ThisBoyIsToast V4 >> November 2005 Archives

Is it just me or does Google Video fail for other people? No matter what I place in the search box, including the links from their own blog, I get zero results. Is it the zip code assigned automatically in the prefs?

Isn't synchronicity nice; last night we watch the first DVD of Strongbad and today I see Commando Cheat paper playsets.

We were eating dumplings the other night when I looked in the mirror and shouted, "Look! Photobloggers!" To be honest, I only knew them for their flickr-ing but Angela does indeed have a photoblog called room for seconds.

Weird. I always thought that akimbo meant standing a little odd, askew or weirdly. But it is definately standing a certain way.

I had forgotten that Shira sent me this till she popped by the store the other day. It's called AKIMBO and it's a service to promote art, lectures, installations, new media, film, etc. that they consider worth bringing to your attention.

It's nice to know that antigirl is still around and is also found at her Livejournal.

Ahhhhh, I want to broken but brilliant instead of just broken !!

Now J has been filling DVD ROMs with anime but wouldn't it be cool to fill this 250gig external HD with anime?

I don't have any plans to enter the US any time soon but if I did they might read the title to this post (click the permalink) and decide that I must be banned from the US for having opinions they do not like. Oh yeah, Bush is a dick too.

Everyone knows I miss the original format and people of TechTV, not the watered down G4TechTV and I am so glad I found Robert Heron and Patrick Norton doing a downloadable TV show at DigitalLifeTV.

"Majmuncino smrdljiva !!" I really have to learn how to pronounce this cuz it means, "You smelly big monkey," in the Croatian Language. (via nickerblog)

Poul Andersen, not Poul Anderson, was in The Store today. I am so glad I didn't tell him I like his books. November 25 05

OK, it might actually be a "small number of defective units" but has anyone blogged about their Xbox 360 crash working wonderfully on it's first day?

OK, I am thinking more and more about the psychology and implementation of Tags for a weblog entry, as opposed to a photo or bookmark. It is an extension of categories, which i already implement but call Tags, but it is more freeform. You should not pick from a list of Tags but type them as you complete the entry. Then, as time progresses, the Tags you use will become apparent. The weight become obvious, including the ones that gain weight because of typos or laziness or forgetfulness. It becomes a categorization method based on your personality rather than an organization scheme.

There is already MT Plugin(s) out there to implement Tags by taking anything you place in the Keywords and making it a Tag. These are then converted into Categories. I wonder if the 350+ entries I have could be converted over to pure Tags? There is also the worry about seperating my LinkFodders (sidelinks, quicklinks, etc.) from the rest. I think that is why I stuck with Categories for now. I should investigate what other people are doing. November 25 05

Are you really surprised about the Xbox 360 Crashing Like Mad ?? C'mon people, the machine has only been on the market for about 10 minutes and we all know that MS never has something working right away. I have an original xBox about 4 years into the production run and it still crashes occasionally. It took MS to remove the expectations of never crashing away from us. We always lived with Windows crashing and now we will live with consoles crashing. The average gamer will be happy to reboot his xBox, lose the levels and progression he just gained, as long as he does not have to bring it back to the store. Just think of yourself contributing to the overtime pay for support call centre people. November 24 05

Speaking of images, here is a little picture of exactly how much I am willing to invest to attain schwag for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, 2nd Gig. Yes, the new DVD extra-special, ulta-funky version came with a mouse pad and playing cards. Am I the only one who thinks this is cool? Nerd nerd nerd; at least I ain't a Narutard. *grin* November 22 05

So, while not truly being able to enjoy City of Villains, I can at least show you the evil side of a blogger. This is Burning Toast, the alter ego of the blogging, electrically powered superhero that Paragon City knew as Thisboyistoast. Due to the stress & rigour of fighting crime while trying to keep grounded, the poor guy shorted and literally burnt out. But it had some advantageous side effects, if he is just a little bit more anti social. November 22 05

Sometimes you wonder exactly what is going on in your life that doesn't seem to leave time for anything. Why are my dishes undone, my laundry in a massive unfolded heap? Why are tigger-based dust rhinos running rampant? It cannot be City of Villains because, really, I need an upgrade to truly enjoy it. There is a little bit of work involved and some foody outings but... what? What is doing this? November 22 05

I don't know why but it seems appropriate that I link to Pencil Carving.

