tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65111342008-07-19T20:16:34.585-04:00Wintermute's Blog @ Nitemare CafeWintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comBlogger274125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-63177287877550198872008-07-19T20:14:00.001-04:002008-07-19T20:16:29.542-04:00Dr HorribleI just discovered this, and it's only staying online for free until July 20, but it's the funniest thing I've seen in awhile:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.drhorrible.com"><img src="http://www.drhorrible.com/images/banners/big_square.gif" border="0"></a> <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/drhorrible" rel="tag">drhorrible</a> </div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-4671410359170467412008-06-20T22:15:00.002-04:002008-06-20T22:15:01.175-04:00Twitter, Life, WiiI know I haven't posted much lately, but for anyone interested, I've set up a <a href="http://twitter.com/wintermute740">twitter account</a> that I also fairly faithfully neglect... I was considering using it and my also-neglected <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/56771885@N00/">flickr account</a>, and combining them into a mobile blog, which I can also neglect. Or not. Depends on what life throws my way.<br /> <br /> Speaking of life, it's been pretty busy, which accounts for the neglect mentioned above. Work has been a bit stressful, and there's lots to do around the house, so when I'm not busy with one of them, I tend to just want to veg in front of the TV to unwind. And if I'm not just vegging, I'm probably on the Wii.<br /> <br /> It's been awhile since I've owned a current gaming rig. My desktop is ancient, my laptops are under-powered for games, and I got my wife a PS2... for Christmas of last year, so it's not exactly current. But after hearing some good things about the Wii and Wii Fit, I talked with my wife and we bought both. I'm glad we did, because it's the best exercise investment I've made in a long time. The cost was on-par with some equipment which is currently gathering dust in a closet, waiting for us to decide which room to set up as a home gym, but the Wii is getting some serious use within the first couple of weeks. I absolutely love the boxing that comes with the included Wii Sports (though there's an annoying flaw in the scoring routine. Sometimes I'll win a match by KO but lose six points. I'll fight a similarly-matched opponent, get knocked out myself, and lose seven. How can a win by KO only be worth 1 point more than a loss by KO? And how can a win cost points in the standings? I think the scoring algorithm needs tweaked a bit in future revisions, as it takes away from the enjoyment of the game.) Between that and the games bundled with the balance board in Wii Fit, I've been slowly working towards getting in shape. <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/twitter" rel="tag">twitter</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/wii" rel="tag">wii</a> </div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-48718927313569632222008-06-09T17:52:00.000-04:002008-06-09T16:57:44.008-04:00Wil Wheaton Rules!<a href='http://abstrusegoose.com/strips/life_imitates_art.JPG'>Make no mistake, Wesley Crusher may have sucked... but Wil Wheaton rules!</a> <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/comics" rel="tag">comics</a> </div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-69796888142269257222008-05-21T07:00:00.000-04:002008-05-21T09:03:56.566-04:00Best. Site. Ever.<a href="http://www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com/">Things that are younger than John McCain</a>. <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/links" rel="tag">links</a> </div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-10311962472938099742008-05-15T18:51:00.000-04:002008-05-15T13:35:06.697-04:00Reliability issuesI'm seriously considering moving my domains completely onto Google's free services, because I've been having some major reliability issues with Time Warner's RoadRunner service. Any time I download anything large-ish, such as a perfectly legal Ububtu iso, my connection seems to stall and I have to reset my modem, sometimes several times before the download completes. Then, sometimes, the connection drops after days of being stable with little to no activity. It's unpredictable and driving me nuts. I live in the city now, so DSL is a sorta-option other than the no POTS line and intense hatred of all things AT&T and their TOS which would prevent it. (I believe TW's TOS allows it. If not, they don't enforce it via technology. Unless that's what's causing my stalled connections...) I could take <a href="http://brandondawson.org/">Brandon</a> up on his offer to host me, but I hate to take advantage of a friend who does <a href="http://www.athenainternet.com/hosting">web hosting</a> as part of their living. I could also pay for co-location somewhere. Or I could talk to my boss about hanging the server off of work's T1. None of the hosting solutions solve my connectivity problems, though, so maybe the solution is to write a script that monitors connectivity and uses an opto-isolated relay off the parallel port of the server to momentarily cut power to my cable modem, thus resetting it, whenever the connection stalls. That seems to be the funner, more geeky, solution anyhow :) <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/connectivity" rel="tag">connectivity</a> </div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-31296607361796903662008-05-14T19:05:00.000-04:002008-05-14T19:05:00.869-04:00Better late than never...Sorry it's taken me so long to get my thoughts together, but here's my <a href="http://www.penguicon.org/">Penguicon</a> 6.0 report. Hope everyone enjoys it...