The hunt for the Pandasquatch

Doomsday

2010-03-08T04:48:00Z

Sometimes its better to ignore the delusional than give them any attention.

Stop thinking the world will end in your lifetime, you're not that special.

Bad Company 2 update

2010-03-05T23:21:00Z

So we're a few days in and i've got to say a lot of the problems have cleaned themselves up. It's a bit weird still, every now and then the game will glitch and i'll lost all audio for the rest of the game, or it will stall out on quickmatch. I've found the easiest fix is to turn the console off, let it sit for about 30 seconds, and turn it back on. Why only this game makes me revert to my old nintendo tactics is beyond me, but at least i'm not blowing dust off the disc.

I don't think they hyped this game enough to get the crowd they need. A lot of my friends didn't know it was out, that its good, or that it was even a must get game this year. And i have yet to see a dr. pepper promotion commercial. So it looks like that campaign is supposed to drop around march 18th. but i head to vegas around that time, so it'll be when i get back. it's a shame they couldn't sync it better, or have the campaign launch before the game was released. you have to figure any press is good press.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

2010-03-03T01:08:00Z

So I got the new Bad Company game today from the local game store. Here's my insta-review.

8/10

Here's Why. A stellar first person campaign that just looks amazing on my xbox 360 was what originally made me think this game could easily topple modern warfare 2 as my choice of instant military gratification. The difficulty is reasonable, the checkpoints more obvious, the game overall easier to handle. Squadmates in single player are relatively smart and once in a while they hit things (a rarity these days with AI and all, i get that i'm the hero protagonist, but it'd be nice if i could depend on my team to cover me when i'm reloading... or not walk in front of me every time i launch a grenade. The first mission reminded me of the island on LOST, wondering what exactly that mysterious weapon is that could cause an entire island to groan. It's not too cartoony, and it is not overly real, it is what i expect in a game. The main menu system is intuitive, smooth, and feels tailored to the player, not some generic person that might pick the game up once in a while. The sound of ammunition is very realistic, from the shells hitting and echoing in a dark cold room, to the sonic snap of sniper rounds missing our heads. The buildings are mostly collapseable, and cover from fire is never guaranteed. It's an improvement over the original, and sure to be a new favorite in the genre.

The drawbacks: maybe it's just me, but this game is still really glitchy. the single player seems smooth, but i remember the same issues driving us mad when BF: 1943 came out on arcade. Lag is an ever present issue in all games but is not as bad this go around... what does slow you down is the fact that quickmatch is the opposite of such, and games are hard to come by. I get error messages over and over though i know that somewhere in america there must be 16 people ready and willing to duke it out in this new release. Which brings me to point 2. This game came out TODAY, so i was a bit surprised to see people who have logged 41 hours of MULTIPLAYER game time. Now I get the idea of beta testing, hell i'll even allow that people release these games really early to be dicks to everyone else who will be far less equipped, skilled, and able to defend themselves on launch day. But 41 hours? and no one is raising an eyebrow? shouldn't these people have their rank reset or accounts monitored or something? If these guys are the guys that created it, maybe they should pull themselves off the leaderboard. I imagine sports would be a bit different if the Broncos were automatically starting with 2 touchdowns before a game starts. And I get that in a week i'll still be low ranking and some guys will spend 7 days straight working on their rank. As it stands there is no way anyone could compete with that. That's a full work week spent on multiplayer.

Finally, I got the limited edition. Bonus points for it being the same price as the regular edition. And i like that there is a dr. pepper promotion, though i don't drink much soda, so i probably will never have access to the cool giveaways they have.

So there you have it, i like the game, it has a lot of potential. The fact there was an update on day one shows they care. But the team in charge shouldn't be dealing with the same simple issues every game, there is no excuse for a poor multiplayer quick match system. And I really wanted to just get rid of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 too. Because a game that can master the low latency, easy quickmatch, party chat in any game mode, and squads easily made up of party members will be the game i get my friends to buy. And we're stuck out in the middle of nowhere with lots of cash and lots of time. Believe me, if one person likes a game, we alllllllll buy it. So imagine my feelings on the game will only improve over the next couple of weeks before i head out to Vegas. But, still it would have been nice to immerse myself in the battlefield universe and hear the familiar battlefield sound (if you've ever played any of them, you know what i'm talking about)

And while we're on quickmatch (which is usually a misnomer). Dear Aliens Vs. Predator, Get your $h1T together. Love, everyone that bought your game.

Hey look a CNN article

2010-02-27T02:02:00Z

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/26/liberals.atheists.sex.intelligence/index.html?hpt=C2

Well look at that, an article targeted towards me to make me feel a little better about myself.

quick summary, study shows that higher IQ may be linked to atheism, liberalism, and sexual exclusivity in men. statistically significant, but they caution against generalizing... which i don't get, why is it bad to be any of those things? or is the argument that someone who is one of those is not all of them? the old "all wise men are bald, but not all bald men are wise" argument. lol

New Year, new junk

2010-02-22T23:00:00Z

So, we're about 2 months into this fine year and lately i've found myself picking up all sorts of new hobbies, and restarting things i've let slide over time.

