Dledford

I am still alive

2007-11-06T10:08:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's true i'm still alive. I haven't been posting because i was hoping to have the money to purchase my domain and pay for hosting and set up a real site. But it seems i'm going to be stuck with blogger a little longer. Maybe by January i will actually hope to have a real site. Updates in my life? Lets see...I'll give you guys a quick run down.
A friend of mine moved back to Georgia - YIPEEE!
My wife had a birthday.
Got the new Zelda for the Nintendo DS
Went to see The King Khan and BBQ Show play at Lenny's on Halloween.
Plan on seeing Aesop Rock this month
Got my free Zelda stylus in the mail yesterday
Oh Yeah, I WENT TO VEGAS BITCHES!!!! I'll post some pictures on my picasa page tonight so check back for an update when they are up.

Don't judge it by what you see on TV

2007-08-07T21:16:00.000-05:00

If you are judging this movie from the trailer you see on tv. Stop it now. If you think this movie is going to suck...Slap yourself in the face, then Watch the clip below and then make up your mind. And if you still think this movie will suck...slap yourself in the face again and to top it off punch yourself in the crotch.

I'm all up in your interwebs doing some EPIC HACKING

2007-07-31T09:20:00.000-05:00

This has to be the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard. Complete and utter BULLSHIT!

Fighting City Hall

2007-07-03T08:19:00.001-05:00

I am sick and tired of my below average cable provider, Charter Communications. So, I am mailing a letter to the city of Roswell, Georgia. I thought I would post the letter here as well, for all to read.

City of Roswell

Roswell, Georgia 30075

June 22, 2007

Dear Sir or Madam:

This letter is intended for the Franchising Authority of Roswell Georgia. I want to inform you of my dissatisfaction with Charter Communications and wish to file a formal complaint against them. I admit that I do not completely understand how cable providers are chosen for areas but from what I’ve gathered contracts are agreed upon and SLA’s (Service Level Agreements) are established between the city government and cable provider.

I would like to offer personal examples of troubles I have had with Charter Communications that I believe would violate any reasonable SLA’s that have been agreed upon by both parties. At the end of 2006 my family and I moved into a house in Roswell and was able to activate all of our utilities without issue except for cable. Each appointment for the technician to visit our house would result in the technician not arriving. When I would call Charter Customer Service after the technician being several hours late, the representative on the phone would inform me that I did not have an appointment scheduled at all. This same scenario happened several times and from a customer service standpoint is completely unacceptable. All complaints to Charter Communications regarding this issue have been met with empty promises or complete apathy.

The services Charter Communications provides are sub-par compared to any of its competitors. While the speed of the “High-speed Internet” is average the connection is completely unreliable. The hardware I have received for my broadband connection has been faulty and has had to be replaced several times. I requested numerous times a HD cable box but was constantly informed that they did not have any available. After months of persisting it was finally suggested that I purchase a CABLE-card for my TV. This would allow me to access the HD channels without having a HD cable box receiver. Later I come to find out that the customer service and technical support of Charter Communications does not actually know how to troubleshoot these devices. So any of the problems I have experienced with this service have been greeted with the same solution, “we will schedule a technician visit” but I have no guarantee that this will actually happen.

I understand that these contracts can not be voided by the complaints of one individual but I find it hard to believe that by some strange chance I am the only one experiencing problems with Charter Communications. It is more likely that Roswell residents have been voicing their complaints to Charter not knowing that their complaints are falling on deaf ears. To further demonstrate that this is not the opinion of one individual I would like to bring to your attention an article published by PCWorld Magazine recently that rated the largest ISPs in the Nation from best to worst. Charter Communications was at the bottom.

http://www.pcworld.com/zoom?id=133019&page=1

Thank you and I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Dennis Ledford
Roswell Georgia Resident

I feel...

2007-06-29T08:35:00.000-05:00

I feel so alone.
Am I the only person in the world that doesn't give a shit about the iphone?
Now a phone with a 4 week battery life, and a 2 week talk time. That's something I could get excited about.

Five Useful Ubuntu Tips

2007-06-27T12:29:00.000-05:00

These are nothing ground breaking but these are some things i find helpful.

1.) Mounting an ISO file.
* To mount Image (ISO) file

sudo mkdir /media/iso
sudo modprobe loop
sudo mount file.iso /media/iso/ -t iso9660 -o loop

* To unmount Image (ISO) file

sudo umount /media/iso/

This is helpful for games that require a CD to play. I run all my games inside a custom script and this way i can mount the iso start wine and then unmount the iso.

2.) Read/Write NTFS
The /etc/fstab file controls what is mounted and how it is mounted on startup. Editing this can allow you to automount ntfs partitions for read/write. Install ntfs-3g and then edit your fstab file so that it looks like this:

/dev/partition /media/mntpoint ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.utf8 0 0

3.)Nvidia Twinview
If you are running Linux hopefully you are using an Nvidia card. And if your video card has dual outputs it's quite simple to take advantage of it. All it takes is a quick addition to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.
Under the device section add:
Option "TwinView" "True"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "RightOf"
Option "UseEdidFreqs" "True"
Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024,1280x1024; 1024x768,1024x768"
Option "UseDisplayDevice" "$" (where $ is replaced with CRT, DFP, or TV)

4.) Familiarize yourself with the linux file structure.
See picture below:

5.) Copying DVDs
Even if you are using Gnome, I still suggest installing the libraries for KDE so you can use K9Copy. Doing "sudo apt-get install k9copy" automatically installs the application and the libraries for you. There is no easier to use application for copying DVDs.

Look at my shirt...see? I AM a rebel

2007-06-21T11:58:00.001-05:00

If a new way to exploit the teen desire to rebel is thought of, some corporation will pounce on it to make a fast buck. Until recently i don't think there has been a company targeting christian teens who want to rebel. That's where "Live Offensively for God" comes into the picture.
http://www.liveoffensively.com
Yes, even though you might be a junior right-wing conservative we still have a way for you to rebel against society and piss some people off. And the real good news, is not Jesus, it is that we can still make money from you. Actually, i don't think their products are just for conservatives...I mean i like some of these shirts and if i wear one it takes on a completely different meaning.
For Example:

Hell yeah, that's what makes them so damn good.

You can never go home again but you can shop there

2007-06-20T08:25:00.000-05:00

So Saturday night was my 10 year high school reunion. Tri-County High class of '97. I had thought i was done with having to deal with uncomfortable situations, but it seems not. I'm not good with new people and people i haven't seen for 10 years are new. It was awkward for me but it was a good thing i had Laurie with me because she's the one with the charm. She was able to talk and mingle with people while i was having a hard time making small talk. People hadn't really changed all that much. I'm not talking about physically, we had all changed physically, but all in all everyone seemed the same (for good or bad). Am I glad i went? ehhh...Did i have fun. Yeah. So maybe, it was worth it. Oh to the people i saw after the reunion, If i rubbed my naked ass on you I'm very sorry. I think it goes without saying that i had a little too much to drink.
----
"Hi. I'm, uh, I'm a pet psychiatrist. I sell couch insurance. Mm-hmm, and I - and I test-market positive thinking. I lead a weekend men's group, we specialize in ritual killings. Yeah, you look great! God, yeah! Hi, how are you? Hi, how are you? Hi, I'm Martin Blank, you remember me? I'm not married, I don't have any kids, and I'd blow your head off if someone paid me enough."

Honey, I never drive faster than I can see

2007-05-31T10:18:00.000-05:00

Laurie has some friends, Mike and Kelly, that are moving into their new house this weekend. Recently Mike was over at our house sharing with me some of his plans for the basement once they were moved in. Pairing this with the fact that me and Laurie are having a yard sale on Saturday, where i will sell my Foozball table, got me wishing that i had my own space in our house. I don't really want to sell my Foozball table but i don't have anywhere to put it and it's not being used so it's better to sell it than to let it take up space(which is limited where we live). I don't actually have my own area in the house. Well, i do have a wall in the bedroom where my computer desk is, but it's not really a "space" and it actually seems to be in the way. We've talked about moving my computer desk into the living room because we want new bedroom furniture and there wouldn't be any room for it then. I'm not sure how i feel about that. If that happens my little area would be part of the "common area" and in order not to disturb anyone, i would need headphones for anything with sound. For instance, last night i had to be on a conference call on Skype for work and the headphones would have worked but my talking would have caused problems if anyone was in the living room with me. It's not just a home for my computer, that's a big part but also I would like an area where i can express myself. I know it's not appropriate for adults to play with toys or have a movie poster of "Big Trouble in Little China" on their wall but that doesn't mean i don't want it any less. It would be nice to have a place where i could...well...stop pretending to be an adult. If i had a basement i could do this, underground, hidden from the public, in my own personal space i could play video games and dream of being Jack Burton and fighting Lo Pan. But the sad truth is the cost of adding a basement to an existing home is so costly that it verges on impossible but I would welcome any other solutions anyone has for my dilemma.

Death Note

2007-05-22T21:49:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching my 7th episode of Death Note. My opinion so far? Wow! I've really only been impressed by a couple animes, Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, and Samurai Champloo. Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo mostly because of how the music is actually the driving force of story. FLCL had some of the most unique animation i had seen in a long time. Right now it's hard for me to say what is making Death Note stand out so much. I think it might have to do with character development and the conflicts but I'm not sure. I thought Fullmetal Alchemist was great because of the how well the bond between Edward and Alphonse was displayed and the internal conflict of Mustang but in the end, A shitty ending to a semi-decent story ruined the experience for me. I hope that doesn't happen here. Well i only have episodes 1-25 of Death Note and am having a hard time finding the other 10 episodes translated.

I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER

2007-05-16T08:37:00.000-05:00

OMG ROFLCOPTER KATZ FTW
I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER go there now!

Documentation: The Unsung Hero

2007-05-15T13:08:00.000-05:00

Documentation might not seem essential but once you sit down with thousands of lines of code that 25 people and a dog have had their hands (or paw) in, then you will see why without sufficient documentation you will find yourself in a World of Pain. I can share with you numerous examples and horrifying stories, but you will probably not believe me until you experience this Hell yourself. Well, you are reading this…so maybe you have already experienced this nightmare. I offer my condolence if this is the case and remember “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” Anyway let’s move on, here are some things that I find extremely helpful to have and thus think important to do when writing your documentation.

First and foremost, comment as you go! This should be a given, but I’ve seen people in college wait until the program was working and met all the requirements to go back and write the documentation. This is after god knows how many changes, count variables added or debug cout statements. How do you expect to be able to write a coherent explanation of something you rewrote 100+ times while you were jacked up on RedBull?

Use Hungarian Notation – Hungarian Notation is a naming convention where the variable name indicates its data type or intended use. This is more for structured programming languages or hybrid languages like C++ (in a pure OO language, Hungarian Notation has no purpose). For example, if we are retrieving the age of the user and storing it in an integer we could name the variable iAge. If you couldn’t tell by the name “Age” that it would probably be an integer we have an i at the beginning to confirm it. This might not be the best example. Let’s take print, as it is named now we wouldn’t know what it is, but if we change it to fnPrint we know it’s a function or hwndPrint it is a handle to a window, probably the print window :-).

Document each Function and Class– Each function should be documented before the definition of the function. I have a certain format that I use, but it’s a personal choice. Here is an example of my method.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// BOOL fnStartApp (int iVar1, int iVar2)
//
// IN: iVar1 == *description*
// iVar2 == *description*
// OUT: nothing
// RETURNS: success or failure
//
// This function spawns a new thread that runs an application… * detailed description
// of what this function does, how it works, and any whys that might be needed
//
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
I start with the declaration of the function. Then I describe what it takes in and what it sends out, I also describe what values the function can return. This is by no means the only way to do this; the most important thing is you answer the questions how and what. Some people suggest including why. As in why you chose to use vectors instead of arrays but these can be saved for an as needed basis. You don’t have to explain your preference for one data type over another.

