| SXSW wrapup |
[Mar. 13th, 2008|06:14 am] |
I mostly bailed on the last day of SXSW to get some work done and to prepare for my own panel. There's a good writeup of how that went over on the blog of a guy from Opera that I met. We're supposed to have a writeup in Gamasutra in a few days too. So we got some good buzz out of a panel idea that I didn't really know what to expect from. Hopefully somebody will take our ideas and run with them.
Also, I got a free Wesley Willis button from the people who made an awesome documentary about him. Worth seeing if you get the chance.
Not sure I'm going next year, but it was a fun ride this time around. |
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| SXSW day 3 |
[Mar. 9th, 2008|06:37 pm] |
(As before, these are mostly my notes to myself - don't expect a coherent narrative here.)
Day 3 of SXSW, and the Con Funk is starting to rear its ugly head. Furries, you know what I'm talking about. Everybody's wearing scarves - are scarves the in thing this winter? I wouldn't know, given that we didn't have a winter here this year.
I missed some panels this morning to go to a surprise birthday lunch for ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) she_flies . Memo to myself: watch the podcast of Make It So: Learning from Sci-Fi Interfaces once it gets posted. The first panel was people from Apple, Google, and LJ's owner Six Apart talking about how to design in ways that don't limit user freedom. No real conclusions here; many different points of view. Something to think about more later, I guess.
Stepped out of that panel early to make it to the interview between Harry Knowles and Harlan Ellison, which ran for twice as long as it was supposed to. Not that I'm complaining. Harlan opened up a bit more in this one than in last night's; told a few stories about Robin Wiliams that, in my mind, redeemed Williams forever. He also believes, as I do, that there's an inverse correlation between the quality of barbecue and the number of teeth the chef has.
After that, the mostly-worthless but now-obligatory "proce55ing is awesome" panel. It's a neat tool, I agree, but I still want to see somebody produce something other than a tech demo with it.
Off now to grab some dinner and watch the Bela-Fleck-in-Africa documentary, Throw Down Your Heart. |
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[Mar. 9th, 2008|12:28 am] |
(My SXSW posts are mostly me reminding myself of everything that happened since the last time I posted. People who aren't me will probably find this boring as hell.)
( Details ) |
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| SXSW report, day 1 |
[Mar. 7th, 2008|10:50 pm] |
Pretty sedate day today; felt like starting slow. Rolled in to the convention center around 2, got my swag bags. Went to a panel about wikis and gaming, with the people who run Wikia and WoWWiki. Saw a screening of Super High Me at the Paramount, which was predictable but fun.
On the off chance that any of you are there too this week, let me know. We should have lunch or something.
Tomorrow: Neil Patrick Harris. |
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| Marquee poetry |
[Dec. 6th, 2007|08:55 am] |
Poetry, perhaps unintentional, in the arrangement of movie titles on the sign in front of the Dobie Theater:
Across the Universe/
I'm Not There/
Before the Devil Knows/ Control/
You're Dead |
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| Tears are nature's gas station |
[Sep. 2nd, 2007|07:58 pm] |
Man, this is the month where everything falls apart. The center is seriously not holding here, guys. Just this month:
* Our team lead at work quits; general chaos ensues.
* One pecan tree in the front yard decides to start shedding large, heavy branches, most of them on top of my car.
* The roof starts leaking.
* My car's left turn signal decides it likes to come on for no reason.
* I'm having twinges of pain in my back for some reason I haven't figured out yet.
* General stress and emo'ness.
THESE ARE THE WORST PROBLEMS ANYBODY'S EVER HAD TO DEAL WITH, EVER, BITCH BITCH WHINE BITCH |
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| Sleep and Flow |
[May. 9th, 2007|06:45 am] |
My little sleep experiment has been going slowly. I haven't been able to get into the new schedule as directly as I wanted. Instead, I've settled into sleeping 4-5 hours a night, with one afternoon nap. That's an okay schedule for me - I've been getting up around 5 or 6AM, which is time of morning that I don't mind being awake for.
I'd underestimated what a huge psychological hurdle it is for me to have to put down what I'm working on several times a day to sleep. Last night, I fully intended to lay down for a nap around 10, but by the time I looked up from the project I was working on it was around midnight. I'm glad I did this experiment, but I don't think polyphasic sleep is for me, and I'm not sure to what extent it's compatible with the state of flow I need to get anything useful done. It's kind of ridiculous to get into a sleep schedule that gives me extra hours to play with, if I'm unable to actually use those hours for anything useful. |
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| Polyphasic sleep, day 1 |
[May. 4th, 2007|04:22 pm] |
Yesterday started well. I took a 20-minute nap on the couch at midnight, and then another at 4AM. Around 5:30 this morning, though, I kind of ran out of stuff to do - at least stuff that I could do quietly enough to not wake Itza. Then the tiredness started to seep in a bit, and I decided to go ahead and take a longer nap. Woke up around 8AM, my usual waking-up time.
