I just found out that Dreamhost is currently giving out free hosting for something called Dreamhost Apps, which gives free hosting for a few services (well, "a few" is 5 right now, counting the various google apps as a single one). It seemed quite interesting, and hence I signed up. I don't have any intent of doing anything with it right now, but might eventually, and there are a few things which it might be useful for.
Mostly creating an identity, and tieing it to most of the other things I do online, with the aim of it being one of the top results when someone googles my name (current the top result is my identi.ca account, which I don't really use any more. I've somewhat lost interesting in broadcasting my life to the degree which microblogging services allow, and I don't presently have a device which would allow me to - that is, a palmtop device with wifi, not my laptop, which is still doing quite well).
Currently, of course, having a very coherent identity on the internet, and controlling what people find when they look for me, is not especially important, or at least not urgent. In time it will become both, however, as the internet becomes increasingly important for companies, and googling employees becomes ubiquitous.
Also, as I start working on more interesting projects, I'll need a less linear way of compiling information about them - for example, the Arduino I have right now. I've been reprogramming it fairly frequently, and occasionally losing code, due to forgetting to save and just rewriting it. Not a major issue, as everything I'm working on right now is very simple, just turning LEDs on and off in various patterns, but once I start doing more interesting things it would be good to put everything online.
Also, pictures. I've taken a lot of them - around 4,000 at least count - and there are at least a few good ones, which are just being wasted sitting on my hard drive. Uploading most or all of them, perhaps after decreasing the resolution (both to decrease the time to upload them and to give an easy way for me to demonstrate that they are my pictures), could be a good idea.
Anways, I'm just rambling, so I'll end this post.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Friday, February 06, 2009
Rowan is Happy
Reasons? Well, there are a lot. A short list of them:
[ Secondary summary, written in third person: Rowan has succumb to the weakness of the human body. He is indulging in dangerous neurotransmitters, and may have forgotten what happened last time. He will probably end up being burned badly again, although he hopes not. He has also decided that that doesn't really matter, as the purpose of being human is to take chances. Essentially, he is human. Pity about that, eh? ]
- Rich And Famous was a good play. It ended about an hour and a half ago, and was weird and awesome. The sets were amazing.
- I now have an Arduino, which is fun and shiny and stuff. I have yet to decide on a name, but I'm thinking.
- I have a battery for the Arduino, whose name is Celine, because it's an obscure reference (yes, I just decided on the name. The reference is to Hagbard Celine, the Illuminati Primus, and this is the first Arduino I have, hence the primary one. Yeah.)
- I have many small surface-mount LEDs, some of which are being hooked up to the Arduino.
- The upcoming bootleg looks like it's going to be very fun.
- School is not as bad as it could be.
- I have decided that I enjoy the warmth of another body. Well, not so much decided as thought "hey, maybe there is something to behaving as if I was human in some ways. Besides, warmth is good."
- I may actually take action. Appropriately enough, 8 days in the future is the traditional day, or at least a day in celebration thereof. Maybe.
- Origami like an explosion in a triangular prism factory given to me, and sitting on my desk. It's shiny and dark at the same time!
- Did I mention the LEDs? Well, they blink and are shiny and stuff. It's fun.
- Tomorrow is a day of drinking tea and writing essays. Better than it sounds, I promise.
- Sunday, although it will be raining (which is sad) is a party-thing (which is fun).
- Started drawing again, helped by the fact that I'm now taking an art class. Drawing is a really good way to spend time, and fun.
[ Secondary summary, written in third person: Rowan has succumb to the weakness of the human body. He is indulging in dangerous neurotransmitters, and may have forgotten what happened last time. He will probably end up being burned badly again, although he hopes not. He has also decided that that doesn't really matter, as the purpose of being human is to take chances. Essentially, he is human. Pity about that, eh? ]
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Knowledge is Power
It is undeniable that knowledge can be used to gain power over an individual. Such is most of the basis of blackmail, and the rationale behind most secrets.
This brand of knowledge is, of course, knowledge which is thought to be able to harm an individual if widely known. For example, for some congressmen, the things that they do in restrooms. The exact contents of the stash under the mattress which was so popular before the Internet. Who someone is attracted to; who someone hates. Thoughts, emotions, and so forth.
Of course, that is only scratching the surface. I find that the past is the greatest source of power over me; knowledge of it is something which I would much rather have abolished (I was incredibly dorky, in a bad way, and I'll leave it at that). It's sort of a dark secret, I suppose, in that I would rather that everyone not mention it, ever. Most people seem to have picked up on this, or at least most of the people from the past. Sadly, one person has a tendency to mention it, and, more importantly, to allow that knowledge to scatter further.
