Tag Archives: LiveJournal

Today is a coffee day.

Posted on by

Freakangels – webcomic by Warren Ellis. Arkady is my hero, but then I always like the crazy ones. Go here to start from the beginning.

New music video for Chiasm’s song Someone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wno2wk1eoSQ
It’s ‘s fault that I’m a fan, and not at all creepifyin’ that I ended up a fan of both of the Rohn siblings. They both just happen to be really good at music, damnit. Anyway, Chiasm has been featured both in video games and TV shows, and I regularly overdose myself on their tracks. Watch, or get sucked through a mirror into a dimension of black-eyed children! :)

I’m thinking about painting the walls in my apartment. I’ve never painted where I’ve lived before. Hell, I usually have problems putting up posters and artwork.

Still gotta look at the couch, and see if it’s repairable. Crikey, what have I been doing all week?

Time to go and finish up a Windows Server 2008 install. *gag*

Let our angst combine!

Posted on by

Unreasonable entropy field – activated.

Couch that I inherited from my Great Aunt – missing a leg.

Wood can make tearing sounds. I was too mad to look to see if it could be repaired. I’ll do that later.

The Tubes

Posted on by

I used to work for Comcast, doing support for their cable modem network in the metro Detroit area. I know how their network works, and exactly how underhanded they can be.

After reading this article by Cory Doctorow and this one by Charlie Stross, it’s giving me a flashback. The comments on Mr. Stross’s post note that even BT (British Telecom) is knees deep in screw-the-customer-because-we-can land.

My options, here in Lansing:

Free wireless provided by my apartment complex
Unreliable. Too small a pipe for two apartment buildings. They seem to be blocking content somehow, as Pidgin will drop certain IM networks (like gtalk over jabber), but it’ll work fine from within gmail. Currently, the only option I’m willing to use. The upstream provider? TDS Metrocom.

Comcast
Did I mention that I worked for these corrupt wanks? I want to be able to distribute legal files over P2P software, so this group is out. Not to mention the difficulties with getting Windows-based VPNs to work over their network.

Also, I’m not paying for a tech to come out and fix Comcast’s broken shit ON TOP of their ludicrous monthly rates, and taxes directly passed on to the customer as fees. All I want is a pipe to the internet, at a reasonable cost. Unless I buy their TV and phone services, I can’t get it through them. No matter what, I pay close to or over $100 a month.

Um, no.

DSL Options
As far as I know, AT&T owns all of the local lines. Any other DSL provider has to use AT&T’s equipment at least up until the CO-to-customer hop. This makes me extremely nervous. AT&T was the primary cooperator in our government’s illegal phone-and-internet tapping program. While I’m generally open and free with my information, I do not like to reward idiocy with my money.

AT&T: Your world delivered… to the NSA.

As far as I know, that’s all the options I’ve got. I don’t have the ability for satellite, as my apartment complex has strict rules about putting dishes on the roof, and I don’t have a balcony. I have no idea how far Ethernet over Power has come, though I’m pretty educated about Power over Ethernet. Heh. Arialink has said that I’m out of range of any of their wireless solutions.

Peter’s mesh network idea just keeps coming back to me as a good one. Intrinsically anarchic, but good. Lansing-wide ad-hoc network, anyone? Maybe Google will put up a network here, since San Francisco won’t let them out there.

Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 / Roger & Me

Posted on by

So, pretty much all of my friends have been tossing around BSG lingo like it was, you know, English, for quite some time. So, of course, I get around to watching Season 1 just as Season 4 is coming out on TV. I’m on top of trends like politicians on truth. Which is to say, not at all. Anyway, the first season was frakking awesome. I could probably rant for a few hours about how much I hated the 70’s version, and now I’m thanking the writery gods for the inspiration that brought this dramatic sci-fi awesomeness into the world. I will be taking up an offer of seasons 2, 2.5, and RAZOR on loan, just so that I don’t have to wait for Netflix. After all of the damage and carnage, though, I have to wonder how they’ve got more than, like, three Vipers any more. Also, the first season’s cliffhanger = OMGWTFBBQ NO YOU DID NOT!! And details like a museum with the 70’s Cylons in them, the newer versions being obvious upgrades, and then the red pulse up and down the spine of the humanoid Cylons? The details added so much depth to the series… just, wow. Please, for the love of the Lords of Kobol, do not comment with spoilers.

5 out of 5 stars.

I’ve been intrigued by Michael Moore’s documentaries for a long time. I mean, with all of the publicity that he gets, how could I not? Especially with the MSU hats he wears around. Anyway, I decided to start with his first (that I know of).

I was born in Flint, MI. My Dad worked the AC Spark Plug line there. I grew up, until I was 8 or 9, in Clio, outside of Flint. I’ve also got a soft spot for Detroit. Hell, like Michael Moore, I moved out to San Francisco, figured out it wasn’t for me very quickly, and then moved back. This movie just… I identified with it throughout the entire thing. I am sad for Michigan, for Flint, for Detroit, and for Lansing. I also have a fierce pride and hope for my home state. I see all of the potential in the ruined factories, the abandoned houses, the foreclosure signs. I know what we could be, if we really, really wanted it. But how many people want it that badly?

Four out of five stars.