<br /> <br /> Penguicon was a last-minute thing for me. My wife stumbled across the website after work on the week of the con while my boss and I were standing in her office, she mentioned it being something I'd probably be interested in, and my boss asked if I wanted to go. That was probably Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, travel arrangements were made, a hotel room was booked (at the overflow hotel), and I had Friday off. The drive up to Troy, Michigan, was pretty uneventful other than I-75 being closed in Detroit. The Penguicon website maybe should have mentioned that ;)<br /> <br /> I arrived at the con a little early and asked about registration. I was pointed to one table and told 3:30. 3:30 came and went with no one at the table, but a line was forming at a table on the opposite side that I had been pointed to. So I jumped in line and waited. And waited. And eventually it was confirmed that I was in the correct line, but there was some confusion at the registration desk. Jokes were made about registration computers running Vista, but it turns out that the paper registration forms just weren't there yet. Lovely. So, closing in on 5 or so, I was finally registered. Unfortunately, it was a little to late to make it to one of the talks that I had hoped to attend. Instead, I just sort of hung out until opening ceremonies, which were a bit uneventful for such an event-packed con. <br /> <br /> At 8 PM on Friday, I saw "I Stopped Sleeping (How to Succeed in Webcomics)" followed by "A Murder of Crows" at 9. Both were interesting discussions, and I met Randall Munroe (of <a href="http://www.xkcd.com">xkcd</a> just before the webcomic panel. I tried not to go all fan-boy on him. I simply introduced myself, shook his hand, told him how much I loved the comic, at which point he beat me within an inch of my life. Apparently, he likes to do that to people who approach him about how much they love his comic. If only I had overheard his comment a moment earlier...(OK. Only he and the three people who heard him joking around will probably get that joke, but it's funny, dammit. Trust me.) From there, I sorta hung out until deciding to call it a night and walk back to my hotel.<br /> <br /> I started Saturday with Jason Scott's talk on Interactive Fiction. At this point, the lack of organization was already apparent (from registration the night before), but <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40422484@N00/2427424441/">the bed on the stage</a> pretty much sealed it. It was a good talk, though, even though Jason was surprised be the lack of video in the room for his presentation.<br /> <br /> Even with the lack of organization, Penguicon was very enjoyable as an attendee. I won't bore anyone with further details, other than to mention a couple more highlights of the event. The panel discussion "Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse" on Friday night was an absolute riot. And if you ever get the chance, you have *got* to see the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDejvryAFN0">giant telsa coils in concert</a>.<br /> <br /> All in all, I had an excellent time. Next year, I'm dragging the wife along :) <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/penguicon" rel="tag">penguicon</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-53734838305062044152008-05-07T18:02:00.000-04:002008-05-07T18:02:00.938-04:00Email accounts...If any of my old BBS users are reading this and would like a nitemarecafe.com email address, drop me a line and I'll set you up. <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/email" rel="tag">email</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/nitemarecafe" rel="tag">nitemarecafe</a> </div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-21034745926432920652008-04-18T15:12:00.002-04:002008-04-18T15:15:31.988-04:00Penguicon 6.0I'm currenly in Troy, MI, at PenguiCon 6.0, patiently waiting for registration to start. If anyone happens to notice the guy with the Tux tattoo on his right ankle, that's me! <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/penguicon" rel="tag">penguicon</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-27649797281200943982008-04-07T17:39:00.000-04:002008-04-07T17:39:00.748-04:00The RockOK. As of Friday at 5pm, The Blitz is now <a href="http://www.997wrkz.com/">The Rock</a>, and it doesn't *totally* suck. The thing that really sucks is that there are currently no live DJ's. This makes it sound sort of like my MP3 player on random shuffle, but with commercials and a slightly larger play-list. The good news is that I messaged the station on MySpace on Friday, and here's their reply from earlier today: <br /><blockquote>Well the DJs will be back sometime in May. Right now we are just concentrating on the music right now and will start to introduce other programs in time. The morning show will also be returning sometime in May. Thanks for your questions and we hope that you will enjoy the station again!