I have no interest in ordinary humans!

This is just plain wrong.

2012-10-30T02:21:27Z

And nobody seems to care about this injustice.

I was trying to make a point somewhere else about the un-Googlability of my real name. So I linked them to Wikipedia's disambituation page for that name.

This led me to wonder why the hell The Doctor is the last entry on the list. I will grant that real people are more important than The Doctor. However, I doubt the significance of any of those other John Smiths.

I mean, yes, Ranger Smith of Yogi Bear is recognizable, but he's not more important than The Doctor. Of the others, I'm sure a few of you saw Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and older readers may remember The A Team. But I've never heard of I Am Number Four or that Bruce Willis film, and let's face it, unless you've spent waaaaaaaaay too much time at TV Tropes and staring into the most cracked out shit Japan has ever produced, you're unfamiliar with Haruhi.

But hey, it's been a long time since I've written here. There's little new in my life. I'm currently at the end of season 6 in my attempt to watch all of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in order. I've seen some of the best that Trek has to offer ("In The Pale Moonlight" has to be the cornerstone of the series) as well as some of the worst ("Profit and Lace" is just plain offensive, though to the actors' and directors' credit, they treated it as dramatic and not a farce--too bad the writing was just that bad).

That said, every time that Quark and Rom reference Moogie, I'm deeply disappointed that they're not talking about her and not not her, mostly because Mugi is way more adorable than some old Ferengi woman.

I'm still quite stuck on last weekend's double header at the movie theater. The films? Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Parts I and II, or "What if Sailor Moon were ten times shorter and a hundred times more honest. I would not suggest looking them up on Wikipedia or TV Tropes, as it's pretty much impossible to discuss the story without getting into major spoilers. However, I'm not exaggerating when I say that the television series (available online legally here)not only does a good job of telling the same story, but is perhaps the best television series I've seen out of the last five years.

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Nostalgia fit

2012-03-07T03:57:52Z

A long time ago, I was a LiveJournaler. I pored over icons. I religiously updated.

Then, my life got in the way. I developed other interests. And I didn't always write about them on LJ. Facebook and Twitter were easier. And let's face it: you can always live tweet ponies.

I've also noted that I'm really into three fandoms these days. Unfortunately, I don't have icons for those fandoms.

So here's the deal. I know some of you are better at finding icons than I am. Here are my fandoms:

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

K-On! The power of moe compels me. I'm a particular sucker for Yui. If I were the waifu taking sort, well, she wouldn't be mine. She'd be my mistress.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan

I don't ship in any of these fandoms rather explicitly, and for good reasons. In the first case, they're horses. No. In the second, I find that shipping gets in the way of the deep friendship the characters have with each other (but I will admit that there are times when I wonder about Mio and Ritsu). In the third, I've learned from my Harry Potter days that shipping wars are no fun.

So this is me pleading for icon sources.

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Posting this a little early, but for the correct date.

2011-12-25T04:39:07Z

I apparently don't do this as annually as I thought.

( That end-of-year thing )

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It's been a while since I've done this.

2011-10-22T03:41:10Z

Which states have I seen?

visited 22 states (44%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or website vertaling duits?

That's about it. Well, throw in the District of Columbia. I've been there, too.

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K-On! Disc 3 reactions

2011-09-07T03:54:20Z

Wow, I'm still alive. I'm doing crack, but I'm still alive.

So I got a couple things in the mail today: disc 3 of K-On! and the DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Of course, I'm quite familiar with these materials and how they should sound. I've read the original sources for both of them, too.

I was quite worried about K-On!, specifically in its rather comical use of honorifics (in ways that don't translate into English at all), as well as with some of the nicknames (which incorporate honorifics or Japanese onomatopoeia). Thus far, I'm quite satisfied: even in the English version, the girls call their teacher Sawa-chan (an interesting way of addressing her: it would normally be Yamanaka-sensei--this will become important in season 2, where Yui will start calling her Sawa-chan-sensei), and the club's underclassman is Azunyan, not Azu-meow (as was rather stupidly done in the manga).

