Can she be more perfect?

Look! She's reading! Can she be more perfect?? 

Yup.

Yup, I decided to post a whole bunch of geeky Christmas pictures. Like it or not.

So, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hope Santa is good to you.

 

 

Get back to work Santa!

 

 

Neglected yet again..

Get use to it.

Anyways. Merry Christmas Everyone!

And, here's a link to check out. Apple support. :)

Christmas Game!

Yah, it's the season to be jolly. I remember last year posting cheap flash games during the Christmas season, and I thought I would continue the tradition.

So, here is one.

Santa Ski Jump!

Not bad game, when Santa doesnt land right, he makes a crunching noise. It's a lil disturbing.

 

Ullllaaaaaaaa!

Today saw the release of Spielberg's War of the Worlds. Most people know that this was based on HG Wells novels of the same title, and even some folks remember the old 1953's movie. And of course, the radio broadcast by Orson Wells that caused panic in the United States.

Their has been some other remakes in the last decade, a really bad TV show, and I also believe that their has been a few other movies (Though, I've never seen them.)

But, their is one that only a few people seem to know. The musical version of War of the Worlds! Yah, released in 1976, it's narrated by Richard Burton. By far the best narrator to this story (Morgan Freeman did the new one, but, not even in the same ballpark to Burton). As to the music. Ha! I love it. Their is no doubt that it's from the 70's, with it infusion of disco/guitar rocking solo's. Richard Burton narrates the story between the music. Not just instruemental, it has actual songs! Why do I love this CD? One part nostalgia, I remember listening to it on the radio when I lived in Germany on Halloween night. But, even while the music is somewhat cheesy, it conveys the story. And with Burton's narration, it's a sheer escapism for myself.

The above picture is from the CD, it's the battleship "Thunder Child" and a Martian Tripod. The steamer began to move slowly away, but on the landward horizon appeared the silhouette of a fighting machine. Another came, and another, striding over hills and trees, plunging far out to sea and blocking the exit of the steamer. Between them lay the silent, gray, ironclad Thunderchild. Slowly it moved towards shore, then with a deafening roar and whoosh of spray it swung about and drove at full speed towards the waiting Martians. (insert a musical score/song here).. The Martians released their black smoke, but the ship sped on, cutting down one of the tripod figures. Instantly, the others raised their heat rays, and melted the Thunderchild's valiant heart. When the smoke cleared, the little steamer had reached the misty horizon, and Carrie was safe. But the Thunderchild had vanished forever, taking with her man's last hope of victory. The leaden sky was lit by green flashes, cylinder following cylinder, and no one and nothing was left now to fight them. The earth belonged to the Martians. 

 

'Nuff Said. 

Enter Sandman

Sandman. By far one of the most creative stories I have ever read. It's a comic written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated intially by Sam Keith.

Where to start? The stories are utterly bizarre and fantastic, with a smattering of horror. Let's put it this way, it's unique. The series lasted 75 issues, and has been collected in a series of Trade Paperbacks, or Hardcovers ($$).

The first set is called Preludes and Nocturnes. THe story is about man who is obssessed with capturing the physical manifestation of Death, but, instead captures Dream. This is one of the few books I constantly tell people to read, next to Hyperion. 

Great Wallpaper Site.

I have this fascinations with wallpapers. I love them. I changed them almost daily. So, I have a few sites bookmarked.

Wallpaper Site #1

Wallpaper Site #2

Carry on.

Parallel Worlds.

Here is a other novel that I am currently reading. While I dont focus on it, I do pick it up from time to time.

Basically, in short, and I am barely covering the material covered in this book, is the creation of the universe. And the possiblity of other universes/dimensions co-existing next to ours. What will happen when everything stops, and what was here before the big bang. And, was is it the big bang? Or several million big bangs?

So many thoughts/theories/ideas dazzle in this book. I discovered him while reading Illium by Dan Simmons, and watching a Discovery Chanel special called "Alien Planet". Susprisingly, Michio writing style is very easy to follow, espically if you dont have a Astro-Physic degree. ;) 

Next Book!

I finished the "Curse of Chalion", and here are a few thoughts on it.

- Good book, lots of theology of the world. Also, was nice to see that it focuses mostly on just one character as opposed to many.

- Found it a little 'quieter' than most books I read. Meaning, not alot of action. Mostly tense moment, with the odd spattering of action.

- Over all, quite good. It was nominated for a Hugo, which susprises me. Outta 10, maybe a 7.5

Now, I've stared the book to the side here. Canadian Author, this is the type of book you read for 15 minutes, and set it down. You gotta think. Not very far into the novel, but, enjoying it immensely! 

