tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68860312011-04-21T19:41:14.883-04:00I promise not to rant too much. Plus stuff about games, Java, and philosophomoic humor.Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comBlogger321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1142297389963068362006-03-13T19:46:00.000-05:002006-03-13T19:49:49.973-05:00

I'm laying claim to a new word I made up that, who knows, may end up making the rounds.A "Wikitard" is basically the Wiki version of the asshat. First used by yours truly on the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference 2006 Wiki "ThingsWeHate" page. So, flag in the sand -- I should register http://www.wikitard.com/ before it gets snapped up.Word.

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1136334472177356442006-01-03T19:25:00.000-05:002006-01-03T19:27:52.176-05:00

Tired of getting questions asked by co-workers or even cow-orkers who are too lazy to use their god-given access to the Internet to look for an answer on their own?Tell them all answers can be found here.It's at least a start. The brighter ones may even think it's funny.

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1136333143921169162006-01-03T19:03:00.000-05:002006-01-03T19:05:43.930-05:00

William Shatner has his own DVD club. Sources are inquiring as to whether this is a sign of the apocalpyse or not.

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1134698284378939672005-12-15T20:47:00.000-05:002005-12-15T20:58:04.386-05:00

Well, today is Corey's third birthday. What this means is the following:CakeEducational Toys From Mom & DadNoisy Toys From Everyone ElseNow, I understand that there's some law that requires grandparents, especially grandfathers of little boys, to buy the noisiest possible toys in the world. I'm not talking Tickle Me Until I Puke Elmo noisy, I'm talking Trinity Explosion noisy. With no volume

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1131477175134515842005-11-08T14:11:00.000-05:002005-11-08T14:17:21.393-05:00

If you're all looking for a charity to contribute to this holiday season, may I recommend:http://www.childsplaycharity.org/The charity is focused on getting toys and games to children in various Children's Hospitals around the country. It's run by a couple offellas who write a web comic called Penny Arcade, which is highly oriented toward gamers of the computer and role-playing variety. Yes,

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1124457635391820882005-08-19T07:00:00.000-04:002005-08-19T09:20:35.416-04:00

Well, we broke down and got a minivan. I was quite surprised as to how little consternation this caused me. I recall in the past being highly resistant to the idea of paying non-trivial sums of money for what, in my younger mind, was the least cool vehicle since the Le Car. But somehow, like my desire to rock and roll all night and party every day, that heady conviction of yesteryear seems to

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1117050232106018602005-05-25T15:34:00.000-04:002005-05-25T15:43:52.110-04:00

OK, first, I know it's been a while since I've written anything here, but I didn't get any angry phone calls or emails about it, so I'm guessing I didn't negatively impact anybody's lifestyle.Anyway, I saw something today that you all might find amusing: Das Keyboard. Billed as "the keyboard for ubergeeks", it has no inscriptions on the keys, and "the keys are divided into groups and their

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1113846990820266392005-04-18T13:38:00.000-04:002005-04-18T13:56:30.823-04:00

I've actually been sort of in the market for a random name generator. I'm going to be working on a project for the FBI, and we may need to cleanse a lot of data so we can use it outside FBI spaces without invading anyone's privacy. A good chunk of that data is likely to be names, and it would be far better to have readable, sensible names than random strings of garbage.For my historical

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1112376222854257502005-04-01T12:21:00.000-05:002005-04-01T12:25:28.210-05:00

Of course, it's from those fine folks at Google. Check it out.Google Gulp - coming soon to a convenience store near you!Make sure you read the F.A.Q. especially. Happy April 1st!

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1112369949410072292005-04-01T07:00:00.000-05:002005-04-01T10:39:09.413-05:00

Not usually things you want to have together, but they're both topics of today's post. Before you lose your appetite, let's talk about pizza. I like hot stuff, spicy and the like. My wife, who fits well into the hot stuff category, ordered us a big slab of Pizza Hut Buffalo Chicken Pizza last night. If you haven't had it, and you like spicy goodness, you'll enjoy it immensely. Basically,

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1112299484553883472005-03-31T14:58:00.002-05:002005-03-31T15:06:52.886-05:00

I know I haven't posted in a while, but my life has been so eventful recently that I've barely had enough time to play Progress Quest, let alone write anything. I should have some ramblings coming up about Worms 3D, Silent Hunter 3, and Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 soon.Also, if anybody out there is dying to know about basement waterproofing, boy, can I ever hook you up.