More generally, I'm still not entirely sure that substituting out the music they play for Yui in episode 1 was a good idea. "Love Me Tender" just doesn't work there. Perhaps if they'd used "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", which occupies a place in our culture similar to "Tsubasa wo Kudasai", it might have made more sense. Using the original song would have brought up perhaps the wrong connotations from American fans unfamiliar with subbed series, as Americans tend to only know the song from its use in either this series or during the climax of Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0/2.22. (Actually, amongst the more hardcore amongst us, we'd also have seen this from Nichijou/My Ordinary Life¹, but that happened back at midsummer.) Likewise, rendering "Moe moe kyun!" as "The power of cute compels you!" made me scratch my head. I know that the folks at Bang Zoom have no problem with using the word "moe": I've seen episode 2-1/2x01² of the Haruhi dub as well as excerpts from the Lucky Star dub, so I really don't know what gives.

I'll have to wait for Thursday for a discussion of the dub of Disappearance. I have standing appointments on Wednesday night that will leave me without the three hours needed to watch the film properly. Yes, it's a fully animated feature with strong use of cel-style techniques. That doesn't stop it from running 164'³. The length doesn't stop it from being really well done.

The stuff down here is for people that have no file system checking clue what I'm on about. If you know your animu, mango, and light novel scene, feel free to skip my footnotes today.
1. The only reason anyone in the US picked up Nichijou when it started running back in the spring is because the television adaptation was made by the same trolls that made, well, both of the things I got in the mail today.
2. Silly anachronic order: it's the first episode of the first season chronologically, the second episode to be broadcast, and is the first episode in the second season ordering, as the second season ran interspersed amongst a chronological order rerun of the first season.
3. Did I not just say that the people who made it were trolls? They, like moot, believe that trolling is a art. What's more, the film itself is a part of a long troll. The short troll was remaking the same damned episode 8 times and running each version on television. The long troll was getting viewers to admit that maybe they had a point.

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At least I didn't have to give my right hand for this week to end.

2011-09-05T06:29:15Z

Today at church, one of the deacons was celebrating a birthday. We don't have his age on hand, though. So, while singing Many Years for him, one of the other deacons announced it as his 82nd birthday (which is most definitely not true).

I don't think that I've ever heard such relief from such a simple joke.

I think I'll leave it at that. Other, wiser people have made far better commentary on the past week of my life. I don't feel the need to add much more.

(But shaving your head before going to a burial, particularly when you don't own a black hat turns out to be a good idea: it's a lot easier to apply sunscreen that way.)

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The Impossible Has Been Done

2010-11-13T03:02:04Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

My blog is back. Yeah, that’s right: my website is back in its entirety. That’s the blog, the code samples, and the Craigslist scraper.

Comment here, there, everywhere!

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No snappy subject this time.

2010-11-07T03:00:37Z

On account of having seen too much AMV Hell, I'm currently watching Death Note. Despite its pretentiousness, the show is genuinely entertaining. Yeah, it's not what I said I'd watch next (for those that were around for that, I was considering picking up Azumanga Daioh next, as I've never seen the whole thing in order--but I've seen it all in bits and pieces). I'm just as disappointed as you.

The game of cat and mouse between Light and L is quite compelling. I know that goes away, and I just can't see how the show could possibly maintain its appeal without both of those characters. I also know that there are at least two other Kiras (I've met Misa, who is one hell of a crazy bitch¹), but I just cannot see how they can be so interesting. After all, Light knows what he's doing because he's a freaking genius that has studied the arts of law enforcement. Sure, he gets sloppy from time to time, but for some reason, he always seems to win at Xanatos Roulette.

That said, I'm not quite feeling the slashy goodness that others seem to get from this series. I mean, sure, I can see what the fangirls are on about, but frankly, I see Light as perceiving himself as so superior to the rest of humanity, L included, that he couldn't possibly bring himself to love as mere mortals do.

Holy crap, I'm slowly turning into an otaku. I mean, what other kind of person would have a Yui Hirasawa plushie on his bag (don't judge me!)? Save me, Internets. You're...not much of a hope, are you?

