Happy Halloween!

Especially for you Wiccans out there. Here's some fun and frightening music for everyone!

Meanwhile, I'll be watching the Phantom of the Opera movie tonight, and possibly some (semi-)scary flicks, now that I have my antianxiety pills refilled =)

The beautiful Amy Lee, everyone!

Performing "Sally's Song" from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Seemed like a good occasion :-)

"Coming Back To Life"
(Pink Floyd)

Where were you when I was burned and broken,
While the days slipped by, from my window watching?
Where were you, when I was hurt and helpless?
Because the things you say and the things you do surround me.

While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard,
I was staring straight into the shining sun.

Lost in thought and lost in time,
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted.
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime.

I took a heavenly ride through our silence,
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life.

I took a heavenly ride through our silence,
I knew the waiting had begun;
And headed straight... into the shining sun.

Tiger hug!

HTML 5

I've been wanting to jump into web design and specifically web coding for awhile now, but have been held back because of the big mess of standards: which browsers support which features of which technology, and which don't. The "safe" thing to do right now, in order not to exclude the great mass of IE users out there, is to use HTML 4 and CSS 1, or XHTML 1 and CSS (1 or 2). It still seems like a hodgepodge, though, and I have no confidence Microstupid will ever make a standards-compliant browser.

So I decided, screw anyone using IE, just on principle, as well as to make learning modern web design more exciting and cutting-edge. I'm going to just start with HMTL 5, which seems perpetually in draft stage (sorta like beta software), but it's not that there's anything wrong with the standard (in fact there's a whole lot of cool stuff about it), it's the old chicken and egg game of waiting for browsers to support it fully. And IE is holding everyone else on the web back.

If you're interested at what new things are possible with HTML 5 and what it's all about, go here:
http://www.webmonkey.com/tutorial/Building_Web_Pages_With_HTML_5

I'd like to switch my blog from Blogger to Wordpress, and totally re-style it and spruce it up (in fact I already have my Wordpress account set up, the name reserved, and have a Flikr account for hosting photos and a FileFactory account for hosting other kinds of files, like MP3s or homemade video which I could legally stream to my blog). And, ta-da, here's a guy who's already made a free template for Wordpress in HTML 5:
http://digwp.com/2009/07/free-html-5-wordpress-theme/

If you want to see a big gallery of sites that are already using it HTML 5, and some of the cool things they've come up with, go here:
http://html5gallery.com/

Basically, HTML 5 does away with all the kludged-together standards and proprietary workarounds of yesteryear, everything from HTML 1-4, CSS 1-2, XHTML, much of what Javascript was needed for, some of what Flash was needed for, and so on. It also breaks free of its SGML roots, if that means anything to you (it will if you're a FrameMaker or RoboHelp user). It's basically a new markup language using almost the same syntax, but structured much more cleanly and incorporating a lot of external technologies (extensions) into the core language. And it's backwards compatible in the sense that it won't break older browsers or lame browsers (IE) that don't recognize its new bits - those parts just won't function or maybe won't even appear. The browser will ignore the "5" content as though it were just commented out. At least, that's the theory. I don't know the reality yet.

Of course, you can still augment your site with SQL, XML, or other backends if you need those functions (say, if you're a store and need to keep an inventory), and scripting languages like Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, AJAX, and plain Javascript will still function; in fact, most of them will work even better since HTML is more extension-aware (I won't bore you with the details). So basically, it's all good news, except that the large IE market out there might not be able to see/use the best parts of your site, like embedded video and audio (without extensions!) and SVG graphics. If you're running a business, this is bad. But I'm not running a business, and I don't care about people who use IE. In fact, I'll put a big old "IE sucks, get another browser and come back" badge right on my homepage or something; anything to encourage people to switch to something that plays nice.

Fun to have new things to learn and play with. Cloud computing. Web 2.0. Whatever trendy buzzword you want to use. Web pages aren't just to look at anymore, they do things now. Don't expect a blog move anytime extremely soon, though... I still have a lot to learn and I won't switch to a new host and a new code base until I've tested the heck out of it and am sure it will fly. Plus I'll need time even once I figure out how it all works to come up with a unique, cool template design that I'll be happy with for a long time. This one has served me well but it's ancient! I want a lot more control over audio, video, fonts, and pixel-level placement of page elements than this blogger template could ever give me. Plus links to things like a resume/CV and other pages for other parts of my life and other purposes besides blogging.

I did it!!!

A PC build to save for. Or?

My computer uses are varied and not very similar to one another. Of course I surf, check email, and check My Zoo on Facebook, as well as download files using BitTorrent and blog about stuff like what I use my computer for. These things, any computer can do. Hell, an iPhone can do them.

But I use my computer also to: 1) Play technologically-demanding games, and 2) Participate in creative activities like photo-retouching, messing around with 3D apps, architectural software and the like.

