Valhalla

Exam Week

2009-07-19T23:14:00.004-04:00

We will be returning to your regularly scheduled programming shortly...

Strawberry Gelato

2009-07-05T17:23:00.002-04:00

I just made strawberry gelato and it turned out amazing. Pictures and recipe to come (after all I need an excuse to do it again).

Garfield Minus.....John?

2009-06-07T11:38:00.006-04:00

I'm sure many of you have seen or heard of Garfield Minus Garfield. About a week or so ago a Garfield comic ran in the newspaper that once I saw it, I immediately decided it should be a "Garfield Minus John"

I finally got around to firing up GIMP this morning to do some editing and I must say, I'm quite pleased with the results.

"When there's snow on the ground, I like to pretend I'm walking on clouds."
-Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata, Animal Crossing: Wild World, 2005

Palm Pre. Again.

2009-06-07T11:26:00.004-04:00

Whatever you do, don't watch the CNET video review of the Palm Pre. I made that mistake and now I'm even more tempted to hold off getting a new phone for a few months so that I can give Verizon more money than I already do.

[via CNET]

"Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority." -Thomas H. Huxley

Palm Pre News

2009-05-30T06:55:00.001-04:00

I just want to say "Thank you!" to Palm. More like an incoherent "thankyouthankyouthankyou", but I'm not the sort of person who would feel giddy about a phone (which I probably can't afford) coming to Verizon (whose data plan I probably can't afford).

[via Engadget]

"Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable." -H.L. Mencken

Intel Pineview

2009-05-30T00:40:00.006-04:00

I've been considering getting an Asus Eee PC. While I was debating which model I wanted to get (mostly between the 1000HA and 1000HE), I noticed that they had two different chipsets. The HA comes with the Intel Atom N270 chipset, while the HE is available with either the N270 or the N280 chipset. Curious, I began to research the difference between the two. As far as I could tell the N280 is slightly more expensive than the N270 but offered improved speed and the ability to decode HD video as well as slight energy savings. But then a rabbit hole appeared, and curious to know what lay beyond I took the plunge.

Pineview. That's all I have to say. Well not quite, but that's the crux of the "problem". From what I can tell Pineview, the code name for the up and coming Atom chipset, is going to be cheaper than both the N270 and N280 and better in every way. On top of that, it would appear that the N280 is being discontinued due to lack of demand. Products sporting Pineview aren't due to drop until at least September though. So I can either jump now and get the N280 while it's still out there, or put off a much needed purchase until fall.

Of course then there's the other dilemma, should I really be looking at netbooks if I'm in need of a primary computer?

Places I got info:

pcmag.com

pcworld.com

i4u.com

...and for those of you interested in keeping up on the latest Pineview news: tinyurl.com/intelpineview

Edit: More Pineview info from InsideTech.

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."
-Bill Gates

Jonathon Coulton on eventful

2009-05-28T18:26:00.002-04:00

You know you want to

View all Grand Rapids events on Eventful

Palm Pre Jealousy

2009-05-21T18:56:00.007-04:00

I just stumbled across a countdown ad for the Palm pre on....... I don't remember where actually, Facebook I believe. Where is beside the point though. The phone looks gorgeous. It pains me that I have to choose between the Pre (Sprint) and sticking with 'The Network.'

Palm, please please please please bring the Pre to Verizon.

The ad, with a cute little Twitter Bird and all can be found at http://is.gd/C9RY

P-day in 15 days and counting.

"It has always been the perogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor." - Neil Gaiman, Sandman

In The Home Stretch

2009-04-26T21:48:00.003-04:00

My apologies for the inactivity.

Exam week is this week so the semester is almost over. I start classes again the following week so there isn't much time off, but because I'll be done with everything for exam week monday night I'll at least get close to a week off.

"It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information" -Oscar Wilde

Educate Yourself For Free

2009-03-28T14:40:00.001-04:00

Lifehacker made a recent post about their "Top 10 Tools for a Free Online Education" and it looks to be full of good suggestions. Two on their list that stand out to me are Google's Code University and Academic Earth.