1. Oddly, I felt a chill run down my spine when I first heard her voice. I looked her up on the character sheet at TV Tropes and found out why: that's the same person that did Haruhi and Konata, both characters that have terrified me for totally different reasons.

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Wow, it's been a while

2010-10-25T00:22:58Z

I'm still alive.

That said, I've spent the weekend sobbing. Not because of some great tragedy, but because I've been snorting After Story like an addict and his blow. This is not something I recommend doing: you really have to let each episode digest or you will become an emotional wreck. The animation is generally beautiful, though, and the story is exquisite.

I'm going to be in Houston next weekend. Hopefully, I'll get to see some of you.

I'm losing my mind, living here alone. I mean, I was always a little crazy, but man, coming home to nothing on a regular basis is really getting to me. Work's fine (better than it was back in the spring when I was getting disappointed), but it would be nice to have something that wasn't work or chores. It would be nice to have someone or something to come home to at night.

But alas, that will not happen, and I know it. It can't. I've got too much to atone for, too many people I've hurt--and I don't even know where to begin apologizing for things done 5, 10, 20 years ago. And besides, I have no file system checking clue how to find people. Indeed, it's almost as though I want to be forgotten, and am out to make no lasting impression. I had a panic attack when I began to realize people were noticing me out there in the world.

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Something I felt like sharing

2010-07-07T03:40:04Z

So I ran across this blog entry while browsing Reddit today. Now, the bank got taken by this guy. They wanted a Caesar cypher, and he gave them, well, it's an abomination.

In Python:


def caesar(string, key):
  return "".join([x if ord(x.lower()) not in range(97, 123) else chr((((ord(x.lower()) - 97) + key) % 26) + 97) for x in string])

That's in one line, and it preserves spaces and punctuation. We'll not mention his problems with command line user interfaces, which are quite powerful and awesome.

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photosinensis.net downtime

2010-06-03T03:18:26Z

You may have noticed, but photosinensis.net is currently down. I've got a lot of problems with it, at least in part due to moving it from Missouri City to Carrollton. I'm also taking this opportunity to update the operating system, which is now two versions out of date.

I had another post, but this isn't the thread for that discussion, nor do I have enough time to write it (I need sleep desperately). Just know that I'm alive and that a prediction I made two years ago is inching closer to coming true--and this scares me greatly, as I don't want that prediction to be true.

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I think the manager at my supermarket is trying to scare me

2010-04-19T02:29:53Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

Every Sunday afternoon, I make up a grocery list and head down to Kroger’s. Obviously, I need to eat.

When I get to the check-out line, there’s always a section for a pocket Complete Idiot’s Guide next to People, Us Magazine, and the National Enquirer. With only one exception, this is a guide to something that frankly, a complete idiot should probably not know.

I first noticed this when the book was The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Faith. This seems akin to handing a functionally retarded person an AK-47, a chain of ammo, and telling them that it’s a toy. Faith is a radical and dangerous thing, and I’m the titular complete idiot would probably use it in a way that is destructive and irresponsible without comprehending why it is.

Last week was rather innocuous: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Puppies. Sure, a complete idiot should probably not obtain a puppy (for the puppy’s sake, really), but buying it in the hopes of helping a young child understand the responsibilities of new pet ownership is reasonable.

This week, though, it was back to the scary: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to The Book of Revelation. I’m assuming, given the cover and everything, that they’re talking about the Apocalypse of John of Patmos, and not one of many other volumes so titled. I have no file system checking clue how the hell they expect to explain that bit of mind screw in a tract shorter than the book itself. Hell, entire volumes have been written on the book in the 1900 years since it was written, and still few can make much sense of what the metaphor is supposed to mean. If you don’t believe me, I’d suggest you see how popular premillenial dispensationalism is in your neighborhood. Seriously, those metaphors could be applied to almost anything. Yet here’s a little pamphlet that says that it can explain the whole text. I find that preposterous.

