Category Archives: writing

May 09 2007
4 Comments
writing

Letting go

When I found the place again, it was through an advanced google search, the one where you have to get it to look for a specific phrase while at the same time eliminating results with a different specific phrase.

Even then I only found the place after eight pages of results.

It takes me a few more minutes to get the right client and get some settings the way I want them. I’m acting on physical memory now. My fingers just seem to know the way, I’m just along for the ride.

I connect and my password and userid grant me access.

The sea of black text flooded the screen, the usual disclaimers and warnings too dense to comprehend and suddenly I was back in my alchemical laboratory. I looked around to read the description. How I agonized over the wordings and spellings. I trimmed the descriptions in order to fit them on one page for visitors.

There were a few loose items scattered in the room, a guest key that I had coded a while back that allowed people to teleport here if they used it, but the second it left their inventory, they would get booted back to the main lobby.

I could summon it into my inventory at anytime. Handy when an anonymous guest got unwieldy. Continue reading →

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Dec 07 2006
Technology, writing

Next time, on ER

“One last try.” I pressed the button that sent electricity through the rest of the body. I imagined connections being made, electrons excited, pathways connected. I looked at the screen for signs of life.

Nothing.

“Dammit.” I reached for the button again but her hand stopped me.

“Call it.” Her voice sounded firm. “It’s over.”

I sighed. and looked at one of the many clocks on the wall. I looked back to the patient.

I looked one last time at the table. “Despite dramatic measures on the part of the technical staff, including one processor transplant, power supply replacement, and RAM reseating, patient refused to respond to all treatment.”

It was a carcass now. That’s all it ever would be. I had to accept that.

“Recorded time of death is nine pm, December seventh. Cause of death is uncertain, but this technician would guess motherboard failure.”

That machine’s not coming back. Never even got to POST after that first failed boot. My guess is that it’s the motherboard at this point and not a processor or video card issue. Regardless, it’s going to be too hard to troubleshoot at this point and all I can do is scavenge the body for parts. It’s also a good time for me to get the case clean again for a different motherboard.

Ah well. It was a good run.

Sep 25 2006
Technology, writing

Gearing Up

Right now, I’m excited about WriteRoom and its Windows counterpart, DarkRoom.

The programs do the same thing. The create a simple screen, devoid of user interface and formatting options that allows you to just sit and write. Provided, of course, that you have the temporal luxury to sit and write.

WriteRoom however, has the advantage of an autosave (every five seconds) and multiple rooms. You can have up to ten rooms open at a time, each a different project, and they’ll all be saved once you close and open up the app again. In this respect, it turns your five pound PowerBook G4 into an AlphaSmart Neo with a larger screen.

A word on rooms. You can have ten rooms open at a time. Each room can be a different project, for instance, room 1 can be a blog entry, room 2 can be a flash fiction submittal for 365tomorrows.com, etc. Their contents are saved every five seconds. When you close WriteRoom, their status is saved. When you open up the application again, all of the rooms are restored, and you can switch between the active room with a simple key combination.

It’s a different way of working, but one that I’ve grown used to, working on the Neo.

Of course, the Neo has the advantage in terms of weight (two pounds), battery life (three AAAs, seven hundred hours), and autosaving every keystroke. On the other hand, the LCD screen is functional, not so elegant.

Running WriteRoom on your laptop is both.

DarkRoom is not as good as WriteRoom, at least not yet. DarkRoom is notepad with a WriteRoom appearance. It’s still very early in its development cycle, so I’m sure that multiple rooms and an autosave function will be implemented at some point. Update: Oh wait, my fault. I didn’t dig deep enough into the application preferences. DarkRoom has an autosave feature, but I don’t really know how often it saves. I just wanted to be clear on the feature set. I do hope to see multiple rooms, though.

They are both useful for getting text “out there” without any distractions. Why would these programs be important?

For NaNoWriMo, of course.

May 02 2006
Games, Technology, writing

Shameless self promotion

I’ve got an article up over at videolamer about whether or not you should buy the xbox 360. I go through a few questions you should ask yourself, but as I read it now, I realize I completely forgot to talk about whether or not you have broadband. Ah well. That’s my editor’s fault.

Another thing to consider is, are you ready to be an early adopter? This is the first revision of the hardware. There will be others. As they work out tiny little kinks like overheating, the next model number of the Xbox 360 should be sturdier, cooler, more stable and less likely to consume you in green fire.

Just a couple of common sense questions. Questions that people don’t seem to be asking themselves when they consider the PS3.

May 01 2006
3 Comments
writing

The Need

“People need to be needed.” She said.

I looked up and watched her take another handful of clothes from the solitary dresser in what used to be our bedroom. She put them into her bag and went back for another handful.

I suppose my silence equaled assent. I agreed with her. People do need to be needed—but there wasn’t anything that I had to say or do. After all, she was the one that was ending this. She was the one that was leaving me for someone else. Her monologue was falling on deaf ears.

She needed to be needed. But not by me.

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