This gives him a fair amount of power over me. Of course, a fair amount is relative; he does not seem especially inclined to exercise it - instead watching me squirm when he mentions it - although on further thought he might simply not want to exercise it directly.
That past is a foreign country, as they say, and it is not one which I would care to vacation in.
Compared to that, other knowledge - like who I am attracted to, what is on my computer, or my horrible taste in Anime/books/processors/whatever else - seems insignificant.
Oh, and for the record, my desktop uses a Celeron. So does my laptop. I'm not proud.
[ Minor addendum: I'm writing this at about 11:20. It's not very good - I'm still awake enough to know that - and I'll probably never get around to fixing it. Also, I apologize for the fact that this is turning into more of a blog and less of something which is shaped like a blog, looks like a blog, even feels like a blog, but is not a blog. Also, blog is a very silly word - something which is pretty well known, but I felt like mentioning it.
[ Probably, this post won't mysteriously vanish, like the last one, as soon as I wake up enough to realize how horrible it is. It might be editted slightly, though.
[ Oh, and about that last post? It will be back up, eventually, if I ever remember to edit it and repost it. As for why it went down? Well, recently I've found myself feeling very lonely, and in need of companionship - the warmth of another body, I suppose - and that post spawned out of those feelings. Yes, I am human. Yes, I've finally admitted it. No, I don't know how many people have just lost/won bets, or how many I owe money to, but I would guess none. If anyone actually is betting about when (or if) I'll admit that I'm human, what the fuck? Am I really that interesting, or are you just very bored? ]
[ Further addendum: Idea for a future post: exactly what is going wrong with my brain (it involves dehydration). ]
This brand of knowledge is, of course, knowledge which is thought to be able to harm an individual if widely known. For example, for some congressmen, the things that they do in restrooms. The exact contents of the stash under the mattress which was so popular before the Internet. Who someone is attracted to; who someone hates. Thoughts, emotions, and so forth.
Of course, that is only scratching the surface. I find that the past is the greatest source of power over me; knowledge of it is something which I would much rather have abolished (I was incredibly dorky, in a bad way, and I'll leave it at that). It's sort of a dark secret, I suppose, in that I would rather that everyone not mention it, ever. Most people seem to have picked up on this, or at least most of the people from the past. Sadly, one person has a tendency to mention it, and, more importantly, to allow that knowledge to scatter further.
This gives him a fair amount of power over me. Of course, a fair amount is relative; he does not seem especially inclined to exercise it - instead watching me squirm when he mentions it - although on further thought he might simply not want to exercise it directly.
That past is a foreign country, as they say, and it is not one which I would care to vacation in.
Compared to that, other knowledge - like who I am attracted to, what is on my computer, or my horrible taste in Anime/books/processors/whatever else - seems insignificant.
Oh, and for the record, my desktop uses a Celeron. So does my laptop. I'm not proud.
[ Minor addendum: I'm writing this at about 11:20. It's not very good - I'm still awake enough to know that - and I'll probably never get around to fixing it. Also, I apologize for the fact that this is turning into more of a blog and less of something which is shaped like a blog, looks like a blog, even feels like a blog, but is not a blog. Also, blog is a very silly word - something which is pretty well known, but I felt like mentioning it.
[ Probably, this post won't mysteriously vanish, like the last one, as soon as I wake up enough to realize how horrible it is. It might be editted slightly, though.
