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October 31, 2003
Girls pummel man who exposed himself
I know I've given CNN a hard time lately, but God bless them for bringing us this little piece of Reuters gold.
October 30, 2003
Wildfire Update
The death toll is now 20, as several people succumbed to the fire yesterday afternoon including one firefighter in the San Diego region.
CNN has finally posted a very good map showing all the fires in the area. Each flare is clickable and will give you a bit more information.
Click here to see it.
October 29, 2003
New Gallery: Our New Car
After months of wishing we could afford one, and weeks of shopping after deciding to buy one anyways, we finally have a car.
Our beautiful 1996 Jetta Trek is outfitted with fancy-pants European badges and weirdo tweaker struts. There are all sorts of aftermarket and performance parts that we have no need for, but since we're true consumers, enjoy nonetheless.
Here's the rundown:
Black exterior, black interior. Paint has a few dings on the bumpers from other careless drivers, but is otherwise excellent. Interior is very clean and shows minimal wear.
- roof rack (holds two bikes)
- Ground Control Coilovers -- 300lb/in front, 200lb/in rear
- Bilstein sports at all 4 corners
- VR6 strut bearings front, polyurethane rear
- 6-spoke factory option 14" wheels
- 195/60-14 Falken Azenis tires
- Autotech chip
- Autotech front strut bar
- Autotech short shift kit
- Missing LinkZ shifter upgrade
- Evolution tuning mesh grill
- Euro vento H4's
- VR6 euro chin
- blacked out rear VW badge
- "Vento GT" rear badge
- smoked side markers
- ATE powerdiscs and new Ferrodo pads (500 miles.. just bedded in)
- AM/FM cassette / 6-cd changer
- upgraded tweeters in the front
- platinum plugs
Panther is upon us
Apple released their new operating system dubbed Panther today. Over 150 new features make it "Like having an all-new Mac."
This will raise the bar for personal computing across all platforms. The G5 can go head to head in almost any application with almost any PC on the market. The competition is meaningful for the first time in years. I will never turn my back on the PC, but I'm not sure how much longer I can go on without a Mac.
Check out this demo of the new Mac OS windows management scheme, called Expose
October 28, 2003
Maya 3d now available for free
PS - This guy rules
Matt Taylor is the coolest thing out there. Everyone seems to have just discovered his brand of all-too hip illustration. I, for one, can't get enough of it.
Check him out: www.matttaylor.co.uk
Pin the tail
... on the swine-face.
This image is from a site that my company runs. This is a Pin The Tail game from a children's activity called Barnyard Party. I ask you, where must one pin the tail in order to win the game?
Fire in the sky
The sky around me is tinted gold and filled with ash, falling impossibly slowly. It's warm and the smell of smoke has temporarily subsided, sure to return when the winds change again. It looks vaguely like the world has been After Effects'ed, and none too subtly. I'm sure it's a beautiful day, but the beauty is hard to recognize one is so plainly aware that the yellow air we're breathing contains pieces of the homes of thousands of ousted families.
There are 15 deaths reported. Over 1100 homes are destroyed and thousands more evacuated. Over half a million acres have been devastated. None of the fires are more than 20% contained. There are 10 distinct fires currently burning and at least two of them are being blamed on arson. Many of my friends and coworkers have their friends and families staying with them because their own homes are no longer safe, or no longer standing.
The California wildfires have been declared a major disaster in affected parts of California, and there is no estimate on when they may be controlled or subdued.
Elliott Smith Tribute Show
Yes, it's already sold out.
But I still think it's worth mentioning.
An all-star cast of indie rockers have collected to perform in honor of the recently departed Elliott Smith. The performances will be preceded by a screening of Steve Hanft’s experimental documentary "Strange Parallel," featuring Elliott Smith. Tickets are $20 and available only at www.ticketweb.com. All proceeds go to benefit the Elliott Smith Foundation for Abused Children. Doors are at 6pm and all ages are welcome. The Henry Fonda "MusicBox" Theatre is located at 6126 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, CA (323) 464-0808.
The Elliott Smith Foundation
2658 Griffith Park Blvd. #195
Los Angeles, CA 90039
For additional information, visit www.sweetadeline.net.