I've taken two 20-minute naps today, at noon and 4PM.
Physical condition: Good. I'm a little sore in my neck and elbows, but I blame that on not having actually been in a bed and been able to stretch out. I got a little yawny around 2PM today, but that was after eating a pretty big lunch. I'll have to remember to eat lighter if I'm going to stick with this. I took a walk this morning, moved a desk around, and did some other physical activity without noticing any problems.
Mental condition: Good. I've been pretty mentally active today. I did some programming, responded to a lot of email from work, drove out to buy a desk. I haven't been noticably impaired in any way that I'm aware of.
I was starting to develop a weird relationship with time around 2AM last night - I wasn't really sure what to call a 'day' anymore, since I didn't have a clear point where one day ended and another began. I also realized I was judging what to with my time based almost entirely whether I could get it done before the next nap, and I procrastinated on some stuff I wanted to do simply because it'd take more than four hours to do.
My original plan (30-minute naps, 6 times a day) is what bloggers are calling the "Uberman" schedule, and after a day I can already tell that I'm not cut out for it. The sleep deprivation while my body adjusts, I can handle; but I can already tell that it's a pretty unforgiving schedule. If I were a writer or an entrepreneur or something...if I could work comfortably in 2- or 3-hour blocks, I could manage it. But my software development work often requires me to geek out for 4-6 hour stretches, and I don't see how I could lose that and still be productive. I'm not sure the extent to which I realized that before, but it's pretty clear to me now.
So, so long, Uberman. Next up is the "Everyman" schedule, which is essentially what I broke down to last night: a 3-hour nap in the early morning, followed by 3 20-minute naps during the day, pretty much whenever it's convenient. We'll see how that goes. More tomorrow. |
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| Polyphasic sleep, day 0 |
[May. 3rd, 2007|09:50 am] |
It's been a while since I've done something crazy and/or stupid in the name of science. So I'm starting an experiment today, and going onto a polyphasic sleep schedule. It's hard to resist the lure of having an extra 5 hours a day, but it's also something I've been curious about for a while, and the stars aligned this week to give me plenty of time to make the adjustment.
Starting tonight, I'm planning on taking 30-minute naps 6 times a day, at 12, 4, and 8. Itza's aware of this, and is cool with this. She promises to stop me if my physical or mental health starts to suffer.
I'll keep a journal here of how things go. If you see me in person in the next week or two, and I seem out of it, this is probably why. |
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| Missives, Queued |
[Mar. 21st, 2007|07:38 am] |
Dear Band Manager Woman Sitting Next To Me On The Airplane:
I'm sorry somebody took your "I'm Estonian - What's your excuse?" button - it sounded like an awesome button. I'm sorry my fellow citizens suck at geography. We don't all believe that Estonia is in Australia, I promise.
I know you were just coming back from SXSW and were looking to shed promotional materials, but the free CD of your band was appreciated anyway. Finnish power metal's not really my thing, but I promise I'll give it a fair shot anyway.
Dear Guy Next Door To Me In The Hotel:
Either you have the whooping cough, or donkeys are living in your lungs. I can't really tell. Either way, it's time to see a doctor.
Dear Little Rock:
When can I come back and eat some more of your pigs sometime? I know I just left, but damn. |
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| Anarchists, yiffers, cross dressers and virtuous assholes |
[Mar. 11th, 2007|08:27 am] |
Great article from Danc over at Lost Garden this week, talking about how wonderful it is that the gaming industry is getting some flavor back to it. Worth reading if you care about the industry in particular, or benevolent weirdos in general.
"Upon graduation from college, the options were obvious. A bright lad like myself could work my way up in an established business. Intern, copy boy, illicit affair, promotion, paycheck. Maybe I could even become a 'high level middle manager' one day. In contrast, the kaleidoscopic roosters in the game industry yodeled from atop their precarious unicycles, proclaiming there was still a job where you could be creative, alive and yourself." |
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| Meet Pixel |
[Jan. 17th, 2007|09:52 pm] |
We have a new kitty. Her name is Pixel.
( Say hello. ) |
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| Twenty questions |
[Jan. 15th, 2007|08:50 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cold | ] |
Memejacked from chakawolf...
1. Elaborate on your default icon.
Random picture from off the internet somewhere. Raccoon eating a guy's face - what's not to love?
2. What's your current relationship status?
Happy domesticated with itza.
