RoverPundit

Linux R0xx0rs

Don't know if anyone's been following this story regarding a bunch of "xBox-security researchers" attempting to blackmail Microsoft into building them a custom Linux bootloader, but Gabe at Penny Arcade sums up my feelings on the issue with this little comic:

Deliciously cruel.

To the idiots threatening MS, remember: they owe you nothing. You want it, you build it.

Friday Five

I can't be troubled to think of anything entertaining today, so this Friday Five thing is a lifesaver. Yes, I know it's just another indicator of how low I've sunk, but hell. It's Friday, and I will soon be drunk.

Here we go...

1. How are you planning to spend the summer?

Working and drinking. In that order. Woe, woe is me. Oh, and partying. It's a hard life.

Camp Counselor. 15 spoiled 8 year olds. Those who know me ought to get a kick out of that mental image.

A mystical land, where the words "work", "debt", and "hangover" have no meaning, where I could lie around all day cultivating my lecherous eye bronzed, Appolonian physique beer gut. Failing that, I hear Spain's nice this time of year.

Roadtrip from Ft. Worth, TX to Detroit, MI in an 88 Olds with electrical problems. You remember the 80's Oldsmobiles? The ones that talked to you? "THE DOOR IS AJAR?" Well, the voice got stuck on the first day. Two weeks of "THE DOOR IS AJAR" sounding every 10 minutes.

Roadtrip with She Who Must Be Adored. 5700 miles. 16 days. One hospital visit. Camping in the Washington coast rain forest. Sea kayaking among bald eagles and seals in Qualicum Bay. Falling asleep to the sound of the waves on the shores of Lake Okanagan. Horseback riding and mountain biking in Banff. Two and a half weeks of heaven.

Of course, Ali was there. How could it be other than heaven?

Well, party people, the mountains call to me. I'll see ya'll on Monday.

Challenge?

Kelly threw down the Gauntlet (I loved that game! "Warrior needs food!" Ahem...) in the comments here and in an e-mail, posting a respectable 46.35108% 'Super Geek' score on this test.

I, however, weighted down with years and experience, posted a 64.2998% 'Extreme Geek'. Not that this should surprise anyone that knows me, though. Hell, even people walking by notice this quality right away.

This leaves me only two tests to go to secure my superiority. Expect results later.

And no, I would never lie about something that makes me look this socially inept.

Brain food

Slow day at work, so I thought I'd share a link or two.

Kuro5hin is hosting a 4 part tutorial on the Theory of Relativity. Only parts 1 and 2 are up at the moment.

Part 1, History

Part 2, Special Relativity

If you're still bored, try googling "Femtosecond Spectroscopy." Interesting stuff.

Please?

Walter, please tell me you took Matt home...

If not: Matt, please let me know you got home in one piece.

Sorry

Went to post last night, and found that Alison's internet had been turned off. Not for anything bad. She's getting cable, so she called Qwest and told them to turn it off at the end of the billing cycle. So I blew my goal of a post a day in less than a week. Ooops.

To make matters worse. I woke up this morning with a slightly sore left shoulder which mutated throughout the day into incredibly painful spasms that left me gasping for air. A quick trip to the doctor, who wrote me happy slips of paper and told me to go home and stay there. A long drive home, a big dinner, a muscle relaxant, a vicodin or two, and gin makes Matt a happy, or at least very peaceful, boy.

Basically, I'm searching for forgiveness, riding a wave of prescription painkillers, and drinking Bombay Sapphire. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. Hell, I'd just like to be able to use my left hand again.

Enough whining. Later.

Fame

Got a call last night from Dave Cullen, who's writing a piece on blogs for 5280 magazine. He's already interviewed Andy and Steve, and the deadline to the article had passed, but he said that his editor was looking for a few good blogs to fill out the sidebar. Well, if this site is good for anything, it's filling dead space(or being dead space.)

I was doing ok in the interview thing until he asked me to describe my blog in 3 words/terms. Damned if I could figure out a consistent feature or trait on this thing, besides absence, and we hemmed and hawed and finally settled on something moderately amusing and sufficiently generic. After that I extended an invitation to a blog gathering, he noted the date, and my 15 minutes of fame came to an end.

So keep an eye open for the August issue of 5280.

For my more ambitious readers, I have a challenge: Think of three things that describe this blog. It'll be interesting to see what different people think.

Lost

Is anyone else having problems getting to Lileks.com today? I can't open or ping it by name or IP.

I need my Lileks.

Update: Now I can't get to RantBurg either. This is just not turning into a good day.

Update the Second: Rantburg's back. Still no sign of the great one, though.

Update the Last: Lileks is back! Oh, joyous day!

Excuses...

Ahem...

I ran out of gas! I got a flat tire! I didn't have change for cab fare! I lost my tux at the cleaners! I locked my keys in the car! An old friend came in from out of town! Someone stole my car! There was an earthquake! A terrible flood! Locusts! IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!

With that out of the way, I'm back. Well, as back as I'll ever be.

Where to start, where to start...

This last month has been a bit busier than I'm used to, though that is not by any means a bad thing. There have been parties - boy, have there been parties - there have been days at work that left me curled in the fetal position, cradling my RSI stricken wrists to my chest; there have been quiet times with friends and family, and there have been quiet times where everybody just left me the hell alone. Sometimes it's just necessary, even for someone as non-productive as myself, to unplug and let life rush by me with honking horns and raised fingers.

I've still been reading a fair deal (hey, you can only write shell scripts for so long), followed all of the Moxie vs. Moxie drama, whatched the juvenile spitting matches that the blogosphere is famous for, and generally kept up to date. I just couldn't bring myself to give a shit. Character flaw? Maybe. Maybe it's just due to the plethora of fine blogs out there saying everything I thought about typing, and saying it better.

I still don't have any clue where I'm going with this thing, after 16 months at the helm. I'm not sure I care anymore. Maybe I should heed Marlon Brando:

“We don’t go anywhere. Going somewhere is for squares. We just go.”

Anyway, I'm going to follow Matt Moore's lead and try to post something every day. Whether I can hold that goal is uncertain, but it's worth a try. My rule about weekends still holds, but the least I can do is hit you up on the weekdays. At least, I think so...

Here we go again.

Bizarre

It looks like Assymetrical Information (formerly Live From the WTC) is no longer with us. The page comes up with "This account is no longer active."

Anybody know what happened here?

PS: I'm ramping up. Taking it easy. Working my way back into it. Pacing myself.

Ok. I'm just fuckin' lazy.

Update: All better now. Seems webhosts are more reliable when you remember to pay them. Funny, that.

Monday...

Me too, most likely.