30 November 2007

Strip Games

My opinion on strip games is as such:

The purpose is to get people naked. You're just trying to have fun getting there and draw it out a bit.

Granted, it usually ends with a decision to run around in a darkened park, go skinny dipping, or whatever else you can think of... Eventually you put your clothes back on, and it's over.

19 November 2007

JAXA's HD View of and from the Moon

On 14 September 2007, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the spacecraft SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) to visit the moon. There is a great set of science instruments onboard the craft, but the one causing the loudest buzz is the High Definition Television Camera that has been taking some awesome pictures and video of the view from 100 kilometers above the surface of the moon.

This press release from 7 November explains how the camera caught a spectacular video of the pock-marked surface of the moon. In the second half of the video linked on the press release page, the SELENE gives us the eerie view as it approaches the dark side of the moon.
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/11/20071107_kaguya_e.html

This next press release from 13 November is possibly even better, as it exhibits the Earth-rise and Earth-set videos. I'll just have to leave it to you to come up with your own description of awe here.
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/11/20071113_kaguya_e.html

If this has peaked your interest, I suggest giving the mission's homepage a visit.
http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/selene/index_e.html

Listening to: The Silence of Space

18 November 2007

Scheduled Maintenance

After a long, full day of training, work, partying cut short, and my boring math methods class, my car decided not to start when I was finally ready to go home. I hate this car so much now. After having it towed off and inspected by my mechanic, I learn that it was the security system that caused the car not to start. That's just so infuriating. Having that security system saves me an estimated $2 every month on my insurance, but now costs $500 today. The complexity of cars has gotten ridiculous. So much can go wrong and cause the car to not even start because it doesn't recognize the key. And one of the parts is in Dallas, so I won't be able to get the car back until several days after I took it to the shop.

This is just such a silly thing to cause the car to stop working. Good thing I've got an emergency fund set up for car troubles. At least I won't be hurting because the car is, and maybe it will stop pissing me off so much. I still need to get new tires for it though. *sigh*

Listening to: Mogwai - Young Team - R U Still In 2 It

07 November 2007

Buying a House vs. Renting: The Epic Battle Continues

According to the New York Times, it will never make financial sense for
me to move out of my apartment and into a house.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/business/2007_BUYRENT_GRAPHIC.html
I just can't imagine that. I am seriously bummed out by this. At some
point, I want to own a home. If it never makes sense for me to own one
financially, I'm really going to have to reconsider things. I probably
need to put into consideration the fact that I am the only one living in
my apartment and that if I got married or had kids, the place wouldn't
be big enough, and then maybe I should look into buying a home or
renting a much larger place. Honestly, I'm not looking forward to
renting anywhere, ever. I'm big on having something of value to sell if
I ever need to liquidate.

02 November 2007

New Frontiers

You know, the hardest part of writing a blog entry is coming up with the title. At least for me. The rest is just a flow of consciousness, if you haven't noticed.

I have changed jobs within my company. Remember how much I disliked the work in the last job? Things are way better now. I think it's a better fit. First off, I know what people are talking about. Today I was able to come up with an answer faster than my lead, which I don't expect to happen very often, but still felt good.

I've been doing this new job for about a month, I think. The first week, I went on vacation to New England, which was really fun. That was the first week of October, and it was beautiful. I crossed Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine off my list. Oh man, it was a great trip.

Boston was the low point of the trip, and I don't believe I will be returning there unless someone pays me. Hear that, Boston? You suck! The traffic was unbelievable. There was nowhere to park, and nowhere to go without parking your car first.

The high point was hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Gorgeous. Breath-taking. Exquisite. I really can't put words around it. The air had just the barest chill. The fog was rising to become clouds flowing around the peaks. The trees had the aged and wild feel of nature. The leaves were in such a great variance of autumn colors that I have been deprived of in Houston.

That being said, I did see a tree today that was half red here in Houston. I'm sure that one will look dead tomorrow though, as the trees do here once fall actually arrives. The cold front we had come in here dropped the temperature to about 50 degrees, so all the Texans were wearing coats, and I finally stopped sweating.

There's plenty more to tell you about, but let's leave it for another day.

The Results are in!

I had one vote for me to stay here. Luckily, I count my vote as 10 of your votes, and therefore, I will be dropping my myspace account.

I'll be leaving this here until the new year, if I still remember it then. If not, then I guess it will continue into infiniti. Odd thought, eh?

Just in case you still wanted it - transmissionsfromoutside{dot}blogspot{dot}com

I figure somebody cares about what I have to say, considering the 130 visits to the blog this week, probably just for the last post, considering there haven't been any other ones for a long time. I moved all the old posts over to the new blog, so everything is retained, except the comments. Boo-hoo-hoo.

You won't see me around here any more, so if you want to get in touch, you know my address.