I've browsed Academic Earth a little bit previously and it looked like it had a huge amount of quality content. Ironically it's level of quality is what has kept me away from it thus far, I know that once I start to sink my teeth into it I won't be able to stop. One more source of procrastination heading into the end of the semester is the last thing I need.

Google Code University I didn't know existed until seeing the Lifehacker posting today. I've used Google Code to a small degree, but just didn't know the University portion existed. I haven't really looked at what's there yet, but I'm interested in finding out. This also falls under the category of potential source of procrastination so, like Academic Earth, I probably won't really get into it for a while yet.

Lifehacker doesn't usually steer me wrong so I definitely plan on giving their eight other suggestions a look at some point as well. Any other suggestions or tips for receiving free education?

[Top 10 Tools via Lifehacker]

Post Script: I do have this in addition to their suggestions. W3Schools is a reference and tutorial covering web development topics. I don't do much html work so when I do I generally like to have a reference handy, and they have delivered.

"You don't need fancy highbrow traditions or money to really learn. You just need people with the desire to better themselves." -Adam Cooper and Bill Collage

Kotaku - "10 Reasons To Buy Prototype"

2009-03-28T13:31:00.003-04:00

Sold.

[via Kotaku]

"A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author"

-G.K. Chesterton

Dr. Horrible

2009-03-28T01:39:00.004-04:00

Dr. Horrible is on Hulu! That is all.

"In the end, everything is a gag." -Charlie Chaplin

Utah Saints

2009-03-26T20:18:00.006-04:00

I recently stumbled across this and it made me happy inside. So watch, and be happy yourself.

"Happiness depends on ourselves." -Aristotle

*Update* I just realized this song reminds me of 'Call On Me' by Eric Prydz

Weekly Running Schedule

2009-03-23T19:01:00.001-04:00

For the week of 03/23/2009:

Mon - lift weights
Tues - 4 mi.
Wed - 4 mi. (intervals 2 min. hard, 6 min. recovery)
Thur - lift weights
Fri - 5 mi.
Sun - 11 mi.

"Sooner or later we all quote our mothers" -Bern Williams

Running Continued

2009-03-17T00:53:00.003-04:00

Missed a few running posts. Oops. I won't let it happen again, I promise. Don't worry though, I've been keeping up, and even had the opportunity to go snowboarding this past weekend. I was afraid I wouldn't get a chance to at all this season, so I'm glad to have gotten at least one trip in.

To the point. On the docket for this week:

Week of 2009/03/16:

Mon. - 9 miles

Tues. - bike 10 miles (easy)

Wed. - roller hockey game

Fri. - 5 miles (treadmill), weight lifting

Business Card Trickery

2009-02-27T07:57:00.000-05:00

Calling it a business card may not fit the strict definition of the word 'card' (trust me, I looked), but who cares. This is just awesome.

Bruce Stewart posted a snippet yesterday on the wired blog in which he shared the magic of the business cards supplied by LEGO for its employees. Putting a spin on business cards that never would have occurred to me, LEGO prints custom LEGO figures. This means the employee's contact information is on the front and back of the figure's shirt. A description just can't do it justice, head over and check it out for yourself.

I've considered getting business cards for myself several times over the past year or so, and I think these would do the trick. I just have one question: LEGO, are you hiring?

[via Wired]

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..."

"There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..." - Cicero

Steamcon?

2009-02-27T07:30:00.000-05:00

Not to be left out of the lucrative convention business, the steampunk crowd now has one to call home.

The first annual Steamcon will be held October 23-25 2009 in the Seattle Airport Marriott. They plan on having everything from an art exhibition, to theater, to demonstrations about modifying guns (I would assume on how to make them steampunk approved). Oh, and I can't leave out the cabaret act, RPG's, lessons in etiquette, "talks and discussions", and even a display of steam tech.

My initial thought was that as cool as I think steampunk is, I don't know that I'd pony up the cash to attend a convention devoted to it. That is, until I noticed on their site that it would appear that the 3-day ticket is available for $30 through June 1. Now the only thing keeping me back is the whole other-side-of-the-country-and-I'm-on-a-budget issue that also makes PAX, E3, CES, GDC, and SXSW unreasonable to consider.