I'm still working on my master's, just got upgraded at my job to commander, and as of yesterday have a clean kitchen.

The things i've picked up again include swimming. At our base there is a 100 mile club for swimming 100 miles, and i'm about 13 miles in as of today, at 1 to 2 miles per session it's going to take a while, but i know i can do it.

Also, i'm working through p90x again. obviously i'd like to swim before i do p90x as it tends to leave me numb, tired, and ready for a nap.

I finally got to try out my Beretta 92FS, i'm a bit rusty but after about the 80th round i fired i figured out how i fire. Surprisingly a lot of my friends weren't familiar with the weapon. just proof that they don't train us enough on the weapon (standard issue) in general. I guess that's the cost of war, things that were expected and mandatory 15 years ago are too expensive now. And yeah i'll probably never see face to face combat, but it'd be nice to have the chance to at least work towards the medals/ribbons. Until then i'm doing this stuff out of my own pocket.

I was planning on making a trip out to Warrior Dash in June. I looked at the site today and they are sold out. lame, i guess it'll have to wait another year. If you haven't heard about it, it's viking hats, running, obstacles, beer, bbq, music, fire, mud, costumes, and all around fun.

Next month i'm taking the annual exodus to Las Vegas. I have a few things planned, but if you all have any suggestions send them my way. Mainly i'm big into good food, restaurants i rarely see, and things i can't do here in North Dakota. The good news is, i played black jack about a week ago for about an hour completely drunk, and still broke even. I think i'm ready for Vegas, just need to brush up on some of the "rules' or safest bets, i struggled when i was getting 13's against 13's and things like that.

Alright its movie monday, so i'm gonna take a nap, and then watch "Primer", a great film about time travel. its pretty deep so it takes a few views to get the idea. so if you have netflix instant view, then watch with me at around 7pm tonight.

Links of the Week

2010-01-31T05:34:00Z

So i think it would be quick and easy way to generate more stuff for you to look at if i just gave you a rundown of the stories i found interesting in a given week. I'll provide a link with a short description for each entry. You'll see what caught my attention, and if you're anything like my friends you'll be days ahead of everyone else with the news and random internet related items.

Example, tonight I ran across the following:

http://news.discovery.com/space/russia-missile-failure-norway-spiral.html
Discussion on "Russia's Ailing ICBM Program"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK0l2tqFDvM
Boogie Boogie Hedgehog, brings an instant smile to your face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-qnDmtkaeA
iJustine is hard to describe.... but everyone loves her. She's in those Mozy commercials lately.

http://www.wackyowl.com/a-star-wars-fans-collection/
a Helluva lot of Star Wars Collectible Action figures... addicted much?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6230194.stm
I never knew this is how the ATM came to be

If you like this sort of thing then let me know. I'll keep it a grab bag, some serious things, some funny things, some useless trivia. The way mother internet intended.

Musings of a Procrastinator

2010-01-31T04:27:00Z

My day started at 0530, which is early in my book, but considering i'm usually woken up around 5 am while doing my job its sort of like i got to sleep in. Anyway, I finished out my training for the month. Now to finish out my 2 classes so i can focus on the third as well as my upgrade at work.

The Taco Bell Diet:
Really, I can't imagine a more horrible campaign from a fast food company. My friends and I were trying to come up with the logic behind this drive-thru diet they are promoting all over the place. A. They watched the "Jared has Aides" episode of South Park and were dumb enough to try it. B. They are finally acknowledging that about 80% of the food at Taco Bell will give you "the squirts" (technical terms only people). C. They actually know you're dumb enough to think you can lose weight solely by eating food from a drive thru, where the implication is you are probably too lazy to walk into a restaurant, wait a little bit, and walk back to your car with a to go order. or D. Studies have shown that the al fresco menu is actually laced with cocaine or something causing you to get addicted to an easily obtainable and currently cheap meal item (science has not verified this, but i have a feeling drugs were involved in the creation of this campaign). Well to all you new year's weight loss types i'd like to say one thing. Eat Healthy (i.e. stop eating processed foods, lettuce with less color than snow, smaller portions, and more frequently) and Exercise (you gotta mix up your routine, sure walking an hour is better than not walking, but mixing up sprints, jogging, walking, and non aerobics will certainly kick-start your body). Taco Bell is not a cure, in fact, you're going to what most would argue is the problem-- for the answer. You don't go to the cheesecake factory to get over your lactose intolerance (tempting as it may be).

Paul Oakenfold:
Good Sir, I am completely enjoying your Perfecto Podcast, its free, it fills the iPod, its got your signature touch, and it fills the void of no longer being able to listen to E-Leven with Paul Oakenfold that I used to in Colorado.
If you are a reader, love electronica, know who in the world mr. Oakenfold is, and have access to itunes, definitely check out the "Perfecto" podcast. There are other DJ's out there with podcasts where you can listen pretty much every week to new content without having to hit up the exclusive clubs. Perfecto easily joined my normal routine of podcasts... speaking of...

