July 2008 Archives

I can't go a week without going into a book store.  If you count comic books stores then I average two stores a week.  If I am bored and looking for something to do I will almost always end up at the local Books-A-Million or Barnes & Noble.  I suppose it is because I feel comfortable in that environment and that there is always something for me to look at, read, or drool over.  Even bigger than that is the fact that I like books. 

Let's be clear about that though, it is not so much that I have some kind of love for stories which I do, but there is something special about the physical thing that is a book.  I can't really explain it but I enjoy the whole process of reading a book.  This includes holding the book, looking at the cover, turning the pages, etc.  I don't get that same enjoyment out of reading the same material on a computer screen.  Even the fact that something is printed is not the same as reading a book. 

For example, I recently downloaded Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.  Doctorow makes all of his books available for free through Creative Commons licensing.  You can download the books in many formats including .pdf and ebook versions.  I love that Doctorow is experimenting with new distribution models but I find the book is not easy for me to read that way.  I downloaded and printed the book.  Then I used a three hole punch to make it possible for me to put into a notebook.  I have struggled to read the book since I downloaded it and I think it is because of the format in which I am reading the work.  I don't enjoy the experience and thus the book has sat on my end table for a while unread and unloved.  For me, it seems, having that traditional book format is important.

All of this brings me to my current problem.  I buy a lot of books.  Less than some I am sure but more than probably 90% or higher of the population if I had to guess.  My purchases tend to stick to hardbacks although I have recently been buying trade paperback editions of some books.  I have avoided mass market paperbacks for years as they don't hold up very well and don't stick out on my shelves.  As you can probably guess by now, this hobby takes up a lot of room in my house and also represents a significant portion of my lifetime earnings and I am not even talking about my ever expanding comic book and graphic novel collection.  I am practically out of shelf space at this point and have been reduced to culling my collection in order to find space for the new stuff that ends up in the house. 

I don't like having to remove books from my shelves.  I know it is not rational but I always feel like I am loosing something.  The old paperbacks have long been imprisoned in the attic along with most textbooks.  Some of my lesser read coffee table books and fictional reference guides are starting to look like targets for the next purge.  Of course I haven't considered a situation where I would stop buying books.  Such a change in behavior would be very odd.  No, the best solution to my problem is to buy a bigger house so I can finally build that reading room I always wanted. 

So tell me, do you buy books or do you use those things called "libraries" I hear so much about?

I found this spider right on my front porch yesterday. Cool little creature and I hope she gets her fill of flies, mosquitoes, and beetles.

I was visited by a dream I could not classify this morning.  It wasn't scary enough to be considered a nightmare or night terror but it also wasn't exactly cheerful.  In this dream I was stuck at ground zero of the zombie apocalypse. 

I was in a large city, maybe Birmingham but it felt bigger so it might have been Atlanta.  The whole city knew what was coming and most people were trying to get out.  For some reason the exodus was orderly.  The zombies had not yet made it out into the city and the evacuation was very similar to an amusement park closing for the evening.  Think Disney World at park closing and you get the idea. 

I, being very knowledgeable about all things zombie, realized that it was time to gather the supplies and make toward the freeze line.  Zombies don't do well in the cold you know.  I entered what was like a cross between a Home Depot and a mini storage facility to gear up.  It was strange in that it had shelves and shelves of consumer goods but also all of my personal camping and backpacking gear.  There were a few other people in the store/facility but I was the only one grabbing rations and packing my pack.  I grabbed dehydrated food, rope, my smaller pack (bad choice probably), tent, and other supplies.  No clothes though and for some reason that did not bother me.  Maybe they were already in the pack. 

I then started to look for weapons.  If you are going to survive the zombie apocalypse you need weapons.  Melee weapons are crucial but projectile weapons are what keep you alive.  It is much better to take out zombies from a distance than to fight them in close combat but the undead are sneaky little bastards so you best be prepared to lop a head or two off with an ax or katana.  I found a nice ax on one of the shelves, but no guns.  I really wanted a shotgun and a rifle but none were to be found.  This was a home store and not a sporting goods store.  I was as they say, SOL.

I packed up what I had with the intention on finding the guns later and took off out of the store.  That is when I woke up.

Like I said it wasn't frightening, just interesting.  Why would all of my gear be stored in a Home Depot?  Why didn't I store some fire arms with my gear?  What about clothes?  Where was my family?  It seems I am not properly prepared for the zombie apocalypse.  Maybe that was the point of the dream...to tell me to get my stuff together.  It was an odd way to wake up on a Friday morning.  How are you doing with your zombie apocalypse preparations?