[via Twitter @steamcon]

"That's it, no more Mr. Knife Guy." - Will Smith as Capt. James West

LG Versa

2009-02-26T00:45:00.004-05:00

This phone looks like it could be awesome; of course the last time I got really excited about a phone coming to Verizon was the BlackBerry Storm, and that release was followed by the crush of mediocrity. I feel like I should be slightly gun-shy when it comes to getting hyped about another phone before hearing a lot a bout it, but I can't help but gaze longingly at the Versa.

A quick laundry list of features:

EV-DO Rev (with tethering capability)
an OLED display on the cover
2 megapixel camera (with face detection)
GPS
microSD
built in accelerometer
attachable qwerty keyboard (which sounds clunky but in pictures appears to have been done well)
Visual Voice Mail
Bluetooth
threaded messaging (ala Gmail?) - it would appear there is a monthly charge for this feature

I can't wait to see how this shakes out.

P.S. Let me know if they announce the Palm Pre coming to Verizon

[via engadget and cnet]

"A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." - Proverb

T-minus 72 days

2009-02-25T21:11:00.009-05:00

72 days left before my 25k. That means less than eleven weeks of training left. I haven't been running as consistently as I would like, but hopefully I'll continue to find enough time to advance my mileage.

I got in an 7 mile run Feb. 16, but missed my long run this past weekend. Despite this I still think I'm in decent shape for being ready in time for the race though. I'm not worried at all about finishing, I'm just too competitive to be willing to 'just finish'; I have to do well.

Anyway, I think I'm going to start posting my planned runs at the beginning of each week, partly to give me something to post about, and partly to motivate myself to structure my training a little more than looking ahead to the next run.

So to begin:

Week of 2009/02/23:

Tues. - 4 mi. (yesterday)

Wed. - 3 mi.

Thur. - 5 mi.

Fri. - 2 mi. & Lift Weights

Sat. - 8 mi.

"I don't jog. If I die I want to be sick" - Abe Lemmons

Celebration

2009-02-24T15:18:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to Steve Jobs, who turned 54 today. Have a pączki on me.

"May you live all the days of your life." - Jonathon Swift

Great, or Greatest Ever?

2009-02-08T23:10:00.004-05:00

I was recently browsing old Twitter posts of some of the folks I follow, and stumbled across a gem in which Roger Chang, of Revision 3, shared the existence of a programming language I, for one, had never of. What's so special you ask?

First, the name: Brainfuck. Even though the odds of me ever mustering the energy to try it are about 1:1,243 (read further to find out why) I will never forget that the thing exists.

Second, it's tiny. According to the website compiler sizes range from 136 bytes to 240 bytes. Brainfuck has only 8 operators, and so it does not support variables. Yet it is still supposedly Turing Complete. As a consequence of it's small size, the language is extremely restrictive and difficult to use. For example, 'Hello World,' the go to introduction program, is:

++++++++[>+++++++++<-]>.
<+++++[>++++++<-]>-.

+++++++..

+++.

<++++++++[>>++++<<-]>>.

<<++++[>------<-]>.

<++++[>++++++<-]>.

+++.

------.

--------.

>+.

That's right, that series of symbols prints the phrase 'Hello World.' The results are achieved by incrementing or decrimenting an ASCII value and printing the results at the end of each line. Compare that to C++ and decide which one you'd rather look at all day:

#include

using namespace;

int main()

{

cout<<"Hello World!";

return 0;

}

My opinion: intriguing but the lack of operators makes even the most basic functions annoyingly difficult (just check out the website author's odd or even program).

Yeah, I thought you'd agree.

"Lo! Men have become the tool of their tools." -Henry David Thoreau

EPIC Fail

2009-01-29T23:44:00.005-05:00

I know it's cliché but I couldn't resist such a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the over-used meme.

On topic; it would appear EPIC games screwed up royally with the DRM implemented in the PC release of its blockbuster Gears Of War. What was the mistake you ask? They put an expiration date on the DRM certificate. This is a stupid idea. As of January 28, 2009 Gears is impossible to play without tweaking your system's time clock. While this fix isn't terribly difficult, it is definitely annoying and something that is absolutely unreasonable to expect fans to put up with.

