ridingtohellinahandbasket

Microsoft Surface

For those of you thinking of buying the Microsoft Surface (I don’t know why you would, but anyway…), I think you should be aware of something first before you buy.

First, there will be two different kinds of Microsoft Surface, one called “Microsoft Surface RT,” and the other called “Microsoft Surface Pro.”

Everything I’ve read about these models (see this article here) indicates that you will only be able to install standard Windows programs on the Pro, but not the RT. The RT will only be able to run apps from the Windows store, so no Chrome, iTunes (it won’t have Windows Media Player, either), etc.

My recommendation to most of my readers/followers is to wait for the Pro. I think it will be a less frustrating experience for you.

Hugo Chavez

Via

I could have told anyone who would have listened that he was going to win. When a dishonest person runs the ballot box, this is what happens.

Edit: fixed broken link

Sudden Connections

Suddenly, it came to me.

Okay, you know that person that bugs you beyond rationality, and you can't figure out why? I have one of those people in my life. We'll call him Kevin. Kevin is picky, particular, and has the intelligence of a muskrat with its brain removed. And it's not as if he is just slow (that would be somewhat forgivable) it's his belief that learning isn't important. He's someone who decided 20 years ago how the world works, and won't be swayed from that viewpoint.

Here's the realization: He reminds me of Staff Sergeant Flagg from my days in the US Army.

I joined the US Army at the tender age of 17 in 1986. The moment I stepped in the bus, I knew that I had made a horrible mistake. Drill Sergeants yelling at me didn't make me angry like it does most people; it terrified the shit out of me (now it would make me angry). I made it out of Basic Training in October 1986 by the skin of my teeth.

Once I made it to my Permanent Duty Station in Jan, 1987, I was introduced to SSG Flagg (not his real name... or couldn't you tell?). The sergeant came from I believe Georgia but he spoke as if he came from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Sgt. Flagg had a hard time pronouncing my last name. It's Davidson, but he insisted on calling me "Davis," even after I corrected him on multiple occasions, particularly that first couple of months.

I despised SSG Flagg. He was stupid, incompetent, and lazy--the trifecta. He was one of those people who would not get the most basic concepts even after you had explained it to him dozens of times. It drove me crazy.

The other thing that drove me crazy was his complete lack of curiosity. He just did not want to learn anything new. I had never encountered anyone like that my entire life.

He was also incredibly short, which I think engendered in him a sort of Napoleon complex.

Needless to say, working with SSG Flagg was not the most pleasant experience.

Now I think I might be subconsciously projecting SSG Flagg on to "Kevin." And now that I know that, I know that I have to work on unassociating Kevin from SSG Flagg.

Oh, come on guys....

Excuse me while I crawl into a ball in the corner and weep.

Couldn't even score once at home? What the frack is going on?

Blog Ideas

One of the most frequent posts I see on WTU is the obligatory "What do I do with this space" line. Here are some blog ideas; hopefully, they'll get the creative juices going for you.

A Favorite TV Program

Maybe you have a favorite TV program, like say Doctor Who. You can write posts critiquing each new episode as it comes out. During the hiatus periods, you can aggregate news, rumors, and photographs of the show and its stars, writers, directors, an producers.

The only caveat here is what to do if your show gets cancelled.

My Favorite Song Blog

In this blog, you write about some of your favorite songs, why they are your favorites, what the song means to you, facts about the song (for example, in Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks," the echo effect on the drums was achieved by recording the drum part in a stairwell), and what was going on in your life when you first heard it or it became your favorite (for example, Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" is one of my favorites because I first heard it the day my father died and it hit me like a Mack Truck).

Movie Reviews

This is tried and true. What movie did you see? Did you like it? Why or why not? Make this personal, not film-schoolish.

The Calendar Meme

Editor's Note: Back in January of last year (2011), I posted the following to LiveJournal:

Recently, two friends posted this to their Facebook status updates:

I was just told and I'm not superstitious, but this year July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This happens once every 823 years. This is called money bags. So, copy this to your status and money will arrive within 4 days. Based on Chinese Feng Shui. The one who does not copy will be without money. I cannot let that person be.............. ME! Good Luck

This is incorrect. I'm going to ignore the superstitious aspects (and the Feng Shui, which is used here in a way I'm unfamiliar with) for a moment, and focus on what I can prove.