What worries me is that I know someone is buying this crap. What worries me is that most of the churches in the area (Carrollton/Irving/Coppell/Farmer’s Branch/North Dallas) are the kind that would make this crap sell (I see way too many Christian Flags waving alongside the American and Texan flags at the churches here–something I only saw at Assemblies of God congregations and the odd non-denominational church back home). What worries me is the signs in front of the churches that indicate that they’re going towards the “Christian Cool” crowd. What worries me is the fact that these church leaders are dragging those who would seek God and enter the Kingdom of Heaven if they were properly informed down into a consumerist Hell (or, alternately, giving in to the popular whims of the day and losing any kind of doctrine whatsoever).

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A Sunday Around Town

2010-04-12T02:58:26Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

Today was a good day, even if my driving sucked (I think I almost had 10 accidents today, mostly because I suck at driving).

It started just after 7:00a, when my alarm woke me. I got up, got dressed in my Sunday best, and pointed my car down the Dallas North Tollway to check out a congregation in my continuing survey of Christian worship and search for a church home. Today’s congregation was of the Orthodox Church in America, and the service and congregation were both pretty much what I’ve been seeking. The sheer beauty of the whole thing was sublime. I’m thinking I’m going to seek acceptance in this congregation.

That lasted until about 2:00p, including service, fellowship, and talking with the Metropolitan.

At that time, I pointed my car up Marsh and returned to change and head out to the Irving Anime Club. I was there for their screening until shortly before 5:00. Then, I ran back up MacArthur and onward home. I am exhausted and damn lucky to be alive (as an indictment of my own driving).

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I was not planning to do that today.

2010-04-04T00:55:34Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

I got my own, personal, JesusPhone. Something to take my calls while I’m at the mall.

Yeah, I know, judge me. But my old CrackBerry was giving up the ghost, and it was time. Besides, I’m a Mac user by night, and I couldn’t justify $550 for a Nexus One, but $200 for an iPhone 3Gs was okay. I’m currently putting as much of my music on it as possible, but it’s not the whole collection (which has surprisingly ballooned like crazy–my original iPod could not contain it anymore).

Man, I had no clue I had so much music.

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Greetings, again!

2010-04-01T02:26:11Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

I’ve been off the rim and offline lately. It seems that power problems at home have kept my server off the Internet. It’s okay, I’m back now.

I spent the weekend in San Antonio. There was someone down there that wanted to talk. Thankfully, I won’t be moving: I don’t have the energy or desire to leave Dallas at this time. I’m getting used to work now, though I still feel that I’m underutilized. Besides, other than trains interrupting my YouTube and Hulu viewing patterns, the place I’ve got isn’t too bad, even if it is a bit warm at the moment. Something seems wrong with the air conditioning, and it’s getting warm enough where that’s a necessary thing. I’ll talk to the office tomorrow evening.

I’ll probably be in Houston either this weekend or next. I haven’t decided which it will be.

Oh, and I finally got my census questionnaire sent off. Go procrastination!

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The shine wears off

2010-01-28T01:51:42Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

I feel like I’m in over my head at work. I don’t have access to revision control, and the guy who’s supposed to let me know about what the URI is for our revision control system keeps blowing off that question. What’s more, I don’t have all the access I need to do my next task, which will involve some reporting work, ensuring that stuff from our ticket system matches our routing information in the database. I would have had a more productive day had my manager been in the office and could talk to him about these issues, but attempts to discuss things with him electronically met with no success. I didn’t get through to him until 4:30, after I left out of sheer frustration.

To top it all off, I’ve got my very own Creature From 8A living downstairs. She’s complained about the noise I’m making twice now, saying that I’m keeping her up. She came up here within two hours of my parents leaving to complain that I had been making too much noise for the entire weekend, ignoring the fact that I had just moved in to the apartment and a large chunk of that noise was me having furniture and belongings dragged up here. I’m seriously afraid to walk around up here, simply because I know she’ll complain. She’s much like my grandmother was 20 years ago: retired, shut in, and going insane.

So to review, no Rock Band, no moving, and work is going in circles already. I know I belong in Carrollton, but something is broken, and I don’t know how to fix it.

