Not much new here... I have to work until midnight again today, which means I'll be missing the majority of Fall Crawl, if not all of it. That's OK, though. It just means I get to keep my $15 bucks that I would have to spend on a wristband. It'll also prevent me from running up huge bar tabs that I can't really afford.
I've been watching Adam play .hack//INFECTION for the last few days-- yesterday he bought the sequel, .hack//MUTATION. Each game also comes with a 30-45 minute anime DVD that goes along with the story in the game. I think this is a great idea because there are clues in the game that explain bits of the story, and vice versa. After watching the bonus DVD, you're really in the mood to start playing the game to figure out how the story will end. After Adam left my house last night, I couldn't keep myself from watching the second bonus DVD. After watching the anime, there was no choice but to start a game of my own. So last night around 02:30 I started my own game of .hack//INFECTION. After going through all the beginning tutorial stuff and exploring around a little, I check the clock and find out that it's almost 06:00. Uh-oh... I'm supposed to pick up Adam at Audio Express and take him to work at 08:00. So I set my alarm for 07:30 and close my eyes. Next thing I know, I'm waking up to the tail end of someone leaving a message on my answering machine. I glance at the clock and realize that I was supposed to pick up Adam about 20 minutes ago. I got out of bed, got dressed, and got down to Audio Express as quickly as I could, but when I got there there was no sign of Adam. Confused and feeling guilty for not arriving on time, I headed back to my house and passed out (again). Sorry 'bout that, Adam :(
17:47 -epw
I finished The Cuckoo's Egg, which I enjoyed very much. It was neat to see an account of all the exploits and cracking methods that worked back in the 80s. If you're into that sort of thing, I recommend checking it out.
Right now I'm at MCI waiting for midnight to roll around so I can get out of here.
I also bought a d20 book the other day called Sidewinder. It's basically an adaptation of the d20 rules for playing an Old/Wild West adventure. There's new classes, skills, and feats, and some things have been removed to add a sense of realism. I mean, it wouldn't exactly be fair if you could cast Protection From Normal Missiles in the middle of a gunfight, now would it? I've only read a little bit of it, but it looks pretty cool so far.
I've also been trying to get Mike's computer working. We've had a few problems with the motherboard not making it past POST. I called the motherboard manufacturers and they seemed to think it was the RAM, so I'm gonna try switching around some components and see if I can't figure out which parts are good and which aren't. The really wierd part was that it booted the first time we turned it on, but when I tried to reboot it it just started beeping at me and wouldn't even display any video. We're sort of in a hurry to figure out what's wrong with it because if it's the RAM, there's only a 7 day return period. If it's not the RAM, the motherboard guys said they'd arrange for a replacement motherboard/CPU combo. I just hope I don't fry any of the hardware that I use to test it, because the last thing I need is to have to replace components that worked previous to my mucking with them. I guess that's about it for now.
ttyal
23:22 -epw
Wow, two weeks of no posting-- If I didn't know better, I'd think I was busy doing something that prevented me from posting to my blog. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I've just been lazy and uninspired.
I started a new book a few days ago. It's called The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through The Maze of Computer Espionage, by Cliff Stoll (ISBN 0-671-72688-9). It's about this cracker that breaks into various computers around the US, and how they figure out how to track him down. I'm only about 50 pages in, but I like what I've read so far. There's lots of obscure Unix references and some computer history in there as well. Oh, I forgot to mention that the story is a true story that took place sometime in the early 80's.
Anyway, I'm just bored at work right now-- I have to work the 16:00-00:00 shift today and tomorrow, and the telemarketers that work here don't even stay until 16:00 on Saturdays. So basically I show up to a mostly empty building and sit around for eight hours and then leave an empty building for another guard to be bored with. Exciting, huh?
18:12 -epw
Also, I've been spending a lot of time on Friendster, which is pretty self-explanatory if you go check it out. For those people that don't like clicking on links, here is how Friendster describes itself:Friendster is an online social networking community that connects people through networks of friends for dating or making new friends.I've already randomly stumbled across people on Friendster that I actually know in real life (Kevin, Miranda, and Raette, to name a few).
17:02 -epw
Sam's in town! I had the oportunity to hang out with him at his Dad's Albuquerque house the other night (Thursday, I think). We had a good time just chillin' and drinking and playing guitar. Hopefully we can organize another gathering with Sam & Co. before they leave for England. Other than that, things are about the same as usual.
16:45 -epw