Random

[urbpan]

Well, Satan must be happy; I joined Facebook.  I ain't hard to find.  I'm not sure what the advantage of it is, except now I know where I could contact a lot of old classmates, if for some reason I wanted to.  Also, it's a hell of a lot more active right now than livejournal.  Where the hell did everyone go for the weekend?

Do real army guys and football players whine about videogames that portray what they do as much as real musicians whine about Rock Band and Guitar Hero?  I swear if I read/hear another comment from some snob who can actually play an instrument complaining about how a videogame is not like really being in a band...I'll just say "You know, you're right!  The heck with GTA!"  Then I'll punch them in the face and take their car.



Okay, enough of that.  So, thanks to drhoz  I'm now aware of an inch-long amoeba like protist.  Really!  a single-celled organism the size of a grape!  The article makes a big deal about the fact that it leaves a track as it bumbles along the ocean floor.  I don't really care, I'm stuck on the fact that there's a giant amoeba that I've never heard of!  Can you keep them in an aquarium?  Do they eat goldfish?

I'm feeling a little stagnant.  I need to take a class or a workshop or something so I can feel like I'm learning and growing in some conscious way.  I don't really have any idea what kind of class I'd want to take.  Actually, work will pay for three pest control related classes in order for me to maintain my certification.  I should look into that.

My downstairs neighbor asked me to move my bike from the front stairs area to the basement so he could store his baby stroller there.  He said "I noticed it hadn't been used in a while."  Ouch.  Then to rub salt in the wound, I noticed him coming home from a bike ride yesterday.  Bastard.

The check engine light in my car went off long enough for me to get my inspection sticker.  The AAA guy says I need a new battery cable, which I suspect is the reason my check engine light comes on and off all the time.  Those dopes at Midas never noticed it, they just replaced everything else they could think of.

Netflix giveth and taketh away.  For some reason, after 24 hours or so of being able to watch stuff instantly, Netflix has decided it's not supported by my operating system.  It worked yesterday, what gives?  It works fine on Alexis' laptop though.  Now if we could get through an entire episode of anything without falling asleep.

That's my life in a nutshell, folks!

Comments

[vampyrusgirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I plan on doing the whole Facebook thing for the same reason.

[sin-agua.livejournal.com]

Now I want to go see if I can still view Netflix on my laptop.

Just friended you on Facebook! It is a lot more active than LJ, isn't it? There are a zillion people I hardly ever talk to or hear from there, but I do chat with old friends and even relatives I haven't heard from in years and years. I have to admit, lately I'm enjoying it much more than LJ. (sorry!)

[wirrrn.livejournal.com]

I refuse to be impressed with the grape-sized protist until it grows to the size of a Volkswagen and starts actively osmoting SCUBA divers...

[mildmannered.livejournal.com]

thanks for the tip on netflix for macs - I'm now watching "Forever Knight" season three. Ah, the joys of instant online video. It's working fine for me...maybe try a different browser?

[weofodthignen]

My f-page is hyooooooge. But my e-groups are withering!

M

[interglossa.livejournal.com]

We have resisted the Facebook borg but on the other hand it does seem that the OpenSocial initiative hasn't panned out as quickly as expected.

[droserary.livejournal.com]

The amoeba discovery caught my eye and is quite fascinating, but it hasn't supplanted my favorite single-celled organism, Acetabularia. A 10 cm long underwater parasol with three distinct parts that are functionally all one multi-nucleated cell is beyond awesome, in my opinion. That and it's fun to say: Ass-a-tab-you-lair-e-a. Has a good cadence to it.

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

The guys at Midas aren't dopes, they're pricks. They know that cable is cheap and can be easily changed out by the customer. As far as they're concerned, it will never be the cable.

In response...

[lindyhoppr.livejournal.com]

Infantry soldiers, fighting on the mountains of Afghanistan, spend a lot of their time (when not sleeping, eating, pulling guard duty or actively engaged with the enemy) playing video games featuring infantry soldiers fighting in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Seriously. I don't get it either.

[uneko.livejournal.com]

I think it might be because it's so... ehm... it's like... you are mimicing, probably, stance and pose of a real musician, your hands are moving in a fashion very similar to how a real musician's would be, but simplified. The result of these actions is that the game rewards you with music like what a real musician would be producing.

you can't produce your own music, of course, but I think a lot of the people who learn to play a guitar have a desire to learn to play other people's music, or to make music 'like such-and-such does', rather then having a song in their head. So, theoretically, a kid who might want to take guitar lessons, might be more satisfied with guitar hero's much 'easier' play. They might get even more frustrated if thy ever do start to learn how to play a real guitar... and will have 'less' appreciation for how hard it is to play some songs.

I think people might have a similar, poor, reaction if, say, someone released a military simulator with a complex piece of hardware.. Let's say, a gun that imitates the design of a real gun, with a set of sensor bars like the Wii has. Using this play weapon and the sensors, you use the weapon to turn the character around the battlefield, lowering the weapon's elevation slightly causes you to duck, etc etc. the general idea being that you are holding something that looks like a gun, and using it, and your body (somewhat) to manuever and dart around an in-game warzone. You shoot, you fire, you kill pixels. Let's pretend it simulates life rather well without the downsides--weapon recoil, pain, actually wounding people, needing to be physically able to run, duck and crouch, as opposed to just lowering the gun an inch or two. People start playing this game, and going on about how amazing it is, how it's 'just like combat'... leaving real vets and soldiers to protest because while it's a good simulation, it's nothing at all like 'real combat'. Anyone can play the game, if they fail, they reload from as save point. That's not what 'real' soldiering is about.

I dunno. I'll stop rambling now.

Re: In response...

[propaddict.livejournal.com]

As a pilot who spends way too much time playing Microsoft Flight Sim, I'll take a stab at it.

They love their jobs. 2% of the American population looks forward to going to work and *wants* to be there. When we can't, is it that much of a stretch to think we'd read about work or play video games which simulate work?

Video games also have the added benefit of removing most of the boring parts of the job and getting rid of that pesky little thing called "risk of death."

Honestly, I wish everyone could get paid to do something they enjoy enough to want to play video games of it in their off time. I really do.

[mas69ter.livejournal.com]

"Real" musicians that bitch about Guitar Hero and Rock Band are usually the ones that fail while on easy and are jealous of the ones that can rock out the game better than them.
Luckily the only kids I know in a real band love the game.

[(Anonymous)]

Ah! Sounds like the winter doldrums. I resemble your remarks, esp. the part about feeling drawn to learn something new.

Facebook is more agreeable than I anticipated now that more grown-ups are on it. The interface isn't conducive to worthwhile discussions, but the "Status" feature is a little window on the lives of some of my friends & acquaintances. I like seeing what they're doing and thinking about.

RE computer problems: at least you don't have nasty malware that redirects your Google searches to junk sites. Ugh...

abandoned zoo.

[shadowofadoubt.livejournal.com]

I think might like this blog entry:

http://www.sweet-juniper.com/2009/01/where-wild-things-arent.html

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Now that I've had a few days with it, I wonder what the point is. If I refresh the "Jef C Taylor is" thing too often I feel spammy. I've had a bunch of people who I just barely remember from 20 years ago friend me. If lj goes down, I'm going to feel weirdly lonely.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Wow that thing is amazing.

Re: abandoned zoo.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

That's very cool!

Re: abandoned zoo.

[weofodthignen]

Gosh, that's sad. Except for the plants. Yay for the plants.

M