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    Thursday, December 31st, 2009
    ekeppich
         		12:59p
    End of the year victory conditions
     It is the last day of an old year. I'm currently sitting in my litrle "office" at SMU for the better part of the morning and afternoon before hitting the gym a bit early and heading home a bit early. I'll be workingon some of the Guatemalan numbers from one of the operations, having successfully navigated the very complex situation with the ballcourt.


    It's time for: End of the year victory conditions, where I treat the past twelve months as if it were a game of 2nd Fleet..

    +4 points Teaching at the local community college for the Spring semester
    +4 points Teaching at the local community college for the Fall semester
    +3 points Maintaining high student evaluations
    +5 points Built "General Anthropology" class
    +5 points Wrote the PARI article
    +5 points Wrote the "Ritual Memory" chapter for a volume that coming out sometime next year I think
    -20 points Did not finish dissertation
    +5 points Pulled M and I through mid-year financial crisis
    -6 points Did not get a permanent academic position
    -6 points Missed SSHA presentation
    -4 points Missed Guatemalan season
    +1 point fixed own crashed laptop
    +1 point Continuing "The David Bowie Project"
    +2 points Illustrated a lot of ceramic vessels
    +3 points Had a very successful Birthday
    +1 point Made an economic prediction that has, so far, been 100% accurate
    +1 points Finally saw "The Creepshow"
    -1 point Missed "Abney Park"
    +1 point Kept the Thunderbird running

    total: +4 points Draw. The year, as expressed through 2nd Fleet victory conditions was a stalemate. A slightly on the plus-side stalemate, but a stalemate, nonetheless.

    Next episdoe: THE FUTURE!
    We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you... in the future!
    grendel1031
         		1:56p
    Do you live in Northern New England? If so, read this.
     From the New Hampshire Homeland Security Emergency Management email list:

    The NH HSEM Field Services has issued a Winter Storm Warning

    To ALL Emergency Management Directors:

    ” There is a significant winter storm predicted for this weekend. According to the NWS in Gray, Me. - “this is a very unusual event … we have not seen one like this in 30 years.” This will be an event that is expected to bring significant snow and wind for the entire state. Gusts of wind may be up to 50 mph.

    There will be a smaller system moving into NH very late Thursday night / early Friday a.m. bringing 3-5” of snow. The main storm will be moving in Saturday afternoon and possibly last until Tuesday, with the storm stalling off the coast. The weather models are still somewhat confusing so actual amounts of snowfall (mostly dry snow) are difficult to predict and range anywhere from 6-14” to possible 20-40” further north. Predictability will be more certain tomorrow.

    There is also great concern regarding possible coastal flooding.

    We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you updated. HSEM would advise all communities to begin referring to their emergency plans and begin preparedness activities.”

    Emphases in the original.

    This might be a good time for the good folks of Northern New England among the readership to review their own emergency management plans.
    grendel1031 11:03a
    Marie Corelli's Ardath
     Marie Corelli was perhaps the first best-selling author. Her works were collected by Queen Victoria, and by King Edward VII. Indeed, she was the only author invited to the king's coronation. Excoriated by critics, she was beloved by readers from all classes. Ardath has been called "her weirdest and most baroque novel" and is credited by some as a major influence on Lord Dunsany's imaginary-world vignettes.

    You can download a free copy of this seminal novel in the history of fantasy here.
    ms_danson
         		8:40a
    Respect
     In my parent's house there is only one rule.

    Treat everyone and everything in this house with respect.

    I remember testing that rule as teenager by demanding that a person who treated me poorly not be allowed to return. My parents took me seriously and that person was not seen again. It was heady stuff for a teenager. I remember being quite in awe of the fact that I had the right to enforce the house rule.

    Breaking this rule brought consequences: a discussion on behaviour modification, necessity for apologies and/or compensation to hurt party, suspension of privileges with actions necessary to return them, expulsion, or other consequences in fitting with the infraction. It made sense. It was applied evenly. It wasn't punishment.

    When I moved into a place of my own, my parents took a "her house, her rules" approach. Even when someone appealed to them override my decisions (in my territory) they simply said "her house, her rules". That left me feeling giddy because at that point I didn't feel confident in my ability to enforce my rules. I am now and now my house has one rule:

    Treat everyone and everything in this house with respect.