NSFW:
With a name like that, its no wonder most people don't subscribe.... while at work... but certainly check it out from your home. Sure they call it NSFW, and sure it has an explicit tag, but if you know who Brian Brushwood is (@Shwood on twitter, magician, and head proctor at everyone's favorite "Scam School"), then you know the show isn't nearly as off-limits as the name implies. Anyway, since they are still trying to find their groove, the show up until now has been a pretty good variety show of content. Heck they had "Matt Parkman" (Greg Grunberg) from Heroes on last episode, and unlike a traditional interview show Grunberg had a blast. The show is a little bit of everything that happened in the world of magic/ the hosts lives/ the news/ and lately about the faux-intershow dispute with Martin Sargent (leader of the Unscrewed Army) and Sarah Lane (cute woman we associate with all things tech... who is apparently working at Current but i wouldn't know since i haven't had cable in months, viva la internet/hulu/justin.tv). Check it out at one of my favorite websites-

TWIT.TV:
And of course the network that makes NSFW possible the TWIT network! No, not that social bird site (though i'm @quickrecipes if you really wanna follow me, number 4 in North Dakota, and i'm just stationed here, this isn't really my home). TWIT being This Week In Tech, among other things, and you'll find most other shows on the network were independent podcasts at one point or if they are fairly new, they follow the TWI monacher. Take a trip on the wayback machine to about 12-14 years ago, on ZDTV... or TechTV as it became... or G4 as its known now, remember way back then? There was a couple of really smart guys surrounded by pretty ladies that knew the difference between USB and Firewire, and a couple other younger fellows that may or may not be huge internet celebrities (Kevin Rose and Chris Pirillo to name a few). If you remember way back then you remember Leo Laporte. He's the guy making it all happen at the TWIT "campus" out in California. He hosts so many shows, you're only missing out on Free Knowledge by not listening or visiting the site. look up Twit.tv, go... now.... find a subject your interested in... learn....

You kept reading? alright well then i'll give you one last treat, not that name dropping my favorite tv sites isn't enough, check out revision3.com , sure it sounds like a super technical company name, but its a great internet tv network with a lot of original programs. If you've been at the watercooler and heard someone talking about "digging a story" and its not 1950, then they were most likely talking about digg.com, and Kevin Rose hosts a show (Diggnation) about the site summarizing the tops stories that he and my guild buddy Alex Albrecht pick.... although there may or may not be some heavy drinking involved. which is a formula for great entertainment.

Well that killed an hour, back to doing work.

You Deserve a Pizza.
Peace, Love, and Applesauce:
-Jeff

The iPad says "Hello World" and we'll say hello back in 60 days

2010-01-28T00:43:00Z

Well, looks like Apple announced today the world-changing iPad. Which is not the Red Sox version of the iPod but rather a nifty new device with a lot of features that are going to help you get through your day. Let's go over some of the highlights of this product:

Size: its about 1.5 lbs, with an almost 10 inch screen, half inch thick, definitely not going to fit into your pocket but also not going to take up a huge portion of your backpack/briefcase

Battery Life: they say about 10 hours, but come on with wifi on or with your display on bright, i'd give it maybe 4 solid hours with wi-fi on or watching a movie or two, my iPod touch barely brings in an hour with wifi on watching youtube, i can't imagine the battery technology is so much better, nor do i really expect it to be.

What it does: movies, music, games, surf the web, read books, maps, pretty much anything an ipod touch can do... just bigger

Price: they offer 6 models, 3 in 2 months, and another 3 in 3 months. starting at $499 for the 16GB wi-fi only model and going all the way up to 64GB with wi-fi and 3G at $829 dollars.

What I think is cool about it:

Here's my frame of reference, i'm no fan-boy. I'm no early adopter. And i always hesitate to drop half a grand on anything, especially if i can't rightly justify how it would fit into my life. So here are the features that got my attention, and will help me along my decision path on whether or not i purchase this product:

I bought an iPod touch about a year ago, and if you don't have one here's what you are missing, and the low-end model of the iPad will definitely meet/exceed your needs: I wake up I can surf the web from my bed, I can check my calendar, I can send emails, see what the weather or traffic has in store for me, I can reset that pesky alarm that woke we up, I can check what's going on in facebook, twitter, or any other number of sites. All of this before i've really started my day, heck i haven't even left my room and i'm already prepared to face what lies outside my bedroom door.

What the iPad brings to the table is the ability to read eBooks, a function that while possible on the iphone/ipod touch is much more suited to this larger size screen. More than that though is the ability to read today's newspaper (no more neighbor's stealing it, or it getting soggy from the snow, or just not getting it at all). And it's all in color as opposed to the current eBook readers on the market today.

In addition a lot of features people love about the iPhone are here like the GPS functionality, the ability to get directions to any number of locations at an instant.

it also has a microphone. maybe we've brought back the Zach Morris sized phone.... only this time its VOIP capable. who knows, i don't typically talk to my books, but maybe i'll be inclined to talk at my iPad.

thousands upon thousands of apps. they already exist, and developer's just got the new SDK today so you better believe there will be more by the time it comes out.

Multitouch is back allowing you to pull a CNN and shrink websites, or make them huge, or whatever your lil heart desires. If you've ever used an iPhone or iPod Touch, you know how to use this product. For those new to Apple altogether, the interface is about as intuitive as it gets and more advanced features take only minutes to learn. definitely easy and accessible, a lot of people bring up how much their mother's and gradparents would love a product like this.