These three simple things can make the lives easier for anyone who has to touch your code after you. I know that code is your baby and you don’t want anyone touching it and if they do you want them to be in agony, but think if it was you that had to follow behind someone. Don’t listen to those people “Real Programmers” do document. Remember, this isn’t the only way to document your code, and this isn’t a complete list but in this programmer’s opinion these are the most important.

sweet tasty randomness

2007-05-10T13:01:00.000-05:00

Actually I have absolutely nothing to post just thought I would say "HEY" and share what's tumbling around in my head. Recently, i've started feeling a little down and think it's because i'm not challenging myself. Challenges at work come more from time constraints than actual difficulty. Don't get me wrong i still like my job. I love programming and i get to code at work. The only thing is that i'm coding the same thing over and over again. You can think of what i do as creating device drivers. The device manufacturer changes for each driver i create but the drivers function is the same. So once you get the handle of how they are created the challenge is gone and then it becomes repetitive . I get a good feeling from solving problems but now the problem is solved and it's just how fast i can implement the solution (and that doesn't give me a good feeling). That reminds me of math homework...All math homework actually. They give you problems say 1-100 odd but 1-50 are all the same problem just the numbers are different and 50-100 are a different problem but just with different numbers. Math homework was the most irritating thing to me growing up. Anyway, i've been trying to think of some things for me to do on the side and i've come up with some ideas. Nothing I think is revolutionary but some stuff that i think can be expanded on and be kind of cool. So if i have anyone is into programming and has time to work on a project, contact me. I've also signed up as a member of Atlanta SPIN and i get newsletters for the montly events they have planned but if anyone knows of any Programming, Technology, etc conferences, seminars or conventions in the Atlanta area...let me know.

HD-DVD key and my thoughts on digg.com

2007-05-01T09:10:00.000-05:00

I'm assuming most of my readers have already heard about the HD-DVD key but for those of you that haven't, an HD-DVD processing key has been found that will unlock any HD-DVD to date. This is cool because before the discovery of this key, HD-DVD decrypters were using specific keys for each DVD title. Now there is one universal key that all players, no matter the operating system, can use. Yes it's cool that Linux will now be able to play some HD-DVDS but that's not what i want to focus on in this article. My main concern is censorship, and not what you are thinking. Not the MPAA trying to stop the spread of this key (that is their job), my problem is with digg.com. digg.com is a user submitted news site that allows users to vote on which articles are important and you can imagine how popular this news about the HD-DVD key would be. Multiple articles have been created in reference to this news but each time digg.com kills them. How can we trust the results of digg.com's voting system if they are altered? Digg's new message: "What is Digg? Digg is a user driven social content website - except for when we decide to take the wheel and drive the fucking car!" I understand that there is pressure from the MPAA to remove these articles but digg.com should take a cue from reddit.com. As of right now, reddit.com still has the HD-DVD key news article sitting at the number two spot. I would like to see a response from digg.com for their actions. I may be one small voice in the digg community but i believed that there were certain values that we, for the most part, as a community shared. First and foremost being the free exchange of information and i believe digg.com has went against these ideals. In order to keep my article alive on digg i have removed the actual key.

Mr. and Mrs. Ledford

2007-04-26T08:37:00.000-05:00

A wife? Who would have thought that I would get one of those. Well that's what has happened in the month that i have not been posting blogs. Dennis aka: Captain Anarchy got married and became a step-father. All of this happened and the world did not come to an end, well...as of yet, anyway. The wedding was great and i want to thank everyone that helped make it such a wonderful experience. I'll thank Brad as well, I know he didn't mean to keep screwing up...he was trying his best ;-) As of now, we have received few pictures from the wedding and there are even fewer of those where i don't look like a retard so you will just have to be happy with this one picture. I'll post some more pictures on my Flickr page when Joe gets finished with them, but while we wait for that :) Laurie has some on her myspace page for your viewing pleasure. Again thank you all for your love and support.

genealogy

2007-03-23T12:52:00.000-05:00

I think I must be one of the lucky ones because in only a couple hours surfing the internet I was able to trace my family line back to my first direct descendant to come to America. His name, John Ledford. Not very exciting name huh? Well here's how it breaks down.
John Ledford 1724-1799 Lancaster, England
Obediah Ledford 1761-1841 NC
Isacc Ledford born 1799 NC
Noah Ledford born 1837 NC
Curtis Ledford born ca. 1870 NC
Claude Ledford born 1900 NC
Charles Dennis Ledford Sr born 1940 NC
Charles Dennis Ledford Jr born 1979 SC
Me and John Ledford (the first Ledford to come to America) are the only ones to not be born in North Carolina. That is actually kind of cool. Not as cool as the name Obediah but still cool none the less.

My first purchase with my tax refund

2007-03-21T13:09:00.000-05:00

Recently my hard drive in my home desktop died on me. So i was forced to dust off an old 8gb HD, install an OS on it, and use it so i could still have a semi functional computer at home. But today i made my first purchase with my tax refund and that was to replace that dead hard drive. I bought a 320GB Western Digital HD. That is more than twice the size of all the hard drives i have in my possession (working and dead). Hoo-Ah!!! I'm excited if you can't tell... :-)

your music choice and what it says about you

2007-02-21T13:53:00.001-05:00

Here's the answer, NOTHING.
This all stems from me reading some reviews of CDs on Amazon. As i'm reading the reviews I notice that a lot of people are giving 1 or 2 star reviews for a CD that i think is pretty good and worth at least 3 stars. Reading some of these low reviews i notice a trend, it basically goes this way This CD sucks! They are not punk! How can people seriously judge the musical quality of an artist by the genre they are labeled as? One of these reviewers says "you shouldn't listen to this pop punk sh!#t, Local underground is the real punk". So any mainstream band can not be real punk? And if a local punk band goes mainstream and starts actually making a money they are now pop punk? Can you no longer like them because then you are "not punk"? I listen to punk, do i consider myself punk? No! Your musical taste does not define who you are or how you should act. Grow up and start thinking! That's what i want to say because I want to hope that these reviews were written by teens. That doesn't make me feel any better though. I guess this goes deeper than just music and maybe I should retitle this but oh well, I'm leaving it the way it is. I think this is more about labels. Labeling yourself and labeling others and then judging people by those labels. I guess that's just another way of referring to stereotypes and prejudice. Recently It seems to be everywhere. Loudest of all are the social conservatives. Those people speaking out against abortion, homosexuality, gay marriage and islam. I want to believe this is a small portion of the population but the media coverge and my location(southern US) makes me think that this is in fact an opinion held by large part of the population(the right-wing side to be exact). This could be due to the upcoming elections. Anyway, to the point, our government being bi-partisanis forcing us to pick a side. Label ourselves democrat or republican, conservative or liberal. And i can't do it. I can not choose between these two extremes. There seems to be no viable solution for a person that refuses to choose between the two parties. This has been just a ramble of jumbled thoughts and probably doesn't have a clear point so let me see if a can wrap this up in a nice little package. I don't see how we can have any progress while we refuse to think for ourselves and we allow others to determine who we are and what we should think. On a side note, i need to ask my parents about this since it would be their era, but I wonder if people used the bible to support their hatred of blacks in the civil rights era like people use the bible to support their hatred of gays now.

6 Weeks and counting

2007-02-16T13:46:00.000-05:00

Yes, That's right! I haven't had a cigarette in over 6 weeks. I hope i'm not speaking too soon but i think i'm actually officially an ex-smoker. I am no longer a prisoner to the nicotine. WOOHOO!

FUCK!! This pisses me off

2007-02-15T12:30:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you can tell without even knowing the person that they are a fucking god-awful parent. That just so happens to be what happened when i heard this. Her name is Kelly McBride, yeah i've never heard of her either. You need to listen to what this fucking nut-job let spew from her mouth monday on NPR. She starts her "commentary" by saying "I've always dreamed of having kids, who are fit and active...", WAIT, WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE SAY!?! I hope to god her kids aren't listening to this. Their mother just said on national radio that they are not what she wanted. Oh, she might be able to put some spin on it when trying to cover her ass and say "I love you just the way you are" but what she really fucking means, is "I STILL love you even though you are not what i want". Like the kids should feel privileged that their mother still loves them because they are so fat that any "normal" mother would have stopped loving them. Is this woman fucking serious? But is this "commentary" about how out of shape her kids are? NO! It's about the Nintendo Wii. What could this women's problem with the Wii (Wii sports to be exact) be? I mean, the nintendo Wii has her children up and burning some calories, what more could she possibly fucking want? You give up? She's not happy because they are not playing the actual real sports. What the fuck is this woman's problem? Seriously? WTF!?!? Then on the fucking radio, for all to hear, she proceeds to mock their chosen form of exercise and belittle them for not knowing how to actually play the sports they are playing on the Wii? I'm a soon to be stepfather, and before this i was worried that i was not going to be a great parental figure, but this woman has shown me that compared to her, i'm going to be the fucking "World Champion" of parents. The most important job of the parent is to make sure their child is happy. That is all that matters; the child's happiness. It doesn't matter if the child is happy playing baseball or playing virtual baseball, or if they are skinny or fucking "Jabba the hut" fat, as long as they are happy you, as a parent, are happy.

Adult Swim - Sunday

2007-02-08T15:26:00.000-05:00

This Sunday is the debut of "Saul of the Mole Men". This looks to be one badass show and if you don't think so, STOP READING THIS BLOG because you are the type of person i would kick in the shin if I saw you. In my opinion (the only opinion that matters) Cartoon Network's Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is the second greatest thing on TV (behind Heroes, of course) and I just found out today that Craig Lewis (creator of Foster's) is the genius behind Saul of the Mole Men. My excitement about this show just went from an 8 to a full out 11. That's right, my excitement scale goes up to 11. Saul of the Mole Men FTW!!

GOULET!!

2007-02-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

Be glad I don't handle your package

2007-02-06T09:10:00.000-05:00

To show you how my brain works, I was in the post office yesterday to mail a package for Laurie. I step up to the counter, and hand the post lady my package. She asks if I want to pay for insurance or tracking. I say no and she gives me this look and then says "Ok, priority mail only then". Now i have this fear that as soon as i walk out of the building she's going to pull out the huge secret rubber stamp that says "break or lose this fucking thing". It's not that i expect that to happen, It's that if i was in her place that's what i would do. And if there was no large secret rubber stamp that says "Break this shit" then by god i would make one.