*The image above is a cover from Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead painted by Tony Moore.  I have spoken about this comic series before in the old blog and I just want to mention it again.  The Walking Dead is the best comic series going in this reader's opinion.  The collected editions are available in most chain bookstores today so you can check out this series even if you don't have a comic book store around.  The series focuses on human stories in a world that has gone absolutely insane.  Kirkman's work has been so well received that he has recently been named a partner at Image Comics.  This is significant in that NO ONE has been made a partner since the company was founded in 1992.  I just can't recommend this series enough.  Do yourself a favor and read it.  Then, come back and thank me.   

I predict that Blockbuster will not exist in 5 years.  This prediction is based primarily on the idea that film, like music before it, will increasingly be distributed digitally and physical media will all but disappear.  There will always be the small contingent of people that insist on owning a piece of plastic but the majority of consumers will get their content through downloads. 

Evidence of this shift includes the increasing share of music, tv, and movie sales and rentals through services like iTunes and Netflix.  As it becomes easier for consumers to get content delivered directly to them no matter where they are, the need for physical media will diminish.  Of course this spells bad news for companies like Blockbuster that have not found a way to move beyond dealing with tangible products.

Blockbuster is already doomed and digital film downloads are only just now becoming common.  Blockbuster failed to break into the distribution of movies through the mail and Netflix jumped in to fill the void.  Now, Netflix is delivering the killing stroke to Blockbuster by helping develop set-top devices and software that can stream movies directly to the living room.  The Roku player and the recently announced partnership with Microsoft to stream movies via Xbox Live allows Netflix to capitalize on its sizable lead in the alternative distribution of movies.  This development will likely sweep away Blockbuster and other brick and mortar based rental shops in a matter of years.  The only thing left to do to complete this process is for new releases to be made available as streaming content.  Hollywood is still balking at this option, but I hope the execs are learning from the mistakes made by the music industry and that the streaming issue will be settled soon.

In the long run these developments are better for consumers, if not Blockbuster employees.  The day is coming when you can chose to watch any movie or television show ever released on demand.  I for one can't wait!

The last, big life challenge I set for myself revolved around getting a second degree. It took me a little longer than I expected and the long term value of the achievement is still in question, but I have been really pleased that I was able to meet a personal goal that I set for myself. Now that the whole academic thing is over, it is time to turn my attention to the big elephant in the room, my health.

I have a goal weight of 190 lbs. While this may not exactly be considered trim, I have not personally seen that side of 200 since maybe high school so it would be a major accomplishment for me. I need to drop somwhere under 100 lbs. to get to that goal so I think it is doable with a better diet and exercise. The exercise part is what I am working on now. Just getting under 200 would make a difference in my life that I can't even begin to comprehend. Anything after that would be a bonus.

In order to facilitate reaching that goal, I took the plunge and joined the local YMCA. Yes, I know the irony (am I using that word right?) in this situation. It was not exactly an easy choice to make given my lack of faith in the supernatural, but I looked at my options and this was the best solution to multiple problems. As a family we get access to a pool and discounted children's activities and as individuals my wife and I have access to all of the fitness equipment and programs all at an affordable price. I had to compromise my principles just a little bit, but it is not like I joined the Nazi Family Gym. Things have really worked out and I the cost/benefit ratio has been adequate.

Since I began using the facilities I have been able to increase my endurance twofold. My first night I could hardly jog at 4mph for a minute without stopping. Last night I had an average pace of 4.4 mph for 30 minutes. Again, nothing to brag about when compared to people who are already in shape, but for me it is a great improvement. Never in my life, even when I was an "athlete" have I been able to run a full mile but today a 10 minute mile or better seems possible. For someone who has struggled with breathing problems all his life such a run would be cause for celebration.

This lifestyle change has not come without a downside. My legs are taking the brunt of the weight right now and I can't seem to overcome the painful soreness that comes after a run. Today it is my Achilles tendon that is screaming in anguish. Last night I tried some faster section in my run topping out at about 7.5 mph in some parts. I think that was pushing it a little too much and I overextended the tendon. The good news is that I seem to be recovering quicker the more I run. Hopefully in another week or so my body will adjust and I won't have so much pain each morning. Dropping weight should help this problem as well. Let's just hope it doesn't take 4 years like the last big challenge I took on.

