L4D2: Acquired.

Steam Name: acelin

The following will only make sense if you play Team Fortress 2:

RP in COV was pretty dead tonight. Couldn't make headway, so I fired up some Team Fortress 2.

I went to my favourite 32-player Lotus-clan server... and our team got our asses handed to us repeatedly.

Fortunately, we're a bunch of good-humoured guys and gals...so we decided to have some fun with the other team.

For instance, everyone (/everyone) took a heavy, stayed in the spawn, and kept triggering the 'sandvich' power on a payload map, and inviting the BLU team to our "luncheon".

Or the all-medic rush.

Or the all-cloaked spy rush.

Didn't win any more maps, but we caused some of the other team to ragequit...so it was a moral victory. So, we've got that going for us, I guess. ;)

The word came down from on high... they want a prioritized list of 2-3 conferences I want to go to next year.

This is the first time in my career I've been asked that. I hold no great expectations that I will actually be able to GO to any of these, but its nice to be asked.

My problem is: as a UNIXy Backupy Storagey VMwarey kinda guy, I've got no idea what the hell to ask for. I hear VMworld is pretty cool, but I'd be fighting about 11 other people from my company for the chance to go.

Symantec Vision maybe? I wonder if they have something Netbackup related. Its one of my strengths after all. Wonder if EMC does something with networker/avamar.

Any ideas out there in friendslist land? Anything I should really be thinking about?

http://www.airwargame.com/eng/game/ -- New sweet-looking air sim coming out. From where? Russia.

http://pt-boats.akella.com/ -- Cool PT Boat simulator coming out. From where? Russia

http://silent-hunter.uk.ubi.com/silent-hunter-5/ -- New Silent Hunter sub sim. From where? ... ok, Romania, but still ex-soviet!

Simgames didn't die. They just moved /East/.

Made it to Abbotsford! In to Vancouver shortly, and then Skinny Puppy! W0000!

So many decades to choose from. I honestly can't narrow it down. A chance to observe things in predynastic egypt would be interesting. That's a period that's really fuzzy in the history books. There's a lot missing from 3rd century Roman history as well. And what is there, is badly covered.

What else? Oh! Some of the visgothic history around north africa in the 5th and 6th centuries. How about Asuka or Nara period Japan?

Would I return? Absolutely. I would be there to observe. I like my creature comforts. Bring me back to my couch and my PS3 eventually.

I dont think I would take anyone with me either. My partner in crime would not handle the squalor and illnesses of a previous age well. If I was going to bring someone with me, it would be someone who could handle firearms.. just in case we get into trouble and need to hold off the rampaging hordes with a few futuristic tricks ("This...is my  BOOMSTICK") until I can get the portal set back up to get back to my own time.

I used to think we could talk to spirits, or the dead. The religion I grew up in believed pretty firmly in the nature of spirits who had passed on, and that they could influence you directly, if you allowed them. Weren't supposed to talk to them directly, but it was in there for sure. Lots of material on it. In fact, they believe there's an entire world of spirits that exists as a plane after death, that you first wake up in.

Later experimentation with pagan philosophy certainly didn't preclude talking to the dead either. I didn't try a seance out... but there is a lot of belief of ghosts and the like. Never tried the seance thing, but I certainly knew of others who would. I didn't really want to bother the dead.

If someone came up to me and proved seances were real, won the Randi prize ( http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html ) and suddenly we could talk to the dead? I still wouldn't ask them anything. Let them rest.

Nowadays, I follow a personally agnostic, and publically omniquantist sort of line of thinking. In a multiverse of a functionally incomprehensible number of dimensions, it is potentially possible that every form of belief is right. Ghosts? Sure. Talking to the dead through seances? Why not? Zombies who rise every easter? If that's what works for you, knock yourself out. For myself, I do not see evidence of any of that being possible for me, so I disregard it all.

http://www.shatteredhorizon.com/

Now that I am free from the NDA on the Shattered Horizon beta, I can talk about the game some.

Summary: Pretty game. Wish I could play it.

Its the first game from Future Mark (those known for their video testing tools). And it is so very very pretty. The basic idea is that a mining accident on the  moon has mostly blown it up, not much is getting from earth to space, so its a resource war between groups of astronauts and miners.

Fully 3D shooter. And that's where the problem for me comes in. I can handle 3d shooters, when I'm hovering... but you can shoot better if you are anchored or walking along a surface.... and those surfaces can be anything. In any direction and orientation. Which means you flip from 'floor' to 'ceiling' to 'wall'.... and the orientation changes accordingly.

This game makes Descent Induced Motion Sickness look pale by comparison.  While I dont get motion sick, I realized it was disorienting enough that I wasn't enjoying it at all. Hope it works out for them, but I won't be playing.

Sadly, I usually think they're bonkers.

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to think there is extra-terrestrial life. I've seen strange lights in the sky that don't tend to have any concrete answers associated with them.

I don't think the two are connected.

Even if we work with the Drake Equation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation ) as being proveable, even if we assume that there are obviously intelligent life forms out there, even if we assume they have sufficient technological ability to travel to us...

We have to make a couple more huge assumptions.

1) That on the cosmic dartboard, their dart of "Hey lets go check here" lands on a fairly uninteresting arm of a minor spiral galaxy.

2) Even if the dart did land here, that they'd be interested.

I tend to look at UFO enthusiasts these days like I look at the truly religious: Its a neat idea. If it helps you to sleep at night, great. But their belief is utterly personal, and utterly unproveable to anyone else but them. What works for them does not work for me.

Not to mention the question of: "If there IS intelligent life out there, why is it so bloody interested in our redneck population?" ;)

Not once. In fact, if she DID somehow leave her email open, I would close it without looking at it. She doesn't need me digging through Skeletonville Closet anymore than I need her to do so for me.

