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Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
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I was driving my father-in-law's van, and it... is a piece of junk. The brakes are so soft that you don't even start slowing down until the pedal is almost all the way down. As people were passing me and getting mad at me for driving 35 MPH... over hills... in the rain... I started thinking about what I'd want to stick on the back window for people to read.
I drive slow
To stop mistakes
This car needs tires
This car needs brakes
In fear of this
The driver quakes
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While I do appreciate the advantages of using my iBook as a router, I never thought I'd be using it to provide wi-fi access to DIAL-UP.
*die*
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I got pissed off at home networking hardware. Six routers in either three or four brands (I forget if one of them was a Belkin or if two of them were D-Link) -- ALL WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. Every single one of them would crash every couple of days, requiring a power cycle to get back online. So I'm not using a home wireless router anymore -- I'm using an old laptop (iBook G4) that wasn't being used for anything. it's connected directly to the cable modem via Ethernet and is providing wi-fi service via its built-in Airport card and MacOSX's built-in connection sharing functionality.
This on its own is fairly geeky -- but it works BEAUTIFULLY, encryption and everything; it's only crashed twice since I set it up. (It's also shut down a few times, I think from the cats walking on the power button or the "shut down" command on the keyboard...)
But now I have a new desktop (new job needs me to be able to test my code on Windows) with no wi-fi... so... how to get it online? After all, my iBook only has one Ethernet port, and it's being used to connect to the cable modem.
( The answer...? )
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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The net result? Delicious. It's got a smoky spicy flavor, without being too hot. The onions are pretty spicy, though; they soaked up more of the spices than the meat did.
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I'm making Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops today.
Here's what it looks like marinating in the pan:
Too much onion, possibly, and I'm glad I doubled the amount of marinade. I've edited the recipe post appropriately. I had to substitute chipotle-flavored Tabasco over the normal Tabasco because I was out... We'll see how it turns out; I was looking forward to the less-smoky kick to balance the rest of the mellower flavors but this should still be good.
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4 Chimaerok tenderloins
3/4 cup Goblin Rocket Fuel
2 tsp. Deeprock Salt
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme or several fresh sprigs
1/2 tsp. dried oregano or several fresh sprigs, bruised
If using fresh herbs, strip leaves from stems. Place onion, garlic, and herbs in a large shallow dish. Stir in rocket fuel. Lay tenderloins in mixture and turn to coat. Allow to marinate for at least eight hours.
Discard marinade. Chops may be baked at 350 degrees until done or grilled over flame (preferably propane).
Substitutions:
For non-Azerothian cooks unable to acquire Chimaerok meat or deeprock salt, you may substitute veal tenderloins and sea salt. Pork is also acceptable but will produce a less accurate imitation.
Related recipe: Goblin Rocket Fuel
1/2 cup dark rum
1/4 Tbsp. lemon juice or lime juice
2 tsp. Firebloom nectar
3 tsp. powdered Firebloom petals
Mix all ingredients together well. Allow essence of herbs to be absorbed into mixture before use.
Substitutions:
For non-Azerothian cooks unable to acquire Firebloom, red pepper sauce (such as Tabasco) makes an acceptable substitute for the nectar, and a mix of 2 parts chipotle powder to 1 part nutmeg will work in place of its powdered petals.
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I was thinking about the physics of the machine gun in Cave Story and thought of an idea for a game.
The whole concept is based around recoil. Whenever you fire your weapon, you get pushed in the opposite direction. Firing down, then, will allow you to fly. When anything hits anything, both objects take collision damage, whether it's you hitting an enemy, a bullet hitting an enemy, or an enemy hitting a wall, and both objects (if they're not destroyed) bounce away from each other. (Bullets, of course, are destroyed by a single collision. I figure you're immune to your own bullets, just for sanity's sake. Not sure if I want bullets ricocheting off of walls; will have to playtest if I ever do this.) Since damage is based on the size of the object, though, your goal is going to be to force things to collide with each other instead of just shooting them directly.
Dunno if I want this zero-G (such that flying/bouncing is your ONLY mode of transportation) or more of a platformer.
An alternative concept I had was a non-scroller instead, and instead of having a character you navigate through levels, you're operating a piece of artillery on the ground and you have to destroy incoming aircraft by forcing them to hit each other or other objects. Maybe I'll do both, if I ever do either; reusing code between the two will be pretty straightforward.
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My cake! Ginny made it. It is made of awesome and fondant.
I guess this makes me one-up on everyone else; I've gotten a head.
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Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
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Drowsy, happy toddlers are the cuddliest things EVER. :D
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In order to truly appreciate this... well, go look up Yogg-Saron from World of Warcraft. (If you already know what Yogg looks like, you need no further explanation.)
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Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
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To determine the ultimate fate of Misui, I suppose a thought experiment could be set up the same way that it can be for our own universe. In our universe, we have the gravity of all of the particles in the universe compared to the rate of expansion of the universe. If the rate of expansion is faster than the escape velocity to the gravity, the universe will expand until it reaches an entropic heat death, where the entire universe is an evenly-distributed mass of particles all at the same temperature. If the rate of expansion CAN'T outrun gravity, the universe will eventually collapse in on itself in what some scientists call the Big Crunch.
Misui, on the other hand, doesn't have gravity, and it isn't an expanding universe -- if it's changing size at all, it's ever-so-slightly contracting as surface tension and extropy compress the crystalline shell. The only way that Misui could avoid freezing over is if the total free energy input into the system exceeds the rate at which energy gets bound into crystalline structures.