PS - There is a memorial in Silverlake not far from Elliott's home. Visit it at:
Solutions 4334 W. Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Racist Spiders
These racist spiders are of the opinion that painting your legs with nail polish and vibrating will get you laid.
Honestly, the shit we read at CNN...
October 27, 2003
California Wildfires
The Old Fire, Grand Prix Fire and the Simi Valley Fire are closest to us here in LA. The Grand Prix Fire is in Rancho Cucamunga, about 40 miles due east of my workplace, while the Old Fire and Simi Valley Fire flank it on either side. None of the three are in any way contained and there is no sign that they may be subdued any time soon. All weekend, we've been watching the news and breathing the ash from these fires, the closest of which is an hour's drive. Thousands have been evacuated and the current conservative estimate is that 13 are dead. Police suspect arson in at least two of the fires (Grand Prix, Old).
Meanwhile the Cedar Fire has closed schools and some workplaces, and killed 11 in the San Diego area.
October 24, 2003
...then I don't want to be right
Meghan's latest entry sent me to a strange and wonderful place where I was certain I shouldn't be. I laughed, I cried (mostly for having just laughed), and I read the entire page.
Ready to smile wide while feeling very badly about yourself? Then visit The Tard Blog.
WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!
PS - This never would have happened is the Sci-Fi channel hadn't threatened to sue NASA.
October 22, 2003
Elliott Smith dead at 34
 |
Elliott Smith August 6, 1969 - October 21, 2003 |
Apparently, Elliott Smith committed suicide last night in his Los Angeles home. He was found by his girlfriend with a single, self-inflicted stab wound in his chest.
After a somewhatscandalouss life, this will surely beconsideredd an equallyscandalouss death. I won't eulogize the man here, since anyone reading this entry is probably aware of who he was, what he did, and what he meant. Suffice to say that we've lost one of the most important, talented, and influential songwriter's in history, and one who meant as much to me as a stranger possibly could.
Nobody broke your heart,
You broke your own because you can't finish what you start."
CNN
Elliott Smith Mini- Repository
October 21, 2003
Get Crispy
Click here for some fresh new beats, yo.
Coming up roses
I don't want to write this entry for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's just not my style to trumpet the sunny goings-on of the world around me. I typically find myself more comfortable, well, whining. Secondly, anything I tell you here, probably won't be news to any of you who are regular readers of my girlfriend's amazing new blog, The Red Carpet. Thirdly, if something is going well, the only surefire way to ruin it is to recognize publicly how well it's going.
That said, everything is awesome. Micki and I had several opportunities pop up in recent weeks. We'd have been thrilled if one or any of them came through, but it looks now like pretty much everything is falling neatly into place.
1- I was offered a permanent position at the firm where I've been consulting for the past three months. I was hired at a severely cut rate, simply because the position I fill did not exist at the time. They expected to keep me on for a week or two, so the rate seemed to make sense. My conversion to full time will bring with it benefits, insurance, security, and the equivalent of a $17k raise.
2- Micki quit her waitressing job yesterday in favor of 8-9 weeks of work on an indie film starting friday. She'll be working for our buddy Jane Gulick in the props department. Not Micki's line of work necessarily, but a learning experience and a hell of a lot more money and fun than a PA gig.
3- I've had several smaller companies approach me for web site design or programming recently. I'm planning on taking two of the projects and getting a great rate. The projects will serve to rejuvenate my stagnating portfolio as well as toss me some extra money to put towards...
4- The car we're gonna buy!. We saw it, we drove it, it's in the garage right now getting checked out. I expect to hear from them this hour and then, barring and unforeseen circumstances, make the plans to make the purchase.
5- Micki has a little thing going on of her own. I don't think I'm at liberty to discuss it in this forum, but suffice to say, it's a good thing. A $5000 good thing.
Well, I'll have ruined everything by the time you read this. Feel free to write me an email or leave a comment with your condolences.
October 20, 2003
Could it be?
Could Warner Bros. really be preparing to shoot Goonies 2?
Or is it all just too good to be true?
Rumors abound: 1, 2, 3.