According to EPIC they are, in fact, aware of the problem and are working on a fix. All I can say that they'd better get it fixed before the community starts taking things into their own hands and circumvents DRM in an effort to, gasp, render the game they purchased playable.

EPIC, do yourself a favor and fix it soon. [via ars technica]

Update: Supposedly the bug is not related to DRM, EPIC blames the anti-cheat scheme they have in place. [via ars technica]

"All it takes is all you got" -Marc Davis

Yahtzee Reviews Gears of War 2

2009-01-28T19:23:00.004-05:00

To rip off an old commercial "He likes it! Hey Yahtzee!" He pretty much nails it when he says "Sometimes, popular things are popular for a reason--because they're good."

I just want to know why it took old Yahtzee until the end of January to review one of the biggest releases of 2008; a release which occured early November. At least the delay didn't affect me, I already decided I like it. (psst. If you haven't go play Horde Mode. Now.)

"When spring comes the grass grows by itself." - Lao Tzu

Big Sale!

2009-01-28T16:03:00.005-05:00

This is awesome.

Thank you Cosmic Kitty [via Lifehacker]

"Come my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world."

- Tennyson

Randomness

2009-01-11T23:15:00.006-05:00

Just wanted to round out the night by sharing this story from Clientcopia. It made me chuckle.

Also, has anyone checked out kgb.com? I've been seeing commercials for it but they don't share what it is beyond that kgb stands for "The Knowledge Generation Bureau". It looks like a search engine ala ChaCha. The site looks pretty, however the acronym is a bit of a turnoff for me.

If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near. -Sun Tzu

Verizon Acquires Alltel, Creates Opportunity for Amazing Ad Campaign

2009-01-11T21:56:00.007-05:00

More news from The Boy Genius Report. Verizon Wireless has completed its acquisition of Alltel wireless, putting itself in position to be the largest cell phone service provider in the United States. Suck on that AT&T. Even better though, think of the ad campaign possibilities Verizon could build off Alltel's campaign following 'Chad' the Alltel salesperson. Picture this: Chad and the verizon guy have lemonade stands next to each other as kids, then kiosks next to each other as adults. Then one day in place of the two kiosks there will be one super-large Verizon wireless kiosk.
Verizon, lets talk.

New Class of Computer?

2009-01-11T21:33:00.002-05:00

Asus unveiled a new class of computer at CES this year: the keyboard computer. It is essentially a keyboard with computing specs similar to the netbooks we've been seeing, even down to integrated 802.11 B/G/N, bluetooth, and wireless HDMI. And just in case you don't have, or want, an external monitor, it has a 5 inch touch screen in the place you would find the number pad on a traditional keyboard. One caveat before you get too excited, Asus hasn't announced a price or release date for the Eee Keyboard, so we can only hope that as a member of the Eee line it will be reasonable.

I for one, can't wait to see how this pans out. [thanks to The Boy Genius Report for sharing]

Rooster Teeth's War on Oprah

2008-12-08T19:01:00.003-05:00

In today's post Geoff from Rooster Teeth he asked a favor of us all. Subscribe to their Youtube channel and help propel them beyond the empire that is Oprah. At the time of their posting they had 45,577 subscribers with the big O weighing in at 47,808. Go forth and multiply.

XKCD Band Geek Comic

2008-11-30T21:07:00.007-05:00

An old XKCD I had forgotten about but recently stumbled across, and I still enjoy it just as much as I did when I first saw it.

Bailout

2008-11-26T16:29:00.005-05:00

Hot Wings, a DJ on a local radio morning show, made this rant a couple days ago during his 'What Hot Wings Thinks" segment of the show. I enjoyed it immensely.

In the rant he raises several good points though the one that struck me most was that the CEO of Citigroup, Vikram Pandit, has made over $216 million in the time he has been in that position (less than a year). The collective salaries of the Big 3 (Ford, Chrysler, GM)? Less than $5 million a year.