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Getting settled

2010-01-24T01:39:59Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

So I’ve been here a week now, and honestly, a part of me is getting really homesick. I don’t know that I’ll venture to the Galleria Dallas that much: not only does it seem like a knock-off of The Galleria that doesn’t quite cut it (it feels to be about half the size of The Galleria), but it makes me homesick for the real thing.

I’m also looking for sleeper sofas. I found one at a furniture liquidators in Arlington that I really liked. There’s a pair of similar items that come in a set at The Dump, and if I had an apartment with a study, they’d have been mine last week. I’ve decided against getting a night stand or a linen cabinet, as I’ve got another set of drawers coming from Houston that will fill the role of both quite nicely.

I’ve begun the search for a the best cup of tea that I did not make myself in the Metroplex. If you’re in Houston, I can tell you that you want Té House of Tea in Neartown (and next time I’m down there, which I hope to be next weekend, I will introduce my mom and sister to the place). I found a place called Tea Thyme and Tisane in downtown Carrollton that made a pretty good cup today. About the only thing wrong with it is that it seemed to fall between Té’s informality (which I love) and geniality and the posh and proper upscale tea rooms that are generally more common (which I honestly could do without). Also, they don’t have crepes. In their favor, they did sell individual cups of loose tea, which was a blessing, as I didn’t need a whole small pot. They’re also a lot closer than Teavana, so I won’t have to run all the way to the aforementioned Galleria Dallas to get my own teas. In summary, I need a similar crack team of hipsters, anime fen, freaks, and weirdos to help me out again, but I don’t have them here yet.

One thing I’m struggling with is the fact that there are no regular Howard E. Butt’s grocers around here. If they did, I’d be shopping there. Sure, they have Central Market with about the same distribution as Whole ~~Paycheck~~ Foods, but those don’t sell the store brands. This wouldn’t be a huge concern for most people, but they do make a particular bagel that I’ve come to like. I’ll have to have them shipped from Houston until further notice.

Also, DART doesn’t have a declining balance fare system like Houston METRO does. This makes me sad.

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My first week: done

2010-01-22T23:05:56Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

Yeah, it’s a little early, but I had to be here at the apartment to babysit the delivery guys. I finally have a bed¹. If 5:00p weren’t so damn close, I’d head back in to work. In any case, I managed to accomplish everything I wanted to get done today and then some. The take-home lesson here is that Linq is easier to use than ADO.NET.

Also, I had an American staple for the first time today: the leftover meatloaf sandwich. It would have been better had I remembered to bring lettuce, tomato, and spicy brown mustard, but it was still worth eating. Interestingly, I didn’t start eating meatloaf until I started cooking for myself.

We’re going to do some more bloggazing this week. Today, I’m looking at the search terms through which people got to this blog on Google. It appears they’re all looking for this post, where I discuss my attempts at figuring out what the Weight Watchers’ POINTS algorithm is, armed only with their slide rule, a POINTS calculator, and nutrition labels from all sorts of food. They also particularly seem interested in the Roasted Almond Sensation snack bars (the best snack bar ever made, taste-wise), which were introduced last month, probably as a seasonal item².

In fact, the only person coming here that actually dealt in my primary area of expertise (that would be computer programming and software engineering) was looking for “how to write python burned calories formula”. I will admit that I don’t have a script that calculates calories you’ve burned, but if you know the Metabolic equivalent of the Task, you need only multiply that by your mass in kilograms and the length of time you did whatever exercise you performed in hours–the resultant number is how many kilocalories (which are the same as dietary calories) you’ve burned. Honestly, if a machine I’m using tells me how many kilocalories I’ve burned, I divide that by 50 for the Activity POINTS that I’ve earned.

1. I haven’t slept in a bed in a week. It’s murder on my back. My father, on the other hand, loves that kind of arrangement.
2. I know a lot of Weight Watchers members, myself included, that will revolt if they are discontinued.

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And now, I’ve got a phone. And Internet. Real Internet.

