AlanBarber.Org
Sunday, November 30, 2003
Thanksgiving
Been goofing off and laying low this week. I did the usual turkey thing at the grandparents. I ate way too much and regreated it the next day but that's what we all do isn't it?Saturday went with father to Best Buy and spent 1,700.00 in about an hour. Got a home theater system to finish out the basement. Built the basement over last winter and bought a Hi-Def Sony bigscreen to put down there. So we finished it up by putting in a nice surround sound speaker setup. Some very nice klipsch speakers and a yamaha receiver.
It took about two hours to wire completly today. I spent Saturday night planning everthing so I knew exactly what length wires to run to everything. As a result it went very fast and I didn't have to worry about making mistakes that would waste time.
It's all up and running right now. Tested it out with Goldeneye DVD and the sound was awesome. It's very impressive to hear the difference from using the Sony TVs speakers to real external ones. The clairity and range is off the charts.
Anyhoo, hope everyone had a good vacation. I know I did.
on 11/30/2003 at 09:04 PM
Friday, November 21, 2003
Master and Commander
I went and watched Master and Commander. It wasn't too bad of a movie. I think the problem is people are going in expecting a swashbuckling sea adventure and it isn't. It's much more about the lives of the sailors and the true day to day reality of life at sea.I guess the writers and producers spent a lot of time researching to make it true to life. I may be no naval expert but I think they did a hell of a job. The fighting seemed more real than any other movie. They were quick and limited with more time spend jockeying for position or running away. So many classic ship to ship battles in movies go on for every with dozens of cannon volleys with little or no damage to either side. In Master and Commander very few shots are fired and when they hit they do massive damage. As should a flying cannonball!
Also there are really only two battles between the two ships. Rest of the time is dealing with the crew and their experiences at sea. Things like how the officers and crew interact, superstitions of the sea, the tedium of sailing, etc.
All in all I found the movie great. Go see it on a boring weekend. I'm sure you'll enjoy it too.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Just an off day
Sort of an off day. No big rants to do. Bush over in England... nothing exciting. Michael Jackson... Heh, whatever!So just thought I'd share this funny article. Mom Finds Out About Blog from The Onion. Seriously funny yet it does expose a rather interested question. Does your family know about your blog and do they read it?
I sure as hell hope none of my family does! Although I don't post anything seriously private. I mean sorry everyone but my life is just boring. I'm a lame geek. I don't have lots of friends so I don't go to parties or get drunk at friends houses. So it's not like I have too much posted that could be embarrassing to me. Still there's just something that would bother me if I knew family were reading this.
The reason I have a blog is the freedom it gives me to express myself. The ability to do it without worrying about how family would react is very therapeutic. If I knew family were reading this I wouldn't be able to openly express myself. I would become to self conscience. It's a well know fact that writing is very good for victims of trauma. Though I suffer no serious trauma, though I do get depressed from stress sometimes, writing this blog has turned out to be good for me in a similar way.
There would be nothing worse than writing some emotional tirade where I openly expose my innermost thoughts only to have family members contact me to talk about it. I'd probably have a mental-breakdown if a family member tried to talk about a post. It's the semi-anonymous ability to express myself without repercussions that is so therapeutic. I see this as almost a diary where I can write down my ideas and thoughts. Perhaps it's that I have a bit of some subconscious voyeuristic tendency or maybe I'm just an ego-centric weirdo that makes me share this stuff publicly. Regardless, this is not for family consumption.
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
The Family Guy Returns?
USAToday.com is reporting that there are rumors of the cult cartoon "Family Guy" could be returning from the dead.If you haven't seen Family Guy I feel sorry for you. It's on nightly on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim. So go watch it.
There were 3 seasons but FOX ran it more as a filler show off and on. As a result it's a damn funny show but the ratings just didn't do it justice. They [FOX] ended up canceling it but thanks to the killer DVD sales of the episodes they might believe it's worth spending the money on new episodes.
Personally I applaud the move! It's nice to see tv executives, especially the ones at FOX, thinking about more than just the next stupid reality show. Anyways, right now it's just speculation as no official announcement has been made but they're saying it could be as many as 35 new episodes starting January of 2005. That's a ways off so don't go running out and buying stocks of tapes or DVD-RW media yet!
Here's hoping it works out.
Sunday, November 16, 2003
IT Outsourcing
I found another article about IT outsourcing in The Boston Globe.It's very important for people to learn about this problem. As a computer science student that wants to get a programming job the current state of the industry scares me. If things continue at the current rate I may not find any programming jobs for me.