</blockquote><br /> I appreciate a couple of things about this reply. First, I appreciate the personal response, even though I'm sure they've been busy dealing with hundreds of friends requests, dozens of comments to approve, and who knows how many messages. I also appreciate that the talent will, in fact, be back on-air sometime in May. I can't wait, because the DJ's are what give a radio station it's personality. Otherwise, I'd listen to my MP3 player on random shuffle, commercial-free. <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/radio" rel="tag">radio</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/columbus" rel="tag">columbus</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/ohio" rel="tag">ohio</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/wbzx" rel="tag">wbzx</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blitz" rel="tag">blitz</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/wrkz" rel="tag">wrkz</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/therock" rel="tag">therock</a> </div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-2319613597838484772008-04-04T10:03:00.017-04:002008-04-08T10:27:12.291-04:00The BlitzThis morning, I get in my car and tune the radio the <a href="http://wbzx.com">99.7 The Blitz</a>, and out comes a message saying "Please stand by, the radio station is rebooting." The website says the same thing. So does the official MySpace page. So, I dig around a bit and find this via Yahoo Answers (<a href="http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080403123252AAXREp1">link</a>): <br /><blockquote> Mo from the morning show posted this bulletin: to avoid hundreds of individual inquiries, i was informed today that the blitz is changing formats beginning friday april 4th at 5pm. i do not know what the new music music will be, i will find out when you do, all i have been told is i am still under contract, the plan is to restart the morning show with the new format but not until the music takes hold which means though i will be paid, blazor and i are off air for the next two months. in thirty days you will here promos for the new show which i believe will be blazor and mo, even though it should be the other way around because i am way better looking. but i digress. will be here drinking for the next two months and mo’s mix is still a go for april 18th so i better see you there.<br /> <br /> —mo rocka</blockquote> <br /> A little more digging reveals a blurb in the Columbus Dispatch (<a href="http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2008/04/04/2_NEW_WBZX.ART_ART_04-04-08_D7_D29QUUR.html?sid=101">link</a>): <br /><blockquote> "I can say this is not a whim and that it's not based on personal preference," Fish said. "We did some pretty major research of the market to establish what the best opportunity was." </blockquote><blockquote> "The Blitz was a cool concept that lasted awhile," Fish said. "Hopefully . . . (the new format) will (make) our advertisers happy."</blockquote> <br /> Let's all hope he considered the listeners, too. Classic rock stations like 96.3 and 105.7 are OK, but The Blitz is better. 107.1 changed formats to country awhile back, leaving 99.7 the only station with its format in the area. If 99.7 changes too much, there will be a definite void on the Columbus radio dial.<br /><br /> And now, I'll leave you with this 80's poem:<br /><br /> <blockquote> Disco sucks,<br /> Punk is dead.<br /> So give me ROCK,<br /> Or give me head!</blockquote> <br /> <br /> <font color=red size=small>Update:</font> Apparently, their call-sign changes to WRKZ today as well. (<a href="http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=49107&Callsign=WBZX">link</a>) <br /> <font color=red size=small>Update2:</font> WRKZ used to be the call letters for 93.7, K-Rock, (before changing call letters themselves) in Pittsburgh. (<a href="http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=20350&Callsign=WBZW-FM">link</a>) Not that the old K-Rock is going to have anything to do with whatever The Blitz becomes at 5PM today. <br /> <font color=red size=small>Update3:</font> <a href="http://997rock.com/">997rock.com</a> points to the same page as <a href="http://wbzx.com/">wbzx.com</a>. (<a href="http://radioinsight.com/netgnomes/997-wbzx-columbus-stunting/">link</a>) I guess we'll find out if the word "rock" within the domain name is a good sign in just over an hour.<br /> <font color=red size=small>Update4:</font> The Blitz is now The Rock. Looking at the new site, it looks like the new format is similar to <a href="http://www.1057thefox.com/main.html">105.7 The Brew</a>. But hopefully they'll include the stuff they played as The Blitz in their new format. I guess we'll see. On the plus side, we can listen online now...<br /> <font color=red size=small>Update5:</font> Bring back The Blitz! 