October 19, 2003
Software, Guitars & Handcuffs
I stumbled across a site called Surplus Computers, which apparently used to be called Software and Stuff. I spent a few minutes looking around before I meandered into a section called simply "Cool Stuff." Here, I was offered discount acoustic guitars, surge protectors, voltage meters, handcuffs, Refurb TiVo's, and an army of laser and led keychains. Nothing I jumped on, but it's worth a look.
The main site has some pretty good deals on everything from cases to mods, to power tools. Lots of power tools.
October 18, 2003
Attention SLSKers!
I thought something was up when all of a sudden the web site looked shitty, the logo was wrong, and all the links (navigational and otherwise) tried to autoinstall something that didn't appear to be a SLSK client...
on behalf of Nir & Rosalind Arbel,
Sean / Proteus93 (Slsk Administration)
The ONE AND ONLY official Soulseek web site is located at www.slsknet.org.
New version 149c was released last week, get it here: www.slsknet.org.
DO NOT download from any other "SLSK" web site.
In the meantime, I invite anyone with any haxor prowess to begin immediately ruining the lives of those associated with Mainpean Stardialer.
October 17, 2003
P2P: the final frontier
I've had a few friend and a handful of emails recently discussing the do's and do-not's of P2P file-sharing. Rather than air my dirty P2P laundry again, I thought I'd just drop a couple of facts on you and maybe a link to my last P2P article.
Those people who have found themselves on the bad end of the beating stick were caught sharing what the RIAA determined to be an inordinate number of files. Supposedly, the RIAA was only going to target major violators; people who had shared "over one thousand copyright-protected files" within a certain span of time. This, of course, was not the case. Their exact determining factors of criminal behavior continue to be a mystery to the rest of us.
Abstinence is the best protection. IP encryption programs will not save you. Blocking IP's from your system will not save you. Using the new, hip P2P that you think no one has heard of yet is not going to keep you out of harm's way. P2P services can not prevent entities from viewing very detailed information about users, and may be subpoenaed if they do not cooperate. Kazaa is not going to prison for you.
Taking certain steps can make you a tougher target and that's really all you can hope for.
I like indie rock. I really only listen to independent music. You are more likely to get busted sharing Britney Spears tracks, than say, Garrison tracks (not that I'd put it past Revelation). If you're worried, do not share copyrighted material on license from major labels. This is common sense. On the other hand, if you are not willing to share, you have no place downloading. P2P is a community and there is no room for takers. Most people with ban or block you if you are not take on some of the burden yourself.
Here are a few ways to make life ever-so-slighty more difficult for the RIAA:
Boycott RIAA
Anonymizer
Chilling Effects
Check out my July article on P2P sharing for information on which clients are rocking the free world.
Hell Froze Over
iTunes for Windows
The Apple web site declares loudly today that "Hell Froze Over," and it seems that it may very well have.
First, they drop long-time partners Motorola as the manufacturer of their core processor technology. Then, they replace them with former arch nemesis IBM, a company whose name was once synonymous with the term "PC." IBM adapted the Mac G- CPU structure to more closely resemble that of a PC chip, allowing the item to be clocked in a more universal fashion. Now, the core clock speed of a Mac chip can be held up against that of a PC chip and actually mean something.
Apple then shifted their bus-structure to a more standardized system, and even released their most recent machine, the G5, in a brushed aluminum case that all but dares you to cut a big window in the side and flood it with cold cathode lights. Seems that Apple is even more serious about potential "crossover" business than we may have suspected.
Last year, Apple released the iPod for Windows. Widely regarded as the superlative MP3 hardware on the market, and indeed lightyears beyond the competition with regard to hard- and soft- interface and solid-state storage architecture, the purest of hardcore PC purists couldn't keep from drooling over the iPod. Apple realized that a Windows release was nothing if not a good idea.
