2002.12.29
It also has the main character performing some outrageously antisocial behaviors, with an astonishingly small regard for (virtual) innocent life...for instance, you pretty much only hear that great soundtrack in autos that you've carjacked...ah well.
So to make up for yesterday's indulgence (though I did find the blank space on the page a bit refreshing) here's a backlog flush with tons of stuff.
- Though the original site for this, markpoyser.com, seems to be defunct, I still had this helpful diagram to Wallstreet inbreeding in my cache: "ImClone, Martha Stewart, Merrill Lynch, Enron, Arthur Anderson, Global Crossing, Tyco, WorldCom, Adelphia, et. al."
- Is calorie restriction the key to longevity? Dunno. Is it worth it? Could those rumors of scientists coming up with a way of giving the benefits of that kind of diet, without actually having that kind of diet?
- Rules for Massively Multiplayer World Design, online virtual kingdoms (or galaxies) with lots and lots of people playing at once. Oddly, a very recent slashdot article talked about the addictiveness of this kind of gaming, and reminding players that the companies are out to keep you online as long as possible, keeping you just interested enough to keep you playing for hours and hours despite the annoying "timesink" challenges. (I think "Vice City" has many of the same properties, providing time consuming challenges in a very detailed world, even though it's usually pretty obvious I'm the only real human in it.)
- I'm not sure if this is an exact quote, but Bush said something very close to "I'm not interested in nuance"...that describes about half the problem with his presidency right there.
- With my Atari project in a coma, sometimes I wonder if I should have tried programming for a more modern game console like the Dreamcast, with its 4 controllers and much much much more power to work with.
- I keeping meaning to go back and listen to his NPR "On Point" broadcast on Finding the Perfect Mate, asking "Can we learn to fall in love?"
- Wired.com had a piece on people using
Blogs to cope with Alzheimer's Fog. That's related to why I keep two journals, this descendent of my old "quote journal", and then a more diary like one...I think few people have a really great memory in the long run, and this stuff helps me keep track of the cool stuff.
I also wish I could come up with a way of making a trust fund to keep sites going in perpetuity. I wonder how much of a central investment you'd need, to have the interest fund an ongoing static site? - I've already kisrael'd APOCAMON, a japanese-cartoon-style retelling of the Book of Revelation, but the rest of E-Sheep is wonderful as well. The Guy I Almost Was, about a young man thinking about reinventing himself from starry eyed technohippy to Kerouac-ish writer of the people in the early-90s recession sticks out in my mind.
- And you thought you had to deal with dumb people at work? (Not entirely dissimilar from Bill the Splut's old SHAWT, or "Stupid Human At Work Today" theme in his journal.
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Oh, one world at a time!
Rejection is the greatest aphrodisiac
What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness.
All of those were from my old friend, fellow alum, and former coworker Zachary Blocker's quote page (now defunct, alas) (the page, not the person, I mean. I assume.)