Category: tech

Techno-crap II

So, I’ve finally given up on technorati ever getting their act together and functioning.  If you don’t know, the company uses a system that basically tells who is linking to who.  It also has a ranking system based on how many links a person gets.  The problem is it rarely works.  Or at the very least, it works in spurts.  They seem to be constantly adding more algorithms to their list of links but still nothing.  Of course, I’m also overlooking that the entire system is flawed and easily spoofed.   

Hopefully, someone (are you paying attention Google?) will come along and design a system that actually works.  *le sigh*

Yipeeee!

In really exciting news (well for me anyway), I got Saturday, Sundays, AND Mondays off starting in late January.  I’m switching to a 4/10 shift  (4 days 10 hours).  I almost got Friday, Saturday, Sunday but the person right above me in seniority jumped shifts and took it.  I’m just looking forward to having the whole weekend off for a change.  Color me surprised!

Oh, if you subscribe to my post updates sorry about the odd one.  I just installed Windows Live Writer and am testing it out. [1]It allows me to post directly from my desktop vs opening up a browser window.   Anyway, it posted and then deleted a test post full of gibberish.  Unfortunately, the subscribe plug-in mailed it out to everyone as an update.  Ooops!

I already use Post2blog which is nice if not a bit rough around the edges.  I read my buddy Victor’s post over at v-hold.net and thought I’d give it a whirl.

References

References
↑1 It allows me to post directly from my desktop vs opening up a browser window.

Fat Heifer

I’ve been lazy the last couple of weeks. Ok, that is half true. I’ve had a busy work schedule and lazy on my weekends. I haven’t been to the gym in almost 2 weeks either. I feel like a fat heifer. I’ve probably put on about 6 lbs. Ugh! I think I feel the need to purge. j/k. This morning I woke up with a small sore throat. I ended up calling off work today. No gym yet again it seems.

I finally beat Timeshift on the Xbox so the absent-minded look in my eyes from too much gaming has begun to fade. It was a decent game. Nowhere near as compelling as Gears of War. The time-shifting ability isn’t that new either. Prince of Persia has a similar feature. Still it was a nice twist on an otherwise mediocre FPS [1]first person shooter for you n00bs game.

I felt guilt for having a booty call yesterday. I hope I didn’t give him a cold. lol He took it like a pro and wore me out. I did manage to get out and pick up a few more Christmas cards. I’m almost done shopping for cards and will starting mailing them out next week. [2]I spend more money on cards than presents I think. I like buying christmas cards.

The roomie got back last night. The apt. has felt empty the last two weeks without him. You know how it is when you get accustomed to having someone around.

I also had dinner w/roblog last night. It was good to see the big man-brute in the flesh again. I felt so bad though. His tendons are still giving him grief. We yacked and caught up on the random goings-on in our lives over burgers and fries. Always good to see him.

I’m feeling quite chatty-kathy today so expect several more blog posts before the day is over.

References

References
↑1 first person shooter for you n00bs
↑2 I spend more money on cards than presents I think. I like buying christmas cards.

Update IV

Been a bit distracted lately so no posts. I’m back.

The past weekend w/TFA was nice. No natural disasters this time so we got to spend some quality time bonding and getting to know each other more. We skipped all the touristy stuff. We got to the beach one day, movies the next but mostly we spent quality time at home relaxing and enjoying the down time. I made the mistake of telling him the one ticklish spot on my body. He spent the whole weekend tickling me every chance he got. [1]My voice tends to go up several octaves when I’m being tickled.

In work related news, I got notice today that I am being sued by a previous trainee. [2]She is suing quite a few people in the dept as well. I am not in the least bit worried. The dept. bent over backwards to not only accommodate her but also gave her an incredibly lengthy extension beyond what anyone else has ever received. I am dismayed she simply refuses to accept the simple truth the job function was beyond her abilities.

The xbox is finally back! They sent me a new one as promised. So far, it is working like a dream. I haven’t had much time to play but I did get a couple hours in yesterday playing Bioshock. Excellent game. Given a choice, I have to say the xbox still beats the PS3. Sorry Sony, you dropped the ball.

References

References
↑1 My voice tends to go up several octaves when I’m being tickled.
↑2 She is suing quite a few people in the dept as well.

