fate of the moon program under a democratic president. If we found a signal from space that was clearly from intelligent life, no one would question what we do. They would question why we weren't doing it faster.

02 January 2008 10:04:39 EST

PHONE: dreaming so intensely last night that I remember trying cryptography in my head.

21 December 2007 16:58:17 EST

Broke my first baseball bat this week.

21 December 2007 16:57:52 EST

Updated my boardgame and RPG collections. Took the editorial comments out of the RPG section, but kept a copy. Decided not to include games which exist only as PDFs.

07 December 2007 09:15:26 EST

PHONE: Finished my last DVD last night. No more until xmas.

23 November 2007 07:42:25 EST

PHONE: Mission accomplished. got tvs for my mother and sister. madness.

23 November 2007 05:50:44 EST

PHONE: In line at Circuit city. If we had come at midnight we might have a chance at the cheap tv. Cold.

15 November 2007 01:05:05 EST

PHONE: structure, subjectivity, collaboration.

08 November 2007 23:46:28 EST

WII: If I can keep this up, there may be some more and longer posts here. I look at Microsoft Windows all day at work, and when I get home I want an Internet experience that looks completely different. I definitely need to get my mother a bigger-screen TV for her Mac mini.

08 November 2007 23:42:44 EST

WII: I have been listening to role-playing game podcasts ever since GenCon. By far, the best one I have found is Sons of Kryos. I've also been listening to Fear the Boot because they're from St. Louis. If anyone out there knows how to reach Jamie Schneider, tell him to drop me a line.

Listening to the podcasts, in turn, has led me to some interesting independently-published RPGs. I would really like to run Panty Explosion as a one-timer, but the name always turns people off. Fred Hicks has some very impressive products with Don't Rest Your Head and Spirit of the Century. I also managed to find a copy of Burning Wheel at my local game store (Nan's in Houston). I see why so many people get excited about it. It was almost enough to get me going on a few campaigns rolling around in my head: Lord of the Rings, Warcraft or Romance of the Three Kingdoms. But the rules would still need some work. In particular, I don't see how players would get enough Persona points to get over certain Advancement humps. Also, there is such a thing as being too averse to wound accumulation. As I read it, each weapon does exactly three discrete levels of damage. To me, that's like saying that you can only be struck in exactly three points, none of which are necessarily fatal.

Since this post has turned somewhat negative, I suppose I should say something about the notion of distributed storytelling. I suppose that we've all had some politics with the idea of the all-powerful game master, and there might be a desire to share the load. I can relate to Ron Edwards' comment on the podcast Theory from the Closet, that there can be power struggles in a gaming group followed by 'Maoist' tendencies for the loser to be written out of history. But a single GM isn't an inherently harmful concept. In terms of social contract, someone has to organize the game, to host it, to set a time and try to get people to come. It's reasonable that the same person prepares an adventure for the night and runs people through it. If you are lucky to have a game group that is both willing and able to share the load of creating the whole adventure (rather than just their character's action), great. But it's not for beginners, and you can't neglect beginners if you want to grow the hobby.

My purchases have been somewhat limited because I try only to purchase from e23. I trust them and am even willing to pay Texas sales tax to use them. But their selection of independent RPGs seems limited.

08 November 2007 23:09:05 EST

WII: My first post with a wireless keyboard on the Wii. I got it as a christmas present over five years ago. It's a Gyration keyboard; I see them all the time at work now. It works fine.

21 October 2007 20:40:46 EDT

PHONE: Trying to grill in the dark. Last minute party. Saw Tony at his birthday party yesterday.

15 October 2007 10:22:20 EDT

This weekend I purchased an old-school dungeon-style role-playing game book for a modern setting, 'New Glory Naval Base' by Darkfuries publishing. Lately I've had my eye out for realistic maps of modern settings. I realized that what I was looking for was a dungeon, something completely mapped and thought through. Since, in general, I don't run fantasy RPGs, I didn't make the connection until recently.

Thinking back on it, I can't remember the last time I drew a map. I bought Campaign Cartographer for my Battletech 3000 campaign, but just used Fractal Terrains to draw the planetary features. I might have transferred that over to a GURPS Space planetary record sheet. But the most important map, of cities and their adjacencies, was taken straight from King Arthur Pendragon.

There was a map sketched out on dry-erase paper, somewhere down on this blog topic. Usually I grab a map from some unrelated game; my favorite is the Millenium's End GM's companion. I was sure to pick up all the maps released for Lord of the Rings, though I will need to write a game system from scratch.

08 October 2007 13:47:13 EDT

PHONE: Been listening to RPG podcasts since GenCon. Picked up an RPG called Burning Wheel at Nan's. Very meaty.

05 October 2007 15:24:55 EDT

Got an unconfirmed tip that an Office Depot or OfficeMax is coming in at NASA Parkway and El Camino, where the Kroger used to be.

02 October 2007 12:01:20 EDT

No Heroes, you ask? I received the first four episodes from Netflix. It's good, but again, not good enough. Also on that list: Ergo Proxy, Full Metal Alchemist.

Shows that are good enough, that I need to catch up on: Stand Alone Complex and Battlestar Galactica.

I would purchase Stand Alone Complex, but they want $100 for 11 hours of show. That's slightly more than I pay for The Wire, which I consider to be the peak of quality vs. cost.

On a related note, I'm waiting for the following shows to come out in High Definition: Rome, My Name is Earl, Lost, Ugly Betty, How I Met Your Mother.

02 October 2007 11:26:22 EDT

Good new shows on tv: None are must-see. None (not even Moonlight) are so bad you want your hour of life back, but my video consumption is too high and something has to go.

The SO likes Chuck. I like Journeyman. We like Bionic Woman. Big Bang, Cane and Life are good but not good enough. Big Shots seems so derivative.

I started Dirty Sexy Money, but I liked the first scene so much that I stopped until the SO gets a chance to see it. Still haven't seen Private Practice, but will probably make the cut.

Haven't seen Desperate Housewives from 9 days ago; may be the first casualty. Shark may be the second, but it's in the queue. Returning favorites are My Name is Earl, CSI, How I Met Your Mother, Ugly Betty and Gray's Anatomy.

24 September 2007 09:23:47 EDT

Getting back into the stock market today. I finally have some money to put away and my horizon is less than six months. I can afford to take a little risk now.

24 September 2007 09:22:04 EDT

I'll be checking out zaon.com today. As I mentioned after GenCon, they sell detailed maps of starships for your role-playing game, and their online store is supposed to open today. I noticed a plethora of map-selling booths for fantasy games, but hardly anything else. So I'm looking forward to buying a couple of maps today.

Alas, I won't be buying Halo 3 tomorrow. If I was going to get an Xbox 360, it wouldn't be for Halo. This weekend I finally got around to purchsing 'God of War' for the PS2 and it was as good as people said. Looking forward to Batallion Wars 2 for the Wii next month and I hope to share it with friends.

17 September 2007 16:37:20 EDT

PHONE: Star Wars d6, DC Heroes, Marvel RPG, Aliens. These are the role-playing games I would introduce a new player to.

14 September 2007 00:10:07 EDT

WII: Realized from hurricane Humberto that I was prepared to shelter in place, but not prepared to evacuate. So I have packed two t-shirts, swim trunks and flip-flops in a duffel I don't like. I don't have shirts, and especially pants, to take out of rotation. I already carry a toothbrush and phone charger around all day between desks.

12 September 2007 11:28:33 EDT

Bought an HD-DVD player last night; watched three hours of 'The Matrix' extras in Standard Definition.

12 September 2007 11:27:20 EDT

Something to keep in mind about the supposed decline in housing prices: most of that decline will be in California, Florida and New England, where prices had skyrocketed. Places around here will probably see flat prices for 5-10 years, though there will be a bump up if the Fed cuts interest rates by a percent over the next year.

10 September 2007 12:07:22 EDT

PHONE: Forced to watch the new Halloween. Exactly as bad as I thought it would be. No plot twists. No characters to empathize with. Violence to put A Clockwork Orange to shame. Leave Rob Zombie to his dark places.

07 September 2007 14:53:23 EDT

PHONE: Rented Tiger Woods 2007 for the Wii. Controls are bad.

07 September 2007 14:49:33 EDT

PHONE:Lost my travel toothbrush and paste. Need to replace.

31 August 2007 12:30:21 EDT

PHONE: A friend recommended anime called Stand Alone Complex. Like it.

29 August 2007 18:43:38 EDT

PHONE: Managed to get hooked on Gain Ground for the Wii virtual console. Continues seem to be disabled at Stage five.

21 August 2007 21:16:20 EDT

I went to Gen Con in Indianapolis last week. Computer gaming has vastly increased this year, possibly in the wake of E3's cancellation. Apparently the biggest news coming out of the convention was a 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, which I will let others comment on.

I want to start off by telling you about a neat little service I found in the Art show. Zaon produces high-quality deck plans for science-fiction starships. Apparently their online store isn't ready yet, but they had one drawing for sale and I immediately picked it up for my game on Friday. I like it so much that I'm going to find a way to work it in, even though it's far too large for a typical Transhuman Space vessel.

13 August 2007 23:26:52 EDT

I have purchased a new webcam to include a friend in my game night. We'll see how it goes.

10 August 2007 16:28:02 EDT

The class I was to teach at UHCL has been cancelled; only one person signed up. Maybe in the spring.

06 August 2007 23:54:55 EDT

WII: Will try to post more often. I read that people can only have a meaningful social relationship with 150 people. I feel so far behind.

27 July 2007 10:18:44 EDT

PHONE: Motorola just updated the software for my razr. Now the volume of the media player really is quiet at the lowest levels.

21 July 2007 15:57:51 EDT

For any of Minerva's friends who were interested in what we were playing last night, here is a link to the game. Just "check out": you don't have to register to download free PDFs.

20 July 2007 20:08:17 EDT

PHONE: Happy, Michael?

08 June 2007 10:28:28 EDT

PHONE: Beat Advance wars for the DS last night. need to give the handheld a rest. got the web browser for it as a birthday present but cannot bring up my personal site.

30 May 2007 09:25:22 EDT

PHONE: regular expressions continue to plague me. I have to learn a new logic language today.

29 May 2007 22:14:07 EDT

WII: Got my mother and sister set up on the Internet this weekend. My mother is using a Mac mini; I like the media player.

So I see that my last post was also on the wii. Right now it's just gadget-mongering; I'll need a few weeks to decide if it's really the paradigm-shifter I've been waiting for.

24 May 2007 00:27:41 EDT

WII: Wanted to recommend Thaddeus Greibel's paper in the Dec. 2006 edition of gamestudies.org.

21 May 2007 09:33:24 EDT

PHONE: They finally dropped the price on Star Trek. watched two discs of deep space nine this weekend. forgot how good it was.

08 May 2007 09:43:40 EDT

Update on the Wii; I'm returning the cable modem today. Too many headaches and too many problems with customer service.

06 May 2007 13:16:34 EDT

WII: My first post from my Nintendo Wii. GrantDavis.net looks great, YouTube works, I like it. Need to try my keyboard.

24 April 2007 16:12:17 EDT

PHONE: something just occurred to me that most people may not know. when we switch to high definition television in 2009, you will not need a new antenna. even rabbit ears might pick up the signals when tv stations turn them to maximum power. the trick is having a television that can interpret the signal properly.

24 April 2007 15:03:58 EDT

I'm updating RSS feeds on the site today. I see that several sites in my database now have feeds. I have also decided to trim out feeds that are not useful to me with my mobile phone.

To be a useful RSS feed, either:

the feed has to contain the content, or

the site itself must show up reasonably well on the phone, without too much clutter to scroll through. Most sites are not meeting this requirement, so for the most part I am keeping the sites that have all the content in their RSS entry (though there are many exceptions).

22 April 2007 18:44:14 EDT

Got to Best Buy first thing this morning and purchased a Nintendo Wii. I like the Sports games it comes with as a novelty, but I'm really looking for some kind of strategy game I can play with my friends. I'm also interested in the Virtual Console; we're getting cable modem set up as soon as possible.

19 April 2007 09:38:02 EDT

PHONE: This morning i woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep. but i did not want to go to work early. so i started up my fifteen year old genesis and played desert strike, back when it was honorable to attack iraq. Meanwhile, my xbox is up for auction on ebay.

30 March 2007 10:06:41 EDT

Last night I unpacked the stereo. I decided not to use the surround speakers; too many wires around the house.

I also unpacked the Sega Genesis in the bedroom. I decided that the Sega CD and 32X would be too much clutter. Besides, my favorite games are on the core system, though I would like to fire up "Sewer Shark" and "Double Switch" again.

My four favorite games on the core Genesis are Shadowrun, Midway Arcade Classics (none of the later ports do it justice), X-Men, and Desert Strike. "Joust" remains one of the best two-player games in existence, along with "Combat".

I can't believe the Genesis is over 15 years old and I still keep it around. The Xbox is in my trunk, waiting to be dropped off at the Ebay store. It's about the quality of the games and the willingness for the manufacturer to keep them playable on some platform; next-gen, mobile, whatever, as long as the controls are faithful. If the Nintendo Wii would carry these games, I could finally retire the Genesis.

27 March 2007 09:23:03 EDT

So I hear that Starbucks is trying to market itself as a Third Place where people can feel comfortable just hanging out. I don't understand the business model here; people just hanging out should be taking up far more real estate than they're paying out in product.

I wonder why this plan didn't work for comics & roleplaying game stores. Here in Clear Lake, Horizon Games closed down over the year that I was gone and another comics/games store at El Dorado and I-45 seems to have shuttered before I could even check it out. In Boca Raton, Lost Realms moved from one depressed shopping center to an even more remote location.

But even when selling coffee to gamers, I've seen this business model fail. There was a place called "Haven Coffee" in St. Louis in 1995. They catered to gamers, allowed trading-card games without restriction, even allowed live-action role-playing. They went out with a whimper.

Part of it is the fact that most gamers, spending so much time on games, don't make enough money to flow it back to the stores. Also, the enormous markup on upscale coffee probably has something to do with it. Nevertheless, I'm surprised that a tipping point exists where a for-profit business, not selling alcohol, can afford for people to just sit around. I guess that's why the Starbucks guys are rich; they saw the opportunity.

23 March 2007 08:39:12 EDT

For those of you I told, my mother is doing fine. Thank you for all your encouragement this week.

21 March 2007 08:01:58 EDT

It looks like my plans for "How to Host a Murder" are going to fall through. The game requires exactly eight people - four men, four women - to play. I just don't know enough women who would be into it.

My GenCon Event is ready to go, but I've asked a friend to look at it and see if it needs more work.

That leaves GURPS. I plan to design the rest of the Transhuman Space campaign with an ending in 6-12 months while working on my next project. The core combat rules will be Phoenix Command, which has some GURPS-like elements (e.g. 3 dice) in its free-form task resolution system.

Brent is starting a couples night of gaming at his place; I hope he keeps it up.

21 March 2007 07:48:54 EDT

Last might I dreamt that John Kerry moved in next door. I wasn't living in the condo; it was some kind of compound-like place with low ceilings. Most of this I can blame on an HGTV show we were watching last night, though I have no idea where Kerry came from.

15 March 2007 10:07:09 EDT

[Moved from Language page] Try to listen to Japanese every day, even if you don't understand (especially if you don't understand). In Tokyo, I learned that culture shock is a physical condition, not a clash of values. Being surrounded by all this stimulus and not being able to understand will drive you crazy.

12 March 2007 09:45:08 EDT

PHONE: so it was six last night and i was on a plane back to houston. it was remarkable how empty the plane was. i would think that sunday night would be busy.

11 March 2007 05:09:44 EDT

PHONE: checking daylight savings time.

08 March 2007 08:59:49 EST

Exported video from Quicktime Pro to 3GPP format, downloaded it to my Micro SD card, got it to play on the phone. Now working on a ripped DVD.

UPDATE: I just watched the opening credits of "Spiderman 1" on my phone. The complete movie is 67 MB, just a little too large for the micro SD card that came with the phone. If I buy a 1 GB, I can fit a dozen feature-length films on a card the size of my smallest fingernail.

07 March 2007 16:24:10 EST

PHONE: last night i got 'lunar lander ' for the game boy. quickly becoming addicted to it. seems even better than i remember in the arcade.

07 March 2007 10:26:12 EST

PHONE: Two hawks perch on a lamppost outside my office window. their white chest plumage is majestic in the morning sun.

06 March 2007 12:47:56 EST

PHONE: it seems impossible to play mp3s on my phone without buying them through power vision. It may actually be easier to play video. Must investigate.

03 March 2007 17:22:15 EST

PHONE: we're having our first barbeque of the year. Beautiful.

28 February 2007 11:00:22 EST

Changed my front page to show all blog posts for the week, rather than just the last 25 hours. Similarly updated the RSS feed.

28 February 2007 10:12:50 EST

Someone is building condominiums next to mine "starting in the 190s". That usually means $190,000 for a one-bedroom that isn't right next to the water. In our case, "the water" is simply a canal that is part of Clear Lake, not a beach or anything. That is about three times the offer made on my 2-bedroom unit last year.

Now, I like the things that are happening in my area. Baybrook Mall is becoming more upscale, the new bypass brings I-45 almost to my door (though not too close), and things are starting to ramp up at NASA with the new Moonshot. But $190,000 is close to the numbers I was hearing in South Florida.

While it is certainly in my interest to hype these properties right along with the builder, I have to wonder what could possibly be so good about these new condominiums. People usually think of real estate as an investment, something that will go up. But then you have to ask why the price of my 25-year-old unit would not pop right up with them, something I am skeptical of.

Doubtless someone would say that a new unit is less run-down, that it hasn't decayed. This leads me to question the underlying assumption that real estate is always an appreciating investment. By this logic, it should be treated as a depreciating capital investment or even expensed as a consumed item.

$190,000? I would like someone to show me the reasoning. Better yet, show me the money.

23 February 2007 08:57:20 EST

PHONE: I was up early again this morning, looking for a place to work on the computer. With my new consulting arrangement, I'm trying to stay away from work until more people arrive. Starbucks is too crowded and noisy, so I'm enjoying some caffeine at the L & L Deli on Upper Bay Road. Looks like I missed Open Mike Jazz night at the Arts Alliance center up the road.

22 February 2007 21:45:04 EST

Years ago, I bought faux-wooden drawer-type storage cases for my VHS tapes. Since then, they have languished in obscurity, neglected not because the VHS is slightly harder to load or because they lack cache, but because they were hidden away in these drawers.

With all my available media - books, CDs, DVDs, VHS, video games, collectible card games, boardgames, and wargames - I need a way to advertise them to myself more regularly. I don't generally keep these things just for the sake of having them - though I almost bought 1835 last night for exactly that reason.

The boardgames have the best advertising, being the largest, yet they are the most difficult to use, needing a group of interested players. The DVDs and video games have a decent presence on my shelves, but the CDs languish in their small boxes with thin spines, or buried in the iPod. I try to keep the Nintendo DS game boxes visible, even though the actual games are on a tiny chip.

I need some kind of solution that weights each medium's share of my attention according to convenience (audio can be consumed in more situations than video, while boardgames are difficult to play at all), how long since last being sampled, and how much time they would take.

A holographic solution would be ideal, but seems to be out of reach. My web-based inventory is out of date and doesn't give the the attention-space options I want. Perhaps something could be done with augmented reality, maybe aural rather than visual. The 'Hot Links' on the front page of GrantDavis.net have been helpful in organizing my web surfing.

21 February 2007 10:20:42 EST

First day back at my old job went well. Hopefully I will be back on full time by April.

20 February 2007 08:14:56 EST

PHONE: first day back on the job in houston. i'm in at seven am without a door key or an assignment.

17 February 2007 18:47:57 EST

PHONE:At a chinese buffet in birmingham. going back to the freeway.

17 February 2007 12:29:39 EST

PHONE: from ft. Lauderdale to the georgia border in six hours. Weather is beautiful.

16 February 2007 13:50:41 EST

My old employer is bringing me back on short-term as a consultant. It's a new experience, having to send out invoices and file self-employment tax.

16 February 2007 13:46:59 EST

I don't normally use the journal for personal announcements, but there are too many people to inform. My last day in Fort Lauderdale is today and I am driving back to Houston tomorrow. Florida is beautiful but it is crowded, expensive, and too far away from family and friends. I'm not leaving on account of the work; the job has been challenging and intellectually stimulating. But this is my chance to get back to Houston and I'm taking it.

15 February 2007 08:59:02 EST

Saw HD-DVD at a friend's house. It was the first time to see it 'in the field' rather than at an electronics store. I can see the difference and am definitely going to get HD, though I am still leaning towards the Playstation 3.

More remarkable that the picture was the sound. My friend built his own speakers and his surround sound is amazing. I see that poor-quality speakers are holding back my own home theature in a box - a moving box, unopened.