'nuff said... <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/radio" rel="tag">radio</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/columbus" rel="tag">columbus</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/ohio" rel="tag">ohio</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/wbzx" rel="tag">wbzx</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blitz" rel="tag">blitz</a> </div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-88844197694138035762008-03-19T07:16:00.001-04:002008-03-19T14:19:36.996-04:00100% GeekIn case there was any doubt:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.justsayhi.com/bb/geek" style="text-decoration: none; background: url('http://assets.justsayhi.com/badges/127/137/geek_badge1_green.7jstjfar9l.jpg') no-repeat; display: block; width: 268px; height: 82px;"><span style="display: block; padding-left: 125px; padding-top: 28px; color: #000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 22px;">100% Geek</span></a> <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/memes" rel="tag">memes</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-36164836312556601202008-03-06T22:21:00.002-05:002008-03-07T13:04:47.197-05:00And the room is growing smaller...Yeah. It's a random title from song lyrics... Yet it is somehow fitting for today's entry...<br /> <br /> <a href="http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/03/across-the-sea.html">Gary Gygax died</a> on Tuesday, and <a href="http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/">Wil Wheaton</a> shared a great story in his honor. His story triggered a long forgotten memory that I thought I'd share as well. It's nowhere near as good as Wil's, but read on if you're interested.<br /> <br /> When I was 13 or 14, my family moved into the apartment complex where I met one of my best friends all through school. Unfortunately, we lost contact long ago, and this story is not really about him. It's about another friend, though one I only knew briefly.<br /> <br /> It had to have been around 1982 or 1983 when we moved into the apartments. Up until then, my family always lived in rental houses. Though the apartments were only a mile or two from our previous house, and I retained many of my previous friends, I made many new friends as well. One of those friends was nicknamed "Bones." For the life of me, no matter hard I try I can't remember his real name. I think it speaks to my early geek status that my friends held Star Trek inspire nicknames.<br /> <br /> As I mentioned, I didn't know Bones long. Shortly after we moved into the apartments, Bones' family moved away. But in those months that he did live there, we had some adventures together. While "the first time I ever got drunk" fits the bill as an adventure, this entry isn't about that experience.<br /> <br /> Bones was the only child of a single father who worked way too much, which meant that a) his father felt guilty and gave him a much higher than average allowance for the early 80's, and b) his father didn't mind that he spent that allowance on Dungeons and Dragons, while all the other parents where freaking out about how "satanic" it was.<br /> <br /> And so it came that in the summer 1984 or so I was introduced to D&D by Bones. He had heard about it from all the older kids in the apartment complex, but none of them would let us younger kids play. So Bones bought all the manuals and a starter game and read everything by the time my family moved in. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085113/">Wizards and Warriors</a> had already completed its run on CBS by then and I hadn't even heard of D&D until I met Bones. But once he mentioned this game and we started hearing about the "satanic" connections, being the rebellious teenager that I was, I knew I had to play. So we gathered several of the other kids who weren't allowed to play D&D with the older kids, and we started a campaign in secret. A lot of the parents were pretty freaked out about their kids getting involved in D&D, so it remained secret and therefore a pretty small group, just four or five of us.<br /> <br /> I don't remember much about the campaign, or even the group. I remember Bones was the Dungeon Master, as his generous allowance gave him enough money to buy materials. I remember my best friend all through school was part of the group. I remember we wanted a mixed party, and while everyone wanted to be a fighter, we drew straws for flipped coins or something. I picked last, and was "stuck" being a rogue. We played at least a little while every day after school, and also on weekends. I grew to love the game and my character, and then Bones moved away because his dad got a new job somewhere else. He took all the character sheets with him (because we all feared our parents finding them) and the game died. I've played D&D here and there since then, always playing a rogue, but never as seriously as when we played for the two or three months that I knew Bones.<br /> <br /> I haven't thought about Bones in years. Thank you for introducing me to Dungeons and Dragons. And thank you, Gary Gygax, for giving me such a wonderful memory. And thank you, Wil, for triggering a memory that would have remained hidden away forever. <br /> <br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/d&d" rel="tag">d&d</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-58801007043637254122008-03-03T06:34:00.006-05:002008-03-03T07:57:24.131-05:00TV WishAwhile back, I <a href="http://www.nitemarecafe.com/2008/02/mythtv.php">wrote</a> about finally switching my DVR software over to <a href="http://www.mythtv.org">MythTV</a>. Since then, I've added a little program called <a href="http://www.templetons.com/brad/myth/tvwish.html">TVWish</a> that allows me to create a wishlist of programs to record should they ever air on TV. One of the features