Rory's Journal

I am of the opinion that you should not be able to call yourself an evangelist, unless you are truly doing great things.

You know you're a Geek when you purposely open your Python interpreter instead of your calculator program.

Does anyone know where I can find comically large butterfly nets? The stipulation being "comically" large.

DOSBox got updated to 0.74 today. For those of you trying to play old DOS games this is THE program to do it with. There has been a lot of work done on it in just the last year. It will pretty much play any game out there now, and will even run Windows 3.1 for those of you that have games that only ran in Windows 16-bit, but hated Windows 95. I had one game like that called Woodruff and the Schnibble.

Anyway, good times. Here is the link: DOSBox

When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.

-- Linkin Park

Of all the difficult things I've done in my life, the most difficult is finding a comfortable pillow. There is no science in the world that can make that easier.

Frustration is spending 30 minutes looking for a blogging app for the Droid, and then giving up and using the built in browser. I don't use Wordpress. If I need an API key to use all the features then I lose interest. It doesn't matter. After all, I do things like learn Pascal. I don't talk about personal projects of mine much, but I like to use certain things; not because its supposed to be productive, but because it connects me with the code. If the language doesn't feel clean, then I don't use it. Believe it or not, C++ feels very clean to me. As long as it is written well it can be powerful. People that complain about its problems (pointers) are unaware of how to code structures in their programs to handle it. There are guides out there that show how to avoid these pitfalls. I'll still be using it in 30 years when the robots take over. How long until AI passes the Turing test?

I have started developing with a new project. It's a RAD (Rapid Application Development) Program called Lazarus. It is awesome. Basically, I use RAD tools whenever I need to throw out a GUI really quick and get something done rather than twiddle away trying to convince the OS to draw stuff for me. I used to use .Net for this, but Microsoft blows because none of their stuff is platform independent. I can only develop on Windows. That sucks.

But, Lazarus does the exact same thing. It is an IDE for developing code, but primarily you drag and drop components on to a form window, just like in Visual Studios. Then you double click on one of those and it instantly brings you to the procedure in your code so that you may write the small amount of action code that powers it.

The "bad" part, you ask? It's Pascal. I'll let that sink in. Nothing like writing with a language from the 70s. Then again, I use C++ for almost everything else. You kids and your new languages! Get off my lawn!!!

Anyway, Pascal is pretty cool. I don't see anything missing from what I had in C, and it might have a few more things. I never have a problem with the older languages because I've been writing in them for 12 years. Along with PHP, Python, and Coldfusion, of course.

See? Not all that bad, am I.

Sam stumbled through the door of the bar and out into the brisk chill of the night air. Too many drinks and too much time had done worse things to him, but he felt tonight had done a particular interest on him. The bleary light from the streetlight cut a stark moment in his eyes as he sought to adjust to being outside. He mustered the effort to walk to the edge of the penumbra of light on the ground and stopped. His tan trench-coat felt heavy, his shoes felt heavy... Maybe... it was just that he felt heavy.

Sam, named Samson by his mother, had not had the life he wanted. It had been one miserable attempt after another. Every time he had shown some effort to a goal he liked, it ended. Ending him in a local bar of some sort or another. It had happened so often of late that he was beginning to enjoy it. He couldn't even keep his love life together. One marriage had flowed into a second, much like the drinks he had imbibed along the way. He coughed. The thing he liked the most about drinks is that they went away after he drank them. After pondering the reaction of his past wives for a little while, he began to wonder if it was because of the drinks that he ended up this way.

"Naw!"

A candy bar wrapper blew suddenly down the street, leaving an echo of its passage tapping down the street. He starred after it for a moment. The streets were sure dark at this time of night. The time of night that everything seemed to shutdown. The time of night that you would normally drive home to a warm bed; if you had a car, that is. Or, a warm bed.

Sam began his arduous struggle to follow the street. He reached into his trench-coat to pull out a cigarette. The deft motion of the lighter coming alive and igniting the cigarette was a surprisingly smooth, yet practiced gesture that he could do in any condition. He stopped at the street corner to enjoy that smoke. That beautiful smoke that could make him feel alive; more alive then even the alcohol could. Each sweet, succulent intake made everything hum.