"Governing a large country is like frying a small fish. You spoil it with too much poking." -Lao Tzu

New Xbox Experience

2008-11-19T23:09:00.003-05:00

The Xbox Live website and marketplace seem to be moving a bit sluggishly. I guess a simultaneous world wide update will cause a bit of a hit to server performance. It makes me glad though that I was able to get in on the NXE a week ago and don't have to wait for it to download today.
Major Nelson has been keeping followers of his Twitter and blog busy today, posting over twenty tweets as of 11pm EST in addition to four blog posts. He does have a post of tips for newcomers to the NXE, and I think it's worth looking over.

Re-Fallout 3

2008-11-19T23:06:00.001-05:00

The Zero Punctuation review of Fallout 3 i up. Enjoy.

Doc scrubber

2008-11-18T22:24:00.002-05:00

Ever wish you could easily eliminate all that meta-data Microsoft Office enjoys embedding in your documents? Then this tool is for you.

Ancient Greek Literature

2008-11-16T02:15:00.003-05:00

There exists a book from ancient Greece. This book is not a treatise on philosophy or government, but rather a collection of jokes of the time. One joke resembles a certain famous Monty Python Sketch involving a dead parrot. It is about a man who, having purchased a slave, returns to the slaver complaining that his slave has died. The slaver's response is, "By the Gods, when he was with me, he never did any such thing!"
[article from msnbc.com]

Shiba Inu Puppy Cam

2008-11-16T01:46:00.003-05:00

I heard about these guys in this msnbc post, and I can't stop watching. At the moment they have 18,588 viewers, but I've seen it climb as high as 30,000. Some rather pupular pups if I may say(my apologies for the illiteration).

Fallout 3

2008-11-09T20:04:00.002-05:00

Early impressions (via Penny Arcade)

Password Check

2008-10-31T11:31:00.002-04:00

Lifehacker recently posted a link to this website that tests the strength of your password against a brute force attack. You simply have to enter the number of letters, numbers, symbols, etc. and the website calculates the amount of time it would take a brute force attack generated by a typical PC.

Dead Space Cipher

2008-10-20T20:38:00.002-04:00

I found this cipher in chapter 6 of Dead Space.

It looks like Kotaku is onto this little tidbit as well.

Dead Space

2008-10-20T20:14:00.005-04:00

I've been playing Dead Space lately and I have to say that I love it. The strategic dismemberment game play style gives the game an interesting twist and having no HUD really immerses you in the game. I've noticed the game has a few issues smoothly rendering shadows, but that's a minor issue which doesn't detract from the game at all. The baddies (necromorphs) however are eerily similar to the flood of Halo fame.

I have to say, if you've had any fun in the genre before you'll enjoy this.

New Computer!

2008-09-27T00:11:00.001-04:00

Finally back after my old computer died on me.

Juke Box Hero

2008-08-26T13:57:00.003-04:00

I stumbled across this video of a 4 year old kid lip-synching to Foreigner's 'Juke Box Hero'. Ashlee Simpson could use some lessons.

Tiger

2008-08-22T03:22:00.003-04:00

This has to be some of the best use of marketing I've seen in quite a while. Watch and enjoy. Thanks to Kotaku for sharing.

New Guy On The Block

2008-08-02T01:10:00.003-04:00

This new search engine called Cuil looks pretty promising. I think I'll be keeping an eye on it.

Fitness Tools

2008-07-22T23:27:00.003-04:00

Lifehacker did a post recently about some (tech) fitness tools anyone can use to get in shape. They had some tips / tools that I was already aware of or seemed obvious to me (such as listening to music, finding proper running shoes, and the nike+ system), but there were a couple of items I found particularly interesting.

First was an everyman's workout routine known as "shovelgloving". It only requires one piece of equipment, a sledgehammer wrapped in a sweatshirt. What's more manly than that?

The other is a tool called MapMyRun. It's powered by Google Maps and used for what else but mapping your runs. Other features include a calories burned calculator and even gps support if you upgrade to the pro version.

Other honorable mentions include a couch to 5k to marathon plan as well as a plan to go from 0 to 100 pushups in 6 weeks. Well with that I'm off to go find a sledgehammer, have fun with the tools.

