out of the blue

Stupid bloodsucking such-and-suches…

So, we were experiencing very slow internet for a while now. We'd get speeds of 10kb/s consistently. I didn't really think about it much, because the internet has always been somewhat up-and-down in that way. But today we all were annoyed at it, so I logged into the wireless base station and looked at the list of connected IP addresses. 13 computers connected. After noting that Aaron Brown has two computers, and that Aaron Moore is connected with both a hardline and wireless, there were still 3 computers left unaccounted for, if everyone in the house had their computers on. So Aaron Brown and I changed the password on the base station (which was still the default), and set up some WEP encryption, and guess what? The internet jumped from 15kb/sec to about 1000kb/sec. I don't know how someone was muscling the rest of us out, but it was pretty atrocious. I am much happier now, because it means that I can work on web design and upload every minute or so without having to wait 20 seconds for each text file.

We should have done something to the leeches computers before we encrypted the signal, but I'm not so much into retribution. Alas.

For my birthday, Cami got me a book of short stories titled sunlight & shadows. I read it on a camping trip shortly after recieving it, and I was struck by a number of stories that made me think of particular people when I read them. Here is one of those stories, which I felt I had to show to Aaron. It may be the most universal of the stories I wanted to show to people, so you should all read it.

( The Gunfighter )

I just updated all my Flickr pictures to add location data. Most of them I was able to get down to the street, but some were definitely guesses. My favorite location is Rock Lake, which took quite a while to find because it's so small and you can't search for geographic landmarks. So, if you go to my Flickr map you can see where I've taken pictures.

Now that I have a pro Flickr account, I may upload a lot more pictures from my old photosets (the ones that survived my computer crash). I think more Rock Lake pictures would be particularly cool, and there are a few other trips/sets that would be nice to be more complete. So I will likely do that.

Mark's comment on my last entry reminded me of a techie poem by Steven Brust that I encountered a few years ago when reading his weblog at dreamcafe.com. I thought I'd bring it up again:

I dreamt that I was windows free
And data flowed in streams
From you to me, my ISP
All flawless in my dreams.

All the work I chose to do
To know was but to ask;
Handshake and smile, and all the while
Ran on each Linux task

I awoke to truth with throaty scream
Of frustrations, pains, and hates;
Once more to earth I soundly cursed
All windows, doors, and Gates.

– Steven Brust (11 October 2001)

This is my new flat-panel 19" monitor. In ancient times, holy places were sometimes judged by the wealth of their idol or altar. If there is something that embodies the form of a computer more than a beautiful monitor, I don't know what it is. I've certainly moved up on the shrine scale.

When I get into a book, every sense is heightened. My pulse races, and I speed through chapters to see what happens next (all the while being sure to take it easy enough that I don't miss things). I just finished Dzur, by Steven Brust, and it was exciting. I am quite invested in Vladimir Taltos and the various other characters, and the long friendship I've had with the books makes everything that much more intense. I'm riding an emotional high right now, and it's late. We'll see what it does to my sleeping.

You people may enjoy Weird Al's new "Don't Download This Song" track. He's releasing it for free on myspace. Download it here for all of its tongue-in-cheek sarcastic goodness.

"Oh, you don't wanna mess with the R-I-double-A
They'll sue you if you burn that CD-R
It doesn't matter if you're a grandma or a seven year old girl
They'll treat you like the evil hard-bitten criminal scum you are"

My very eager mother just isn't going to serve us so well any more, what with the lack of pizzas. Then there's the whole issue of cream soda and possibly cheese-sticks, and the 20 cupcakes that we lost on the way here. But I think that dwarf-tossing ought to be allowed in this case. After all, if you think about it, they're getting swung around all the time.

Music is being sold online now. Most sales are going to be song-by-song, as people collect their favorite songs by their favorite artists. This means that the one-to-three popular songs from a CD are going to be bought a lot more than the rest, whose sales will decline. This has two direct repercussions, leading in opposite directions. First of all, people don't have to get an entire CD to get that one hard-to-find song. The record model is forever broken. So, the artist is going to lose money as people only spend a dollar or two on their CD instead of $10 – $17 for the entire album. However, this also means that a lot of people are going to find it more worth it to spend money on the artist at all. If they're only interested in one song off the album, they wouldn't be able to justify buying the entire CD, but if they can get the song by itself they're going to spend money on it. This trend brings more revenue to the artist. I suspect that the second trend will prove to be the more noted, and will result in increased music sales overall, but I'm not sure. What do you folks think?

A worthy meme stolen from the lovely Ann Foreyt, who made it up herself:

sensory things that make me happy or that fulfill some innate need-want in me

top 10 scents:

1. 1. lilacs in bloom from across a yard
2. 2. campfire smoke
3. 3. the pages of ancient books
4. 4. the crisp air after a thunderstorm
5. 5. freshly-baked bread
6. 6. snowy evergreen forests
7. 7. cinnamon
8. 8. just-washed hair
9. 9. indian food smells filling the house
10. 10. cedar wood

top 10 sounds:

1. 1. wind and rain beating against the side of the house
2. 2. a chorus of frogs croaking
3. 3. barbershop quartets
4. 4. the opening guitar work in "I Feel Fine" by the Beatles
5. 5. thunder
6. 6. duets with pretty harmonies
7. 7. trickling brooks
8. 8. soda cans being opened
9. 9. light, dancing flute melodies
10. 10. softly singing tea kettles and boiling water

top 10 tastes (individual):

1. 1. fresh pressed garlic
2. 2. a bit of vanilla licked from the fingers
3. 3. clover honey
4. 4. cumin
5. 5. ginger
6. 6. teas of all varieties
7. 7. good dark chocolate
8. 8. cilantro
9. 9. fresh sourdough bread
10. 10. ripe blackberries

top 10 sensations:

1. 1. large raindrops being slapped against my face by a high wind on the beach
2. 2. warmth of a fire in the fireplace on a winter's night
3. 3. jumping into a lake that is way too cold, and then climbing out to bask in the sun
4. 4. trapping air in bedsheets and letting them slowly deflate until they fall to shape to your body
5. 5. showers in the summertime, turning the water as cold as you can stand
6. 6. the whoosh of air conditioning when you come in out of 90 degree weather
7. 7. the feel of a frisbee in the hand
8. 8. backrubs
9. 9. cold glass
10. 10. good sketching paper

top 10 sights:

1. 1. rays of sunlight through fog
2. 2. pretty people in light blue clothes
3. 3. candlelight in a cozy room
4. 4. thunderstorms and lightning bolts
5. 5. looking up at the sun through a leafy tree in the wind
6. 6. the milky way on the darkest night
7. 7. eyes catching the light
8. 8. tree shadows
9. 9. clouds of all shapes and sizes
10. 10. foggy days