Although you may not have perceived it, you have indeed crossed a boundary. For you see, you no longer walk in the world you once knew. No, the world you now travel in is my own. Born forth from the bizarre and fleeting thoughts that lie within my mind, it is a world unlike any you have ever seen.

But fear not, for no harm will come to you here. Unless you find yourself harmed only by strange ideas, then feel free to peruse all that you see. Should you find yourself lost or confused, or simply amazed, then leave a comment, a recording of your passage through. Perhaps you have your own thoughts to add? Then hesitate not! This world does not exist only for my own thoughts, nay, for the thoughts of others are as of equal validity.

Welcome, and enjoy...

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• Downloading and Using Vista Web Fonts  [hunlock.com]
  
• Standard Web Fonts 'Updated' In Vista  [slashdot.org]

Well, I guess it's my own bizarre way of doing things, but I think I'm going to marginally boycott Facebook until they fix that god-forsaken interface of theirs to look more like, I dunno, Facebook and not like Twitter. Although I half expect them to implement MySpace functionality by letting you bastardize the hell out of the interface with horribly-placed graphics and epilepsy-inducing color schemes. After all, if Zuckerberg wants to go and copy what's popular out there, isn't that the next logical step?

Although, that begats the problem of where do I occasionally scribble down my odd thoughts once in awhile? Hmm, well, lets see. A while back, I spent $150 on this Livejournal thing to buy myself a permanent account. And, Livejournal just so happens to let you write about things. Hmm! I have a great idea! I'll use my old Livejournal account! Man, I wish I had spurts of ingenuity like this everyday. Then I might eventually solve that compounding problem of division by zero.

Although my style looks like crap somewhat, especially in the new IE8 Beta. But IE's always marched to a different drummer when it comes to rendering a website. My style looks great in Firefox, but IE8, not so great. Guess I'll need to fix that up. Plus, maybe reduce my incredulous use of HTML Tables, which would earn me a trip to the gallows from any modern-era web programmer. But I know I'll still employ them somewhat, just I need to reduce the usage a little. Helps to speed the site up on some slower computers, etc..

But this means code changes. And one thing that's always buggered me about making changes to my Livejournal style, is tracking those changes. I occasionally saved a copy of my style code, and if I ever needed to compare a change, I could just move the two text files of the differently aged code to a Linux machine and diff them to produce a set of changes. But why not use a source control system instead? Well, there was really only CVS and SVN to choose from, but those require a lot of setup to create a server daemon and other bits. I needed something quick, and marginally easy for this small code base.

Enter, Git.

What is Git, you, ask? Git is a very unique source code tracking system, originally developed to track changes in the Linux Kernel code after the kernel developers had a falling out (and a rather nasty, public one at that) with the creator of the Bitkeeper system. What is a source code revision system (one of many ways to refer to it)? That's a very good question! It's a program that allows one to track changes made to programming code. Additions to code, deletions from code, edits, new files, removing old files, etc...., all can be tracked, and a history is built up of these changes.

There are different methods that these systems are designed around, some good, some not so good. CVS is one of the most widely-used forms, but many pan it for being obtuse, slow, and an overall pain in the ass to work with. SVN is a bit more modern, but has its fair share of detractors as well. So Linus Torvalds himself, the ubiquitous creator of Linux, set out to design something that met his idea of how a source code revision system should work for a project that is largely decentralized. Thus, Git, intentionally named after the famous British slang-word, was born.

All the technical details aside, git is pretty radical, and with about 10 minutes of reading a tutorial, the basics of creating a new git project, importing an initial set of code in, and committing that code to the repository can be done. No fancy server to setup and configure, just the few files that I saved my style code in to organize and import, and viola! I can now track changes I make to my Livejournal code with ease. All I have to do is just import any changes I make, and if I discover that I introduce a bug down the road, I no longer have to waste time trying to remember what caused it. I just go to git and poke through the history log, and find when and where I made the change.

Handy!

Although, that's the easy part. The hard part is tweaking my style. Ugg, I thought using tables was a great idea at first, but now I realize how much of a pain in the ass it is going to be to go in and start changing things to make IE8 behave properly. Oh well, I'll need something to entertain me at work during the slow periods. Once I tweak things, I'll have to funnel some of my friends from Facebook here, since I don't plan on updating there very often now.