A big sell point for me and many others will be the option of 3G capability on top of your standard wifi. this greatly expands where i can be when i use the internet and allows me to use the features that iPhone users enjoy around me. They also brought up the "No contract" perk which allows you the user to choose how long you'd like to use the service and at very reasonable prices. For most people who will only be downloading things once or twice a month, or maybe a lot of small things there is the standard data plan allowing 250MB a month, and for the rest of us there is the "unlimited" plan, which never really means unlimited (the phone companies should be coerced into telling the truth instead of using the wrong word).

Reasons why I won't buy it:

(of course these are subject to change, but from initial impressions here are a few reasons why I would choose another product or avoid the market altogether)

It's apparent to me this is supposed to be the gap-filler between your smart phone (whatever it may be) and a Laptop. Now for most people this is the netbook, and for most people there's no reason to buy a netbook, they're small, underpowered, and not as useful as you'd think. I guess i speak from experience here, I bought a netbook for about 150 dollars. I only use it when i'm writing something away from home, or don't intend on doing anything media intensive on the go. Now I'll give them that their iPad prices are reasonable, but i'll throw this idea out there, an iPod Touch has near the same functionality for about 150 dollars. In addition you could buy a laptop for about 500 dollars that does everything the iPod can't. Yes it sucks to have two devices when you could only have one, but then again i'm the kind of person that has a regular old cell phone for calls/texts, and the Touch to fill in for all the smartphone/mp3/video/web surfing features i don't get from the phone.

No camera. really? we're going back features now? at least it doesn't have a click wheel.

multi-tasking. I'm a big sensory overload kind of guy, i like listening to music while reading, or having picture in picture on a TV so I can enjoy many things at once. I should be able to read the paper, listen to music, and download podcasts that i'd like at the same time. thats what this device is for. allowing me to access as much of the world as possible without sacrificing time or functionality.

No Flash support: everyone hates this one, and i hate it on my iPod as well. I can't watch most of the videos you all put on the interwebs. I can watch youtube.... but still, not everything is under ten minutes long. Think of all the fun games you could be playing for free but can't. lately i've been addicted to Risk and Bejeweled.

Wouldn't it be cool if it leaned more towards macbook and allowed creativity to flow? we'll see. I feel like this could be like a Bamboo tablet where people might be able to do their photoshop fun, on the go, or at least draw ideas down, or gain inspiration from the things they see while travelling. well normally they would take a picture, but we addressed that.

Typing: I can't hold the thing and type... well maybe one handed, but i think i prefer the traditional way of doing it with two. Seems to me we have a curved product that will lay flat and wobble if i try to type on it, but i haven't had the hands on yet, so I can't really judge.

3 months... with the less fun version in 2? such a tease... Bazinga.

Peripherals: okay I get it. you have a sleek product that doesn't really require a whole lot of peripherals. but when the need for one arises, you'll be the first to hand up the bottle of vaseline so we can get ready for the price at checkout. I still refuse to pay 50 dollars for an iPod case, or 100 dollars for something that allows me to play my music inside my car. So i can't really imagine how much your keyboard dock will cost, or how much the new cases for the iPad will cost and while we're on that:

You know we're going to drop it. Thank you for the great policy about exchanges, but lets be realistic here, everyone i know with an iPhone has one with a nice crack right down the middle of the touchscreen. More than that, every celebrity i see with one from tech guru to socialite has the same feature. except the socialites just get new ones cause, they easily can, heck its great press for you and really doesn't impact them at all. Isn't there some technological breakthrough in the works for a touchscreen that is crack resistant? you've expanded the screen size significantly, and all i can see in its future is people talking about how they dropped it in the first week of owning it.

In Summary:

I like it, it's a nice proof of concept (CES had a couple things that I think could compete well), I don't personally see myself getting one because i'm not particularly new to Apple and I don't think i'm who this was created for.... and i'll tell you who its for.

1. Students: yeah everyone would like to think the textbook gods are going to let students download them to this, and that would be awesome.... but i'm thinking more along the lines of just sitting in a classroom taking notes, or doing what Microsoft's One note does on a Laptop and record the instructor's voice while you take notes. Which is a GREAT use of the software capabilities, and makes it that much easier to study later on, or if you miss something. Plus its small enough to fit in an already burdened bag or on a crowded desk.

2. Business People: Yup i'm lookin at you guy/gal who wakes up at 5 am just to hop on a commuter train or bus for half an hour into the city where you'll certainly be making important decisions. you hate buying a new paper and getting that ink on you. you hate having a huge pile of old magazines that you might read one day. you hate being behind on stuff you might want up to the minute like traffic, weather, directions to a meeting, a great restaurant that's nearby. You want to be able to do all easy work you can now so when you get to the office you can take care of what really matters.

3. Rich People: yeah you got one didn't you, you have no idea what it does, but it'll make your friends sooooo jealous.

4. People who haven't purchased an Apple product in years... you'll be surprised how useful this thing can be, I know I wrote about all the bad stuff i could think of, but really even though it seems pricey, you're going to use it, and you're going to use it a lot. You will find you are able to get more things done, stay more organized, really satisfy your random music/video/information needs like the spoiled technophiles around you.

