Sweet Squared September 28, 2008
Posted by Mitchell in Science & Technology.Tags: Internet, Xbox
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So last night after I got my WAP set up I looked at getting xbox live up and running. I took the old modem and hooked it up to the cable downstairs an then to the xbox and turned everything on. I expected some problems and / or a lengthy set up session, but no – everything worked flawelessly! I can have both modems running simultaneously. Isn’t technology amazing? I went ahead and signed up for the Xbox Live Gold account and that went off without a hitch too. My gamer id is PoolSnark, so if you want to play something drop me a note. This morning I went around rummaging around in the myriad junk drawers around here and found a cable splitter that I’d picked up somewhere. I slapped it on a cable coming out of the wall and then two others out of the splitter to the TV and xbox. And now I don’t have to bugger around with cables when I switch from the xbox to cable TV!
Sweet Cubed!
Last week I had decided that I was going to get a HDTV for my living room and it was going to be my Christmas present for myself. When I told my parents last week about this I could tell that was what they were planning to get for me. Last night they confirmed this and told me to go pick out what I wanted and they’d write me a check for it. Sooo, today I’m shopping for a new HDTV! I’m going to check out Costco, Best Buy and Ultimate Electronics and see what’s what. I probably won’t actually buy anything today pending a comparison to what’s available at the BX at Nellis, so if y’all have any advice about this I’d appreciate it.
Sweet! September 27, 2008
Posted by Mitchell in Home, Juggling, Science & Technology.comments closed
I now have a wireless internet access point set up for my home! The security was a bit of a pain to set up, but I have at least password protection and the firewall set up. There are some stronger measures I can take and I’ll look at those too. One setting is that the WAP is invisible to any computer that isn’t named the same as the modem and another where it only allows access to a list of defined MACs. After some poking around I managed to find out what that MAC is for this computer and where the system name is set. Thank goodness I took a computer networking class a few years ago or I’d be completely lost. Anyway, now I can be downstairs watching TV AND surf the net! My enslackerification continues.
Now I have a cable modem for my xbox and I can start getting into xbox live! Hmm. Well I just had a thought. I have one cable modem upstairs, so how is another active cable modem on the same system going to work? Can it work? Maybe not. When I got this new one I had to first go over to COX to get the new modem set up before I could get access to anything else. I betcha I can only have one of these things running at a time. Now, I could put the new wireless modem downstairs and have the xbox connected via UBS and freerange with the laptop elsewhere. Well, no that’s not going to work with the TV downstairs. I could put in a splitter, but then I could only have TV and regular xbox but no internet and xbox live, or I can have internet AND xbox live but no cable TV. Ehhhh, no. That’s not going to work. OK, I can put the old modem downstairs on the xbox, put in a splitter and make sure I only have one of the modems running at any one time. I guess that might work. We’ll find out, I guess.
Three Day Weekend! September 26, 2008
Posted by Mitchell in Home.comments closed
Yay I’m off Monday! I have a butt-load of vacation time built up and I have to use some of it before the end of the year or else I lose it. I certainly don’t want that to happen so I’m padding some long weekends here and there. So, if the country’s entire economy goes into the crapper over the weekend at least I’ll get to watch it from the comfort of my home instead of the comfort of my cube. Good Lord what a mess that is. I try not to dwell on it too much though. Hopefully we’ll be able to mudddle through it somehow.
On a lighter note I’m going to see if I can’t get xbox live up and running this weekend. I’m going to run down to Best Buy and get a new wireless cable modem for my laptop and use the old one for the xbox. Yay! A new way to fritter the hours away! If’n any of y’all out there also have a xbox live account too and want to play something let me know. Currently I’m really digging the new Star Wars game I picked up. I think it has some multiplayer capability to it.
That’s it for now, I’ll type at y’all later.
Behold September 23, 2008
Posted by Mitchell in Home.Tags: Ceramics, Drop
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It snot finished yet, but it’s getting close. The size is 16.5″ x 10.5″ x 3″ and it’s two stacked containers with a lid. As always, click to embiggenify.
Odds ‘n Ends September 18, 2008
Posted by Mitchell in Art, Home, Science Fiction & Fantasy.comments closed
It’s a bit of a grab bag today.