Linux on my Desktop

2007-02-05T10:01:00.000-05:00

- look at flickr page for screenshot

I felt the need to respond to dmiessler.com about his comments on "World of Warcraft". And once again i feel the need to respond about his post on Linux. As you can see from the screenshot, i'm running Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft) and playing WoW :-) His main point in the article against Linux was that Linux was unstable and required too much effort to *make it work*. His first statement is completely false, Linux is an extremely stable OS. Why else would it be used for servers? He blames the OS for the stability of 3rd party applications that are installed on it. It's not the OS's fault for what some idiot downloaded and installed. Now, since most linux applications are free, this means they don't make money and in turn can't have an extensive QA department. If you are going to use Linux you have to accept the fact that you are the Testing Department. But for most apps there are older versions that have been tested extensively and are known to be stable. They might be missing some features but Hey you can't have it both ways and for free.
Now to discuss the claim that it's too difficult and time consuming to get a Linux install to the point it would have all the bells and whistles an average user might expect. Since these criteria are relative it makes my defense of Linux a little more difficult. Let's look at what i think are normal steps with a new install of Windows.
1.) Install OS
2.) Run Updates
3.) Replace any out-dated drivers
4.) Install web browser plugins
5.) Install 3rd party software

and lets compare those to my normal steps for an Ubuntu installation
1.) Install OS
2.) Download and Run Automatix - updates drivers, installs windows codecs, browser plugins, and certain 3rd party apps
3.) Install any remaining 3rd party software i might want

Maybe i'm crazy but these don't really seem that different. Yes, this is a simplified version of the situation. Problems could arise during the install of the OS, but this could happen with all operating systems. If you are installing an OS, i would hope you have some knowledge of computers and could handle these problems or at least know where to find help. Since most users don't install their OS but just use the OS that came with their computer it really wouldn't matter. I'm rambling now, I guess my whole point is that a Linux desktop is just as viable an option as a Mac Desktop in a world oriented around windows.
*Note - Big Respect to the guys on the Automatix team

Our love goes out to our friends and their families

2007-01-29T12:16:00.000-05:00

Sometimes so many horrible things can happen at one time that it seems impossible. Last week was one of those times. Two of my friends lost loved ones last week. My friend Nigel lost his grandmother last week and my friend Smithers lost both of his grandparents last week. Our hearts go out to them and their loved ones.

Birthdays

2007-01-29T11:39:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Richard!

Happy Birthday Jarrod!

It was that time of the year again. The joint birthday celebration for Richard and Jarrod. The first night was a small get together at Lydia's parents house in Grayson. It took me and Laurie an hour and a half of pure driving hell so that we could enjoy the party. It REALLY sucks making drives across the metro-Atlanta area but it was worth it. Got to see friends, drink some beers, and set a bag of "Soft Batch" cookies on fire with my ass. The second night was at Dave and Busters. Video games, alcohol, and food. Is there a better combination? Then it was back to Lydia's parents house again. Me and Laurie had a blast. Again, Happy Birthday guys. *side note: notice in the picture i moved to eating potato chips after i set the cookies on fire. Nobody wants to eat cookies that taste like melted plastic.

Upcoming

2007-01-25T15:17:00.000-05:00

Here's some upcoming movies that i'm interested in:
300 - March 9, 2007

TMNT - March 27, 2007

Hott Fuzz - April 13, 2007

The Simpsons Movie - July 27, 2007

Spiderman 3 - May 2007

Transformers - July 4, 2007

Update - Wedding and other stuff

2007-01-23T12:55:00.000-05:00

So progress on the wedding is moving along. I've been shocked at how much all this wedding stuff costs, but with some help we have things under control. We still have a lot to do but somethings are completely taken care of. Which is a good feeling. A couple weeks ago Laurie and I took my parents to see where we were going to have the wedding and reception plus we needed get some of the arrangements in order. They seemed to really like the location which is good since we've already given the place a shit-ton of money.
Brad came by this weekend and we started on our project. We already had an idea but after a few beers we came up with an even better idea. So we changed. We tried to stick to the Software Development lifecycle but for programmers with no supervision it's hard not to just dive into the code. As of right now, we are doing the Design and Implementation phases at the same time :) That's just how we Roll!
Here are two pictures from the trip to the wedding location

Me and my Dad

Me and Laurie - Damn I look like a Giant

Wxpython

2007-01-19T13:12:00.000-05:00

Before i start talking all computer geek, i wanted to share that i'm coming up on my 3 week mark without having a cigarette (give myself a highfive). It's actually been a lot easier this time. My only concern is the nagging thought of smoking a cigarette. I can resist this temptation but the fact that it's there is what is bothering me. I hope that it goes away at some point, it's unsettling to think that i have to go the rest of my life with that nagging at me. Damn, i'm going to get tired.
On with the geekdom! So, i've installed linux once again and got everything working (Flash was a bitch by the way). Anyway I think this time it will be for good. First, i found a flavor i love. Ubuntu the best linux (for a desktop). Second, I have a goal. I want to give something back to the open source community. So, starting this weekend, Brad and I will be starting our first project that will be distributed freely and developed using python and wxpython. I would tell you what the project is but it's a secret :-)

Rose Tint My World

2007-01-16T09:04:00.000-05:00

Damn! it's been a month since i posted. Okay, let's wrap up what's been going on

0. Christmas - YAY!!!! Got shitloads of cool stuff
1. New Years - Smithers and Joanna (our true friends, came to our house for a get-together)
2. Quitting Smoking (Again, i know...but this time for realz)
3. Switched back to Linux (Again, i know...but this time for realz)
3b. Ubuntu ROCKS!
4. Wedding stuff - Official Date March 31, 2007
5. Tuxedo stuff - Got measured and attempting to get all my groomsmen measured by the end of Jan.
6. Started remodeling master bathroom aka: Fighting with the wallpaper
7. One word iPhone
8. Saw The Giving Ends aka: Threshold at the Masquerade.
9. Today... thought i got spam but it ended up being an invitation to my 10 year high school reunion

God i wish it was spam!

Time to Get Your Picture Pages

2006-12-14T09:51:00.000-05:00

I came across some old pictures last night and I thought i would do a simple photo post. Hope you enjoy.

Life Changes

2006-12-12T14:17:00.000-05:00

This weekend was chaotic to say the least. 1. Nigel and Lezlie got married Congrats Guys! 2. Chip graduated from Georgia Southwestern. Hooray Chip! and 3. I got some quality time with the Wii Weeeeeee! If you haven't noticed already there are two new pictures added to my flickr. These have also been added below this post. Nigel and Lezlie had a beautiful wedding on Saturday night ( COLD but very beautiful ). The ceremony and reception were in Andersonville. It started off kind of rough we were all running late and it was getting hectic but i guess most weddings do right before they start. Anyway, everything worked itself out and things turned out nicely. The whole experience (even the cold) was wonderful. I'm so glad I was asked to be a part of it. I'm very happy for Nigel and Lezlie and i hope they have a wonderful life together. Most of you have already heard but for those that haven't i too will be taking that step into marriage next year. And Brad i'm expecting a FUCKING kickass bachelor party, complete with alcohol, ice cream, party hats, strippers, and ether. Don't forget the ether!

Scene from the Circuit City Camp-out

2006-11-25T12:34:00.000-05:00

Black Friday - Recap

2006-11-25T12:02:00.000-05:00

Black Friday has come and gone, and I have to say it was an adventure. Let me share what i went through. So, on thanksgiving night CompUSA was going to be open from 9:00pm - 12:00am for some pre-Black Friday sales. I wanted the 160GB harddrive they were selling for $19.99 but alas getting there at 9:00pm just wasn't good enough and everything was gone by the time i got into the store. After this i was thinking how difficult it might be to get the laptop that Jordan wanted on Black Friday, so i asked Laurie to drive by Best Buy. It's around 9:30pm and when we get to the parking lot of Best Buy we can see a line of already 100+ people. Our second option for a laptop for Jordan was Circuit City so we drive by there and there is a line but of only about 5-10 people. We head home and talk about it and I decide i'm going to camp out at Circuit City all night to try and get one of the $299.00 laptops. I arrive at Circuit City at around 10:00pm and now there is a line of about 15-20 people in front of me...i lay my sleeping bag out on the sidewalk and get comfortable for 7hrs of waiting. I brought my DS with me and at first it was easy to stay entertained with it but then around 1:30-2:00am it dropped in temparture and i couldn't keep my hands out of the sleeping bag for an extended amount of time. The average temp was around 37 and the highest it got was right before being let in the store at 5:00am and that was only 40. The most exciting part of the whole thing came about 10 mins till 5:00am this little Asian girl (probably in her early 20's) didn't get a voucher for the laptop but was going to still try to get one of the other laptops that were on sale she was yelling at people that hanging around the front door and not actually in line. She was seriously going to beat the shit out of anyone trying to get in front of her. Then, Boom!, it's 5:00am they open the doors and everyone starts running as fast as they can through the main isle of the store to the back. Circuit City had set up these bins in the middle of the isle with memory sticks and little things for sale in them and people where just grabbing hand fulls of this shit in mid-stride. Grab first then look to see if you actually want it seemed to be most peoples plan. Well, the little Asian girl had caught up to me since i wasn't running and was trying to reach in the bin to get a memory stick but it was basically empty except for a couple on the bottom and as shes leaning over the bin trying to reach one on the bottom she is getting shoved into the bin squishing her...well until one big shove came that knocked her completely into the bin and she's screaming that she is going to die. Anyway i continued to walk by her and to the back where i could pick up my laptop with out worrying that they were going to run out because i waited in line for 7hrs to get a voucher.

Home Sweet Home

2006-11-14T12:18:00.000-05:00

I'm all growns up! This weekend we moved into our brand new house (well, new to us at least). Before I go any further, I would like to thank everyone that helped. We could not have done it without you. Actually we probably could have, it just would have taken a whole hell of a lot longer. Everything was going so well, by Sunday night we had gotten everything to the new place and could now start the process of putting everything in its place. Last night we began in the kitchen...rinsing dishes and putting them in the cabinets. When all was done, i took the empty boxes to the garage and HOLY FUCK! a 1/4 of our garage was filled with an inch deep of water. We called our Keller Williams realtor and he said he would check to see if it's covered under our home warranty and call us back. Well, we did get the call back back and got the answer of "it might be covered but call these people anyway". So we have a plumber coming today to find out why we have a freakin' lake in our garage. I keep feeling like I'm Tom Hanks and Laurie is Shelly Long. "The Money Pit" is classified as a comedy and was not scary to me before, but now that i'm a homeowner it seriously scares the shit out of me.

Put me in Coach, I'm ready to play

2006-11-10T12:37:00.000-05:00

We would leave our houses on Black Friday around 9:00am. I know this is late to most people, since the average shopper on the Friday after Thanksgiving gets going around 4:00am, but we were more interested in the experience than the actual sales. We would arrive at the perfect time to see shoppers with their fuses almost gone and the rare occasion of shoppers fighting for the last remaining items. We were observers of the chaos, not participants. Oh, but things are changing this year. Instead of remaining in the stands and being the "Tuesday-morning Quarterback", I'm finally going to be in the game. Strike that! I'm going to show 'em how to play the game. It will be my time to be part of the chaos and Oh yeah baby! I bring shit tons of chaos with me.

Video Games: The Fall of Society

2006-10-19T08:47:00.000-05:00

Everyone who plays video games has heard of Jack Thompson, but for those of you who have no clue who this guy is, he's the attorney throwing law suits at game companies. His claim: video games are responsible for criminal behavior. Everyone and their grandma has taken a shot at this guy so I'm going to refrain. Although this guy pisses me off to no extent something pisses me off even more. Gamers who are actually buying into this bullshit. Not that video games cause criminal behavior but that video games are the root of health problems, relationship problems, anything a person doesn't like about their life. On Tuesday, a friend of mine posted "Why You Shouldnt Play Warcraft" and today i read A View From the Top". First, let me speak on the "addiction factor". There are two forms of addiction, physical (Nicotine, Heroine, etc...) and mental. Anything, let me repeat that, ANYTHING can be mentally addictive. Do we blame gambling for the gambling addict or blame sex for the sex addict? No, then why should we blame video games? If you are prone to addiction, then you need help and quitting MMORPGS or just quitting all video games is probably not good enough because something else will just fill that empty gap. Now, I want to jump to the "False sense of accomplishment" statements. What the hell is wrong with that? If a person watches a movie, reads a book, do they get any sense of accomplishment? The fact is that i get to enjoy a story comparable to that of a book or movie yet get the feeling that i actually helped even if it is fake. The argument that playing video games is worthless because they don't have any real world benefit is absurd since neither do most hobbies. My friend's claim that hobbies need to have real world benefits or improve oneself in some way is short-sighted. Hobbies can be for improving yourself or for relaxation. My last thought, if you spend so much time playing video games that you are ignoring other aspects of your life( friends, wife, kids, etc...), can we honestly blame the games? Or would you engross yourself into something else allowing you to avoid spending time with your kids, wife or whatever? This is NOT the fault of the game but a fault with YOU or your life. Take responsibility for your actions and make a fucking change.