08 February 2007 17:37:09 EST

If anyone out there is reading this, I'm looking for a flash drive that plays any MP3s it finds, without any special software other than the auto-loading driver.

More generally, I wonder why so many of these wonderful data readers are still tethering themselves to the general-purpose computer. The iPod is dependent upon iTunes; Sony's PDF reader needs to download from a PC. These devices will never supplant the personal computer until they can function without one.

There is no technical reason people couldn't purchase music, video and electronic books from a kiosk.

08 February 2007 08:04:24 EST

PHONE: I'm back up on my phone! The Samsung A920 didn't allow me to log in here. But my sister got me a RAZR for xmas and yesterday I was able to sign up for web access without extending my contract.

07 February 2007 08:45:35 EST

Played Lost Planet yesterday. It was pretty good, better than Perfect Dark Zero.

04 February 2007 10:05:40 EST

This Sprint mobile broadband is choking me. Not only is the service too slow for video and software patches, but this single card is such a tenuous link to the ether. I can't set up a network with Slingbox and my game consoles.

28 January 2007 09:17:27 EST

When talking about cable and satellite subscribership in households, some people remark about the 10-20% of homes without either one as being disposable. Keep in mind that this is your seed corn, the way that people get video when they have no other way. Don't dismiss it.

26 January 2007 19:33:58 EST

Went to the beach today. It was cold and I didn't go swimming, but there were plenty of white clouds drifting across the blue sky, covering and uncovering the half moon.

25 January 2007 08:36:36 EST

We plugged the high-definition DVR into a standard-definition TV. The HD channels are translated properly and the color looks good. I think that the HD producers (at least at ABC) are working harder in general to deliver quality pictures.

22 January 2007 20:14:02 EST

Went to see "The Pursuit of Happyness" this weekend. Very good. Makes you appreciate what you have.

21 January 2007 09:21:07 EST

For being so pro-business, some Republicans in charge in this country don't seem to have a head for it. They don't seem to understand the principle of sunk cost. Trying to give "meaning" to the death of American troops is poor stewardship of the ones who are still alive.

Also, think about how this 20,000 troops are being brought to Iraq. In addition to sending more units, we will be breaking our promise to 20,000 troops already there, telling them that they will have to stay. Wouldn't it be a stronger show of support to the troops if we kept our promises to them?

18 January 2007 21:33:37 EST

We all thought that telecommuting would have revolutionized the workplace by now. But we didn't think far enough afield. If a job can be done from the beach, it can be done from another continent. Remember how everyone else learned English as a foreign language? Hoist on our own petard we are.

18 January 2007 00:40:05 EST

In pencil-and-paper role-playing games, there would often be an equipment table. This table is a list of what characters can buy, how much things cost and how much they weigh. An equipment table for a fantasy setting might look like this:

Item	Cost	Weight
Rope, 100'	1 gp	10 lb.
Rations, 1 day	5 cp	2 lbs.

There's no marketing involved, no advertisements that obscure important details (such as weight), no auctions, no used item discounts, no holiday sales. It's a utilitarian delivery of information.

This got me to thinking about data. In 1990, Steve Jackson Games published a book called GURPS Cyberpunk, which is famous for being seized by the U.S. Secret Service for being too realistic. In this book, they speculated about the cost and weight of data storage in the early 21st century. A few months ago, I cracked the book open to see how well they guessed.

So after extensive research (on the website of a popular big-box store), I have come up with a list of modern equipment for carrying and accessing data. Disclaimer: none of this is a solicitation to sell.

Modern Data Transport and Readers

Item	Cost	Weight
Card, 2GB	$100	.01 lb
Stick, 2GB	$100	.03 lb
Stick w/Audio, 2GB	$150	.1 lb
Hard Disk w/Audio, Video, 4" screen, 30GB	$250	.3 lb
Hard Disk w/Audio, Video, 4" screen, 80GB	$400	.5 lb
Hard Disk protection	$20	+100%

Older Data Transport - for Computers only

Low-Capacity Disc (w/case), .5 GB	$0.50	.2 lb
Medium-Capacity Disc (w/case), 4 GB	$1	.2 lb
High-Capacity Disc (w/case), 50 GB	$20	.2 lb
Disc, GURPS Cyberpunk, p.65, 10 GB	$5	.1 lb
ROM Cartridge, GURPS Cyberpunk, p.51, 1 GB	$500	1 lb
Hard Disk, 80GB	$150	1 lb
Non-Portable Hard Disk, 250GB	$150	2.5 lb
Non-Portable Hard Disk, 750GB	$450	2.5 lb
GURPS Cyberpunk, p.68, 1000 GB	$10,000	500 lb

Specialized Data Access Devices

Electronic Book/Audio, 6" screen, 64MB plus stick or card memory	$350	.5 lb
Audio, 1 hour (Low-Cap Disc)	$20	1 lb
Video, 6" screen, 3 hours (Med-Cap Disc)	$150	2 lb

Phones

1.5" screen, Text Transmit, Speakerphone	$20	.25 lb
Add Camera, 100 phone numbers, reads cards	$30	.25 lb
Add Data Transmit, Emergency Locator	$50	.25 lb
Add Video, 2.5" screen, Satellite Navigation	$150	.25 lb
+Push-button Talk	+$30
+Wireless Headset	+$100	.05 lb

Handheld Computers

Comes with Phone, Audio, Video, Data Transmit, and Emergency Locator. Reads cards. The Global Network is accessible, but difficult to navigate.

2.5" screen, .1 GB	$400	.25 lb
4" screen, .25 GB, Productivity Software, High-Speed Data Transmit	$600	.5 lb

Portable Computers

Comes with Audio, Video, and High-Speed Data Transmit. Reads cards, sticks, or discs. Can add any function in these lists.

12" screen, 80 GB	$1200	4 lb
15" screen, 160 GB	$1600	6 lb
17" screen, 240 GB, Hi-Cap Discs	$3000	10 lb
Non-Portable	50%	+100%

Typical Media

Item	Cost	Space
Text, per letter	Free	.000000001 GB
Audio, 4 min., Low Quality	$1	.04 GB
Audio, 4 min., High Quality	$3	.4 GB
Video, 1 hour, Low Quality	$2	.4 GB
Video, 1 hour, Good Quality	$5	1 GB
Electronic Book	$15	.002 GB
Audio Disc, 1 hour, Good Quality	$15	n/a
Video Disc, 3 hours, Good Quality	$20	n/a
Photo, Low Quality	varies	.0001 GB
Photo, High Quality	varies	.001 GB

16 January 2007 20:52:35 EST

Did some interesting work on the PCI bus today. Need to look at the specifications.

16 January 2007 08:33:47 EST

It occurs to me that in Florida traffic, people will take advantage of you for using your turn signal. I usually use my signal to let other drivers know that I need to get into a lane. In Florida, drivers will actually pull up and cut you off when you broadcast your intention.

14 January 2007 10:07:06 EST

I try not to talk about politics much, but I have something to say about the President's speech last Wednesday. I am more concerned about what the president announced about Iran than about the extra 20,000 troops. A carrier group deployed and interdiction of Iranian operations represents a much greater escalation of the conflict. The extra troops are distracting people from this.

We can be totally opposed to the leadership with Iran, but we have more in common with the Iranians than people think. Most Iranians don't want to live under Islamic law, but Iran is a dangerous place to be a moderate. War with Iran is not inevitable and should not be resigned to.

11 January 2007 15:19:19 EST

I went way over my minutes during the Christmas break and owe an extra $100. I need to use text messages more and check my usage more often.

10 January 2007 18:58:02 EST

Updated my resume again today.

10 January 2007 10:59:10 EST

A TV show like 'The Dead Zone' was first filmed in standard definition and in later seasons was filmed in high definition. So there is a possibility of it being released on high-definition disc. But later seasons of a TV series on DVD never sell as well as the first season, so could that delay a show from ever being released in HD?

A more immediate question is when they will start releasing TV shows in some HD format. So far I am waiting on HD before buying the following shows: That's Life, Lost, How I Met Your Mother, and Desperate Housewives. Even for an old show shot in standard definition, you might fit an entire season of 22-24 episodes on one disc. How about a reasonably-sized box set of an entire series?

09 January 2007 17:07:57 EST

Minerva and I went to the beach together this morning.

08 January 2007 08:08:21 EST

PHONE: I got my fiance satellite radio for Christmas and I think it's great. The receiver is not removable and has no recording feature; I'm trying to get something for her, not me. It has 30 presets and I took the last ten. Preset one is the preview channel, to get samples of what is available. Two are music, two are traffic (Houston and Miami) and the rest are news/talk. My favorite so far is BBC World Service.

07 January 2007 10:08:34 EST

Bank of America has made a mistake in setting up security for their online banking today. Computer technicians usually make upgrades like this on a Sunday in order to minimize disruption. But it also means that mistakes aren't caught as quickly.

Security on their site is guaranteed by a chain of security certificates from VeriSign, Inc., for which a company pays north of 800 dollars a year. Their root certificate certifies an intermediate certificate (also from VeriSign), which certifies Bank of America's security.

Bank of America's certificate was certified by the wrong intermediate certificate, which expired in 2004. Expired certificates are like expired milk; they may be safe, but they shouldn't be trusted. I'm going to hold off on banking for now.

UPDATE: Bank of America has already fixed the problem. It may have only been wrong for a few minutes.

06 January 2007 16:56:37 EST

PHONE: It may seem obvious, but the beach is different when it's crowded. Usually I come in the morning, stand at the pavilion for a short time and go on to work. On the weekend afternoon, the crowd makes it different; not necessarily worse, if you are into people-watching. But a crowd is probably better experienced by being in it, on the sand.

06 January 2007 09:10:53 EST

I'm thinking about the next game I want to run. I need something for GenCon and something to run locally once per month, in addition to hosting "How to Host a Murder" each month. Today I considered WWII, but that's just because I bought some GURPS books recently and have been playing a couple of PC games about the war. I still have DarkStryder ready to run off the shelf, but I need to come up with something myself.

I wonder why GenCon is taking so long for event registration and housing signup to get started. I seem to remember signing up around the beginning of the year.

UPDATE: Speak of the devil. GenCon is starting Pre-Registration on Sunday, February 11.

04 January 2007 21:05:19 EST

PHONE: Last night I was watching a Marilyn Monroe movie from 1960 called "Let's Make Love". I'm struck by the depth and sophistication of the dialogue compared to movies today. Perhaps it came from the tendency to take a stage play and just film it, there being very little action except for one stunt ; an actor falls down a flight of stairs and you can see his head and neck landing in a way I think could easily make him a paraplegic, yet he got right up. I'm impressed.

03 January 2007 21:57:58 EST

I think that the slow speed of Sprint Mobile broadband may be due to the connection strength. In Little Rock, at the top of a hill, I was able to watch YouTube with only a little difficulty. Different people upload videos of different bitrates.

03 January 2007 07:20:40 EST

PHONE: This morning I decided to eat before dressing so that my pants wouldn't get stained. On the way to work, I see this coffee stain from the last time I wore them, which I would have noticed had I put them on first thing.

01 January 2007 09:20:20 EST

I am making plans to leave South Florida. Thinking back on the decision to move here, I hadn't visited beforehand, neither to interview for the job nor on vacation. The last time I was in Florida was around 1980 when we went to Disney World.

I think that I got more accurate picture of what it would be like from the Internet than I would have from a one-day interview or three-day vacation. A trip would have shown me that South Florida is beautiful, that the weather is usually good and that the beach is spectacular. The Internet told me that the population density was triple that of where I lived before and that even with my raise, my purchasing power would be diminished (though it underestimated by how much).

But neither of them would tell me about transplanted New Yorkers, about rich people and old people going around with a sense of entitlement. On the other hand, the cultural diversity is a pleasant surprise. People just need to learn how to drive and generally how to be civil towards one another now that they're in the US.

01 January 2007 00:24:16 EST

PHONE: Keeping my New Year's resolution, I am starting up my journal again and intend to update it every day. As far as content today, let me say that the right for you to be wrong outweighs the need for us to be right.

30 December 2006 14:47:24 EST

I'm trying to get my mother set up with a high-definition DVR for her new television and Comcast in Little Rock has none available, with or without DVR. Did Comcast not know that Christmas was coming, that there would be people buying HDTVs and wanting high-definition programming? As the monopolist provider of landline video, I think I have a reasonable expectation that they would have a stockpile ready.

29 December 2006 23:16:20 EST

Went through the links at Terra Nova and picked out a few for games/news. It doesn't get very far afield, of course, but it's a few more perspectives on different aspects of gaming.

28 December 2006 12:52:34 EST

Updated the style sheet today. I know that Monotype Corsiva is a risk; we'll see how long it lasts. Took out the tipjar to reduce clutter in the lower right cell. Took out the XHTML validator because I don't know how often it is wrong.

22 December 2006 08:06:48 EST

Today is my last day of work for the year. I won't know what to do with myself for a week.

19 December 2006 22:08:09 EST

PHONE: This morning, when I got to the train station, both ticket validators were broken. This is the second time this has happened. When it does, I buy a one-way ticket right away. I never want to cry to the conductor how unfair it is that I couldn't validate my 12-pass. But it affects my future choices.

11 December 2006 06:19:44 EST

PHONE: I have lost the ability to beat the computer at Starcraft. Of all the realtime strategy games out there, I think that could be the Chess of our time. Like chess, you have to get very good at it before you even try to compete. Beating the computer only scratches the surface; you need to beat the higher difficulty, then try two computer opponents. A graphical update of the game would probably fail and new rules would just be a hassle, but there are other options: a better computer player or a new single player campaign.

04 December 2006 22:39:04 EST

Updated my resume again. I don't know why I ever try to use Microsoft Publisher. It mangled things so badly I went back to hand-coding the HTML again.

03 December 2006 22:32:30 EST

PHONE: From all I have seen in my career, it's amazing that anything gets done above a tribal level. The whole of civilization is astounding, and I am quite blessed.

02 December 2006 08:38:33 EST

PHONE: It's not he who dies with the most toys that wins. It's he who can spend a day as he wishes.

30 November 2006 07:59:51 EST

Went to the beach this morning. I slipped into the last free parking space as the light had already started to arrive. Perhaps you might get tired of the beach if you saw it every day for years, but I am far from that point. It makes you feel so small, that your problems are insignificant.

29 November 2006 08:06:50 EST

I finally connected my VCR to the DVR to start recording Season Four of "The Wire". I have all the shows available on Video on Demand, but I have also been recording late-night reruns to capture the episodes. I haven't taped a show in years, but I didn't like waiting 18 months for the third season DVD.

29 November 2006 07:59:30 EST

PHONE: Still haven't decided on a Playstation 3 or a Wii. The answer is probably neither; I don't have time to play the consoles I have now. The Nintendo DS has been the best for the kind of interstitial gaming I am forced into.

28 November 2006 08:01:17 EST

As I'm packing to move, I am following a "play-or-pack" rule for media consumption. If I'm looking for something to watch or play and my eyes rest upon a video, a game, a book, etc., then I have to use it or pack it. No more time for procrastination.

Packing it doesn't mean I should throw it away. Nostalgia is a tricky thing; it provides value when you least expect it. There is a board game called "Road to the White House" that I would never impose on my friends again, yet I have discarded it before and regretted it. Besides, my last move was only eight months ago; almost everything here has already made the cut.

29 August 2006 15:20:56 EDT

Things seem to be calming down here; Tropical Storm Ernesto has not strengthened as they expected.

Nevertheless, I plan to write more here as Minerva goes on her trip. Right now I need to get some work done from home.

29 August 2006 00:20:09 EDT

I need to get to sleep. I came down with a cold this weekend; I feel well enough to work tomorrow, but I need to get some gas first. I also need cash and toilet paper.

Minerva bought a Sprint "wireless broadband" card, which I think I've mentioned here before. It's about as fast as DSL, but works anywhere Sprint has service. So I'll update this site whenever I can.

21 July 2006 19:45:03 EDT

HBO is finally releasing Season 3 of The Wire on DVD. This should be advertised on their web site MUCH MORE PROMINENTLY. I may have to re-subscribe to cable next month.

27 June 2006 22:27:23 EDT

At my sister's recommendation, updated the list of my DVD collection. Probably not what she meant, but they are one of my most valuable possessions.

09 June 2006 07:00:32 EDT

Finally stole some time this morning to fix the Houston clock on my site. I've been very busy lately.

01 June 2006 17:05:38 EDT

Updated my resume. Work is going fine, this is just my lot for now.

19 May 2006 14:30:46 EDT

Finally found some time to trim some links. Left most of them in the database; they just won't show up on the front page.

Need to get back to studying for MCSD.

09 May 2006 23:04:14 EDT

I have a retraction to make. I just found out that the modem card had been limited to 112k. It now runs at over 400k, as advertised.

07 May 2006 15:12:46 EDT

Yesterday I saw a commercial for "Sprint Mobile Broadband", which Mineva subscribes to. A few days ago I alluded to the slow nature of this service, but this advertisement compels me to state it outright. Sprint is engaging in deceptive advertising. This service is not broadband, nor is it fast enough to qualify as an equivalent. The other day I was able to download a file at about 128k, nowhere near the 400k-700k advertised. It's a few times faster than dial-up, and it is literally a dial-up connection using a cellular modem. Landline modems are limited to 53k because of the electrical limitations of older telephone wires. Sprint is not bound by these limits and thus can run faster, but not nearly fast enough to be worth $60/month, nor to advertise it as broadband.

03 May 2006 06:29:06 EDT

Updated the site's style sheet. Used color names for now; will go back and fine-tune later.

30 April 2006 22:25:31 EDT

Minerva is wholly responsible for paying for, and setting up, cable and/or satellite. So for now, I've got the HDTV connected to an antenna. We've got NBC, CBS, and Fox, but no ABC or WB. PBS is, as always, at the forefront with several interesting channels through digital multicasting. There is a channel called Create, with a cooking show Minerva liked, a channel which carries the Florida Legistature, and a channel called 'The Tube' which carries music videos. I purchased an amplifying digital antenna for the HDTV and hooked up an analog amplifier to the television upstairs.

30 April 2006 21:00:22 EDT

I bought a PCMCIA adapter card for the desktop; I am now accessing through Minerva's Sprint PCS Connection.

There are nine wireless networks within range of this machine, and four of them are unsecured.

The connection speed is pretty slow. Sprint advertises 400k-700k, but speakeasy clocks it at 241k download, 22k upload. The upload was faster on the laptop, but the download was about 87k.

26 April 2006 18:36:00 EDT

PHONE: Last weekend I picked up a book of poetry by Keats.

26 April 2006 16:53:13 EDT

PHONE: I'm going to try to find a prepaid phone that allows web access. I miss being able to update this journal. I also miss using this phone that Marivic and Joseph gave me.

26 April 2006 16:48:29 EDT

PHONE: apparently, the commuter rail doesn't even try to run on schedule until rush hour. I think I'll hold off on my monthly pass.

26 April 2006 07:53:14 EDT

PHONE: Took the train to work this morning. It was much less stressful, though the view was unsightly. No one checked my ticket.

25 April 2006 08:54:41 EDT

PHONE: Commuting is as bad as I thought.

20 April 2006 17:31:14 EDT

Minerva switched to Sprint, so I followed her and picked up a Samsung A920 phone. The XHTML browser is crippled; it doesn't support old-style password authentication, so I haven't been able to update my web site from it. Sprint Power Vision is massively overpriced, and despite my complimentary month of Ultimate Vision ($25/month) I couldn't find any decent video that wasn't an extra fee. I dropped it.

20 April 2006 17:28:03 EDT

The hotel is right across the highway from work, and I'm not looking forward to commuting in South Florida. They don't have anything nearly as sophisticated as Houston Transtar, and the people are terrible, selfish, dangerous drivers. Commuter rail is still an option.

20 April 2006 17:27:50 EDT

If anyone is still out there, I'm still around. I'm still at an Extended Stay Hotel, and Internet access has just now been restored.

The job is going well, lots of challenges. It's embedded software testing, like I was doing in Houston. The emphasis here is upon trigger/response testing, where they stimulate the hardware inputs in such a way as to get the desired response. In Houston, I only did such testing as a last resort. There are no test harnesses; all testing seems to be on a full build, although there may be an option to turn off some outputs.

They need 100% code coverage for DO-178B Level B certification, but their Software Verification Plan has a clause that lets them verify coverage by analysis if necessary. Instrumentation philosophy is to insert probes in as many modules as possible, not to test the modules in isolation.

06 April 2006 19:51:02 EDT

PHONE: The cars actually made it easier to get to sleep, a kind of white noise. But the neighborhood is not good; the houses are run down and the graffiti artist "OXID3" has the neighborhood in his grip. We are definitely moving when Minerva gets down here.