I'm sort of a niche consumer, but i'm pretty open to tech toys, and i'll admit when the iPhone came out i didn't really want one... when the Touch came out i didn't really want one. But then I bought a second gen(eration) one, and i've been happy with it. Less so now that there is a new gen with cooler things, but i get by. Maybe in 2 years when it has Hulu support, a Camera, a lot of third party peripherals that are modestly priced i'll think about it. Right now my sights are on a new desktop... for gaming.

I value what Apple is doing because they create amazing products that force everyone else to up their game. Right now, Amazon and Barnes and Noble have to figure out what they need to do to keep their e-book readers alive, and netbook companies have to figure out how to integrate some of apple's standard features in order to attract a larger audience. Google and other companies are saying, "hey what do they like aboutthis product, what do they hate, and how can we bring a product thatcompetes at about the same pricepoint". It's all in good fun.

Sweden

2010-01-18T03:01:00Z

Apparently this is some pretty big news. it's well worth the wait, and they might just punish you for not waiting long enough.

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=126378280674

Why would I write about Sweden you ask... well watch the vid!

New Track

2009-12-26T05:37:00Z

Hey all the new track is more drum and bass than before, the next one will probably be house. I'm still testing out the different kinds of loops they offer. If you like it let me know.

Oh yeah, merry xmas, happy holidays, and hope you enjoyed festivus if you're like me and the rest of us.

its snowing like a fiend outside i'll see if i can post the video on youtube later and link it here.

Facebook Year in Review

2009-12-23T19:48:00Z

Here are just a small sampling of things I put on my Facebook Status. Obviously the bigger quotes got the axe in favor of fitting as many of the 12 months worth of updates as i could on here.

so obviously 30 rock, the office, mega64, robot chicken, world of warcraft, work in general, and my internet love factored into what the app thought was good to include about me. sounds about right, throw in some Call of Duty and any of hte hundreds of videos/websites i post about all the time, and you have yourself Jeff in 2009.

Latest Track

2009-12-10T03:19:00Z

Hey all, give a listen to my latest attempt at learning outdated software! I'm thinking about getting the new Sony Acid Pro sometime in the next year or two, until then i just have to use the loops i can find in stores and kinda find something i like. This particular track makes me wanna sift through tons of movie clips (royalty free ones of course, public domain preferable, look for a bunch of cheesy holiday techno songs... just kidding).

So click play above, its a bit on the edgy side, so if a woman moaning is gonna get you in trouble, then you're either really young or really married. listen at your own risk. email me if you want the track and can't download it. i have other stuff i work on, but i get halfway through a project and find a bunch of cool loops i'd like to use for something else, so everything gets rushed and thrown together.

This one took about an hour and a half to find, layout, edit, adjust, etc...
hope you enjoy, and any positive comments are welcome. negative ones... well you knew what you were getting into. lol

V: the new series

2009-11-09T03:07:00Z

Just caught the latest episode of V, the rebirth of the classic series. From a network perspective it seems weird that ABC is picking up yet another "a weird event happens, and here's how people reacted" drama. I think it will lead to the crash of Flash Forward. Too bad too, cause i think they both have potential. Anyway, something bugged me about V (Well Alien Dramas in general), and its just a thing that i'd hope people would notice in real life. Mainly its that these giant colony sized ships just randomly appear and everyone believes that these are the first ships here.
I guess i spend more than my fair share of time thinking about how space travel would work. To me, exploration starts with reconnaissance. First, electronic drones/probes sent to monitor planets from orbit, then maybe sending scout ships out to gather more information and perhaps one day contact any life on the ground. Whatever the intent of the observer is, they don't send everything they have immediately. So, say tomorrow ships appear in our sky. In my head there are only two options, the scouts have been here for a long time allowing for safe presentation of the colonial ships (which are by no means the ENTIRE civilization, just one small portion of it), or that massive ship is a scout (which in V's case it doesn't seem to be, why risk your population unless it was an emergency, even then you still send scouts, its the most efficient way to find suitable planets with the necessary resources). That didn't seem to occur to a lot of people in the show. It rarely occurs to people in movies as well. I mean the original "Day the Earth Stood Still" was a great example in how exploration should work in that it was just the one guy and his ship, it wasn't an army, it wasn't a colony, it was just one guy (and his kick ass robot) coming to represent his people and connect. War of the Worlds, same issue, people thought the ships that came were the big ones, once they were gone that was it, hooray the Earth is saved. Independence Day... we took out ONE mothership, and roll credits, Earth is safe. That's never made sense to me, entire civilizations don't put all their eggs in one basket. It's just horrible policy to do so. If we were violent to a scout, all that would happen is a repot would be made somewhere that a scout was either in distress or had gone missing which would prompt wave 2 of scouts, in larger force, and possibly even a rescue craft. We take out a mothership, they either leave us alone, or actually bring a military presence. The only reason they'd leave us alone is if the resources we had that they wanted weren't worth it, and odds are if they send an initial force as large as the one in Independence day, they're really going to want what resources we have.
There, that's my beef with aliens visitng Earth. I mean i'll give the resistance credit for realizing that their intentions aren't all that great. It'll be interesting to see how Stargate Universe handles the issue of encountering a resource filled and populated planet they need to acquire things from seeing how they only have the one ship. But it does prove my point that they are a scouting ship in contact with Earth, despite how the plot makes them so. Destroying the ship and its inhabitants will undoubtedly infuriate the people back on Earth, but in SG-U the people back on Earth seem pretty good at attempting to do that anyway. That's another story.