Indigo Top 100 Reader's Choice.

Just found out Chapters/Indigo's top 100 books voted by readers. Here are the top 3, and then the rest are where Fantasy/Scifi books fit in.

1 - The Da Vinci Code
2 - Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
3 - To Kill a MockingBird - Harper Lee

Now, for the scifi/fantasy stuff and where it ranked. :)

5-7 - Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
11- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling
13 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - JK Rowling
16 - Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone - JK Rowling
18 - The Stand - Stephen King
19 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
21 - The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
26 - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
28 - The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
31 - Dune - Frank Hebert
35 - Mists of Avalan - Marian Zimmer Bradlye
53 - Ender's Games - Orson Scott Card
57 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling
76 - Summer Tree - Guy Gavriel Kay
84 - Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind

Lots of scifi/fantasy seem to dominant the list. Only one that susprises me is "Wizards First Rule".. Read that, ugh, horrid book.

Feast for Crows

November 8, 2005. That's when the George R. R. Martin "Feast for Crows" will be released.

This series, "A Song of Fire and Ice" started way back in 97, and the previous novel was released in 2000. So, 3 books later, and 5 years, we finally get to see the next installment in the series.

And they changed the god dam covers! Yah, the image to the left is what it should have been. They have now replaced the covers with generic type looking covers. Click >HERE<.

The claim is that the other cover caused the series to quadruple in sales. Whatever. Anyways, I thought it'd be nice to let folks know what the cover was suppose to be. Amazon.ca still shows this as the cover for the next book, but, I doubt it. Still, it'll be awesome to read the next one. Page count is 784 pages, which seems huge, but, I wish it was more!! 

Comic Book of the Week!

I am trying to keep the blog up to date, or at least, a update every few days. So, I figued that once a week, I'd recommend a comic. Be it old or new. I'll try to recommend titles that I think that everyone would enjoy, and not some fanboy title. Eg "Uncanny X-Men #456 is a must read to see the return of the Apocalypse, etc", but, stories that are accessible to everyone.

So, here we go with the first one. The System by Peter Kuper. It's published by DC comics/Vertigo. What makes this series enjoyable was that it's all art. No words. It uses Stencil art by Kuper, which is simply amazing. The story follows several individuals, and how each of their lives crosses. It follows a corrupt policeman, stripper, serial killer, and a few others. It's definitely a more serious title, and it shows a wide variety of characters from different social classes. It's a older series, so, it's been collected in a tpb. Follow the >LINK< to see more on it, plus, some examples of the interior art. 

Songs of Naga Teout.

In my travels over at SFFworld, I found a series (Songs of Naga Teout) by a author named Heather Gladney. It sucks, but, the series is now out of print. So, in my obssession, I am trying to find this book(s). No luck, expect online, and that the dilemna.

I can easily find the first book of the series cheap. Couple of buck, plus shipping and handling. It's the second book. I cant find it for under 20 bucks! American! And it's a paperback. That just sucks, I know it's the whole supply vs demand etc, but, man, do I pay it?? Probably, but, still..

Annoys me a little that it's so expensive. Doesn't seem fair. But, it's definitely nice to own a couple of books that are next to impossible to find.

Books Books Books

So, I was talking to Jon, and I kinda realize that one of the problems with my blog is that it has no real direction. I just post stuff. Yah, great, but, it's tough.

I have a obvious love of books. I'm always looking for some book, reading a book, find what out of print, learning about authors, help out at a massive book site (Sffworld).

Might as well start a blog on books. This may even lead me to actually up date this blog more often, while not as interesting for some folks, life sucks. :)

So, yah.. Books. Love em. The current book I am reading is Curse of Chalion. Written by Bujold, she became really well known for her Vorkosigan series. I never really wanted to read that series, or any of hers. They just seem, boring..dull.. But, I figured I tried her Fantasy series. Lo and Behold, I am rivetted to this book. Hard to explain why, their isnt any action, battle, or even wide use of magic. It's the Characters. The main character, Cazaril, seems so real. And flawed. Which is great. I mean, in most series, the characters have flaws, but, they seem superficial. These flaws seem to actually affect the characters actually actions, some for the worse. Great book, and part of a series. But, each book is a individual. When I am done it, I'll leave some quick thoughts on it. :)

What I did today..

So, it's Saturday, and I woke up a little early..

Fed my Dog Nemo, watched someone TV, and heading out with Jon later in the day.