In Other News

…not about TFA. LOL Thanks for all the kudos btw. Yeah, I think he is a hottie too. I think several things but that is a topic for another day. hehehe

Work is driving me nuts and a showdown is coming (when I’m back from vacation that is). The new Deputy Director has gone off the deep end w/repeated MOU [1]Memorandum of Understanding. The Union contract w/the City violations. Our last Labor meeting she got called to task by the City’s DHR rep. A small victory but boy did it light up our faces. She got called out of the room and when she came back in it looked like she had been bitch slapped. I’m sad about this turn of events because I kind of liked her when I first met her. And truth be told, she does have some good ideas. But because of the way she has come across, she has ruined any goodwill she could have captured. And I do mean ruined. The outcome is not going to be pretty. One good thing to come it though. She has cause a lot of the complacent employees to get motivated. They are hopping mad and ready to do something. FINALLY some support!

I’ve been a little lazy with my gym time lately. I’m still going but not as consistently. I haven’t lost any new muscle growth so I’m content for the moment. My biggest problem is I get bored. The routines become tedious and my mind wanders. Never a good thing. hehehe. I did have an interesting encounter today though. [2]More on that later

I went to see 30 Days of Night the other day with the roomie. Not bad over all. It gets an A+ for being scary. A throw back to the old days of using flash scenes and loud music to make you jump. Loved it! lol The special affects were ok. The goal wasn’t to wow in that dept so nothing exciting there. Another A+ for all the gore though. Several really gross scenes. Nice! That said, the plot was a tad disappointing. Of course, you don’t really expect much from these types of movies however, they could have made a little more effort to flesh it out (pun intended). You never discover where they came from, how they found the remote village, etc. They allude to it many times with no follow up so you are left completely bewildered in the aspect. Overall, worth a see if you are horror fan. If not or if you get squeamish, you might wait for DVD. The roomie and I amused ourselves by pointing out the hotties in the theatre we would sleep with given the chance. Oh yes, he is a slut too.

Speaking of movies, I watched all three versions of SAW the other day. OMG, those are some sick films! lol I sorta held off because I tend to shy away from movies that could give real world sick fucks ideas however, I couldn’t quell my curiosity. Thankfully, they were so far over the top, I needn’t have worried. Now I’m excited to see the new one coming out. TFA wants to see it too so I’m holding off till he gets back up this way. Thank god he loves scary movies! I haven’t quite converted him to gaming yet though. Give me time. *eg*

I had to chew Microsoft a new ass again today. I called for a status update on my 2nd return of my console. The chick launched into her spiel about 3-6 weeks for repair and I let her have it. I hate being ugly however, I’m really frustrated by the lack of organization. She said she didn’t see any notes about me getting an exchange. I can guarantee you after today there are some notes. She also said I’ll get a confirmation within 3 days. Sometimes being a bitch gets the job done sadly. Thankfully, I’ll have the new Ratchet & Clank for the PS3 soon. That should keep me preoccupied enough to give Micro-hell some time to get their act together.

Ok, I’ve rambled enough. I need to catch up on my blogroll. I’m still way behind. I feel so guilty. I discovered 3 of my regular blogs have stopped blogging. I’m sad but confident they will be back!

References

References
↑1 Memorandum of Understanding. The Union contract w/the City
↑2 More on that later

Missing Pieces

You may have noticed my blogroll is missing. Never fear, I’m bringing it back. I decided I didn’t like the top banner so I’m tinkering w/some other options. I’ve already added the categories and archives back (see left column). I like things on the home page to be clean and simple.

I like the dropdown menu idea however, I want it to look more like the existing column links. Not being java friendly, I’m experimenting with some code. A few of you already noticed some unexpected glitches. [1]Can you say “oops”? I know, I know, it if ain’t broke don’t fix it. Well I can’t help it. It’s what I do.

References

References
↑1 Can you say “oops”?

Micro-Hell!

If you missed my twitter update, my Xbox 360 promptly died again yesterday. Needless to say I was furious. I spent 45 minutes on the phone this morning chewing MS a new asshole. The first rep had the audacity to sound annoyed that I wasn’t willing to wait 3-4 more weeks to ship it back again.

After promptly reminding him how much I spent on the console and the lack of service, I asked for his supervisor. Said person was equally unhelpful. Another 20 minutes later, he tells me they will send me a new one but only after I wait for them to ship me a return box for the old one. I’m leary of that happening however, with no other recourse, I’m stuck waiting. He did say he entered an official complaint to MS at my request. I doubt that will go anywhere.