Of course, watch me get things nice and clean, and then Facebook goes and utterly changes their layout again, this time to a format I love....

It's the way the Universe works...


The Road goes ever on and on
     Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
    And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
     Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
     And whither then? I cannot say.

--Bilbo Baggins, Lord of the Rings, pg. 35
(50th Anniversary, One-Volume Edition)

The sheriffs in my county are something. Charles County has a rough population count of 140,000 (120,000 at the last official census). We have roughly, if you use the first number and round things a little, 34,000 more people than both St. Mary's County (south) and Calvert County (east). Conversely, we are utterly dominated in terms of population count by Prince George's County (north) with a whopping 828,000 population count.

Now, in Charles County, we have, at a rough count from Wikipedia, 600 sworn and civilian personnel in the local Sheriff's office. Assuming at least a third of that staff is civilian, with the rest being officers (and that's probably a very high number) and excluding the local county branch of the Maryland State Police, that's an average of one officer per 350 people in the county. Overall, that's extremely good coverage.

PG County Police (not their separate Sheriff's office) has 1,420 sworn officers to handle ~828,000 residents. Excluding the city police in many of PG's incorporated towns and MSP, alone, that's a coverage ratio of about one officer per 583 people. Not too shabby. That probably drops to be more in line with Charles' ratio when you toss in the myriad numbers of city cops, especially in PG's northern sectors.

St. Mary's is a different story. The rough count I can find is 126 officers total, which gives them a coverage ratio of one officer per 683 residents. Ouch. No wonder they have meth problems down there. Maryland State Police has a very heavy presence down there, however, so that helps to beef them up a little bit.

Calvert, I have no data on unfortunately. But I would presume their coverage ratio to be better than St. Mary's, who has had to deal with a sudden population spurt (due to Navy projects at Pax River NAS) while Calvert's remained largely static in terms of overall population growth.



Now, the point of this post.

I've been listening to my county's sheriff's for almost a year now on this really awesome digital scanner I've got. And it really gives you insight into just how advanced their organization is for what some would write off as a minor, backwater county in Maryland. The Patrol Division alone must be the significant bulk of the force, because I will hear the emergency tone fire over the scanner on either the Waldorf D3E channel, or a the La Plata MSP channel, and you'll have four to six county sheriffs radio back that they're en-route, and usually one or two state troopers join in on the fun as well.

Earlier, emergency tone fires for a possible pedestrian hit and run. Police are usually the quickest to arrive because they're already out and moving around, while EMS has to spool up their crew and vehicles. One sheriff is sitting over by a local elementary school, Dr. Gustavas Brown (that's the school name), which is apparently a few blocks from where this occurred. Not only does he respond to the scene, but three other county sheriffs respond as well, including one state trooper. They ultimately discover it was just a case of some kid riding his bike into a parked trailer. No harm, thankfully, but the speed at which they executed and the number of officers that responded is something to take note of.

When I switch over to PG's 40-year old radio system, communication seems a lot slower -- not as well executed as what I hear in my county. I probably just need to listen more, though, because PG cops do know how to move about. But I'll often hear dispatch and a particular mobile unit having to trade several messages just to get the process rolling, where in my county, dispatch and the mobile units are usually pretty fast at conveying the right amount of information to avoid unneeded radio contact.

But after that first minor incident, something more serious comes over the scanner -- breaking and entering at a local business. I think at least five, possibly six sheriffs radioed in that they're heading to that location, along with one or two state troopers.

I for one, would not want to be whoever is breaking and entering right about now.

This was a triumph. I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS. It's hard to overstate my satisfaction. Aperture Science We do what we must because we can. For the good of all of us. Except the ones who are dead. But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake. And the Science gets done. And you make a neat gun. For the people who are still alive.

I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now. Even though you broke my heart. And killed me. And tore me to pieces. And threw every piece into a fire. As they burned it hurt because I was so happy for you! Now these points of data make a beautiful line. And we're out of beta. We're releasing on time. So I'm GLaD. I got burned. Think of all the things we learned for the people who are still alive.