XNA Framework, Goose Poo, and a Belated Birthday

2006-09-21T11:21:00.000-05:00

The items in the above title are completely unrelated. You can think of them as more of a guide or outline of things that I wanted to cover, and maybe, just maybe, if the God's smile upon me and grant me the strength I need, I might find a way to connect the three. First, I want to say a Belated Happy Birthday to my Mom. See what I did there? You thought I was going to start at the beginning but "Oh, Watch out!" I started with the last one. The XNA beta development framework was released a couple weeks. I've played around with it quite a bit. I haven't been that enthused about C#. I was at the beginning then it just died in me. Now I'm back to feeling pretty good about C#. I've played with some XNA tutorials PONG and am now rewriting a tile-engine the way I want it. OOH, I don't want to forget...ARRAYLISTS...What has two thumbs and likes arraylists? Me! I need to do read some more on them but right now, they seem like they took everything that was good from arrays and link lists, combined them and then threw away all the bad shit. Speaking of shit! See there's the connection...Wait I didn't connect my mom to programming...hmmmm....she helped pay for my masters...loose, but still a connection. Anyway, back to shit. My office building is being overrun by geese and they don't shit in the grass, (we think this is due to the fact that's where they hang out) they shit on the sidewalk. When you leave your car and are walking to the front door you have to concentrate on where you step so not to get poo on your shoe. These geese are pissing me off. We are going to have words when I get off work.

Metal Gear Solid 3

2006-09-07T08:25:00.000-05:00

I finished Metal Gear Solid 3 last night. I don't want this to be some type of review because that's not what I do. I just want to share some of my opinions on the game for those people out there that still might not have played this game. The story was good but I'm probably the only person on the planet that liked the MGS2 story more than this one. I know it had that pussy Raiden but still, the story seemed much deeper. My next gripe is the eating and the cure features. I despised these features! They interrupted the continuity of the game. For example....I'm walking along all happy that I've just slit 6 peoples throats and nobody has noticed but oops I stepped on a scorpion...oh no problem, I just lose a little bit a health, right? WRONG! I have to pause the game go in and treat the fucking poison. Middle of a boss fight I just got shot ok health down no biggie, I'll be more careful from now on...shit! I have to pause the fucking game in the middle of a boss fight and remove the fucking bullet. Anyway I digress. The only feature I liked was the camouflage. I didn't mind pausing the game to switch this...since this only had to usually happen once per area. Enough of that, Speaking of games. I finished the New Super Mario Bros too. This was only after two days of casual play. Last night is a first for me, I don't think I've ever finished two games in the same evening. +5 gamer points +10 nerd points and -25 cool points for this post.

The best "mission statement" of all time

2006-08-10T13:56:00.000-05:00

Putting clients first by putting employees first, immediately after prioritizing fiscal responsibility and leveraging profitability toward exceeding by empowering our employees to put clients (and themselves) first, in a diverse and respectful environment of only those that come first, first.

Trip down memory lane

2006-07-28T15:09:00.000-05:00

Some of you may remember my ordeal in February with "The real Captain Anarchy" on my rarely used myspace page. If you haven't heard about it, it's a MUST read and can be found here and here.
Well, today I refused to do any work with it being Friday and all...so I was looking for something to entertain me while the hours ticked away. I thought about this incident and thought....oooh I will check and see what "The real Captain Anarchy" is up to. What do I find when I get to his page? This...

If you never went to his page after this altercation, you'll notice he added "The Real Captain Anarchy. Make no mistake". But, the biggest change is the addition of the TM. From my earlier myspace post (which I hope you've read by now) You will notice I had to explain to him the differences between trademarks and copyrights. Anyway, he's got his trademark...Good for him...I will still continue to use it for non-commercial use though. Wait!!! what's this? Awww Shit, a quick check of the United States patents and trademarks office website shows still no trademark for that name. Will this guy never learn...guess he's going to have to learn the hard way.
-Update: I just called the US patents and trademark office and it's a little more than I thought so if anyone would like to help me out. Feel free to contact me.

David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff

2006-07-26T13:32:00.000-05:00

This is why this guy is my hero.

Could he actually be any cooler? Show me one person cooler than him and i'll kiss my own ass.

For those beginning programmers out there

2006-07-20T15:56:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows to not use global variables but for very few instances but some things are not as well known. I thought I would start to post some things that I have learned over the years that might help any beginning programmers out there that read this crap I post. The first thing i'm going to cover is "itoa", specifically "itoa in C++". If you are using a complier that supports it, don't use it. Let me repeat that "DON'T USE IT!!!" It may look tempting but don't fall prey to the evils that is "itoa". Now for how it should be done. Ok, you want to convert an integer to a string. So...

int x = 42; //would a programmer choose any other number for an example?
char data[99]; //this is the array of characters for your number
stringstream ss; //we need this to temp hold the integer for conversion
ss << x; //we store it
strcpy(data, ss.str().c_str()); //and we convert

People might disagree with me on how to do this, or for some reason some people might say to use itoa but don't listen to them they are idiots :). It's not much more work and it is safer. Actually if you are using CStrings then just use the CString.Format function to convert it is safe and just as easy as itoa. This can be accomplished in C with sprintf but if you are a beginner programmer and starting with C STOP THAT!! and move to C++.

A loss to a dear friend

2006-07-19T15:01:00.000-05:00

My dear friend, chip ( you all know chip, he's the one doing stupid stuff in the pictures ) lost his father this past week. I wasn't able to make it to the visitation or the funeral, since I was in Indiana for business. I am truly sorry about that Chip... I wish I could have been there. I never met Chip's dad but I heard a lot about him. He seemed to be a lot like Chip...whether that's a good or bad thing...just kidding. I basically just wanted to post this so Chip would see that he is in the thoughts of his friends and that if he needs anything not to hesitate to call on me. Dude, I love you man...but not in that strange way that two men might love each other in a Turkish bath house. Take Care and I wish you well.

My business trip and a decision I made

2006-07-19T14:54:00.000-05:00

I got back from Indiana on Thursday night. It was a very good trip, I think the customer is happy since we were able to fix some bugs in the software for them. (Bugs my code caused, but let's just keep that between me and you) There is nothing in Indiana, no offense to the my readers if any of them are from that state. I had been there before on business so this time I didn't bring my camera with me. It's an empty state and I didn't think I needed to take pictures of anything. That brings me to the decision I made. I'm going to get back in the habit of taking pictures all the time. I was once "the annoying guy with the camera" but not so much anymore. Well that's going to start again. I miss not having a visual recording of my life. So watch my Flickr page because there will be massive updates. I hope so anyway.

Yall are lucky to have me

2006-07-06T11:41:00.000-05:00

So I'm back from vacation. I had a blast and will tell you all about that later. First I have to share with you what happened to me on Monday. I went to work on Monday to fix a problem and pick up my advance for my trip to Kokomo, IN next week. I left work around 2 and went home to meet Laurie and Jordan because we were going to go to the Outlet Mall north of Cumming. Anyway, before we left we stopped by the wachovia down from my house. I went in the bank and Laurie and Jordan stayed in the car. I got in line to make my deposit and after 15 minutes, I'm still in line. The same people are at the teller windows. In fact there is a blonde woman at a teller window with no teller. I think to myself WTF is she thinking. 5 mins more pass and still, I haven't moved. I'm getting extremely pissed off because I have one deposit, that's it, and nobody is moving at all. I start trying to occupy myself and I start looking around and out the window I see a Fulton county Marshall pull up and talk to someone in the parking lot. I had never heard of County marshalls just state marshalls like Walker Texas Ranger. Then I start thinking of Chuck Norris Facts to entertain myself(my mind wonders a lot). Now it's been about 25mins and the woman at the counter with no teller, turns around and starts walking towards the door. I'm thinking dumb bitch it said "next teller please" you weren't going to get helped. As she walks away I see that she left a black bag on the counter and is carrying her other bag (a grey one). Now I start fantasizing that what if that was a bomb and she just robbed the bank(again my mind wonders). No one is telling the woman that she left her bag though. I assumed that rude Atlantians just do these types of things and when in Rome...So I just turn around and stare angrily at the tellers again. As soon as I start giving my "EAT SHIT AND DIE" look to the teller in front of me, I hear a bang on the doors behind me and men screaming. I turn around and there are 4 police officers with guns drawn running through the door. They tackle the blonde lady and she is screaming that she doesn't have the money and that she's sick, she can't help herself. Then outside the same window I was looking earlier there were tons of cops. I had just walked into the middle of a freakin' bank robbery. After the hour I was detained inside the bank giving my statement to detectives and bank officials Me, Laurie and Jordan finally got to make our trip to the outlet mall.

By the way, my favorite Chuck Norris Fact is:
When Chuck Norris was born, he immediately had sex with the first nurse he saw. He was her first. She was his third. That afternoon.

OMG I want to be able to do this

2006-06-16T13:15:00.000-05:00

I've been bored at work all day. Finished everything I had to do for this week this morning and have just been trying to keep myself entertained for the rest of the day. As I was browsing the photo section on my friend, woosung's blog I found this.

Does anyone know how to do this? If anyone can tell me how, I'm so going to do this everytime I get out of the shower. FUCK YEAH!!! I can see it now Drag queen princess Leia singing "I will survive".

Just some random stuff

2006-06-14T21:32:00.000-05:00

I was going through the pictures i have on my computer and i thought i would post a couple new ones here. Maybe not new but new here :)

First we have Smithers, everyone knows him but you need to check out his blog here to see the crazy shit that happened to him. Smithers, We are most glad that you are still alive! And just wait till Chip gets back into town he'll deal with those FUCKERS!

Here we have Heather and Jimmy. This is their first time on the site. So everyone say "Hello" to Heather and Jimmy (My NEW friends). So All of you guys in Americus see i've replaced you too. :-)

Advent Children Review

2006-06-06T07:51:00.000-05:00

I picked up the US release of Advent Children a couple weeks ago and thought I would post my impressions of it here. First, I didn't think there would be that much of a difference between the Japanese and US version but OH how wrong I was. Not to say the US version is bad but it did have more dancing and less fighting than the Japanese. On a positive note though, I did prefer the US music to that of the original version, and we did get blessed with cameos of other Final Fantasy characters not just FFVII characters. SUCK THAT JAPAN!!! By the way, does anyone remember a cow-man character in the FF universe? hmmm.... check the video above for a preview of the US Advent Children.

Nethack Theme song

2006-06-01T13:54:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to direct everyone's attention to this Theme song for Nethack that was created by RobBalder.com Go download it, if you've ever had the "joy" of playing nethack i'm sure you will love it.
Link to it here

The man who Fronts the most!