that I like about TVWish is the "suggest" feature, which allows it to record programs based on past and scheduled recordings as well as genre. The problem is, the guide grabber that I am using, <a href="http://zap2xml.110mb.com/">zap2xml</a>, does not fill the programgenres table in the database. Unfortunately, this is the table that TVWish uses via its suggest.pl, instead of using the category field of the program table. This left me with two options for implementing genre suggestions. <br /><br /> First, I could patch suggest.pl to use the different field and table. Problem is, I don't know perl. It's close enough to C that I'm sure I could hack around with it and get it going, but it would probably take me awhile. <br /><br /> The second option is to modify zap2xml to fill the table. Again, I don't know perl very well. Zap2xml is a little more complex than the suggest.pl of TVWish, so it would probably take me even longer to get it right. <br /><br /> The third option, the one I went with, was to fill the programgenres table with the required data, taken from the program table. Since I do know PHP, I decided to hack together a very quick script to do this for me. It's certainly not pretty, but here it is anyway (be sure the variables at the top match your system): <blockquote> $host = 'localhost';<br /> $username = 'user';<br /> $password = 'pass';<br /> $database = 'mythconverg';<br /> <br /> $connection = mysql_connect($host, $username, $password) or die ("Unable to connect!");<br /> <br /> mysql_select_db($database) or die ("Unable to select database!");<br /> <br /> $query = "DELETE FROM programgenres;";<br /> <br /> $result = mysql_query($query) or die ("Error in query: $query. " .<br /> mysql_error());<br /> <br /> $query = "SELECT chanid, starttime, category FROM program;";<br /> <br /> $result = mysql_query($query) or die ("Error in query: $query. " . mysql_error());<br /> <br /> if (mysql_num_rows($result) > 0)<br /> {<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp; while($row = mysql_fetch_object($result))<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp; {<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; $query2 = "INSERT INTO programgenres VALUES (" .<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; $row->chanid . "," .<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "'" . $row->starttime . "'," .<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "'0' ," .<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "'" . $row->category . "'" .<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ");";<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; $result2 = mysql_query($query2) or die ("Error in query: $query2. " . &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; mysql_error());<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp; }<br /> }<br /> </blockquote> <br /><br /> Please note that this entry is nowhere near 500 words unless I include the code. It does not count for the challenge I mentioned on Saturday ;) <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/mythtv" rel="tag">mythtv</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/zap2xml" rel="tag">zap2xml</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/tvwish" rel="tag">tvwish</a> </div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-59640184762324216412008-03-02T09:04:00.001-05:002008-03-03T07:53:09.508-05:00ExerciseOK. I’ll admit it. I’m out of shape, and have been for some time now. I weighed in around 115-120 when I graduated high school, which was a little on the light side, even 20 years ago. I’m now pushing the 200 mark. I don’t think I’ve broken it yet, though I’m probably close. I’d like to get back down to 138, which according to all the charts is my ideal weight. <br /><br /> So, what am I doing about it? Well, last year I started running because I was going to try to run the Columbus Marathon. I started another blog about it, and bought some video equipment so I could make a documentary about it. That plan didn’t really work out so well. Life got busy. We bought a house and sold another. I put my plan of running in a marathon on hold and quit running temporarily. Of course, that “temporarily” stretched on into winter, and it’s hard to motivate myself to go running when it’s cold as hell outside ;) But I’ll start training again. I promise ;) Probably later today, or tomorrow morning at the latest. Gotta start (again) somewhere, right? <br /><br /> In the meantime, my wife decided to buy a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001IVN48?ie=UTF8&tag=wintermusblog-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0001IVN48">Total Gym 1700 Club</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wintermusblog-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0001IVN48" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (affiliate link). It came a couple of weeks ago and we got it set up, but we really need to organize and unpack some more boxes so we can convert a spare bedroom into an exercise room. We’ve also got an elliptical that we purchased just before we bought this place that we plan on putting in there. I’d also like to eventually get a treadmill and stationary bike, for when it’s too freaking cold outside to run. But we’ll probably hold off until we start using what we already have. <br /><br /> My ultimate goal is to maybe