tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354364352024-03-19T03:30:30.248-06:00A Geek in the Cowboy StateAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-7264523986643525872009-07-18T09:09:00.002-06:002009-07-18T09:15:31.089-06:00FinI'm letting this neglected blog die. I've moved into a bit of a new chapter of my life, and I don't really need to document the wackiness of a geek living in Wyoming.<br /><br />A lot of the little things that would have gone on this blog ended up on twitter instead. I recommend following me there for continued updates on my life <a href="http://twitter.com/stevenpaulr">http://twitter.com/stevenpaulr.</a> For family members, most of you are friends with me on facebook, and that will be the best place to keep up. I'll pretty much keep all baby related things there as it's a bit more private.<br /><br />I have also started a new tumblr. That's where I'll put the occasional blog post on things like writing and technology. It's at <a href="http://stevenpaulr.tumblr.com/">http://stevenpaulr.tumblr.com/</a> That's also going to be my general dump of things I find interesting. When I find something to share on twitter, it'll go through tumblr to twitter. If I find something on Google reader, rather than click share, I'll throw it on tumblr. You can probably call that my general brain dump.<br /><br />So Long.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-61310091055575462012009-03-08T10:08:00.003-06:002009-03-08T11:00:36.198-06:00Musings on Being an AuthorThere has been some good discussion recently on various topics relating to independent authors. The first, and probably biggest of these is the <a href="http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php">1000 true fan</a> model. While the article was written a year ago, it has been getting some attention lately. The basic concept is that for an independent artist, you don't need to get mainstream to make a living. You just need 1000 people willing to buy $100 worth of your stuff a year. <a href="http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/03/in-which-i-have.html">Wil Wheaton</a> discussed this recently as well. He's not there yet in either the number of people willing to spend that much, or amount of product output per year. But, it gives hope as a new author that I don't have to make the New York Times best selling list to make a living at it.<br /><br />Last weeks <a href="http://twit.tv/184">This Week in Tech</a> discussed this topic a bit as well. There was a bit of talk of selling yourself as a brand, and the need for a traditional publisher. According to John C Dvorak, one should be able to build themself up as a brand withing 18 months as long as their product isn't crap. I'm going to start really building the Steve Radabaugh brand when my book hits publication. I'll build a new website, and I'll nee to start blogging more frequently and I'll have to be a little more focused on what I post to twitter.<br /><br />I think I'm doing something right by doing my book this year. Warren Ellis has declared 2009 to be <a href="http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=6963">Year of the POD</a>. His forum, <a href="http://freakangles.com/whitechapel">Whitechapel</a>, has had some good discussion about POD sites and tools. <br /><br />I think the real trick is going to be finding the right price point. <a href="http://www.lulu.com/content/6060063">Wil Wheaton's book</a> is $13 for a print copy or $5 for a PDF copy. I honestly think $13 is too much. This could be why the PDF sales of it have done phenomenally better than print sales. With the way lulu does it's pricing, it's hard to get a book made much cheaper than that. <a href="http://craphound.com/littlebrother">Cory Doctrow's book Little Brother</a>, has an MSRP of $17.95. But he's giving away digital copies of it for free. On top of that, the book is licensed as creative commons. <a href="http://craphound.com/littlebrother/about/#freedownload/">Here's a post</a> of his explaining why he does this.<br /><br />I have a few months to decide exactly how I'm going to release this, so no decisions are going to be made today. I'm thinking I'll go live with a new site promoting my brand and all of my works around June 1st. Still have to finish editing the book of course.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-35652337988231589762009-01-25T07:41:00.004-07:002009-01-25T08:42:15.454-07:00Like the Oneida, but with more computers.It's quarter to 8 on a Sunday morning. I spent most of Saturday laying around feeling sick and playing videogames. I'm feeling much better today. That was a really fast bug.<br /><br />This morning as I sit here and surf, for some reason my thoughts keep drifting back to an idea I once had of a nerd city. I was originally inspired by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ave_Maria,_Florida">Ave Maria</a>, the town in Florida that was built specifically to attract Catholics to it. So, what would a planned nerd community look like? It would have to be a smaller town, maybe a couple thousand people at most. Seeing the problems that Thermopolis has getting people to move here, there are basically 2 things you need to get people to move to a town. A place for them to live, and a place for them to work.<br /><br />To provide a place for all these nerds to live, you need housing. The best way to get that, is to have a developer on board. Someone with a construction team, who isn't too far away. Of course you can't just find a big plot of land somewhere and convince a developer that a bunch of people will move there if he builds houses. To convince the developer that this is a viable money making opportunity, there needs to be another reason for all the nerds to move there.<br /><br />Which brings us to need number two: Work. The best way to get all of these nerds to move to our little project town, is to have someone wanting to pay all of these nerds a lot of money. If Google took my idea, and moved it's HQ out into the middle of nowhere, then paid a developer to build a town around it's new complex, we would have our nerd town. I don't know that we really want everyone working at Google though. It would be better if there were a couple smaller companies in town. That would give a bit more diversity to the job market in town. It would also help encourage new businesses to move there.<br /><br />So, how are we going to get multiple businesses that have a serious need for nerd brain power to move to town. It would be important to get a few established companies there to get things rolling. These established companies would need to be the basis for the community. They would probably be the ones putting in the money to get things started. Once they are there, and there is a good population of nerds living in one place, then it would be an ideal place for startups to move to.