05 April 2006 20:33:21 EDT

Got Jason to the airport today and checked out of the La Quinta. Checked into an extended stay hotel. It's nice to be able to cook my own meals again. The place is right across the freeway from work - *directly* across the freeway. We'll see whether the cars keep me up.

04 April 2006 20:09:53 EDT

PHONE: we're at an amazing italian place on Federal called Bon Gusto.

04 April 2006 16:30:20 EDT

I have just been informed that if I show up at 8 AM for work, nobody will be there. People usually get in around 8:30 or 9. Good to know.

04 April 2006 16:25:25 EDT

Places - so far - where I forgot to apply sufficient sunblock:

Top of my feet
Top of my head

Stay tuned.

04 April 2006 13:09:44 EDT

PHONE: driving down the Gulf Coast, most of the man-made structures were rebuilt (at least along the freeway). What I noticed were the trees down. I'm looking at the effect of a hundred year storm, something that can't happen annually without resulting in shorter trees like the ones here in Florida.

04 April 2006 12:21:42 EDT

PHONE: sitting on the beach at Fort Lauderdale, enjoying a philly on stale bread. I could get used to this.

03 April 2006 18:29:03 EDT

PHONE: We've unloaded the truck and checked into the hotel. We're trying out a pizza at a local place. I really like the pastel motif.

02 April 2006 21:59:40 EDT

PHONE: what time is it?

02 April 2006 18:22:07 EDT

PHONE: I've just crossed into Florida, perhaps to stay.

27 March 2006 15:24:37 EST

Replaced the Florida Sun-Sentinel link with the Miami Herald. I noticed that the Sun-Sentinel seemed not to report as many crimes as the Herald.

24 March 2006 15:00:22 EST

Someone is coming to look at the condo this afternoon. We still haven't started packing in earnest. I got the dirty dishes out of the sink and made up the beds this morning, but it's still not anything close to presentable. I don't want to try living in a "showcase home", and I don't want to put Minerva up to that either. When we leave and take everything, people will be better able to imagine themselves and their things. Until then, I accept that we won't make a good impression on this buyer today.

UPDATE: The showing was cancelled; no interlopers today.

22 March 2006 11:08:32 EST

My condo is now listed for sale. I've called my realtor with a few corrections: there isn't a breakfast bar, I don't think the tub is a "Hollywood tub", and there is only a small amount of laminate flooring. The living room has hardwood flooring.

19 March 2006 16:53:22 EST

For everyone who thinks that I should consider buying instead of renting in South Florida, I offer the following:

A condominium comparable to the one I am living in now would cost $240,000. Assuming interest rates and property taxes of 10%, that would cost $24,000 per year, or $2000 per month. That is simply for the privelege of borrowing such a large sum of money; none of it goes toward principal. Since I can rent a comparable place for no more than $1500, the conventional reasoning that "renting is a waste of money" does not apply.

Real estate prices are so high that, if they were real numbers, the rational thing to do would be for almost everyone to quit their jobs and spend two man-years building their homes. We're in a bubble and it will take a long time for reality to catch up.

17 March 2006 16:25:09 EST

I have no problem with Felicity Huffman hawking Dove, because those ladies made hardly anything for the first season.

It got me to thinking, perhaps these shows could take out "celebrity insurance". If the show becomes a hit, the insurance could kick in and provide for drivers, bodyguards, etc. for these people who become overnight celebrities without the money or infrastructure to deal with it. This is not theoretical; people have died from sudden celebrity.

16 March 2006 19:39:01 EST

I just re-organized the 'Games' section of my Windows Start Menu. I noticed that I have a lot of Strategy Games, including The Sims and The Sims 2, so I created the category 'Simulations' just to split them up and make it manageable. I put Hearts of Iron 2 in there because of the level of historical detail, and Republic in because, frankly, the idea of Republic is more intriguing than the actual gameplay. Let me explain.

In Republic, you play a man who starts out trying to overthrow a brutal dictator. Your avatar travels through a clockwork city with a decent level of detail, with artificial people you can follow (with the camera, not your avatar) through the city, living out their lives. Eventually, you can engage in nefarious tactics and, once you have taken control, resort to the same brutality as the man you deposed. Unfortunately, the game tends to be slow and bug-ridden, though I intend to give it another chance when I upgrade my computer. It's more interesting to follow people around the city than to actually play, though eventually even this wears thin.

So that's why I placed it in the "Simulations" category, being a clockwork city. This is not to say that "The Sims" and "Hearts of Iron 2" are also boring to play, but that their entertainment lies in the details.

Along this line of reasoning, perhaps Kuma/War is being judged by the wrong yardstick. While its graphics are sub-par for action shooting game, its purpose is the same as that of toy soldiers and civil war re-enactments. People are interested in battles, and now they have the chance to re-enact these battles almost immediately after they happen.

Now, by *this* metric, Kuma/War has a disastrous flaw. The scenarios in the game are deliiberately "balanced" to provide a more challenging play experience. This is anathema to any war re-enactor. So if you dislike Kuma/War, do so for the right reasons.

14 March 2006 23:20:46 EST

Long-term deficit spending is the greatest lie a government can tell. It says that your taxes won't be higher in the future, when in fact they will have to be raised to pay off our debts.

14 March 2006 09:57:59 EST

I was just reading this article decrying low voter turnout in the primaries. It's a little late this year, but I have to recommend that you think twice before voting in a primary election. In a general election, you have an absolute right to privacy in whom you vote for. This is also true in a primary, but you have to choose which primary you vote in, Republican or Democrat, and that is a matter of public record. I got some junk mail recently as a "loyal Republican" because I voted in the 2000 Republican primary. So think about how you want to be labeled before you vote in a primary. As for this year, I deliberately didn't in a primary so that I could sign the petition for Strayhorn for Governor.

10 March 2006 14:27:01 EST

I have some happy news: my new work place will be 0.2 miles from a commuter train station. I could live anywhere from West Palm Beach to Miami and get to work within an hour. Best of all, that's an hour of *not driving* in city traffic. I can just ride the train and look for apartments nearby.

08 March 2006 11:30:00 EST

This morning I resigned from my job and accepted a position in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

08 March 2006 11:29:19 EST

Added the Florida Sun-Sentinel to the local links, as I will be moving there soon.

21 February 2006 09:17:46 EST

I have an unusual song stuck in my head today: "Busy Prepositions" from Schoolhouse Rock. I never thought much of the song when I first heard it, but now it's stuck in my head. I don't even know all the words.

14 February 2006 21:30:42 EST

Created and posted a Video Resume.

14 February 2006 12:49:53 EST

We finally got through all our shows on the DVR, except for 'Lost'. We haven't finished the first season yet. The DVR, a Scientific Atlanta 8000, is starting to act up and I need to take it back to the Time Warner service center for a replacement.

14 February 2006 12:47:10 EST

I've started using the memo feature in Quicken, trying to attach whatever I can remember about what I spend on. It's like the memo line on a check, just some text to remind you what the check was for.

Looking at all these expenditures, I'm beginning to feel that my life is being swallowed up by all these transactions. The memo lets me reclaim a little bit of that life, something to reminisce over at tax or budgeting time.

08 February 2006 14:19:00 EST

Updated The Library to the new style.

07 February 2006 14:01:19 EST

One of the greatest problems with Digital Rights Management is the conundrum of flexibility: How can someone enjoy media (movie, TV show, podcast, song, etc.) in all their different life spaces (mobile, living room, computer room, car, work) when 1) You can't make copies and 2) you can't use your one copy everywhere?

The iPod is coming very close to solving this problem. You can watch it:

on the iPod's small screen,
on the computer that you used to purchase or subscribe to the video (note that this is actually your second copy)
with a car charger/player (we just bought one of these), or
connected to the television (I haven't tried this yet).

By the way, the iPod is also a really big USB drive. Just plug it in.

Some obstacles remain before the iPod achieves critical mass and takes over the entire non-interactive media space.

Having to use a computer to buy the media. Starbucks is talking about selling music directly to your iPod. If this technology spreads, a dedicated iTunes device might make it into the home. Since one of the goals of the iPod is to sell more Apple computers, expect this to be delayed for some time.
Making more content available. The iTunes store needs the top-quality news podcasts, recent films and the best video entertainment (what we call "TV shows" today). It's not there yet.
Better picture quality on screens larger than the iPod's own. It's good, but it's not as good as TV, much less HDTV.

Even if this all comes together, it won't completely replace TV and radio. They can still offer critical services:

Live events. All of this media has to be downloaded, and that takes time.
Aggregation. Most people don't really know what they like, and the art of finding the best media and arranging it in a pleasing order is not going to go away.
Picture and sound quality. As I said before, the iPod picture is not as good as TV. Also, the MP3 sound files are not as high-quality as a regular CD. Even if you burn your MP3s to a CD, some audio data has already been lost.

Nevertheless, we are on the cusp of a major revolution in media. Soon, people may be deciding to get rid of cable just as they got rid of their landline phones.

06 February 2006 09:32:39 EST

Updated resume to stress that Shuttle Guidance software is heavily requirements-driven. Its requirements are called Flight Software System Requirements (FSSRs), and I've been heavily into them for the last six years. Shuttle software follows the FSSRs to the letter.

UPDATE: Extensive changes to resume. Using Microsoft Publisher won't work, though I did make a nice one to hand out. I also populated the resume with hyperlinks to explain different parts of what I have done. It makes the resume more real than a single sheet of paper, sort of proof that I didn't make it all up, though of course my name isn't on any of it.

05 February 2006 06:25:06 EST

PHONE: Channel two is making video of their nightly newscast available on Time Warner video on demand.

03 February 2006 17:51:06 EST

Removed link to TV show 'Rome'. What is the point of continuing the series after Julius Caesar dies?

I'm also ready for the new season of "The Wire". It's 2006, so they should be starting soon. I also want HBO to release the third season on DVD.

01 February 2006 09:30:38 EST

Updated my resume.

30 January 2006 12:34:59 EST

Removed link "LawMeme". Site has been down for more than a week.

30 January 2006 11:55:55 EST

I have discovered Painter's Pants at Old Navy. I'm starting to accumulate gadgets again and I need some cargo capacity. Painter's Pants have pockets on the back below the knee, so things don't fall out when you're on the toilet. Even the 'change pocket' is so enlarged you can't keep change in in, but I can keep my cellphone in it.

I got a wireless headset with a flip-out microphone, so I'm using it as a clip to my front shirt pocket. I'm sure it wasn't designed for that. When the phone rings, I pull and flip-out the small headset instead of the larger phone.

30 January 2006 11:35:09 EST

As I get older, component quality of my games becomes more important. This weekend I found a great deal on Hasbro's Clue and Sorry games packaged together in this nice wooden box. There's also a deluxe Scrabble in a wooden box at Barnes and Noble, but I haven't picked it up yet. For a time, I showed my miniatures in this beautiful display case I inherited from my Grandmother. Fantasy Flight has finally learned this lesson with their latest edition of Twilight Imperium, and Eagle Games definitely has the right idea with their game pieces sold separately as metal. I bought a copy of Fury of Dracula at the GenCon auction a few years ago, with the metal minatures instead of plastic, and painted them. Games Workshop included a flyer in Blood Royale for minatures available for purchase, but now that I have money I could never track them down.

24 January 2006 09:45:12 EST

I just received the worst service I can imagine at the post office. I thought that service this bad was long gone, part of the bad old '90s. I have encountered someone who is completely immune to the consequences of poor performance.

The important thing is that I had a chance to practice my New Year's Resolution: to be thicker-skinned and, inverting the Golden Rule, to be less sensitive towards what others think of me. I was firm, I threw her doubletalk right back at her, and now I need to walk away and forget the whole thing. When I need to mail something, I need to go right back in there and conduct business again.

19 January 2006 10:36:13 EST

PHONE: Last night I downloaded and played the demo for Star Wars empire at war. It uses the mechanic from Battle for Middle Earth where you construct and select a whole squadron of soldiers or fighters. I was able to do well in space but battle on the ground was frustrating.

17 January 2006 17:09:15 EST

One of the best parts of my job is the view. Clear Lake is so low today, it looks like you could walk across it in places.

16 January 2006 11:33:53 EST

Last night I found out that, like Comcast, Time Warner Cable is now offering free exercise videos on its video-on-demand service.

16 January 2006 10:49:05 EST

Minerva's brother-in-law is coming this week for a visit. Minerva said that he likes sports, so I'm resubscribing to HDNet and ESPN-HD.

The only sport I miss is sumo. CNN International's World Sport never talks about sumo. HDNet has some Korean sumo, but the only Japanese sumo I can find is the live webfeed at 3 am local time.

On a related note, I don't plan on having a Super Bowl party this year. The house will be full enough anyway.

16 January 2006 09:16:53 EST

Webster City Council positions 1 and 2 will be up for election this year and both incumbents are prevented by term limits from seeking another term. Hopefully Councilmembers Waltz and Donehue will continue to serve the City on one of its Boards. The filing deadline to be on the ballot is March 13 for an election to be held on May 16. Voting is held at city hall, not your normal polling stations.

13 January 2006 12:17:05 EST

I'm suffering from writer's block on my GURPS campaign. I have plenty of adventure ideas, but I haven't been able to weave enough of the over-arching story arc into the game. Now I have a bit that I really want to incorporate, but a bit is not an arc. I need to get back in touch with the guys.

12 January 2006 08:55:23 EST

Last night I called Carmax to find out how much I had left to pay on my car. I was surprised to find that my balance was zero; it was paid off last month. I feel a bit cheated out of the moment of paying it off.

11 January 2006 14:31:00 EST

Minerva and I started "Shadow of the Colossus" yesterday. That game is hard, and doubtless will get harder. The graphics are stunning, with so many polygons devoted to so few characters and to the terrain.

10 January 2006 11:38:31 EST

Last night Minerva was watching 'Wife Swap' with a local family featured. I think that Reality TV fails the karmic smell test. Not only are they exploiting human misery for ratings, but they are actually manufacturing fake, needless misery and multiplying its impact through broadcasting.

10 January 2006 10:21:46 EST

Webster City Council is meeting at 6 PM tonight to go over the final offer from a developer, Cherokee Investment Partners, to purchase and redevelop a large parcel of land bounded by NASA Parkway and Highway 3 (the largest gray area on this map). At the last meeting, the developers asked for $8.1 million from the city, $3.75 million from the Webster Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and a 0.8% Municipal Utility District (MUD) tax on the property. The City Council directed staff to continue negotiations (if they found it acceptable, they could have approved it right there) and their final proposal will be tonight. Cherokee Investments is under pressure to complete the deal be February 1 when Texas Genco, the current landowner, will be bought by another corporation.

Note that arriving at 7 PM will be too late - the WEDC is meeting at 7, not City Council - and I don't see an agenda item for public comments.

09 January 2006 09:44:57 EST

After I dropped Minerva off at work yesterday, I resolved to stay in town all day rather than driving back and forth from home. I won't be doing that again.

I stopped into the Starbucks in Uptown Park and worked on editing the video from Minerva's trip to the Philippines. She shot four and a half hours of footage, but the laptop can only carry two hours of video at a time. So I will have to finish editing these two tapes, burn a DVD, delete the working files and then load up the next two or three tapes. Of course, we have to keep all the tapes, but I think Minerva wanted to do that anyway.

I made a lot of progress, but I stopped when I got to the boar being slaughtered for Karl and Mama's birthday party. I didn't want anyone at the Starbucks to see the video and be offended.

09 January 2006 09:37:02 EST

This weekend I wrote my first multithreaded server for work. I can't believe it worked right the first time; we'll see what happens after it is used for awhile.

09 January 2006 09:35:20 EST

This weekend I purchased a Bluetooth wireless headset. Bluetooth is a new standard which allows devices to communicate wirelessly across a few feet. So even though the headset was from Motorola, it worked with the Nokia phone. I don't like it as a fashion statement, though; I think I'll just use it when driving.

I also bought a Bluetooth USB adapter for the new phone. It uploaded all my old contacts from Microsoft Outlook. I plan to start using Outlook again to keep track of Minerva's Schedule.

For Christmas, I got Minerva a new Palm Pilot to run her PEPID medical information database. Yesterday she said that she liked it and uses it frequently.

05 January 2006 20:16:30 EST

Minerva's relatives gave me a Nokia 6230i for Christmas, but it's locked to a carrier in the Philippines. Last night I purchased an unlock code online, but it didn't work.

UPDATE: Figure out what I did wrong; I set the country and service provider to the USA rather than the provider in the Philippines. Thanks to uniquephones.com .

This phone isn't offered in North America so my provider's web site wasn't able to help me right away, but I contacted them and they directed me to nokiausa.com. Of course, I needed Nokia Asia, but then I got the information I needed to configure the phone for Web browsing.

I couldn't get the phone's e-mail function to work, but I can still access email through the web browser. The thing I like the best is that now the kanji from my web site shows up!

04 January 2006 06:57:49 EST

PHONE: I'm working at Tower Two again and the options for lunch are even slimmer than before. Yesterday I ate inside the Randall's supermarket. A good deal.

03 January 2006 08:42:39 EST

Games I got for Christmas:

Halo 1 - I see that many innovations to first- and third-person shooters were introduced by Halo. But I thought the story was derivative and I can't believe that anyone thought the Covenant was an impressive enemy. I was more impressed by MechAssault 1, and still am.
Final Fantasy IV Advance - How did we play these games before tutorials? FF X was my first game; I'll need some more data points before I can say much about this series.
Civilization IV - played it again last night. I placed third on a Standard world at Noble difficulty, and yet I'm still labeled as a Quayle.
Twilight Imperium, 3rd Edition - This is a board wargame, not a computer game. It was phenomenal and I look forward to many more games of it with friends.

02 January 2006 10:11:06 EST

For Christmas, my sister and I set up my mother with msnTV, a device which connects to her television and lets her browse the World Wide Web, check e-mail and use Microsoft Messenger. As I've said before, I believe that such a device is what most people need and want in their lives.

I settled for msnTV because it is small, quiet, cheap (at first) and is the only product that does what I was looking for. The interface is simple and the on-screen help is extensive.

Its main drawback is the high monthly fee for relatively little benefit. Like TiVo, Microsoft sells the product cheaply and hopes to make money over time. Unlike TiVo, it doesn't allow you to pay more up front instead. Unlike AOL, you don't get to create your own web page, there are no discussion groups and no "My MSN". In fact, some basic options (such as disabling call waiting) were nowhere to be found.

It does provide some other services. There is free music (with a convenient link to buy the CD) and video, some causal games, TV listings, stock listings, and personalized weather.

One thing you wouldn't have to pay for is using it as a Media Center Extender, like the QCast. You can store video, music and pictures on your PC and show them on the TV across a local network. I understand the Xbox 360 does the same.

In short, the hardware is good, but the service provided is not valuable enough.

01 January 2006 09:06:57 EST

PHONE: It's a new year and I intend to post here every day. More to come.

15 December 2005 09:37:01 EST

Yesterday I beat the computer at Starcraft, without Eric's help. Eric has had me over for the last two weekends to play, and all of a sudden I can play a decent game. This is usually the point where I'm ready to venture out and play against other people, but anyone still playing Starcraft in 2005 must be a master indeed.

15 December 2005 09:32:34 EST

PHONE: As of today, I have real-work experience with DirectX.

08 December 2005 11:01:35 EST

Added a link for Lost in ent/tv, moved 'Sunrise Earth' from subcategory 'hdtv' to 'tv' and added a comment.

From now on, I'll be logging entries like this whenever I change a link on the website. The links are in a MySQL database now, so when I changed an entry I didn't think of it as changing 'the site'. But I need to start logging them.

08 December 2005 10:44:53 EST

Minerva liked watching 'Lost' on her iPod and wants me to buy some more episodes. I haven't decided whether to buy some more episodes on iTunes or just go ahead and buy the DVD. I was going to wait for the high-definition DVD before buying, but now we want to follow the show. I'll probably get the iPod version; the remaining 15 episodes of season 1 would be $30 and she can watch them the way she wants to, plus we can catch up with this season. If you talk to me, remind me to set the DVR.

07 December 2005 22:59:01 EST

Added a clock for Houston, so that people in the Philippines will know the time here as well.

05 December 2005 09:15:54 EST

Added a handy script from FutureQuest to show the current time in the Philippines. I used to have a currency converter, but I can't find it.

05 December 2005 09:14:40 EST

My next video card shall be from nVidia. Not only is my ATI card recording in a format that won't work in Quicktime, but now I can't run Civilization 4 on my Radeon 9550. This is partly the fault of Firaxis, but I patiently went through every step on their support page and it still didn't work.

30 November 2005 23:11:22 EST

Minerva asked me to look through her bag for some Neosporin. Doing so, I realize a difference between gadgets for men and for women.