Last night, after having a meal at a Thai resto, we went in search of Market area beer. C'est What was, "No you cannot sit there that is where people eat. No you cannot sit there because that is where people listen to music. If you want to drink one of our lovely selections of on-tap beers go cram into there with the rest of the people; yes that place next to the smoking room." Fionn McCool was tres cool filled with well dressed urbanites standing, shouting and leaving no room for a casual pint. Down Here was pumping out hiphop and we all giggled when they said, "Cover charge !" to us and the empty bar. We came home. November 20 05

This is the article (well the article she links to, not Martine's blog post) where I stand up, grab a few shoulders of people I work with and shout, "See !! See !! I told you they were not real !! Wake up people !!"

i know his 15 second of fame are now officially over when Jeopardy asks, "What is WoW?"

For about 5 months or more the computer, which sits on my desk, has been doing a little rattling. If I typing or playing a mouse-active game it rattles subtly in a distant tinny sound. I just reached over and pushed the computer aside 2cm and it stopped. I should have done that a long time ago. November 18 05

Gee is right, this is the best action figure ever. Now as for Mega Gir, all I can say is, "Grrrrrr..."

I used to pronounce the word awry as awe-ree, having only read it in books and never connected the word said on TV and movies to that word written down. It best describes today.

I actually got up early, for a day off, went out before 11am and took my bills along with me to pay. One check (ok three, but only one was mine) deposited and bills paid and I was stopping by the store to do an over-the-phone walkthrough of the driver update for a POS (cash register computer) keyboard. I had disassembled and reassembled a replacement POS last night but the real IT guys in Cali had to do driver updates. It was my day off but it shouldn't have taken long. Then I could head off, buy things for J (MegaGir !!) and come back to do laundry, dishes & dinner and work on D&D game. Three and a half hours later I was still at the store and I was covered in a computer's 6 1/2 years worth of dust. I had also diffused a CSI (customer service issue) and foiled a shoplifter... finally we had called Fat Bathroom Lady to task. She won't be in again. A half day had been put in.

As I left it was snowing and much much colder. I was without scarf or gloves. But for that the rest of the day went as planned but for the grand time delay. So now laundry is in, dishes are not and dinner is a mystery. I will have D&D. November 18 05

Below are not the tags from my De.li... I can never remember the quaint breakup that Delicious uses but below are Ed Bilodeau's tags inputted via Javascript. November 18 05

I don't know how enjoyable it would be but I cannot resist an RPG with a title like Kobolds Ate My Baby.

All I can say is that Daisy is most likely ~~Japanese~~ Korean and does some incredible papercraft ! (thanx joe)

OK, the story is about how Digg Just Might Bury Slashdot. For those of you who are not techheads, Slashdot (or /. if you like) is the ultimate in geek discussion sites. It is basically weblog styled with daily posts and a bid for comments. At times getting "slashdotted" meant getting thousands of people hitting your site at once. Digg combines the idea of "social bookmarking" (bookmarks stored publically instead of on your own computer) with the discussion blog. So you read a story and then "dig it" adding it to your own list of kewl linx.

Now it's not the tech that catches my attention but the person behind it. At the Wired story, there is Kevin Rose's little face attached. In my opinion Kevin Rose is the first true webgeek celebrity, combining cred with a personality made for the media. He's everywhere instead of fading once his on-air Screensavers / AOTS exposures went south. Most saw him leaving those shows because they lost the credibility and most would expect a geek who left TV to disappear. Nuh uh, he's out there and still making quite the name for him. If I was 14 he is who I would like to grow up to be. November 17 05

So this week past I started taking lessons at the International Taoist Tai Chi Society. This is the first time in my life I have ever done anything healthy or active (sports, exercise, etc.) in my life. Oh I have played but I have never sought out physical activity. But now that I can feel my body changing and failing in areas it never had before, I think it's time.