Unfortunately for the fate of the universe, right now that doesn't look like it's going to happen. Misuian scientists have already been able to measure the shell, and it's getting thicker on the order of several atom-analogue-diameters per day. They've also determined that the thickness of the shell increases the farther away from the pore you get, so at the bottom of the universe it's several times thicker than the sides, and at the top it's still fairly thin. Unless something happens -- unless something multiversally happens to increase the energy input into the universe, or unless science figures out how to combat extropy -- Misui's habitable area is doomed to shrink until either the universe is completely solid or some equilibrium is reached in a small bubble of viscous liquid right around the multiversal pore. This wouldn't be very hospitable.
It's a shame, too. You'd think extropic physics would make the world a paradise -- injuries would heal themselves, construction would be easy, think of all of the advantages that anentropic physics has for Tryslmaistan and make them faster -- but being actively extropic instead of simply anentropic is actually fairly problematic for many things we take for granted.
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Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
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I saw this a long time ago but completely forgot about it... Stumbled across it today.
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Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.
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Saturday, April 11th, 2009
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The universe of Misui is a small, pocket-scale dimension. As an Aeryx-class universe, it contains no vacuum; all of space is filled with matter. At the time of this writing, the majority of the atmosphere is a low-density liquid similar to water but breathable by most organisms.
Misui is a four-dimensional (three space, one time), finite, bounded universe. Its most remarkable feature is its extropic physics. In Misui, all processes tend toward increasing order.
The core principles of Misuian physics are surface tension and adsorption. Surface tension causes all objects, from the smallest atom-analogue to the universe itself, to hold together against external forces. This principle is a natural extension of Misui's extropic nature -- all things tend towards an ordered state, resisting disruption from outside. The surface tension of the universe itself has made its boundary a shell of solid crystal. For this reason, objects and life forms native to Misui tend to be roughly spherical.
Adsorption causes objects brought into contact to tend to stick together. In conjunction with surface tension, this causes objects left alone to gradually fuse together. The effect of this force increases exponentially as the size of the objects decreases; at very large scales the effect is barely noticeable. At human scales, it has a friction-like effect and makes most surfaces feel slightly sticky. At the atomic level, the effect is strong enough to form crystalline bonds between particles.
Misuian chemistry is fairly simple. There are only a small number of distinct elements. For example, the crystalline shell of the universe, the liquid atmosphere, the most common gaseous substance (usually found inside bubbles), and even the analogue of fire are all merely different states of a single element.
Misui has neither gravity nor a gravity analogue. An object released into the atmosphere with no momentum will simply float there until acted upon.
There is only one way to get in or out of Misui. There is a single, large extradimensional pore at the "top" of Misui. This is also the primary source of light and energy for the universe, caused by extropic matter from inside of Misui releasing its stored energy as it escapes.
Misui's extropic nature is also its ultimate doom. The energy radiating into the universe from the extradimensional pore comes at a slower rate than it is absorbed by extropic physical forces. As the universe continues to proceed towards order, the atmosphere will become increasingly viscous until it becomes a crystalline solid. Instead of suffering a slow heat death like expanding entropic universes, Misui will eventually freeze over.
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
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I got the tech support department at work pretty good today.
I hacked the phone system to play "Never Gonna Give You Up" on demand to any extension in the building.
I set the caller ID to the name of one of our most irritating, troublesome customers.
I left for lunch.
Half an hour later (I'm usually gone at least an hour) I sneaked in the back door.
Hit the button that launched the script that made the call.
Down the hall, I hear: ring... ring... muttered curses... and then Rick Astley on speakerphone.
I couldn't help myself; I had to walk out into the hall and lean against the wall to wait for the techs to make eye contact. Everyone had a good laugh; one of them later came to me and thanked me -- he'd been having a pretty rough morning and he needed cheering up.
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Me: *push button*
...
...
...
Cashier: Hi, welcome to Sonic, may I take your order?
Me: I'd like an order of mozzarella sticks and a hot fudge sundae.
Cashier: Sorry, I only caught the mozzarella sticks. What else was that?
Me: A hot fudge sundae, please.
Cashier: Okay, so I have an order of mozzarella sticks and a hot fudge sundae. Would you like to try some of our hot, fresh mozzarella sticks?
...
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Hey, Val, what was that brilliant idea you had? By the time I got to work you were already gone.
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
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Sunday, February 15th, 2009
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Thursday, February 12th, 2009
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I just had reason to write this in production code: /[^\[]*(?=\[)/(v)[0]
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Saturday, January 17th, 2009
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Here's what I'm looking for in a window manager:
(1) Has to be fast.
(2) Has to be lightweight.
(3) Efficient window positioning.
(4) Multiple display support.
(5) Virtual desktops.
(6) Looks reasonably good.
(7) Has to have click-to-focus.
(8) Has to show title bars.
(9) Has to be both keyboard-friendly and mouse-usable.
(10) Has to have a taskbar.
Unfortunately, most window managers that handle #3 fail at several of the others, and most window managers that handle #1 and #2 fail at 4, 5, or 6.
So... I'm making my own. It's not usable yet but it's got the basics -- frames, moving, and resizing. It handles #1, #2, and #8 already. #7, #9, and #10 are just a matter of getting the code written, and #5 shouldn't be too hard to implement. #3 and #4 are the hard ones.
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