SuperSatellite

Here’s a Big Fat Digest

// August 12th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Brain dumps, Creativity, Tech, Web, Writing

Okay, here’s a summary post to cover a bunch of different crap.  Turns out I’m very busy lately, and there have been some changes that will probably impact my normal blog posting routine.  I know… you’re heartbroken.  Now, I’m fully aware that I have no routine as it is, but I aspire to, and those aspirations are being interrupted somewhat.

So, the first big news is that I am now blogging “professionally” for .eduGuru, which is a web technology development blog sorta thing for higher education.  That means things that I used to talk about here will probably get diverted there.  Now, generic web stuff I’ll still post here, as well as things like dotCMS guides and my personal stuff will be here, so don’t panic or anything.  If anything, it means stuff around here will be less dry, and I’ll get to tickle your funny bone more.  And believe it or not, my first post is already up at .eduGuru.  I invite you to go read it, of course.  Here’s a snippet:

Is Hosted Search Really Ready for Prime Time?
In my years that I’ve now spent in higher education, one universal truth I have found is that nothing quite moves a project along like when someone much more important and much less web savvy than you deems an issue worth addressing.  Such was the case only a couple months after I had started at the university, when the Director of Marketing noticed that new information she had put up on the site wasn’t coming up in search results, and the results that were hitting weren’t particularly relevant to the topic in the first place.  Thus, a mission was born, to find a way to make our search better, and to do it NOW.  That’s the other thing about people higher up than you, when they say jump, generally you jump…
[read the rest of this at .eduGuru]

Naturally, that will probably appeal to all two of you.  Something more interesting, however, is that I have a new play idea I am currently researching.  It’s the sort of thing that I feel has the potential to be great, too.  I just got the memoirs of the chap that’s at the heart of the story that I finally tracked down on interlibrary loan (I only found one copy for sale online, and it was over $200).  I have one other book that I need to track down a copy of as well.  Hopefully it will be everything I expect.  I will give you more information once I have a better idea of if it will pan out the way I hope it will.  Research must come first though.

I relaunched Penpedia tonight.  I decided Drupal was a little too robust for my needs, and I don’t have time to learn it to a degree to really leverage its power well.  I’m like a monkey with a jackhammer when it comes to Drupal.  WordPress, on the other hand, I know inside and out, so I switched to that for the new system.  I was lazy and did not design the theme, though I plan on doing some work to customize it a little in the near future.  So if you’re a fountain pen person, go give the new site a look-see.

Brandon showed me a cool site the other day I’d like to share.  It’s an online stock trading game called UpDown.com.  Basically, it’s a total nerd type game.  Think fantasy football, only with stocks (but I have a fantasy football league going too).  You start with a million bucks, and see how well you can play the market.  This sounds stupid, only it isn’t.  For one, it’s actually kinda cool, because you really are fighting the system, and you have limited time to do it (the stock market isn’t open 24 hours a day after all).  Plus, it can help you get an idea of how to play the market, should you want to do it for real later, so it’s great practice, especially for you kiddos out there who actually understand the only way you will survive retirement is to have your own money.  So go check it out.

Self Discovery

// July 21st, 2006 // No Comments » // Brain dumps

I think I finally managed to learn something over this past week. What it is, I can’t particularly articulate just yet, but I know I learned a little something about me regardless. I think it could best be described either that I have compartmentalized some of my emotions down so far that some of them no longer even come into play in my personality under particular circumstances, or I made a breakthrough in attitudinal response handling (sounds cool huh?). I’m not sure which, if either, is the better prospect. And yes, I know that probably makes no sense, but when I feel there more to release on the matter I will. I’m just bringing back into focus some things that really weren’t, and I think that’s a good thing. Assuming I am interpreting things correctly.

I got my hands on a copy of Madden 2006 for the PC. I’m interested in checking it out, only by the time I have some free time to play it, I will probably forget, heh. I know, I’m a silly, silly boy. But one that loves his football. See, despite the fact that most of you forget, I am indeed a man. Or at the very least, enjoy manly things. I even own a hammer.