I don't have any money and I'm not making any money. But if I do at some point, I would face a choice: To save for a Mac, or to substantially upgrade my PC. Given the looming obsolescence of my current computer, I should start saving what I can for one option or the other. Here are the benefits and shortcomings...

I'd love to have a new 27" iMac with the i7 CPU upgrade. The benefits are compactness, reliability, OS satisfaction, aesthetic satisfaction, and fairly cutting-edge technologies. The shortcomings are price (slightly) and mediocre 3D graphics. It's odd how everyone thinks of Macs as "good at graphics" when they're not... yes, the OS looks nice, the cases are beautiful, but the actual availability and compatibility of the best 3D videocards on the market, for both workstations or gaming machines, is well behind that of PCs. And the expandability on an iMac is basically nil. I'd have to shell out for a Mac Pro to get any future-proofing, and I have no illusions of drumming up that kind of money.

If I simply upgraded my PC, it would basically be replacing the entire guts of my PC. The problem is that while PCs are viewed as part-upgradable, that's really a bunch of crap. You almost always have to upgrade your motherboard, CPU, RAM, and power supply all at the same time, and likely you're wanting a new videocard or two as well. So what's left? The case and HDDs? Basically, yeah, as well as DVD-ROM and external peripherals. I would want an i7 920 (entry-level Nehalem, very overclockable), a mainboard that could run it, 1333 or 1600 DDR3 RAM, two ATI 5850 cards in Crossfire mode, and a buff PSU to power it all. Hell, might as well get a new, quiet case while I'm at it, and a backlit keyboard to replace this POS that I'm using at the moment. The upside? More bang for the buck than the Mac option, more expandability for the future for games and for Photoshop. The downside? Still using Windoze. Barf.

I wish there weren't so many options sometimes. I hate computers - sometimes. Either way I go in the future I'm looking at either a new computer or an almost complete new build; thus between $1300 and $2500. That's not even comprehensible to me right now as someone with NO money.

Guess I will have to work on my real life and find a way to work and make money if I'm to keep up, and continue to enjoy my computer-oriented hobbies. Or I will have to give up on computers and take up outdoor activities, which is surely infinitely more healthy. I... just... love... computers. Well, sometimes. Sometimes I loathe them, too.

Juliana Hatfield.

The leaves are crunchy.

I noticed awhile back that the trees were changing colors and kept meaning to do a photo shoot but never did. That seems to be what happens these days. Why aren't I motivated?

The trees started losing their leaves weeks ago but they were still limp; still hanging on to life. There were yellow ones, green ones, and orange ones with black spots.

Today they're almost all brown, and they've officially gone crunchy enough that I can make a wandering path on my way to where I'm going just to stomp on the biggest upside-down ones.

I even found a big pile of them earlier, swept against a retaining wall by the dry wind, and jumped around in them for a few minutes with giddy glee, like popping bubble wrap but even better.

I guess you have to take what you can from autumn.

Word challenge! (Medium)

Here are some medium-difficult words, see if you can give a brief definition or use each in a sentence (in the comments section).

Alternately, if you don't know some of them, you can choose to make up a funny false definition.

To those for whom English is not your native tongue, don't feel bad if you don't know any of these words; they're not the kind you'll typically hear in conversation or web chats!

01. demesne
02. bucolic
03. blunderbuss
04. hoary
05. piebald
06. enervated
07. mendacious
08. bellicose
09. torpid
10. numinous
11. elucidate
12. abjure

Good luck! No cheating (please)!

Lists

Sometimes I think the primary difference between humans and the other great apes, and indeed the whole of the animal kingdom itself*, is our propensity to organize the world into "top ten" lists. At least some of us are afflicted by that illness!

*As opposed to the other Kingdoms. Plants makes lists all the time, and fungi dabble occasionally. Bacteria and Archaebacteria are not known to be prolific list-compilers, but admittedly little is known about their habits when not being directly observed under a sodding great f#cking big lamp by a huge, bloodshot eye.

LOL

My favorite toys as a kid were...

My favorite toys as a child were... (you may select more than one)

Slinky

Jacks

Hula Hoop

Ouija Board

Pogo Stick

Silly Putty

Simon

Rubik's Cube

Blocks

Tinker Toys

Pong or Atari console

My Bike!

Dolls

My Skateboard or Skates

Child's Oven

Yo-Yo

Play-Dough

Legos

Erector Set

Others (tell us in the comments!)

Here's the deal.

More like just a request, since you've no obligation to even view my blog, much less negotiate terms.

Seems like people hit the polls pretty consistently and other easy, prepackaged food items on my blog (save empath, who comments on almost everything :), but rarely utter a peep about the more serious, or prosaic, stuff. Like my article just written about how technology has not really enabled artists to be more free.