convert part of the massive garage that came with the house into an actual gym with free weights, the equipment we already have, maybe some boxing equipment. I bet a boxing ring would fit and we’d still have room for four cars in there. <br /><br /> The garage needs a lot of work before that could happen, though. There are some windows that are out. The electrical needs rewired. The roof needs replaced. There’s a gap under one of the doors. Critters have gotten in and decided the loft makes a good restroom. I have to make repairs to prevent the critters from getting in. Then I need to clean all the crap (literally! Yuck!) out. The stairs to the loft needs replaced with something that resembles something I’d actually feel safe walking up and down. Then I can start thinking of putting in a gym. It’s nice to dream, though. <br /><br /> At any rate, while I’m out of shape, I’m starting to really do something about it. And yes, I’m still planning on running a marathon. Maybe it’ll be this year, but probably next. And I plan on documenting the entire training process. Maybe I’ll even update the <a href="http://run.nitemarecafe.com">other blog</a> once in awhile ;) <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/exercise" rel="tag">exercise</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-40396565811049483742008-03-01T10:11:00.004-05:002008-03-01T12:01:03.948-05:00500 words a day challengeA couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine proposed a challenge to write 500 words a day for 365 days. Then, he settled on a start date of today, March 1. I suppose I should have written about this challenge sooner, but I invite anyone reading this to join us. Here are the rules: <br /><br /> <ul><li>500 words per day</li> <li>365 days</li> <li>You do not have to post your writing</li> <li>Should not include blog posts / livejournal entries (unless you really want to, or are simply sharing)</li> <li>Pretty much anything goes</li></ul> <br /> I, personally, will probably share the bulk of my writing. As a matter of fact, my reason for participating is to improve my blogging, so it makes more sense for me to include some of my blog posts as well. If you don't like long posts, you might want to read me via RSS over the next year so you can skip anything you're not interested in ;) This should be good practice for November. <br /><br /> The reason I mention November is because it is <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/">National Novel Writing Month</a>. I've known about it for a couple of years now, but this year might be the first year that I actually participate. If I keep with the 500 words per day challenge, I hope to be comfortable enough with my writing by then to start working on the sci-fi novel that's been floating around my head for the past decade or two. Since this challenge will hopefully still be in full swing as well, I'll be able to kill two birds with one stone ;) <br /><br /> As well as nanowrimo, November is also known as <a href="http://www.movember.com/">Movember</a>. I heard about this charity event last year about halfway through the month, so I was a bit too late to the party and was unable to participate.<br /> <br /> The idea of Movember is to start the month clean-shaven, then grow and groom a mustache until the end of the month. As I mentioned, it's a charity event which is designed to raise not only money, but also awareness, for men's health issues. It's a really great cause, so I will probably participate in that as well.<br /> <br /> Anyhow, back to the 500 words per day challenge ;) This entry marks day one and I hope to still be going strong on day 365. Like I said, I’ll share the bulk of what I write, but there may be days that I don’t post anything to the blog. This does not mean that I skipped the day. It just means that I wrote off-line and didn’t feel like sharing for the day. It could be something I feel is inferior, or I could just be lazy and not feel like typing it in after I write it ;) <br /><br /> If I do happen to skip a day here and there, I’ll be upfront about it. I’ll also try to make up for it by doubling my output on the following day. So long as I’m not doing 182000 words in a single day a year from now, I should be doing OK ;) <br /><br /> <div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/writing" rel="tag">writing</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-48196324984275992532008-02-29T06:31:00.001-05:002008-02-29T10:08:38.992-05:00What SciFi / Fantasy character are you?I am Jean Luc Picard... <p><a href="http://www.tk421.net/character/"><img src="http://www.tk421.net/character/picard.jpg" width="164" height="225" style="border-color:#f8f8ff;" border="2" alt="Which Fantasy/SciFi Character Are You?" /></a></p> <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/memes" rel="tag">memes</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/scifi" rel="tag">scifi</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/fantasy" rel="tag">fantasy</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-60412655805162563622008-02-18T17:38:00.000-05:002008-02-19T08:36:00.798-05:00WikileaksJust doing my part to keep <a href="http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks">Wikileaks</a> alive. <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/wikileaks" rel="tag">wikileaks</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-79781258365503841452008-02-07T21:33:00.000-05:002008-02-08T10:34:01.266-05:00MythTVFor