Also props to the folks at V for reinvigorating the reptilian conspiracy theme. I remember reading all sorts of stuff from people like David Icke, oddly enough most of his books that were completely easy to obtain when i was in high school, near impossible to obtain in college. Not his fault, our network censors tend to block things labelled "Education", "Entertainment" as often as they block "Cult/Conspiracy Theory" categories. Sometimes it does feel like there is a disconnect between the haves and have nots. Whether you choose to peg that as illuminati, or reptilian, or 9th dimensional, it does register with most people as something worth listening to. Could all our troubles be caused by some outside force, could it all be a God's doing, do we really choose the circumstances we find ourselves in? Sure is fun to think about.

That's all i've got for nonsensical ramblings today. but as far as those go, aggressive reptilian alien species that want us all dead is pretty good. better than everyone passing out and seeing 137 seconds of 6 months from now. that must have sucked for the people asleep on the other side of the world. totally caught a glimpse of themself sleeping 6 months in the future. funny and sad at the same time.

Update Oct 09

2009-10-09T03:06:00Z

Hey, it's time for the what' ive been up to lately update:

School: I just started work on my Master's degree. MBA in Information Technology. Not used to the format of the school, but adapt and overcome and maybe just maybe i'll learn something. If you're looking for a place to get your master's degree i'll let you know my thoughts on TUI university after this semester. most of my classmates are military members or related to the military in some way, i suppose thats expected since we can't exactly attend physical classes normally. not with my weird schedule anyway.

Work: Some of you know i went through another evaluation, for whatever reason the training leading up to it was rather smooth but come game day it was anything but. We were set up for success and couldn't produce optimally, and i think the biggest factor came down to confidence. Everyone gets scared when they're being closely monitored for mistakes, but its when you make one that you lose sight of the big picture and start thinking about that mistake while you make additional ones. For me it started with a tiny lack of knowledge, i knew the concept, i knew how i would have reacted in an operational setting, but for whatever reason i couldn't justify why i would do what i would, so we did it a bit differently. That excuse applies more often than not in my life, i knew what was supposed to happen, i knew how it should have worked, but i get lost in the tiny details that make it work. I think thats what experience is. Which reminds me of a great Murphyism i saw, "Field Experience is something you don't gain until just after you need it". So i know what I did wrong, i know why, and i know how to fix it. The next step is to try and find other little gaps of knowledge, and work on those.
Aside from that, they're looking at upgrading me sometime next spring to my next job. Which is the same job, just more responsibility.

Social: i don't know why i include this, it usually devolves into drinking and video games. which is AWESOME.

Vacation: I went to Colorado last month to an empty house... somewhat. I actually was culturally overloaded for it being my first time back home in like a year or two, and only because i'm getting used to not having access to what i would have called 10 years ago "normal things". For instance Chipotle (how that isn't in Minot i'll never know, but i love that South Park acknowledged the wonderfulness that is a chipotle burrito), or Adventure Golf, or chili's, 3 margaritas, One major sports team, Many major sports teams within 30 minutes, music stores, Macy's, a Mall that takes a while to walk across, a Theater thats not attached to a mall, the color green, the smell of fall, people that are not pale white from being stuck indoors for half the year. It was all wonderful, and apparently "my batteries are recharged" which i don't quite like hearing. A. I could stand to use way more charging, B. it's funny that just being here somehow counteracts the amount of happiness one sustains away, and C. I didn't even do that much, there is so much more i missed/didn't want to spend a lot of money on. Not to mention how many people bailed on hanging out with me. That was pretty lame, they normally show military members on tv/movies returning home after being sent to unpleasant places to a large welcome and parties and hanging out, but i got home and it was just me. Everyone i planned to hang out with would cancel at the last minute or go radio silent until it was too late. That's a bit depressing, so i'm glad there was so much else to do to keep me happy, and i have a pretty good idea where i stand with the people i thought were friends. I guess they either experience seeing their friends so often its not a big deal, or what i do in the military isn't worth getting all excited over when i do make it back home. Either way the lesson i learned was to do whatever it is I want, make no plans with other people, but allow them to join you if they wish. So instead of saying "we should see a movie on tuesday", i now say "i'm going to see a movie tuesday, want to come?", oddly enough this actually works better.

Alrighty, since i'm just getting back from work today i'm going to go to bed. Tomorrow i've got some homework to catch up on, but i'm always relatively free to chat/respond to emails. Catch ya later internet.