2010-01-21T01:55:14Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

So my apartment becomes more home-like as time goes by. I’ve got FiOS dragged in here now. I still haven’t gone for a workout yet, and I’m planning on doing that tomorrow.

I’m starting to make plans for this weekend. My next acquisition shall either be a linen cabinet or a sleeper sofa (well, a sleeper loveseat, really). If I were slightly richer, I’d have gotten an apartment with study, but alas. Or perhaps I should invest in a coffee table where I can set my laptop.

I miss sleeping in a bed. I can’t wait until Friday when my new bed gets here.

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And I have tubertubes!

2010-01-20T04:07:25Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

Well, not really. I’m updating this using my work laptop, which has a 3G card in it.

I’m officially employed. All the paperwork is done, now all I have do do is not screw up. I do, however, need to decide how I’m arranging my benefits, which I believe will come online on the first of the month. Sadly, payday isn’t until the 5th, which means I have bills due before I have money. My parents are willing and able to help me on that, though.

I think I’m going to take some time and review my comments. I get a lot of spam and almost nothing in real comments at WordPress, probably because most people reading this space do so at other locations throughout the Internet (it is relayed multiple times through various sites). Thus, I’m probably responding to spam. If I tagged you as a spammer and you aren’t, please let me know.

I’ve just come across your blog on Bing and to start with I’m loving your layout I agree with what your saying here, your judgment is spot on. I’m sure going to sign up to your rss feed so i can keep informed of furture postings.

Really? I’ve been tracking the analytics on this spot with multiple tools, and nobody has come here through Bing or Live Search. In any case, the layout is the WordPress default. The rest of the site is custom and based on my admittedly limited knowledge of front-end technologies.

Damn, that sound’s so easy if you think about it.

This was in response to the posting where I was talking about the Weight Watcher’s POINTS algorithm. Yes, it’s quite easy when you think about it. Most members, however, don’t.

Have you seen what your site looks like with chrome? It looks a little messed up on mine. Is it just me or?

I’ve tested this site in Chromium and Firefox on Mac and Linux. I haven’t put it through its paces on any Windows platform quite yet.

I found this blog by searching on Google for hotel marketing. How did you optimize your site to rank so high in the search engine results?

This comes to us from my Christmas post when I was in Arlington. Again, my analytics software does not indicate anyone has come here looking for information about hotel marketing information for the Arlington area. In fact, I’ve only ever been in Arlington on two occasions: a trip during the summer of 1996 and the Christmas of 2009. I was about to say that I’ve only been in the Arlington area twice, but that’s a lie, as human readers of this space should know.

Happy New Years!! To my favorite blog, hopefully tactical body armor was not needed with all those morons shooting their shotguns above residential housing.

I’m glad to hear that I’m your favorite blog. And no, body armor was unnecessary. This was actually amongst the more unique spam postings, as they did manage to work the product they were hawking into the text organically and somewhat amusingly.

There were other postings in the comment queue as well: one person was advertising a camgirl site or something and several comments that were obviously randomly generated characters.

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Live from Carrollton

2010-01-18T18:28:04Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

I’ve moved in, but my phone and Internet haven’t been set up. I have a public library that’s a short walk from my apartment (I now have a card), so I’m currently typing this from there.

I’ll admit that I’m incredibly terrifed. What do I do, Internets? No, seriously, what do I do? I’m out here and truly alone for the first time, with home more than a phone call and an hour’s wait away. I don’t even have a bed yet–I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress that won’t hold pressure due to advanced age (I got a sleeping mat today, so that will change). I don’t know anybody here, really, and the reality of my situation is beginning to sink in. At least it’s just the Metroplex and not the far side of the moon.

Those who follow my Twitter account know that I have a television now, even if there’s nothing to watch quite yet. I’ve played some old Super Nintendo games on it, even. Yeah, that’s perverse and honestly harder than I thought.

I’ll start work tomorrow. As a gesture of awesome, I’m taking in a dozen donuts for the team. Perhaps that will help relieve some of my lostness.

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It’s done

2010-01-14T14:26:59Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

Yesterday, I received two job offers. Today, I’ve formally made a decision. I’m going to Dallas.