Women already have this gear kit known as a 'purse' or 'bag'. They are fully prepared for any situation, certainly more so than Batman. I, on the other hand, don't even wear a watch. That's why I wanted to get the Game Boy Micro, and why I won't get another PDA unless it's integrated with a phone, while Minerva has no problem lugging around multiple gadgets.

30 November 2005 05:51:33 EST

Minerva wants some shows for her iPod, so I've started recording video on my computer again. I had to roll back my copy of the ATI Multimedia Center to version 9.03.

Unfortunately, the video has no sound on the iPod. I'm recording in MPEG-4 format and converting it with Quicktime Pro. The audio works in Quicktime, but then it claims there is no audio stream to encode.

29 November 2005 15:18:22 EST

PHONE: I've gone and gotten hooked on ' Advance Wars 2'.

23 November 2005 11:02:49 EST

I've gotten into the habit of watching Sunrise Earth on Discovery HD. The program shows dawn breaking over some beautiful vista in real-time. As the web site says, it's not so much to watch the program as to have a peaceful way to get a little more sleep and/or transition to being awake. Even if I'm up and around, sometimes I prefer it to watching the news.

31 October 2005 12:30:14 EST

For some reason, the Windows 2000 desktop at work is playing music files too fast. It plays CDs correctly when playback is set to 'Analog', but nothing can get music files to work. So I downloaded a copy of Audacity. It has the same problem, but I can turn the sample rate down from 44.1k to about 40k and it sounds about right.

31 October 2005 12:27:09 EST

We went to see "Saw II" last night; I suppose I should say something about it. It was OK, but I think that my opinion of the film is distorted by the incredibly low expectations I had going in.

I haven't seen the first film, but that didn't hamper my understanding much. Some have described the level of violence as "pornographic". I wouldn't agree with that: a typical episode of CSI is more explicit. But the film is certainly about violence, particularly against women.

Donnie Walhberg is such a poor protagonist that he can barely stay awake to deliver his lines. The villain seems to have his motives mixed up, and Wahlberg does nothing to drive through the gaping holes in his logic. The movie fails to achieve suspension of disbelief, relying on many actions that real people would never do. Then it falls back to the gore, which is only delivered halfheartedly.

By the way, this isn't really a Halloween movie; the only supernatural element is the superhuman stomach a moviegoer needs to endure it.

31 October 2005 09:12:42 EST

Finished the hardwood flooring in the living room this weekend. Also tried some Resolve High-Traffic foam on the carpets; it worked on the regular carpet but not on the Berber in the kitchen.

27 October 2005 23:26:41 EDT

If anyone out there is using Microsoft Messenger, drop me a line. I want to test out the videoconferencing.

27 October 2005 10:29:52 EDT

It's been a low media-consumption day so far. After Minerva left for work, I got around without turning on the television. On the way to work, I left the radio off; Morning Edition is way too fluffy near the end of the hour anyway. The quiet was nice.

Yesterday I spent the day ripping my primary collection of music. I've already assembled 600MB within iTunes and there are still two racks of my CDs as well as Minerva's, plus the audiobooks.

Be warned; iTunes does not rip into MP3 by default. You have to set it to MP3 encoding in the Advanced Options.

27 October 2005 10:18:11 EDT

I left my phone at home this morning. When I got to work and realized this. I also realized that I don't really need it. Minerva won't get off work until long after I get home. I do need to get in touch with Mike and Evan about game night, but I try to do that in the evening anyway.

26 October 2005 09:39:03 EDT

Up until 1 AM last night watching the baseball game. I need to get back to watching sumo.

24 October 2005 09:45:47 EDT

Yesterday Napster began to lose the battle to provide us with music. I've committed to buying an iPod for Minerva's birthday, and yesterday I installed iTunes to see if there would be any kinks. I found one big kink: Napster gives you music encoded for Microsoft Windows media player, while iTunes gives you music encoded with Apple's digital rights management scheme. Needless to say, they don't play well together.

The way around this is to burn the songs to CD and rip them back into iTunes. Fortunately, we only had 2 CDs so far; I wouldn't want to be someone who spent hundreds on Napster. Also, iTunes can't identify the song and you have to type in the artist and title manually - twice, as the persistent data is not stored where you think it would be.

Also, I wasn't able to set up a music store account on iTunes. I want to use prepaid music cards and it wasn't even an option; you have to give them a credit card or Paypal account. I'll have to get back to that; there must be a way.

24 October 2005 09:26:22 EDT

This morning all I have is something I try to avoid: a simple link to a story going around today. Be warned that any non-digital TV you buy today will stop working when this deadline (currently April 7, 2009) arrives.

Have I mentioned that I'm watching Rome? That I don't even bother recording it, I just watch HBO on Demand? I don't even know when the original episodes show; Minerva doesn't want to see it, so I pick them up when I can. You can watch all 8 episodes On Demand if you haven't been keeping up.

21 October 2005 09:18:09 EDT

The guys in my GURPS campaign want some Martial Arts, so I spent some time yesterday working on it.

20 October 2005 08:14:56 EDT

Yesterday I accidentally left my glasses and my Game Boy in my desk. From now on I'll be taking the Game Boy home but leaving the glasses. The glasses cost more, but they are only valuable to me. Game Boys, on the other hand, could be used in place of cigarettes in prison.

19 October 2005 08:23:12 EDT

I don't understand why everyone's trying to make money off of blogs. I do understand why media companies are worried about incursions on their profits: when you're used to making money, it's hard to lose that regular income. But I think both of them are missing the forest in search of the leafy green.

Successful bloggers and established media companies are, by definition, watched/listened to/read by many people. This gives them a voice in the day's discourse, or a chance to shape modern culture. Yet they fret about how to monetize that. There are people who would - and do - kill for that kind of power.

The barriers to media creation have collapsed. Right now I'm a pundit; tomorrow I could be a record producer, a movie director, or a shock jock. So could you. GrantDavis.net costs me $10 a month and I don't have to worry about being bought by News Corporation. When the barriers to entry fall, more people enter a market.

The best will still rise to the top, but the peak may not be as high. The rest will go in and lose money, but not as much as they would ten years ago. A large number of money-losers makes a market difficult for the winners, and normally there would be a shakeout. But with such low expenses and the allure of media - everyone wants to be a director - more producers will stay in the market. The market becomes over-saturated and is likely to stay that way.

Even for the successful ones, the payoff is power with a poor exchange rate to money. It's best not to think of media production as a career, but as something that simply *is*: a natural part of our lives, and a contribution to knowledge, discourse or culture.

18 October 2005 09:54:56 EDT

Bought a DV video camera for Minerva's birthday. The firewire connection was recognized by the Mitsubishi WS-B55, but there was no signal; the only benefit was that you could play/rewind the video camera with the TV remote. The picture looks very sharp; I'm impressed. The firewire connection did work with the Vaio laptop and I was able to capture video and burn a DVD, which again looked very clear.

17 October 2005 09:28:52 EDT

This weekend I cancelled my Xbox 360 reservation and used the deposit to buy a Game Boy Micro, my first Game Boy Advance. I bought Dynasty Warriors Advance, thinking it looked like a Strategy game. I was wrong, it's definitely an action game, and I like it.

It has the standard Musou mode for taking a character through the Three Kingdoms storyline, a Free mode for replaying previous battles to increase stats, and a new "Challenge Mode" to start playing with as few keypresses as possible.

Just like the PS2 version, this game offers exactly the kind of action that was lacking from my mobile phone games. Judging by Gamespot's poor review, I'm looking forward to seeing what else the GBA has to offer.

14 October 2005 13:05:25 EDT

The Hidden Weakness of High-Definition DVD

Offering seasons of old and new television shows have been a shot in the arm for DVD sales. But their success masks a hidden danger for High-Definition DVD evangelicals who like to make sales projections with graph paper and a ruler.

When HD -DVD and/or Blu-Ray players come out, we can all look forward to buying our movie libraries all over again, just like we did when DVD overtook VHS. But the same can't be said for television.

Television shows were shot in standard definition, and a VHS or DVD contains all the video data there is to be had. If you are using a progressive-scan DVD player with an S-video or Component Video TV, then your Season One DVD of "The Dukes of Hazzard" is the best version you will ever see.

Movies, which are transferred from celluloid, can be remastered into High Definition as long as the original film is preserved. HDNet and InHD are already doing so. But only TV shows which were filmed in High-Definition can be re-released on the new technology.

There is also the issue of screen width. HDTV is wider than old TV, but not exactly the same width as movies. "Letterboxing", where the top and bottom of the screen are black, will remain an issue, but in addition there will be letterboxing on the sides, or a stretched picture where everyone looks well-fed. Those who collected 'widescreen' versions of their favorite films will be in a good position, and may not want to spend another $20 for just a little more clarity, especially if the movie relies on character or plot more than visuals.

When the new HD players come out, executives who are counting on new disc sales to be as big as DVDs will be disappointed only a handful of TV shows, shot in the last five years, are available. On the flip side, you might want to hold off on buying that set of "Desperate Housewives" until it comes out in high-definition.

13 October 2005 15:33:25 EDT

Added a new page 'Food' as its own category at the top of the index. While it's true that food is a priority for me, the reason that the page is placed so highly is to make it easier to navigate to with the phone. When Minerva and I are deciding where to order dinner, I can list them all and jump to the phone numbers. I can't believe I had to look up "food" in Japanese; I am so far out of practice. Hi Trez!

06 October 2005 18:14:55 EDT

A spokesman for ABS-CBN confirmed that DirectTV's deal to carry The Filipino Channel is exclusive. No chance that Time Warner will be able to pick it up. We will definitely be looking for a house where we can mount a satellite dish.

05 October 2005 16:37:10 EDT

Gamespot has revised its web site, so the links to my game collection had to be repaired.

05 October 2005 08:35:57 EDT

I just found out that our phones are not working, that they haven't been working since Hurricane Rita ten days ago. I received one email from someone who couldn't reach me by phone, but we haven't tried to dial out for that long. It was so blissfully quiet. The only reason to keep the phone around is for 911 and so that Minerva can easily call home.

04 October 2005 09:32:48 EDT

When dehydrated, one does not gulp the water. One sips it, savoring each drop.

03 October 2005 09:44:18 EDT

Minerva and I bought "We Love Katamari" and have been playing it all weekend. Mostly, she plays it while I'm playing Star Wars: Galaxies. She wanted it on the big TV in the front room, and Katamari gives me motion sickness even faster than usual. Minerva is getting to the higher levels of the game, and it seems to be harder than the last one; she's getting frustrated but hasn't given up. To me, it's so much more of the same that I want to go back to the original Katamari Damacy, see if I can improve my scores. I love the instruction book, though; laid out like a children's book.

30 September 2005 09:35:06 EDT

The city of Webster is trying to put together a 'Local Government 101' class for citizens to come and learn more about how the city works. The class was to start in October, but they had to cancel on account of having less than ten people sign up. If you're a resident, please consider calling at 281-332-1826 and signing up.

29 September 2005 07:54:37 EDT

Thanks to Doug at work for suggesting razor blades to remove the duct tape adhesive from windows.

28 September 2005 11:51:22 EDT

An offhanded remark in this article: that the Shuttle will be going back to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. That's news to me and a big deal for us.

28 September 2005 10:30:14 EDT

I was interested in the Xbox 360's ability to serve video from the PC to the front room, but the fact is I don't do that anymore. Theoretically, I could record over-the-air HDTV on my PC and stream it across my wireless network to the TV the Xbox is connected to, but the PVR makes that redundant. Also, the Xbox 360 might require the PC to run Windows Media Center, which I can't use because it is only sold with complete PCs purchased at the store (I build my own computer).

28 September 2005 09:19:33 EDT

I'm on the verge of giving up my Xbox 360 reservation and purchasing a Game Boy Micro. I just can't get excited about fancier graphics anymore; my life is changing and I need something for "interstitial gaming", and the V300 just can't cut it.

27 September 2005 10:42:04 EDT

Last night I renewed my subscription to "Star Wars Galaxies", but I didn't get to play; I had to re-install the game and I was still downloading patches this morning.

27 September 2005 10:40:22 EDT

Minerva liked "How I Met Your Mother" last night, but thought that it was derivative of "Friends". I wasn't a fan of "Friends", so I can't comment, but I really like it. We also liked "Out of Practice".

Yesterday I came home early and caught up on "Rome" thanks to video-on-demand (VOD). I also finished off the available episodes of "The Wire" (though I had seen them before).I wish the networks would put all the shows we missed last week on VOD.

26 September 2005 11:27:09 EDT

PHONE: Went to work and reconnected the workstations. GB Tech's OBS Group is ready to serve the customer.

25 September 2005 15:42:35 EDT

Back home, posting from my home PC. Everything is put up as best I can and the TVs are connected for Minerva when she gets home. I'm getting a shower.

24 September 2005 19:09:15 EDT

Testing a change.

24 September 2005 18:51:10 EDT

Fixed some problems with the new timestamp. Changed the blog back to showing only the last 25 hours. Also, from now on the RSS feed will show the entire contents of a post, rather than the first 145 characters. I wish that more feeds would do the same, as Lost Remote does.

24 September 2005 18:33:39 EDT

The power and water are back on at the hotel. A local church is providing food tonight.

Eric is back on his way home (alone, for now). He says that US 59 has very light traffic and so does the Gulf Freeway.

24 September 2005 16:46:31 EDT

PHONE: I just called my neighbor. They just got back and we have power, but another unit got a leak and the water is off.

24 September 2005 10:53:15 EDT

PHONE: I went back to the hotel and there's no power or water. The lady at the door said they just lost power; you could still feel the air-conditioned air. So I lay down for an hour and a half on the big, comfortable bed. Now we have to figure out what to do.

24 September 2005 06:51:19 EDT

PHONE: So this is a hurricane. It's pretty windy, a little rain.

23 September 2005 15:21:25 EDT

PHONE: I've been moved into the nurse's lounge, a windowless room with a television and a ton of food that isn't for me. On the upside, it has a power outlet so I can keep the phone charged and use the laptop (still no Internet, though).

23 September 2005 14:27:12 EDT

PHONE: Wind is starting to pick up. Maintenance is putting up plywood, for which I am very thankful.

23 September 2005 12:57:40 EDT

PHONE: The ER waiting room was empty a couple of hours ago. Now it's doing a brisk business, though Minerva has told me it's usually like this.

23 September 2005 12:33:17 EDT

PHONE: The cafeteria is open; best hospital food I've ever had.

23 September 2005 10:25:10 EDT

PHONE: At the emergency room, things are quiet. The guard is watching The Chronicles of Riddick on his desktop and I'm jealous. No power outlet, no Internet.

23 September 2005 09:40:50 EDT

PHONE: Like a ghost town. One or two cars in sight.

23 September 2005 09:04:17 EDT

I'm heading to the hospital today to be with Minerva. She's "sequestered" and will be staying there until the crisis passes. I probably won't have Internet access at the hospital, but I'll send updates by phone if anything noteworthy happens.

22 September 2005 21:26:24 EDT

Take a look at the traffic map and you can see two things. I-45 is at a crawl (the red area) from FM 525 to some point very far north. But the *southbound* lane is starting to slow down at FM 525 going back into the city (the blue area). I suspect that's where people realize they're at the end of the line, they're not going to make it out of the city and they're turning around. This part of I-45 is *not* "contra-flow"; you can still travel south. Hopefully, more people at the tail of the line will turn around and seek shelter, until that tail is sufficiently far north and people caught in their cars will be safe.

I've captured that screen of the traffic map before it changes; thanks to Houston TranStar for all the work they're doing tonight.

22 September 2005 20:34:59 EDT

Minerva should be back from work by now; no doubt she's very busy. I bet they have a microwave there; I should bring something over. I have a list of things to do tomorrow morning, then I'm going over to the hospital. I'd like to separate the cars and not lose both, but this hotel parking lot looks very flood-prone.

22 September 2005 20:31:18 EDT

Mayor White has called for stay-in-place in Storm Surge Zone C, and by implication for anyone not in a Zone. A Channel 13 reporter asked: if someone is 15 miles from home, should they give up and turn back? The mayor's said that he couldn't tell someone what to do if they were 100 miles away, that they had options and should exercise "common sense". No answer for the person only 15 miles away, or what the magic number should be.

22 September 2005 17:53:33 EDT

PHONE: I-10 is completely clear here.

22 September 2005 15:31:45 EDT

PHONE: Added a time to the date reading on journal entries. It shows Eastern time because the server is in Florida.

22 September 2005 15:13:37 EDT

Big win just now. Rather than burning more gas and braving the streets of Houston, I hit the street to explore the surrounding area. I found a bar that's still open and I just confirmed that the kitchen is still open. I'd really like to take Minerva out for dinner when she gets off work, to keep the routine that much closer to normal for one more day.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped by the car and dug another flashlight out of the glove compartment. That was the main item that I failed to get this morning; now we won't have to burn candles indoors and I am vindicated for not spending $9 on a beautiful citrus-scented candle.

22 September 2005 13:47:31 EDT

I'm at I-10 and I-610 West. A military convoy is rolling down I-10 with a camouflage-scheme gasoline truck. I grabbed the camera but something's wrong with it. Every gas station around here is out of gas with long lines waiting, but not every station is closed. I was able to buy some basics before I found Kroger.

22 September 2005 11:02:38 EDT

PHONE: Pretty crazy here at Kroger at Wirt and Westview. They were out of manual can openers, but I got the last electric to open the cans we have. I'm already thinking of it as an appliance for the new place.

22 September 2005 09:20:36 EDT

Changed default topic to 'local'. Also doubled the time that journal posts stay on the front page, from 25 to 50 hours. I always keep a lifespan on my posts so that when I stop blogging, stale entries don't persist here.

On a slightly related topic, I listened to my first podcast on my Motorola V300 last night. I remember downloading it from Slacker Astronomy while Minerva was shopping at Saks Off 5th in Nashville about a week ago. It took over an hour to download a 9-minute cast, and at the end the phone crashed so I thought I had lost it. So last night I accidentally activated my phone camera and noticed that my memory had gone from 19% full to 59% full. I knew it must be the postcast, probably corrupted, so I hunted it down and found it under "My Sounds". I tried to play it before deleting it and found that it worked!

22 September 2005 09:07:18 EDT

Made it to the hotel. Trip took 4. 5 hours. Minerva got 4 hours of sleep, then got up to go to work. She was 45 minutes late; I hope she didn't get in trouble. We shared one can of vienna sausages last night; we have food, but nothing to open, cook or eat it with. So that's job one for the day. I can't just sit around here while Minerva is working. This part of town is still functioning, no mandatory evacuation.

The hotel has wireless Internet, which is why there isn't a PHONE tag at the beginning of this entry.

The worst part of the whole thing is having to wait 2.5 days for the other shoe to drop, not being able to work or do anything. Maybe I can volunteer at the hospital.

21 September 2005 21:21:48 EDT

PHONE:http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/mobile/ is working! I-45 very slow but moving.

21 September 2005 18:50:15 EDT

At 5:20 I get a phone call. The City of Webster declared a Voluntary Evacuation at 12:00 and a Mandatory Evacuation at 6:00. The web site still only lists the voluntary one.

21 September 2005 17:09:13 EDT

Transportation hotline: (713)837-0311 for the county, 311 for the city. Vans are being sent to pick people up.

21 September 2005 16:59:48 EDT

It's surreal to need to do this, but if at all possible bring your cable boxes and cable modems when you evacuate. They cost $300 to replace and insurance won't cover them because you don't own them.

21 September 2005 11:28:10 EDT

Nassau Bay has declared a mandatory evacuation, starting at 6 PM today and ending at 6 PM tomorrow. Webster directed me to Jason Thompson at (281)635-3348 but there was no answer. If you're reading this from a mobile phone, clicking on that link should bring up the number to call.

20 September 2005 22:51:45 EDT

At the Webster (where I live) City Council meeting tonight, City Manager Michael Jez stated that there would probably be voluntary, then later mandatory, evacuation of the city on Wednesday. Nassau Bay (an adjacent suburb, where I work) decided on Voluntary Evacuation between 5 and 6 PM on Tuesday.

20 September 2005 13:19:12 EDT

Minerva has to work in the emergency room this weekend, so that's as far as I am evacuating if Hurricane Rita strikes Houston. We're Sen. Obama's refugees; we have hotel reservations near her work. I plan on being back to work on Monday, wherever that may be. Strike Probability for Galveston is at 11%.

20 September 2005 09:15:58 EDT

I recorded and watched "Kitchen Confidential" and "How I Met Your Mother" last night. "Mother" was laugh-out-loud funny; even though it's a sitcom, I may start recording it regularly. "Kitchen" wasn't so great; gratuitous sex *and* violence. Willow is kicking Xander's butt so far.