Re: A Memo to Pentagon

2009-10-09T02:21:00Z

It should go without saying but here's the standard disclaimer. The views expressed by me are mine alone and don't reflect those of anyone else around, including who i work for, who i hang out with, who i talk to, and those people i haven't met or don't know. Even though they may contradict with policy and ideas and may be unpopular, its just an opinion, we all have them, they're what shape the world around us, and you wouldn't like it very much if you didn't get to say what you thought once in a while. Be Kind Rewind, and Save the Whales.

Alrighty, now that it's clear that this is all in good fun and about what I personally (not professionally) think regarding an issue, i'm tackling the article entitled

"Memo to Pentagon: Can We Talk About "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" or Not?"

by Aaron Belkin Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Palm Center at UCSB

Here are my thoughts:
If someone can get the job done, i want them on my team. I don't care if it makes you feel weird personally. I trust that they'd be as or more professional in the work environment as current members. The article points out that there are many GLBT active members and though i've known a few, i've never had any problems working around them. The thing is, like any "good" working environment, we don't talk about sex that often. They put the fear of MEO (Military Equal Opportunities) into us like some sort of HR witch hunt would occur if a "that's what she said" joke is ever heard. Let's talk specifically about the incident in the article.

The actions of the Academy present the "negative publicity" and cast them in a light of close mindedness. The fact she's being threatened politically by all of this angers me, and adds one more tick to the 5 and dive column. For those that don't know, upon graduation, cadets are obligated to serve an additional 5 years in the Air Force. Short of hearing what cadets that went through the seminar thought about the event itself and not the content, i can't honestly say what the big deal was. Seems to me they just wanted to have an open forum where one group could present their ideas and arguments, and now since it wasn't all about Johns and Jesus she's in trouble.

It's an "Academy", where the point is to be able to see all sides of an argument and make the best decision based off of what you're presented, even if its difficult, even if its weird to you, even if you think its a bad idea personally. Now i know that opens the portal to the extremist logic arguers out there, "well why not invite murderer's, rapists, wiccans, corporate mascots, etc...", truth is we've had all of those come talk to us, except the wiccans, but you spend your time running through the forests avoiding them and their organic ways during combat survival training, so i'm going to count that as good. That doesn't mean we agree with what they stand for, doesn't mean we immediately instill their ideas into who we are, it just exposes us to the world that IS. The world outside of the Terrazzo, where sheltering and pushing a close minded "DoD Policy only" way of thinking produces personnel not equipped to handle anything beyond what they've experienced and been taught. Some of the best training I received at the Academy was from not being there, from actively seeking different things to learn and experience, and to an extent the Academy facilitated that. So it really bugs me that this is an issue they have a real problem with.

My first reaction was saracastic, "Silly Col, you can't talk openly about anti-super-christian values in the Air Force. Especially not at the evangelical capital of the US". I suppose just like i'm not supposed to criticize the decisions made by those who aren't even really in my command. But as an alumni, it seems kind of odd that i should be precluded from having an opinion on how the Academy moves forward and what sort of things cadets are exposed to. Otherwise why have an Association of Graduates?

A Chance to respond

2009-09-30T04:32:00Z

Alright, so i was on facebook and working on a quick commentary when i realized that it wasn't the proper forum to put my opinions. and for future reference all views and opinions expressed by me are mine and mine alone and in no way reflect the opinion of whoever i work for/with/around/ or anyone else for that matter. if you agree with me, good on you. if you don't that's fine as well. put your point of view up, throw a few facts in and no harm no foul, we walk away with our own thoughts and feelings.

Anyway, this is my slightly edited and muffled thoughts on this article cheerleaders that say we can just git out

*sigh*, the superintendent i like, a good blend of supporting religious practices and understanding that not everyone in that particular PUBLIC school is christian so perhaps there is a way to show spirit without relying on one particular faith, . the mayor is all for team Jesus.Which is fine, because if i was a parent in that school district and the mayor decided to overturn the Superintendent's policy, i'd be a very rich parent after suing the school for creating/electing such misguided leaders.
and then like the cheerleaders would say, i could just "git out". In apparently unrelated news, what the heck does religion have to do with football? if there was a God, he'd probably do a facepalm that people actually spent part of their day asking him to allow one teeny tiny little school's football team to do better for 2 hours. Of all the things in the amazingly huge universe, i highly doubt that any God would concern himself with our solar system let alone a "current" made up sport used to distract us from a slightly more practical use of our time. of course now i've given away my opinion that this is all just random coincidence with no purpose other than to just be, to do what comes naturally and try to preserve our existence so we can continue to mate and make more us until we eventually get wiped out by whatever. I have no qualms with people having religious beliefs, from my perspective, believe what you need to in order to get through the day. It would appear that the cheerleaders and I share mostly the same logic except i'm not in a tax payer based forum, and i certainly do not believe you should just get out if you don't agree with me or my thoughts.

sorry, this was all pretty hurriedly put together, but you get the idea.

update!

2009-09-06T01:34:00Z

so, i realized today i'm getting traffic here from twitter, but i haven't been updating it. and the people who visit this site from twitter are probably looking for some cooking credentials. Well, i don't have any, aside from liking food, not having a ton of money, and wanting to try new foods.

