Tuesday, June 29, 2004
  • Someone has managed to pony up the 100 gold to purchase a raptor mount. It looks pretty sweet. Eric is now demanding that we get him one.
  • Last night's attempt to beat the Chapel in the Scarlet Monastery ended in a total wipeout, so I don't have any cool videos to share with you today. Look for more inspiring footage later in the week, though.
Monday, June 28, 2004
  • Last night my brother and I, along with two guildmates, took on the Armory section of the Scarlet Monastery in World of Warcraft. I've got a quick clip from the end: watch the fall of Herod (11 MB).
  • Notable highlights: the moment of terror when Herod charges toward me at the beginning of the fight; Eric's critical hit for over 1000 damage when Herod is near 25% health; and my moment of glory, when dozens of Scarlet Trainees swarm us and I annihilate them with Rain of Fire.
  • Ralph Nader says Michael Moore is too fat. Funny stuff!
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Friday, June 25, 2004
  • I've reached level 40 with my warlock, which means I can train and ride a mount! Warlocks have it easy in this respect, since our class mount is a Nightmare which can be learned as a regular spell. So instead of costing 100 gold, it's only 2 gold and some change.
  • Tonight I have a two minute clip of Nakhu riding a Nightmare (12 MB) from Ratchet to the Crossroads. As a special bonus you can see a player riding an Undead Steed about halfway into the video. I also overtake another player, so you can get a sense of exactly how much faster mounted travel is.
  • You can also watch a brief movie of Nakhu versus Fozruk (1.5 MB). It took my group three tries to beat the mountain giant and his kobold helpers. This clip is not from the successful attempt, but it's fun to watch.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
  • I'm the proud owner of a shiny new Gmail account. Thanks, Matt. The service overall seems pretty slick; it has a nice threaded mail view and some handy anti-spam controls. As webmail software goes, it's certainly at the top of the pile.
  • If anyone's interested in an account, send me an email and as I get invitations I will keep you in mind.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
  • How do you make a triple-bladed razor even better? Gillette has rejected the obvious approach of simply attaching another blade and instead opted to add electricity.
  • Though I am delighted to see that the razor arms race has not yet produced five- or six-bladed monstrosities, I can't help but view this latest foray into the shaving market with amusement.
  • Here is more information on shaving properly than you ever needed to know. But you're probably doing it wrong.
Monday, June 21, 2004
  • Your papers, please. Disappointing, but hardly unexpected, given the current political climate.
  • All the domains I'm hosting have had SPF enabled, to bring us in line with AOL's email guidelines. This change is relatively minor and should be completely transparent.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Saturday, June 19, 2004
  • Tonight I watched Ronin. I didn't know what to expect, as it has the sort of generic plot summary on the back that makes me suspect I've already seen parts of the movie on TV. What I got was an awesome action movie, with perhaps the best car chase ever. Definitely worth seeing.
  • Wikipedia has an article on the Forty-seven Ronin, a true story alluded to in the movie.
Friday, June 18, 2004
  • I've updated the book I'm currently reading. This one's another library book, and a bit of a departure from my usual fare.
  • Mathematics and history are featured prominently, however, and so far it's a pretty enjoyable novel. Just don't base any term papers off its theories. Cecil has the straight dope on its mathematical inaccuracies.
  • Speaking of unscientific fiction, I tend to get mildly annoyed whenever I see an article on polygraph testing. An example from recent news is where Marion Jones claims a polygraph test proves her innocence.
  • Antipolygraph.org can teach you how to beat a lie detector test, as well as providing all sorts of solid information on the subject.
  • The new layout is rather obviously live now. Enjoy!
Thursday, June 17, 2004
  • Jeremy helpfully provided a link to the disappointing news that George R. R. Martin's next book, A Feast for Crows, is still being written and probably won't be out this month after all.
  • I've kicking around some ideas for improving the layout and style of the site. Anyone interested in a highly unreliable sneak peek can hop over to Project Koden.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
  • An extraordinary amount of research went into figuring out how to encode koden as an HTML entity. So as not to keep you all in suspense, here it is:古伝.
  • The Japanese <-> English Dictionary was an invaluable aid for this whimsical project.
  • My only comment on the new World of Warcraft patch is that it's more than slightly inconvenient to lose all of your character's items and money at high levels. However, it was also somewhat amusing to see all of my characters in their underwear on the selection screen.
  • Funny site of the day: FGI.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Monday, June 14, 2004
Sunday, June 13, 2004
  • Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen celebrate their 18th birthday today. At long last, they can vote! I for one applaud our media for lavishing such attention on the newfound civic responsibilities of these fine ladies.
  • Readers wishing to celebrate this momentous occasion are encouraged to pre-order a copy of How the West was Fun on DVD. It has received glowing reviews, after all.
  • This update was completed on Sunday, but not actually saved until today. I apologize for the delay.
Saturday, June 12, 2004
  • Payola has returned to the radio industry. This particular practice is likely here to stay, given the First Amendment protections enjoyed by advertisers.
  • Here's a song I like that you won't hear on the radio: Late Goodbye by Poets of the Fall. It's the theme from Max Payne 2, a thoroughly entertaining game.
Friday, June 11, 2004
  • Looks like the Half-Life 2 source code thieves have been arrested. Good riddance.
  • I have inexplicably become the most conservative member of the Penthouse Suite. I imagine starting one business and being involved in a couple others has influenced this to some extent, though there may be other factors ...
  • Emily has taken the Political Compass test also, and here are her results.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
  • Those of you who longingly remember my checkered past as a self-anointed religious figure may find some spiritual solace within the pages of the Traffic Cone Preservation Society -- or at least some mild amusement when you stumble across such gems as the essay on cones as pets.
  • A visit to Jon's Site has inspired me to add a new poll feature to the sidebar.
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
  • Because recent updates have been of a more political nature, readers may find it interesting to see where I fall on the political compass.
  • Keep in mind that the compass scale is not calibrated against the peculiarities of American politics, and that consequently the average American voter is going to fall somewhere in the upper right quadrant. You can look at a graph plotting the US Presidential Primaries of 2004 to get a better sense of what's going on.
  • I've done some reorganization around here and created a new archives page. You'll find all the older updates somewhere in there.
Tuesday, June 8, 2004
  • Abolish the FCC? Sounds good to me. Its primary regulatory focus these days seems to be on lining the pockets of the telecoms by actively stifling competition in the industry.
  • FCC Chairman and nepotism beneficiary Michael Powell claims his deregulation plans actually promote competition by ending government involvement, but it's very difficult to swallow that claim. The telecom networks were built using taxpayer dollars and consumer taxes, though ownership is retained by the telecoms themselves. Allowing them to close those networks to competitors has no possible benefit to consumers, who ultimately deserve a choice of carriers on the infrastructure they paid for.
  • The largest threat to telecom dominance at the moment is probably Voice over IP providers such as Vonage. The FCC is already preparing to crush this new generation of telephone service providers with massive regulatory burdens, according to the agency's former chairman.
  • What can you expect from the American yum yum clown monkey, though?
Sunday, June 6, 2004
  • Apparently Ray Bradbury hates Michael Moore also. It is gratifying to see hatred of Michael Moore become more mainstream. Now all we need is a long-forgotten child star to condemn him, and he'll never dare to show his face outside of France again.
  • While I'm at it, here is another Bradbury interview, this time detailing his thoughts on a trip to Mars.