Month: August 2005

… what a way to come home.

D'Arque Bishop

Yes, I’m back from my vacation in Vegas. I’ll post about it tomorrow or the next day. I don’t feel like doing it right now.

When we got off the plane, we switched on our cell phones, to find voicemails waiting for us. They were from our vet, with whom our pets were being boarded. It turned out that Matey (our black cat, who first came to us as a stray who was hellbound and determined to be our cat) had a severe allergic reaction this evening, and died before they could get her to the emergency clinic.

Obviously we’re devastated by this news. Mom’s going to find out more from the vet tomorrow; he left his home and cell number with Mom, but Mom wasn’t going to call him at this time of night.

We’re going to miss her… :-(

As seen on Jenn’s LJ…

D'Arque Bishop

More Emotional

You have:
70% SCIENTIFIC INTUITION and
77% EMOTIONAL INTUITION
The graph on the right represents your place in Intuition 2-Space. As you can see, you scored well above average on emotional intuition and above average on scientific intuition.Your emotional intuition is stronger than your scientific intuition.
Your Emotional Intuition
score is a measure of how well you understand people, especially their
unspoken needs and sympathies. A high score score usually indicates
social grace and persuasiveness. A low score usually means you’re good
at Quake.

Your Scientific Intuition
score tells you how in tune you are with the world around you; how well
you understand your physical and intellectual environment. People with
high scores here are apt to succeed in business and, of course, the
sciences.



Try my other test!
The 3 Variable Funny Test
It rules.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

free online dating free online dating
You scored higher than 56% on Scientific
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You scored higher than 82% on Interpersonal

Link: The 2-Variable Intuition Test written by jason_bateman on OkCupid Free Online Dating

A rant on a web browser…

D'Arque Bishop

The following web post and my reply is from Jenn Dolari’s LiveJournal. I hope she doesn’t mind me posting it here, but I wanted to make my reply into a blog entry and I figured she wouldn’t mind if I presented the post to give some context.

Style and comfort for the discriminating crotch!

Websites that “punish” you for using Internet Explorer instead of Firefox or Netscape (usually by putting in malicious “Operation Aborted” javascripts or forcing our CPU cycles to run through the roof while brwosing) usually end with me still using Internet Explorer, and me not visiting your site anymore.

Bleh.

Single-browser support asshattery irks me more than anything else. As the old saying goes, “Code to standards, not to browsers.” It’s rare that I encounter a website that’s IE-only or Firefox-only, though. The only time I have encountered one that affected me was this one banking website I went to that temporarily wouldn’t let me in because it didn’t recognize Firefox and would only allow MSIE or Netscape 6 or higher. They must have gotten a lot of complaints, as that only lasted for a month or two.

As for what happened to you… it sounds like what happened when we first introduced V.7 of MK Online. (MK Online, for those not in the know, uses a CMS/forum/etc. written entirely in-house.) We wanted to add stuff like transparent PNG files and the like so that it would make switching themes and news headers extremely easy and painless for us. The only problem became the fact that even though Internet Explorer was the most used browser on the planet… it was also the only one that didn’t support the features we wanted. During that time CCShadow went from IE’s biggest supporter to its biggest detractor, because he was so pissed off that MSIE wouldn’t support standards several years old that other web browsers did.

Eventually we did keep it the way it was but had the site load a Java library for MSIE users that would implement the functionality that was lacking. However, it made the site run EXTREMELY slowly for IE users, and we got no end of complaints. We finally gave up and had to hack a new system together using ImageMagick that would merge images and whatnot when new headers were created, and get rid of transparent PNG files altogether.

My point is the fact that these websites might not be trying to “punish” you, but actually have good (but misguided) intentions: they’re trying to put their websites together as they see fit but are trying to work around MSIE’s lack of functionality. In the end, hopefully they’ll realize such shortcuts are rather detrimental.

Then again, even more hopefully, MS will put those damn standards in IE7. Personally, I think MS’s monopoly was one of the worst things that could have happened to web browsing. MS never saw a need to add newly developed standards until they got real competition in the form of Firefox, and these are standard that are several years old. The web might actually have been much more advanced than it is now had it not been for IE’s stagnantion.

(Sorry for the long rant, BTW… heh.)

IM discussion…

D'Arque Bishop1 Comment

Well, it appears that Google might be releasing an IM system after all. I’ll go ahead and link to the Slashdot story here, but it appears that it will be based on Jabber, which is an open instant messaging protocol. This should be interesting, as there are already several Jabber IM clients out there, and most of the multi-IM programs support Jabber. I probably won’t get on it quite yet, as one needs a Gmail account to actually use their IM service, and I currently lack one. (I never needed it.)

I’ve actually been using Jabber extensively, myself. How, you might ask? Well… when V.7 of MK Online was being developed, one of the ideas I had in mind was a private IM system. So, Joe and I worked together and got a Jabber server working on the site. I don’t know how popular the IM system as a whole is, mind you, but it’s worked very nicely for me. It’s tied into the site PM system, so whenever someone sends me a PM on the site, I get it on whatever IM program I’m using at the time (Gaim, Fire, or CenterICQ). There’s been a couple of glitches, but on the whole, I like to think it was one of my better ideas.

On the downside, it appears that AOL has been messing around with the TOC servers for AOL Instant Messenger. For those not in the know, there are actually two protocols used for AIM. The one that most of the clients (especially the GUI-based ones like Gaim, Trillian, and the official clients) use is called Oscar, and has all of the nice nifty features. The other one is called TOC, and is a very minimalistic protocol. However, TOC is an open protocol and last I checked is specifically kept open for the outside clients to use. Anyway, CenterICQ (which is the IM program I use at work) stopped working this weekend, and it turns out the TOC servers are to blame. The program naim has apparently gotten a working version going by using an updated protocol called TOC2, but CenterICQ’s lagging behind. (I don’t even think it’s being actively developed nowadays.) So, what I’ve been having to do is use CenterICQ for ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, and MK Online Jabber… and use iChat for AIM. It sucks, but what can I do?