I took this picture on a recent trip to the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Alabama.

The place got really crowded so we left after a few hours. I hate that I missed the Nickelodeon show, but the overwhelming mob of rude and selfish people made it a very tense time to be out trying to have fun with my family. I wish I knew what happened to common courtesy in our society.

Is there anything that can make me NOT buy this game?  Seriously, I get to play The Flash?  Sold!



I hope it plays well and I REALLY hope it has Hal Jordan.  I am not usually very good at fighting games, but I have owned several incarnations of Mortal Kombat including the awful Mortal Kombat Mythologies: SubZero.  I like the competition aspect and what makes the game fun is destroying a friend and the trash talk that comes with winning.  To be able to have that experience with some of my favorite comic book characters should be a geek's dream. 

I often wrote about the strange elves that occasionally visit my house on the old blog.  These elves, dubbed the "kick in the nuts elves", always come by at the worst possible times and make my family's life a miserable hell.  Usually this pain comes in the form of some major repair work for my home or one of my vehicles at a time when funds are low or committed elsewhere.  They particularly like to visit during the Christmas season to muck up the works in my heating/cooling system or find a way to destroy mechanical systems in my car.  Whenever they show up there is always something to be fixed and it is always expensive.  It is very frustrating to know that some species of elves delight in making people's lives fantastic but the elves that visit me have a sick fascination with my utter helplessness in the face of unexpected expenses.

Not 24 hours after my wife and I seriously discussed taking a trip to Las Vegas for our anniversary, the kick in the nuts elves stopped by the house.  I can only assume it was sometime when we were at work yesterday.  Why my good-for-nothing dog has not eaten the troublemakers and protected the family homestead is still a mystery but done is done and no use getting mad at the dog for what those sadistic little punks have wrought.

On this visit the elves decided that it was finally time to sound the death knell of my aging hot water heater.  Last night LONG after anyone used ANY hot water, the unit started making a low hissing/humming noise.  This type of noise it not uncommon with water heaters, but it is uncommon for it to continue for hours on end.  I decided to go to bed and check it in the morning.  When the mutt woke me up at 4AM I stuck my head in the closet and sure enough the water heater was still buzzing.  After a series of troubleshooting steps I determined that the pressure release valve was leaking.  So, not only was I using more electricity to heat more water, but I was actually wasting water as it drained out of the release pipe.  The double whammy!  I resigned myself to my fate and decided to replace the unit.

The trip to Vegas has been put on hold with an option to cancel.  The elves have won again.  If I believed in Karma I would be wondering what I have done to deserve the continued scorn of these elves.  Maybe one day they will leave a note explaining why I am the target of their machinations.  Until then I am left wondering how I can appease their appetite for carnage.

Have you been visited by the kick in the nuts elves?

So I came running back to Movable Type.  I begged her to take me back and she did, but things have changed since I left.  I think these changes will help us repair our relationship. 

I am running Movable Type 4.2 Beta Release Candidate 3 right now.  This version is introducing a lot of improvements including threaded comments out of the box.  Right now you have to do a little code patching but I hope that the final release version makes this process easier for users.  There are other improvements as well.  Check out the MT 4.2 Beta page for more information.

I came back to Movable Type for many reasons.  WordPress just didn't suit me.  I had problems getting paragraphs to break properly, I could not use the built in image uploader because it continuously failed, I could not get Flickr integration working properly, and I just didn't like the publishing interface.  I guess I have grown too accustomed to MT.  I know all the problems I had with WP can be fixed, but there just weren't enough reasons to switch to WP to overcome all the frustrations I was having.  On a positive note, I am pretty good at installing Drupal, WP, and MT at this point.  So, if you need some help, give me a whistle.  Then, email me because I won't hear the whistle. 

Since this is beta software some things are a little buggy.  Search, for example, is not working right now.  I assume it will be fixed for the full release.  That is the only problem I have found up to this point, but there might be others.  If you find any problems, please let me know so I can keep an eye on it when the final release is out.

I am done moving platforms at this point.  I learned that new isn't always better and sometimes being comfortable with something is a good thing.  I firmly believe now that Movable Type is the most powerful platform but it is also the most complicated technically.  I am sure there are plenty people that will argue this point, so take it as one pseudo-geek's opinion and nothing more.

It's nice to be home.