2006-05-26T10:15:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, Laurie, Brad and myself went to the Drunken Unicorn to see MC Frontalot. Nerdcore extraordinaire. To put it mildly it was EXTREMELY FUCKIN' COOL! A big "Screw you guys" that didn't make the show ( and Dan we were holding you a spot all night and you never showed up) The venue is in a shady part of town but once inside we surrounded by our geek brethren. His set included, front the most, nerdcore hiphop, crime spree, braggadocio, and others. I was disappointed that there was no performance of the penny arcade theme or romantic cheapskate. Everyone has been to a concert where the band gives the audience two choices for the song and according to the crowd response that's the song that is performed next. Well I doubt anyone has been to a show where instead of a crowd response, a saving throw was used to determine the next song. That was my first sign that I was at a nerdcore show. The next sign involved the guy next to me. I was taking a lot of pictures ( which you can see on my flickr page) and the guy next to me asked what's my website. Not just the fact that he asked but that he automatically assumed I had one. I told him he could find them on my flickr page...dledford. He was like "ok, cool". He knew exactly what I meant-no questions asked-back to watching the show. That was badass. After the show me and brad talked with the band since MC frontalot was manning the merch booth. They were actually very cool and took us around the line at the merch booth to get a picture with everyone. I got the new CD (signed) and IMHO it's rocks like David Hasselehoff with MacGyver's brain.
Check out my flickr page here

Hey, Look! Look what I did.

2006-04-28T17:18:00.000-05:00

Voila, my iPod dock. I was told that this was the geekiest thing i've done to date, but hey i'm not the first person to do it. Notice though, mine has a pirate flag. That makes mine SOOOOO much cooler! Just wanted to get some feedback on it, unless you think it's lame then keep your stinkin' opionion to yourself :-) Right now i'm in the process of building an ipod dock/alarm clock completely out of legos...maybe that will be the "NEW" geekiest thing i've ever done.

WTF is Nintendo thinking?

2006-04-28T11:06:00.000-05:00

ARTHUR:
Wii!
BEDEVERE:
Wu!
ARTHUR:
No, no, no, no, ii--
BEDEVERE:
Wu!
ARTHUR:
No, it's not that. It's 'Wii'.
BEDEVERE:
Wu!
ARTHUR:
No, no. 'Wii'. You're not doing it properly. No.
BEDEVERE:
Wii!
ARTHUR and BEDEVERE:
Wii!
ARTHUR:
That's it. That's it. You've got it.

I'm not one for analazing the business practices of gaming corporations, but i couldn't sit back and not throw my two cents in on this. The Revolution, um...i'm sorry the Wii (sounds like "we"), is suppose to revolutionize the way we thought about playing video games. It deserved a name that was powerful and emphazied the change that was upon us. Something like "coup de Microsoft et Sony"! It's French and is still better than "Wii". What kind of name is that anyway? What was wrong with the "Revolution" <- it's a good solid name. I think Miyamoto is seeing just how far he can fuck with us. Penny Arcade comic on the announcement.

Rockin' out in Athens

2006-04-27T18:42:00.000-05:00

I'm so behind! I can't believe i'm just now getting around to posting about my trip to Athens last weekend. Better late than never is what "they" say,right? So anyway, Me and Richard headed up to Athens last Friday to see Brad and to see Contraband/Rump Posse. I mentioned that they were playing in Atlanta in a previous post, but we decided to wait until the weekend and go see them in Athens. The website said the show started at 8:00pm which i thought was a little early but Hey! who am i to judge. We ended up at the venue at 9:15pm; The entire time i was thinking we were late and being kind of a jackass. I apologize for that but who wouldn't be excited to see some people play a videogame on a projector screen and a band do the music for it? Low and behold when we got there we were informed they weren't starting until 10:00pm. Now we are downtown with 45mins to spare on a Friday night. What did we do? We went to the nearest bar and proceeded to drink 3 pitchers of beer in 45mins. We fuckin' RULE! Now i was ready to rock out to some Contra music. But i still had to wait through Ho-ag and Rump Posse. So after some more beers and a round of Jager-Bombs, Ho-ag is finally finished with their set. While Rump Posse is setting up i have another beer and me and Richard take a shot of cheap whiskey (ewwwwwww). Rump Posse comes on, Me and Brad head up front leaving Richard doing whatever it was he was doing. Rump Posse rocked! 80's jazzercise music! How can you go wrong with that? After their set and a couple more beers we get some sparks in a black can. The bartender told me those had more alcohol. Like we needed more alcohol. Contraband came on and we were front row. We actually had to promise to knock over the projector to keep our spot. It was fucking amazing! After they beat Contra they started into a mini-set of Zelda. OOh, did i mention i was wearing my Link t-shirt and Nintendo belt buckle. Yes i'm a geek, and proud of it too bitch!

Brad looks too happy to be hugging a half-naked, sweaty man.

You can't blame Linux but you can blame ATI

2006-04-24T14:41:00.000-05:00

Well, again I took a long break from posting. I had planned to not post again until my switch to linux was complete, but after I installed Ubuntu and got everything set up, I hit a snag. My fucking video card died. Piece of shit ATI, i'm done with them. nothing but Nvidia for me from now on. As you can see by my post and the picture below, I got my system set up and i'm rockin' some Warcraft III in linux. The decision to switch to linux wasn't out of spite with Micro$oft; it was just something that i thought i would try again. This time though, instead of choosing Redhat just because it was the biggest linux distro, I put some thought into choosing my flavor. I decided i would go with debian over gentoo. Then i chose ubuntu over debian (ease of use). Now i talked with my friend, Tim, about "debian vs. ubuntu". Basically it went like this:
Me: Have you ever used Ubuntu?
Tim: Nope
Me: Why not? Why have you avoided Ubuntu?
Tim: There is no root account. You have to use "sudo" for everything.
That wasn't very convincing to me, so i stuck with my choice of Ubuntu. After my install i was playing around and found root is just disabled by default and you can enable the root account. There were some issues with enabling it, the root password was being passed in "plaintext" but this is not the case after an update. So, BAM, no problem. Ubuntu uses deb packages just like debian and has the same apt-get too. Hells yeah! Oh, and i've only had experience with Redhat forums mind you, but the people on the ubuntu forums seem to be so much more helpful and laid back then the people i've previously dealt with. I haven't found anything yet that has been overly difficult to accomplish. I tried to show quite a few things in one screenshot but somethings that are not shown...my ipod works great with gtkpod, my camera is automatically detected and mounted, i've set my google calendar up with sunbird, and i have font, plugin, wmv issues in firefox resolved. I'm in love with Ubuntu and now that wine is on top of things, and Nvidia is releasing linux drivers regularly I don't see a reason to go back to windows to even play games.

Shows that are a MUST!

2006-04-05T15:41:00.000-05:00

MC Frontalot! The world's 579th-greatest rapper! If you don't know who i'm refering to check the archives i've mentioned him a couple times on my site. I've never had the chance to see him live. That's all about to change soon. On May 19th, he will be performing at the Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta. Tickets are only $10.00, so there is no excuse why you shouldn't be there. Unless you are not a fan of nerdcore, and we know that's only hippies and commies. I thought that was going to be my first trip to the Drunken Unicorn but OH NO...that's not the case. Next Wednesday, April 12, Contraband/Megaband/Cinemechanica will be performing with Rump Posse(I have no clue). They will be performing as Megaband playing the entire soundtrack to Megaman 2 while someone beats the game on a projector screen. I hope some of you can make that show on such short notice. I'm pretty sure it's going to rock!

skype?

2006-03-22T12:22:00.000-05:00

Just wondering if anyone is still using skype? I'm thinking about jumping back on that. Let me know if you are out there using skype or if you're like me and think it might be time to give it another spin.

update: I've used GTalk and i actually love it. Skype i knew had a linux version that's why i was asking...but with a little research i found that Gizmo is planning to be compatible with GTalk with voice, Psi probably is...and that Gaim (my personal favorite) will be adding voice chat specifically for compatibility with GTalk. This will not make Gaim's 2.0 release but my guess it will be in 3.0 if not earlier. This is all do to Google releasing the jingle API to the public. ROCK ON GOOGLE!!!!

A new direction for hairstyles

2006-03-10T16:37:00.000-05:00

Just a random thought:
The new "emo" hairstyles are nothing more than the hairstyles of the "new-wavers" of the 80's. If they are going to bring a hairstyle back why couldn't it be the rat tail!?!? Now that was a quality haircut. I'm growing one right now as i type this.

I have the urge to "tinker"

2006-03-09T12:16:00.000-05:00

After seeing the recent onslaught of projects in my rss feeds of people putting dvd players in old NES cases, cramming tv remotes into NES controllers, using Nintendo DS's to control their pc through vnc, and other assorted totally hawesome shit. I've caught the fever. I want to tackle a project of my own. The only problem is that before my move to the ATL i trashed most of my junk parts that were lying around. It felt good to start clean but now i regret that decision. Well...nothing i can do about it now. On the up-side, throwing all that stuff away gives me a good excuse to go to the local flea market ( where ever that is ) and browse for some junk that can satisfy my "tinkering fix". Before the flea market or maybe after, i don't know...anyway, a purchase i will have to make is a soldering iron. I'm thinking about picking up one of those Cold Heat Soldering Tools. I had my doubts about them, as i do about anything advertised on infomercials, but i was happy to find it available on thinkgeek. Cause everyone knows: If ThinkGeek carries it, it must be damn cool.

The weather game

2006-03-03T10:04:00.000-05:00

Everybody and their uncle has been complaining about the weather recently. I'll admit it's been kind of crazy but i'm not complaining though. Yesterday it was around 65 and today it's probably around 38. That's a big change but it still doesn't bother me. What i've done is, i've turned it into a sort of game. In the morning i'll guess what the weather is like and then dress according to my "hunch". Yesterday i wore a long-sleeve shirt and a jacket....it was 65 outside(in the shade). To say the least, the game isn't going too well for me...i'm batting like 150 ( for you non-sports fans, THAT'S NOT GOOD ) - (In all honesty, i had to look that analogy up too since i know nothing of sports ) :-)

P.S. today didn't help my average either

Thought it was appropriate

2006-03-02T09:51:00.000-05:00

Since i've started a new job in the ATL and am making some cheddar now, I thought this was only approriate.

Thanks to PostSecret for this image.

Dledford Cribs - ATL

2006-03-01T20:37:00.000-05:00

As promised, this evening I took some pictures of my apartment and i'm posting them here so everyone can see my new "pimp palace". As you can see the decor is very minimalistic. I'm going to add a couple more things but I like to keep my things simple and spacious. Well, enjoy and i hope some of you can come up and visit me soon.

The post I wanted to be my first after moving

2006-03-01T13:33:00.000-05:00

I hate moving! Not the actual act of obtaining the new home but the act of packing and carrying all my shit to the new place. Anyway, i'm basically settled into my new place now and the memories of carrying all that heavy ass furniture are slowly escaping my mind. I had some small problems when i first moved in and one BIG problem. NO FREAKIN' GAS! without gas, I had no heat and no hot water. Well, that got fixed quick enough (actually the first business day after i moved in) but for days i kept having problems with the heat not staying on. They finally had to replace some parts in my heating unit and everything is working fine now. I'm not a picky person, so most of the small problems don't bother me (i.e. trash in the woods, shitty craftsmanship, etc). For my readers that might be thinking about Chattahoochee Landing and are picky, i would not suggest this place for you.
OOH, I just realized that i never put on my site that i've started dating someone new. Most of you already know this, but for those of you that don't know... Me and Laurie have started dating now. She has been up to visit a couple times and actually helped me move (BIG HUGE thank you to those that did help me move) up here. Besides her, My first "out of town" guests to come up and visit were Nigel, Brad and Jarrod this past weekend.
I've posted a picture of my first new purchase for my apartment. A 42" plasma screen tv. A wise first purchase, i think :) I'll post some more pictures of my new apartment when I get a chance

The envying can begin.