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1111000398967383742005-03-16T14:10:00.000-05:002005-03-16T14:13:18.970-05:00

A couple of well-reviewed games for the PC dropped yesterday, and I'm anticipating a jaunt to get a haircut and pick up either Brothers in Arms or Silent Hunter 3 sometime this week. Coincidentally, I've recently been replaying Silent Hunter 2, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the third installment wasn't just in the works, but was almost out. Score.Here's an interesting thought

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1110996899285185932005-03-16T07:03:00.000-05:002005-03-16T13:14:59.286-05:00

No, this has nothing to do with the current anthrax event in D.C., this is the working title of Will Wright's next game. He showcased it during his keynote at the Game Developer's Conference, and rather than try to paraphrase what other people more present than I have said, I'll just link you to a good article about it on Gamespy. Even if you're not really into games, click here, and through

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1110549631982047412005-03-11T08:28:00.000-05:002005-03-11T09:00:31.986-05:00

I had one of those moments this morning, where your brain just gets overloaded with long-forgotten images and memories. This happened while I was driving to work. But let's not get ahead of myself (does that even make sense?) Also, keep in mind that I've been mainlining a box of Thin Mints that I bought from some guy at work's supposed Girl Scout daughter, so I can't promise full sensibility.

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1109360325116357282005-02-25T14:15:00.000-05:002005-02-25T14:38:45.120-05:00

I'm sure you've all seen those new Napster commercials. $15 a month for all the music you can eat. Unfortunately, it's all DRM protected so it "expires" once you stop paying your $15 a month. Of course, anybody with some hyper-advanced alien technical know-how can get around that (hint: it's called a "line out" on the sound card, or if you're one of those people who want it easy you can use

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1109080851186189022005-02-22T08:46:00.000-05:002005-02-22T09:00:58.140-05:00

Sci Fi Wire is reporting that during the filming of the latest Batman movie, one of the stunt Batmobiles was struck by a drunk driver while moving it between sets. Bonus points to the reader with the best post-accident "Robin" line.I'd love to have been involved in that conversation with the insurance representative. I'd reproduce it here, but I'm not funny enough in the mornings. Suffice it to

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1109022595725920092005-02-21T16:37:00.000-05:002005-02-21T16:49:55.726-05:00

I was stunned to hear that Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide yesterday. I personally thought he was one of the most original journalists and novelists of the 20th century, and was intrigued by his influence on New Journalism, which seems to be reappearing in another, 21st century form, namely blogging.If you haven't had a chance to read any of his works, I'd highly recommend that you take

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1108868347811876412005-02-19T21:47:00.000-05:002005-02-19T21:59:07.916-05:00

I must say, if you've never had Sambuca in a fine Italian restaurant, you should. Especially if it's preceded by some bottles of excellent red and a Manhattan, Makers Mark, straight up. If you haven't guessed by now, this post is written "under the influence", which may be illegal in some states. I don't live in them, so they can go f&*! themselves.Anyway, my sister of some years is going to

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1108415540592190512005-02-14T15:55:00.000-05:002005-02-14T16:12:20.596-05:00

I've got a crazy idea today that I feel like speculating wildly about. I was reading a bit of Slashdot, in particular an article about the XBox 2. Amid all the normal Microsoft-bashing, general weirdness, Soviet Russia jokes, and stuff you didn't want to know about Linux, someone actually made an interesting comment - that the XBox 2 will live and die by its launch titles.Don't worry, this is

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1108070623755077622005-02-10T16:18:00.000-05:002005-02-10T16:23:43.756-05:00

I've been accused of going on and on about TiVo and its general greatness. It's one of the few things I'm evangelical about. The others are really not important, unless you like badgers, remote control yo-yos, and zero-gravity frisbee golf, combined, in that order. This post on The Morning News should pretty much answer any questions you have about TiVo. Plus, it will make milk come out of

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1107957986061127722005-02-09T08:45:00.000-05:002005-02-09T09:06:26.060-05:00

After a night of not-enough-sleep thanks to the Virtual Apple online emulator so graciously pointed out to me late last evening, what's the first thing I see in my Google News page this morning? Dolly the Sheep Scientist Licensed to Clone Embryos Worst headline ever. I just get this image of a lab-coated sheep baa-ing and waving a Certificate of Cloning Rights around. If this is how they do

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1107892765994499582005-02-08T14:49:00.000-05:002005-02-08T14:59:25.993-05:00

"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Who said this? Hint: He's "right on the money," pun intended. The $100 bill, to be exact. I'm sure, were he alive today, he'd be blogging. Or banging on the inside of his coffin, and so on.