the past year or two, I've been running my homebrew DVR using a program called GB-PVR under Windows XP. The program worked well enough, but there were a couple of quirks with it. I probably could have lived with those quirks, but the wife-factor meant that this was supposed to be an appliance, not a computer. Quirks, therefore, were strongly discouraged. Plus I'm a Linux geek. Running a Windows-based DVR just wasn't cool. <br /> <br /> When I first built this box a couple of years ago, I intended to install KnoppMyth on it, since it was supposed to achieve what I wanted; MythTV without hassle. I first ran into trouble with an unsupported WiFi card. OK. Try ndiswrapper. No luck. No problem. I can set aside a problem and come back to it, so I ran an ethernet cable across the living room floor to use temporarily. Once everything else worked, I could mess with ndiswrapper to get wireless going. But then, once MythTV was installed, it couldn't properly tune anything over channel 5 or 6. Time for a little research. I had purchased a Hauppauge PVR-500MCE, and Hauppauge had just changed to a cheaper chipset that wasn't yet supported completely by the ivtv drivers. Guess I should have researched more beforehand.<br /> <br /> After a bit of digging, I discovered another distro called MythDora and decided to try it out. This time, I installed ndiswrapper and had it working with minimal effort. Same trouble with the channels, though. There were some tips available for getting things working, but none did the trick.<br /> <br /> This is the point where I installed Windows XP and GB-PVR. I considered installing Slackware and building everything from source, but since I had a working solution that my wife only complained about occasionally when one of the quirks popped up. I added a second Hauppage PVR-500MCE (two dual-tuner cards, FTW!), and purchased a larger drive. The drive sat on the shelf for months, as I wasn't looking forward to transferring Windows XP and all the data to it.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, work progressed on Mythbuntu. So, last weekend, I finally downloaded it and installed it on the new, 500 Gig drive. I had minimal effort getting the WiFi going. It's supported via a restricted driver now, so all I had to do is use an ethernet cable long enough to download it. TV-Out through my Nvidia card works great, though I'm tempted to use the TV-Out on one of the PVR-500s for the built-in mpeg2 decoder. Not sure if it's worth the bother or not, though. But all in all, I've been happy with MythTV over the past week. I did discover that a couple of channels don't work on tuner 4 so well, but if I set one of the other tuners as the preferred tuner for anything I record from those channels, the problem is effectively solved, so I'm not too worried about the one quirk I've found so far. <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/mthtv" rel="tag">mythtv</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/mythbuntu" rel="tag">mythbuntu</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/knoppmyth" rel="tag">knoppmyth</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/mythdora" rel="tag">mythdora</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/gb-pvr" rel="tag">gb-pvr</a> </div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-26841099642455384732008-02-01T07:38:00.000-05:002008-02-01T10:46:04.271-05:00Redearth - About Last Night - 01/31/2008<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6EFauI3R4zs&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6EFauI3R4zs&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /> <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=6EFauI3R4zs">Link</a> <br /><br /> Ever have one of those nights that turns out differently than you expected it to? <br /><br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Added:</span> January 31, 2008 <br /><br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Category:</span> People & Blogs <br /><br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tags:</span> redearth redearth88 rachel maddisonatkins lonelygirl15 bree danielbeast alyzarin tachyon opaphid 10033 milo eric <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/redearth88" rel="tag">redearth88</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-42867093887850563542008-01-31T17:30:00.000-05:002008-01-31T15:36:40.072-05:00The De-Evolution of LibertyThe TSA now has a blog with the misleading title "<a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog">Evolution of Security</a>." Personally, I think "<a href="http://www.tsa.gov/blog">De-Evolution of Liberty</a>" is probably more fitting.<br /> <br /> The TSA apparently plans to actively censor comments, as stated within their comment policy: <blockquote>This is a moderated blog. That means all comments will be reviewed before posting.</blockquote> For a private citizen, I would have no problem with this policy. But, being the voice of a government agency, shouldn't the first amendment prevail?<br /> <br /> Also from their comment policy: <blockquote> <b>Routine Uses:</b> TSA may share the information provided by members of the public with facility operators, law enforcement, intelligence agencies, or other government agencies as necessary to respond to potential or actual threats to transportation and national security, or pursuant to its published Privacy Act system of records notice DHS/TSA 006, Correspondence and Matters Tracking Records (CMTR), 68 FR 49503-49504.