The iPod schema has always integrated hardware and software seemlessly, thanks to the brilliantly assembled audio catalog/player that is iTunes. In developing a Windows iPod, Apple had to think long and hard about how to fulfill the software side of the deal. In the end, they decided not to port iTunes to Windows, but instead to work with MusicMatch to develop an MP3 system that Apple believed to be up to snuff. The advances they made with Super Tagging and formatting were huge, and the resulting Jukebox 8 is truly one of the better items in it's class, but apparently Apple was not entirely satisfied with the arrangement. Apple.com now has a download of iTunes for Windows available online, and this may be the greatest day of my life.
Now, to get me an iPod...
PS - The above post is in no way a show of support for the iTunes iStore or any other such nonsense. Pay-by-song music is idiotic for any number of reasons and I would like to be sure that while I absolutely ADORE the iTune player and cataloging agent, I do not approve of the movement towards an iStore society. Check out this page for more.
October 16, 2003
The BIG Bay Area Chess Game
There will be a human-sized chess match taking place in San Francisco this saturday, the 18th. People will play the parts of the chess men and city block will play the part of the board. Apparently, the two players are somewhat reknown chess champions. This could be fun. Or incredibly, mind-numbingly boring.
October 15, 2003
You know how some people are just cooler than others?
Behold: Angle-Grinder Man
October 14, 2003
The Dumbest Dummy
... in the whole dumb world
I can't stop watching Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica.
I just can't, my own dignity be damned! Now I defy you to read this article and then fight the urge to watch the show yourself.
The Red Carpet
So I finally got around to building a blog site for Micki. It took forever because I'm a lousy boyfriend and a lazy slob. But it came out very nice because I'm the best boyfriend and a brilliant web designer.
Just kidding. The fact that the site is enjoyable at all is entirely due to Micki's almost scary fanatacism. The Red Carpet will feature a blog, photo gallries, a guest registry, and several other sections showcasing Micki's latest projects, film reviews, and shopping sprees. This site is going to be a bit larger than Receptacle.
Anyhoo... go visit the 'Carpet.
You know you want to.
October 13, 2003
I LOVE THIS BAND!
I had never heard of South when The Fly Seville was asked to open a show with them and Elbow. For that matter, I had never heard of Elbow. These two British groups have all but dominated my playlist ever since. South has just released a new album called With The Tides and I just can't seem to get it out of my cd player.
Rock them.
October 09, 2003
MYSTIC RIVER
Well, we finally saw it.
And here's what I thought.
We arrived last night at 8 o'clock at the Academy of Motion Pictures to see the cast and crew screening of Mystic River. For those who don't know (and don't regularly read this blog), Mystic River is Clint Eastwood's film adaptation of the novel by Boston author Denis Lehane. It's Eastwood's most valid offering since Bridges of Madison County and some are touting it as both his best work and his opus. The story is that of three life-long friends, and the murder that brought them back together. The film, like the book, is heavily dependant on the Boston setting, and to this end, was filmed entirely in Boston. This was also the last film Micki worked on in Boston before we moved out here to the left coast.
Mystic River opens with a flashback and some lackluster acting. Lines are overplayed and the camera moves are anything but subtle. Most of the younger actors are nothing special and gave me a few good cringes within the first few minutes. None of that matters, however, as soon as the first piece of the storyline hits. I instantly associated with the children I found so poorly portrayed only moments before, and before their scene ends, I was convinced I was there in it as well.
Soon, we're in modern day and the company of Sean Penn's Jimmy Markum. Penn's performance is everything it's rumoured to be and, indeed, everything we might expect from him in this role. They have been mutterings of an Oscar nominations coming his way, and the films delayed release date would seem to betray Warner Brother's opinion that this is more than likely.
The rest of the story plays itself out like a crime film, but with more taste and fewer chases. Make no mistake, this is a character piece and the ensamble is as strong as they come. With the exception of the Sean Devine subplot and a few more beat-me-over-the-head camera moves, I found little or nothing in the film that I didn't enjoy.
It was a bit difficult to separate myself from a film my girlfriend spent two months on, and which I spent time wandering the sets of, but in the end, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and that's all that really mattered to me. That and the fact that everyone, everywhere seems to be enjoying it as well.
Exploding cell phones
Nokia say counterfeit batteries are to blame.
I blame the media.
Arnold's been looking at Gray Davis rather suspiciously.