I also watched something called "Epitafios" (Epitaphs), in Spanish with subtitles on HBO on Demand. I wasn't that impressed; it seemed to be gratuitous CSI-style gore, with some dialogue that sounded straight out of Anime ("It's because of a mistake he made in our shared dark past").

17 September 2005 09:46:48 EDT

PHONE: I've been hearing talk of officials "taking responsibility" for the poor Katrina response. Until someone resigns, it's just talk. I don't specifically blame Bush anyway, nor Brown.

13 September 2005 09:47:02 EDT

Kinky Friedman is speaking in Webster tomorrow.

13 September 2005 09:29:34 EDT

Heads up: Season 3 of The Wire hasn't been released on DVD yet, but it's on HBO On Demand right now. Episode 26 is the first episode of the third season. Even if you haven't seen the first two seasons, I highly recommend it.

08 September 2005 16:42:33 EDT

Tony is hosting a Katrina fundraiser barbecue and auction Saturday. Any gamers who might want to pick up some hard-to-find items should attend.

06 September 2005 13:24:17 EDT

I visited my family in Little Rock this weekend, and my sister had purchased the same Samsung 30" HDTV that I had been looking at. I liked the television (and I liked Comcast's on-demand features compared to Time Warner's).

01 September 2005 15:27:22 EDT

A shelter for Katrina victims is being set up at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Nassau Bay, literally within walking distance of my work. If you're like me - cheap, lazy and distrustful of Big Charity - you can go to the Dollar store across the street, buy goods and donate them to the shelter. They're full now, but the need will last for several weeks.

UPDATE: Gilruth is taking overflow donations.

01 September 2005 09:24:31 EDT

Robyn and the family are OK, they're with the parents in Ruston.

31 August 2005 15:04:31 EDT

The Hurricane Katrina coverage is starting to make me question the accuracy of Buzztracker. Google News is listing stories from all over the world, yet Katrina barely makes a blip on Buzztracker.

31 August 2005 09:43:28 EDT

I have a cousin, Robyn Brown, in Biloxi; she and her family went to Tylertown to ride out the hurricane. Now we can't get through to them. If anyone knows Robyn or what is happening in Tylertown, please contact me.

No word on Robyn yet; I'll keep this entry active until I hear something. Now we can't get through to her parents in Northern Louisiana, either, to let them know that my mother got her calls.

26 August 2005 16:10:44 EDT

I heard that Microsoft is moving to refer to RSS as 'Web Feeds'. It sounds like a good idea, especially since the technorati can't even seem to decide what RSS stands for. So, I changed the 'RSS' label to 'Feed' on GrantDavis.net.

25 August 2005 11:28:05 EDT

Jon is going to the MTV Video Music Awards! Props to Jon!

19 August 2005 10:11:31 EDT

PHONE: Up until 330 last night. Have scheduled 14 hours of gaming today.

18 August 2005 20:34:04 EDT

PHONE:Came in. Dropped off my stuff. Walked the entire dealer room in two hours.

18 August 2005 16:23:17 EDT

PHONE: When using a limousine service, be sure you're getting a limousine.

18 August 2005 15:44:57 EDT

PHONE: 2:35 and I am on the ground in Indianapolis. Couldn't sleep like I usually do. Instead, I finally finished reading "Indiana Jones Adventures" from 1996. This RPG book is not only of decent quality itself, it comes within a hair of being a self-contained game.

18 August 2005 12:07:35 EDT

PHONE: Got to the airport. Got the next flight out, didn't have to pay extra or wait on standby.

18 August 2005 07:12:08 EDT

5:30 AM and I'm too excited to get back to sleep.

17 August 2005 23:50:05 EDT

My friend Joshua has just informed me that, due to a nasty smell in our room in Indianapolis, we have been upgraded. To the penthouse.

16 August 2005 17:18:24 EDT

PHONE: Was disorganized on Friday night. Also unprepared for so much netrunning.

12 August 2005 12:01:44 EDT

Making a list of games to pack for GenCon. One of them is Fastlane, for which I need a roulette wheel and chips. Note that GrantDavis.net is not a gambling site and no actual money is involved.

This got me to thinking about other times when poker chips would be good to use. Some players spend more effor tracking their character's money than their own. Chips would be a way to shake them loose from that thinking and spend as freely as people tend to in life.

I have a GURPS campaign where the players can purchase skills on the fly. They get to spend 4 points, no more, no less. A chip could make that flow easier. However, there aren't any chips going back to the player, and not everyone has leftover points.

A better fit would be the Possibilities from Torg. Players go through them like water. There's even a precedent for giving them to other PCs.

28 July 2005 12:50:13 EDT

I can't believe that I have to comment on this, but the sensationalist reporting going on about the current Space Shuttle mission borders on criminal negligence.

To be perfectly clear: DISCOVERY IS NOT IN DANGER. We are not in the middle of an Apollo 13 scenario. The foam that broke off was on the External Tank (the big orange thing), which is designed to be jettisoned into the ocean. The orbiter, which brings the astronauts back to Earth, is fine.

NASA's concern is that the foam that broke off the External Tank *could* have struck the orbiter the way it struck Columbia on liftoff. They will be examining the tank to see what needs to be done differently next time. When they have a plan, they will move forward. This happens after every flight and is not as unusual as it is being made out to be.

Everyone just needs to step back and let the engineers do their work. It angers me that people are "praying for the Astronaut's safe return". Pray for Sudan.

11 July 2005 20:41:19 EDT

Revived my April 24 post and posted to Come and Take It.

07 July 2005 09:35:56 EDT

The City of Webster seems to have removed the link to its Code of Ordinances. Here it is.

Last night the Webster Planning and Zoning Commission met to consider the rezoning of land next to Highway 3 and South of NASA 1 from Industrial (M-1 and M-2) to Planned Development (PD). The City asserted that the Council did not want the land used for industrial purposes again. PD is Webster's "Master Planned Community" designation; any use of the land must be laid out in a master plan and submitted to the P&Z Commission.

However, the PD designation does allow some industrial uses:

Concrete or Asphalt Batch Plant
Electroplating
Fish Processing
Food Processing
Freight Terminals
Hazardous/Toxic Waste Processing
Ice Plants
Petroleum Storage
Railroad Yard

Now, the intent of the board may be to disallow these, but there was no such language in the motion passed last night. A devloper who wasn't present at the meeting last night would not know of the Commission's or the Council's "intent". Perhaps a new zoning designation is called for, but at the very least there should be some specific "No Industrial" language in whatever ordinance the Council passes.

06 July 2005 18:13:00 EDT

I really, really want this.

06 July 2005 16:23:54 EDT

Did I ever mention that my cable went out on Super Bowl Sunday 2004, but I had the party anyway? I was able to receive HDTV over the air with an antenna. I missed the Janet Jackson show, though; Brandon and I were playing MechAssault in the other room.

05 July 2005 09:29:34 EDT

As I was ironing this weekend, I watched the original cut of Empire Stikes Back on VHS. Remember that ad campaign, "...One Last Time," to sell more VHS tapes as Lucas was working on Special Edition? At the time I felt ripped off, but now I appreciate having an unadulterated copy of the film. I wish they would release the theatrical cut of Blade Runner.

05 July 2005 09:25:55 EDT

Finished Riddick for Xbox last night. Excellent game. It takes elements from plenty of other games, but uses the so that you feel you're there, that you're larger-than-life and yet you believe it. I started Splinter Cell (for PS2) the other day and it just didn't grab me the same way. They're both descended from Tomb Raider, but even the stealth in Rainbow Six 1 was more compelling.

05 July 2005 09:17:52 EDT

Removed metar.pl weather links.

05 July 2005 09:02:36 EDT

PHONE: Took my mother to dinner last night, at a new Mexican place called MomAlone, on NASA Parkway. They aren't charging nearly enough.

01 July 2005 19:15:11 EDT

PHONE: July 1 and most of the HDTVs have built-in tuners. I'm impressed.

30 June 2005 11:00:55 EDT

Just had the fastest service in my life from Texas Gulf Coast Medical. They didn't find anything, but that's just fine.

29 June 2005 11:36:08 EDT

Once again, this huge market for ringtones implies that it's acceptable for them to go off in public. I don't like it.

21 June 2005 20:50:41 EDT

PHONE: Why does Time Warner make French and Italian TV available and not The Filipino Channel? Is there a large French population in Houston?

17 June 2005 10:08:33 EDT

Continuing with Transhuman Space, I need to establish how memetics (which can upset players if done wrong) will be handled in play.

�OK, you�re being attacked memetically. Define your level in European Pop Culture or Memetics and make a check. You, you and you don�t realize you�re being attacked. You didn�t take any level in Pop Culture, so you�re immune to this vector. You and you Roll base Will, the others roll at +4. You and you have to spend 20 Euros on the Faces InVid when it comes out. You critically failed�(writes something down). (Later�)Remember that meme you picked up? You have to vote for the Islamic party in elections today.�

Memetic attacks can make people (PCs or NPCs):
- Spend money on something you don�t need, or buy one thing over another.
- Vote for a certain party or issue, but only if at least 10,000 people are voting. Note that getting people to vote is a separate meme.
- Propagate the meme. If players cooperate with their dialogue, great, but it�s not a big deal in game terms.
Memetic attacks can make NPCs:
- Feel a certain way for or against something
- Distracted enough not to monitor some story.
Memetic attacks cannot make people (PCs or NPCs):
- Make you take some specific action at a certain place and time
- Make you an �activist� about something. That takes Charisma and/or Leadership. Memetics can, however, make you a �passivist�.
- Make you forget something. However, they are great at propagating lies that fit in with the rest of your beliefs.
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16 June 2005 09:20:54 EDT
PHONE:Went to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith at Star Cinema last night, a place that serves dinner and drinks. The appetizer was hot and good, but the meal was not so hot. The movie was garbage, but it made me laugh until the messy non-ending.
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14 June 2005 15:49:52 EDT
I'm getting ready for a game of Transhuman Space, and I wanted to expand on the details of a Fifth Wave home in the year 2100:
Everything is within 5 feet of access to the Web; most things are within centimeters. All the walls are data-conductive.
Every container can tell you its contents in Augmented Reality (as long as the contents were legally minifactured/microfactured) with a warning if something is low.
Video screens are completely flush with the wall. There are no CD or DVD racks, although some people have library shelves as an affectation.
All audio, video and sensory link ever produced are available all the time, on the wall or through your implant. You can rent it or own it, but never share it or even copy it to disk.
Channels are not dead. Rather, they are usually one-man operations of people who seek out interesting entertainment and gather a following.
Plastics and metals go into a recycler that reassembles them into whatever is needed in the household. If, for instance, you need more drink coasters, you dig up some stuff you don�t use much, throw them in the recycler, buy a design from the web (or whip up a flat disk in microCAD) and minutes later you have coasters. Every once in a while you go out to buy raw materials, or something pretty that you�ll get tired of.
Refrigerators are smaller and compartmentalized. Any part of the refrigerator can become an oven and work unattended. Groceries are ordered automatically in the morning and delivered to almost everyone in the building by cybershell. People rarely keep more than a day�s food. Dining out is more popular than ever; you can eat cheaper than at home, or spend a week�s salary.
The closet may hold either a pair of redesignable outfits or a large collection of real clothes. It�s a question of taste, money and space. All closets also clean and press the clothes sonically.
Beds have wombskin blankets, chairs and couches massage your back and give perfect support. Toilets have built-in sonic bidets, but still use water. Cleaning systems are either a smart vacuum cleaner/scrubber or (newer) 1 square yard of cleaning microbots from a central control/charging station.
When bought over the course of a few years, each of the following have a Tiny AI built in: Thermostat, refrigerator/oven, security system, entertainment system, cleaning system. Some people use a Small AI and buy compatible appliances from the same company. New homes are built with a Miniframe AI hidden in a utility closet and standardized appliances.
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01 June 2005 10:43:47 EDT
PHONE: This morning I rearranged hotlinks to give more time to the RSS feeds during the day, to facilitate surfing by mobile phone.
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25 May 2005 15:48:22 EDT
Edited the RSS interpreter to recognize 'enclosure'. Now I can pick up podcasts.
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18 May 2005 10:15:47 EDT
test
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02 May 2005 10:01:01 EDT
Early voting in Webster is going on today; the election is on Saturday.
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29 April 2005 11:49:49 EDT
Tried a couple of podcasting clients last night, iPodder and HappyFish. What I need is something that will automatically place new .mp3s on my USB drive. iPodder doesn't do this and HappyFish didn't work.
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28 April 2005 22:32:53 EDT
Trying to be useful as a mobile site, GrantDavis.net now has one-click phone numbers. Next to any item with a 'Dial' link, select that link (from your mobile phone) to dial it. No reason someone couldn't implement that for desktops, but I know of no such web browser. Microsoft Outlook has it; even Excel has it, but not Explorer.
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27 April 2005 15:10:46 EDT
Hey there, boys and girls, Grant just thought of a great new means of identity theft! When you're done banking, you know that you need to click 'Log Off', right? That closes the security cookie on your computer so that the next person using the computer can't continue your banking session. But now, the bank is trying to offer a credit card to you after you logoff. All 'the next person' has to do is use the Back button to that page, click 'Accept' and BOOM! Gaping hole into your credit history. Never do banking on a computer you don't have total control over. Needless to say, the situation is even worse for card offers in the mail; be sure to shred every single one.
As far as accepting a credit card from Bank of America, here's another reason I won't do it: I can't arrange account transfers in the future. I can pay a bill in the future, so that all bills go out on payday and the money in my account is truly available. But I have to do an account transfer in the here and now. Thus, I actually get better service by having a credit card outside of their system.
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26 April 2005 15:33:39 EDT
I have been asked to join a liberal blog called Come and Take it. Having more hands working on your site is definitely the way to go.
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20 April 2005 20:11:14 EDT
PHONE: Planning and zoning voted 4-0-1 to recommend changing height for C3, M1 and M2 from UL to 85 feet.
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20 April 2005 10:49:09 EDT
As I get through my copy of TransHuman Space, I see that Steve Jackson Games still doesn't get it. To avoid their mistake, I need to define some terms up front.

Steve Jackson Games produces a roleplaying game line called GURPS (Generic Universal Role-Playing System). As I might have mentioned earlier, the books are high-quality and the ones based on historical periods are brilliant summaries of otherwise dull topics. But like any game, the rules themselves are subject to individual taste, and GURPS has built a large rule set that can intimidate newcomers. So occasionally, Steve Jackson Games gets a license and tries to put out a GURPS product with a subset of these rules. TransHuman Space is "home-grown", not based on a book or movie, but they try to have it stand on its own.

The book gets through most of two chapters without gamespeak. But when they do get to rules, they jump right into the special rules for GURPS in space. If they really want to release products that might draw in new players, they have to start from zero. That doesn't mean it has to be a simplified "Basic Game", but it does have to start with the "what is roleplaying?" section and build up all the terms from front to back, not stuffed in the back of the book. It meets the technical definition of self-contained, but no newcomer would take the effort to piece it together.
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20 April 2005 09:27:55 EDT
Ticket to Ride didn't go over very well with the boys last night. Karl is definitely not interested and it's hard to tell with Kevin. Probably won't get into any of the more advanced games.
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18 April 2005 09:57:44 EDT
Was up until 2 playing The Sims 2: University expansion pack. One thing that this review misses is that University life is *work*. The clock is constantly ticking on the semester, even when you travel to a Community lot, and is measured in hours instead of days. It turned out to be a real challenge I didn't want to put down.
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14 April 2005 12:05:41 EDT
Yesterday I received my frequent flyer statement; after the San Francisco trip, I finally have 30,000 miles, enough for a free domestic ticket.

Just now I realized that means I've travelled over 30,000 miles in the last 3 years by air alone! Checking my odometer, I've travelled even further by car. So why am I still here?
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13 April 2005 13:53:47 EDT

Charter Proposition No. 2

"Shall Section 3.07.A. Regular Meetings, of Article III be amended to clarify that city council shall schedule (rather than hold) at least one regular meeting in each month."

There are no civil or criminal penalties for missing a meeting, though it can certainly be used against you in the next election. So this brings the text of the charter into line with reality; if there isn't a quorum, then nothing gets done and the next meeting is scheduled.

Recommend: voting for Proposition 2.
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13 April 2005 11:17:19 EDT
The last couple of nights have been eBay nights at our house. The boys and Minerva love it. Last night I tore myself away at 11:00 and they kept on playing. When I got home the boys were even playing it 2-player, just letting the third player's bids go by. It's a tough game because you don't know how many big-ticket items will show up later in the game. You can save your big cards for later and then wind up with nothing, or spend your big cards and not have anything when the big items come up.
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12 April 2005 16:02:02 EDT
The Texas Department of Transportation plans to widen Highway 3 from "FM 518 to Beltway 8 East". That's from Main Street League City all the way through Clear Lake, with the attendant road narrowing and general disruption before the widening. There is a public meeting at Webster Civic Center (311 Pennsylvania) on April 28 at 6 pm and 8 pm.
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12 April 2005 14:35:53 EDT
As we approach City elections on May 7, I want to look at each of 16 proposed amendments to the Webster city Charter. The Charter Review Commission spent a good deal of time on these amendments and they deserve some attention.

CHARTER PROPOSITION NO. 1

Shall Section 2.10.A.2, Annexation of Unoccupied Lands on Petition of Owners, of Article II be amended so that the governing body hears the petition of a landowner for annexation after the fifth day, but on or before the 30th day after the date the petition is filed in accordance with VTCA, Local Government Code 43.028?

The meeting minutes for this item are here. The Local Government code is here (Section 3d).

Looks like language would match; recommend voting for Proposition 1.
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11 April 2005 21:19:52 EDT
Richard Morrison, declared contender for Tom Delay's Texas 22nd Congressional District seat in 2006, took questions Friday night about the Congressman, potential Democratic opponents and various issues of importance to residents of the district.

Speculation that Nick Lampson and Gordon Quan are deciding whether or not to move into the redistricted 22nd was not a factor for Morrison. "I'm not deciding, I'm running," he declared emphatically. "If they decide they're going to win against me, they've got two battles." He went on to say that moving into the district would be used by "The Hammer" Delay as a "sword" against them. "There are plenty of Republicans that need to be run against," said Morrison. Congressman Lampson had no comment; Councilman Quan could not be reached for comment.

An early declaration means early fundraising. The campaign has a target of $1.5 million to achieve its goals. Claiming that DeLay outspent him by a factor of over 4 to 1 to win with 55 percent of the vote, Morrison hopes that DeLay will not be able to raise the funds needed for 2006.

Asked about his position on abortion, Mr. Morrison said "I'm pro-life but I don't think there's any way that government can make a difference...If you outlaw them, the rich people are going to go to Canada or Mexico and the poor people are going to get them in the back alleys." Regarding sex education, he stated that students in Texas should be "grounded in abstinence, but educated in the ways to prevent pregnancy besides abstinence." He was straightforward about the question of legislation on homosexual marriage: "That's another thing that the government shouldn't be involved in." He felt similarly about lawsuits over displays of religion in public buildings: "If you don't like it, don't look at it." He also called for government to offer subsidies to the energy industry to develop wind power on a large scale and for citizens to drive hybrid gasoline/electric vehicles in the interest of reducing American dependence on Middle East oil.

Regarding President Bush's initiative to return to the Moon and Mars, Morrsion said, "The president doesn't have a plan; that was a photo op." He said that the important thing now is a safe return of the Space Shuttle to flight. He is concerned about current plans to finish the International Sapce Station, with a "sense that the bureaucrats are setting the timelines" to finish the ISS and end the Shuttle program. He has great respect for Gen. Jefferson Howell, the current head of Johnson Space Center, saying that NASA employees want "someone who's not going to lie to them."
Referring Link

Referring Link

Referring Link
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11 April 2005 10:46:13 EDT
Now that the trackback code is finally being used, it seems that the code to prevent duplicate links isn't working. I can't tell why it didn't work, but PHP.net recommends strpos instead of strstr so I'll try that.
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08 April 2005 16:16:32 EDT
I have my RSS reader set to capture as much of a feed as possible without choking the t-zones server. When I'm wrong, I get the error "413: Requested Entity too Large". Today I got that while trying to access Wes's LiveJournal; I thought he'd get a kick out of that.