I begin the moving process shortly. I’ve got a good chunk of dad’s car packed up with my clothes and some blankets. We’ll be leaving in a few minutes, actually. I’ll be back in Houston tomorrow for sure, but I leave again on Saturday.

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New Year’s Resolutions

2010-01-06T03:43:45Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

The first week of the year isn’t over yet, and I haven’t posted my new year’s resolutions yet.

In years past, I didn’t think I needed to change anything about my life. This year, however, I know there are things that must change. Therefore, I’ve got a list of things I’m going to do to make sure at least some of those changes happen.

Until I am employed, engage at least three companies a day, including weekends.

The only exception is when I’m travelling for an interview. If the interview is in Greater Houston, I don’t get the day off. Sending a resume and cover letter counts as engaging a company, as do phone and in-person interviews. If the in-person interview is not in Greater Houston, it fills the day’s quota.

Get a new driver’s license.

My driver’s license doesn’t expire until 2014. However, I will need a new one when I leave my parents’ house. There is a preference for this driver’s license to come from a state other than Texas.

Start paying down my student loans.

Currently, my parents are paying them. This is not acceptable, and it never really has been.

Buy a car.

Unless my employment takes me to New York City and its immediate environment, I’ll need one.

Purchase a new computer.

It must run at least Windows and Linux. There is a stated preference for legally running OS X as well.

On no day weigh more than 180 pounds, naked and fasting.

I will weigh myself every day. Being over 180 pounds will result in a restricted diet for a week from that date, and the restricted diet will continue until I weigh less than 177 pounds, naked and fasting (in the morning).

Go to the gym for at least 1 hour three times a week.

Yeah, I’m already behind on that one. Walking for one hour may substitue for a gym visit.

Attend a Weight Watchers meeting at least once a week.

If I move, I have one week from the date of initial move-in to find a meeting and two months to find a regular meeting that works for me.

Watch at least one new anime series a month.

I need to catch up here. Use bittorrent and buy it if the series was worth watching. Besides, I need some fun.

Upon employment, find a social group and join it.

Civic groups count, churches do not. There is a requirement of weekly meetings. I must attend at least one meeting a month.

Upon employment, find a church and join it.

I must attend at least two services a month. Between acquiring employment and joining a church, I must attend worship services from at least two different traditions each month. For a tradition to count, it must affirm the Nicene Creed (because that’s how I roll personally). I must take notes and blog about the experience. If I should choose to join a traditional church that requires new confirmation before joining, enrolling in adult confirmation classes will suffice for this requirement.

Those are my resolutions. The last two may be deferred as long as I am making an honest effort to find a satisfactory group or church.

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Trials and Twitterlations

2009-12-29T23:48:39Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

Anyone who’s been on the Tubertubes over the last year and a half or so has heard of Twitter. It’s either the greatest thing since WordPress or the stupidest thing since the handheld egg cracker. Honestly, I can think of some good uses for Twitter:

Sending out build failure messages to developers’ cell phones

When I’m using a continuous integration testing environment, what do I need to know? I need to know that the build broke, I need to know when it happened, I need to know who made the commit, and I need a link with more information. I can get that in 140 characters or less.

Arranging spontaneous meetings

Most people have phones. If I want to get my friends together, I can either text them all by selecting them all on my phone or send a single text message to Twitter. The latter is easier.

Announcing blog posts

Twitter was made for attention whoring.

Announcing sales at online stores

I admit that I follow a few businesses on Twitter. They occasionally have sales or deals they will announce through Twitter.

Posting random surreal humor

Maureen Johnson provides all the demonstration anyone could need.

Updating your Facebook profile

This is the primary reason I use Twitter.

However, a number of companies think that by randomly friending me, they can build a positive relationship with potential customers. Sometimes, they make these friend requests seemingly at random: a real estate agent somewhere friended me once. Other times, I think some users use the search function to determine whether a person has mentioned something in a twit, then friend everyone who used that word. For example, I was once friended by someone promoting events in the Charlotte area because I mentioned being there briefly back in October. We’ll not mention what happened when I went to New York City for lunch.