Zola Whitikar

2006-02-17T11:41:00.000-05:00

I wish my first post after my move was anything but this one, but sometimes life is just not that way. Last night, I received a call from my parents informing me that my grandmother passed away. She hadn't been doing too well since last week. The doctor thought that she might have had a small stroke last Thursday which led to her decline in health. Some of you had met her and some of you just heard stories, but either way you all probably thought she was a little eccentric ( ie. the invisible bugs, the napkin over her face, etc...). I thought so too but even so, she was my grandmother and I loved her very much. It's hard to think that she is no longer with us. She was 94 and I do find some comfort in the fact that I know she lived a full life but it's still extremely sad to think that she will no longer be around. Laurie went with me to see her last weekend and it makes me happy to know that they were able to meet each other. If anyone is interested the services will be held on Sunday, the 19th, in Richland. I want to thank those that have offered their support already and ask that you keep my parents in their thoughts.

Chattahoochee landing is starting off to a bad start

2006-01-19T10:25:00.000-05:00

Ok...So I was a little scared (It's a big move, anyone would be) but that didn't mean I didn't want it to happen. Let me explain, I was told on Sunday by Amanda at Chattahoochee Landing(800-291-0905) that my apartment would be available on Sunday or Monday at the latest for me to move in. Now, my first day at my new job is on Tuesday so this was great because eventhough it's close it is still before I started. Amanda told me to call on Wednesday to make sure though. Yesterday, while I was home sick, I decided I would call and what did I find out...The little bitch on the phone told me that the apartment would not be ready until Feb 1st. She asked me if my move in date was flexible when I informed her that it wasn't. She suggested I could move into a 3 bedroom townhouse for $1000+ a month...yeah, let me pull that cash out my ASS! After much debate, I decided it would be in my best interest to not force them to have it ready by this Monday but to give them the time they requested so I don't have to put up with shitty maintenance work. But so help me God, If there is anything wrong with that apartment when I move in it will be photographed, posted, and I hope with a little help from my readers they will be well aware of it. This might help chattahoochee@bpadv.com

Good News!!!!

2006-01-16T13:41:00.000-05:00

It's official, I have a job!!!!! YAY ME! I will start at MDT Software (www.mdtsoft.com) on Jan. 24th. I'm looking forward to this. My title is "Development Engineer". I will be working mainly with C++ and perl. I don't have a set schedule it's pretty free and it's casual dress. So, I get to wear jeans. I'm so freakin' badass! Well, this weekend I went up to atlanta to look at apartments and I found one I really liked. It's in Roswell. My apartment is riverfront too bitches! I will hopefully be moving this weekend. I'm only a couple miles from Dick and less than 2 miles from Clint. I'm really excited about the move and my new job. I will have to keep everyone posted and let my readers know how it's going as a real developer. W00T!! I'm Rockin'!

This is where i will be working.

A little bit of everything

2006-01-09T13:09:00.000-05:00

So I'm back from a short holiday. I went to visit/help move in brad up in Athens. I don't have any pictures to post along with this blog because I left my camera in my bag at his apartment the one night we did go out. I spent a lot of the time up there drinking or playing mario kart ds (which I bought prior to leaving americus). The game, by the way, KICKSASS! and is easily the greatest mario kart EVER! Well, back to my trip, it was fun...got to hang out with brad and see some people I hadn't seen in a while and meet some new people. Word to the wise...Don't ever drink something called a chipmunk...ewwwwwww.
On the radio the other morning, I won't say what show because I'm ashamed I listen to them but it rhymes with "ob and herri", This woman called in and started ranting about something (you know how women are) and she mentioned her 4 month anniversary. This pisses me off to no extent. PEOPLE!!!! Anniversary means yearly! It comes from the latin anniversarius where annus means year and vertere means to turn. SO...you can't have an X month anniversary unless it's six and then you have something like a half an anniversary and then what's the fucking point? Come on!!!
While, I'm ranting about stupid shit that pisses me off...A couple sites where having a problem with their RSS feeds where articles where appearing twice. This wouldn't be annoying by itself but coupled with the fact that sites repost others articles I end up with 12 articles all the same article about the new developments in the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD war. Now, I understand that these huge sites would cover the same things and overlapping will occur. But the sites in my "Friends" list do not need to be following this trend. Oh, what about the people that are not like me and don't read both of my friend's sites...they will miss out. Well, tough shit! I miss things because I don't read sports illustrated but that's my fault for not reading it. FUCKING PUSSIES, trying to please everyone.
Now I'm really starting to get worked up. One last thing to all of you fake fuckers out there trying to act like....fuck it, whatever!!!!

2 hrs and 15 mins early

2005-12-31T21:44:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe and HAPPY New Year's Eve. Hope everyone has a good time, but is careful. Remember how you spend New years Day is how you will spend the rest of the year. Make it worth wild.

I'm a lover not a fighter

2005-12-30T13:13:00.000-05:00

disclaimer: In no way am I claiming to be a boxer or be like or have the skills to match those of Rocky Balboa AKA: The Italian Stallion.

That being said I can jump right into the "shit-storm" that erupted last night. I got into a FIGHT! I'm a computer geek! We do not fight! While I was pissing in the bathroom at Dingus I hear what can only be described as a ruckus outside the door. Well, to be cautious I cut my pissing short and zip up. As soon as i'm zipped these two guys come busting into the bathroom throwing punches. Each one blocking the other's punches with his face. A second passes and two more guys come busting in and this four man brawl collapses on the men's room sink. The sink goes flying and nails me in the knee. Now we have four guys and the sink on the floor of the bathroom, water spraying everywhere and i'm standing at the urinal above them. The guy that is at the bottom of this mess grabbed me as they fell and is still holding on to my arm and will not let go. Well, In order to keep from being pulled into the fight anymore than I already was, I began punching this fool in the ribs. I only got about 2 shots in before he let go. I escaped the bathroom and then headed outside. My pants were soaked, my knee hurt, and when I got home I found blood on my hand. I swear I hit the guy in the ribs but I was drunk and I could be mistaken ;-) PEOPLE SHOULD BE ABLE TO PEE IN PRIVATE...well everyone but Brad.

Oh...I did some kickass stacking on our table at Dingus too. I ROCK!

My adventure in Alpharetta

2005-12-21T13:32:00.000-05:00

Right now I'm waiting. I'm waiting to hear something from the company I had an interview with on Monday. The interview went really well ( or I think it did at least). Oh, but before-hand I was so nervous I thought my heart was going to break my ribs. They had told me earlier on the phone that my interview would consist of meeting with 5-6 individuals, one of which would be the CTO. In my head, mind you, I'm picturing this long wooden table with me sitting at one end and a team of angry Soviet soldiers at the other. Then without greetings or introductions, questions start flying at my head like archers shooting at an advancing army. Well, when I walked into the conference room and saw the long wooden table, my heart dropped to my stomach and the added pressure and force almost made me make a mess of myself. Luckily it didn't go anything like I had imagined and it was the most enjoyable interview I had ever experienced. GOD!! This waiting is killing me! Anyway, while in Atlanta I did a few things ate out and such, but I did take a small detour and stop by little five. I got this hip-hop CD from a guy on the street. He goes by the name Agent Smith. It's not quite nerdcore...but for serious hip-hop there are a lot of star wars references. I guess I'm back to waiting...and waiting...and waiting...

I'm Smart Bitches!

2005-12-13T13:04:00.000-05:00

Well, the time came and went. It seems just like yesterday that I was graduating with my Bachelor's. For some strange reason I was so nervous this time. Could have been how fast it went by, the semester of nothing, the new building, etc...tons of factors could have caused me to feel like I was going to piss myself as I approached Mikey to get my diploma. Anyway, I have it now and my only options are P.H.D or a real job. Ooh, speaking of jobs. I have an interview on Monday with a company in Alpharetta. I'm really excited about this one. It's a C++ programming position. That's my jam, by the way, I rock some C++ like so much Duran Duran. The job also calls for some Perl knowledge. I know some perl but have basically just used it to parse text files (which it is perfect for). Because of this, I have decided it would be in my best interest to brush up on my perl, and when you need to brush up on a language, a topic, or even an OS there is only one place to turn. The O'Reilly books. Thanks to Tim (Some call me....Tim) I have in my possession Learning Perl and Programming Perl. As soon as I work through these in the next couple days I'm going to touch on some of the more complex concepts in C++ like link lists and overloading operators. Better safe then sorry I always say. I just wanted to post something about graduation and say CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! to Brad, Jo, Josh, Daniel, Elizabeth and everyone else that graduated but later I will post pictures and stories from the party (ie. The Johnny Walker Blue Label, and Chris rolling in dog shit). Stay tuned for much amusement. Until Then...I'M A MASTER BITCHES!!!!

MotherFuck Uncle Sam

2005-11-22T14:56:00.000-05:00

I don't understand how Americans can feel that we are still the greatest country in the world. We "were" the land of the free and yes in the 1800's that made us special, but now? Fuck, it's "run-of-the-mill" now( I don't think I've ever used that term in a sentence). Don't get me wrong I do understand that there are other countries that are living under oppression but come on people, we are nothing special. In fact, we are that star football player that after highschool didn't amount to shit and sits and talks of the "good ole glory days" when he was somebody. Anyway! You might be saying to yourself..."Dennis, if our country is so horrible why do so many people want to come live here (ie. Hispanics and Indians)?" This is because their economy sucks! Their countries don't, their education doesn't. The average annual income in India is 500 dollars. So, Company X can open their Tech support department in India and can hire more educated employees and pay them 3000 dollars a year (that's six times the norm, some hella cash there). Or that same employee can come to the US and make even more money. Ok, I'm getting off topic a little. My point is that we have no right to feel elite and I might get shot for saying this, but the FUCKING FRENCH have more right to feel elite than we do. By the way...the French suck, if you didn't know. My thoughts didn't come out too well about this and I don't feel like going back and retyping so I'm leaving it. The last thing I want to say is that America never ceases to amaze me. Today Germany (you remember them? Nazis and that whole thing) elected it's first woman chancellor and yet we are still electing idiots like this man.

Has the world forgotten about the FSM?

2005-11-21T08:07:00.000-05:00

NPR is airing this new segment called "This I believe". On the way to work this morning I caught it for the first time. The idea behind the segment is that during "morning edition" on Monday mornings, essays written by different listeners about their core beliefs in life will be aired. This morning the essay was written and read by Penn Jillette, who is the tall talkative part of Penn and Teller. His essay is entitled "There is No God". It is a well thought out and well written essay. Even though I know a lot of you will not agree with it, I think you should still read it or listen to his reading. Go now! Expand your mind. Oh, You can find it here by the way .

Parental Advisory

2005-11-17T12:52:00.000-05:00

I was thinking last night; My site might not be suited for younger readers. I use a fair amount of explicit language, I write blogs about drunken acts of stupidity, and I post pictures of pr0n. If it happens that some impressionable mind wanders across my site while searching for the disney channel website, I would like to take this oppurtunity to say.
"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOUR PARENTS!?!"

Fucking Hell! Do your damn job people! Don't rely on me to do it for you!

Calm like a bomb

2005-11-16T17:54:00.000-05:00

I just realized I hadn't gotten political on yall's ass in a long time. Don't worry it's coming, but for now I just want to say "FUCK GEORGE BUSH!"

On the 8th day he created PORN!!!!

2005-11-15T13:36:00.000-05:00

Hello boys and girls! I'm back and I'm starting to realize that no matter how much I say I will update my site on a regular basis, it will never happen. I am just not that reliable. So, from now on...IT WILL GET UPDATED WHEN IT GETS UPDATED. I've been applying for jobs like crazy and so far the best feeling i've had about one of these is from a company in Atlanta. I had my phone interview yesterday and it went really well. I rock like so much Styx! I was a little discouraged when they sent me an email today asking "After the program manager has looked over your transcripts, she was wondering why you received a D and two F's in Calculus II?" that's some bullshit, but I think I gave a good answer anyway. A lot has been happening and I guess there's no better place to start than PORN. Since we last spoke, I received my EZ-flash cartridge for my gameboy advance in the mail. Once i got the software installed on my computer i was so excited about playing some GBA roms and some NES roms right away that i forgot my ultimate goal. Porn on that baby. I can say that after a Saturday afternoon i have some lesbians eating each other's pie on my gameboy.