    It's a good rule, I think.
    phaid
         		7:09a
    Mod Squad
     So I decided to learn how to make my own Morrowind mods. Not just modifying textures, which I've been doing for a long time, but actually writing code plugins to add content to the game. I made a really simple one that changes the height/weight proportions of the Imperial race to make them look more realistic, saw how simple it really was, and was hooked.

    So, flush with success, I decided to try making a dual-wielding mod. Characters in Morrowind can wield one weapon, or a weapon and a shield, but not two weapons. I had a mod to simulate dual-wielding in Oblivion, and decided to try making the same thing. Sadly, you can't truly make a character wield two swords and attack with both of them, but what you can do is make a shield that looks exactly like a sword, and which they can use to block attacks. The result is reasonably convincing.

    ( Behold... )

    Creating the mod takes three steps. First, we have to create a new mesh for the sword-as-shield. We do this in Nifskope, a cool little app that lets you view and do basic modifications to the .NIF files that Morrowind uses to store 3D meshes. Since the sword already exists, we copy the existing mesh and modify it so it is oriented correctly -- the stock sword models are aligned such that they will look right in the weapon hand. Since we're turning ours into a shield, we have to rotate and move it so that it will line up right when the character wears it.

    Then we go into the Elder Scrolls Construction Set and make the item. This really involves two steps; first we create a "body part" which will get added to a character model when it uses the sword; this is basically just a reference to the .NIF file we created earlier. Then we create an "armor" object, which specifies the item's cost/weight/armor value/etc, the inventory icon, the mesh to use when the item is just lying on the ground, and the body part we just created. Repeat this for each type of sword for which we want to create a sword-as-shield.

    Finally, we save our mod as a .esp which we can activate in the game. Ta daa.

    Current Mood: tired
    real_vamp
    [ daysandbones ]
         		6:29p
    Vampire RPG

    IT IS THE YEAR SEVENTEEN NINETY-THREE, AND THE ROYAL FAMILY IS DEAD.

    SIX WEEKS AFTER THE EXECUTION OF MARIE ANTOINETTE, 120 BODIES WERE FOUND
    PILED UP BEHIND THE NOTRE DAME DE PARIS. NO ONE HAD HEARD A SCREAM NOR
    ANY OTHER SOUND THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. UPON CLOSER INSPECTION, TWO SMALL,
    NEEDLE-LIKE HOLES WERE FOUND ON THE LEFT SIDE OF EACH VICTIM'S NECK.
    HOWEVER, THE MEN WHO HAD COMMITTED THIS HEINOUS CRIME WERE MONSTERS
    MEANT TO STAY IN THE SHADOWS OF MYTHS AND STORIES.

    VAMPIRES.

    THE OFFICIALS WERE IN DENIAL, AND SO THE CITIZENS TOOK MATTERS INTO THEIR
    OWN HANDS, CREATING A GROUP OF YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN THAT CALLED
    THEMSELVES THE SLAYERS. WHAT THEY HADN'T ANTICIPATED, HOWEVER, WAS THAT
    THEIR ATTEMPT TO MAKE THINGS BETTER, WOULD IN FACT MAKE THEM SO
    MUCH WORSE.

    and when we're gone,
    who'll deal with     the aftermath?

    Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
    siderea
         		5:40p
    [lit, love] Update on the Library Effort
     Update: http://ms-danson.livejournal.com/813793.html

    Thanks for all the help! There's a few more books added to the list.

    If you're contributing a book from the Boston area and want me to ship it, please get it to me by noon, on Tuesday, January 5 (which is the earliest I'll be able to send it, what with the holiday and my work schedule). Let me know, and I'll send info on how best to do that.
    grendel1031 5:40p
    Discworld
     For those who care about such things, The Color of Magic (spelled wrong to conform to the title of the movie) is amazingly faithful to the tone and what I can remember of the plot of Pterry's book.

    I last read the book (whose title was spelled correctly in the edition I read) on 5 July 1989, so I may have a detail or two wrong.
    ekeppich
         		12:31p
    Linda the Cat
     It's a running joke that Livejournal is the place or unhinged political commentary, Eminem/Legolas fanfic and for people to show their cats. The first two I try to avoid, the last... well, yeah. Cats.

    M and I have four. Two are sort of mine and the other two are hers. Linda is the oldest, the "queen cat" of our little (and soon to be ex-) house. I "inherited" her through M's mother, as M's mother moved into a retirement complex that only allowed a single pet and she already had two. So Linda the Cat came to live with us. Linda likes everyone, she really does.