Go ahead and leave me. I think i prefer to stay inside. maybe you'll find someone else to help you. maybe Black Mesa... THAT WAS A JOKE, HA HA, FAT CHANCE. Anyway this cake is great. It's so delicious and moist look at me still talking when theres science to do when i look out there it makes me glad I'm not you i've experiments to run there is research to be done on the people who are still alive.

and believe me I am still alive I'm doing science and I'm still alive i feel fantastic and I'm still alive while your dying ill be still alive and when your dead i will be still alive still alive still alive

I saw this yesterday, and it made me smile:
Space workers replying to seaborne message from Bahamas

In a world that seems full of divisiveness and vitriol, it's good to read something as simple and as pleasant as that.

--------------------------------


I've attended about 5 different Skywarn classes over the last few years. For those not in the know, Skywarn is a national program run by each Weather Forecast Office (WFO) to train normal citizens like myself to keep an eye out for severe weather events and report them. We're the frontline in keeping the weather office informed of what's going on in their area, as doppler radar can only tell them so much.

So of course, yesterday hits, and a small tornado drops down about a mile northeast of me, rips the roof off a few houses, then jumps away, and I totally missed it. I had my weather radio up where it can get a signal, and the police scanner active, and this thing just apparently caught everyone by surprise. It especially caught the nearby weather office completely off guard, because their doppler radar went offline due to a failure of one of the thing's power supplies, so I had to monitor two adjacent radars using some software just to keep an eye on things, and neither radar labeled the storm that spawned this tornado as being very powerful.

But, that's the nature of things, eh? Proof they can happen anywhere, at anytime. Just gonna have to be more vigilant next time I suppose.

Here's the very rough path it took based on what I heard on the local news:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=116379691205326548306.00044b5a0b8b26af34bfc&z=15

An EF0¹ isn't much to really look at, but since tornadoes are quite rare here (the last one to hit around this time being the F4 monster that smashed La Plata almost to the day back on April 28th, 2002), it made the news quite a bit. Also because a second tornado, an EF1 I think, did far more damage up in Chillum, MD. Thankfully, in both cases, no one was hurt.

1. Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF0-EF5; replaces the old Fujita scale, F0-F5)

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And last, but certainly not least, on the 30th of November, around 1pm, I will be seated here:



In Row 2, to watch to Giants face off against the Redskins. How cool is that? Personally, I'd prefer a Ravens game, being that I've decided I'm a Ravens fan and all, but, I'm not one to quibble when the opportunity arises to land tickets for four seats in Row 2 of Section 140 literally at the ticket's face value. I'm likely to grab some of the Ravens vs. Redskins tickets at the game they'll play together up on Baltimore anyways, just they won't be cheap as these were. Besides, the Ravens are AFC, and the Redskins are NFC, so I figure it's fine to like both teams.

Now to just invest in a wide-angle lens for my camera, or grab me a DSLR at some point...

Cleaning up one's hard disk can sometimes yield such precious gems as memories of the good old days. In my case, days of when I was a total goof on Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Back then, I was a member of an online Star Wars club (silly-sounding, I know) called "The Emperor's Hammer". Most of the time on IRC, I idled (remained in the chatroom, but did nothing), because I was either at school or work, and other times, I contributed to whatever topic was actively being discussed.

But there are those few beautiful moments where I, and several others in the channel, were total assholes and had fun at some poor bastard's expense. I have logs, or recordings, of these conversations scattered at random, and I just happened to come across a few of the better ones. Why not post'em for posterity? Also as a backup incase I ever lose my drives, as these are things that can never be recovered.

( Messing with Sayo )

So I'm sitting here, waiting for a backup job on a work server to finish (monitoring it remotely, of course) so I can reboot the machine so some new patches take effect, and I'm just bouncing this old koosh ball back and forth for no real reason. And then it kinda dawns on me what a strange, yet fascinating toy a koosh ball is. Now this one I got is a "soft" koosh ball. Instead of the thick rubber strands on a normal koosh, this one has lots of really thin ones, so it's got an even more unique texture to it.

I forget when I got this particular koosh. I think it was over twelve years ago at Kings Dominion, but I know I got a second one from there too (which has long since vanished), so who knows. But yeah, it's just....such a fascinating toy for some bizarre reason. Almost like a....dead tribble. As macabre as that sounds.