I am such a 1337 H4X0R

In addition: My life has just been full of excitement recently and i promise i will post all about everything soon but it's busy at work right now so i have to cut this short. Just wanted to share that i'm very happy with the way things are going. I can't explain it; I'm going to graduate in a couple weeks and i don't have a job lined up but i'm completely happy. Just have a feeling everything will work out.

I am the walrus! goo goo g'joob!

2005-11-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

Who wants to play Button, Button? Who's got the button?

Glass Testicles

2005-10-19T11:59:00.000-05:00

I am not an actor, never will be an actor, but I love the movies and love the theatre. I guess I could fit into the role of a director fairly nicely. Anyway, I love watching inside the actor's studio on bravo and on Sunday they were re-airing the Morgan Freeman episode. And I wanted to share some great advice for any actors or would-be actors out there. When playing an elderly man, walk like you have glass testicles. If you don't believe me stand up and try this right now. You will be surprised. You will feel 50 years older.

Why do they insist on me being productive at work?

2005-10-19T09:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was informed that I would be switching back to the Citrix desk. This would be effective starting Monday of next week. Although I have been bored working with the CECAS account, I would have to say being bored is better than being swamped with calls all day. I was offered a position as a UNIX admin that I turned down. I was told that it wouldn't be anymore pay, but after Chris took the position I realized that was just a rumor. Now, I'm kicking myself in the ass for not taking it. Well, Also I was and am still hoping not to be here much longer. This job search thing is getting really depressing. Everyday I try to apply for atleast two more jobs and so far I haven't heard anything back. Darton still hasn't contacted me back so that probably is not going to happen. That sucks cause I could have rocked that job. Oh well. Anyways, last night me and chip went to see the curse of the were-rabbit here in Americus. I was kind of disappointed. I thought the Wallace and Gromit tv series was badass but the movie just didn't have the same momentum or feel. The short that played before the movie was fucking brilliant though. It starred the penguins from the Madagascar movie and it alone was worth the buck fifty It cost to see the Wallace and Gromit movie. Me and chip were inspired by this short and we came up with one of our infamous "Great Ideas". All I can say is it involves Egg Nog and Manischewitz. If you are a real man you won't ask questions and you will just join us.

Whoa, has it really been a month?

2005-10-14T08:53:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry everyone for my extended absense. Things have happened and I honestly just couldn't find the time to sit down and update my site. I have to thank Chip for bringing to my attention that It's been a month since my last post. Wow! Anyway, I've been applying for jobs left and right trying to find anything that is more suited for my skills, but i really haven't heard anything back. I did get asked for references by Darton College for a position i applied for there. I need to check with the people i listed and see if they have been contacted. That would be a good sign. Smithers is coming down this weekend. I can't believe that i've actually missed his dumbass. Since i've started back to posting, you can expect plenty of pictures of the festivities. Festivities = partying or folding smithers into the couch. Either way it should make for some interesting still shots. OMG, i have to share this with everyone. Holy BookShelf, Batman! This has made me want a house, just so i can make me one of these. Unlike this one, mine will lead someone where cool like the massive porn collection i will have aquired, not no fucking water heater/broom closet. Last, I guess i want to suggest to everyone to watch Foster's home for imaginary friends. This is my new favorite cartoon and if you haven't seen it you are missing out. You have to watch if for nothing more than Eduardo.

|-|3 i5 teh r0x0rz!!!!

Here I go again

2005-09-15T14:23:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what sparked this thought the other day, but i decided i would share it with everyone here. I know a couple gay people and i've asked those that i consider good enough friends the question that everyone asks their gay friend. "When did you realize that you were gay?" I usually get a look of deep thought and then some age range. I decided i would turn the question around and ask myself. "When did I realize i was straight?" Hmmm...I was actually expecting myself to come up with an age (the same answer everyone else gives). I was Basically just trying to figure out at what age did i start to be sexually attracted to females. My answer wasn't an age though but rather, a person. Her name, Tawny Kitaen. Oh yes! The chick from the Whitesnake video. I don't remember how old i was or what grade i was in school. The only thing i remember are those legs..."legs that are longer than she is tall". Wow! So from now on, if anyone ever asks me "when did you realize you were straight" my answer will be simply "Tawny Kitaen" :-)

My job is causing "Intellectual atrophy"

2005-09-14T07:44:00.000-05:00

I'm afraid! No, i'm actually terrified that i'm becoming dumber each day that goes by! Ok, hold on...let me explain. Last semester, I completed what courses were required of me to graduate with my master's degree in computer science. Now, all I have to do is sit around and wait until December to "walk". At first this sounded like a great idea, I don't have anything to do for a whole semester, but now i'm not sure. As much as I thought that I was that type of person, I know now that i'm not. I find myself stuck in the same routine day in and day out, and it's not a routine i'm happy with. My job is what one might refer to as FAR from challenging. I'm actually still convinced, if i can find a monkey that speaks english i can train him to do this job (but he won't meet the new dress code guidelines). Anyway, it goes without saying that the intellectual stimulation that i require can not be found at work. What about home? Well, after dealing with the boredom and just unpleasantness of my job, i'm far from being in the mood to study when i get home. The ideal situation is to combine work with studying, but this can't be done. Or can it? You may be thinking, since it requires so little of me to do my job couldn't i be pursuing other interests while at work? Yes i do, but you can only read about dynamic variables and hyperthreading so long without being able to implement them. The computers at work have become so locked down that i can't install a compiler, and so, that theory is completely useless because without the necessary tools i can't do shit. I believe the best solution is going to be to schedule a day and deem that "Study Day". Maybe Sunday! Having a whole day to study and learn might make me feel better and not as useless and wasted. God, I'm a Dork!

Apalachicola? I think it's in Florida

2005-09-13T14:25:00.000-05:00

Two friends, Dylan and Emily, were visiting from Apalachicola yesterday. For my longtime readers, you will remember that about a year ago I posted pictures from their wedding. Those were the ones of me and richard where our skin was bright red. Oh God, that was the worst sunburn in the history of the world. Anyway, we decided we would go out and have a couple drinks last night. Me and Shannon met Dylan, Emily, Richard, and Lydia up at Floyd's. No craziness, No fighting, We just went out and had some drinks at the bar. It was not an action packed night by any means, but I did have a nice time just relaxing and talking with friends I hadn't seen in a while. I just noticed this is quite a boring post...hmmm...how to spice it up? Chicks kissing each other always perks my "attention". So, here you go...enjoy

Damn, that's HOT!

Idle Hands...isn't that what they say?

2005-09-07T10:21:00.000-05:00

I decided that i would share everything that i've found in my search to keep myself occupied at work today. Well, everything that was at least a tiny bit amuzing. I must apologize that i don't have any amuzing stories to share, you could say that i'm "sans anecdote" today. Anyway, let's commence with the links!

Can i get a "forearm and hand" cheese steak on parmesan oregano? This is just so freaky it's AWESOME! This thai art student, who comes from a family of bakers, decided to express his subject(the human form) with bread as the medium. Creepy but so cool. Read it here.

Those of you that know me know that I refuse to eat pork. Well, i will not say "refuse" because there are exceptions (Like times when people lie to my drunk ass and say it's turkey). The first real exception is bacon though. I don't like bacon; I hate the taste and texture of bacon, but the smell, Holy Shit! The smell of bacon is so ubelievably good that i find myself forced to at least taste a strip of bacon everytime it's cooked. Then i'm reminded with why i don't eat it to begin with. There are more, but i'm not going to bore you with this now. I just found this magazine this morning and thought it was extremely cool that they have a magazine dedicated to one meat. You find all your pork related news here.

Last, there is Papa Berts ass juice seat. I'm actually kind of speechless on this. I think it's a great idea that you can sneek your favorite liquor into a Clemson *Cough Cough*, I mean UGA game. But drinking something that's been under my sweaty ass in the hot sun for over an hour...I'm not too sure about that. Here's the product page. Product Page

Ok, That wasn't the last thing. This is! I want to take a moment and express my respect for Bob Denver and the work that he gave us. I have always enjoyed Nick at Night and spent many nights in high school watching Dobie Gillis and Bob Denver as Maynard G. Krebs. He holds a special place in everyone's heart. We will miss you Gilligan.

Full potential

2005-09-06T13:24:00.000-05:00

I have just realized that in order for me to reach my full potential, I have to live on a houseboat. Anyone that is cool lives on a houseboat. For example:

Quincy M.E. - Lived on a houseboat and had mad old bitches
B.L. Stryker - It was Burt Reynolds, that's all i have to say
Duncan MacLeod - OMFG He's IMMORTAL...could this guy be any cooler?
MacGyver - NO ONE is more BADASS! MacGyver for President

My point is proven. :-)

Why does Jerry Lewis have to ruin my Labor Day?

2005-09-06T10:16:00.000-05:00

Every Labor Day without failing it pops up on TV, those fucking Jerry's Kids. Don't get me wrong, i have nothing against charities or helping those that are handicapped. I just have a problem with Jerry Lewis. Can't they get a new spokesperson? Someone cooler, like Bjork or Captain Crunch. I just get so sick and tired of Jerry Lewis; the only reason he is even popular is because Dean Martin let some of his fame trickle down on to Jerry. Well, it's over and we have a whole year until it comes around again. Yay! Ok, so my Labor Day weekend wasn't actually ruined...in fact, I had a shitload of fun (and that's a lot of fun). Saturday and Sunday we had our Labor Day/Lydia's Birthday celebrations. I picked out the most badass card for Lydia. It said "birthday princess" on the front and pictures of half-naked men all over it. The best part of the card though, was that it fastened together to make a crown. Hells yeah! :-) Sunday afternoon me and Shannon went to albany to do some shopping. She wanted to get some "horse thing" (that's the technical name for it) and me, I was there to buy a gamecube. I know i'm a little late with this gamecube thing but i had to have one to be able to enjoy the copy of Zelda: WindWaker that was given to me by Jason. So, when you look at it Jason forced me to buy a gamecube. Maybe he should compensate me for my purchase. I'm going to have to talk to him about that. Labor day was actually pretty relaxing, played some videogames, went to Shannon's mom's house, grilled out, came back and played some more videogames ;-) all in all: a nice day.

Yeah...they were drunk. Oh! Georgia won too!!!!!! GO DAWGS!!!!!

Knee deep in static

2005-09-01T13:12:00.000-05:00

I am a motivator! I was informed today that i have inspired a reader to quit smoking. This has given me a fresh look on my task. I was starting to give in. I began questioning my motives (or lack thereof); i started trying to rationalize the fact that i could quit later, but no...Now I know that i'm going to quit and for no other reason than to prove to the people that i have inspired that they can do it too. Makoto, I want to thank you for my new outlook, and wish you good luck with quitting as well. Shannon I want to thank you for tackling this with me and baring with my irritable ass. Tonight is 50 cent beer and i think i will be able to do it tonight with out smoking a single cigarette. With the help of the flying spaghetti monster i will be successful. I just received a txt msg from my mom while typing this and my grandmother has stopped eating and refusing to take her meds. It's not the first time, but it always gets bad. I'm going to go by magnolia manor when i get off work and see if i can convince her to eat. I hope i'm successful.