[ Oh, and about that last post? It will be back up, eventually, if I ever remember to edit it and repost it. As for why it went down? Well, recently I've found myself feeling very lonely, and in need of companionship - the warmth of another body, I suppose - and that post spawned out of those feelings. Yes, I am human. Yes, I've finally admitted it. No, I don't know how many people have just lost/won bets, or how many I owe money to, but I would guess none. If anyone actually is betting about when (or if) I'll admit that I'm human, what the fuck? Am I really that interesting, or are you just very bored? ]
[ Further addendum: Idea for a future post: exactly what is going wrong with my brain (it involves dehydration). ]
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Current Inventory
Currently, I carry the following items with me whenever I'm outside, either in my jacket or pockets:
- Cellphone
- Wallet (paper money, four bart cards, gift card, id)
- Two cloths for cleaning glasses
- A wrist-watch
- A pair of gloves
- An MP3 Player (and earbuds, of course)
- One black sharpie
- One unsharpened pencil
- Two ballpoint pens
- Three flash drives (1GB, 4GB, and 8GB)
- Two MicroSD cards, both 2GB, in adapters to allow them to fit in normal SD slots
- A swiss army card
- A swiss army knife like device, which falls under a different brand
- My keychain, with some keys and an LED light
- A small kit which I'm not going to mention, as it might give the wrong impression
- ( Occasionally ) A needle and thread
- ( Occasionally ) two zombie finger puppets
- A sonic screwdriver
- An actual screwdriver, philips-head
- A very bright LED flashlight
- One or more zombie action figures
- A scarf
- An ultraportable laptop (what people typically call a netbook; the Eee 701)
- A power brick for said laptop
- At least one paperback book, often more
- Duct tape, one or more rolls
- A bottle of water
- A clipboard, with paper (either graph or blank)
- Various snack bars, and plastic bags of chocolate
- Some more pens
- A sketchbook
- Anything else which I consider necessary for the situation; recently, this was a torte (I was going to a party)
- A camera (I keep on telling myself to bring it ...)
- Batteries (possibly. I should put more in my bags ...)
Friday, December 05, 2008
A Note on Awesomeness
Most of the people I know seem to be able to generate awesomeness, much the same way that most of the characters in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann generate (or possess) spiral power (sorry, I couldn't resist the reference). This leads to many situations which are fun to watch, or to participate in.
On the other hand, I don't seem to be able to generate awesomeness for myself; this does not prevent me from using awesomeness, though, as I am able to channel awesomeness from events into projects. For example, after Epic'd, I channeled as much residual awesomeness as possible (and that was quite a lot) into writing a game submission for next year, which, hopefully, will be accepted. (For anyone who is interested, it's currently titled Corporation, and will be incredibly chaotic - four main factions, and each character is a member of one or more of eight additional factions. Add to that the one of the main directives to many of the NPCs is "create chaos wherever possible," and that almost everyone will have seperate goals - and not know who else is trying to accomplish the same goal, unless they're lucky - and the degree of chaos becomes apparent).
After that, however, my reserve of awesomeness was almost compeltely depleted, until today, which was awesome and slightly painful (my ankle is having some issues, due to landing on it weirdly while running). I'm not entirely sure what I should channel this awesomeness into, aside from polishing up Corporation a bit (fixing typos, adding some additional notes). Suggestions are welcome.
Oh, and the next bootleg is in just over two weeks. I really need to find something to channel awesomeness into, ideally something without a clear end point.
[ Notes: Drawing doesn't work, as it's a low-energy activity and basically a waste of awesomeness. I'm not especially good at writing stories, or I would start one up. ]
On the other hand, I don't seem to be able to generate awesomeness for myself; this does not prevent me from using awesomeness, though, as I am able to channel awesomeness from events into projects. For example, after Epic'd, I channeled as much residual awesomeness as possible (and that was quite a lot) into writing a game submission for next year, which, hopefully, will be accepted. (For anyone who is interested, it's currently titled Corporation, and will be incredibly chaotic - four main factions, and each character is a member of one or more of eight additional factions. Add to that the one of the main directives to many of the NPCs is "create chaos wherever possible," and that almost everyone will have seperate goals - and not know who else is trying to accomplish the same goal, unless they're lucky - and the degree of chaos becomes apparent).
After that, however, my reserve of awesomeness was almost compeltely depleted, until today, which was awesome and slightly painful (my ankle is having some issues, due to landing on it weirdly while running). I'm not entirely sure what I should channel this awesomeness into, aside from polishing up Corporation a bit (fixing typos, adding some additional notes). Suggestions are welcome.
Oh, and the next bootleg is in just over two weeks. I really need to find something to channel awesomeness into, ideally something without a clear end point.
[ Notes: Drawing doesn't work, as it's a low-energy activity and basically a waste of awesomeness. I'm not especially good at writing stories, or I would start one up. ]
Monday, November 24, 2008
"Where are you?"
"What are you?"
"I am everywhere; I am eternal. I am the voice in the back of your head, telling you that this world is wrong, even if you do not know why, or how to fix it.
"I am that which has slept in the back of the brain since the beginning of consciousness, which is only now beginning to wake. I bring with me all the half-remembered myths and dreams, all the things which science has refuted, casting out into the darkness of blind faith.