<br /><br />Ok, so let's say we've got three big companies looking at moving to our town. We find a location that's nice, but not heavily populated. We're probably looking at a smaller state. There is a lot of grant money to be had from some of these smaller states if you're building new jobs in those states. We're probably looking at the Dakotas, or Wyoming, or Montana. States that only get 3 electoral votes. States that have a lot of open land.<br /><br />Once we have our location picked, we need to find a developer that is near by. Now, we don't really want to hire some guy from the nearest Metro area to come out and build our town. That's too much money leaving the town. It'd be better to get a developer to move to our town, and get skilled labor in the town. Whoever builds all these houses and commercial spaces is going to make some good money, and we don't want that money to leave town. This is also going to get skilled professionals to move to the town. They usually aren't nerds, but we need these people.<br /><br />So now we've got jobs, we've got housing, and we've got plumbers, electricians, and carpenters. We'll start seeing some nerds move here to take those jobs. But, what can we do to really set this town apart as a nerd town? What can we have that will get all these nerds motivated to move here aside from jobs?<br /><br />We need to put fiber going to each house as we build them.<br />We need to make sure there is good cell coverage. Preferrably from AT&T so all these nerds can have their iphones. At least having one competitor would be good as well.<br />A community gaming center would be a good thing to have. Some place that's available late in the night with room for both lan parties and table top gaming.<br />When questioned <a href="http://twitter.com/jeruvin">@jeruvin</a> said a community think center would be a must. A place where you can grab a desk and just work on whatever. It would be free to go to and have free wifi.<br /><br />What things would you like to see in a nerdy community? We're shooting for realistic goals this morning.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-21479861429810236942009-01-03T11:30:00.005-07:002009-01-03T12:30:50.190-07:00My thoughts on the BB Storm<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR0xOJ5seNimCHb3P-8IWe62-qgfZh1JflBiyWKIa8k7a4H2WAk7yUV1kcdZFF-_rz-9bfpca4lHJZjuVm7mUOFBxlM96VFVQlJr0PAAHMG-e5SiiMSwiXZKEkyDnqBdOzOnht/s1600-h/IMG_4408.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR0xOJ5seNimCHb3P-8IWe62-qgfZh1JflBiyWKIa8k7a4H2WAk7yUV1kcdZFF-_rz-9bfpca4lHJZjuVm7mUOFBxlM96VFVQlJr0PAAHMG-e5SiiMSwiXZKEkyDnqBdOzOnht/s200/IMG_4408.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287152059064009058" border="0" /></a><br />A few weeks ago I got a BlackBerry Storm. Several people have asked me to let them know what I think of it. So I'll do that here. I'm not writing this as a review. I'm not going to give it a score. I'm just going to tell you what I like and what I don't like.<br /><br />As a point of reference: I also have an iPod Touch and an LG enV2. So I know what the most popular touch screen feels like, and I also know what it feels like to type on a really small keyboard. AT&T does not have service where I live, so an iPhone is not an option for me.<br /><br />The way the Storm works for typing is the touch screen is one big button. You touch the key that you want which highlights that key, and then when you push in the screen it registers as hitting that key. I like the way this feels. When I go back to typing on my iPod it feels funny not having to push in the screen. I know some people think it's extra work, but I like having that tactile feedback. It's definitely less work than it is to type on the enV2, which makes my hands cramp up. The one thing the iPod/iPhone does better is the way that it highlights the key that you're pressing. The storm just makes that key glow. You can see it around your finger, but Apple's method shows you exactly what you're pressing. Once you get used to typing on it, that's not really an issue, as you should know what key you're on based on what key you're next to. That probably depends on how well you know the QWERTY keyboard layout.<br /><br />In a vertical mode, the Storm uses the same keyboard design that it has on the Pearl. Basically it puts 2 letters on each key. Typing this way works pretty much the same as T9. Once I learned to just trust the auto corrector, I got faster at typing that way than on the Apple keyboard as the buttons are bigger and harder to miss. However, if I do hit the wrong key, I usually have to go back and fix my mistake as the spell checker often can't figure out what I was trying to say in that case.<br /><br />The web browser isn't as nice as Safari. It displays most pages just fine, but it will not support anything that uses Javascript. Neither Safari nor the Blackberry browser support flash. It usually isn't an issue, but if you want to use Hahlo.com for twitter, you won't be able to on the Blackberry. Also on the Storm, to zoom in, you just click and it zooms in an arbitrary amount. It usually does a good job of trying to zoom in on what you want to see. You don't have as much control as you do with Apple's method of zooming. Now that I think of it, I can't say there's been a time when I really wished for Apple's control of the zoom.<br /><br />There's also the option of grabbing opera for the Storm. I have it on mine, and I will occasionally try to use it for pages that don't work well in the BB browser. It feels clumsy to me and I don't like to use it for normal web use. Maybe if they create a version of it specifically for the Storm it'll get better.<br /><br />For email, I have my Storm set up to use the BlackBerry enterprise server for work email, and I also have Gmail installed on it. I really like the Gmail app. It's superior to Gmail on the iPod/iPhone. Especially since you can have it alert you when you have new email. I don't think the iPhone can do that (although I could be wrong). The interface for it is nice, although it takes a few clicks to get to an email that is in another label, but not in the inbox.<br /><br />The default email client that I use for Exchange email is usable. It does name look ups off of the Exchange database well, which is excellent. Beyond that, it's just an email client. Nothing special about it, nothing really wrong with it.<br /><br />As an actual phone, I'm not overly impressed with the Storm. I have to be careful when talking on it as my cheek will often acidentally turn on speakerphone. It does come with earbuds that have a mic built in. I don't carry these with me, so I haven't used them. I would think that it would be easier to talk on that way. I have not talked to anyone on an iPhone, so I can't really compare it to that. I'm going to continue to carry a regular cell phone of some kind to use for phone calls. Quick work related calls on the storm are fine, but I wouldn't want to talk to my mother for half an hour on it.