Square peg in a round hole

2005-08-31T08:43:00.000-05:00

I haven't felt like myself since I started this task of quitting smoking. I can't believe how irritatible i've been and how easily i'm getting annoyed at the smallest of things. Which makes me even more pissed because i'm usually a very calm and agreeable person. Sometimes too nice and thinking of others more than myself. Not only has my personality changed though, but i have all this craziness running through my head. I just can't shake this feeling. Well, enough of that shit, it will all end when i can break this addiction. If you are the least bit observant at all, you may have noticed that i have added a flickr badge to my site, and if you haven't, I would like to direct your attention to the right of the page at this time. While trying to keep occupied(and not smoke) the other day, I came across the picture of Jarrod at the top of the list. It was hiding in the hundreds of pictures that are filed away in my "unsorted" folder(God i have to take some time to do something about that). I wanted to share it with everyone but didn't have anything to write so i just threw it up on flickr. I know that visits to my flickr page are rare, to say the least, and that if i wanted people to see it, it needed to be on my blog page...thus the flickr badge ;-) Don't you feel better now that you know the back story? :-) I believe J-Brown enjoyed his birthday(what he can remember of it) and the concert was good but I actually had more fun at the thursday show then saturday's show. It could have been due to this ASS of a man that just ruined the whole experience for everyone. He continuisly harassed people about drinking, age limits, wrist bands, and even about my tums. This was all without cause. I would like to take a moment and just say "FUCK YOU!!!" to this old piece of shit that runs Albany's "State Theatre". I hope you burn in Hell you Rat FUCKING BASTARD! <---see? This quitting smoking has just made me hateful.

I'm not the same as you!

2005-08-27T13:40:00.000-05:00

So 50 cent beer at Pat's got interrupted on thursday night because we were going to Dingus to see Threshold, Mindswell and One less reason. Oh, before I start sharing how much fun I had, I have a confession. I slipped up on my quitting smoking on thursday night. Me and shannon both actually, but as of right now we're back on track and doing ok. I just want this feeling to be gone and to be free of my slavery to nicotine. Now back to the fun I had on thursday. It was nice to go out, have a few drinks, and just have fun with my friends. I hadn't seen Threshold perform before, but Chip had a CD and let me listen to them a while back. To be frank, I wasn't too impressed. I realized that night, that CD was their old stuff! If anyone is judging them by their old stuff, STOP IT NOW! OMFG, the new guitarist is probably around 17 yrs old but this kid is GOOD (No ben, but still good). Mindswell, as always, put on a KICKASS show( I might be biased, but I don't care). I did miss the first two songs because me and chip got suckered into working the door. Me and Chip collecting money? Does that sound like a bad idea to anyone else? We didn't steal anything. Although everytime someone handed us money we screamed "VEGAS BABY, VEGAS". We were thinking about it ;-) Tonight, we are heading to Albany to the State Theatre to see the show again + Handhoney. I hope there is time for some Moe's before the show. WELCOME TO MOE'S! Sorry, just have to say it whenever i mention it. The really sad part is I actually said it when i was typing it. It is also J-Brown's birthday today. Happy Birthday Pimp. If anyone knows J-Brown, there will be an after-party after the show tonight for him. So, I hope to see everyone...and i mean EVERYone there.

This kid did the spinning guitar thing like story of the year. It was badass.

J-Brown is replacing Chip as the most frequent person on my page.

Round 2 of the fight

2005-08-25T15:13:00.000-05:00

Today has actually been quite pleasant. I haven't had any killer cravings or giant mood swings. This has given me great motivation because now I actually feel empowered and I believe that i can actually quit this habitat. The worst part of today is the boredom. That's why i began smoking in the first place was out of boredom. "Hey, I'm bored", friend responds "Me too; Want to go have a cigarette" And BOOM i've just killed 7 1/2 minutes. It's strange to think that if i could have kept myself busy enough I might have never needed to put myself through this. Damn! Well, last night i got a lot accomplished. Cleaned out my closets and threw a bunch of stuff away. I'm a huge pack rat! But i'm proud at the amount of stuff i threw away. For some strange reason i was still holding onto a hard drive with a whopping 512kb worth of space. I told you i was bad.

I would smoke the fuck out of this bitch.

The Hell that is my life

2005-08-24T16:09:00.000-05:00

For some reason I have decided to do the stupidest thing on the planet. I have decided to quit smoking. Last night I lit my last cigarette, enjoyed it briefly and then snuffed it's existence out. I will never again feel the soothing sensation of smoke filling my lungs. I will never be calmed by the puff of a single cigarette. It is a sad day for me. Last night I applied the first of many nicotine patches i will have to go through. I decided to put it on my upper arm. Not so much the bicep but more the tricep, the logic being that it would stay on better with less muscle movement. This was wrong. Well, not because the muscle movement but after applying the patch my right arm and only my right arm began to sweat and the patch couldn't stick. "Thank god", I thought, "my body is rejecting the patch. I don't have to quit after all". But, steadfast in my plan to quit smoking I removed another patch from their sterille white home and applied it to the my shoulder blade. Nothing! No reaction this time. I'm shouting curses towards God in my head as i lay down and prepare to go to sleep with the new patch firmly in place. My sleep was filled with one bizarre scene after another that some how came together to form some derranged story involving hunters and mario kart double dash. This morning was quite easy the nicotine in my bloodstream was at a steedy mid to high level but the last couple hours of work and this evening it has dropped to an all time low and has been complete hell. I have the notion that my patch died around 4:00 this afternoon 8 hrs before it's 24 hour lifespan should have been up. Now, I'm counting down the hours before i can rip this fucker off and replace him with a brand new circle of pleasure. Oh, For the love of the FSM, will time just move faster!!

TOGA! TOGA!

2005-08-24T07:30:00.000-05:00

Last week was the toga party, and as with most things I have to do it differently. The last time I decided to wear a toga to the party, I did a braveheart toga ( with leather straps and all ). This time I decided on doing a Chippendale toga. It didn't work as well as I hoped since everyone kept making Fred Flintsone comments, instead of "HEY, Sexy Roman Chippendale". Bastards, every single one of them. And you know who you are! The evening was fun and I got to see some people I hadn't seen in a while and some people that it seems, I see everyday. I had fun and I think that most people had a great time. I actually don't think the toga turned out too bad with three people's help and 4 hours to do it, but i'll let you be the judge.

Some people like being treated like meat.

I pledge allegiance to the world

2005-08-22T21:20:00.000-05:00

Things have been hella crazy around here...well, that's not completely true. In fact, that's complete bullshit. I just haven't had anything that I deemed worthy to post. I still don't, but i decided what the hell. Everyone liked the randomness and stupidity of the old site so i'm going to just keep it up. I promise tomorrow I will post about the Toga party for those that were there and for those of you that for some reason didn't show up, I have a couple pictures so you can pretend you were. This is Monty, a savannah monitor. I thought he might be a vegetarian but thank the gods he isn't. He just likes to play with his food before hand.

Don't leave i'm right here

2005-08-08T15:42:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that i'm still alive. I took a couple days off of work and fell behind updating my site. I'll get some pictures of the slumber party up today or tomorrow and i'll also get to talk all about what's going on this week. Tons of excitement is in store.

Did Blogger Screw up?

2005-08-02T13:25:00.000-05:00

Some of you might have noticed that i did post some pictures from the costume party and localpalooza yesterday evening but today the post was not there. Well, i'm not sure what the hell is going on. Maybe I'm just losing my mind. Here they are AGAIN. Oh, and more can be found here.

Mindswell in Concert at Localpalooza

Talent runs in the family

Some people had a harder time coming up with a costume than others

My girl, Shannon. See she does exist.

Sexy Women in Pajamas

2005-08-02T13:11:00.000-05:00

First, anyone who is reading this and will be in the general area tonight is required to be at the Pajama/Slumber party at Shannon and Jesse's. Second, I'm not one for posting pictures of myself but i thought I would post this one from localpalooza since was emailed to me. Enjoy.

Is it me, or am I getting sexier with each passing day?

Localpalooza and My Fear of Ticks

2005-08-01T13:31:00.000-05:00

The weekend has come and gone, and i'm quite sad to see it end :-( Saturday was Localpalooza down in Albany and even with all the rain we had a great time. For those of you that don't know, Localpalooza is an annual festival where bands from the local area perform. This year it was 12 bands starting at 11am and going until 10pm. I was there as always to support my friends, Mindswell but I was looking forward to seeing Encidius and their nine year old drummer as well. Shannon, Jesse, Andy, Myself, and my cooler of beer arrived around 2:30 and as usual I began drinking, but I actually behaved myself up until the end. All the bands were great but the best by far(and maybe i'm a little biased) was Mindswell. Along with their usual set they played one new orginal and closed their set with a new cover, Stinkfist. At the end of the night it began to rain like a motherfucker, and me and chip being the idiots that we are, decided we would throw the football around in the rain while continuing to drink. Even if it was one-handed, it was a success and after a few minutes we had a couple more idiots playing football in the rain with us.
After Shannon drove my drunk ass back to Americus it was time to get changed into my costume because Saturday night Shannon and Jesse had planned a costume party at their place. We weren't there long just long enough for me to have a couple beers and a rum and coke. I was suprised at the amount of people that had costumes on such a short notice. I'll post some pictures of localpalooza and the costume party later tonight. Sunday, I actually did manual labor. Outside even. I about died from the heat but i helped Shannon's mom and step-dad put up fence posts on their new land for where they will keep the horses. When were picking the rail-road ties that we would use Shannon found a tick on her arm. From that moment on i kept feeling those litle fuckers crawling all over me. I couldn't get the thought of them covering my legs and groin out of my head. Once i got back to my apartment I stripped down and searched every inch of my body for those blood-sucking bitches. All stories deserve a happy ending and this one is no different i didn't find a single one on my body. THANK GOD!

Can we say Plasma screen?

2005-07-28T13:54:00.000-05:00

The most powerful man in the United States of America is determined to watch the shuttle launch on a 10" TV screen from six feet away.

Johnny Depp amazes me

2005-07-28T10:45:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know this movie has been out for a couple weeks now, but I still wanted to make sure that everyone knew that they had to see this movie. It is unbelievable. In fact, just thinking about the movie has made me want to go see it again. Well, in other news, I've been constantly applying for jobs. It seems the jobs I want, i don't hear anything back from but i'm getting tons of contacts from companies wanting me to do contract work. I want a permanent full-time job though, not something that will only last 6 months. If any of my readers have had experience with contract work and it's not as bad as i think it is, leave me a comment and let me know what your experiences has been. While trying to keep myself occupied at work the other day i came across a certification for programmers. Certified Software Development Professional is offered by IEEE, and it seems fairly stout. I'm thinking about looking into this. It couldn't hurt my current job hunting.

Soul Calibur III

2005-07-27T08:25:00.000-05:00

I never really played Soul Calibur and I wasn't excited about the release of Soul Calibur II. I never sat down and played either of the games until it was released on the PS2. Actually, I was forced to play it by a friend of mine, and i'm glad i was. It has been a lot of fun, when time permits, to pick up Soul Calibur II and go at a couple of rounds. Anyway, all this back story is basically so i can say that i haven't been a fan of the Soul Calibur series but i'm immensely looking forward to Soul Calibur III. Mostly due to the article up about it over at 1UP.com. There are tons of new additions to the game besides the 3 new characters. One being interactive enviroments. Kind of like "Dead or Alive" where walls break when thrown into them. The addition i'm looking forward to the most is the Create-A-Character. I'm not going to go into detail about it, you can read all about it at 1UP.com, but I can't wait to kick some Soul Calibur ass with a samurai that looks like yours truly.