Today is officially the last day I will be an IT professional. Starting tomorrow (well, really next week) I’m a full time educator and part time assistant adult hockey league director. Of course the topics that I’m teaching are IT related, specifically software engineering and graphics programming, but I won’t be doing it full time anymore. This is both refreshing and terrifying. I’ve been doing IT pretty much straight through since I got my first job at 17 helping build out a startup ISP. Now I get to change gears. Instead of tech being what pays the bills, tech gets to go back to stuff I do for fun, which I’m hoping will mean that I make progress on the many stalled projects I’ve had going for weeks/months/years. I’m not sure what career #2 is going to turn into but I’m sure tech will sill be there, hanging around as it’s been all my life.
Category Archives: Geek
Ok, so perhaps that was just the reaction from THE ENTIRE INTERNET over today’s article regarding rules changes in the forthcoming M10 expansion in June.
I was fine with everything in the article, a bit annoyed at times, but generally ok with everything until I got to this:
5) Combat Damage No Longer Uses the Stack
O M G !
Now it may just be that I have a podcast called Damage on the Stack. It could be that Mogg Fanatic is one of my favorite cards or that I love combat trickery, but this one change seemed a bit too much. From the 34 pages of forum comments regarding the post that went up less than 12 hours ago, THE INTERNET would seem to agree. Removing combat damage does seem to be the most ill-received change. I have many times on the podcast stated that I think R&D is doing a really good job in tightening up the game and making it better with each set, so I’m going to hold off on much wailing about the end of the (MTG) world. Perhaps after the M10 release we’ll see that Magic is the same game and has all/most/some of the great interactions that make it so much fun to play.
Ok, probably a bit overdramatic in the title there. But how does it get better than Steve Job vs Bill Gates?
Partake of the awesome sauce - The Animation
Then decide their fate – The Game
You may be eagerly anticipating the 3/6/09 release of Watchmen like I am. However, there are a few things any good fanboy can do before donning your Night Owl costume and going to join the crowds at the midnight release. You are dressing up and going to the midnight release, right? Anyway, before you head off to the theater there are a few things you can do to spread the love.
1) Re-read Watchmen. Yes, break out the book and soak in all the goodness. The movie looks to be incredibly true to the original so all the little details you see in the movie will be that much better as you remember the details from the original. Don’t have your copy because you loaned it to someone? Well first bug them to finish reading it so they can give it back, then go to your local comic shop and buy a second copy, just in case. Don’t forget to geek out about the upcoming film amongst people who can appreciate it. While you’re at it you can probably belabor a few innocent comic shoppers to buy Watchmen as well.
2) Buy the Watchmen animated comic from iTunes or via X-Box Live. Have people over and watch it as a group. It’s totally faithful to the original and very well produced. This is a fantastic way to get people who you’re not going to convince to read the graphic novel to “read” it in an unadulterated form. If you buy all 12 episodes as a group from iTunes it’s only $20, vs $1.99 for each episode.
3) Talk about Watchmen with everyone you know until everyone is sick and tired of hearing about it and will refuse to go just on principle. Be sure to go into uber-fanboy mode talking about all the sneak peaks you’ve viewed and how the authenticity of the sets is almost unparalleled in an adaptation. You’ll turn them around eventually. On second thought, maybe we should skip this one.
4) Pre-order tickets for everyone who might be going. That way they’ll feel obligated, plus you’ll help run up the opening weekend numbers. You did buy the Watchmen on HSX like 3 years ago right? This is your time to cash in!
Ok, so perhaps a few of these suggestions are a bit more silly than others, but you really should re-experience Watchmen one more time before seeing it on the big screen. My suggestion is the animated comic as it allows you to invite new people but which ever way you decide to experience Watchmen you know it’s as good as ever.
Yes we all know the saying, those who ignore history.. yada, yada. However, it’s another thing to be in the middle of one of these “we’re repeating history, and not for the first time” events. I would direct your attention to the Panic of 1837, a precursor to the more well known Great Depression of 1929. Both had similar causes to today’s American woes, namely overspeculation and overextension of credit. The panic of 1837 even included a real estate boom. Based on this cycle, I guess 90 years from now will be a pretty good time to start short selling everything in sight.
Yes, you know you’re a geek when you see a book about statistics and you get excited. Then again, all the Head First books are teh AWESOME.
I was a presenter at the first Ignite Phoenix event, held last Tuesday at the Jobbing.com office. The video (split into two parts) is posted at ustream.tv
My presentation was in the first half and starts at 36:40.
Slides can be found here
Joss Whedon is my master. Yes it’s true, I’m just a sucker for anything that man produces. So I was delighted to view last night the first episode of a 3 part series by Joss named “Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”. For anyone who’s every seen the musical episode of Buffy “Once more, with feeling” you’ll feel right at home here. The next episode comes out tomorrow and the third on Saturday. But get it while it’s hot because on Sunday they convert over to paid content either through iTunes Music Store or eventually a DVD version (which I will of course buy immediately). So, if you have ever enjoyed Buffy, Angel or Firefly then you’ll heartily enjoy Joss’ unique brand of comedic drama in Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.