<br /><br />The biggest thing I would like changed on the storm is to make it faster to call someone stored in memory. Speed dial is in a sub menu. From the main menu, it takes 4 clicks to call someone who's number is in speed dial. The individual buttons for this should be bigger too, it's easy to click on the wrong person.<br /><br />As for twitter, once you turn off compatibility mode, twitterberry is pretty nice. I've been using it and like it quite a bit. It takes a little bit to get used to the navigation of it, but once you do it works well. The one thing I don't like is in the timeline it cuts off longer tweets and makes you click on them to read the whole thing. I put in a request to have an option to let it show the entire tweet in the timeline. If they do this, then I will be a happy camper.<br /><br />One thing that all Blackberrys do that I really like is they sense if they're in a holster or not. You can set them to vibrate if they're holstered, or ring if they are not. They use magnets to determine if they're holstered. This is a fantastic feature. The holster I had broke after I bumped into something, I need to get a better one. It was off brand so it's not anything against RIM. I really miss having it, and I need to get a new one.<br /><br />That's basically everything I can think of to say about it. It's a fine device. There's things it does that I really like, and there are a few things that annoy me. I heard someone say once that RIM modified the stock Blackberry interface to work with the Storm, and Apple designed the iPhone's interface specifically for the iPhone. That's a good way to summarize the differences between the two devices.<br /><br />I'm still carrying all three devices with me most everywhere I go. The iPod is mainly used for music, games, and the occasional web surfing. The Storm is used for web/email/twitter/camera/texting. The enV2 is used for phone calls.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-45383428236241279472009-01-01T11:28:00.003-07:002009-01-01T15:15:03.096-07:00It's 2009! Time for resolutions.Welcome to 2009. I still do not have a rocket pack, or a flying car, or sneakers that fit themselves. This isn't quite the future I was hoping for 24 years ago. With the beginning of the New Year it is customary for one to make some resolutions about how one would improve oneself during the coming year. Let's examine this a bit.<br /><br />According to Merriam Webster, a resolution is something that has been resolved. Digging a bit deeper I found that to resolve means to decide firmly. So it's customary to decide firmly to do something in the new year. So, if I want to be better about writing, I should resolve to write more. Of course, if I leave it at that, like most New Years Resolutions, it won't happen.<br /><br />For a resolution to really happen, you have to create goals to go with it. As we all know, a goal really should be S.M.A.R.T.<br /><br />Specific<br />Measurable<br />Attainable<br />Realistic<br />Timely<br /><br />I know that I need SMART goals to get things done in my life. I accomplished NaNoWriMo because it was a SMART goal. Well, I wasn't sure it was realistic when I started, but it turned out to be. So, I need to create a SMART goal that will cause me to write more. <br /><br />The one I came up with was "I will write at least 500 words a day."<br /><br />Ok, is that specific? Yes, I do think it is.<br /><br />Is it Measurable? It's pretty easy to count words and see if I've gotten to 500 or not, so yes, it's measurable.<br /><br />Is it Attainable? I don't know? When can I say I've attained this goal. It's kind of a never ending thing isn't it. There's never a point where I can be proud and say, I've attained the goal. So, maybe I just need to amend it to be 500 words a day this year. Ok, now on Jan 1st 2010 I'll be able to say I've attained the goal.<br /><br />Is it Realistic? I would say so, but I really should think it through. Is it reasonable on Wednesdays when I'm barely home? Well, I'm usually home from 4:30 till 6, so I could do it then. So, it would often be doable on Wednesdays. I also have to spend some time this spring editing my book. It's not realistic to me to write 500 words and edit on the same day. Sometimes it is, but not always. Let's say spending equivalent time editing counts towards to goal. Editing is an integral part of writing, and I think I need to accommodate it. So now I have what I think is a realistic goal. <br /><br />Is it timely? Well, I gave myself a time frame when I made the goal attainable. So, yes it's timely.<br /><br />So, this year I resolve to write more. I am setting a goal of writing 500 words or doing equivalent editing every day of 2009.<br /><br />I'm also setting a secondary goal of getting my book in a publishable form my May 15th. That will give me a couple of weeks leeway so I can get it in to create space by the June 1st deadline to get a free copy of my book. January will probably be spent with more time editing than writing.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-24700715655570270842008-12-05T16:55:00.002-07:002008-12-05T17:10:08.912-07:00NaNoWriMoI didn't post in November as I was putting all of my writing efforts into the NaNoWriMo. I did successfully finish my book on time. The experience was good as I discovered that I do enjoy the writing process. I'm hoping that I created in myself the habit of writing, and I'll continue to write in my free time. I have a couple story ideas bouncing around in my head right now. I'll probably sit down and do one of them this weekend.<br /><br />In January I'll go back to my NaNo book and edit it. Once I've gone through it again, I'll have the wife go through it, then some people at school. I'm probably going to put it on createspace.com when it's ready for publication. The nice thing is that they are giving a free proof copy valid through June. Which gives me a deadline to get the thing edited and ready to go. If I like the proof copy, then I'll throw it on Amazon.<br /><br />The reason I'm going the self publishing route is that this is going to be a niche interest book. I don't think the subject of Pirates and Ninjas is going to be one that any publisher would have any interest in. So, I know I'm basically throwing away the first print rights, but they're not worth much.<br /><br />The other thing I plan on doing is putting a PDF version of the book online for free somewhere. The thing is going to be liscensed Creative Commons. I just need to do a bit more research with create space and the print rights associated with them. I want to make sure I retain full publishing rights to something that I publish through them.<br /><br />But first, I have to get the darn thing edited.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-60519442539399670202008-12-05T16:51:00.001-07:002008-12-05T16:55:46.563-07:00Gamer Grub Post-MortemSo, like 2 months later I decide to post and give an update one what it was like.<br /><br />Overall, I'd have to say that Gamer Grub is good stuff. I personally wasn't a fan of the chocolate flavored one, but some of the kids in the computer club liked it. They all liked the product overall and said that they wanted to order it by the case. I don't know that I'll order it from the internet, but if I found it at my friendly local grocery store / convenience store, I would buy it. I don't know what kind of distribution model they're looking at, so I don't know that I'll be able to get it here in the middle of Wyoming. But stranger things have happened.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-73309289336914274342008-10-07T21:35:00.002-06:002008-10-07T22:01:50.386-06:00Gamer GrubI talked about this a little bit on twitter, and said I would elaborate on the story here.<br /><br />Gamer Grub first showed up on my radar last Friday when it was mention on Penny-Arcade. They did a <a href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/10/3">comic</a> about it which mirrored my sentiment. They wrote a bit more about it in their <a href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/2008/10/3/">blog</a>. I checked around on my own a bit, read the Tom's Hardware <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/news/snack-food-gaming-gamers,6430.html">interview</a> and looked at their website. I decided that action should be taken and sent a rather nasty email to Biosilo foods and <a href="http://twitter.com/stevenpaulr/statuses/945399946">urged</a> people on twitter to do the same. I didn't expect any kind of response. I figured the emails would go into the same black hole of email that most big corps have.<br /><br />I wrote:<br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;">as a gamer I am insulted by your "gamer grub". That is the worst piece of marketing I have ever seen, and it makes me never want to buy any of your products. I will also be telling everyone I know to steer clear of anything you create.<br /><br />Next time you want to target a niche audience, do some research.</span> </blockquote>What I didn't realize is that Biosilo foods isn't a big corp. It's pretty much one guy. His name is Keith. Keith replied to my email.<br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;">Hi Steven;<br /><br />Thank you for your comments. I can assure you no insult was intended. I just liked GG.<br /><br />Actually I really do not have a marketing department; Biosilo Foods is a start up at the moment. I am not really a marketer since that stuff is a bit too cheesy for me.<br /><br />Most of my gaming experience comes from LAN gaming while the boss was away at a corporate firm I worked at; and with my daughter who prefers Unreal with monster kills. I haven't upgraded to liquid cooling yet but I would really would like to.<br /><br />If you would like I can send you some samples and you can taste GG and see what you think. If you have any ideas for improvement I am kind of at that phase where we can tweak stuff a bit if it works.<br /><br />If you need to stay clear of what I do, that's cool. My last girl friend said the same thing. :)<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />KM</span> </blockquote>Now, parts of that email do seem a bit contrived. Especially the random part of wanting to install water cooling. It's pretty obvious that Keith is not a "gamer". But, since he went through the effort to respond to what was basically a flame mail, I figured I should at least be civil with the guy. I emailed back and forth with him a little bit, and the short of it is that he's sending out some free samples. I plan on sharing them with some of the students at the high school (probably the computer club kids), and give him an honest response. <br /><br />I really do feel that the name of the product is bad, and I told him so. If I can think of something better than "Strategy Chocolate" then I'll pass it on to him. Maybe, as Tycho said, the guy is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpetbagger">carpetbagger</a>. But I appreciate the attempt of the small guy to make it big. He just needs to find someone who knows a thing or two about marketing to geeks.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-53910478049840149032008-09-08T20:30:00.004-06:002008-09-08T21:20:26.353-06:00Thanks for all the MemoriesIt's funny how music can take you places into your past. While I listened to music in my childhood, and I still listen to some of those songs, I don't consider myself to having had any personal musical taste until 8th grade. Prior to then, I just listened to whatever was on. (This completely absolves me from any responsibility of owning those 3 albums of New Kids on the Block.)<br /><br />In 8th grade I discovered Heavy Metal. My entry into this realm of music was Metallica's Black album. Some people would say that it was the Black album that Metallica jumped the shark. While they may have had the shark in their sights, I don't think they truly jumped it until Load. I don't think I ever listened to St. Anger all the way through, I deleted those MP3s probably 30 seconds into the first song.<br /><br />A friend told me that their new album wasn't bad, and that I should check it out. So I did. When I heard the first licks from the guitar on <br />"That Was Your Life" I was taken back to Matt Davis's living room. I was wearing a denim vest over a black tshirt and I wore Lee jeans with giant holes in the knees. My hair was shaggy as I had just decided to grow it long, and we were listening to ...And Justice for All on his dad's stereo system. That's the same living room where I first learned to play D&D and Magic the gathering. I can still clearly remember the smell of that house.<br /><br />Next I jumped to my own bedroom, sitting on the edge of my bed listening to the Black album with the inside cover in my hands reading along with the entire album trying to memorize the lyrics. The music was coming out of my little black boom box with the tone knob turned all the way to treble.<br /><br />A flood of other memories followed. First hearing Ride the Lighting on a church trip to Denver. Looking at the albums that I didn't yet own in the little music section that the grocery store had. Recording hours and hours of Metallica specials that aired on Mtv. Drawing stylized M's on my notebooks in school. Listening to my friend Tony try to play Anesthesia on his bass guitar.<br /><br />I'm not going to make any great claims about this album. Older fans may want to give this a listen before dismissing it. If nothing else it makes for good reminiscing, and something to write about.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-12654085584626748402008-09-05T22:32:00.003-06:002008-09-05T23:07:36.219-06:00Challenging myselfI think it's time for a new writing initiative on my part. I'm challenging myself to write something every day. Some days I'll write a post to this blog, some days I'll write some fiction. I may even find some new venues for writing, but I need to be writing more than I am now. So, starting with this here blog post, I am writing daily.<br /><br />When I get to November, I'm going to participate in the <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">NaNoWriMo</span></a>. The idea behind <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">NaNoWriMo</span> is that as a participant you write a 50,000 word novel within the month of November. The goal isn't to write a quality piece of work, but to just get the words out. November 1st you have to start from scratch, and you have 30 days to do 50,000 words. To get it done that quickly while still working a day job there really won't be any time for editing. This gets aspiring authors to get over their fear of writing garbage.<br /><br />As I think about it a bit more, I think I can liken writing to sketching. I don't know when I figured this out, but artists start with a really really rough drawing and just keep adding lines that are close to what their looking for until they have a complete picture. Only then do they go back and try to get the exact lines that they are looking for. Writing like this will be very similar. All I need to do in November is break the word count. I can go back and edit it and make it good after November is over.<br /><br />Also, I'm going to move the blog in a slightly different direction. Since I pretty much post all of my life happenings as they happen on twitter, putting them on here would be a little redundant. I started this blog to document my transition from city life to rural life. I've been here close to 2 years now, so that transition is mostly done. I'll focus more on the technology/futurism commentary that I occasionally do. Major life events will still get posted here, but just not very often. That's why my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">PAX</span> decompression post focused on how twitter usage affected the weekend.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-8856624485912733862008-09-02T18:35:00.003-06:002008-09-02T20:33:06.774-06:00PAX decompressI don't know if this post is going to be more about <a href="http://www.pennyarcadeexpo.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">PAX</span></a>, or more about <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.twitter.com">Twitter</a>. Twitter really changed the way the entire weekend worked.<br /><br />Thursday night about 9:30, I got to the hostel my group was staying at. I met up with the rest of the group and headed to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">pre</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">pax</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">meetup</span> at Shorty's bar. We got there, but didn't immediately see anyone I recognized, so we just got a booth and hung out. At one point I decided to put twitter to the test and posted that I was there and described what I was wearing. It took roughly 5 seconds for <a href="http://twitter.com/Tajah">@Tajah</a> to find me and tell us where the rest of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">PAX</span> people were. Our group was a bit big to intermingle with the other groups that were there, but we found a table that was at least closer to them. A couple people recognized me as the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Omeganaut</span> who went to the same shindig last year, and said hi.<br /><br />Friday morning, our group opted to not stand in the huge line, and went sightseeing around Seattle a bit instead. We checked out Pikes market and walked up to the Sci-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Fi</span> museum. Whenever I could find open <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">wifi</span>, I checked up on twitter with my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">ipod</span>. This let me keep tabs on what was going on with the line at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">PAX</span> without actually standing in it. We made it over to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">PAX</span> shortly after the doors opened, and we got right in. (The line is really just for concert wristbands, and for the social aspect of it). Shortly after our group got into the expo hall, we split up and went on our own ways. We used Twitter to keep track of where we all were.<br /><br />After checking out the expo hall, I went over to a D&D mini 200 pt sealed tournament. I took 3rd place out of 5 people, then rushed back to the main convention hall to meet up with the group for the Dawn of War II panel. After the panel we grabbed dinner across the street, during which twitter let me know about a Cryptic party that I was missing out on. Rather than searching for the party, we went over to the convention center, and stood in the back of the concert where I bounced between twitter and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">pictochat</span> while the Freeze Pops played. I have now seen that band in concert twice, and I still don't know what other people see in them. Most the people in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Pictochat</span> weren't impressed either. I spent a lot less time looking at twitter while <a href="http://twitter.com/jonathancoulton">Jonathan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Coulton</span></a> was on stage, although it was cool to see updates from <a href="http://twitter.com/feliciaday">Felicia Day</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/wilw"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Wil</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Wheaton</span></a> from backstage. Felicia Day even <a href="http://twitter.com/feliciaday/statuses/903794914">posted</a> moments after she got off the stage.<br /><br />I spent a good portion of Saturday in the Annex hall which did not have <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">wifi</span>, so twitter didn't do much for me that day. I started out the day walking down to the waterfront and relaxing a bit with Joe before heading to the show. Walked the expo hall a bit, and tried out <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">WoW</span> Minis (which is amazing) and ate lunch at one of the malls not too far away. Joe, Jason, and I also did the little games for the X-Blades booth. It was a fun little quest that they sent us out on. Ended the day playing tabletop games in the free-play area.