Yesterday was alright, I went to this trade show for work. It was good. Trish said something snarky at me, so, I'm not going to dance with her anymore.

Lookie, Mike being all artsy like.

More Proof that summer is over. Man, I really do enjoy this Hello thing. No more flickr. 

Summer's Over, and I'm trying Hello.

The summer is over. It's fall. Get over it. Enjoy the the red leafs while they are still on the trees. Our falls are so short.

Secondly, I am trying Hello. Hello is a blogging tool that works with Picasa 2. On my previous system, I couldnt get it to wo rk. Always got a "embedded error" message. Why? I never could figure it out. But, it seems ok now.

Will that mean more frequent posts? Probably not. :) 

Yah Yah..

Everyone's (About 3 people actually) have complained I haven't updated my blog.

So, I figured I should. If those 3 people get together, I could have a riot on my hands.

Follow this >LINK<

This dude has a sh!tload of toys. Warning, lots of pictures...

Ha! Something to report..

So. I've been spammed. No, not my e-mail. My Blog! Yah. Go take a look at my entry in regards to racism in the media. Second comment. It's a spam message!

Just happened today. Below is the actual comment. Fu(k. Can you believe that?? I'm a little annoyed by this. We'll see what happens when I allow the comments on this thread.


"Family takes circuitous route to Delray
DELRAY BEACH After a seven-day, 600-mile odyssey, Pam Jones and her family are just happy to be alive.
Good blog. You’ve put lots of thought in here. If you are interested, go see my ipod mp3 player related site. It’s still growing but you may still find something of interest."

Oi!

Been a long time since I updated this Blog. And, I dont have anything to thrilling to post either at the moment.

So, what do I do? Well, I am going to remind everyone to check out Oddtodd.com out. It gets updated more often than here. ;)

Well, it's a lame entry. :) But, it's a entry.

Racism in the Press..

loot1
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

Found this over at Puck's blog. Figured I should post it as well.

A dream??

vader21
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

Take a look at this. >LINK<

I dare to dream. ;)

IE 7 Beta 1

It's out.

The new Internet Explorer.

I ran it for a little bit, and it seemed nice. Though, it already had problems displaying the MSN site, which isnt a good sign. ;)

Though, I do like the interface so far, but, I've only been using it for a short while. Here is the LINK to find it.

Alot of folks will probably think of all the flaws found in the IE, espically security ones. Well, in my long search for a good browser, I havent found one. Every browser has flaws, security ones as well. Even Firefox, every month I get PC World, and they report a flaw in that and every other browser. Go with what fits I say. We'll see how IE 7 goes, but, they have tabbed browsing. :)

PS. You need to be running a legit copy of XP.

Update - It appears that IE 7 doesnt support 128 bit Encryption. Odd, you think it would, IE does normally.

Update 2 - Holy! It sucks. I mean, it's a Beta, what can you expect? It's slooooow, doesnt load up right, some pages do not display at all. I'd stay away from this one. If you do d/l, it does write over your existing IE..

Tech TV.

I use to love Tech TV. I never really got to see much of it, but, I did like it. It then merged with G4 (Which is a Gaming station), and I didnt mind it..but, I only play PC Games, and it had alot of info on console gaming.

As time went by, shows like The Screensavers (Tech news, info, etc) slowly got re-working into a more 'media/gaming' show.. The hosts of the screensavers (Kevin Rose & Alex Albretch) left, and it just wasnt the same.

I was sad.

But, behold..the internet, and pod casting.. There is now a few 'video' pod casts that are basically on just tech news. One is hosted by Kevin Rose and Alex Albretch, a other by a bunch of former Screensavers guys (Kevin Rose being one), and I just recently found a other hosted by Amber from Call for Help. Below are the links. :)

Diggnation

NCommand

Systm

A friend of mine, Jon, also runs a Podcast on Linux.

Basically, new computer..

Finally. Well, I have it back. And it's faster. This is what I had. P4 2.4 GHZ, 533 MHZ FSB, & 1.5 GB 2100 Ram. I am now using a AMD 64BIT 3200+, New Asus Motherboard, Socket 939 FSB 800MHZ, & 2 GB 3200 Ram. Both systems use the ATI X800XL video card, and I kept both my hard drives of 160 (Master now) and the 60 GB (Slave.)

Dam fast now. I could also be the my entire Hard Drive(s) were wiped clean and re-installed. That I am sure has helped alot.

I had it built at Infinet Computers.