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1107878588882264222005-02-08T10:50:00.000-05:002005-02-08T11:03:08.883-05:00

It's been a couple of days since I've been free to update, mainly due to Corey and Patty being sick. Corey, in particular, has been attacked by the Booger Generating Bug. Those of you with small children are probably familiar with this. It's not pleasant, but it can be moderately amusing, especially if you add a dog to the mix. Our dog likes salty things. Let's leave it at that, but I'm

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1107440903042496892005-02-03T09:05:00.000-05:002005-02-03T09:28:23.043-05:00

I'm sure many of you are looking for that Certain Special Gift for Valentine's Day, or, as I like to call it, Buy Very Expensive Flowers Because Hallmark Said So Day. So, for those of you looking for alternative, non-saccharine gifts for your significant other, I've done you a service and compiled a short list. Is your Special Someone hard to shop for? Do you have a lot of money that you don't

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1107266574369658932005-02-01T08:50:00.000-05:002005-02-01T09:02:54.370-05:00

Well, it appears that my wish for a Bloom County omnibus isn't in the works, but there is the next best thing: Opus, a nice hardbound full-color collection of the best Sunday adventures of the Little Penguin That Could. Now, if we can just get the Bill and Steve companion volumes... hey, that sounds like a Who's Who at Microsoft. While we're not on the topic of games, I'd like to talk a

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1107113708943768992005-01-30T14:22:00.000-05:002005-01-30T14:36:21.953-05:00

I'm sure someone out there gets this headline. If you don't, read on. I've recently become re-re-addicted to the good old text-based dungeon stomper Nethack. Sporting super-advanced ASCII graphics, you guide your intrepid adventurer (represented by @) to find the magic Amulet of Yendor (represented by "). And, as has invariably been the case in my adventures, I get eaten by a monster of some

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1106919794852600762005-01-28T08:35:00.000-05:002005-01-28T08:43:14.853-05:00

Some of our friends got our son Corey a three-disc set of "Silly Songs" for Christmas. He's become highly enamored with them, and demands that they be played before he goes to bed. This is OK, and is becoming part of a ritual, and anything that smooths out the pre-bedtime is golden. The first time we were playing it for him, though, we got to one song. It goes like this: Do your ears hang low?

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1106842338090481302005-01-27T11:01:00.000-05:002005-01-27T11:12:18.090-05:00

Two of my favorite innovative companies right now are Apple and Google. Both of them seem to be missing a really, really obvious thing in nearly all their applications, however: that more than one person uses the computer. For example, it is "highly inefficient" to share a music library on a Windows PC using iTunes. You can both point to the same physical song locations, which is good, but

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1106765023617746812005-01-26T13:35:00.000-05:002005-01-26T13:43:43.616-05:00

Well, someone out there is obviously listening to the same voices that I hear late at night. It looks like there will be a late-summer issuing of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Similar to The Complete Far Side, it will be a three-volume set. If Andrews McMeel Publishing uses the same super-quality binding and paper that they did for the Far Side collection, this will be a family heirloom for

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1106686629322056972005-01-25T15:46:00.000-05:002005-01-25T15:57:09.323-05:00

Two posts in a day. A new record! Considering this makes three total posts, it may be one that's beaten soon. So, for those of you not familiar with the NATO military phonetic alphabet as used in the title, you can read about it here. And, if you can decipher the mystery code therein, you'll be able to understand my initial impressions of the upcoming game Darwinia, available from

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1106684425472092662005-01-25T15:04:00.000-05:002005-01-25T15:20:25.473-05:00

OK, so I figure I probably should really start using this whole blog thing to maximum advantage. Given my penchant for getting distracted by pretty much any shiny thing that flies in my cone of vision, I've adjusted to the idea that I'm not going to be the most prolific poster. You may be wondering about the title. Well, Bill Harris over at Dubious Quality had a little mail-in contest going a

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886031.post-1097173506822712142004-10-07T14:03:00.000-04:002005-01-25T15:44:10.076-05:00

I love technology. Probably not an unusual statement these days. I've recently gotten a little more realistic about it though. It was an epiphany, of sorts, brought on by the endorphin rush that usually accompanies a purchase that ends up being exactly what you hoped, if not more. The epiphany was this (drum roll): I've only ever bought two devices that worked Now, that's sort of a loaded

Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03402541378404274867noreply@blogger.com