MS got huge points for their XBL [1]Xbox live service however, their tech support rivals that of Sony. Unproductive, uncaring, and a flat out waste of time. If it weren’t for so many games jumping over to the MS camp, I’d probably give it up after my experience today.

I got unlucky enough to get one of the defective batches. MS has already corrected the error in newer models however, it does nothing to make me a return customer.

References

References
↑1 Xbox live

Gay High Holy Day 3

I managed to recategorize the 2004 posts so far. Jesus H Christ Mary Joseph & David! I will never try to upgrade my blog w/o first doing a full backup again! Anyway….

So the last gay holiday of the season is this weekend, Folsom St. Fair. The city is already jam-packed full of guys.

Yours truly is going to be busier than a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest. The roomies bf is in town late tonight. I have a friend coming from Mexico tomorrow who has never been. TFA also surprised me, he has a lay over Saturday as well. Lord, the weekend was already busy but damn!

Even more, I have to run around tomorrow doing prep work. Thank the stars I dropped the laundry off already. Plus, I have to drive down to the Union Hall and drop off paperwork. [1]Big drama at work this week, more on that later.

OH! I almost forgot, the Xbox comes back tomorrow! Hopefully, it will be in good working order.

Anyway, a good weekend to all. I have 4 days off so I’m exited.

References

References
↑1 Big drama at work this week, more on that later.

Ooops! II

I totally fucked up tonight and corrupted my categories. Actually, I corrupted the entire blog but managed to fix it. However, I have to start over an reassign categories to all my posts! What a fraking nightmare.

If anyone knows of a plugin that allows you to batch add categories please let me know.

Geek Unbound II

So desire got the best of me yesterday and I ended up buying the new PS3. It was on sale so only paid a tad more than I paid for the Xbox 360. I have to say so far I’m not overly impressed. Don’t get me wrong, it is a nice console. But, to hear Sony talk, it blows the Xbox away. Not so. The graphics are about on par w/the Xbox 360.

I’ve always been a PS fan so I’m happy I managed to squeeze out the coin for a new one. It does play all my old games. [1]So far. I noticed a very odd glitch in that the some of the unused buttons actually repeat the primary button functions. I have the demo of FEAR on Xbox and I bought the full version for PS3. The xbox version looks much better. It may be because FEAR came out too soon to be radically re-written for the new PS3 architecture.

The big reason I made the purchase was for my favorite game, Ratchet & Clank. Adam clued me in a new version only for PS3 is coming out in October. R&C is my all time favorite video console game and I just couldn’t forgo being able to play it. I still play all of the last 4 versions often.

Microsoft gets big points for their online services. The XBL (Xbox Live) is incredibly intuitive and user friendly. Setup was simple and fast. The PS3, not so much. The menus are overly obscure and broken down too far. Some are even redundant. I also had a big problem registering my console so I could buy stuff online. Even though my billing address for my CC is my PO Box, it kept polling for my physical address. I had to call my bank, add it, and then retry it. Very annoying. MS charges for their online services but at $40 bucks a year, not a big deal. PS3 online is free however, another failure on the part of Sony. For such a nice console the online site is lackluster to say the least. The icons and logos are reminiscent of the old sega consoles. A huge disappointment. You can tell they really rushed it. I hope they get their act together and spruce it up.

The PS3 did have a variety of new ports this time for storage. Compact flash, SD/Mini SD, and Sony’s proprietary memory stick. [2]which never caught on w/anyone but Sony Sadly, no port for memory cards from the PS2. So you can’t port your saved games to the PS3. Another very annoying feature. [3]I found out from Adam, they do make an adapter. He is loaning me his. Such a sweetie. I have yet to watch any HD DVD’s on the PS3. I hear it is spectacular so I’ll have to get back to you on that one.

Over all, I think the consoles are pretty even on graphics rendering. However, Microsoft is the clear winner in mind. Maybe Billy is finally taking a page out of the Steve Jobs book and making his staff focus as much on aesthetics as function.

References

References
↑1 So far. I noticed a very odd glitch in that the some of the unused buttons actually repeat the primary button functions.
↑2 which never caught on w/anyone but Sony
↑3 I found out from Adam, they do make an adapter. He is loaning me his. Such a sweetie.