September 2004 Archive

Welcome to the Archive for September 2004! What you will find here may be old. It may scare you. It may even scare me! More importantly, you might find links that no longer work, and *gasp* information that is no longer, or possibly never was, accurate in any way. Don't rely on this information to save your life!

September 2004 Archive

Thursday, September 30, 2004

[Comments: 0] 10:12 PM - now-with-50%-more-ranting

I've decided to rename the "Rants" section of this site to "Commentary" and add more than just standard rants to the section. I extended my posting configuration to allow me to post what are essentially web site reviews in rant-like form.

I decided to strike first at MSN Video, but I also intend to post about web sites that I like for being interesting, very well-designed, or otherwise worthy of praise.

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

[Comments: 0] 7:32 PM - back-in-high-school

Well, the Harborfields school district job came through, and it's a decent salary with a good benefits package. Karl's offer will probably hold off at least a few more months, so until I get that offer and take any necessary steps toward coodinating a move to Chicago, my time will go to the school district. Specifically, 8 AM to 4 PM, which is probably going to clobber me, given my sleeping habits, for at least a week or so.

My official "start date" is to be October 14th, though my official stop date for my current job, which is the same job but part time, is October 13th at 4 PM.... In other words, I will keep working as I have been, but my hours will suddenly change on a Thursday, and someone will probably give me a phone number and a desk. I already have a computer.

Monday, September 13, 2004

[Comments: 3] 12:38 AM - smalltalk

I broke SimBot's RSS plugin, and so I have to make a test post so I can see if I fixed it. I have nothing to say right now, so hi, how are you?

Lovely/stormy weather we're/you're/they're having. I hope you/they are enjoying it/staying safe.

How has your week/weekend been?

What is new with your children/dogs/fish/pet rock(s)?

I am glad/sorry to hear that. I hope things remain that way/change for the better.

Have a nice day/evening/morning!

Sunday, September 12, 2004

[Comments: 0] 9:11 PM - completely-uninteresting

Well, the World of Warcraft stress test beta ended with a simple "One minute remaining" message followed by disconnection. Not exciting or interesting in any way, but certainly effective. :)

[Comments: 0] 8:51 PM - wow-is-wow

I had the very brief chance to play World of Warcraft during the stress test phase. It ended up being mostly today and yesterday, because my invitation was provided very late in the test and I didn't have a chance to set it up during the week. Now the stress test ends in about 10 minutes, so I'm going to be logged in to see how they handle it. All my progress will be deleted, but I hope to try again as soon as their open, free beta phase begins. This is rumored to start in November.

After downloading the 2 gigabytes of files for the installation, I found out quickly that it would not install on my computer. It crashes Windows with a "Hardware Malfunction" BSOD, which is very disappointing. Not able to figure it out in a reasonable time frame, I set it up on my laptop, which ran the game very well overall.

WoW is awesome. The graphics are amazing, and they improve upon many game concepts that have failed in other similar games, like Anarchy Online. I played up to a level 7 Night Elf Hunter, which is a pretty cool class. I especially enjoyed the dual wielding bow and axe, making for both near and ranged attacks as needed.

I enjoy also the simplicity of a skill system which doesn't have 100 skills to choose from like in AO, and one that automatically increases skill with usage, so you are not forced to decide where to put your skill before you know how well it will work. The interface and battle system are so easy to use, in my opinion, that I didn't need to tweak the game options at all. I was very impressed.

Now, don't get me wrong. I still love AO, and I want to continue to play it, but if WoW is resonably priced, I may feel obligated to pay for two subscriptions at the same time. ;)

[Comments: 0] 8:37 PM - now-they-tell-me

In completely crazy news, those two places I've been waiting (im?)patiently for offers from are now both about ready to give me one (each, of course)... and so as not to make my decision easy, they are both about ready to do so at the same time!

Hopefully by the end of the month I will have an offer from Karl at Steadfast Networks inviting me to move to Chicago and work full time. I will also likely have an full-time offer from Harborfields Central School District within two weeks. (If you are like me and too sleepy to figure that out, it puts both offers right around the end of the month.)

I hate to say it but Harborfields is probably going to offer too little too late. I fully expect Karl to give me the better offer, but I will still have to see what happens. It's completely possible I will be offered neither job (yet).

Saturday, September 4, 2004

[Comments: 0] 2:08 AM - must--kill--aliens

Well, it's been an inexcusably long time since I last posted anything, but it's time for me to post again. I am writing a lot of text, so get comfy. ;)

I am now the excited owner of the second Anarchy Online expansion pack, Alien Invasion, which looks pretty damn awesome so far. I intend to take out a fair amount of time this weekend to play it and see if I can get myself involved in a couple alien attacks finally. It should be cool.

For this expansion they finally fixed the user interface completely. I love it. People that are missing the old feel of the game from circa 2002 are able to get exactly what they want, and meanwhile, I can have it completely different and get everything where I want it. It's very uber and really well-conceived for a user interface.

I am working towards finally starting some kind of full-time work soon. Both Karl over at Steadfast Networks and the nice folks at Harborfields Central School District tell me often that they want me to work full time for them. Someone needs to make me a solid offer though, and I can't do much but wait. My minimum criteria have been no less than $40,000 plus medical benefits, but anyone who really wants me to jump at the chance has got to offer more than that, especially if it means moving.

I'd really like to get out there and start making real money. This $11/hour stuff is getting tiring, but it's something. Right now nearly everything I earn goes to pay student loans. If they can be depleted sooner than later, I save on the interest and I don't have to keep worrying about monthly payments for the foreseeable future. Definitely a good thing.

I am still working on freelance web site development as well, but I feel like I'm probably going to plan to wrap up most of that... especially if I manage to nail down something full-time. The extra cash is nice, but the extra aggravation and time requirement is not something I want to be committing to for the rest of my life, and right now, I just have so little time to relax that I'm not being as productive as I'm supposed to be.

I'm a little depressed of late... nothing unhealthy. It's mainly politics that's depressing me. Bush and his administration are frightening, and I can't help but feel that the conservatives that follow behind him are just completely blind to what's going on in the world. I can't debate these people. I tried to on discussion forums, but it just makes me angry. Most of them cling so rigidly to things that just don't fit together in my head as logical. I feel very sad for this country. I'll cast my vote. It's all I can do.

I'm a little tired of late.... I can't seem to adjust my sleeping habits properly for the job I'm working. If I get a full-time job at the school, I'm gonna have to wake up pretty early. This would clearly be a major adjustment, but a few days of doing that wrong will be a giant kick in the head, so I'll adapt if I need to. Karl's deal probably has hours that would work, because the hours he's been keeping thus far are absolutely insane. It's a perfect fit for me. :)

Maybe, if you're lucky, I'll post more often. I need a good long nap first. :)

Oh, and to a few people I know in Florida, including my family, and some folks named Steve and Liam, my thoughts are with you during the wrath of Hurricane Frances. Stay safe, and be careful.