October 07, 2003
He did it
October 06, 2003
Slaps
This is so the best thing ever:
October 05, 2003
Half-Life 2 Source Leak
Following months of rumors and delays, Valve has just announced the latest catastrophe to wreak havoc on the Half-Life 2 release schedule. Someone has gone to great lengths to steal and then make public the Half-Life 2 source code.
Valve valve confirmed that the code is authentic last week. Gabe Newell has an official statement up in the HalfLife2.net forums, which I've posted below.
Gabe
October 04, 2003
The Fire Theft
The Troubadour - 09-30-03
So we went out to the Troubadour to catch The Fire Theft a few nights ago. I'd been sick all week, all but broken my back, and not in great spirits. Our two $15 tickets cost us about $50 thanks to ticketmaster, and I was none too excited about the MP3's of the opening band I'd downloaded... I had a "This better be worth it" attitude about the whole event from the beginning.
It turned out to be one of the better shows I've seen in recent memory.
We turned up at just the right time to scope out the club, grab a decent spot, and hang out for a few before The Fire Theft took the stage. We were both very grateful to have found a great parking spot, missed the opening band, and discovered that the loft floor of The Troubadour has four rows of stadium benches. I planted my tired, sore ass down on the hard wood and prepared myself for what could be a disappointing offering from 3/4 of my favorite all-time band.
Enigk took the stage with a friendly, confident, somewhat modest air, and was greated with thundering applause. "Nice to see you again," he said. He appeared infinately more cheery and balanced than I had ever seen him. In Sunny Day he'd always has a rather tense, mopey air about him that was noticably absent from The Fire Theft's performance.
I was pleasantly surprised to find myself really enjoying the addition of guitarist Bill Dolan (formerly of 5ive Style). He's a great player and has an air about him that more comfotably fits The Fire Theft's idiom than perhaps Dan Hoerner's gangly melancholy.
Their performance was that of a seasoned group of professionals. The sound was near perfect. They played a Sunny Day Real Estate song in their encore. All this from the wreckage of a band who once refused to even play in the state of California. Go see The Fire Theft.
October 03, 2003
Verisign: ixnay on the SiteFinder
For some time now, Verisign has been redirecting users to their own site after submitting requests that could not be resolved. You mistype a URL, you get sent to a Verisign ad page, causing havoc for trouble-shooting ISPs. This highly questionable practice has finally caught the attention of the higher-ups, and apparently Verisign has until 6pm today to remove this function. As my boss put it: "ICann totally put the smack-down."
KB Toy Store Class Action
From October 8-14 all $30+ order from KB or any KB subsidieryies will qualify for a 30% discount. Apparently, there was a class action lawsuit against them for one reason or another. I'm told that video game hardware and software are excluded from this offer. Why? I don't know. Happy?
Pixel fonts and the smoking gun
Flash MX 2004 has pretty much put the kaibash on the pixel font. Apparently, the new Flash has the ability to convert custom fonts to pixel fonts and embed that version into the movie on publish. Crazy, right?.
Here's the skinny, though:
Flash doesn't use the vector rednering of the font to draw the pixel font version. It uses the fonts embedding hinting. Hinting is a set of rules embedded in a font's rendering information, just like kerning and leading. It determines how a font will be drawn when displayed for screen. This keeps the spaces that the font characters, or glyphs, on even pixels and prevents strange shapes and accidental fills. Flash was unable to make use of this information in the past. Now it can. Sorta.
Zeh Fernando has written an in-depth article on the subject and can explain it far better than I.
October 02, 2003
the QVC Ladder Incident
This is kinda old news, but I didn't have time to post it before. So don't bother telling me how late and lame it is, just watch it again and try not to pee on your shows.
Sweet, sweet revenge
Boy am I a lousy blogger, right? No updates in a week? And let's look back at my last few entries... Not really vying for the Pulizter are we? Well, I have an excuse. I've been beyond busy at my new job, and beyond beyond busy at home afterwards trying to get my web affairs in order for a few project proposals I've just submitted. All this time staring at a computer (and having the bugger stare back just as hard) has really made me long for something not wholly unlike the "First Open Computer Destruction Championship", which took place recently in the central Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya.