Lots of Monkeys

So after playing with an installation of Dapper Drake Kubuntu on a spare machine at work, and using Edgy Eft Ubuntu here at home, I’m getting a feel for KDE and Gnome.

So far, I like KDE’s “look” but I’m sick and tired of everything starting with a “K.” That’s not really necessary. I was unsure about the iFuture in OS X. At least Mail is still Mail.

What happens if we stop calling the internet the internet?

What then Mr. Jobs?

Gnome, on the other hand, is a little more down to earth, although I haven’t really started configuring either to my personal tastes.

Once I start to dig down a little deeper, I’m sure that I’ll learn to appreciate and hate features of both.

Well, as the entire internet attempted to purchase an Xbox 360 for $100, amazon.com drops off the face of the internet as the collective frantic click refreshes act like a Distributed Denial of Service attack.

Gotta love the fact that they just made $100,000 in less than thirty seconds with one thousand units available at that price. Kinda scary when you think about it.

Update: I’m not convinced that this deal ever existed, in both a philosophical and quantum mechanics sense. It’s like Schrodinger’s cat, except it would be described in the following manner:

On the internet, there is a deal for an Xbox 360 for $100. This deal is only available at a certain hour on a certain day. You go to the page and refresh it at the appointed time. At that moment, you are locked in the quantum state wherein the deal exists and does not exist simultaneously.

Alternately:

I never observed a page that showed me its availability at that price, so, outside of my frame of reference, the $100 Xbox 360 never existed.

So, as something fun to do, I’ve installed Ubuntu Linux onto my old Dell desktop that I had laying around the house. So far, I’m digging it and it’s taken the place of my defunct gaming rig.

Pretty snappy performance on a 1Ghz Pentium with 512MB of RAM.

Hell. I may put make an attempt to install it on the PowerBook if this experiment turns out well.

I’m receiving a lot of “compliments” tonight.

“You play a very convincing coke addict.”

That’s something I don’t have a good response to. Other than asking how many coke addicts they know.

We’re wrapping up for the night, the debriefing is going well. I look around the room and see my friends chatting, the birthday celebrant laughing, and the GMs smiling a good bit.

I just finished my first LARP game.

And I had a good time, despite my initial reservations. The word, “LARP” has a negative connotation. One not helped by videos freely available on the internet. In my recollection, “Lightning bolt” was my first introduction to the concept.

It means Live Action Role Playing. So, basically, take any of the various tabletop roleplaying systems out there and then act it out in real life.

I know. Very geeky. To the point where it makes me uncomfortable even thinking about doing anything LARP related.

But there I was, invited to a Murder Mystery Party that turned into a full on LARP experience, complete with character sheets for all the attendees, Game Masters to keep the game orderly, and all of us exchanging worried looks and shaking our heads to ourselves when we thought the GMs weren’t looking. Continue reading →

I pass the Tenleytown Best Buy and there are tents just outside of the metro entrance that lead right to the doors. I wonder about the homeless man that often sleeps in the little alcove, where the metro escalators meet sidewalk that hedges along Wisconsin Avenue.

I wonder how he perceives the fancy tents, the sleeping tents, the televisions on battery power, the electric heaters, and the warm jackets.

I remember I slept on the street once, and that was for a fable made film, a myth that I quote and reference on a weekly, and sometimes daily basis. I can see sleeping on the street for that.

I look now on these young men, with their college sweatshirts, and hats worn sideways, and PlayStation Portables and I know that they are waiting in line for a video game console. The PlayStation 3. The mere thought of losing three days of work or school or what have you is just not attractive to me. Sure, I wouldn’t mind getting one, but not this way. This feels too much like work.

Me? I’m looking on, and part of me wonders how many will walk away with one only to jump online and auction it off. On the one hand, it’s not like they are stealing a child’s holiday gift. Six hundred dollars is a lot of money.

I’m actually at the Best Buy for work, to pick up a longer phone cord so that we can move a fax machine tomorrow morning.

As I leave Best Buy, cord safely in hand, I look and see that the line is growing. A few more people here and there, and it will have to line up around the building, towards Albemarle.

It’s just not worth it.