Found the problem: I was still referencing rss_reader.php in the main body, not rss_2_xhtml.php where I have the byte limit.
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08 April 2005 09:29:40 EDT
ZBA voted 4 in favor of the height waiver for Zero-G Ventures and 3 in favor (4 required; motion failed) of the appeal of TransPro Transmission.
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07 April 2005 13:31:00 EDT
Zoning Board of Adjustments meeting tonight at 6:30. We will be considering a height variance for a vertical wind tunnel next to the Cinemark 18 and an appeal of the classification of a transmission repair shop as "Automotive Repair, Major".
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06 April 2005 13:06:05 EDT
There's a large NBC News truck pulling up to the gate at Johnson Space Center. The local ABC affiliate was covering the rollout of the Shuttle (in Florida) live on the 11 am news.
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04 April 2005 15:00:37 EDT
I have a challenge for anyone who aspires to run a professional website. Every day, print out the new content from your site. Take it to one place with some public traffic and set it out for people (get permission!). If you like, leave a cup next to the stack and ask for a quarter. Or, set up a physical subscription service on your site and mail them out.

My point is that if you're serious about becoming a journalist, there's a lot more to being a media company. Companies have to do certain things that don't pay for themselves but are part of the overall package that they offer the public. Malls don't charge for parking; Restaurants don't charge for water; Airlines don't charge for peanuts. (Most) media outlets don't charge for their web sites.
Media companies talk about 'synergy', but what's important to them is that they have a service for everyone, however an individual chooses to stay informed. As new media streams like RSS and mobile video appear, they can make small, unprofitable efforts to deliver their content in that form. When those streams fade from popularity, the media company can drop them and move on. If they take off, the company can develop them or take the pains of trying to charge for them.

There is an alternative, of course: to build your company with the hopes of being bought out. This is like hoping that you'll marry into money. As Dr. Phil would say, how's that working out for you?
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04 April 2005 13:31:39 EDT
Just found out I'm not listed on Technorati. I guess this isn't a blog.
More on this topic | Persistent Link | Tag web
04 April 2005 11:27:05 EDT
Renamed "Intel->Open Sources" to "Intel->Politics". The only site I may need a new home for is Global Security.
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04 April 2005 08:00:19 EDT
PHONE: It's 6:52 AM and I'm at the auto dealer. There is a car marked 'police' sitting in the lot; very authentic looking, but with no city marked.
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01 April 2005 08:24:05 EST
There's a new service called Rabble that purports to allow blogging from mobile phones. GrantDavis.net is optimized for mobile devices and is occasionally updated by mobile phone (although I can't upload photos). If anyone is interested in blogging from their cellphone, drop me a line.

UPDATE: Rabble's site doesn't seem to be ready for mobile browsers. It *does* show up on my Motorola V300 (rather than just saying "entity too large"), but the javascript appears as text.
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31 March 2005 11:21:33 EST
Karl and I are about evenly matched in chess. He's got some good moves, but then he gets eager and misses stuff. I play conservatively and still miss stuff.
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30 March 2005 12:53:47 EST
The Cable TV industry is fighting efforts to make it offer its programming "a la carte", where consumers would choose and pay only for the channels they want.

Ironically, the local cable TV provider, Time Warner Houston, is using "a la carte" tactics to drive down revenues for one network, HDNet. Time Warner wouldn't refer to this as "a la carte"; they would say that they are just offering another premium channel. But they are offering it for $3 a month. Not much of a premium, just enough to require some effort to buy it or cancel it.

Actually, it required a good deal of effort to subscribe to HDNet. The fourth technician to come out didn't have it on his work order, and the operator didn't know the code to add it to the service. Fortunately, I still had the original work order and was able to read the code to the operator.

To be fair, Time Warner has recently bundled HDNet and HDNet Movies with ESPN-HD in a "HD Sports" package. But InHD, another high-definition network, offers similar fare and is offered as part of a standard tier. In fact, I don't think I pay anything extra to receive it. Requiring some effort to receive HDNet is a win-win for Time Warner; they can say that they are offering the a la carte that Congress wants and then they pay HDNet a pittance, lamenting the low subscriber numbers.

To me, the HDNet experience shows why a la carte pricing doesn't benefit the consumer, the cable company or the network. Sometimes you need to surf for a better experience, and you can't surf to a channel that isn't there.
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30 March 2005 10:13:47 EST
Ever wish that more gas stations had full-service lanes? Of course, gas prices are already so high, but sometimes it would be nice to have the option in the US. However, reading Webster's zoning laws, I see that full-service stations are actually restricted by ordinance. Full service is considered a kind of auto service, which isn't allowed in the lightest commercial districts. I find it ironic that self-service stations are allowed, that a business where the customers handle flammable liquid is no more concerning than a hair salon. It's too bad; these days you could make good money delivering cappucino with a fill-up and tire check.
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28 March 2005 10:48:32 EST
PHONE: Can't get that Sims 2 song out of my head.
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26 March 2005 12:40:55 EST
PHONE: Minerva left her hair scrunchie on the Galant gearshift. I am glad.
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25 March 2005 08:53:38 EST
Last night we went out to a T-mobile store to purchase a prepaid SIM card for Minerva's mother's phone. She bought a card in Detroit but when she tried to use a calling card it said it didn't allow external calls.

At the store, we swapped out the card she had purchased for the card from my phone. I was able to dial home, so I figured that a prepaid card would work. We buy the card, get out to the parking lot, and lo and behold, the card doesn't work again. We figured out that it wasn't letting us dial the numbers for the calling cards. I just had an idea; perhaps if she dials '800' without the '1' in front.

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23 March 2005 21:56:11 EST
My nephew Karl is a master at Starcraft. Watching him navigate the terrain is amazing.
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23 March 2005 12:54:03 EST
Let it be known that GrantDavis.net is one of "those" blogs. Without "those" blogs, the aggregator sites would have no content to link to.
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22 March 2005 11:42:37 EST
Webster City Elections are to be held May 7 at City Hall. Hubert Cook and Donna Rogers are running for Mayor; Roger Baker and Floyd Myers are running for City Council.
I endorse the incumbents Rogers and Myers. Overall, I am satisfied with the competence of government in Webster. While the challengers in these races may have legitimate grievances, I have not seen a willingness by Misters Baker or Cook to work with local government, nor have I seen the overall skill set needed to replace it.
All candidates are invited to submit statements on their candidacy to GrantDavis.net.
There are also 16 proposed changes to the city charter, which bear further scrutiny.
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10 March 2005 13:48:26 EST
PHONE:On a day like this driving with windows rolled down is a good way to keep from speeding.
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03 March 2005 14:00:41 EST
PHONE: just had a good lunch at a new place called Asia Deli, in the same place as China Star.
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01 March 2005 12:34:15 EST
Changed the color scheme for spring, added an XHTML validator at the bottom, generally cleaned up the site to improve its appearance on my phone.
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27 February 2005 18:49:10 EST
Created a page with links to homebuilders and realtors.
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26 February 2005 23:00:45 EST
PHONE: Losing a game called Amun-Re. Really like it.
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24 February 2005 14:21:13 EST
I'm pinning this article on Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD for my Marketing term paper.
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24 February 2005 09:59:23 EST
A bill has been introduced in the Texas House to regulate the sale of violent video games to minors.
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18 February 2005 09:11:09 EST
PHONE: There was another story on Million Dollar Baby and they advised us to turn it off or be spoiled. I've got to see this movie if I'm ever going to.
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17 February 2005 17:29:45 EST
Scientific Atlanta, a producer of cable set-top boxes, has released the Explorer 8300 Digital Video Recorder to share recorded video with other set-top boxes in a home. See the white paper here.

I used to use Qcast to do the same thing with the Playstation, but my home network has been down for some time. I would really like to get this working, with or without High-Definition.

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17 February 2005 08:14:16 EST
PHONE: The nice thing about these phone earpieces is that no one thinks you're crazy when you're caught talking to yourself. They assume there's a phone they can't see.
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14 February 2005 12:44:48 EST
I will be glad when a handheld HDTV is released. It will help to make the point that you don't need cable or satellite to receive HDTV.
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14 February 2005 09:20:06 EST
PHONE: I should make some kind of art project from worm spam.
More on this topic | Persistent Link | Tag code
10 February 2005 14:17:39 EST
OK, Hotlinks are now powered by MySQL.

I've rolled back all the changes to my PC Case; took out the RAM, reconnected to the quiet fan power. I left the neon lights connected, though.
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09 February 2005 15:42:33 EST
GrantDavis.net is now powered by MySQL! Not all of it, yet, but the category lists of links are working.
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09 February 2005 10:17:32 EST
Ever since I purchased another RAM chip for my computer, it has been hanging up on Battle for Middle-Earth and when I try to capture HDTV. Assuming that the chip is overheating, I went down to EPO to pick up a RAM heat sink. I was very disappointed that they didn't stock them.

Even if I get the heat away from the chip, I still need to get it out of the case. Even when I leave the case open it only gives me a few minutes of extra life. So this morning I found the manual to figure out how to turn up my fan speed.

My case is an Antec Sonata, which I ordered because it had a quiet fan. There are two power connectors marked "Fan Only" that are used to regulate fan speed based on the temperature inside the case. If you use the regular power connectors, the fan runs at maximum all the time. So I find a couple of regular connectors and hook them up.

I didn't have a chance to heat test the unit, so we'll see how that goes. More interestingly, two neon lights were activated on the front of the case. My case is tricked out! It reminds me of the original "In-Laws" movie: "My car has flames!" Maybe now I'll go get some neon strips, maybe a bumper sticker or two.
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05 February 2005 15:32:08 EST
On my way home Friday afternoon, I saw a Nassau Bay officer talking on his cell phone while driving. Personally, I don't believe the studies that using an earpiece doesn't improve safety. I really appreciate having the use of both hands. I was diagnosed with hyperactivity as a child, so I probably have ADHD now. It's not always a deficit of attention, but too much attention to spend on too few things. Having the radio on or talking to someone is like a safety valve for your thoughts, allowing you to allocate the proper amount to the road.

I wonder if these studies all involved people breaking up over the phone while driving. You have do be disciplined about what kind of conversations you have while driving; keeping it light("How's the weather?") and/or dedicated to specific tasks ("pick up the dry cleaning on the way home") is a good idea.
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01 February 2005 13:36:50 EST
I had been avoiding PC games, but I got an HDTV video capture card for Christmas, so I needed a new video card to go along with it. Last week I purchased another half-gigabyte of RAM and now the computer is overheating.
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24 January 2005 09:23:26 EST
PHONE: Minerva got me the Battle for Middle Earth last night. I was up too late playing. A very accessible RTS.
More on this topic | Persistent Link | Tag games
23 January 2005 00:39:02 EST
PHONE: Just played the new Axis & Allies; I like the new changes. But have some baggies ready before you open it.
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21 January 2005 11:19:57 EST
The guys say that the White Wolf LARP is using hand signals to simulate a die roll from 1 to 10. I made up a quick script to generate it; should show up easily on mobile phones.
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14 January 2005 10:28:05 EST
I have no idea why I had my resume down in the 'personal' directory. Whenever I need to rattle it off on the phone (and it has happened), it's much easier to say 'grantdavis dot net slash resume dot html'. What was I thinking?
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04 January 2005 16:00:10 EST
I'm the only person to sign up for SQL Server Administration so far. This does not bode well.
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04 January 2005 09:43:31 EST
Up too late watching 'Gattaca' on video-on-demand last night. Good film, but the astronaut training and preparation is ludicrous. An astronaut within a week of flying would be practically sequestered, training with his crew.
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03 January 2005 16:58:27 EST
PHONE: While most engineers were on holiday, I have been learning Flash. You won't see it on this site because it's a company program and because I still think Flash is excessive for most sites. But I have another presentation and I just didn't want to use PowerPoint.
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03 January 2005 11:59:04 EST
PHONE: It's a new year and the web site hasn't gotten the attention it used to. But that's a good thing; I'm busy at work and I enjoy it.
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22 December 2004 09:43:11 EST
PHONE: Finished San Andreas last night.
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16 December 2004 09:28:25 EST
PHONE: X-Wing Alliance from 1998 looks great with my new video card. Low polygon count but great textures.
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14 December 2004 14:02:14 EST
When someone approaches you and asks for something, the opportunity for perfect existence is lost. Either you refuse and bring suffering to that person, or you agree and take suffering upon yourself. But the suffering will exist in either case, and was created at the moment of asking. Since you did not generate the suffering, you are not its custodian.
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13 December 2004 09:46:24 EST
MySQL now comes with this account; time for me to get to work on a database.
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10 December 2004 10:00:32 EST
Word came down to the employees at United Space Alliance yesterday that the Consolidated Avionics Upgrade (CAU) was definitely going to be cancelled. We still have our Shuttle Operations Support contract, and managment plans to place USA employees working full-time on CAU in other places. We are currently understaffed at GB Tech and may pick up one or two people, typically people who retire from USA and come over here to work on contract.
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09 December 2004 09:50:28 EST
PHONE: Nephew didn't come, played Galaxies until 130. Figured out why having so much trouble in space: I can use level 3 parts and it makes a huge difference. Also got a new video card last night and my frame rate jumped from 12 to 30; that didn't hurt.
More on this topic | Persistent Link | Tag games
08 December 2004 15:14:55 EST
I finally beat Minerva's time in Tetris! Now if I could only beat her in Scrabble.
More on this topic | Persistent Link | Tag games
07 December 2004 16:44:54 EST
Why, at Kentucky Fried Chicken, must one ask for a Tender Roast Chicken sandwich without mayonnaise? Wouldn't the order of unbreaded chicken be a tipoff that one is being health conscious?
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07 December 2004 10:34:32 EST
ひのでみず
すわりごくちがいい
こくにんしぼう。
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06 December 2004 12:24:13 EST
PHONE: Channel 13 digital is down.
More on this topic | Persistent Link | Tag hdtv
06 December 2004 09:48:53 EST
PHONE: Yesterday we threw out my old dresser, which I had owned for 10 years. We broke it into pieces and brought it to the large trash dropoff in town, and the attendant just tells us to put it in a nearby dumpster. So much for being civic minded.
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02 December 2004 09:38:31 EST
This morning I have actually had two bosses come by to see if I got the memo about the TPS reports. I'm not kidding. In our case, TPS stands for Test Processing Sheet. We were just certified ISO 9001 compliant, and the memo was a Discrepancy Report that the auditor is following up on. Nevertheless, I have had two visits from people who have seen Office Space and giggle with me whenever TPS reports are mentioned.
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01 December 2004 16:33:33 EST
Modified the RSS reader so that the file size is limited to 10K, no matter how many items are returned. Now all feeds should show up on my phone.
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29 November 2004 09:53:50 EST
Hakuho went 12-3 in this tournament, finishing second along with Kaio. I was up many times when the match was live on the Internet, but I was playing Star Wars Galaxies at the time.
Star Wars Galaxies has a significant design flaw that gets to the heart of why I quit these games. They have an item, Harvesters, which will work for you when you are not playing, but which require you to show up at a particular time. If you show up too early, you don't get all the points available. If you show up too late, your Harvester falls into disrepair and, after more than a few hours, you're better off making a new one (though you can still retrieve your points). A few days after that, the Harvester disappears and you lose all the points. The reason the designers did this is so that Harvesters don't litter the play area.

Because the game runs in real time, this means that you have to log in at a specific time. You can set up the Harvester so that you choose the time, but you have to keep the appointment. If you don't have a lot of in-game money then something like, say, a holiday trip can ruin your game.

All I ask is that there be a way to get your points if you stop playing for an extended time, even if the Harvester vanishes. There could be a 'resource container' at the location, or you could just send them to the player's bank after a week (sort of a 'penalty box').

Minerva's nephew is coming within the week; when that happens, it's time to put Galaxies back on the shelf until summer or next winter.
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18 November 2004 10:25:57 EST
PHONE: Slammed at work. More later.
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17 November 2004 14:33:06 EST
Alias will be starting its new season January 5, moving to Wedensday nights at 9 pm to take advantage of ABC's new hit series "Lost".
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17 November 2004 09:23:41 EST
Hakuho wins again! I wish I could see it.
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16 November 2004 09:38:20 EST
Hakuho won again! Last night I rigged my VCR to record from my PC, but I wasn't awake to turn on the streaming video at 1:00. The picture looks pretty bad anyway; I think the S-Video cable is just too long.
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15 November 2004 17:13:37 EST
Removed the links to Economist.com today. Their site starts off with something they're calling an "ultramercial", some sort of long-form commercial for which there is no way to move forward in Lynx (the text-based browser I use). This is the last straw.
Those of you monitoring my page on Open Source Intelligence have seen my continuous remarks about those links in general and the Economist in particular. I have subscribed to several paid web sites over the last few years, and I have only maintained my subscription to one: GameSpot. Others that fell by the wayside include StratFor, the Internet Movie Database, Pyramid Magazine, and The Economist. Pyramid fell below the standard of content you should pay for, while StratFor and IMdB were not useful enough to be worth the money (but since I'm not a big-time media mogul, I suppose that was inevitable). The Economist was worth the money; it just wasn't worth the hassle.

It is a simple fact of reality that everyone is selfish and doesn't want to pay for anything. The efforts of the world's religions tend to mitigate this, but it does no good to wish that it were otherwise and complain when it isn't. In my web surfing and in my video, I will pay a premium not to be hassled. But when I do pay and I am still hassled, it defies reason to keep paying.

This is what happened with The Economist; they used my subscription as the basis for a "pre-existing relationship", a license to spam me continuously. I don't want to know anything about the Economist's other features, its city updates or its breaking news. They think their spam is acceptable, but in the words of Monty Python, I don't want ANY spam!

Charities are similar; when you give to one, they sell your information to all the others and you can't get away from them. I am thus discouraged from helping anyone.

I may pick up an Economist at the newsstand when I have some free time. The content is excellent and I want to pay for it. But dealing with its website has become too onerous.
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15 November 2004 09:40:42 EST
The nice thing about these Massively Multiplayer games is that you can do laundry at the same time. I've gotten back into Star Wars: Galaxies.
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15 November 2004 09:34:31 EST
My man Hakuho is 2 and 0! I watched my first sumo match on Saturday Night/Sunday Morning from 1-3 AM (4 PM Japan time) live on streaming video. You can tell that the rituals are a thousand years old.
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12 November 2004 12:21:42 EST
If you order at Pei Wei in Baybrook Square, don't get the brown rice. They serve fried rice for an extra 75 cents, though they don't mention this on the menu.
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11 November 2004 16:31:08 EST
PHONE: Stuck in GTA again. again, it's an aircraft mission.
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10 November 2004 09:42:13 EST
Trying to kick caffeine until lunchtime today. Doing all right so far, though of course I still want it. But I haven't ripped anyone's head off yet.
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10 November 2004 09:40:51 EST
Watched "The Matrix Revolutions" last night on Cinemax Video-On-Demand. It wasn't as bad as I had heard, but it did have some problems. You could watch "Return of the Jedi" or "Return of the King" by themselves, with a little difficulty, but there's no way you could watch "Revolutions" by itself. You wouldn't know what was going on, and thus you wouldn't have any emotional connection to the plot.

On top of that, the questions of reality that "The Matrix" and its first sequel raised create further emotional detachment. For every dramatic event that happens, you expect someone to wake up and find out it isn't real. There's too much dialogue; not quite as dense as the end of "The Matrix Reloaded", but then what is? The dialogue is consistent and does a good job of tying things up, especially considering that the actress who played The Oracle died during the filming of "Reloaded".

Past that, it was a well-executed film, better than "Reloaded", with a good ending. I still don't want to own it, but my two hours were not wasted.
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08 November 2004 16:41:45 EST
The word from management is that Bush's re-election is seen as a sign to proceed with the Space Exploration Initiative, where we present options for returning to the Moon and Mars.
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08 November 2004 15:34:11 EST
It's cute, it's pink. It's Warhammer. What can I say? Thanks to PopGadget.
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04 November 2004 13:48:40 EST
Another Sumo tournament is coming; this time I am rooting for Hakuho. He is one of the fastest rising wrestlers; let's see if he can break into the top tier after this tournament.

Found his kanji: 白鵬.
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03 November 2004 10:08:20 EST
The votes are in and Bush is almost certainly going to continue as President. If I'm called to duty, I intend to serve.
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02 November 2004 19:00:45 EST
No one seems to have election results dedicated to mobiles, so I've put the New York Times feed at the top of my RSS reader. Because it puts out in XHTML, I can read it on my cellphone as long as the feed isn't too large. If anyone knows a better RSS feed dedicated solely to the results, please drop me a line.
This might help.
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02 November 2004 09:40:26 EST
Went to vote this morning, no waiting, no problems.
I have never voted in an election where my vote for president made a difference. In 1992 and 1996 I lived in Arkansas and in 2000 and 2004 I lived in Texas. The primaries are effectively over by the time my vote gets counted. People say that eliminating the electoral college would create an "air war", decided by television and money. I submit that that time has come and passed, and while the candidates are eating barbecue in Pennsylvania and Ohio I stand here disenfranchised.