August 26th is a day that has been reserved for me next month. I just heard Caroline’s Spine is playing in Miami, OK that night. Not only have I set aside that day, I already took steps to secure tickets already. I’m going. Period. End of discussion. This is a glorious day, and I feel somewhat justified in exclaiming the following: WOO HOO! Yeah, you probably haven’t heard of these guys, and I forgive you this once. Now go vindicate yourself by listening to their MySpace.

Tonight will be interesting. Possibly fun. Maybe both. Hmm.

Innovation at E3

// May 11th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // Entertainment, Games

Well, E3 is underway.  For those of you not in the know….eh, I’m really not going to explain what E3 is.  That’s what Google is for.  I was just reading an interesting transcript at IGN from the Nintendo news conference.  I particularly liked when some Nintendo guy named Reggie said, “Microsoft and Sony’s focus on graphics and same-old gaming was fatal, and that history is littered with companies who fell because they did not advance.”

It’s really true when you stop and think about it.  There isn’t a lot of innovation coming from S&M (like my clever scronym?).  Frankly, I am more excited about the Wii than I am any other system, and probably more than the Dreamcast, which is the last system I was excited about, and the newest one I own (that’s like a 7 year old system, and the only other console I own is an NES).  I might very seriously get a Wii.  And the price point, which has often been the case with Nintendo, is going to be the big winning point for their system I think.  That’s why Game Boy has always come out on top versus more advanced competition, price.

I’ve also been bouncing back and forth between getting a DS or a PSP, and the New Super Mario Bros. and Star Fox DS might have just sold me on the DS.  Katamari was the driving power on the PSP for me, but that’s about it.  Frankly, I can do without.

I’ve never been a big gamer, but a lot of the news coming out of the Nintendo Wii camp is really getting me kind of stoked.  Q4 will be the telling time I suppose.  Granted, sometimes innovation bombs for Nintendo.  Think Virtual Boy.  But really, people seem pretty sold on the motion sensing controller, and the touchscreen on the DS seemed flat out stupid to me when I first heard about it, but it’s been a huge success too.  I’m interested to see what comes out of E3 once the hands on demos start.

March of the….

// March 26th, 2006 // No Comments » // Entertainment, Games

Don’t you love when the blog title is little more than a piece of some random thought completely unconnected to the blog itself? Great, no?

So there’s this game on the PS1, right? It apparently sucks, but has a certain draw nonetheless. It’s called Irritating Stick. I shit you not, the game is about running a stick charged with 100,000 volts through a maze. The best part is that it’s based on a Japanese TV show. How can you not want to see this show? Okay, if you’ve never seen Japanese game shows, go watch this and this. That should give you an idea of how much potential an idea like an irritating, electrically charged stick and mazes can have.

Rory picked up Katamari yesterday. While the graphics look like a port of the PS1 (it’s a PS2 game), it does have a fairly addictive quality. So much that it might have sold me on getting a PSP so that I can play Me and My Katamari. We’ll see, I’ll wait for PSP prices to drop first, but that and Lumines have got me wanting to get one. Sorry Nintendo, I guess you just didn’t catch me enough with the DS (though I admit the DS Lite is pretty slick and they are not necessarily short on good game titles). I’ll keep the GBA for a while, maybe pick up FFIV for it. Otherwise it looks like I’ll jump ship to Sony.

The Command & Conquer first decade pack is out. I want it. Bad. Command & Conquer is one of the best game franchises ever in my opinion, and this takes every game and puts it into one package. I have wasted a lot of time with those games. But the older versions don’t work on XP (till now), and the newer versions I have lack a certain…legal….quality? Yeah….moving on. It reminds me of how Blizzard is still milking the Starcraft franchise after how many years? And they don’t even have any sequels, just an expansion. But you can still buy it brand new with Brood War for $20.

I’ll also mention that I finally ordered a new cell phone and am switching providers. Getting a Razr with cingular. I don’t care if it’s the phone everyone is getting, I like it. It’s hard for me to find a flip phone I like, I’m picky, so I got it. Should be here Tuesday. Now, how much of a bitch will it be to get my number ported to the new phone I wonder. Mine with Sprint doesn’t have the handy SIM card or anything I can swap out real fast. I have a feeling I’ll be in for a headache. But not as much of one as I get when I can never get calls out because the Spint network is busy, or calls don’t come through to my phone, and people aren’t sent to my voicemail. Bye Sprint.