Oh look, my backup job just finished! Time to reboot that server and ponder the nuances of koosh balls some other time.....

In what may perhaps be a mark of an extremely rare event for me, I finally broke down and bought a new video card. Seems strange for a geek to say it's rare to buy new computer hardware, eh? Well, I'm that oddball geek that usually buys überPowerful hardware and milks its potential far beyond its useful lifespan. Currently running an nVidia GeForce 6800, and even though a friend gave it to me for free after it was considered outdated, it was still better than the card I had at that time (~2 years ago, an ATI Radeon 9700). Now here I am realizing it's a damn old card, since nVidia's gone through the GeForce 7xxx and almost through the GeForce 8xxx series. But what annoys me the most? Their ForceWare driver series.


The Backstory:

So back in January, a friend and me attend Medieval Times up at a local mall. Now the thing about Medieval Times is, if you're looking to attend the 5:30pm showing, you arrive at the mall it's stationed in (Arundel Mills Mall) at 1:30pm or earlier, grab a snack, and wander the mall until no later than 2:30pm. The shows Medieval Times does are popular as all hell, and the line starts forming before they even start the first show at 3:00pm. If you want the good seats, you're in line by 2:30pm. Once you have your tickets, you get a little pass that lets you resume wondering the mall for the next two hours w/o losing your seat.

So anyways, in wondering the mall, me and a friend stop into the local Best Buy. And while it's a grievous sin (in my book) to step into a Best Buy, there wasn't much else to do. We'd circled the mall three times by now (Or twice, something like that; it's a huge mall), and he needed a car adapter for his phone, since them Motorola Razr's have some pretty poor battery life and all. Anyways, while in there, I spot Neverwinter Nights 2 (NWN2), sequel to the original Neverwinter Nights (NWN) which rocked pretty good.

Now I noticed the developer is Obsidian, and while I was not at all thrilled with their horrible, horrible work on Knights of the Old Republic II (KOTOR2), I figured, "what the hell?", and bought it. At minimum, I figure it'll burn off a weekend or two, so maybe it's worth a rare impulse buy.

Anyways, Medieval Times rocks and all, and later that night at home, I pop in the NWN2 DVD to install it, and do a few other things while it takes its time to copy ~4GB of data to my system (along with secretly installing one of those damned copyright protection services). Then I run the updater, which downloads a 30MB update (at the time) and installs that. Then I run the game -- Aaaaaaannnnnnddddddd:


Nothing.

A black screen greets me, with a cute little skinned mouse cursor. And sounds indicating that something is playing, but yet, all I see is a black screen. So I click my mouse around, and clearly, I can click on things, but without being able to actually see what I'm clicking on, well, it's pretty useless to continue.

So I exit and start my research. Hours later, I'm as empty handed as I was when I started. I mostly learned that it's graphics related, and I had the latest available drivers for my card already installed, among other things, yet the problem still hadn't resolved itself. So I did what any semi-sane person would do and uninstalled the game, then put the box on a shelf and conveniently forgot about it until yesterday.

So I re-installed it, and unsurprisingly, the same problem was still there. But given that I hadn't updated my video card drivers in over nine months, I thought maybe nVidia had released something new. Now nVidia usually puts out new Forceware Releases almost weekly, but at some point, they made any version greater than 93.xx not support the GeForce 6xxx series cards. I guess at some point, that strategy failed, and they started including support again. So I figured, they're now in the 163.xx driver version range, that MAYBE they fixed something that'd let NWN2 play properly. So I update. And for good measure, I update my sound card drivers too (wow, creative releasing updated drivers; there's a rare event). I reboot, re-run NWN2, aaaaaaannnnnnndddddd:

Nothing again. Still the same old black screen.

So I do more research, and come across reports that nVidia's ForceWare drivers over several versions even cause problems with the first NWN game released back in like, 2001. What the hell happened to high-quality, stable video card drivers? Games released six years ago no longer function?