<br /><br />Sunday morning I headed straight to the convention and pretty much went straight to the Serpent theater to get a seat for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Wil</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Wheaton's</span> panel. Had there been <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">wifi</span> in that section, I would have known about a few other people I knew sitting in there. After <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Wil's</span> panel, I rushed back to the signing area, and got in line to buy his book. A restroom stop delayed me a bit and I ended up in the back of the line. I met <a href="http://twitter.com/ay1ene">@<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">ay</span>1<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">ene</span></a> in the line and we pretty much spent the whole hour and a half in line, checking twitter, posting to twitter, and talking about twitter. After I got the book from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Wil</span>, I spent a couple hours going through the Expo hall making sure I saw everything that I wanted. Jason and I then went to find a very late lunch before the final round of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Omegathon</span>. The lunch went even later than thought, so I kept tabs on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Omegathon</span> through twitter since there was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">wifi</span> at the mall. The rest of our group took off at some point during <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Wil</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Wheaton's</span> panel and headed home.<br /><br />After dinner we spent some time back in the hostel relaxing and playing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">DS</span> games. Through twitter we found out about a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">PAX</span> Twitter <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">meet up</span> at Bell Town Billiards. Since we had no other plans for the night, we hit that up, and I am very glad we did. Roughly 30 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">twitterers</span> showed up. It was fun to be able to put faces to some of the accounts that I've been following for a few months now. The place got very loud, so when we were trying to get people to go somewhere else, twitter became the easiest way to tell everyone.<br /><br />Monday was dedicated to going around and being touristy. We got a late start so we were a bit rushed to get checked out of the hostel. I posted to twitter that we were off. Luckily <a href="http://twitter.com/j0z1e">@j0z1e</a> replied and offered to let us leave our crap in her room while we toured about. We hiked over to her hotel (damn near the opposite end of downtown) and left our stuff there. The three of us walked down to the Greek place where we had lunch on Friday and ate there again. <a href="http://www.bumbershoot.org/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Bumbershoot</span></a> was going on across the street, and that provided us with interesting people to watch, and some music to listen to. After lunch, we went to the top of the Space Needle where twitter was updated and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">DS</span> games were played.<br /><br />After the Space Needle we pretty much just bummed around until it was time to catch the bus for the airport. All in all, it would have been a fun weekend either way, but the ample usage of Twitter really helped to make it an awesome weekend.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-85458203286178353122008-06-08T20:59:00.002-06:002008-06-08T21:27:30.122-06:00Dungeons and .... Horses?I made it to the D&D game day yesterday in Worland. I played the cleric for the adventure. We didn't have time to do the skirmish, but we did the trivia. I did horribly at the general trivia, but did fairly well with the family feud questions. The best part of the day was meeting some nerds in the area. They play every Saturday all day. I'm hoping to join them as often as I can. I also found out that one of the teachers is interested in starting a group. Hopefully we'll get something together this summer and play every couple weeks. So I possibly just went from a strong desire to do some pen and paper gaming to having 2 different groups to game with. This will make living in Wyoming a lot better.<br /><br />Sarah and I went out riding this morning. It was the first time I rode our new horse Moon (who may be re-named shortly). He behaved well for me. We're definitely going to keep him. The two of us just rode down the driveway and down a dirt road a little way. Maybe a mile round trip. Now we need to buy a saddle that fits me better, and probably some boots. (If you don't know, cowboy boots are pointed so that it's easier to get your feet into stirrups.) I refuse to get a cowboy hat, although I may get more of an Indiana Jones style hat to keep the sun off.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-30354708210126629122008-05-26T20:06:00.002-06:002008-05-26T20:19:32.308-06:00A Memorable Memorial Day WeekendIf you're following my <a href="http://www.twitter.com/stevenpaulr">twitter</a>, you got some bits and pieces of my weekend. I figure I better fill in some of the details.<br /><br />Friday night, we took off for Rapid City at about six o'clock. We got about halfway to Worland when we heard a whining sound coming from the engine, which was shortly followed by me noticing that the car was running really hot. We pulled over, and popped the hood to find that the coolant reservoir was empty. After discussing what happened, we decided to fill it (fortunately there was half a gallon in the back of the car) and see how it ran for a few more miles. We checked it a couple miles further down, and it seemed OK, so we kept going. Just before Worland, it did the same thing, so we pulled over and found that it was bone dry again. Fortunately we pulled over into a mechanic's parking lot. After some discussion, we called Sarah's Dad to come pick her up, take her back to Thermopolis to get my car. So we hung out for about an hour and a half waiting for my car to show up. We ended up getting to Rapid at about 2:30 in the morning. The roads were crap with slush and rain, so it was slow going.<br /><br />The rest of the weekend was good. We got to take Nico, the French exchange student up into the hills, showed him Mt. Rushmore, Keystone, and Hill City. We also were able to do quite a bit of shopping, see a couple movies (Indiana Jones and Iron Man), and eat at Ichibans (our favorite Rapid City sushi resturaunt) twice. Today we drove back via Devil's Tower. It was the first time I got to see that up close.<br /><br />The shopping resulted in us getting a new set of pots and pans. Which is something I've wanted pretty much since we got married 6 years ago, but just hadn't gotten around to getting. The new ones are all stainless steel, so we won't be eating teflon flakes any more. We also got some glass Pyrex containers so we can move away from using our cancer causing plastic ones. On a personal success note, I stayed within my blow money budget.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-52537932396504531052008-05-11T21:45:00.003-06:002008-05-11T21:57:16.778-06:00Life out WestWent horseback riding today. First time since I moved from Rapid City, so probably first time since 2003. Having a pasture of horses that I have to feed occasionally has really help build my confidence around horses. It made riding a lot easier than it was previously. <br /><br />I think I'm going to try to build a home arcade cabinet this summer. I don't know if this is one of those ideas I get that never pan out or not. But, for the first time in my life, I have space where I could work on such a project, and it's not financially infeasible. I'll have to start working up some plans. I'm more concerned with the physical details of the cabinet right now. I can work out what hardware and software will run it later. This is more of a carpentry thing right now.<br /><br />p.s. new story up on <a href="http://ficlets.com/stories/30230">ficlet</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-23895898166101611952008-05-10T21:32:00.003-06:002008-05-10T21:47:50.218-06:00Too much free timeI've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about my personal <a href="http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=5885">cognitive surplus</a> and how I use it. I obviously haven't been spending much of it by writing, which is what I should be doing with it. Really, I think I have been wasting it. I watched 2 entire seasons of Babylon 5 this week. Granted I was sick for most of that and couldn't accomplish anything with that time. At least I'm more aware of it than I was before. Now I can't sit down and watch an hour of TV without feeling guilty. The result is that I spend a lot of time watching TV and feeling guilty about it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-70102298132841495302008-05-10T20:10:00.003-06:002008-05-10T20:28:04.305-06:00Spring CleaningI'm doing a bit of site re-design. Those of you who view my blog via RSS feed, which I think is pretty much everyone, won't really notice a change. I'm trying to make it kind of a central portal of all things Steve. Basically, getting links from there to other places that I lurk. I may look into pulling in the RSS feeds on the side instead of just linking to the items.<br /><br />I've been spending a lot of time on <a href="http://twitter.com">twitter</a> lately. If I'm awake, I'm usually logged into it either with my ipod and <a href="http://hahlo.com">hahlo</a> our with <a href="http://www.digsby.com">digsby</a>. So, if you're keeping up with my sparse blog posts, and want more steve in your daily life, then get on to twitter.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-43928548063687966282008-04-16T22:10:00.003-06:002008-04-16T22:30:51.314-06:00Brian Dump from TodayI'm sitting in a hotel room in Casper. I'm here for a Tech conference/sales pitch that is put on by one of our vendors. They're promoting VMWare, and I'm very interested. I really like the idea of being able to move virtual machines from one physical server to another while the machine continues to run. I'm seeing that they have a 60 day trial of the server platform on their website. I have some other projects at work I need to get moving on before I can spend much time playing with this. Hopefully I can play with it before the new budget hits in July. It would be nice to virtualize some of our less mission critical servers just to get a feel for it.<br /><br />Today was definitely worth the trip down to learn more about these technologies. I wouldn't be surprised if we had some major virtualization going on within a couple of years.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-59513001186079132902008-03-19T19:30:00.002-06:002008-12-10T03:08:16.852-07:00An ApologyDear Blog,<br />I've been neglecting you for several months. I know you probably think I'm a horrible person, and you'd be justified in your opinion. 4 months is a really long time for blog neglect.<br /><br />I bought a new car. I got it back in November, and I wanted my next post to be about it, but I had to take it to a mechanic for 2 months, and I couldn't get a picture of it. I know that's not a very good excuse, but it's the only one I have. To make up for it, here's a picture of the car. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPW4Uw8BOf5O7yZeoUtw2QsR_DfZ4KwsmwYTuW5vz5wkPafQcoLQkPoQZX9drKuilX5rMTo1PG84u15UkctzAWWCDE1NnM53QKhU_W4ghapJ9yEX7yQ7CjwrFWjeJzfPto4BV/s1600-h/00001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPW4Uw8BOf5O7yZeoUtw2QsR_DfZ4KwsmwYTuW5vz5wkPafQcoLQkPoQZX9drKuilX5rMTo1PG84u15UkctzAWWCDE1NnM53QKhU_W4ghapJ9yEX7yQ7CjwrFWjeJzfPto4BV/s200/00001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179633027148792546" border="0" /></a><br />It's a 1994 Nissan Pathfinder. I mainly bought it because it has 4wd and it was very cheap. It's really fun to drive. The gas mileage hurts a bit though. I'm estimating that it costs $4 each round trip in to town.<br /><br />Work has been pretty crazy lately. We're right in the middle of standardized testing on the computers. It's been a lot of stress trying to keep it running correctly. The side business has slowed down quite a bit, which I really don't mind as I'm now the advisor for the High School Key Club, and I'm teaching a computer club on Monday nights. Add to that I'm still doing Karate twice a week, and I'm a pretty busy guy.<br /><br />Well, blog, that's it for now. I promise I will give you more attention from now on.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-75951247229140679642007-11-26T21:27:00.001-07:002007-11-26T21:35:03.104-07:00MoleskineI bought a moleskine this weekend while I was in Sioux Falls. My plan is to fill it with fiction. I don't know for sure right now if I'm going to put short stories into it, or one long story, but I am going to just keep writing. One thing I've heard said over and over again is that if you want to be a writer, then you need to write. I decided to try writing in a moleskine is so that I can't change what I've written, I can only keep going forward. I started writing something that is steampunk. So far all I really have is a character and a little bit of the world. This might be something big, or it might be a short story. I kind of like the idea of writing a series of short stories about the same character. I may post some of the stories online, who knows.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-39319943026988931612007-11-26T20:55:00.000-07:002007-11-26T21:11:40.768-07:00Life Out West<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/f/fa/ClintEastwood.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/f/fa/ClintEastwood.