It's nice to have a clean O/S (Shaddap Jon!), but, I've discovered a few programs that I am no longer going to use. One, software firewalls. Just go out and buy a router for that. You can use it later to set up a second computer on the 'Net, and it wont hog resources that a software firewall does. Plus, the last few that I have tried (Zonealarm, Sygate, Norton's) all were very annoying. On my old system, Norton's actually prevented certain programs (email!) from working at all, and Zonealarm refused to uninstalled. As to the virus scanner, well, I went with AVG for now. Since Norton's sucked (See previous post), I figured stick with a free one and see how it works. So far so good.

Now the only thing left to do is settle with other software, stuff like p2p software, Adware scanners, etc. I think I am going to try Firefox for my browser now as I wasn't happy with Opera, and IE is just to buggy. Firefox is still slow on my system, but, I've found that they are no browsers out there that are any good.

Alex.. freak...

Alex
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

For about 7 years, I had the distinct..umm, experience of working with a gentleman named Alex.

Recently, he quit. Onto bigger and better things for that guy..

And, over the years, Alex has irratated the hell out of me, and oddly enough, I'll still miss him. He was unique. And, he did make me laugh, despite my "Grumpish" attitude. He was also the first person to make me feel welcomed at Costco. I was standing there, waiting for the interview when he approached me, and said "Hi. You going for the majors job." So, here I leave a few memories of Alex.

1 - His Sailor Moon Dance. Don't ask more, but, man, it'd made me laugh so hard.

2 - Shirts. Again, they made me laugh. I remember the first time he wore his cocaine cowboy shirt. I could barely look at him without laughing.

3 - Our mutual love of all Pop Bands UK. Espically S-Club 7, and Steps. Hannah.. MmmmM.. Rachel.. MMmmmMmmm..

4 - "Hey, what's this plastic stuff around the switch, Mike?" "I dunno.." ZAP! "Umm.. it was like that when they gave it to us."

5 - 'Non' and 'Oui'. This mean, No and Yes in French, Alex. Never ever hit Oui on a Digital Camera again!

6 - Blogging a entry from work (See top right picture) with our crazy boss Melynda nearby, and some manager.

7 - Chain Saw comment from him and Lisa. Shudder.

8 - "Alex, you look tired." "I played QUAKE all night, Mike. I am sooooo tired."

9 - "I told Gary I had math class on Tues night, but, it was to watch Buffy instead." Me: "What!?!?!?!!?!?"

10 - Checking out the ladies..

And finally, the one that will live forever..

"Well, Mike, a AMR slot is this new type...." Yeah, right.. ;)

Alot of other memories...but... enough.. :)


G'luck Alex!!

Just Chipped my tooth!

I just chipped my tooth! Eating a slice of Pizza. What the fu(k?!?! Never going to eat Pizza unless it's turned into a soup!

The day of my holidays!

Before a wedding (not mine.)

ARGH!

Leave symapthy comments below.

Games for Sale.

5 Bucks each. :)

NeverWinter Nights Gold
Zeus
Star Wars Battlefront (Online Shooter)
Call of Duty
Star Trek Elite Force II (FPS)
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin.

Let me know.

Greatest fight ever.

Greatest fight ever.
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

Been alot of great fights over the last 20 years of TV and movies. But, Family Guy vs the Chicken Man. Amazing.

And they made a toy of it!

X3

x3_teaser_poster_1120243061 (Medium)
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

New Poster for X-Men 3.

Thought it was pretty cool.

That's all.

Carry on.

Norton's..

These last few days/weeks/months on my computer have brought a variety of problems that were easily ignored. Recently, I've had many problems sending/receiving emails, or not being able to send, then not being able to recieve a other day.

Many times, when I shut down my computer, espically recently, a little programed called "ccApp.exe" would crash, preventing my system from shutting down, and when it did shut down, it took a ridiculous amount of time.

Now before you just assume "Virus" or "Spyware", you are wrong. ;) ccApp.exe is part of the Norton's security programs, of which I run. Both their Anti-Virus and Firewall.

I've uninstalled them, and many of my previous problems (Slow startup, Slow Shutdown, email issues) have suddenly gone to the wind. ccApp.exe is the specific prg that actually checks email, and I am assuming that is what was interfering with my email, and it makes sense. Everytime I shut down, it was crashing (Not Responding) which would affect email services if it wasnt working.

So, in the process of removing this program, I have suddenly realized how much crap Norton's installs on my computer. I have now completely removed both programs, and from what my new firewall program is telling me (Zonealarm trial for now), I still have prg's of Norton's accessing the Net.

Fuck You Norton. For screwing up my system.