Yes, I understand that this is not actually all that physical but I have to impress upon you how much stretching is involved. And for someone who has never chose to stretch beyond reaching for a heavy box above his head, I can really feel this. I also like the idea that I can teach my body a bit of flow, a bit of coordination. I need it. Lastly, it is said that many mental and physical benefits come as side effects of the meditative nature of the exercise. THAT I need desperately. November 17 05

Oh dear. Star Trek fans, calling themselves Trekkers, gave us the documentary Trekkies as the rest of us call them. Now we also get LotRs fans called Ringers.

OK, the fibonacci broccoli is a great image of those broccoli cauliflower mixes but it makes me wonder. Are they actual crossbreeds or just green cauliflower? (found via photojunkie)

As Jer mentioned Child's Play is the Penny Arcade created charity drive that gives kids in hospitals gifts from their Amazon Wishlist. For example, here is the Toronto Sick Kids Hospital Wish List. I am usually much more cynical about charity drive kind of stuph, as the amount of administrative crapola often outweighs the actual giving -- many directors of national charities take in a great big fat paycheck -- but Penny Arcade says right out that they get nothing. They are just using their name and audience to get it going. I like. November 16 05

"It's currently 12:38am on Wednesday in Toronto. There are 0 places you can get booze right now."

The Beer Hunter is a website that uses GoogleMaps API and some clever knowledge to tell you where to buy beer. (via joey)

Yay! You can finally Create Images for Black Garments at CafePress.com.

Heh. We are all now required to blog about J's incredible baked bread, made entirely from scratch. She is my baking goddess. Remember folks, i am not called toast for nothing.

I just realized I don't really have a "i find this funny" category and considering 29 no-nos for gamers over age 30 made me snicker, I shall call it that. (via you, geek, which I never get tired of saying)

When I watch two BitTorrent downloads going along, both for the same thing but from different sources (as in different files names) of which I institued to grab the first one that completes, when one stops and the other starts up again, could I be seeding myself? November 12 05

This year seems to be all about, "Wow. Something something is still around." So, wow Barbelith is still around.

Woo hoo ! ThatEasyLife is back to blogging. Now, Gary, poke your SO to do some more drawrings.

Last night, walking down Queen W a nice young man tried to press a lil card into my hand. I usually ignore these shills as I am not going to be seeing a Richmond St club anytime I know of. BUt as I passed a little further I realized it was for the new Xbox 360. So, what they hey, I turned around and went down the stairs to the preview event.

Event is exagerating things in the extreme. It was more an excuse for media types and VIPs ("Sorry, this is the VIP room.") to gather and schmooze. I do not begrudge VIP events but why even let a little open to the public? Out front they had four 360s with demo games installed. Two demo games -- one hockey, one shootem. So all you could really learn was that the controllers were nice and the menu screens are realllly pretty. I knew that already. November 12 05

Yoinks !! Rachel Gets Fruity, where that S Club girl gets you to touch yourself.

Still not in bed cuz Brett Lamb's ROM cartoon is making me giggle.

Oh I should be in bed but here we get local comic blogging at Comics.212.net. He works at The Beguiling, the most impressive and intimidating comic store in the city.

Hey, I am too tired to comment so it's The Food Section, a food bloggie rather than a foodie blog.

I know that most televangelist shows are like infomercials but one this morning is actually being marketed as an infomercial. All i know is that they have a number down below for you to call and their smarmy bastard will convince God to give you money saying, "The Lord God will supernatually give you miracle money !!" I am not religious but that kind of thing offends me. Next thing will be the Christian WeightLoss Program -- you don't have to do anything but pray. Christian Weightloss Program is part of a healthy lifestyle requiring regular exercise and extreme dieting; results will vary. November 10 05

Make note of this Email to Blog post so I can start using my Blackberry for something again.

Making a note of interest for girl in black because of a fun drunk blogging post.

I had completely forgotten about Neumu, the place that V intro'd me.

Over at the Pooh place, I read about a nasty run-in with trick or treating teens, this Oct31 past. I was aghast at their behaviour and even more at the parent's lack of response. Then I remembered where I work. It's not every day but I am amazed at how many examples I have of really terrible examples of parenting.

