Archive for February, 2006

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Enterprising hacker makes MsnTV Web cluster

Sunday, February 12th, 2006

Microsoft’s MsnTV console makes an ideal low end server now that I think about it. It has a 733Mz Celeron processor, 128Mb of ram, a 64Mb CF card, and a 10/100 network port. This enterprising hacker has managed to put Linux on it and is working on creating a server cluster.

Given that the MsnTV console can be had for about $1 on eBay I’m expecting to see a lot of cool projects surrounding these consoles starting to crop up. Heck – get enough of them and you could make a spiffy little POV-RAY render farm!

Overwrought emotional gambling

Sunday, February 12th, 2006

Friday was a disaster – luckily the actual weekend has been a bit better. On Friday my company had our annual holiday party. Unfortunately they had the bad taste to have a casino night. Loud noises, heavy drinking, casino gambling, and all our employees makes for a bad combination and a worse experience for an introverted little geek like me.

I had an anxiety attack from too many strangers and ended up leaving in a hurry. I was so nerve-wracked that I threw up in the parking lot of the Bellevue Club on my way out. I’m not sure but I think that throwing up in the parking lot of a fancy health club makes me special.

You know it’s funny. I love the company I work for – it’s why I’m there, but I really can’t stand the way they choose to reward their employees. It would make so much more sense to me to take the thousands of dollars that they spend on an event like that had give us all better benefits, or something like that. Forcing your employees to come to a moral event just makes for some uncomfortable times.

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Thankfully yesterday and today have involved a lot of nothing. I spent most of the day yesterday slogging my way through season 2 of Star Trek Voyager, and going out to Kirkland with Brien to hang out with some of his friends. Today is going to be more friends with the continuation of our Battlestar Galactica marathon.

I also managed to get FTP working on my powerbook, and learned how to configure restricted FTP and sFTP users. I’m planning on getting an iMac or Mac Mini again at some point in the future so I can get back to work setting up my full time server.

HL2 Physics engine: Rube Goldberg style

Thursday, February 9th, 2006

Check out this amazing video made in HL2. It really speaks to the physics engine used! Go physics!!

Cylons vs. the Borg

Monday, February 6th, 2006

This weekend was ever so slightly sci-fi laden. Saturday was lost to a Battlestar Galactica marathon at Jasons. Brien and I met up with Jason, Jake, and Tres and spent the majority of the day watching the miniseries, and much of season 1. Much fun was had by all, and (as no surprise to any of us) the Cylons won the day.

Sunday was much more solitary and relaxed for me. I have just acquired Star Trek Voyager and had my own little marathon delving deep into the world of Captain Janeway as she troops across space with her rag-tag group of Star Fleet misfits.

Talk about geeky excitement. Somehow I really don’t want to have to finish getting dressed and go into work today, the idea of sitting around and consuming more Voyager is ever so much more tempting!

By the numbers…

Friday, February 3rd, 2006

By the Numbers – the Superbowl: Gizmodo’s cool glimpse into the numbers behind the sport. I’m not much of a sports fan at all, but boy do I love numbers! It simply amazes me how much money, time, and energy gets poured into pulling off a big sporting event like the Superbowl.

Of racial profiling and pit bulls

Friday, February 3rd, 2006

The New Yorker has a great article on racial profiling using pit bulls as an example. I was sent this by a friend that lives in my building and found it quite an interesting read. It draws parallels between racial profiling and breed profiling in law enforcement and shows how ridiculous they both are.

I really like they way they used pit bulls in this article. It’s very rare to see such an organization as the New Yorker coming out in support of pit bulls, but it’s very true. Skype is well taken care of, never chained, well fed, loved, and neutered. I have absolutely no fear in my heart that he will ever attack a human.

Glad it’s Friday….

Friday, February 3rd, 2006

Being in the new East-side office has sure made the week go by quickly, but I’m so glad it’s over. The new office rocks, the commute does not – thank goodness that I have my geeky little podcasts to keep me company.

I’ve been so exhausted by my weeks adventures that almost every day I’ve done very little after work aside from walking Skype and collapsing onto my couch in a semi-vegitative coma. This weekend will be more of the same – I have a BSG marathon to attend, and birthday parties to celebrate!

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