25 February 2006

Fey! Update! (Sort Of!)

Actually, all I did is finally move the web pages I did as a project for Computer class last semester over to their proper place. I still need to work on the calligraphy. Possibly re-doing the letters in Illustrator would help, but I haven't got time right now, so they'll just have to stay as-is for now. Now I just need to actually update the comic . . .

Ego-Boost

Yeah, okay, so I googled myself again. This time I found my Computer Games as Storytelling article linked in a list of references for a course on Introduction to Narrative at the National University of Singapore. Kinda cool.

23 February 2006

Which Sci-Fi Crew Would You Best Fit In?

You scored as Serenity (Firefly). You like to live your own way and donĂ¢??t enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you.

Serenity (Firefly)

88%

Moya (Farscape)

81%

Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix)

81%

Millennium Falcon (Star Wars)

75%

Bebop (Cowboy Bebop)

69%

Babylon 5 (Babylon 5)

63%

Deep Space Nine (Star Trek)

63%

Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda)

50%

Enterprise D (Star Trek)

50%

SG-1 (Stargate)

50%

Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica)

50%

FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files)

25%

Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

20 February 2006

We Have Wireless! And Snow!

I'm on my "spring" break right now, which means there's nobody else home--a perfect time to set up that wireless router I blogged about not long ago. You know, in case I mess up and it takes me all day to fix it. Well . . . I did not mess up. Even with all the fiddling and testing and playing around I did, it only took a couple of hours. The actual plug-it-in-and-make-it-work time was about ten minutes. If I'd know it was going to be that easy, I'd have done it right away. Oh well.

So now we have two PCs (Deva and Ryan's Dell and my Crap Machine) and a Mac (my Siog) plugged in the old-fashioned wired way, and I can connect wirelessly with the PSP. All for $3.99. Now I have a wired broadband router I don't need anymore, but Deva's mom has been talking about getting internet service again, so maybe she'll need it. Anyway.

One of the reasons I wanted to get a wireless router was for the PSP. I've applied to do the brand-new, does-not-exist-yet, About.com PSP site. It would mean giving up Creative Writing for Teens, of course. Two reasons why that will probably be a good thing: 1. I find that all my creative-writing energy seems to be going into that site, with not much left over for my own work; and 2. I've been wanting to get back into game reviewing for quite a while now (does anyone even remember that I used to review for the Electric Playground website?). This way, I get to review PSP games, gadgets and peripherals of various sorts. I think it'll be cool. Plus, I'll have a perfectly valid reason for why playing games needs to get equal time with doing art school homework.

Anyway, I feel very high-tech. (Yeah, yeah, wireless is not exactly cutting-edge. I'll be cutting edge when I'm rich.)

And now I am babbling, so on the the second thing in the title: snow. At the moment, there are just a few tiny flakes drifting down, and the sun is actually glaring out from some gap in the clouds and lighting up my keyboard, but half an hour ago there was a flurry of big, fluffy flakes. I tried to get a good photo showing the flakes; here's what it looked like from our balcony:



Click the image for a bigger version where you might actually be able to see the snowflakes.

11 February 2006

Pretty Things

For an assignment in Design class, I went to talk to Andrew Kirk, a violin maker here in Halifax. It was an interesting visit, and I learned all kinds of cool things about violins and working with wood (the object of the assignment is to familiarize us with wood and woodworking, as we are designing wooden toys). Also, I took this picture:



(Click the image for a larger version.) Pretty, no? I took it with my little HP digital camera, which is turning out to be a pretty useful little device. I admit, I did crop it down a bit; I was thinking more about snapping pics of everything in the workshop than I was about composition when I shot it. I didn't realize how striking the reddish colour of the maple wood would look against the bright blue walls. I think I might even change the ink cartridge in my inkjet printer and see if I can get a decent print to put on my wall.

07 February 2006

Ah!

(That was a Homer Simpson-esque "ah!" in case you were wondering).

I sort of knew this was coming, but now I know for sure: there's going to be a sequel to The Dark Crystal! Scroll down for a lovely picture. (Link via PuppetVision Blog.)

03 February 2006

Going Wireless . . . Sort Of

When we set up our internet connection here, I had originally thought of getting a wireless router. No cables snaking all over the place, etc. But wireless routers cost more than wired ones, and nobody here has wireless machines, so we'd have had to buy adapters as well as the router (even my Mac isn't wireless, because I was cheap).

Except I didn't know that most wireless routers also have ports for wired machines.

Anyway, I've been wanting to play with my PSP online (the updated firmware includes a little web browser--is that not cool?). And when I get a DS, I'll want to try it out online, too. Both PSPs and DSs are wireless, with no way to access a wired network (well, you can buy a USB device from Nintendo that turns your PC into a wireless access point, but since my primary machine is not an XP box, and since the adapter *only* works with DS, well . . .)

So, just out of curiousity, I went to the Futureshop website to look at wireless routers. And I found this one. As I write this (and until the 9th of this month) it's on sale for $63.99. With a $60 mail-in rebate. For those of you who can't quite compute this, it means the thing will cost $3.99 (not including the tax on the whole $63.99, of course). $3.99!!! That's less that five bucks (less than fifteen if you count the tax). They're out of stock online, but they have a nifty feature where you can order online and pick up in-store. They are in stock in Halifax (and Dartmouth). So, yeah, I ordered one online and will find out tomorrow (probably) if/when i can go pick it up. $3.99! I'm still amazed.

So if you're thinking of picking up a wireless router, this might be a good time.

01 February 2006

Now That's Halifax Winter

Here's what's on the NSCAD homepage this morning:
All daytime and evening classes are cancelled and the university is closed today, due to the snowstorm.
SNOW DAY! I haven't had a snow day since I was in elementary school.