Mother puts the yelling two year old on the counter while she does a return. Kids reaches for various things including grabbing stuff out of the manager's hands and pressing buttons while the manager tries to refund a debit transaction. Very distinctly the manager asks the mother to control the child as he cannot complete the return. She talks sternly at the kid and that's about it -- and he obviously doesn't listen. Kids with muddy boots climb on $4000 sofas and parents ignore it while they buy $20 candles. Kids tear around the store at incredible speeds and destroy a display with parents only reaction, "See I told you not to run." Why don't people curb their children anymore? Why don't kids fear the recriminations of their parents anymore? When I was a kid I at least feared the response of the stranger who ran the store even if I was in a mood to ignore mom.

And thus this post creates a new category: Curmudgeon. November 08 05

Weird. Through all my fascination with the Coca-Cola bottle and logo (when asked why I drink Coke instead of Pepsi, if I don't really taste a difference, I answered, "I like the Coke bottle better.") I have never thought of Coke as a cool (kewl) beverage. It seems they are trying to change that with the introduction of some funkified deziney bottles. There is the main site, which focuses on the designers themselves and then there is the bottle gallery. Will we see it in stores? I doubt it.

Now the interesting thing is how I blogged this. I saw the original mention at JuliaSet but did a Google search to find some more references, perhaps a news story or another more media-ish blog post. Thus the above link to CoolHunting. Why did I do that? Is blogging so meta now that original source links and original opinion is not valid without references to where you heard about the source and examples of better writing on it? I knew someone out there would find out why Coca-Cola was doing this so I searched.

But really, considering how unlikely it will be that the three convenience stores in my neighbourhood will carry it, it's unlikely I will ever see the bottles. Maybe I should start going to the club district. Dodging bullets, knives and more than a few skanks should be worth a neato bottle or two. November 08 05

On the way home I was hoping to say ta-ta to Jer & wN who had spent the after noon watching anime with J. Then I stopped for milk at the Chinese Man's convenience store. There are three convenience stores within spitting distance of our store. Two are run privately and one is a Macs 24 hr. The Chinese Man loves to chat. He chats with everyone who comes in from the 12 year old wannabe hoods to the various semi professionals who live in the midlevel apartment towers around his store.

I think he wants to be the local community shop owner who knows everyone and chats and smiles with all. Unfortunately he reminds me of that uncle who had a story for me everytime I came in and found him sitting at our kitchen table, my mother doing her best to do her house work while tossing out the occasional, "Mmm hmm?" She would look a look of relief when she saw me get stuck in a chair listening to stories that my own 10 year self had no basis in understanding.

Last night's talk was about chinese university students, here versus the ones in China. According to him many of the students here are the ones who failed to pass the entry exams in China but had rich parents (aka government officials) while the students in China have to be both smart AND rich. Rich poor students in China don't have a chance to see university. I like that he is educating me about places I will never see and cultures I only hear of in passing from friends whose families are long time canadians. But a part of me sees that uncle and is desperately waiting for the next customer to come in and release me.

I suppose this could be karmic response to the fact that I never return their movies on time and his wife, who doesn't understand the movie POS system, never charges me late fees. November 07 05

Seeing the pictures of the store called Sweet Kitty, The Anime Store it makes me think they took a half dozen Pacific Mall shops and shoved them into one environment.

OK, we played with some settings, killed some graphic enhancements and lowered some prettiness. But City of Heroes is pretty much playable again. I really think it was something they did recently; perhaps made some graphics able to be turned off that were added during the last big push. Now, with that said perhaps we might see me in City of Villains soon?

With that said, I am pondering my first villain. So many of the options are so Spawn like stereotypical that I am not interested in doing so. I am thinking of recreating my suit & tophat skeleton and playing the entire game with a badly done british accent. Waddya think? What sort of villain should I be, besides the innevitable Burnt Toast? November 06 05

Rather than gasp at the tons of ads in the new dooce design, I just decided to click some of the ads and give her some money to help raise her family.