Oh, well… here’s hoping they fix the issue relatively quickly. I’d like to go back to one program for all of my IM needs. In the meantime, I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing and work from there.

… of all the series they could put on DVD…

D'Arque Bishop

Apparently the late 80s TV series War of the Worlds is coming to DVD.

For those not in the know, it wasn’t really an adaptation of the book so much as it was a sequel to the 1953 film. The series did have its moments, but all in all… I don’t know if it was as good as it could have been. I actually considered the book adaptation of the pilot better than the actual show, due to one detail: in the series, humanity forgot about the aliens and doesn’t believe they existed. In the book, humanity remembers the alien invasion; they just refuse to discuss it and try to consciously bury the past. Also, there was one episode that had a few gruesome spots that I honestly still can’t believe they showed on broadcast TV. (For those of you who remember the uproar about the guy’s head exploding in one episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation… this episode was worse. A lot worse.)

The second season actually was notable enough due to the fact that almost everything from the first season was casually wiped away. All but three characters were killed off, the aliens and their technology was completely revamped (and now almost nothing like the aliens of the original movie), and the setting was completely changed. In fact, now when we see a series almost completely reinvent itself between seasons, I call it pulling a “War of the Worlds”. (The term was originated by the venerable Jenn.) And no, when a series is referred to in that way, it’s rarely a compliment.

It’s sad, too… the second season was decent enough. It just wasn’t War of the Worlds anymore, and it’s likely that discontinuity that killed it.

Ah, well… I may or may not pick it up for shits and grins. I also see Dracula – The Series made it to DVD, and that might be worth seeing just for pure nostalgia (seeing as the series itself wasn’t all that good). We’ll see.

As seen on #mortalkombat…

D'Arque Bishop1 Comment

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/whatamilike/index.shtml

Your answers suggest you are a Realist

The four aspects that make up this personality type are:
Planner, Facts, Heads and Introvert
Summary of Realists

* Loyal and steady workers who meet deadlines
* Believe in established rules and respect facts
* Think of themselves as mature, stable and conscientious
* May appear too logical or tough-minded and forget their impact on other people

More about Realists

Realists are loyal to the people around them and work hard to keep their promises. They are honest and straightforward with others and expect the same in return. Realists believe in standard procedures and will only support change when there is a demonstrable benefit.

Realists are the most common personality type in the UK, according to a nationwide survey.

Realists respect factual information, which they store up to use when making decisions. This group likes to have time to think quietly and carefully before taking action.

These extremely productive people like to be occupied in their leisure time with pursuits such as craftwork, hiking or reading.

In situations where they can’t use their talents or are unappreciated, Realists may become obsessed with schedules, critical of others or have trouble trusting other people to get the job done properly. Under extreme stress, Realists may complain loudly that events have taken a turn for the worse and predict negative outcomes.

Realists typically only share their opinions or personal experiences with trusted friends.
Realist Careers

Realists are attracted to jobs where decision making based on factual knowledge and experience is required.

It’s important to remember that no survey can predict personality type with 100 percent accuracy. Experts say that we should use personality type to better understand ourselves and others, but shouldn’t feel restricted by our results.

The weekend in review… such as it was.

D'Arque Bishop3 Comments

Yes, the title of this post is “The weekend in review”. Does this mean I did a lot this weekend? The answer is, “No, not really.”

While I was on my way back from lunch on Friday, Louie called me and asked if I wanted to go to a salsa club called “Club Tropicana” that night. I didn’t have any problem with doing so, but I’d be lying if I said I was dressed for it. (I was wearing blue jeans and a white polo shirt.) Anyway, after work, I headed over to his place; from there, we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in the Galleria, and then went over to Club Tropicana. We got there just in time for the second half of the salsa lesson, which I watched but didn’t participate in. (There weren’t enough partners there.) After the salsa started, I basically spent the evening walking around the club, watching, and having a couple of drinks. From there, we went back to Louie’s apartment so I could get my car, and then headed home.

Saturday morning and afternoon were rather uneventful. The most I did was watch episodes of SG-1, Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica that I had recorded on my TiVo. Then, I headed back down to Louie’s apartment at sometime between 5:30 and 6:00. From there, we hit P.F. Chang’s for dinner, and then spent a little time at Barnes & Noble before going back to Club Tropicana. Basically, from there, it was a repeat of the previous night.

I’m not sure I’ll go back, really. Unfortunately, my brain is wired in such a way that dance clubs are an absolutely alien and incompatible environment for me. It’s a nice club if you’re into dancing, don’t get me wrong. It just… didn’t click for me. It never does. Hell, Dementia/Jesse will tell anyone that the one time I went out onto the dance floor, I had to be dragged out.

Anyway, I had planned on going to the mall today, but unfortunately that idea got nixed for various reasons. I’ll need to get a couple more pairs of khakis, plus a new CD tower or CD cabinet. I’m out of space in my CD towers, and I already have one CD waiting to go in (Nine Inch Nails’s With Teeth). I might also get a new pair of shoes. Oh, well… I can always go sometime after work this week. Then, on Sunday, I leave for Las Vegas. It’ll be good to get away from it all for a few days.

Anyway, time for me to order dinner… Chinese again, but something other than General T’so chicken this time around.