    She has two idiosyncrasies. One, she does this thing called the "Linda head-twirl" in which she will stand up on two legs and look over her own shoulder. First on one side and then the other. Two, when she wants attention she will march up to you and reach out with one of her paws, looking to snag an elbow or hand.

    Other than that she pretty much sleeps.

    Frank likes her.



    ( Read more... )
    ms_danson
         		10:00a
    Library Recovery Effort - Post 2
     I would like to say that you are all awesome amazing people. Thank you from me and you have completely melted [info]bluetourmaline with your generosity.

    I've added a few more books to the Library Recovery Effort Booklist and removed a few Valdemar books (I still need some). I've also set up a Bookmooch account (and was gifted a few points) to help fill in any gaps in the list. Those of you who have offered to purchase or gift certificate books to fill in the gaps: I will let you know in the next few days if we need that or not. Thanks to everyone.

    As I receive books in the mail I will mark them as [Received] on the Booklist so that you know that they got here safely. I've added a tag that will take you directly to these posts if you forget the link: LibraryRecovery

    Again, thank you everyone.

    edit: Also, I *should* have sent everyone who is donating books my mailing address in an LJ private message. If you have not received it and should have please let me know ASAP.
    mandy12052
         		7:00a
    "It's dull you TWIT! It'll hurt more!"
    • 17:36 Beef bean and cheese burritos covered in green chili stew for dinner. WIN. #
    • 17:41 Whoops. Garlic SNAFU! #
    • 18:55 Gotta remember to do things in a timely manner. Procrastination leads to stress. Thumbs down! #
    Cutting your heart out with a spoon using LoudTwitter
    Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
    phaid
         		6:28p
    And a cliff racer in a chokeweed tree
     In local news, it was a brilliant Christmas, and now I'm having a brilliant holiday vacation. And, not only is it relaxing, it's productive! Both our vehicles are now registered in New York, complete with shiny New York plates. And my head almost didn't almost explode at the DMV today.

    Also, after sampling the dish at every diner in a 20 mile radius, I have concluded that Gateway Diner in Highland makes the best chicken souvlaki ever.

    Tonight it's more tandem gaming, Anne on the 360 with Assassin's Creed II and me on my PC with Morrowind. I'm pretty far along on the main quest now, even the wise woman in the yurt agrees that I'm the Nerevarine, but now I have to prove it to all these skeptics before they'll recognize me as their war leader. I guess it's true, supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses.

    And every time I think about this game I get The Wake singing "Where's your Nerevarine" in my head.

    Current Music: The Wake - Nazarene
    jenmcd
         		5:23p
    Book review: The Time Traveler's Wife
     I finished "reading" The Time Traveler's Wife a couple of days ago. "Reading" is in quotes because I listened to it on audio book. I really liked the story... up to a point.

    ( * * * W A R N I N G ! Possible spoilers! * * * )
    Good points - the audio book was read by two people, a man and a woman, reading the gender-respective sections. I think they did a fantastic job of it, though there were some words that I had to rewind to hear again because they pronounced them in ways I would consider wrong, although they may very well have been acceptable according to Merriam-Webster or the good ol' OED.

    All in all, I'd give this book a C+. Sad, really. I wanted to like it. I still want to see the movie. I think I will watch the movie and see if that changes my perception of the book. It's been known to happen.

    I'm almost done with another book I started late last night - Truly, Madly: A Novel. I won it from GoodReads.com. It's an "advance reading copy" and not going on sale until February 2010. I am really enjoying it. If you like the Stephanie Plum books, I think you'd like this as well. Lucy's life isn't as laugh-out-loud hilarious as Stephanie's, but it has a similar feel to the stories. I should have that finished tonight or tomorrow morning and will write about it then.

    Until then... good reading to you all!

    Current Mood: content
    phaid
         		6:17p
    Unprecedented Diplomatic Success
     Not really a lot to add to this, as it pretty much confirms everything I said about the U.S. kowtowing to the Russians on missile defense: Putin: We’ll Overwhelm U.S. Missile Shield. (But Thanks for the Concessions, Barack!)