I'll continue to throw in polls, quizzes, pictures, videos, and fun stuff, if people will realize that little essays, philosophy, poems, and lyrics is what truly interests ME. You're under no obligation of course, but it makes me very happy to see intelligent comments in reply to something I've thought out and written down here, not just the pop-culture stuff that so many blogs feature.

Just asking, if you could, to consider the deeper arts.

Much of it's my fault for not reviewing books and movies, a sort of intellectual middleground, as I promised I would. I shall try to focus on that, and other ways of drawing people into more serious discussions.

Cheers.

Ancient culture curveball... no gods involved.

What is your favorite ancient culture to learn about, if you have one?

Sumerians

Egyptians

Greeks

Romans

Chinese

Maya

Israelites

Persians

Aboriginals

None or other than above

Ruminations on art and tech.

The computer has not yet empowered people with artistic vision but who are challenged by technique to break out and express themselves. To thin that wall between what is imagined and what is presented.

It merely allows different forms of expression, and comes with its own set of barriers and learning curves. Perhaps this is indigenous, inexorable. But I don't think so. I think there are those:

With little artistic vision or ambition.
With moderate to great vision but who lack technique.
True masters of both.

The true masters will find a way in any culture, with any tools, in any setting. We have seen it from times primordial and now lost. The first kind of people are not to be scorned, they are who they are and shouldn't be judged.

It's the middle kind of people computers seemed to promise to liberate to some degree. If you could take away the element of manual dexterity, the knowledge of mixing pigments, maybe that rare person's vision could come through as he or she sees it internally.

Sadly, it's not turned out that way. Sure, photos are manipulated, 3D objects are created in wireframe and covered with textures and maps, music is synthesized to make sounds never before heard, even industrial design is changed by 6-axis controllers and 3D 'printers.'

But the barrier to entry is still there. The interface, the techniques of these new technologies is very challenging, and still requires lots of practice and some initial genetic ability. As I said, it could be that such things are inseparable - part and parcel of art. The beauty is in the final product, but also in the journey.

It's not made writing prose or poetry or lyrics any easier, nor can retouching tools save an uninspired photo, nor 'natural' painting tools make paintings which look natural, nor can, still, the man or woman who has a sudden vision easily turn that into something which others can experience.

Technology has added more tools, more possible outcomes, more things to practice, and perhaps made the variety of media richer. It's not as though it's killed traditional art in the least. People still work clay with their hands for the feeling of it, and smelt swords, and arrange words and speak before crowds.

I guess the frustration is (and may always be, but I don't think so), that unless you take up the noble but distinct art of technique and/or technical knowledge, an intuitive transfer of what you see or hear or feel in your head and heart still cannot be easily made flesh, so to speak.

I know I struggle with a lack of technique in drawing, painting, photography, sculpting, making music, singing, conveying ineffable feelings through verbal imagery, and crafting stories, and it's frustrating because there is so much there, awaiting only simple, intuitive UIs and tools to allow me to release them in all their horror and heavenly beauty.

Unofficial video.

A poll about polls... and other things.

What would you like to see most in the short-term? (All of these are planned at some point). You can select multiple answers but please limit these to those that interest you the most!

A quiz about ancient mythology.

A poll about your favorite music over the years.

A quiz about your knowledge of food.

A poll about the ways you use technology.

A series of essays on the basics of science.

A series of essays on the basics of mysticism.

Book, film, and software reviews.

Tips and tricks for Windows XP and the Internet (general)

Getting started in digital photography.

About the net's role in tracing one's geneaology.

Your favorite toys as a kid.

Your favorite activities and lifestyle now.

An introduction to the great English-speaking poets.

The latest science news and strange and funny stories from the web.

Other

Please Specify:

Snakes are cool... to a point.

Biggest snake that ever existed (so far as is known).

Meanwhile, Dinos are getting kicked in the nads this week.

What a lovely thing science is. Always full of surprises!

This looks scary as all hell.

Can't wait to see it!

Heh, cool.

Smartest guy ever? I think so.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

Albert Einstein

Bullet-time again. Trying to break 0.100 :(

http://www.bullettimereaction.com/

Sweet!

Builders of Stonehenge Found

I'm surprised this passed me by as I usually scan the science news pretty thoroughly. Plus, I've seen Andrew Fitzpatrick in several documentaries talking about various structures in Wales and whatnot, but I didn't know he was in on a big story about Stonehenge.

Anyway, cool.

Sticking with the Nordic theme...

Here is a funny, yet right on the mark, article about Icelanders:
http://www.thestar.com/travel/adventure/article/693099

Here's a crazy video by Röyksopp

What Else Is There? from Röyksopp on Vimeo.

Here is Karin Dreijer of Fever Ray. =)

Here is your author.

Here are some cute kitties.