Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Delicious Social Bookmarking

Here's my nascent Delicious page:

http://delicious.com/Caesarslaad

I can see a lot of benefit to organising my bookmarks with tags.

ATM I've got a few folders on my home PC's Firefox bookmarks, but each one can only exist in one folder. Tagging allows for faceting in storage and retrieval.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faceted_classification

I need to explore native options in Vista to tag my photos and music.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Oh Caffeine!

Where are you going caffeine? Take me with you on your dark journey.

I have just given up caffeine for (hrm?) long; I thought it prudent as my wife has just given up smoking.

Oh dear.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Defeated by Martine in a reference-off, and having just read 'Lone Samurai' (a history of Miyamoto Musahi), I composed my pre-seppuku death poem:

"Mice, breeding cables
Endlessly curling behind.
My monitor froze"

Hurk! >:

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Gaming for the win

http://theshiftedlibrarian.com/archives/2008/09/24/gaming-is-not-bowling-alone.html

Info about how libraries could benefit from allowing and facilitating more multiplayer computer games :D

Monday, October 13, 2008

Random - SNES



Isn't this awesome?

You have a black room and take a long exposure while spraying light around with a little torch.

I never had a SNES, I'm jealous >:(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Nintendo_Entertainment_System

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Avatar

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a cartoon that I watch in the morning while I have breakfast with my 9 year-old daughter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar:_The_Last_Airbender

It is the best modern cartoon I've ever seen, and is, IMHO, the equal of Astroboy (for ethical grounding and action), Mysterious Cities of Gold (for the travelling and meeting new people), or Robotech (for awesome fight sequences)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imho#IM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroboy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysterious_Cities_of_Gold

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech_(TV_series)


Why? Verisimilitude.

My soapbox for fantasy is internal consistency. Avatar treats its magic as if it is real, and, as in Harry Potter, the techniques the children learn are used by the adults around them.

The quirk that makes Avatar more palatable is that it's a martial arts show, where specific styles are used and expanded upon for characters from different regions.


(POST UNFINISHED, will complete soon :)

Saturday, September 27, 2008

The Walking Dead (Graphic Novel - Adult)

The Walking Dead (Kirkman, 2003) is my favourite graphic novel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead

The author's goal is to show what happens after the end of the zombie movie, when people are surviving week to week and adapting to their new conditions. It's similar to the last chapter of Day of the Triffids, but much more bleak >:)

Another interesting dramtic device is that the main survivor character is not actually going to die in the story. WD is mostly about the changes that survival and stress wreak on a person and the small group they lead/live with, so the protagonist loses his civilised veneer and many many 'colleagues' along the way, but you don't need to suspend disbelief about his fate.

No one else is safe.

Main Points:
The main character doesn't die, but anyone else can (and does)
Internally consistent fantasy
Very violent (decomposed zombies, survivors fighting other survivors)

The way I know that I really like something is that I don't borrow it from the collection or pirate it; I buy it and hoard it at home.

My FLGS (http://gamerseye.blogspot.com/2006/01/flgs-or-online-shopping.html) Ace Comics & Games, pushed this on me a few years ago and I've been dogging its trade paperback releases ever since.

Now to try to get it picked up for the collection...

Monday, September 22, 2008

Salve, Salvo

The opening shots in any engagement should, ideally, be taken from surpise; and be devastating in their effect.