3. Ever have a near-death experience?
Nope.
4. Name an obvious quality you have.
I'm pretty tall.
5. What's the name of the song that's stuck in your head right now?
"Oh Sherry", by former Journey frontman Steve Perry. Pity me.
6. Name a celebrity you would marry.
Sarah Polley seems like she'd be an interesting person to spend a life with, from what little I know of her.
7. Who will cut and paste this first?
No idea. Maybe she_flies?
8. Has anyone ever said you look like a celebrity?
a) When I was much younger and much slimmer, several people said I looked like McCaulay Culkin.
b) In college, when I usually wore grungy long white clothes, shoulder-length hair and a few weeks' stubble, people yelled "Hey, it's Jesus!" on two different occasions.
9. Do you wear a watch?
No. Caring what time it is is what cron jobs are for.
10. Do you have anything pierced?
Nope.
11. Do you have any tattoos?
No. I change my mind about things way too often to accept a permanent symbol of any kind.
12. Do you like pain?
I'm not sure I've ever actually felt real pain. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, and I've never broken any bones or had surgery or been tortured or anything like that.
13. Do you like to shop?
Shopping is definitely hunting, not gathering. Tell me what I'm buying and point me towards the aisle it's on.
14. What was the last thing you paid for with cash?
If paying by proxy counts, I gave Itza some cash to go buy pet supplies.
15. What was the last thing you paid for with your credit card?
Lunch over at Threadgills this afternoon.
16. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?
An ex-girlfriend, calling to invite us out to dinner for her birthday.
17. What is on your desktop background?
A frame from The Seven Samurai.
18. What is the background on your cell phone?
A city skyline at night - one of the five or so default backgrounds.
19. What was the last movie you watched?
Studio Ghibli's The Cat Returns.
20. What was the last book you read?
I've got about five on the stack at the moment. The last book I finished was Douglas Coupland's "JPod". |
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| Tarot meme |
[Nov. 17th, 2006|06:00 pm] |
From she_flies...
You are the Hanged Man
Self-sacrifice, Sacrifice, Devotion, Bound.
With the Hanged man there is often a sense of fatalism, waiting for something to happen. Or a fear of
loss from a situation, rather than gain.
The Hanged Man is perhaps the most fascinating card in the deck. It reflects the story of Odin who offered himself as a sacrifice in order to gain knowledge. Hanging from the world tree, wounded by a spear, given no bread or mead, he hung for nine days. On the last day, he saw on the ground runes that had fallen from the tree, understood their meaning, and, coming down, scooped them up for his own. All knowledge is to be found in these runes.
The Hanged Man, in similar fashion, is a card about suspension, not life or death. It signifies selflessness, sacrifice and prophecy. You make yourself vulnerable and in doing so, gain illumination. You see the world differently, with almost mystical insights.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out. |
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| Job spam |
[Oct. 18th, 2006|04:38 pm] |
We're looking for artists, designers, animators, and Flash developers at work. If you think you know someone in Austin who'd be interested in a full-time design job with a lot of creative leeway, pass these URLs along, okay?
Multimedia Designer I/II
Multimedia Designer III |
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| "Physics is a gas" |
[Oct. 11th, 2006|07:49 pm] |
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Clifford Stoll, man. There's a dude who loves him some chocolate milk. Seriously, he went through, like, 4 glasses of the stuff in an hour. |
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| I heart progress. |
[Aug. 21st, 2006|01:25 pm] |
I just replaced these:
with this:
(Heroic Autobot (TM) included for size comparison.)
Yay miniaturization. |
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| Vacation pictures |
[Jul. 25th, 2006|08:36 pm] |
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Finally getting around to organizing and posting some vacation pictures. Some of them are in a Flickr photoset here. |
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| Post from the road |
[Jul. 14th, 2006|01:02 am] |
I'm about to settle down for the night in San Luis Obispo, currently on day 9 of vacation. So far, I've been to two observatories, two towns known for things in the sky, and two holes in the ground. I've visited the most overdeveloped urban hellscapes I've ever seen, and the most remote places I think I can get to without investing in a good pair of hiking boots. I've had the best pie I've ever had. I've won money and lost money and been (temporarily) assimilated by the Borg. I've shared an authentic 50's diner with Chinese immigrants and lesbians. I've had two grown men lecture me about the true meaning of the Bill of Rights, and then watched them shoot each other in the face with .357 Magnums. I've learned about how to cool three million cubic meters of concrete, and about what scientists refer to as "the hellawack shiznit that happens in my brizzle".
In short, it's been an interesting time.
On our way to San Francisco tomorrow morning...will post again with pictures and stuff once we get back to Austin and can get some stuff up on Flickr. |
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