    Current Mood: weird
    ekeppich
         		12:17p
    Tuesday
     Tuesday, December 29th
    Okay, after a herky-jerky Christmas and some minor car troubles yesterday, we’re firing up the end of the completed ceramic database, folding the Guatemalan dataset into my own. WK07 poses a problem, as the data I have contradicts the reading by JC. However, it is obvious that he had a larger dataset than the one I have. So. What we’ll do is email him asking for a more complete dataset and then, if he sends it, study that to see what it says. If he doesn’t reply, I’ll write up the memo as is and simply package that in my dissertation. So, he has lots of time to try and change my mind. But I’ll be asking questions the whole time.
    So, today’s list is:

    -WK07 Ballcourt construction memo
    -email JC and Gris for more WK-7 data
    -begin WK06 construction memo
    - finish Andrews + Bell chapter
    - order final round of books
    -go gyming around six or so


    Also, for no other reason than I like it. I offer this:

    mandy12052
         		7:00a
    "It's dull you TWIT! It'll hurt more!"
    • 14:08 It's nice to see family, but i kinda miss my house. #
    • 22:35 Day 4 sleeping on an air mattress. My back doesn't like me very much right now. #reasonstomisshome #
    Cutting your heart out with a spoon using LoudTwitter
    Monday, December 28th, 2009
    siderea
         		3:30p
    [lit, love] An Invitation to a Great Deed (in small, easy pieces)
     Friends, I write to invite you to do a bright thing, a modest act of wonder. A dear livejournal friend, [info]bluetourmaline, has just suffered the destruction of much of her library of fantasy and science fiction through no fault of hers. She is, of course, in shock and heartbroken. Many of the books lost were not merely "old friends", they had been gifts from friends and treasures long sought.

    We who are her friends are rebuilding her library. I am inviting you to join us. This is not about money. The list is not so long; it would be simple enough to just buy replacements. But in light of how they were lost, the callousness of their wanton destruction, and their particularly personal history, I would like to do something more.

    The books lost were, many of them, gifts, given by book lovers to a book lover. Let them then be replaced in kind, by gifts from those who love books, who understand what a book can mean to a person. Let them come from the shelves and hands of those who have loved them themselves.

    If you would like to participate in this distributed deed of love and literature, [info]ms_danson, whom I vouch for personally, is coordinating the replacement effort here: http://ms-danson.livejournal.com/813546.html

    If you are in the Boston area, and can get a book to me (deadline TBD), I'd be pleased to ship it with mine and spare you the cost of postage to Canada.
    phaid
         		11:52a
    Janet Napolitano clears things up
     Apparently the system worked perfectly after the attempted terrorist attack. Up until then, though the system failed miserably.

    Good thing we've been spending untold billions of dollars on the Dept of Homeland Security and the TSA, so that we don't miss crucial intelligence, fail to properly screen suspicious passengers, etc. Otherwise who knows what might happen!

    Current Mood: amused
    ms_danson
         		9:48a
    Library Recovery Effort
     [info]bluetourmaline's beloved books were thrown out (not by her), and her friends are trying to replace them for her. This is the list of books that needs to be replaced:

    1) Michael Swanwick's The Iron Dragon's Daughter [info]thetimesink
    2) Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora [info]ms_danson [Received]
    3) The collected works of Peter S. Beagle [info]rjl20
    4) All of the Earthsea books, from A Wizard of Earthsea to The Other Wind [info]goth_hobbit
    5) Dragonquest (pern) [info]rootedinsong
    6) Patricia McKillip's The Forgotten Beasts of Eld [info]kickthehobbit
    7) Life of Pi, [info]lupabitch
    8) World War Z by Max Brooks (already purchased?)
    9) Larry Niven's N-Space (with introductory notes) [info]en_ki
    10) Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books ([info]kickthehobbit? & [info]waterspyder?, [info]noxcat see below)
    11) Stroud's The Amulet of Samarkand [info]goth_hobbit
    12) Robert J. Sawyer's Calculating God [info]m41
    13) The Mote in God's Eye [info]dracodraconis[Received]
    14) Barbara Hambly's poetic Darwath Trilogy [info]kareila

    I'm offering myself as a drop box for collecting these books. If you wish to offer one, leave me a comment with your book name(s) and I'll send you an LJ private message (check your messages Inbox) with my mailing address. Once the books are collected I'll have them shipped (or hand delivered) to [info]bluetourmaline. Anybody who wants to help is welcome to do so.