Whoever originally wrote this apparently has no idea how the Gregorian calendar works: The calendars recycle every 400 years. That means that the calendar for 2000 would have been the same as the calendar for the year 1600 (Although the RC Church adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1582, the British Empire, and thus the American colonies, did not adopt it until 1752). In turn, this means that the calendar for 2011 is exactly the same as the calendar for 1611 and will be the same for the calendar for 2411. Therefore, at the very minimum, 823 years is wrong and should be 400 years.

But even that would have been wrong.

A July that has 5 Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays must have started on a Friday (that would make the 29th a Friday, the 30th a Saturday, and the 31st a Sunday, which would be the 5th Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of that month). Since 1900, this has happened 15 times: 1904, 1910, 1921, 1927, 1932, 1938, 1949, 1955, 1960, 1966, 1977, 1983, 1988, 1994, and 2005. This means that on average in the last 111 years, it has happened every 7.133 years.

GRATUITOUS NOTE: While the calendar does repeat every 28 years, too (1983 has the same exact calendar as 2011), that is only true "locally." For example, 1872 was not the same as 1900; while they both started on Monday, 1872 was a leap year and 1900 was not. It is more correct to say that the Gregorian calendar recycles every 400 years (for example, 1611 started on a Saturday, as did 2011).

That App Store "Cannot Connect" error

Thanks to IPad Insight for the suggestion.

If you're having problems with the App Store, such as getting "Cannot connect to the iTunes Store", try the following:

1. Go to the settings app.
2. Tap "Wi-fi Settings."
3. Find your current Wi-Fi router in the list, and tap the blue arrow to the right of the router name.
4. Find DNS Router (usually the fourth setting in the list).
5. Erase everything found there.
6. Type the following: 8.8.8.8
7. Try the store now.

Just a note, here: 8.8.8.8 is Google's DNS Server, which may be quite a bit faster than your usual server, and may be less prone to hang-ups.

This solution has worked for me so far. Maybe it will help you.

Wow. Turn Your Back for Ten Seconds...

This place has gained a whole slew of new users in the last 12 hours or so.

Go, go, GO!

NerdNYC Recess

So, this past Saturday, I went to NerdNYC's Recess.  This is a gaming convention held periodically in NYC (naturally).  There are board games, role playing games, and card games of every imaginable type there.  I'm thinking about at the next one, GMing a game using The Hero System/Champions, which should be revised by the next one.

The call came at around 1:30, in the middle of a game called "Barbarians of the Aftermath."  The actual session was based on the television series "Thundarr the Barbarian." It was my sister.  She said, " Mom passed away this morning." I was stunned into silence.  Even though I knew she wasn't doing that well, I was hoping that I would at least have a day or two. Apparently Fate had other ideas, and is on a different timetable than I am.

I wasn't sure how to respond.  I think I might have said something like "Ummm... Okay..."

I explained to my sister that I was in the middle of a convention. She apologized (I told her not to worry about it: getting me this news was certainly more important than a convention).

When I got back to the table, I explained to them what had happened.  The GM asked if I needed a moment.  I said no, which really  surprised me.  I was expecting to be devastated by this news, but I really wasn't.  I was at peace, and perhaps felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders for the first time in a long time.  At least she isn't in pain anymore.

So, we finished the game ("soylent green is full of people!". Not really, but wouldn't that have been cool?), and I went out to dinner at this delightful Thai place around the corner from the venue.

The second session was a demo of the new, shiny Marvel Heroic game from Margaret Weis Productions.  It was okay, but very slow (and people complain about the Hero System being slow!).

Despite the bad news, I had a fantastic time, and would go to the next one in a heartbeat.

Early Adopter

I have been called an "early adopter" of things (it's not actually true: I joined Tumblr in late 2010, and only really started using it in 2011; I've had a Twitter account ever since they were first publicly available, but only have started using it in the last few months; I wasn't a member of Facebook until my friend Mike invited me back in 2009, mostly because I was under the outdated impression that it was only for college students).

While I might be an earlier adopter than some people, I still like to wait to see if something will catch on before jumping in feet first.

So this is an interesting experience for me. I want to see what decisions are made, and how it effects how I interact with it. While I understand that I might not be privy to all of the details (hint, hint), I would be interested in learning the whys of the decisions that are made.

Here is another interesting thing: I'd had a thought to create my own social network thingamajig (probably the first thing I need to learn is what to call it other than "thingamajig") that combines the best ideas from Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Missing E, WordPress, and so on. So it's interesting that someone else is thinking this too.

Hello?

Hello?

Is this thing on?

It's funny how when we first sign on to a social networking site, we usually post something to "test the line," so to speak.