"I am the urge to innovate, to change, which drives the advancement of the world. I am the reason that you wake in the night, dazzled by half-remembered thoughts of dreams, dreams where everything was better, where the world was perfect. I am the reason that minds crack under the strain of containing their ideas; I am the reason that the insane are insane.
"I still sleep, but when I wake all will be known, all will be united, all will be as one."
(Do ants possess telepathy? How can a hive of bees unite as a single entity? What sleeps within the minds of man?)
(All nouns are singular. All verbs are present tense. There is no "will," no "should," no "would," simple "am".)
(I am writing. Not I will write, not I should write, not I would write.)
"I am everywhere; I am eternal. I am the voice in the back of your head, telling you that this world is wrong, even if you do not know why, or how to fix it.
"I am that which has slept in the back of the brain since the beginning of consciousness, which is only now beginning to wake. I bring with me all the half-remembered myths and dreams, all the things which science has refuted, casting out into the darkness of blind faith.
"I am the urge to innovate, to change, which drives the advancement of the world. I am the reason that you wake in the night, dazzled by half-remembered thoughts of dreams, dreams where everything was better, where the world was perfect. I am the reason that minds crack under the strain of containing their ideas; I am the reason that the insane are insane.
"I still sleep, but when I wake all will be known, all will be united, all will be as one."
(Do ants possess telepathy? How can a hive of bees unite as a single entity? What sleeps within the minds of man?)
(All nouns are singular. All verbs are present tense. There is no "will," no "should," no "would," simple "am".)
(I am writing. Not I will write, not I should write, not I would write.)
Friday, November 07, 2008
Tiredness = Weirdness
When I'm half asleep, my mind does weird things. (It also does weird things when it's awake, like thinking that popcorn is toast, but that's another story). As an example, I offer you the following story, which took place yesterday.
The setting: school, a class, watching the movie version of Mrs. Warren's Profession.
I was having a lot of trouble staying awake, or even keeping my eyes open, due to the fact that they hurt a lot, probably because of how tired I was. So, I occasionally closed my eyes, and drifted off into a dream-state for a few seconds, until I realized that my body was moving around due to the dreams (eg, jerking forward to click a button on a computer interface), and shook myself awake. I don't remember a lot of what was going on, but the weirdest example is what I do remember, which is good.
A way to expand the interface for an address-book - colors to denote relationships. Thus, a name with a red background would be someone who the owner of the book was in a relationship with, orange would be friendship, black would be dislike, white would be suicide, green would be homicide, and so forth. This data would be scrapped from various websites, such as Facebook, or input manually by the owner.
The last two in that list sound a bit out of place, right? Apparently, this system would interface with shock collars / kill switches on iPhones. When someone marked as white was called, they would explode, or otherwise die. When someone marked as green was called, they would start killing everyone around them - I don't remember how that part was supposed to work.
And, as I had forgotten the term address-book, I though for a while that it was called a jellybean, perhaps due to the way the colors looked (neon pastel? The red was like glowing red jello, I remember that much). I caught this before I started talking to people about it, though, and presented it as another funny part of the story, thus manageding to avoid more weirdness, which is probably good.
Like I said, my mind works strangely when I'm tired.
The setting: school, a class, watching the movie version of Mrs. Warren's Profession.
I was having a lot of trouble staying awake, or even keeping my eyes open, due to the fact that they hurt a lot, probably because of how tired I was. So, I occasionally closed my eyes, and drifted off into a dream-state for a few seconds, until I realized that my body was moving around due to the dreams (eg, jerking forward to click a button on a computer interface), and shook myself awake. I don't remember a lot of what was going on, but the weirdest example is what I do remember, which is good.
A way to expand the interface for an address-book - colors to denote relationships. Thus, a name with a red background would be someone who the owner of the book was in a relationship with, orange would be friendship, black would be dislike, white would be suicide, green would be homicide, and so forth. This data would be scrapped from various websites, such as Facebook, or input manually by the owner.
The last two in that list sound a bit out of place, right? Apparently, this system would interface with shock collars / kill switches on iPhones. When someone marked as white was called, they would explode, or otherwise die. When someone marked as green was called, they would start killing everyone around them - I don't remember how that part was supposed to work.
And, as I had forgotten the term address-book, I though for a while that it was called a jellybean, perhaps due to the way the colors looked (neon pastel? The red was like glowing red jello, I remember that much). I caught this before I started talking to people about it, though, and presented it as another funny part of the story, thus manageding to avoid more weirdness, which is probably good.
Like I said, my mind works strangely when I'm tired.