He was happy for the night.

Which is really too bad. Because he was immediately eaten by a dragon.

I remember watching "All Dogs Go To Heaven" when I was little, probably when it first came out. I think that was the first time that the concept of Hell was explained to me. It scared the shit out of me.

So, along time ago (in a galaxy far, far away) I had a Gateway brand computer. Now, it was a pretty good little machine, wasn't the best, but it was cheap for me. I used it for awhile and then started building my own computers instead of buying them. Now, as I have been working in the computer field for a while I have had a sort of brand recognition beat into me. That brand is Dell. You buy Dell computers, you buy Dell servers, your mom is a Dell.

Well, today I wondered what happened to Gateway. I found out. They are still around and they are kicking ass, if you ask me (and you probably didn't). They have desktop systems for $500 that have Quad-Cores in them, 2.6 GHz processors, 4 GB of RAM, and, assuredly, 750 GB of disk space. I had an orgasm on the spot. Which was terrible because I was at work!

Gateway's laptops are pretty cool, too! And, everything is really cheap. You buy the computers from third-party retailers now instead of direct, which might be something that has happened since they shrunk.

If you are looking for a new computer, you should definitely check them out. Gateway is the new pink.

Time is cruel. Not because it makes us move forward, but because of what it leaves behind. All the things you once did and loved, and all you can do is look back on it; never able to return to it as you once had it. And, if that isn't painful enough, even the memory starts to tarnish the farther away time takes you. Maybe heaven and hell don't exist, because the after-life is just a play back of what you lived through, over and over. That's probably a strange thought, but for me... I would like that a lot. I guess that means I don't have very many regrets.

Nostalgia. It is a disease I have had all my life.

"Hmmm.... I'm not sure. This appears to be some kind of primitive communications portal. I believe they used to call it a blog, or something. It looks like it hasn't been touched in centuries though, captain."

Yeah, I know. I died and arose from the ashes born again unto you. Yet, in my fight in the darkest reaches of hell, I have returned victorious... If not wounded for the wear. I have moved away from Bozeman and, in leaving, it was like sailing out of a dark storm to find the beautiful sun of the Caribbean lighting the sun drenched islands and blue lagoon waters. I might be sitting in 3 feet of snow, but it looks goooOOOOOood!

Two months ago, I had a job interview with a company in another city in Montana. It went well, they made me an offer, and here I am. Moved out of the disagreeable Bozeman, where nothing seemed to be working out for me, and now setting up new camp in our new home. The job is good, the city is full of friendly people (even though the move was only 3 hours from Bozeman), and the place we live is much improved (although it helps that the landlord isn't a complete dick). I like new starts.

I'll try to write more, but I think, in the spirit of new starts, that I keep these entries from this point on void of important information.

P.S. If anyone is looking to venture capitalize in a video game studio I have the company set up for you. Let's talk business!

My greatest fear is that I will one day die from a massive trauma to my brain or a massive brain aneurysm. And, it won't be from anything physical. It will be because it was holding too much information. Not any real information, but I'll die from adding the useless information like: chocolate is bad for dogs...Oh, God!!!!! thunk

The best time of the year for her was the only time she could think of now. It was the only time she was ever happy even as a child. It was the piano.

The piano at Christmas, and the people she loved surrounding her. Every note from the crafted mahogany wood was a step toward the completion she was missing now. In the memories the piano would give her she could travel back and see everyone's face again. Even the ones gone now for so long... And, Father's hands dancing across the keys as if they, too, were taking part in some elaborate reenactment of a celebration they did every year.

Their gathering seemed smaller now, but it was still filled with the importance she had always put to this time of year. The ones behind her on the wall were still a part of it. They still looked on as they always did when the piano started playing. Faces full of love and a smile that couldn't be shaken.... And, Grandmother's cookies on the plate placed on the table.

Now, the hour was growing late and the notes swirled into their gradual ending prose. The songs she loved would leave now, only her memories remaining. Leaving, to be saved for another year. The goodbyes being said, the hugs being passed around; a final reminder that time flows forward... And, the piano, in it's corner behind them, was silent again.