Sure it might look like a good deal at the time but outsourcing might just end up costing more in the end. What happens when the foreign IT industry grows to the point that they can demand the same prices that American programmers do? What if the outsourcing company shuts down? How trustworthy are the foreign workers?
These are issue that I'm afraid many companies aren't thinking about. All the executives are looking at is the bottom line, money. They see the ability to higher a group of foreign programmers for less than American programmers and are shutting down American offices as fast as they can. Someday it might just bite them in the behind if they're not careful.
Friday, November 14, 2003
Just saw Matrix: Revolutions
The Matrix Revolutions is perfect! Put your hands down, get out of your seat and walk out the door. There is no discussion and there is no debate, period. Don't say it's the third movie and the first was better. Any attempt at comparison is futile and you're wasting everyone's time even thinking about it! So just stop it.The Matrix is one story and though it might have been separated into 2 time lines that are broken into 3 parts to be told it is still one single entity. It's a beautiful and perfect entity. This story has done more to spark intense philosophical thinking and debate than perhaps any other story in history.
So many questions have been answered. I've read and heard everyone talking about the movie for a week. It seems people are ending up more confused at the end. I just feel sorry for all of you. For me everything is very lucid right now. I won't waste anyone's time explaining things other than to say this. If you find yourself confused after the film you need to rewatch the entire series. Watch the first and second part then go see the film again. However this time don't pay attention to the action, don't get caught up in the kung-fu, and above all look and listen to story. When you block out the interference and focus on the story you'll see things start to make more sense. It's rather logical actually.
I'm just floored right now so excuse my strangeness! I'd just like to say I'm such a fool. Going solo to movies is amazing. In fact, I think I might never be able to truly enjoy any movie in a group from now on. If you've never gone alone for reasons I've discussed a few days back [Monday afternoon thoughts] let me be the first to tell you don't let them stop you. You'll experience movies in a new way. No more friends noisily munching popcorn or slurping soda next to you. Nobody commenting on the action, the sadness, the jokes, or story line. You are free to become fully enveloped into the movie's world.
Watching the Matrix solo was refreshing and an experience unto itself. Maybe it's just the mixture of thrills from the movie and the box of Milk Duds, however I think it's something more. Much more in fact. Since leaving the movie my mind is functioning on a different plane. I don't feel stressed like I did going to the theater and worries that have been bothering me weeks and months are a distant memory. It is as if my mind, body and spirit have been washed clean.
I know it sounds like I must be on some chemical induced dementia but it's not. I've just had an intense and influential experience like no other. Heh. Life is rather strange and beautiful.
Monday, November 10, 2003
Monday afternoon thoughs
It's been another bum weekend for me. Spend most of the time playing Diablo 2: LOD. Got my character up to level 41. Starting to be a rather butt kicking necromancer.I'm playing in the new ladder where everyone has to start a new character too. So that means no low level characters can put on the godly equipment and be powerhouses. Even the top character right now have junk for items. So with the level playing field even little old me can outplay people.
Anyhow, I haven't yet seen Matrix: Revolutions. Planned to go with my brother this weekend but turned out he had Friday off. So he went and saw it with his friends. So since I'm a big looser and have no friends I haven't seen it. I guess if I can't find anyone to go with me I'll just suck it up and go by myself.
Seriously, who decided it's "bad" to go see a movie by yourself? Actually, maybe the question is, is it just me that thinks going to movies solo is bad?
Hmm. There are some deep philosophical issues that need to be worked out.
Maybe it's the type of movie. Are there certain movies that you can go see by yourself? I'd assume you shouldn't even think about seeing any romantic film alone. That'd pretty much be an unspoken admission of being a dateless looser. But what's wrong with seeing a sci-fi type movie. I'd think it would be perfectly acceptable to go solo. It's pretty much understood that the socially challenged watch these types. So an understanding about the person would exist.
Probably day is part of the issue. Catching the weekday shows might be more acceptable than the weekends. A weekday might imply that your friends were just busy and you were so excited you couldn't wait till the weekend. Could also imply that you've already seen it with your friends last weekend and it was so good you just had to see it again. Going on the weekend by yourself hints to not having friends.
Similarly, the time would come into play. I'd think going by yourself at 1pm or 4pm would be more acceptable than 10pm. Being by yourself in the afternoon just says guy with some free time. Buying a single ticket for a 10pm showing sort of screams "look at me! I can't find a single person to go to a movie with me!"
Ok so maybe it's not too deep. I think I'll just go see the earliest show this Friday. It'll be a weekday and afternoon. Shouldn't cause too many suspicions of what type of person I am.