If there was any doubt that Nintendo is the driving force behind the video game industry, yesterday's Microsoft E3 keynote went a long way to proving that the little company from Japan is the reigning champion.  Microsoft spent most of the address talking about the Xbox 360 but the spectre of Nintendo was everywhere.  Microsoft announced a new interface for the 360 that will debut in the fall.  Here's a screen shot:




Now, you don't suppose Microsoft got the idea for the "avatars" from Nintendo do you?  They are certainly similar to Mii's don't you think?

It is clear that Microsoft has seen the success of Nintendo's latest console and decided to copy some of the system features.  Microsoft  has long been known for doing such things so this doesn't exactly come as a surprise.  What I find interesting is how a company like Nintendo, that was just about shut out of the console gaming industry a few years ago (Nintendo has been #1 in handheld gaming since the original GameBoy), has been able to turn the industry on its head and get back on top.  Both Sony and Microsoft have been cribbing from Nintendo's innovations with their next gen products with limited success.  Sony tried to copy motion control with their latest controller (and failed from most reports) and now Microsoft is trying to dupe Nintendo's player creation features.  This proves to me that Nintendo is the most relevant player in the gaming industry today.

After playing solely with WordPress for about 24 hours, I am not sure that it is for me.  I miss the professional look and feel of MT 4.  The WP interface feels like a step backwards to me.  I know WordPress is just as powerful as Movable Type and there is a large development community surrounding the product, but the interface doesn't feel right to me.  I think I am going to go back and reinstall MT in a secondary location.  Then, I can run them both side by side and make a better call.  I really wish I could take some of column A and some of column B and create a best of both worlds environment. More to come as it develops.

Five years ago today I decided to play with some blog software to see if I could install it on my own. I was successful and published my first blog post. It had something to do with Froot Loops if I remember correctly. I also remember that I had a major typo in the name of the blog. I typed "A Utter Waste of Time" and didn't realize the mistake until I was heckled by another user on the internet. That pretty much set the standard for my blog experience right up until today. Posts without a point and a succession of horrible typos defined my online image right up to today. Sure on rare instances something of meaning might have wormed its way into the site, but overall I don't consider much of it worth the storage space the 1s and 0s took up. I never meant it to be more than an experiment with what was then a budding technology.

Over the last six months I have occasionally wondered if any of it would continue. There are plenty of reasons to kill the site. Mostly I was worried that I wasn't being fair to myself. I worried that the image I portrayed was not accurate and, quite frankly, not always positive. After I finished graduate school and started thinking about my future both professionally and privately I decided I wanted to take the site in a slightly different direction. I wanted it to continue because many amazing things have happened since I first went live five years ago. Most importantly, I have met a handful of people with whom I have become friends and that alone makes it worth the effort. I also think writing here has made it easier for me to be more sociable in the "real world". There is something freeing when you realize a person knows a bit about you even before you meet. For someone who is naturally very reserved that little thing goes a long way to helping me relax around others. There are other reasons for wanting to keep up the site, but that is something to talk about at another time.

Today marks the soft relaunch of this site. On a purely technical level it has been interesting. I tried several different platforms and was not happy with any of them. On a strong recommendation I tried Drupal. I initially thought it would be the right choice but as I got into the system (after 1.5 hours of struggling with the install, but that too is another story) I found that it wasn't really blog focused. I didn't want to go full CMS so Drupal eventually got the boot. I then went back to MT. MT and I have had a love/hate relationship especially since the release of version 4. Version 4 was such a departure from 3 that even today few styles have been developed for the platform and the performance of the system after I upgraded was horrible. I installed MT because it is comfortable but quickly decided I needed to try something else. That brings us to WordPress which is driving the site today. I am not totally sure that this is the way to go. The abundance of themes is amazing, but MT still seems more developed. I certainly like MT's publishing interface better. WordPress, however, seems a little easier to customize. Overall, however, I think my lack of coding ability is the major deficiency with all the platforms. Regardless, WordPress is the winner for the moment.

The banner is a photo I took at Disney World this year. I suspect it is temporary as is the rest of the design. I really wanted to go live today as the 5 year anniversary of this site had meaning for me but it left me with little time to work on layout. It will likely change. Of course, any ideas are always welcome. Now that I have that new, fresh blog smell I hope to be able to use it to provide insight into a life that while simple, is anything but ordinary. I am a proud atheist living in the bible belt. I am a serious professional who is just a kid at heart. I am a son. I am a father. I am a husband. I am a geek. I am an American. I am the Walrus. No, wait...something is not right there... Anyway, I hope those that have been with me over the last year stick around. There are interesting things yet to come.