Ceramics
In tonight’s ceramics class I get to see if my mugs survived their first firing. I’m a bit concerned about the second one because during the drying process the bottom of the handle where it attaches to the body was cracking a bit. I patched with with some slip until the crack didn’t show anymore, but that doesn’t always work. I guess we’ll see. Assuming they survive I now have to think about what glazes to use. Since we’re using medium-fire clay and glazes the real glassy stuff I like to use are off the menu. Hmmmm.
I’m currently working on a big, multipiece thing and I’m hoping to get it all put together tonight. I’ll get some pictures up if I do.
Politics
Hey, I got polled last night about the upcoming presidential election! This was my first time ever too, so I polled it good and hard and made sure the guy knew exactly where I stood in respect to the candidates. None of that squishy moderate stuff for me – all the partisan dials were pushed to 11 baby. Unfortunately they didn’t have a “When Hell Freezes Over” category for my likelyhood of voting for BO and I had to settle for “Extremely Unlikely” or somesuch. Oh well.
Movies
I finished watching Hitchcock’s Rear Window last weekend. One word reveiw: Meh. For a “suspense” movie it was actually kinda boring. Is it that we just don’t have the patience for those kinds of films anymore? I dunno. My tastes have changed though – I used to like the slasher/horror/gorefests but I couldn’t watch the last “Saw” movie and sent back “Devil’s Rejects” mostly unwatched too. I just have no desire to see that kind of stuff any more. I think my attitude change started with “Cabin Fever” a few years back.
Anyway, do y’all have any suggestions for something good? My netflix queue is getting kinda low. Oh, and can anyone explain the ending to “No Country for Old Men” to me and why that suckfest got “Best Picture”?
Games
I did pretty good at my pool league last Monday. We played the best team in the league and I held my own against them, winning more than 50% of my games. Alas my other teammates didn’t fare nearly so well so we were generally crushed overall.
It was fairly late when I got back home that night(> 11 pm) so stayed up a bit longer and went down to Gamestop to pick up my reserved copy of “The Force Unleashed” at midnight. There were probably a dozen other goobers there too who couldn’t wait to get their mitts on the game. One guy said he was going to play it all night and call in sick to work the next morning. I didn’t play any that night, nor the next but I did play for a bit last night. One word review: Impressive! Most impressive. This game is going to be a blast.
Whelp, that’s it for now. I’ll type at you later.
Somebody Stop Me September 14, 2008
Posted by Mitchell in Art.Tags: Ceramics, Faces
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I’ve mugged again. I can’t help myself; it’s a sickness.
Another Victim
This piece is much smaller than the others. It’s also first one I made at home and discovered that my rolling pin wasn’t able to roll out slabs the size I thought it could. Still, the features are yet another marked improvment over the previous units.
It’s late – more later.
The Other Mug September 9, 2008
Posted by Mitchell in Home.comments closed
A Better Mugging
More Muggery September 6, 2008
Posted by Mitchell in Art.Tags: Ceramics
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I’ve completed the first one and started the second one. It’s pretty certain that I won’t be able to get four done because we start on the next project next Tuesday. I learned a lot on the first one so the second is going a lot easier, and will almost certainly be considerably better. Anyway, on to the pictures.
Whatchoo lookin' at?
Ceramics! September 2, 2008
Posted by Mitchell in Art.comments closed
This class actually started last Tuesday, but tonight is when we actually got started on the first project, and got some pictures.
This is either the third or fourth time I’ve taken this class since the first one in 2000. Well, no – it’s definitely the fourth ceramics class, but there was probably a ceramics II in there somewhere. Anyway, I’m not a stranger to ceramics but this is the first class where I”m only doing hand-built stuff (no wheel throwing) and the first time with this instructor. She has some interesting projects for us and I look forward to learning a lot this semester.
Our first project is a series of mugs, or tumblers with a carrier. There are supposed to be four of these drinking vessels, but considering the size and complexity of my design I’ll probably have to scale back to two mugs. Actually they aren’t really mugs – too big. Tankards? Whatever. Check out the first one I’m working on:
I got a mug on my mug.
For a little while it kinda looked like Sylvester Stallone. It still needs a lot of work, but the basic form is definitely there. I’ll put a couple shots from other angles below the fold.
The Center of the Anomaly 