I fell into a nest of hornets when I was about 10 years old. I was stung over 25 times and it gave me the fright of my life which still clings to me today. Today I saw the video link for Hornets From Hell and it is about the Giant Japanese Hornet. At 2.5 inches long, I am already peeing my pants. No trips to the mountains of Japan for me. November 05 05

Hey everybody, hug that orc guarding a chest in a ten by ten room !! It's National Dungeons and Dragons Day tomorrow !! Or today, by the time you read this. (via joan, another female j who plays The Game)

Sylloge; old school blogging that i don't remember reading back then but i do remember having on my permalinks.

A few things to remember. Answer emails almost immediately or you will forget them until 7 weeks later and by then, a response seems odd or even rude. Forget about logging back into that Hotmail account; you never use it and there is no need to keep such a unique account name in your domain of control. The same probably goes for Yahoo. Not using either account does not kill your ability to use their associated IMers. And regularly clean out email boxes like you should also clean out your fridge. November 03 05

Once again I feel like reading a post, a post about couple of Anil's opinions of Interestingness (another idea of giving value to things on the web based on their popularity) and the associated rebuttals and then give my own opinions. But, I am just going to link to it instead.

So it's been about a week away from the keyboard. We had a guest in the guest slash computer room and while I did have access to the media slash J's computer, I do my blogging from here.

A few things on the go. Turned 38 the week past and I feel old. Maybe it's the trucker belly that is uncomfortable to sleep on, maybe it's the almost-40 and in neutral (workwise) and maybe it is because I actually am. I collected my usual fair of popculture from friends and J -- finally I can watch Jeremiah Johnson in it's entirety instead of just a few minutes here and there when it runs on A&E on sundays. And it's appropriate that I am watching Band of Brothers considering the time of the year.

Speaking of gifts, on the day in question J and I did our dinner at our favourite mexican resto here at Yonge & Eg (Mariachi just south of Eg) and on the walk there I was wondering if something was up. We had sent out emails to the usual crowd and everyone, including the guest, replied that they had other plans. Every plan sounded plausible but the coincidence was amazing. So of course they were all at the resto when we arrived. Cards were passed, beer was imbibed and I ate far too much. I paid for it the rest of the night. Oh, and cake was eaten -- Dufflet cake, gawdamn heavenly cake! Thanks for coming folks!! And after all these years J still knows how to make me grin in appreciation.

The week with the guest (p.s. since when am I so anonymous? it was the geeky ent by the way) was a way-stressful week at work. I know, I know people who know me never hear me stop but things were grandly stressful. The largest seasonal sale of The Store's year was happening -- we were down at least half a dozen bodies with inexperienced occasionals taking up the slack, managers calling in sick and customer tensions at an all time high. There is a point in stress where you no longer get annoyed or angry or upset but feel tired all the time. That was me, burnt and exhausted but not due to overt hours. Sure I worked a day-off and some extra hours here and there but really it was the environment and seeing all the people who were on day 11 of a no-break stretch. It's over now so the lack of bodies is balanced by a normal 100% customer ratio.

Pop culture is still being absorbed at a high speed downloaded rate. Watched the new D&D movie the other night in all it's badly acted, horribly scripted, tons of in-jokes glory. Still, it was strangely better than the hollywood first movie. On the weekend the rest of the gang giggled at MST3K while I fell asleep. On Monday, gKent and I went to see MirrorMask and I fell asleep a couple of times. Too much imagery turned a switch in my brain. Will have to see it again with J and any other Gaiman slash McKean fans who want to come. My current loo-read is an atomic age Green Latern paperback digest that gKent gave me -- lots of weak stories, silly villains and less than a stellar understanding of science; I love old comics. And I haven't rolled a ball all week. November 03 05

This makes me frown. The problem with letting the entire domain of the internet pretend they are experts (ala Wiki World) is that many of them don't have a gorram clue about what they are talking about. The dolphin chick attitude in How to Exercise an Open Mind annoys me. Essentially it is just telling us to "try new things" over and over and over. And of course their response to my opinion of this posting would be, "Well you obviously don't have an open mind." *grump* November 03 05