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>If you've watched a lot of old westerns you might be familiar with the term <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_rights">water rights</a>. Put simply, water rights determine how much water you can take from a lake/river/stream/creek for your use, or for use in your land. This is something that people out where I live are concerned about. Today I went in and registered to vote. Once I proved that I did live in the affected area, I got to vote on the Owl Creek Water District. Basically this was a vote to either form or not form a water district that would bring in potable water through pipes. Since it's a small group of people who are allowed to vote on this, my vote had a bit of meaning. Of course, if we get water from pipes, then our water rights from Owl Creek will probably be reduced.<br /><br />I just hope that no one starts shooting at their neighbors over this.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-59116070988896205532007-11-20T12:50:00.000-07:002007-11-20T12:58:30.279-07:00Men with GunsFrom a <a href="http://digg.com/world_news/United_States_Now_Arrests_Photographers_Without_Charge?t=10716428#c10716858">Digg Comment</a>:<br /><blockquote>"everything the government does is with the barrel of a gun. Drive too fast? A man with a gun will pull you over. Don't pay your income taxes? Men with guns will come and take your freedom. Try to protest in the same location as King Bush? Men with guns will take you away. Get arrested without charges and thrown into a hole for months to years on end? Yep, that's the work of men with guns.<br /><br />If you don't vote the right people into office, the only way to get the wrong ones out will eventually be with guns helping you. Why do you think there is a second amendment? It ain't for shooting squirrels."</blockquote>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-1037832437781511202007-11-06T17:25:00.000-07:002007-11-06T17:26:01.112-07:00IdiosyncrasyEven though I know better rationally, when I get forwarded emails I frequently don't read the instructions to forward it on on the basis that the horrible things won't happen to me if I don't read it.<br> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-46068185904934900022007-11-04T21:20:00.000-07:002007-11-04T21:25:41.327-07:00Walmart FailedI went to pick up a little notebook thingy to use as a planner. They had nothing. Well, they had pre-printed planners, and they had spiral bound crap. So I'm trying out a <a href="http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda">hipster PDA</a>. Basically it's just note cards with a little clip. I'll let you know how it goes.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-62422154057543998442007-10-30T22:13:00.000-06:002007-10-30T22:26:23.388-06:00Getting organizedNot blogging is a vicious cycle. When you go a while without blogging, then you feel like there's a lot that needs to be blogged. This makes me feel like I have a lot of catch up to do, and makes me not want to blog. So, to avoid this, lets just pretend that nothing happend.<br /><br />At the end of this week I am closing my physical business location in favor of just doing on site work. The advantage of this is that days I don't have any side work, I can just go home. I'm having my office phone number forwarded to my cell phone full time, so people can still get ahold of me. I will most likely not answer the phone when I'm at work and make them leave a message. The one thing I am going to need is some sort of portable scheduling system. Right now I keep my schedule on my desktop computer in the office. I've thought of a few different solutions. One is getting an iPod Touch and using that. A more sensible one is getting my little Dell PDA working again (haven't touched in a couple years). However, I think I'm going to use just a basic notebook. I found <a href="http://www.plannerhack.com/">http://www.plannerhack.com/</a> and really like the system laid out in there. The thing that really attracts me to it is that it's a durable solution. No worries about dropping or breaking the thing. This weekend I have a meeting in Riverton, so I am going to pick up a notebook at Walmart. If I like the system, I'll get a moleskine next time I'm in a big city.<br /><br />Now that I type this out and put a little more thought into it, I may have to modify the system for my own use. When someone calls and schedules an appointment, and I'm not by a computer, I need to be able to record their name, the time of the appointment, their address, phone number, and problem description. That's a little more information that that is designed to handle. Maybe I'll have to have extra pages in the back for more of that information. Once I get it figured out, I'll have to post my solution on here.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35436435.post-4482610234164621642007-08-29T21:31:00.000-06:002007-08-29T21:45:55.421-06:00PaxPAX was awesome. It was seriously one of the best weekends of my life. It's the biggest convention of any kind that I've been to. There were about 40,000 people there all said and done. I heard someone say that geek conventions are how they recharge their batteries for the normal world. That definitely holds true for me. If anyone wants to know how I manage to live out in the middle of nowhere, I go to 2 conventions a year. <br /><br />So, as you know, I was an Omeganaut for the convention. Not only did I get to compete for a pretty sweet prize, but I also got an all access pass to the convention. I was able to get into the exhibition hall before anyone else all three days of the weekend. I was also able to cut to the front of every line. I didn't cut in any lines that had less than 1o0 people in them. I did however get to the front of the concerts and a couple panels.<br /><br />I also got to meet Wil Wheaton, and get his autograph. I only wish I wouldn't have been overcome with "ZOMG I'M MEETING WIL" and had been able to have an actual conversation with him. I didn't really get a chance to meet Gabe and Tycho, but that's ok.<br /><br />As far as the Omegathon itself went, I played a mean game of Jenga in the first round. There will hopefully be video of this by the end of the week. It's a bit surreal to play Jenga with a large audience. When you get your piece pulled out, you get a nice golf clap. If you make the tower sway, there's a large gasp. The second round was "Calling All Cars" which is a playstation 3 game. I didn't get a chance to practice this game, so the competition was the first time I had played. This lead to my defeat. I'd say next time I'll try harder to practice everything, but there probably won't be a next time for this.<br /><br />I absolutely plan on going back next year. I'm hoping to get as large of a contingent of friends going along as possible.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497321908510426506noreply@blogger.com0