</blockquote> And remember, boys and girls, <i>potential threats</i> could mean any comment the <strike>KGB</strike> <strike>Gestapo</strike> TSA doesn't like.<br /> <br /><br /> Technorati Tags: <a class="performancingtags" href="http://technorati.com/tag/security" rel="tag">security</a>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-77647992879716232422008-01-16T07:01:00.000-05:002008-01-16T08:55:11.258-05:00What would I do as president?Yeah, I know. More politics. But because I've joked for years about running for President in '08, and <a href="http://slashdot.org/~ScuttleMonkey/"></a>ScuttleMonkey just happened to ask "<a href="http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/14/1637201">What would you do as president</a>" over on <a href="http://slashdot.org">SlashDot</a>, I thought I'd answer here.<br /><br /> First, I'd develop a plan for the orderly withdrawal of troops from Iraq. There are those who would push for an immediate and total withdrawal, but I don't think that's entirely feasible. While I would begin bringing our sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters home immediately, I think total withdrawal might take a little time to do properly. And by a little time, I mean I'd set a definitive deadline a year or so out. <br /><br /> Next, I'd begin investigation of all war crimes committed by US personnel. I believe that responsibility of these crimes goes all the way to the top, so Bush and Cheney might want to consider retiring to a country who does not have an extradition treaty with the US.<br /><br /> All illegal wiretapping would be immediately halted by executive order.<br /><br /> The "war on terror" would be called for what it is - a joke. Illusions of security would be halted and replaced with actual security. If actual security isn't possible, then the public would be told the truth.<br /><br /> The Patriot Act, Real ID, and other laws infringing on the rights of the citizenry would be repealed.<br /><br /> "Limited time" in copyright law would be scaled back to something more reasonable.<br /><br /> Patent reform would finally begin. Some patents would be abolished outright. Others would have shortened terms.<br /><br /> Affordable heath care would become a reality for 100% of the population. It is a travesty that *insured* Americans still can't afford heath care because of rising co-pays and deductibles.<br /><br /> The RIAA and MPAA would be investigated by the DOJ for abusing the DCMA and for collusion. Speaking of the DCMA, it would be repealed.<br /><br /> By this point, I probably would have been assassinated. If not, I'd certainly never be elected to a second term. Unless, of course, the geeks really have inherited the earth ;)<br /><br /> Obviously, there are other issues that would need dealt with that I haven't touched on, but they can be discussed in comments. <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/politics" rel="tag">politics</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-37159761413253751682008-01-11T08:53:00.000-05:002008-01-11T08:54:51.656-05:00redearth: "How Could THIS Happen?"<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JCfyMyHSLvA&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JCfyMyHSLvA&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCfyMyHSLvA">Link</a> <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/redearth88" rel="tag">redearth88</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-42277086867228297582008-01-10T17:35:00.000-05:002008-01-10T13:37:55.267-05:00This makes me sick<a href="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/01/fiveyearold_boy.html">Stuff like this makes me sick.</a> I hope history remembers the current administration as the war criminals they are for allowing this kind of thing to happen in the first place. <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/security" rel="tag">security</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-54226609919237709192008-01-09T08:30:00.000-05:002008-01-09T08:39:58.974-05:00What's with all the videos and random links?In case you're wondering what's up, I've been helping promote a video series by embedding the videos here.<br /> <br /> If you're also wondering about the "random links" postings, don't worry. They won't be a permanent fixture here, unless I move them to the sidebar. I was just testing some ideas for writing a web scraper in php. Having routines for scraping the web in my bag of tricks might come in handy for automating some tasks at work.Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6511134.post-52917657650710751992008-01-09T08:26:00.000-05:002008-01-09T08:29:26.310-05:00maddisonatkins: "Good Luck in Vegas Adam Lamar"<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/w7dX5lSvd88&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/w7dX5lSvd88&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7dX5lSvd88">Link</a> <br /><br /><div class="Tags">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/maddisonatkins" rel="tag">maddisonatkins</a></div>Wintermutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297439461009385779noreply@blogger.com