At this point, I figured, it's time to ditch nVidia for good. ATI may have even worse driver quality (from what people tell me), but I've never had problems from their hardware. And guess what: Games actually run well on their cards! Who would've thought? So today, I looked up prices on AGP cards, and because the AGP interconnector bus is considered a relic now, replaced by that new-fangled PCIe stuff, AGP graphics cards are pretty damned cheap. $129.99 for a brand-spankin' new Sapphire ATI x1950GT Graphics card. Top of the line for old AGP systems. But a card that's leagues ahead in processing power than the GeForce 6800GT I currently have. So I parted with some hard-earned greenbacks, and should have said card by the end of the week.

W00t.

Now of course, if NWN2 STILL refuses to run after this, I will be mailing the game back to Obsidian themselves, complete with as nasty and foul, yet charmingly polite of a letter as I can muster (may have to seek advice from some Brits I know). I reckon the letter will, in no certain terms, instruct the folks at Obsidian into which bodily orifice I would prefer they stick this box, because even if the fault lies with nVidia for the bug in the first place, Obsidian should still find a way to work around it. nVidia's got a lot more to worry about than one of their driver releases breaking a single game out of the tens of thousands out there. Like, yanno, making the next GeForce model so those überHardcore gamer types that need their 700fps gaming binge don't go ape and kill everyone at nVidia, Doom 3 style, with a crowbar and a vibrating dildo (how is that for mental imagery?).



And to make matters worse, I'm starting to like American Football. Dear gods, what is wrong with me?

So Discovery's new show debuted tonight, Stormchasers, and it's quite the interesting show. For starters, I'd have thought only the NWS could afford several "Doppler on Wheels" trucks (or DOWs, as they're called), but apparently the one guy, who runs his entire operation off of grant money, owns five of them. I think I heard mentioned they're valued at $1mil each (which seems about right). Crazy.

Then there's the T.I.V. (Tornado Intercept Vehicle). Now it looks uglier than hell, but that, my friends, is a machine, no a vehicle, made of awesome. How much fun might one have driving something like that around, hunting down severe weather?, heh. But I think that's just the novelty of the vehicle wearing off on me.

So a short while ago, my InterWARN program pops up a new Mesoscale Discussion from the Storm Prediction Center detailing a tornado watch being put into effect (#2103), and boy, just look at this activity loop off their page -- The midwest there is like a batch of explosives going off. I'll bet everyone from amateur chasers to the government-trained pros are out there, running up and down the roadways tracking these things, heh.

So the thought comes into my head, Is that something I could do? Most chasers are after the photography -- they want that one, high resolution picture or video of a wickedly cool supercell or tornado vortex. Others are in it for the thrill and adrenaline rush of running from one of Nature's most devastating weapons (and living to tell about it). Some are in it for the science, mostly to better understand the complex nature of supercell and tornadic storm systems to better predict and warn the public about them. And I'm sure there's a whole lot of other reasons I'm not even thinking of.

But do any of those fit me? Or am I just slightly delusional? All I have is a fairly new Camry and a $330 camera that's a tad grainy at full zoom (Canon PowerShot S3 IS), and while I've attended two Skywarn classes in my local area (scheduled for two more within the next few weeks), is storm chasing something I myself could not only find fun and enjoyable, but also something that might teach me things that can be applied to helping others? More to the point, is it something I should spend my hard-saved earnings on?

I dunno. For now, I do know it's crazy thoughts because I just watched Stormchasers. I have all of winter to think about things, including maybe going on a professionally-operated storm chasing tour for only $3000 or so next summer. That might be the safest option, and give me a realistic idea of what the hobby is really like. As well as the science (maybe). And if not next summer, maybe the one thereafter (or I'm just procrastinating, heh). I know it's not a simple hobby for the faint of heart. In an entire week of driving around some of the most barren areas of the US, most get lucky to see just a plain old supercell. Rare does one chasing storms catch a tornado itself, especially up close of a violent one (not some piddly little smoke-stack EF-0 or EF-1 one).

Ah, well, guess It's just something to mull over the long, and likely boring, winter season of the mid-atlantic region. And to think, I also want to look at taking a beginners boating class next July. Talk about having one's thoughts all over the board, heh.

So it pops into my head this night to actually put somewheres on the internet a list of places I desire to visit someday. Mostly out of curiosity and to say that "Hey, I've been there!". But also to learn.