There are multiple ways to determine whether a person is indeed using Twitter genuinely and is interested in your bowel movements, or whether they’re just trying to spam you. Here’s my test:

How many people are they following?

People can’t handle the amount of information generated by 1000 users. I struggle to follow 80. If they’re following more than about 300 people, they’re probably not even reading their feed, but instead are reading their at-replies, if that. They’re likely spamming.

What does their user information say?

Does it sound like something you’d see in spam? It probably is!

How many of their tweets have links?

If most tweets are linked to something, it’s either a blog announcement feed, a legitimate storefront or spam. Only one of those things actually follows many people.

If it dings any of these, I mark it as spam. It’s that simple.

Now to be honest, I feel that the only solution is for Twitter to put a CAPTCHA on friend requests. Yes, this means that you can’t friend people over text message anymore. Honestly, the problem is that Twitter is too readily abused. The fact that people are out there advertising themselves as Twitter experts is frankly disturbing. You’re not going to build a positive relationship with me by sending me a friend request on Twitter. Every commercial operation I follow on Twitter is one that I found out about through other means: I visited their storefront and found that they had a Twitter account to keep me up on their latest deals or other information. I sought them out, not the other way around.

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The year in review: a meme

2009-12-28T01:06:43Z

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

This one goes around every year. I figure I’ll start this time.

What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

Well, I went to the west coast, New York City, and managed to sit around the house doing absolutely nothing.

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Most people who know me know that I’m not the kind of guy who does that.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not that I recall.

Did anyone close to you die?

simons_flower. *sniff*

What countries did you visit?

Still didn’t leave the country, but aside from visiting East Texas, Austin, and the Metroplex, I managed to see San Diego, California, drove through Louisiana, Missisippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina (and stayed in the Charlotte area for a week), had layovers in Northern Virginia and Chicago, and visited New Jersey and New York.

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

A job. My own place.

What date(s) from 2009 will be etched upon your memory and why?

Most of these are travel related.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Losing 78 pounds.

What was your biggest failure?

Not getting a job.

Did you suffer any illness or injury?

Actually, I got better. Losing a lot of weight will do that.

What was the best thing you bought?

I didn’t do much buying this year. Things were bought for me.

Whose behavior merited celebration?

My own. Did I mention the fact that I lost 78 pounds?

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Hiring managers: they didn’t hire me. The Yankees for winning the World Series.

Where did most of your money go?

I never had any in the first place, but we’ll just say video games and call it good.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The prospect of getting a job. Multiple times. I was always disappointed.

What song will always remind you of 2009?

“Fireflies” by Owl City. A crap song for a crap year.

Compared to last year, are you:
- Happier or sadder?
- Thinner or fatter?
- Richer or poorer?
What do you wish you’d done more of?

Resume spamming. Working.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Doing nothing.

How did you spend Christmas?

I spent it with my sister’s in-laws in the Metroplex.

Did you fall in love in 2005?

No.

How many one night stands did you have?

This is a stupid question. I don’t do that kind of thing.

What was your favorite TV program?

I don’t watch much TV. That said, The Office and 30 Rock remain favorites.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Nope.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

Molly Lewis and Paul and Storm.

What did you want and get?

A trip to all three American coastlines. A walk in a city larger than my hometown. Seeing an accumulation of snow–on three separate occasions, including a white Christmas. Obtaining my weight goals.

What did you want and not get?

A job.

What was your favorite film of the year?

Star Trek. The title should say pretty much everything you need to know.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was 25. I had an ice cream cake.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Getting a job.

How would you describe your fashion concept in 2009?

For the first half, clothes that were too small. For the second half, clothes that were too big.

What kept you sane?

Sane? Me?

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I’m not into that kind of thing. I prefer to fancy people closer to me.

Who did you miss?

Everyone. They were all so far away.

Who was the best new person you met?

I didn’t meet many new people that stuck around.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

It doesn’t matter how bad it is now. It will find a way to get worse. There’s just no hope.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

It’s hard out here for a pimp.

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