Ever noticed how it's always runners who find dead bodies? -Pearl Izumi ad

Dr. Horrible

2008-07-18T23:59:00.006-04:00

Pure Genius. I love it.

Thanks to Tycho over at Penny Arcade for sharing the joy that is Dr. Horrible.

A brief synopsis: A three part musical written by Joss Whedon about a C-list supervillain named Dr. Evil played by Neil Patrick Harris.

Supposedly it's coming down soon, so time is of the essence.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
-Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

I'm out.

GTA IV revisted

2008-07-02T14:37:00.002-04:00

Okay, my thoughts on GTA IV. I have to say that I am quite impressed with the story line and dialogue. This is the first time I've felt compelled to complete the entire story line of a game in the series, granted before GTA IV I had only played GTA III as well as Vice City.
There are a few control issues that become frustrating at times. Niko seems unable to take fewer than two or three steps at a time, not a huge issue until you decide to shoot up Liberty City using your combat sniper from the roof of an office building and need to creep up to the edge in order to peer over. I lost count of the number of times I was in the sandbox multiplayer with friends and after taking the time to get everyone loaded for bear then flying to a rooftop, half of us decided to go base jumping. It got frustrating. Fast.
Second, the auto targeting feels a bit clumsy at times, particularly late in the game when many of the firefights have niko facing a large number of enemies. In conjunction with this, the free aim feels clumsy as well, though it often serves as a better alternative to the autotargeting.
Overall I would have to say that this game was $60 well spent, and I would absolutely recommend that anyone interested in the genre pick it up if you haven't already.

Niko, buddy, you're gonna be alright.

Liberty City

2008-05-23T13:48:00.003-04:00

I picked up GTA IV on the 13th. And I have to say, so far I'm quite impressed. As I am only about 20.5% through the game I'll save my reactions for a later date.

A new player in the world of OS

2008-05-08T00:02:00.007-04:00

If you've ever thought, "I'd really like to switch to Linux but I don't know about it's security," this is for you. It would seem the NSA thought exactly the same thing. So they did what any tech oriented intelligence agency would, they developed their own Linux OS and then decided to distribute it for free. I don't know about you, but I think this puts the NSA at the top of my list of government agencies.

*Update 01/28/2009*

Looks like SELinux got moved here.

Tony Stark Is A Badass

2008-05-07T00:21:00.001-04:00

So I'll start off by saying that I saw Iron Man this past Thursday. That's right, I saw a May 2 release movie on May 1. I just have that much pull with the local theatre. In all honesty though, the movie was awesome. Following, in no particular order, are several reasons for this:

First. Robert Downey Jr. does an excellent job portraying the womanizing, alcoholic, billionaire anti-hero of Tony Stark. Downey seems to have fed off his personal struggles when looking for inspiration for this role. This allows Downey to do so with such conviction I don't think I can see any other actor pulling off this role with the same degree of success.

Second. I think this article from Gizmodo says it best:

Verdict: 126 Minutes of Gadget Porn

Seriously. Stark has some f-ing sweet gadgets. Everything in his house is so futuristic, but simultaneously frustratingly tangible. Everything from the arc reactor that powers the suit, to the interactive hologram displays in Tony's basement workshop, to Jarvis, the AI that runs everything in Stark's house. It all makes me ask, "Why can't I have this stuff now?"

Third. The most obvious gadget from the movie, the Iron Man suit itself. One of my favorite aspects of this movie was watching the evolution of Stark's iron man suit, of which there are several iterations shown during the course of the film. The failed tests are often as spectacular as those which succeed. And who doesn't love the hot rod red / gold paint job.

Needless to say, I would totally go see this movie again. And I'll probably purchase it when released on DVD. Yup, that good. I think it's worth checking out for anyone who is a fan of the series, or who, like me, remembers watching the cartoon.

Those fans eager for a sequel after the not-so-subtle foreshadowing of the arrival of War Machine need not fear. Marvel has already announced it (in addition, it would seem, to films banking on several other high profile Marvel brands).

Edit: One last Gizmodo plug, a poll for anyone who has seen the movie.