Most places are local/regional, but I've got one or two long-distance places to visit, and suggestions are welcome. List is in no particular order, just as I can think them up.


Places to visit:

• Kennedy Space Center:
  Mostly because I'm a space geek. And preferably before they retire the Space Shuttles in 2010. I hear the launches are something that simply has to be witnessed live.
  
  
• Lurray Caverns:
  I haven't been there in over ten years, and I don't remember much. But I know there's something really fun about going deep into the mountains to see what wonderful creations this planet can create over the period of several millennia.
  
  
• Busch Gardens, Williamsburg:
  It's been been ten years since I was last there. Got an itching to see the show at Das Festhaus and watch (but not ride) the roller coasters (long story).
  
  
• Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay:
  I was there over twelve years ago. My namesake coaster, the "Kumba" is there, and maybe, just maybe, I'll ride it to challenge it, to conquer it. Plus there's the safari monorail I wanna ride on again.
  
  
• Disney World:
  It's freakin' Disney World. What more needs to be said? :)
  
  
• Gettysburg:
  Because I'm listening to Iced Earth's heavy metal tribute to the three-day battle that turned the Civil War around (a song, that I'll add, kicks much ass). And after looking at it on Google, realizing it's really not that far away.
  
  
• National Cryptologic Museum:
  I hear they have a live Enigma machine setup that you can see (and maybe toy with?). Plus it's run by the NSA. That place has to be extremely interesting.
  
  
• Udvar-Hazy Museum:
  Mainly to just get an up-close look at some of the most unique aircraft ever built.
  
  
• Shenandoah Mountains / Blue Ridge Mountains:
  I was last up in the mountains as a wee little kid, back when I lived in Spain. My memories are extremely vague, and so, I'd like to visit again. Besides, the beach is booooooring.

Other things to do:

• Take a boating trip, maybe on the Chesapeake?:
  Call it random, but it sounds like fun. I guess I'd have to learn how to swim for starters, since I really only got as far as treading water and doggy paddling. But maybe a life vest is all? Who knows... But I drove a speed boat once on a giant lake in Florida, and it was *really* fun. So doing something similar would be nice. And the Chesapeake is really the only nearby large body of water, so...
  
  
• Storm Chasing:
  I figure, If I have the patience to deal with computers and the users that use them on a day-in and day-out basis, then I probably have the patience to hunt down a kick-ass supercell in the midwest with a few other people and take some cool photography before running like a scared little girl away from the giant whirling funnel that will quite likely head in my direction.
  
  
• I-95 / East Coast Road Trip:
  I'd probably start by checking out the local interstates and beltways, i.e., DC (I got this one down, but an extra lap can't hurt), Baltimore (I-695/I-895), I-81, I-70, etc. Then, I dunno, drive up to Maine and down to....Key West? Or maybe something smaller (that's a helluva trip there). Not that my car couldn't take it or anything, but I'd have to put more thought into this one.
  
  
• Drive on the Autobahn:
  I have an odd fascination with road networks for some reason. I can't really explain it, but I think that, in order to gain some understanding of the US' Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, I have to somehow find my way to Germany and drive on the Autobahn. Since that is where Eisenhower got the idea and inspiration for a national roadway network that was grade-separated at interchanges (that is, has an overpass/underpass) instead of those being signalized. I guess that involves learning a little German first?

Hmm, I think that's all I can think of for now. I'll probably extend the list as my mind recalls other places of interest. As for when I'll visit all of this...who knows. Time, motivation, money, friends/companions, etc all determine when and to where I'll go. That, I suppose, is the mystery to unlock.

For once, the pictures say it all :P

See the Google Map here for an approximate guesstimation of where all this fun was happening!

Twas a disabled vehicle in the merge lane that drivers use to get onto I-295. Said merge lane starts as two lanes, then collapses to one. I didn't see said disabled vehicle until well past this, and by then, it was easily a quarter mile away from the merge lane, so I wonder if someone came and helped to push it that far. Maybe everyone was just looking and caused the backup?	A sea of brake lights is truly something to behold, heh. I'd already been in this mess for at least ten minutes by the time I got here. It took another ten minutes (or was it less?) to get by this and onto I-295, where I was able to fully open the throttle.