The city council is meeting tonight; one item on the agenda is a "sales tax rebate", with no explanation. My interest in government doesn't end today; it's pretentious to participate at the national level if you can't be troubled with what's going on around you.
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01 November 2004 10:01:44 EST
I had a power outage this morning; when I called Entergy to report it, I end up in voice jail. How hard is it to have a separate number only for outages? The number on the bill says it is dedicated, but a half-dozen choices is not "dedicated" when you don't have power.
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28 October 2004 18:38:39 EDT
You know I'm not trying to be a portal, right? That I'm not just trying to recycle the work of others, right? OK. That said, The Masked Engineer has an excellent piece on analog TV sets that continue to be distributed. Minerva, sorry I didn't tell you about the TV audio on the Walkman; it's going away, too. So that this is not entirely the regurgitation of another site, let me add that the salesperson at Best Buy was quite honest about the coming obsolescence of analog TVs (although that's an opportunity to upsell to an HDTV).
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28 October 2004 11:47:16 EDT
PHONE: Every time I drive by early voting, it's packed.
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28 October 2004 09:42:01 EDT
PHONE: San Andreas starts out with gangs that are hostile, then lets you take back the streets through play. I always wanted to do that in the previous GTA games.
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26 October 2004 13:22:54 EDT
Proposal to expand the boundaries of Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 1 passed unanimously, councilmembers Myers and Villagomez not present. The proposal is for $8.6 million in construction projects to be paid for with the increase in property taxes (the property valuations, not the tax rate) within the Zone through 2023.
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26 October 2004 12:02:52 EDT
I'm trying to get a handle on Quicken 2005 again, to get useful information out of it, such as "how much will we have on day X" and "how much do we have to spend". I've created some transactions in the future with exact amounts and dates as close as I can guess. Hopefully, Quicken should match them up with real transactions (based on the amount) as they come in. I think of them as "phantom transactions", but I guess this is how most people use Quicken. I'm used to downloading all my cleared transactions from the bank; thus they are "real". But people who use Quicken like a check register are putting in numbers that could be anything, and are thus "real" to them even though they seem "phantom" to me, in that they should clear whereas my transactions have cleared. But I digress.
With these numbers, Quicken has a bar chart showing the daily balance. I take the lowest point on this balance, which is the day before the next paycheck. But in addition to the hard numbers, I also have to account for incidental expenses.

By now, I have about 6 years of data to predict what I will spend on things, so I make up the budget numbers and create a report, from today until payday, using only the categories for which I don't have "phantom" transactions. This is how much we will probably spend, but I don't want to enter with phantom transactions I will probably have to delete later.

The lowest point on the bar chart, minus the budget of predicted items, is the amount of money we can spend on anything we want. It's not tagged to any budget item. But I can't print the bar chart or pull the data into a report; I have to write it out and do the subtraction on the printout I show Minerva.

Can you see why I've been using Excel for this instead? Quicken still needs improvement; the changes from 2002 to 2005 seem mostly cosmetic. It would help if transactions could "decay"; that is, be deleted when the future date arrives, perhaps with a prompt one can turn off. Recurring transactions should also automatically be entered for a variable number of times in the future; I have to double-click on them and enter them myself. It sounds minor, but multiply it by 10 times every month forever.

Bank of America online banking, on the other hand, has done a lot to make life simpler. Online bill pay lets me have future transactions I can count on, because the bank will send out the money on that day even if I get hit by a car. It's like a cashier's check; the money has left our account, not tied up in a personal check that will be cashed who-knows-when. A half-dozen of them come in e-bills straight to the web site, where I can review them, pay them and be sure that they will arrive on time and be tagged to my account.

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26 October 2004 09:27:26 EDT
So we went to EB Games last night to pick up Grand Theft Auto and Minerva had ordered one of the new slimmer Playstation 2s. She is SO GOOD to me.
This time with GTA, I'm taking my time to learn the terrain, and to see if I can play the game without necessarily playing the missions. That didn't last long; you have to play the first mission or two before you can eat, and you have to eat or eventually lose health after your Fat level drops to zero. I still haven't found a way to earn money without doing anything that could gain a wanted level, but I have found a nearby Uzi.
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25 October 2004 15:43:54 EDT
I called EB Games to find out when Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be available, whether they would perhaps open at midnight. Apparently they have decided to forego such silliness and have the games available today at 6 PM, just over 3 hours from now, for those who have pre-ordered.
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25 October 2004 10:14:19 EDT
City Council is meeting Tuesday about expanding the borders of its Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, or TIRZ. The public hearing regarding this issue was last week; despite the presence of many more people than usual, no one rose to spoke about the issue. I wasn't familiar with TIRZs, but the more I read about them, the more concerned I am.
What I am most concerned about is the accoutability of the TIRZ board; their membership, meeting times and agendas are not available on the Webster City website. Who's tracking this money that is being fenced off from the city treasury? It's also unusual that the meeting was scheduled for noon, so soon after the first reading of the motion; otherwise I might not have noticed this issue at all.

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25 October 2004 00:47:11 EDT
I just finished a Playstation 2 game called Katamari Damacy. Since I only bought it yesterday, this normally wouldn't bode well for a game. However, this game is worth it. I figure on playing it for a long time to come.
The goal of Katamari Damacy is to roll a ball around the play area (a house, a town, or "the world"), picking up items that stick to the ball. As the ball gets larger, it can pick up more items. This is important as, eventually, *everything* can be picked up by the ball, the ultimate in destructible environments. You start with thumbtacks and mosquitos, then move up to silverware and bananas, then dogs and cats, then small children (you know you're making progress in a level when you can start picking up children), adults, lampposts, cars, buildings, sea monsters, and eventually the islands that all these items rested on.
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21 October 2004 20:57:15 EDT
PHONE: Just discovered something about baseball - it's great for watching with the sound off while that special someone is asleep. HDTV still looks good on a non-HD set with S-Video.
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20 October 2004 12:13:03 EDT
Burnt Orange Report asks if they should keep posting early voting numbers. I like it because I'm nostalgic for Austin and I recognize the names of some polling places.
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20 October 2004 10:57:46 EDT
Early voting is at the new library 8-4:30 up to Friday and 8-7 pm thereafter (1-7 on Sunday).
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19 October 2004 20:43:59 EDT
PHONE: Motion to reconsider adding sidewalks passed 5 to 1 with 1 abstention.
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19 October 2004 10:25:21 EDT
Minerva says that baseball games usually aren't that interesting. That was my experience from childhood, but is certainly hasn't applied this year. After the Astros game started, I watched the Boston/Yankees game in Picture-in-Picture. I hardly ever watch baseball, but I watched these all the way through.
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18 October 2004 09:25:14 EDT
An item on the City Council's Agenda calls "to reconsider adding sidewalks to the FM 270 Screening Wall Project". The phrase "adding" implies that there are currently no sidewalks in the project. I plan on being there to ask for sidewalks; what we need are the sidewalks and not the wall.
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15 October 2004 14:22:49 EDT
I am a contented gamer. If there was anything sitting in my closet that I felt was just taking up space with no chance to let its light shine, I would sign up to run it at Owlcon. Yet nothing stands out. Similarly, chances are that I won't be attending GenCon next year, although that's what I said last year and yet there I was. GenCon is where one brings their *seriously* obscure games in the hope of finding kindred fans.
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15 October 2004 10:34:43 EDT
Finished the LDRA part (the part I had to do at work) of the PC1 analysis for Dr. Boetticher. LDRA analyzes source code to find coding standards violations. Now I need to get the violations into Access and from there to Excel.
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13 October 2004 09:16:39 EDT
Webster Economic Development Commission meeting last night. Plan for Texas Ave. park passed 5-1-1.
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12 October 2004 20:17:58 EDT
PHONE: Ad for bid for extending Texas Ave. north passed 6-1. Mr. Meyers concerned that city does not have rights to northbound right-turn expansion.
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12 October 2004 09:53:49 EDT
Finished reading GURPS Cops; it was an excellent resource. I need to move away from sourcebooks to real books for all my research, but GURPS books are so good at aggregating information - in the way that gamers need - it's hard to break away.
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12 October 2004 09:41:35 EDT
On October 11 The Zoning Board of Adjustments held their first meeting this year. Mr. David Painter petitioned the board for a reduction in side yard offset from 10 feet to 5 feet in order to build an awning for a boat. The resolution passed 4-0; all ZBA waivers need 4 votes to pass.
Mr. Hamidian expressed concern that information about the issue was delivered to the board on the Thursday before the meeting, and that the City did not have a recommendation. I (Mr. Davis) concurred on these issues. Ms. Coulter of the City said that because the ZBA is an independent body, it would not be appropriate for the City to give recommendations, and that the 3-day lead time was office policy.

Now that I've thought about it, I understand the need not to give recommendations. The ZBA is appointed by the City Council, but does not answer to the Council; decisions must be appealed to the courts. The City may come before the Board with requests, and giving recommendations would be a conflict of interest.

But a 3-day lead time was barely enough time to investigate a 5-foot waiver. The nearby city of El Lago recently granted a 150-foot height waiver, an increase of over 400%. If such a request comes before the board, will we again have the information 3 days beforehand?

The public receives a one-month notice for these meetings, and I guess that's when I need to start asking questions myself. I will try to keep the public informed here of what I find.

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12 October 2004 09:12:21 EDT
Picked up the High-Definition DVR from Time Warner on Friday. Pausing live TV and then skipping through the commercials is as wonderful as I've heard. No longer need to record on the PC (which is fine, since the ATI card is acting up again). One problem is that all programs are upconverted to 1080i, so I have to manually 'stretch' 4:3 channels and remember to 'unstretch' HD channels.
Moved the other converter box into the bedroom; still having some problems controlling it, even though I've cross-programmed all the universal remotes except the one for the Mitsubishi TV. The television in the bedroom is not high-definition, but the converter box can output on Component Video and S-Video as well as Composite (RCA) video and even analog cable. HDTV channels don't work on the Component output, but they do work on S-Video and I think they look much better than regular channels. The Xbox is disconnected, but yesterday I picked up a Component video switch that will let me connect both consoles in the back. The area in front of the TV looks much less cluttered now.

I've started recording Japanese news again, although today is the deadline for signing up for Japanese class and I've decided not to go until next year.

Hooked up the component video cables and everything works fine. I also fixed the problem that the TV goes to static-filled channels when you push the 'channel' button; I removed all channels except 3.
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08 October 2004 09:40:30 EDT
Recently I bought Quicken 2005 for Windows. This updated Quicken 2002, which updated NationsBank Managing Your Money, which I had been using for online banking since about 1993. Back then, you dialed directly to the bank and exchanged information. They never should have gotten rid of it; encryption is good, but a dedicated non-internet line is better.
Quicken has some nifty features, but it can't seem to answer the basic question of whether I have enough money for the next two weeks, and if so how much I can use to pay down debt. It seems to be better at long-term, theoretical projections. I use an excel spreadsheet for the real, practical budgeting.
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07 October 2004 10:04:57 EDT
PHONE: Had bad reaction to Nyquil last night. It's been a long time since I felt like I couldn't drive. Never want to feel like that again.
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07 October 2004 09:21:36 EDT
PHONE: In conference room waiting for meeting to start. My co-worker (who wants to be my boss) seems to think it's more important to meet than to do the work.
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05 October 2004 08:22:10 EDT
PHONE: Sick. In bed.
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04 October 2004 10:25:54 EDT
Every time I participate in training at work through the San Jac extensions, I'm required to list my 'race' on a form. Last time, I just didn't check the box on the form. This resulted in at least three phone calls from someone trying to get that box checked, as I tried to politely refuse each time. In the end, we reached some compromise where she filled out the box anyway, with the understanding that I did not help her do so.
What is my child going to do every time this comes up? He or she is going to have to struggle with what to put down every time. Giving out this information never does you any good; for whatever reason its collected, it labels you and sets you up to be 'targeted' by people who don't care enough about you to look past your skin color in the first place. My child will grow up without even this dangerous identity, forever labeled as 'Other'.

So a couple of weeks ago Nielsen calls me and asks me what my race is, and again I refuse to answer. The surveyor says "But it's the same question as on the Census." I said "I have a problem with the Census, too." This is going to keep going on until people stand up and raise issues with it.

My country committed genocide on the Native American population. It imported slaves from Africa and allowed them to be kept for 100 years after the country was founded. It detained Japanese-Americans (but not German-Americans) during World War II. None of this can be "balanced", only admitted to and forgiveness asked for.
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04 October 2004 09:16:30 EDT
Almost finished listening to Bill Clinton's memoirs. It was a completely different experience from Boris Yeltsin's memoirs; instead of new anecdotes and perspectives, it sounds like a recap of every single political slogan he used throughout his career, as if trying to hammer home his talking points one last time. I also noticed that events in his life seemed to end with his political career.
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01 October 2004 09:13:47 EDT
Minerva and I were going to a movie last night, but she wanted us to stay home because she knew I wanted to watch the debate. She's so good to me.
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29 September 2004 19:01:28 EDT
PHONE: Katamari Damcy at Baybrook; Gamespot.com says there is a shortage. Must not be a fanboy...
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29 September 2004 10:17:11 EDT
I performed Static and Complexity Analysis of the code. Most of the modules in the PC1 database were not present in Build 3.7. I put the ones that were present in a smaller file. LDRA had some trouble analyzing 6 of the 14 files, listed in the Metrics Report. 5 of the 6 were analyzable if macros were not expanded, but I need to expand macros to get consistent data. I'll keep working on those files.
The McCabe metrics seem to be the only metrics that match the repository data. LDRA doesn't break down Halstead Metrics by function, only by file. The only time I could get Halstead Metrics was when there was only one function in a file, and they don't match the repository at all.

I do have Quality Reports with Standards violations, but I need to do more work to get them into a useful format.
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29 September 2004 08:15:24 EDT
The cable modem is so slow at home that I'm thinking about going back to dialup. If I can't get speed or reliability, why pay for it? I can't get DSL here, either.
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27 September 2004 23:39:39 EDT
Made some progress on the DirectX code.
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27 September 2004 14:13:36 EDT
Dr. Boetticher has asked me to analyze some code from the NASA Software Metrics Repository with LDRA.
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27 September 2004 13:42:19 EDT
We got Multichannel HBO on Friday, including High-Definition HBO, and cancelled the Blockbuster subscription. We still haven't finished the third season of Alias.
We decided to rent a Digital Video Recorder from Time Warner Cable, but they are out so we got on a mailing list. I was holding out for a DVR that could record High-Definition *and* output on the 1394 interface, but such an animal may not exist. We'll probably move the existing 1394 box into the bedroom; I could still move the PC into the bedroom and copy the few channels that were not protected by the broadcast flag, but not enough to make it worthwhile. So my PC could take the place of a $700 piece of hardware were it not for the cable company, which I shall be renting instead for $14/month.
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27 September 2004 13:26:32 EDT
We moved our stuff out of storage this weekend. Up to now, I had been keeping all the boxes that my electronics came in, to protect them during moves. I threw them all out except the boxes for the Sega Genesis, which contains some adapter hardware. We also had to throw out one overstuffed chair, but the rest of it fit.
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27 September 2004 10:30:09 EDT
Finshed the Battletech campaign Friday night. Eric did some nice chronicling for the game; if I can get copies from him, I'll type them up and post them. We'll still be getting together once a month, playing boardgames and wargames.
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27 September 2004 10:13:39 EDT
PHONE: It was a beautiful morning, with a cool breeze blowing on my way into the office.
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24 September 2004 10:11:55 EDT
This message is to inform you that a Bad Thing Watch has been issued. Be advised that there are Bad Things out there that may happen to you or your property (or worse, your company's property). Bad Things may happen at any moment without further notification on our part. Bad Things have been known to be inconvenient and unsettling, often requiring immediate and/or unpleasant effort and/or decision-making.

Many Bad Things may seem like Worse Things at the moment they happen. However, these often turn out to be merely Bad Things and Worse Things can be found happening to other people at any given time.

Bad Things may be avoided by taking the necessary precautions. Please refer to your notes from first grade, or the prominently placed posters around your work area. However, be advised that Bad Things may occur even if all conceivable precautions have been taken. Bad Things have also been known to occur immediately after other Bad Things, whether such an occurrence is convenient or not. Bad Things should not be mistaken for Fair Things, an entirely unrelated and possibly theoretical phenomenon.

This message constitutes the entirety of our responsibility to you and releases us from any future liability regarding potential Bad Things which may or may not occur in the future. Any lack of Bad Things happening shall not be construed as incompetence or overreaction on our part. This Bad Thing Watch shall remain in effect until further notice, so that all shall be made to feel secure.

Warm Regards, The Department of Security
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23 September 2004 09:29:35 EDT
Star Wars came from Amazon today. I can watch the first two tonight. So far, it looks gorgeous; they've really put a lot into restoration.
Watched Star Wars and Empire last night; it was amazing. There were a few changes, most of which tightened up the film.
- Han and Greedo fire at almost the same moment.
- Jabba's back looks darker, more textured.
- The echo from the endless shaft in the Death Star is more subtle.
- All of Boba Fett's dialogue was re-recorded, but I don't think it changed.
- The disc makes extensive use of 5.1 sound. My left rear speaker is disconnected and I know I missed some things, including Aunt Beru's and Yoda's first lines.
- Ian McDarmid is now the Emperor in Empire and the dialogue was significantly changed. Personally, I don't think the scene works now, the chemistry is wrong.
Overall, I was very pleased.
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22 September 2004 21:46:39 EDT
Was asked to be a Nielsen household tonight. Will see how it goes.
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22 September 2004 09:27:33 EDT
Something's wrong with T-Mobile; it's been 'Network Busy' all morning. Text messages are getting through and calls from a landline are getting through, but mobile-to-mobile doesn't work. Probably a scam to use more paid minutes.
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21 September 2004 16:09:08 EDT
Sony will be releasing a new version of its Playstation 2 on November 1. Minerva and I will be looking to buy an *old* PS2, as the new one does not have an iLink (Firewire) interface for playing Time Crisis on 2 TVs.
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21 September 2004 15:30:46 EDT
Watched another six episodes of Alias last night. The second season is definitely more violent than the first season, where Sidney managed to go through several shows kickboxing guards into unconsiousness. The second season has more gunplay and blood shown on screen. The level of sex doesn't change much, and they've always been quite plain about exploiting Jennifer Garner's looks, referring to it from the second episode on.
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20 September 2004 16:27:53 EDT
It's time to give up the White Wolf books to free up space. I had a bad experience last time I brought games to Half-Price Books, and that was for games they *mistook* for White Wolf, to say nothing of bringing them the actual onerous product. The local library doesn't want any more books (they need money to operate). So if anyone wants some old White Wolf stuff, drop me a line.
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20 September 2004 12:42:16 EDT
Minerva and I have been catching up on Alias ever since we discovered it a month and a half ago. We're using the Blockbuster subscription, and we're trying to finish Season 2 before the subscription rolls over on the 25th. I haven't seem Season 3 at the store, but it should be out by now. We may have to just buy it. We still have time to catch up; Alias is a midseason replacement this time, coming out in January.
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20 September 2004 11:49:59 EDT
A few months ago we signed up for Pizza Hut's frequent eater program, but never recieved anything in the mail. So I called their hotline today and it turns out they didn't have my apartment number. We've got 3 free large pizzas backed up in the queue. Just what we needed.
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18 September 2004 21:46:36 EDT
Last night I followed these instructions and they worked. Unfortunately, Time Warner Cable has blocked almost every channel on digital cable, so they cannot be recorded. I could record the over-the-air channels if I still had the antenna, but I threw it out.
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18 September 2004 12:26:15 EDT
PHONE: No matter how cool your ringtone is, the rest of us have to listen to it when you forget to turn it off.
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17 September 2004 13:58:18 EDT
HDNet is running That's Life at 7 am, just as I'm trying to get to work. I'd really like to sit down and watch it again, and I can't record HDTV.
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17 September 2004 13:11:47 EDT
Just had lunch at Mamacita's with Minerva; the hot wings were the best I've ever had, even better than Buffalo Wild Wings.
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17 September 2004 10:54:25 EDT
A setback last night(9/15); the Direct3D.Frame class seems to be implemented differently from the book I have. The two abstract functions have different names.
UPDATE: Found the author's blog which gives me some leads on solving the problem. Would be nice if the code worked for version 9.0b, but as long as it works I can live with it.
Basically, I'm trying to figure out how to animate a character model for my own video games.

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17 September 2004 09:34:53 EDT
Minerva keeps getting free movie passes for her outstanding job performance, so we went to see 'Hero' last night. It was wonderful, an artistic masterpiece. The pacing isn't very tight, but the visuals and music are astounding.
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17 September 2004 09:19:35 EDT
You know how I feel about simply passing on links to you, but if you're wondering why I haven't written much yesterday, it's because I'm reading this. It's funny; I was never that interested in the details of video until I had to become an expert in order to buy an HDTV. Thanks to the industry for making it so complicated.
Now I'm thinking about buying a Digital Video (DV) camera; it's the only thing I don't have in order to shoot, edit and burn DVDs. I don't even need a new video card; the latest card from ATI doesn't even have a Firewire port for DV.