So what's up with me? well i got rid of cable... its a trend that i see increasing out here, but gosh if it doesn't seem foreign everywhere else. Completely getting rid of the 160 channels is a huge decision, but go through your guide right now, count how many are showing infomercials. Go back through, find all those channels you don't watch EVER. Go back through, look for duplicate channels. Suddenly if you're like me you're noticing you only watch like 5 channels, and not that often, and usually those channels are showing reruns.

Alternative... I can't exactly give up all my favorite cable shows can i? nope, i stick to things like Hulu, Netflix, and other on demand services like iTunes. Instead of paying 70 to 180 dollars a month for cable, my expenses are now under 20 dollars. 8 bucks for netflix, and maybe 12 bucks for my favorite shows. Plus, if you have friends, you can go bug them on your favorite show nights/sporting events, etc...

Also, I just recovered from the flu, and i also just came back from a week out in the field. I'm at about 63 alerts. Experience is coming at a pretty weird price. I'm finding out more and more that my checklists written for optimum configuration are fine, but are requiring more thinking to compensate for all the weird situations i encounter.

Other than that i need to pick up something on the side i can do to keep my self busy. Aside from gaming/school

Tuesday, more like Tuesday

2009-07-14T23:47:00Z

So I just got a new camera, i'll throw the vid below. Aside from that I finished Overlord 2, downloaded BF 1943, and still have to work my way through FEAR 2. Heading to the State Fair next week, heading to a mini "get together" concert tomorrow. I am going to try and bring my cam there as well. If it's your first time here, my idea was originally to get the Pandasquatch (half panda, half sasquatch) comic/podcast going. With Uncle Sam keeping me moving around and busy most of the time, i don't really get to work on either often. And finding a co-host is also a bit harder when everyone around you moves almost continually. So, i'm not going in a new direction, the podcast is still in the works, PS will get drawn, and it'll be a lot of fun.

2 months

2009-06-24T04:17:00Z

really its been 2 months... that's awful. but its not all my fault. you see a little bit of reality smacked me in my face after i decided to go on that trip to vegas. I usually plan pretty far ahead financially so i have a cushion. That trip to vegas was nothing special, a lot of fun, but its the fact that i let myself spend right to the cushion that got me. no, i didn't go too far out there. the problem was when i came back to north dakota.

The cushion is usually enough "in case of emergency". and thats what happened. nothing life threatening. a family member just needed some help to get through the month, and i decided to give my cushion to them. good karma i thought. except for after an exceptionally rough nuke alert, i got home to a phone call saying that the home owner for the house i was renting decided she wanted to move back in, before our lease was finished. she'd been a horrible land lady up to that point anyway, and i had made my intent to stay in the house for the next 4 years pretty clear, so this was just a wonderful slap in the face. So now without my cushion, without the money i would have had had i not gone on vacation, with literally 15 dollars to my name, i had to go house hunting (with no days off).

long story short, i had to take out a loan... and now i'm in an apartment, i didn't have enough time off to go house hunting before i would have had to move out of the house. i got promoted during this timeframe. so now i have a bit additional income to build my cushion back up. which means i should be livin happy again in a few months. The lesson from all of this, i'm sure there is something better than what i'm choosing to take away, but i'm going with North Dakota is like Bizarro world. things that make sense elsewhere, things that are right elsewhere, things that can happen elsewhere with no issue, do not work here. and they suck at driving as well. but so does everyone.

so now that i have internet, finished moving, can afford non generic food brands, and have a few minutes to myself while not dealing with work, inspections, etc... i thought i'd say hi to everyone.

to G- That supplies joke still makes me laugh, it pops in my head about once a month.

want to talk more, email me at crossmenjeff@gmail.com, catch me on xbox live with the gamertag of the same name, or call me.

Pre-Birthday Spectacular

2009-04-26T04:30:00Z

well okay, thats an overstatement, but i'll update you all with what's going on.
1. Work: 35th Alert, thats roughly 1/10 of what i can expect to pull in my tour here. And I'm Smiling.
35 days until i'm promoted. And who can use extra shiny and extra cash each month to do the same job?
2. Home: I'm going on Leave for a bit. Las Vegas here i come! Also, i'm starting to think about my plans for july on as far as where i'm going to live. I'd ideally like to stay here and pick up a new housemate. but that can wait, Las Vegas has priority,
3. Play: the Lag on the Call of Duty games has sort of put me off to those games, Lately i've been playing a lot of Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Everyone else has picked up Left 4 Dead's survival pack and Halo 3's Mythic Pack. I'll get to those eventually. I just traded in my Nintendo DS Lite for the new DSi. Also grabbed a few games while i was there. Some light travel distractions, along with some books i've picked up to read on the way there. a trip to vegas is a lot different when they fly you everywhere but Las Vegas in order to get there. I've always wondered how that is cheaper.

So Happy Birthday to me in 5 days. Now to get some stories to top my last Vegas Experience. I'm thinking marry a stripper who is to be my future ex wife. but that sounds rather complex and expensive. hard to top meeting Playboy bunnies, being on stage with David Copperfield, Two shoe expressing it across Vegas thanks to a cabbie that dropped us off in the middle of nowhere, "yellow fever", Warren Beatty, and about 100 other random things that were awesome. i'll figure something out.