Wouldn't look through her journal, either. If there's something important I'm supposed to know? She'll tell me.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/650604

Apparently they're done killing people in their sleep....and now the smiling gurkhas with tasty food are baaaaaaa-aaack!

Edit: Drove past the place. Its under renovations and not open yet. However, that is the same sign they used on their 17th ave location. Its them, alright.

Edit: looks like the topic was removed, probably because they aren't open yet. But soon. I will lurk outside their door if I have to.

On the plane back, I pretty much devoured a book. Its not often I get a chance to read anymore, so the fact that I finished anything fictional is quite noteable. I've had a long love of fantasy novels, so in the spirit of "What I read this summer", I picked up a novel my dad handed to me months ago. (I'm really behind)

"The Lies of Locke Lamora". by Scott Lynch. Its been out for a few years, should be easy to get.

The really short review: I haven't read a fantasy novel so enjoyable in quite some time.

The not-quite-so-short review: I've long held a fascination with utter bastard characters in books and RP (as you might have guessed). Not for me the noble hero, no. I prefer my protagonists firmly cloaked in moral ambiguity.
Mix a bit of David Eddings, a dash of George RR Martin, a hint of Pratchett's surrealism, a healthy dose of Steven Brust (for the snark), and a little something all his own, and you have Scott Lynch. His lead character, the so-named Locke, is a thief, a bastard (a gentleman bastard, even) and a total ne'er-do-well. He's got his own twisted code of honour, sure, but he's not one of those types who really gets redeemed. The novel is well formed, has interesting and well played interludes, isn't afraid to start off in media res and leave you wondering how the heck its going to evolve from THAT beginning, etc.

Don't expect anything truly deep, no endless pontificating here, but for a good 'plane' read, I do recommend it highly. The characters are likeable, the world is plausible, and the author doesn't hold your hand. All qualities I do enjoy.

Things have been going pretty well here in ontario. Getting lots of sleep, which is a pleasant change. And for once, I'm not worried about work when I get back. Sure, I've got a ton of things to do when I return, but I'm not stressing over it. That's a pleasant change.  Only had to deal with two phone calls from work as well... I'm pretty sure that's another record.

Yesterday was all about das shoppink. We went across the border, and spent most of the day in/around Niagara Falls, with some of it more towards Buffalo. Thought about phoning a friend I know lives in the area, but I'm not even sure she's in the country at the moment, or able to handle guests if she is around (very busy friend).

I'm amazed at how cheap things are in comparison. The dollar's strong, sure... but even factoring in the exchange rate and figuring out a few other factors, item for item, things remain a fair bit cheaper in the states. Less transportation costs and taxes, I guess.

Ended up getting new shoes and a couple of new work shirts. I suppose I was comparatively restrained.

Oh, and ended up having some buffalo wings near buffalo. It was the right thing to do. Excellent wings too... those scrawny little chicken leavings we deal with out west are no comparison.

Seeing the HMCS Haida was a high point. In World War 2, Canada had the third largest navy in the world. Now, only 3 ships are left from that time. The pictures I've posted a link to don't do the ship justice, but itts as close as I could come.

Been doing some other historical wanderings, and a geocache or two (usually tied to said historical wanderings).

Today will be lunch, possibly some fish and chips, and then we're driving out to Stratford to take in a performance of MacBeth. (A present from Juli's mom)

Juli's thriving in this environment.... and in some ways, I feel bad. Not because she's thriving... but every time I'm out here with her, it showcases the comparison between her here, and her back in Alberta. I probably made a mistake in bringing her out to alberta. I should have gone to Ontario instead... but the work situation was better in Alberta at the time. (and still is). I guess we'll just have to move here eventually if I can find a way to do it right.

Word from our kitten-wrangler Denise is that the felines are doing well, and are giving her the proper level of attention. This is a good thing. Though knowing Kiyoshi, he'll probably try to sneak out with her when we return. I know how he works.

Pondering whether to go into Toronto tomorrow or not. Yeah, there's stuff I want to see. But that's also a long day. Guess I'll play it by ear. I still want to check a couple things out in this area as well, there's a couple of rather old cemeteries I'd like to walk around in. I wouldn't mind  seeing a couple of the waterfalls as well.

This week's badass of the week is a canadian. (yes, there were a few)

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/albertjohnson.html

Thanks to fearsclave  for the link.

One thing about Johnson's story that isn't mention there, is that there was another badass involved in searching for him. A guy by the name of Wilfrid "Wop" May, who was a total aviation badass.

Sad to hear about David Edding's passing. He and his wife may have written the same series 4 or 5 times, but I still read them all. A guilty pleasure I suppose, but still fun.

Silk remains one of my favourite fictional characters.

The plan today...

-Apply new screen protector thingie to GPS - Done.

-Go to das farmers market. Dont really /need/ anything there, but might as well go anyway.

-Put new geocaching decal on Comrade Jeep.

-Chill out, maybe play some TF2. Been getting back into that. 

-Go to Chimera tonight. (I so rarely get to go to the thursday local stompy, that I'm gonna make damn sure to make the saturday ones when they come up)

Hrm. I think that's enough for a Saturday.

Signed up for dreamwidth. No idea if its going to be used or not, but I do try to eventually get around to most new ideas.

User name there is the same as my livejournal username.

Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

Its one of the few books that doesn't have the name "Adams" on the front cover that has made me laugh out loud. Gaiman's good on his own. Pratchett's good on his own. Together, they crafted a book greater than the sum of its authors.

Why'd I pick that one? I've had a loaner copy of it to give to random people for a few years now.

I'm broadcasting until 4pm on The Cape Radio! http://www.thecaperadio.com

The usual industrial/ebm/electro/synthy stuff.