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15 September 2004 12:04:16 EDT
There is an article in Editor and Publisher today about the impact of 'blogs', given the attention they have recieved in the wake of a reporting scandal at CBS. E and P (I'm having trouble with the ampersand) quotes Dennis Ryerson of the Indianapolis Star: "It hurts because now anyone can publish on the Web. You have people who are politically aligned raising questions about our standards, but there is no attention given to their standards."

To me, this phenomenon of scrutinizing the '60 Minutes' report in particular, and all media reports every day, is like the application of the open source software development model to media. Just as Linux did not herald the end of Microsoft Windows, blogging is not the end of traditional print media. Yet just as Linux showed that a working product can come from a chaotic process, criticism of traditional media can be competitive and improve the information we get.

As more and more people (and organizations) start their own blogs, I think we may be seeing a repeat of the errors of the dot-com bubble. Of those who set out to turn a profit at blogging, all but a handful will fail. Hopefully, not as much money will be thrown at the enterprise this time.

Most web sites do not make a profit by themselves, yet not all sites vanished when the dot-com bubble burst. Web sites are more useful for providing an Internet presence for some real-world entity. For my site, this is who I am, this is what I've written, this is what I'm thinking right now, and I pay $8/month so you and I don't have to put up with advertisements.

Most sites who try to place themselves at the center of the blogosphere are, in effect, trying to become portal sites, mini-Yahoos of political punditry. Ultimately, Yahoo (the old, pre-Google Yahoo, which tried to catalog the entire Web) is their competition. The new, post-Google Yahoo may leave them to it, or they may buy out the biggest bloggers.

For this journal, I aspire to be the bottom of the food pyramid, providing content about my mundane existence. I probably have talent as a writer and I've committed to writing something every weekday. I also get to vent a lot. I could hold myself to 'journalistic standards', but I think this would start to become a chore. If something interesting happens around me, I'll report on it. If not, no big deal.

For the site overall, I am my number one customer. This site keeps my bookmarks organized so I can access them anywhere. The 'Hot Links' organize my surfing day and keep links from getting too stale, so I review them regularly and decide if they need to go or if they need more time on the front page. I get to write code, something I don't get enough of at work. It keeps me sane.
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15 September 2004 09:51:03 EDT
Stopped at that bakery for kolaches this morning. I'm trying to kick caffeine today.
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15 September 2004 01:07:03 EDT
The WEDC meeting was only ten minutes long, so I came home and played Starcraft all night.
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14 September 2004 15:11:54 EDT
Bought "Intellivision Lives" last night and unlocked some of the extras (though not the commercials for each game). Particularly for these old platforms, I'm sure to buy the Playstation 2 version so I can play them on Playstation 3 and later platforms.
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13 September 2004 14:53:12 EDT
Found video of the Al-Arabiya journalist killed in Iraq over the weekend. Catch it before their server is overloaded.
Apparently, A US Bradley armored vehicle was disabled in a battle with militants. Someone ordered a US helicopter to destroy the Bradley to prevent the hardware from falling into the hands of insurgents. This sounds like a sensible order if you aren't watching the scene; if you were, you could see that the Bradley was surrounded by a crowd of civilians, including children. The accompanying article says 13 people were killed, including the reporter.

I'll post updates and corrections to this topic as more information comes in.
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13 September 2004 14:02:36 EDT
A Dead Zone fansite reports that there will be a fourth season. No word from the official site.
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13 September 2004 09:26:59 EDT
We're getting rid of some old furniture; anyone who is willing to come and get it is welcome to have it. All items are in good condition:
1. Counter-top microwave, about 10 years old.
2. Over-range microwave, maybe 20 years old.
3. Coat Rack, faux cherry, K-mart
4. TV stand, light-colored wood, about 3'high with storage, K-mart
5. Small dining table, Unfinished, Ikea
6. Overstuffed chair
7. Chest of drawers, White, Ikea
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10 September 2004 10:56:16 EDT
There's a new bakery next to China Star that serves kolaches and pastries for breakfast. This is only newsworthy because, until now, McDonalds was the only place on my way to work where you could get breakfast (and McDonalds required a couple of u-turns due to the median barrier on NASA Parkway). I tried some apple confection and a cherry pie, because I thought kolaches would be too heavy. The apple wasn't too appealing and the pie, while good, was too expensive. I think I'll get a kolache next time.
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09 September 2004 13:47:53 EDT
John Kerry's current talking point is that he would have done things differently in the war on Iraq. His web site describes, in broad terms, things that can be done in the present to improve national security and reduce the risk of terrorism. But it does not describe specifics about what could have been done differently in the past, after September 11 but before the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now, my own service in the military consisted of three weeks in Army ROTC until my father finally relented and admitted that I was a different person, that I didn't need the GI bill for school and that he couldn't live my life for me. I just didn't want to be there and I didn't have to be there. Lately, I have thought about whether things would have turned out differently if we had gone to war when I was 18. I don't consider myself a particularly brave person. I would have considered conscientious objection at 18, though I have certainly contributed to building weapons of war. Today, I think I would serve if called, even for a war I didn't agree with. My point is that normally I wouldn't put forth ideas about how to go to war.

However, our current President has lowered the bar so far in execution of foreign policy that I must venture out and propose some alternatives, some substance to the rhetoric that things could have been done differently. Seeing George W. Bush in action gives me confidence in my own competence. So here are some specific things that could have been done differently in foreign policy.

There was the execution of the war on Afghanistan. The war itself was just: when a country systematically trains terrorists, harbors a wanted terrorist and openly defies calls to bring him to justice - to the US or anyone else - that's just the logical conclusion of realpolitik. The Taliban either thought that we were too weak to go to war, or that they would defeat the U.S. just as they defeated the Soviets, forgetting that they did so with our help.

But we relied too much on air power in Afghanistan, rather than giving ourselves the option of a combined arms attack. Rather than attempt to secure a land corridor to Afghanistan, we were too generous to Pakistan and its president General Pervez Musharraf. The issues are complicated, but this "fragile state" was spared on the basis of one man who is willing to work with the US. When your foreign relations with a state are dependent upon one man getting out of bed every day, it's not a good long-term solution. Instead, we relied upon drug lords and horrid misuse of our best-trained soldiers to be our ground forces in the initial, most crucial, phases of the invasion.

When Pakistan was hesitant to help us, we could have availed ourselves of a friend - India - who would be more than willing to base our ground forces, move into Pakistan and give Al-Qaeda nowhere to run. Unfortunately, that would put us in the middle of their regional dispute with strong religious roots. There is a possibility that such a war would go nuclear, or bring down the Musharraf regime to replace it with a more fundamentalist one, but it would have given us a stronger position in negotiating with Pakistan for the cooperation we really needed and didn't get at the critical time. I wouldn't want to go to war with Pakistan, but this option seems not to have been considered.

Then there was the "Axis of Evil" speech. Labeling countries as 'evil' costs you politically if you ever need to have a summit meeting or treaty negotiations with them. Putting Iran in this group needlessly cornered the moderate reformer President, making any sort of liberalization of his country seem like appeasing the United States.

President Bush's speech to the United Nations touched on the UN resolutions that had been broken by Iraq, and could have pursued the reasoning that an invasion of Iraq was a lifting of the ceasefire that ended the first Gulf War by virtue of its terms being broken. But the end of that speech:

By heritage and by choice, the United States of America will make that stand. And, delegates to the United Nations, you have the power to make that stand, as well.

established the doctrine of unilateral action, something that would be done with or without the cooperation of the UN. By communicating that one isn't going to listen to arguments against something, there is no motivation to have a debate at all. No one likes to be dictated to.

Have to go; more later on the invasion of Iraq itself.

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08 September 2004 20:05:21 EDT
Savage is buggy again. The controls move me all over the place. Guess I'll have to wait until they release another patch.
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08 September 2004 11:10:38 EDT
Added capability for trackback links to individual journal entries. Trackback is activated by following a link to a 'permanent link' page, but only for 24 hours since last being modified. Trackbacks are appended to the file, so modifying it changes the file date. Old journal entries could get bumped up to the top, with the original entry date lost. State variables in a referring URL will also mess things up; I'll have to make changes if it becomes a problem.
UPDATE: Something is wrong with the trackback code; somehow empty trackback links (which default to the home page) are showing up in all of yesterday's posts.
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08 September 2004 10:18:21 EDT
It looks like Time Warner's new Digital Video Recorder can have IEEE 1394 (Firewire) as an option. Interestingly, the 'optional' version is the first one they have listed, so purchasing managers have to be careful not to order it. Either way, the spec sheet implies that the needed software hasn't been finished yet. So, as I thought, a rented DVR with firewire is unlikely.
The next question is whether it's worth the effort to go ahead and get the available DVR. The cost would be the same as the converter box I already have. I wouldn't need the firewire connection because the DVR is built in, and I could be sure to be able to pause TV, record 2 shows and watch a third, etc. But I wouldn't be able to save to DVD, and just because my PC can't do a good job doesn't mean a commercial DVD recorder can't look good.

Also, I worked SO hard to get that firewire, I don't just want to give it up.
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08 September 2004 02:48:40 EDT
PHONE: lots of classes today and lots of calls to make at 9. Had dinner with Brandon, Eric and our families last night; did you ever notice that servers, those who need a holiday most, don't get one on Labor Day?
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08 September 2004 02:47:51 EDT
PHONE: Walking through the hall at work, someone is talking about Kerry. The nice thing about this journal is how I can express myself without inflicting unwanted opinions on co-workers. The fewer people who hear you, the louder you can shout.
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08 September 2004 02:43:56 EDT
I updated the driver for my ATI graphics card yesterday and a couple of games are performing much better. I've revisited Republic tonight and the frame rate is much better, such that the game is enjoyable.
I also upgraded the multimedia center to version 9.02 (note that this is later than 9.1) and the TV no longer causes an error when closed. I can start using it as a Digital Video Recorder again.

To test it, I burned a DVD with the best possible recording setting, but it was no better than a VCR. I figure if that is the case, then I should just use the VCR and not bother with DVDs.
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06 September 2004 10:04:24 EDT
Saw the state capitol for the first time yesterday. Minerva and I want to go back and see the legislature in session. I didn't know there was a game in town; Austin was booked solid and we had to drive 30 miles to Bastrop to stay the night.
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04 September 2004 18:10:11 EDT
PHONE: I probably don't say often enough how lucky I am to have CNN International. A gunbattle on friday and only they go wall to wall
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04 September 2004 16:14:51 EDT
PHONE: Made it to the San Marcos outlet mall a bit before 2. My feet hurt just from driving.
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04 September 2004 13:42:51 EDT
PHONE: Stuck in traffic on Hwy. 71 out of Bastrop
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03 September 2004 19:13:59 EDT
Just finished 007: Everything or Nothing. An excellent game, though I can't believe the actresses agreed that the "unlocks" would be their images with less clothing. Still haven't found the Judi Dench unlock.
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03 September 2004 11:32:31 EDT
At 10:11 ABC News Now switched from local programming to their Florida affiliates (channels 10 and 25) for hurricane coverage.
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02 September 2004 16:04:02 EDT
C-Span has been providing free video-on-demand of speakers from the Democratic and Republican conventions. I definitely need to check out this Zell Miller speech. I had Cheney on while I was playing on the PC, but I think I'll go back and check him out too. The free video-on-demand is also good for sampling series I may not have paid attention to, especially on Anime Central and Cartoon Network.
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02 September 2004 09:03:09 EDT
Last Night I heard Rudy Guiliani make a remark about the 1972 Munich terrorist attack. (transcript from FreeSpeech.com:)
And the world had created a response to it that allowed it to succeed. The attack on the Israeli team at the Munich Olympics was in 1972. And the pattern had already begun.
The three surviving terrorists were arrested and within two months released by the German government. Action like this became the rule, not the exception.
I was curious, so I looked up the attack to find out what he was talking about (see "Aftermath" section). Now Germany's response was wrong, and it's hard to imagine a planeload of hostages being made part of some political theatre, but I hope there are some new people in office by now.
In any case, it misleads the argument. The argument is whether or not we should have conducted a war of aggression on a hunch. This war had nothing to do with terrorism; none of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqi and Iraq had no ties to Al-Qaeda. So making an argument that the Europeans have responded weakly to terrorism is not related to the issue of Iraq.

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02 September 2004 00:01:28 EDT
OK, it's official; I stink at "Savage". I don't think it's just the ping; I'm just not any good at shooters and not very good at real-time strategy.
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01 September 2004 12:59:26 EDT
I still have a few chapters of Ex Machina to read before I do a review, but I want to go ahead and address one part of it; the notion of "cyberspace", which has progressed very little beyond Tron from the looks of it.

First of all, virtual reality has come a long way since the early 80s. Every gamer's computer has the hardware to render three-dimensional spaces where people can erase the barriers of distance and form virtual communities, communicate by voice (although government regulation may kill that by accident) and share data, even form economies with no fundamentals in the real world. So why do we only use it to slay dragons and pretend to be fit young women in chainmail bikinis? Why hasn't the promise of a Gibsonian cyberspace been realized when all the pieces are before us, known to a large number of smart and creative people?

Have I strayed too far into the ether? Then here's a simple question: why doesn't Linux have a three-dimensional interface? I don't have any experience with OpenGL, but Direct3D 9 has been easy to work with. Instead of a two-dimensional "Desktop", the user moves around a three-dimensional space, still using the mouse cursor to point to files and programs they want to open. Folders could be sized differently to represent how large their contents are, or perhaps by the time it would take to search their contents. The purpose of all this would be to make computing easier for the mainstream public.

But Linux programmers have taken their time making it easier for the mainstream public to use. My last experience with Linux involved command prompts and DOS-style GUIs, even though I purchased a commercial release that people are trying to make a living from. I assume that by now there are probably some better graphics in the install program and the desktop. My point is that programmers, knowledgeable users, and 'hackers' tend to bypass these graphical niceties when they get in the way.

For instance, I spend most of my surfing time using Lynx, a text browser. To me, the Web is in black and white letters. The left sidebar, an important element of a web page's layout, is all written out at the beginning, a burdensome speedbump on the way to the meat of a page (note how I've removed it from my own site, using a grooved border to frame the text instead). Other times I browse from my mobile phone, which is smaller but more colorful. I don't use Microsoft Frontpage or Macromedia; I write the code myself, and thus I can read it in others.

When I need to know how a web page does something interesting, I wouldn't whip out my 3D cyberspace interface (if I had one); I ask for the source code and read it in Notepad. I use the graphical interfaces, like Windows, when I want to make life easier for myself, not when I want to get into the technical details. I would use a 3D interface the same way: to get further away from the details of implementation, not closer.

The notion of 'hackers' using 3D to break security was excusable when we didn't have the technology at our feet; for Ex Machina to continue to propagate this fantasy in 2004 is a jarring break from the set of otherwise visionary science-fiction settings that it presents.
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01 September 2004 09:35:33 EDT
Watched Animatrix (ad link) last night; I had no idea it was that good. Some of the writing requires you to buy into the story; for instance, I thought "The Second Renaissance" was hurt because the notion of an "I, Robot" style of robot servants is quaint in a world where unmanned drones kill terrorists and Hockey Pucks vacuum my mother's floors. But the middle pieces have a nice "Twilight Zone" feel and the art is gorgeous in every story.
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31 August 2004 14:52:34 EDT
Just found another use for Web-based home monitoring or Bluetooth. I filled the coffee maker with water and grounds; all Minerva has to do is turn it on. I could do so from the Web, then call her to let her know its brewing. Or, when I'm calling and trying to wake her, I could start it when I'm sure she's getting up.
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31 August 2004 01:02:22 EDT
I just finished a demo of the game "Evil Genius". Click Here to try it. The game looks like a lot of fun, very much in the Sims manner. The graphics will probably seem simplistic; Republic, the previous game by this developer, has much more detailed textures.
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30 August 2004 18:47:20 EDT
PHONE: About to get my haircut. I looked for a new barbershop all the way here; haven't been out here much since school ended.
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29 August 2004 18:56:00 EDT
PHONE: I have laid down the law; no more Eddie Bauer. We'll see how long it lasts.
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28 August 2004 22:12:57 EDT
PHONE: Bourne Supremacy will be a good rental. Made me nauseous even from the back row.
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27 August 2004 16:22:10 EDT
When I was at UT, I once waited at a bus stop with another student, who was smoking. Just as I boarded the bus (she must have been waiting for a different bus), I said "You know, smoking is bad for you." It was cowardly and one of the many things I regret in my life. So if that person is out there somewhere, reading this, I apologize.
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27 August 2004 13:44:18 EDT
PHONE: Got Meals on Wheels today. Everyone else is older; sometimes I'm still treated as the 'kid'. But we might all need this someday.
UPDATE: I wasn't told that I needed to drive, so I had to walk back and get my car. It was a long route and I'll need to work late to make up the time.
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27 August 2004 09:29:16 EDT
PHONE: Battletech is tonight . Need to get beans.
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26 August 2004 13:52:57 EDT
Redid the whole site today, but you can hardly tell. I moved some header text into an included file in each directory, and some attributes into the style sheet. Some of the pages collapsed to only a few lines, which I can probably organize into another flat-file table for lookup. But the whole point was to get the page to show up on my mobile phone, which it doesn't.
UPDATE: Created a new main page which does show up on the phone. After I get everything the way I want, I'll be updating the left sidebar and color scheme.
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26 August 2004 00:11:57 EDT
I've been playing Savage again tonight, and my ping is back below 100 milliseconds. A lot of fun, though still a low frame rate.
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25 August 2004 12:35:38 EDT
Brought the Battletech Player Login back up for Friday. Since I'm trying to keep the PC turned off, it probably won't be up much until then.
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25 August 2004 12:30:05 EDT
These pages I wrote for updating the blog are even handy on the desktop.
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24 August 2004 23:17:37 EDT
Eric gave me his copy of Pax Britannica. He is FAR TOO NICE. Thank you very much, Eric. We still won't play it without you.
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24 August 2004 16:19:33 EDT
This page now validates as XHTML. I also added this site's style sheet to the RSS aggregator and reader, and the pages that let me update the site.
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24 August 2004 13:44:50 EDT
I bought Ex Machina (ad link) at GenCon this year; will review it shortly. Reading over the dX (ad link) document, I think that it should be possible to run a dX game with a variable die.
Rather than pre-selecting a die roll and applying modifiers to it, the GM tells the player which dice to roll for any given task. The default die roll would be 2d6; if the rulebook calls for a -2 modifier, the GM tells the player to roll 2d8. I did something like this at GenCon last year with a game called "Violence". It used a single die, which I think is even better, but Tri-Stat fans would never go for it.
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23 August 2004 20:27:30 EDT
I'm turning in my Yen tomorrow (or tonight, if the extended hours branch down at Kroger can handle it). I bought it a few months after returning from Japan, a bit at a time as a way to save toward another trip. After talking to my friend at GenCon, I'm down on the idea of ever leaving the country again. And his stories were even before 9/11. The trauma of visiting Japan has subsided and isn't really a goal for me anymore. Also, thanks to our country's irresponsible fiscal policy, the Yen I purchased has risen about 15% in value against the weak dollar. I wonder if I can get paid in Yen...or maybe Euros...
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23 August 2004 20:10:47 EDT
There's no way I can buy a home from this man knowing that he funds this group (and we were considering it). I could stomach it if he gave $1000; we're all entitled to that. But he gave $100,000.
Jon wants Kerry to release his military records.
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23 August 2004 16:59:02 EDT
I was typing on my phone today and one of my passwords showed up in Auto-Correct! This is a serious security risk; when a field type is marked "password", its entries should not be added to the phone's dictionary.
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23 August 2004 13:42:37 EDT
PHONE: I picked up some "hit location " dice yesterday; six-siders with locations printed on them. I bought 10, to roll several at once.
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23 August 2004 10:06:22 EDT
I've made 9 cents on my Google ad this month. That's OK; it's still more than I ever made from Amazon. If I can get up to a whole dollar, I'll actually see a check sometime this year!
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23 August 2004 10:03:11 EDT
I'm finally back to a full-blown computer. Overall, the code I wrote to update this page from my phone worked well. I could have edited or even erased entries, though I didn't need to. The problems were: a. I never seemed to have a free moment and b. Filling in a form on the wireless web is hard.
I don't seem to have this much trouble with text messages; could i

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Hero System

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GURPS

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Dungeons and Dragons, 4th Edition

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Conclusion

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