Today's topic for discussion is:

Monday morning, rainy-day blues.

posted at: 05:54 | permanent link to this entry

Where did Summer Go?

It's a relevant question, actually. This summer disappeared before it really started, it seems. Bizarre, but Labor Day is nearly upon us, and with it, concludes summer's holiday calendar. After the better part of a year of dining out under the pretense of supporting the local/neighborhood establishments, I finally started cooking again. Goodness will follow in the coming months.

posted at: 05:53 | permanent link to this entry

Today's topic for discussion is:

Hydrangeas must die. That is all.

posted at: 22:52 | permanent link to this entry

Fun on the Horizon

This year's Dragon*Con is shaping up to be awesome. Case in point: A human Periodic Table will be marching in the parade.

posted at: 22:51 | permanent link to this entry

Today's topic for discussion is:

The peanut butter, bacon, and jelly sandwich.

posted at: 18:10 | permanent link to this entry

Today's topic for discussion is:

This is the funniest thing I've seen all year: a live-action Pac-Man video, from comedian Remi Gaillard.

posted at: 22:08 | permanent link to this entry

Twenty Years

I recently read an online forum thread asking readers to recall "drastic changes" in today's society, vs. that of 1989. So, I wrote down a list that grew rather lengthy. An edited list follows: 1989: BBS parties, with local programmers, engineers, bitheads, and occasional civilians. 2009: Twitter "meetups" full of Marketing and PR types. 1989: Coin-op Arcades and Ski-ball. 2009: Consoles and Wii-ball. [seriously, if this game doesn't exist already, I will repurpose Rule 35. 1989: Science (and its fruits) were available, and readily studied. 2009: LOLWHUT? 1989: 5-10 hours a week in a library. 2009: WWW. 1989: The Braves routinely lose 100 games a year. 2009: The Braves are mediocre, missing a division pennant for the fifth time in 19* seasons. 1989: Atlanta metro population: 800k-900k. 2009: 5+ Million. 1989: The Republican Party inagurates George H.W. Bush, as relatively pragmatic successor to Ronald Reagan. 2009: The Republican Party, having been properly exposed as being controlled by klansmen and taliban, wave goodbye to the George W. Bush administration. 1989: Netrek is run from CMU server room, as a half-academic exercise. 2009: Starcraft is the (unofficial) national pastime of Korea, and is the subject of at least one college-level course in the U.S. 1989: MUDs were in their heyday, as a computer geek's diversion. 2009: MMORPGs are a multi-billion dollar industry. 1989: The Berlin Wall fell, amidst a wave that took down most of the Eastern Bloc. 2009: Russia has Europe by the nads, via gas/oil supply, and has reconstituted a "not soviet" block to oppose the rest of the world. 1989: FBI agents were preparing to raid Steve Jackson Games. 2009: The National Security Decision Making Game is a staple at game conventions, and is conducted by former military and State Dept. people. 1989: Speed. 2009: Meth. 1989: Sports competed for airtime with programmed TV and movies. 2009: "The ESPYs" celebrate the subjugation of sports as entertainment properties. [*vomit*] 1989: Software must be designed efficiently, in order to run well, if at all. 2009: Efficiency is drowned in Moore's Law, and is disregarded as much as (if not more than) UI/UX. 1989: Mormons were viewed neutrally, as folks with some version of Christianity that pissed off the Baptists and Methodists for some reason. Whatever. 2009: California reels from fallout from a gay marriage ban; Mormon fingerprints are all over the gun. 1989: Backoffice systems are written on mainframes (or mini-computers). 2009: Backoffice systems consist of separate components/systems and shared interfaces. 1989: Magnetic tape (cassetes and VHS). 2009: DVD is approaching the obsolescence that CD has already achieved. 1989: Satellite TV was rural tech. 2009: Satellite Radio and TV are standard tech. 1989: CRTs. 2009: Flat-panels (of varying types) and digital projection.

posted at: 22:07 | permanent link to this entry

Today's topic for discussion is:

If you have to be stuck with a rock, at least make it a flourescent rock .

posted at: 01:54 | permanent link to this entry

Sardine Weekend

Labor Day weekend is looking to be one of the busiest in Atlanta-area memory. If you can't book a hotel in Atlanta that weekend, here are most of the reasons why. Days are listed from Thurs, 9/3 to Mon, 9/7: Dragon*Con (Downtown, 45,000+, Thu-Mon) - This year's edition of the annual sci-fi/fantasy/whatever convention looks to be humongous this year, with an absurdly good guest list. I detect that Dragon*Con is moving toward being the small-screen counterpart to ComicCon's movie promotion role; so expect larger single-day and two-day crowds to jam Downtown. NCAA Football (Downtown and Georgia Dome, 50,000, Sat; 20,000 Fri-Sun) - Virginia Tech vs. Alabama kick off the season in an SEC-ACC matchup. From last year's experience, lots of fans take the opportunity to spend a weekend in Atlanta, book rooms in the Con hotels, and make for fun times. Falcons vs. Ravens (Downtown and Georgia Dome, 60,000+, Thu) - Atlanta's ascendant NFL franchise have a preseason game vs. Ravens night; after last year's playoff run, the place will be packed with hungry/rabid fans. NASCAR (Hampton Motor Speedway, 125,000+, Sat-Sun) - There will be racing under the lights in Hampton, so the biannual traffic jam south of town will commence. Braves vs. Reds (Turner Field, Fri, Sat, Sun, 120,000) - Two of the founding Major League Baseball franchises will play a series in Atlanta over the weekend. With half-price ticket specials taking hold, and the weekend crowd, this series will draw over 40k each game. The Atlanta Cup (Sat-Mon) - A multi-tiered soccer tournament will be held in the south suburbs over the weekend; state and national teams from youth league to college will be in competition. Britney Spears, Ciara(Phillips Arena, 20,000, Fri) - And then, there's a concert. So, I estimate 420-450k tickets and memberships will be occupied in Atlanta over the weekend, on top of annual Labor Day Weekend travel. Packed in, indeed!

posted at: 01:54 | permanent link to this entry

Today's topic for discussion is:

[via GraphJam]

posted at: 19:04 | permanent link to this entry

The United Kingdom of Loathing

[via pointedview] The Brits are rolling out 24-hr. monitoring of "problem children". 2000 homes are compromised, and another 18,000 are planned. Bottom line: we should re-examine and strengthen our alliances elsewhere in Europe, as this type of program plainly reveals Great Britain as an unstable, hence untrustworthy, long-term partner.

posted at: 03:18 | permanent link to this entry

Today's topic for discussion is:

Predictive capability in microorganisms.

posted at: 14:10 | permanent link to this entry

Today's topic for discussion is:

The backlash against anything useful continues, as Smart cars are being rolled into canals in Amsterdam.

posted at: 13:01 | permanent link to this entry

Today's topic for discussion is:

Three basic schemes of natural camoflage? Cuttlefish agrees.

posted at: 14:39 | permanent link to this entry