Having Some Lunch at Midway Park

Midway Park, Euless, TX

Originally uploaded by FlipSide3.

Not the best picture, but let me say the view was much with the shiny in person.

I was just kicking back eating my lunch listening to the This Week in Science podcast. They had some cool discussions on evolution, empathy in mice vs humans (mice feel each others pain, while humans tend to bust out laughing), and some neat finding in brain science. Just started listening to this one and I have to say that it's a winner.

Also read another chapter in the book I'm devouring... I'll save telling the title until I'm done and make a post about it. Patience my friends, patience.

On the home front, tonight I have to work on my wife's PC... getting it ready to give to my parents since theirs is about to give up the ghost.

Daddy Geek's Lament

I have an Xbox 360 because my cousin is awesome and has a cool job. So I now have a cool geeky toy, but I've discovered a few things by getting this gift. One is that I spend way too much time trying to force this contraption to work the way I want it to, instead of changing my activities to match the way it works. The second thing is that I don't have any time to play with it anyway, and don't even know what to use it for if I did.

There was an update yesterday to allow the 360 to play even more movie files, music, etc... I was hoping to just stream some video podcasts over from my computer. Hasn't been working for me. Besides that I could use it to watch some movies, but then the home movies don't seem to work and I don't have time to watch movies much.

That's the thing though, I don't have time for such things anymore. Katie takes up time when I get home, then the wife usually has control of the TV, and what time left I spend on the computer (playing Guild Wars mostly) or reading a book. No time for media playing. Figure that in the end I'll mostly use it for playing music when I'm cleaning the house on weekends.

Oh, and as far as playing games on this game console... they cost $60 a pop and again I have no time. Not only that, but I've gotten so rusty that they're almost no fun. I'll have to stick with the classic games on my Wii, or some of the Live Arcade demos on the 360. Of course the most fun is to find a night to visit my awesome cousin and watch him play games... just more entertaining.

Personal Environment: What's so Funny About Order, Organization & Cleaning?

I really wish I had super anti-clutter powers. I've never thought of myself as a neat freak, but I really do like a clean house. Or at least clean counter tops and floors.

Oh, and I'd pay a few bucks a day if I didn't have to tend to the litter box anymore... but that's a whole other problem all together.

From Digg:
I believe that we are a product of our environment. The physical environment in which we spend our time affects how we think and feel. I know the environments in which I feel especially creative and relaxed. Personally, they give me the most effective amount of a creative energy boost. Clutter in my environment negatively affect my performance.

read more | digg story

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

This is a book I've known about since childhood, but never got around to reading. Turns out there are a lot of books I should have read as a kid, but was far too busy watching TV and later playing video games. Even now I don't read as much as I'd like... kids and a wife will do that.

As I am still tangled up in a George Martin book that, though entertaining, is very long and taking forever... I was looking for something short. This book fit the search criteria perfectly. I also appreciated the swiftness of the plot, and the fantastical elements without too much over explaining.

It is a nice good vs. evil/freedom vs. conformity type of tale. Leaves your brain with something to chew on without being preachy. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

I picked up this book after hearing it mentioned in a podcast. Which podcast I cannot recall. It was saying that many big name comedians have longed for years to make a film version of this book. Supposedly the screen version is cursed and the thing will never happen.

Sounds fine to me. This book won a Pulitzer for the author posthumously, so I figured there must be something good about it. The entire book is nonsense, and not in the funny way. There are no redeeming characters and the lead protagonist is a disgusting monster. The silliness loses its funniness quickly and you're left with a tedious tale of not so bright people making a mess out of lives already in shambles.

Skip this one, and read Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker series if you want truly funny silliness.

RIAA Jury Finds Minnesota Woman Liable for Piracy, Awards $222,000

There's something wrong with this country. When will members of a jury realize that they have the power of determining justice, no matter what jury instructions the judge hands them. This could have easily been different if a juror had the guts to say such a verdict and award is unjust. There is no reason on this Earth that 25 songs made available for copying free of charge (though there's no real evidence this even occurred) would warrant the awarding of over $9K per song. Songs sell these days for $0.99 or less, so at most the award should have been $25... 'nuff said.

If our representatives in Congress had any scruples, character, or honor they could at least change the copyright law so that it only takes effect if profit is involved. When I was a child, sharing was a virtue parents wanted them to learn. This is a sad day for America and the human race as a whole. All the members of the RIAA should be ashamed of themselves and I hope this story get picked up by mainstream media resulting in everyone boycotting music purchases all together.

From digg:
Recording Industry Association of America defendant Jammie Thomas was found liable Thursday for copyright piracy in the nation's first file-sharing case to go before a jury.

read more | digg story

Mole Man Versus Dead Head

Mole Man Versus Dead Head

Originally uploaded by FlipSide3.

Let the battle of the super freaks begin!

I haven't posted any recent snapshots from Guild Wars, but here's an older one that I think is funny.

Here's my latest Guild Wars update. Satine the necromancer has captured all the necromancer and mesmer elite skills. She is also 9 elites away from having the ranger elites done. Haven't pressed any further into GWEN as I've been busy getting these elites.

Also Flipside my elementalist has made significant headway into nightfall. He saved Kormir, completing a mission Satine didn't even do. He is now one mission away from getting to Vabbi. It is sad that I now have 2 characters further along in nightfall than the dervish from that campaign.

My ranger the Old Hippie Dude is plugging away through Factions. My goal with him is to get the the Luxon capital of Cavalon and acquire some normal Luxon armor (I think it looks better than the prestige version). He defeated the Krakken last night and is on his way to a brief skirmish with Shiro. After that Cavalon awaits.

As a bonus my ranger captured the elite skill Barrage last night... which should make things a lot more fun.