    Valdemar books:

    Arrows of the Queen, 1987 [info]rootedinsong
    Arrow's Flight, 1987
    Arrow's Fall, 1988
    Winds of Fate, 1991
    Winds of Change, 1992
    Winds of Fury, 1993)
    By the Sword
    Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar, 1997 (ISBN 0-88677-720-8) [info]noxcat

    [info]siderea's post with further information on circumstances.

    ---
    Round two (more of what was thrown out):

    14) Patricia McKillip's 'Riddle-Master of Hed' and 'Heir of Sea and Fire' [info]siderea
    15) Robin McKinley's 'The Blue Sword'
    16) Catherine Asaro's 'The Last Hawk.'

    ---
    Round three:

    17) Kushiel's Dart [info]ms_danson[Received]
    18) Kushiel's Chosen
    19) Naomi Novik: Her Majesty's Dragon; Throne of Jade; Black Powder War
    20) Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game

    There are more (she's remembering them as she is reminded) but I think that is all of the important ones. This will be the last update to the list. Thanks everyone.
    Sunday, December 27th, 2009
    siderea
         		4:10p
    [movie review, feminism] Brief note re "Ultraviolet" (2006)
     So I finally saw Ultraviolet courtesy of Netflix. In short, it was a hot mess, with a bunch of inspired cinematographic moments, some Waterworld-bungie-cord moments of fight choreography (we all know of "suspension of disbelief", but these indicate a related-but-different "suspension of mirth") and lots of ravishin architecture shot up by a well-built woman. The villian was deliciously megalomaniacal but I successfully guessed his Big Secret in his second scene. But my purpose here isn't to review the whole movie, but address one small important part of it that I picked up on and would like to praise.

    ( This requires major plot spoilers. )

    This isn't a reason to rush out and see this movie, or anything. I'm not recommending it or anything. Just commending it for not getting one particular thing wrong.

    P.S. I also appreciate that they made the protagonist reasonably paranoid about even her co-conspirators, in a useful way, such that she reasonably anticipates what they're going to do when she tests them and preemptively takes action. She sometimes comes across as emotionally messed up, but never stupid about people for the sake of increasing plot conflict.

    P.P.S. If you are going to rent this, see it on the biggest screen you can manage so you don't have to squint at the pretty violence.
    ms_danson
         		1:31p
    Cats dammit! OW
     I was done scratching Daven's (aka sweet, adorable, and stupid cat) belly and I needed him to get off the bed so I blew in his face. He wiggled. I tried again. Wiggle, wiggle. I gently gave him a shove and...

    The damn cat tasered my face with his butt.

    I could still feel pain from the static zap a few minutes later. Daven just went back to "I'm cute, wiggle, rub my belly" as if nothing had happened and wiggled happily over to where I was clutching my face.
    phaid
         		1:10p
    Security Theater Mk.II
     No sooner did I write about "the system" that I noticed a comment on an earlier entry from the ever-vigilant [info]sekelley, who pointed out this hilarious link: Janet Napolitano on Failed Terror Attempt: The System Worked".

    Wow, you couldn't make that up if you tried. I mean, the passengers took the guy down, and "within an hour and a half" all 128 flights then in the air were notified of the incident. And that's "the system" working?

    The reality is that despite spending billions and billions of taxpayer dollars on "homeland security" since 9/11/2001, the only real improvements in security -- namely, armored cockpit doors and more-vigilant passengers -- have been entirely implemented by the private sector. If it's still possible for a known Nigerian extremist to board an airplane with a binary explosive, despite all the security theater of removing our shoes and leaving our toothpaste at home, the
    "system" is a complete failure.
    phaid
         		12:48p
    Security Theater
     So, if you're a four year old kid who shares a name with about 2,068 other people in this country you could wind up on the no-fly list, but if you're a 23-year-old Nigerian radical whose father turned you in to the U.S. embassy you have nothing to worry about. The system is working flawlessly, carry on.

    Current Mood: awake
    mandy12052
         		7:01a
    "It's dull you TWIT! It'll hurt more!"

    • 09:16 Ah my parents' house... Land of weak coffee and thin milk. I am sooo buying creamer today. #

    Cutting your heart out with a spoon using LoudTwitter
    Saturday, December 26th, 2009
    mandy12052
         		7:01a
    "It's dull you TWIT! It'll hurt more!"
    • 16:36 I got a tea kettle for xmas! It's lime green awesomeness. #
    • 16:38 Mad Max trilogy FTW! #
    Cutting your heart out with a spoon using LoudTwitter
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