Anyways, besides Jon who runs the MOST secure O/S, what programs do you all run for Anti/Firewall?

So tired of bad browsers..

Well, I have now used Firefox and Opera to some extent. And, both suck. Firefox is so slowwww... And, Opera.. well, it's become very slow, and just not reliable. I can visit a site and nothing will appear until I hit the reload button, and that only ends up showing half the graphics on the site itself.


So, in my travel over the 'Net, I am came across a browser called "Maxthon". It has the most important feature I wanted, and that is Tabs. I've only just started using it (As all my bookmarks are in Opera now, and I have alot), so, I'll let you know if it's any good (For those who care.).

Way Back When..

yahoo (Small)
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

Don't get all excited that I blogged two days in a row!

And three entries!

Anyways, follow this link and take a look at what some websites looked like way back in the late 90's.

Yahoo, Google (Beta!), all kinds.. It's friggin weird..

Big Pike.

03550010
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

Well, here is the pride of my trip to Calling Lake. The 9.5Lb Pike I caught!

Biggest fish I have probably ever caught.. That's my sister holding it up btw.

And, in case you are wondering, I did release after catching it. :)

Walleye

collage1
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

Well, here are a couple of shots of some Walleye I caught up in Calling Lake, AB, Canada.

It was wicked. The second one, was about 5lbs, the other about 4.5.

Great fishing.. I'll be posting a pic of the 9.5 lbs Pike I caught too..

Back

Picture 053 (Small)
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

Back from Fishing and Camping.

Sigh, I never fully appreciated it when I do it. I hate coming back to the city.

Anyways. Here is a picture of what is essential for my vacation. Fishing was awesome, I'll post some picture later in the day/week. Gotta post something to keep Jon from whining. ;)

Gone Fishing.

For real.

Better catch something.

See you in a few.

Comment muchly.

Uwe Boll

Came across this thought at Puck's Blog (Which was the first blog I ever saw), about this man named Dr. Uwe Boll.

I am only familiar with one of his movies, Alone in the Dark, which was so bad.. I mean, so bad, that in a matter of days, was listed as one of the worst movies over at IMDB.

How can you tell this man makes bad movies? When I did a google search on his, the first two english sites that I came across were these...

Stop Dr. Uwe Boll - A online petition to stop him from making movies.

Uwe Boll - A simple message to his man.

I wonder if he has any fans, I'd tell ya to rent Alone in the Dark to see how bad he is, but, I wouldnt wish that on anyone.

Here ya go..

collage
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

A new entry!

And, one with clouds!

Weird freaking looking clouds.

These shots were taken over Hasting, Nebrasaka. I dunno if they are fake, I havent found anything on the web to indicate it. (Snopes website, etc)..

But, if they are real, pretty wild..

Just for Jon!

PICT0052
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

Jon has been requesting a new picture of one of my bookcases.

Here ya go, Jon!!!

Yesh.

THISWEEK
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

It's been way to long since I updated my blog.

I seem to neglect it for weeks, and then realize I havent updated it.

Hard to sometimes, ya want to entertain folks, but, man, it's tough.

But, alas, here is a update. Found this cartoon on a old cd, figured it'd give ya a chuckle or two.

Suckie 4 Sale Post. :)

Yah, no update besides this "For Sale" post.

I got a few things I want to get sell. Here we go..

256MB Jump/Cruzer Drive - 20 bucks.

512 2700 DDR Double Sided Ram - 35 Bucks. (Make sure you can use this RAM please)

ATI Radeon AGP 9600XT 128MB Video Card - 100 Bucks.

That's it. :)

Behold, My Computer

Copy of PICT0051
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

Yep, this is my computer.

I had to upgrade my video card the other day (Had, right, wanted too) and decided to take a photo of the inside.

The giant red card on the AGP slot, that's the new card. X800XL. It's friggin huge. Needs to be plugged in for power. Heavy too.. But, it's in, and seems to be working just fine.

Video Card 4 sale.

Hiya,

Probably in the next month (After I am satisfied with my new ATI Radeon X800XL) I will be selling off my old video card (ATI Radeon 9600XT), so, if anyone is interested in it, let me know. I am thinking of selling it around a 100 bucks. The going price for this card is still in the upwards of 250 dollars.

I also have a USB Flash Drive (256) that I am trying to get rid of. 20 bucks..

16 years ago..

Tianasquare
Originally uploaded by Paedur.

16 years ago, on June 3, this man stopped a column of tanks from entering Tiananmen square.

No one knows who he is/was, he is rarely ever mention'd in China because of what he did.

You can click >here<.