Tag Archives: statistics

Unintended Consequences Strike Again, Entertainment Both Classic and New, A Bit of Cute, and a Return to Space

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This entry is part 98 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

The big news today (for me, at least) was the announcement of the U.S. return to manned space missions.

NASA will once again be shooting humans into orbit (with some help form Boeing and SpaceX)!

Now, that’s not quite the manned exploration mission style I’d prefer to see… but it’s better than nothing.

I’d love for us to set foot on the moon again. To build something permanent there and then use it as a jumping off point for Mars and beyond.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally dig what all the rovers and satellites and probes are doing. Heck, most of them are performing well beyond expectations and gathering great images and data. It’s pretty exciting from a pure science perspective.

But it’s not the same as an intrepid adventurer risking life and limb to go there (wherever “there” may be) just because they can.

Again, that’s not to take away from the utter bravery it takes to step up and sit on top of what’s effectively a giant bomb (that you’re hoping projects all that force in the right direction)… but the whole up and down trip really pales in comparison to that months-long journey to a brand new planet. Or the homesteader heartiness required to set up shop on the moon, setting the groundwork for the entire next chapter of space exploration–a chapter that doesn’t even really start on Earth.

We’ll get there, eventually, I guess.

But I’l really like to see it in my lifetime.

Anyway… here’s the feed.

Star Wars Stuff, Perspective on Numerous Levels, Cool Looking Hobbies, and (of course) Politics

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This entry is part 51 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I’ve spent far too long reading stuff and watching YouTube videos. Between that and hitting a meeting down in Silver Spring proper after work tonight, my “free time” has all but vanished, leaving me, once again, at the “Oh, crap, I should probably be going to sleep now-ish” point.

My “normal” sleep schedule really doesn’t fit well with the “normal” world. There’s really nothing close to normal about it. It rotates oddly if I’m left to my own devices. And, while I’ve found plenty of documented cases of variously odd natural sleep schedules. documentation doesn’t really help solve the problem of it not at all matching with a typical work schedule. (Let alone when anything else is going on.)

This has been the case for pretty much as long as I can remember.

And it really shows no signs of changing for the better. No matter how much I try to tweak it.

So, here’s the feed from today and the weekend. Enjoy it. I did. 🙂

Working the Pole, Cat vs Lizards, Star Trek Rumors, Disturbing Statistics, New Games, and a Spike-covered Bear Hunting Suit

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This entry is part 43 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Ridiculously busy day, again. And my time at home after has been largely spent watching videos that have come out of E3… so many awesome looking games that I’ll likely never play (and, if I did, likely would get quickly frustrated with).

I remember when computer games first became “a thing.” Right back around when home computers started becoming “a thing.” One of the first “big deal” games I just had to have was the 7th Guest… a puzzle game with the impressive inclusion of live video. Had to upgrade the computer–CD ROM drive and RAM–in order to play it. I’ve still never finished that game (and I just bought it again, for less than 1/10 the cost, a few months ago).

Around that same time, Nintendo and Sega were duking it out for the real home gaming market. I know my NES got a whole lot of use through the mid-80s and 90s. I may still be able to make it through the first two or three worlds of Super Mario Brothers with my eyes closed. I never had an Atari, so the NES was the first big deal thing (other than the VCR) that hooked into the TV and kept me entertained.

Things have changed a lot in the intervening decades. Now, games are announced more than a year in advance, cost more than they ever have, and often come out for multiple platforms. Heck, we have multiple platforms–and all ones that put the old clunky and pixel-jagged stuff I grew up with to shame. Nintendo is still holding on, but it’s certainly been eclipsed by Microsoft’s X-Box and Sony’s PlayStation.

Totally amazing, technology, really.

But, I never stuck with the console game stuff. My SuperNintendo was mostly unused. I didn’t get a first generation X-Box until the 360 came out… and, even then, it mostly gathered dust. Now I just keep buying games on Steam for my computer (when they’re on sale) and kind of playing them sometimes.

I never really got into the first person shooters when they were first big–with DOOM back in my college days. World building and turn-based world conquering were more my style. I’ve logged more hours on the titles in the Civilization series than is probably healthy.

So, yeah, I’m impressed by the stuff I’m seeing from E3. But I know most of it really isn’t for me.

I’m sure that won’t hurt their sales figures any.

Sleep, Misogyny, Sun, Movies with and by People I Know, and Kids Today

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This entry is part 35 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

There’s… a lot going on. Not directly with me, mind you–work is busy and stuff–but in general, with people I know and things that I follow, there’s a lot going on.

Just saw a movie tonight made by and full of people I know. And I even had the chance to help make it happen via their crowdfunding campaign. I’ll have to do an expanded review over on Toob Talk (eventually), but, suffice to say, if you get the chance to see Of Dice and Men at a convention or film festival, do.

Then there’s all the hubbub going on about the culture of male entitlement, misogyny, rape culture, and the like. I do have a lot to say on the issue–most of it not even related to the recent mass shooting (which specifically targeted women and was perpetrated by a dude who, while obviously a bit crazy, was at least somewhat representative of an undercurrent in male culture in specific and American culture in general).

And then there’s ongoing talk about the attributes of different generations…

Basically, I have to make a whole lot of time to just write about all of this stuff.

But I also have to sleep… but I can’t do that on my own schedule because of various cultural norms that dictate when a “typical work day” starts and ends.