| Monday, December 6, 1999 |
As I listened to garble loads of speechs on the weekend, one this became quite clear. Wizards First Rule.
The end of the millennium does not end this year. It sends next. Thats right... it aint all over under 31 December, 2000 is. Period.
| Wednesday, October 20, 1999 |
Did you ever play Ultima VII and love it, only to be disappointed by the shonky "3D" stuff that they did in Ultima VIII and even more dismayed by the work on Ultima Online (since if you didnt have an internet connection, you would have to suck ass).
Well, here is Ultima IX : The Ascension. I loved Ultima VII, with all the freedom to wander the world and do almost anything you wanted to. This game could be so cool. I think I would even purchase it ahead of Wheel Of Time (geez, i wish they'd draw that to a close... I need closure!)
Come to think of it, there a few old games that I wouldnt mind having another crack at if I could. A-Train from Maxis was a favourite for a while, as was Gunboat and Gunship, both from Microprose (C64 version, boy, now thats going back). If anyone knows where I could get these three great games from, please give me a yell.
| Thursday, September 30, 1999 |
If someone were to make the sweeping generalisation that males were all the same, I would refute it with my own sweeping generalisation that males aren't all the same. In fact, males come in the following groups. Those that use the urinal, those that use the toilet (and can piss in it, like myself), those that use the toilet and miss and clean up after themselves, and those dirty sons of bitches that use toilets, miss and dont clean up after themselves. And I'm not talking about a dribble here, it must have been a full on gusher complete with soaking shoelaces. I am not, however, a member of the group of males that will clean up after other another males' aim and miss (and oh, what a tradgic miss it was). I think I'll wait for the cleaners.
| Friday, May 28, 1999 |
Well, its the last day of work for about 10 weeks. You'd think I'd me happy. You'd think I'd be estatic to get out of the country and just relax and enjoy myself. Well, I'm not. In fact, you might go so far as to say that right at this point I'm a grumpy, ungrateful SOB.
There was a farewell lunch today. For that I am grateful, and I thank one of my best friends for organising that. Tonight there's supposed to be a gathering of folks at the Royal Exchange (a pub I've mentioned before somewhere). Its not everybodys cup of tea, but screw it, I say. I dont even feel like going there myself, anymore. But I do have some friends turning up later on.
I dont know what exactly I'm pissed off at the moment, but the feeling of being so pissed off is gripping me so hard that I'm even having trouble typing this dribble. There's a pit in my stomach and a sour taste in the back of my mouth. My hands are shaking and I'm glad I'm getting out of here, this afternoon. I think I just need to relax, chill-out. Play some Half-Life or Quake 2 perhaps, but I think the maniacal laughter I would generate from bringing the other players down would scare a few of the neighbouring residents in the office.
Now its getting cold. Maybe its an adrenalin rush. After all, I'm about to head off to someplace I've never been before, away from friends and family.. and I'm also about to leave work for 10 weeks... 10 weeks.. say that slowly and let it sink in.. 10 whole non working blissful weeks of not knowing where you are going to be next week, but safe in the knowledge that when you get there you can do anything you damn well like EXCEPT work. Plus! I get full pay for it. Now I am definitely in the grip of an adrenalin rush and every second word here has to be re-typed because my fingers arent quite matching up to the keyboard the way I want them too.
I havent done any exercise for the last seven weeks. Perhaps thats it. Perhaps I just need to go running, or do some weights or just do something energetic and incrediable stupid
Time draws nearer and its almost time to go
I have to stop typing now... I've too much energy and my stomach grows tight with anticipation. If I dont come back and write some more later today, you probably wont hear from me again until 9 August, 1999
cya
| Tuesday, April 13, 1999 |
Here's a little article from BluesNews.
id Sued by Parents?
[loonyboi-2:15 PM EDT]
According to this Yahoo!
news bit, the parents of three students killed in a Kentucky high school
shooting spree by a 14 year old freshman are possibly naming id amongst the responsible
parties in this horrible incident. Here's the scoop:
The parents today announced their intent to file a $130 million lawsuit against two Internet porn sites, several computer game companies and the makers and distributors of the 1995 Leonardo DiCaprio film "The Basketball Diaries."
The suit will be filed in U.S. District Court later today, lawyers said.
"We intend to hurt Hollywood. We intend to hurt the video game industry. We intend to hurt sex porn sites" on the Internet, said Jack Thompson, one of the parents' lawyers.
The lawsuit claims that confessed shooter Michael Carneal, a 14-year-old freshman at Heath High School at the time of the Dec. 1, 1997, shootings, was influenced by the violence in "The Basketball Diaries" and by several violent computer games such as "Doom," "Quake," and "Mortal Combat."
Bloody Hell! I wish somebody would set a precedent where this sort of revenge sueing just doesnt happen. I wish somebody would come to the conclusion that short term exposure to computer games actually install the urge for people to go out and murder other people. This sort of behaviour has to come back to the parents who let TV and computer games be the home educator and baby sitter of their children. A child picks a role model and tries to be like that role model. In this case, if the child has acted like their role model, and killed somebody, then look to the role model. If that role model is not the parents, then somethings just fucked up and the parents are not taking an interest in what their child does.
| Friday, March 26, 1999 |
Wow. I didnt realise people actually read this drivel, but then it goes and gets a mention in a Y2K news update. I now feel compelled to say something positive about the Y2K experience, just to show that I'm not really whingeing (spelling?). I'm a pussy cat, really. My growl is louder than my scratch, and my purr is.. well.. we wont go there. I'm also thinking that I should clean up some of the content of earlier entries to this page.. but, nup.. It's all safe. All I ask is that you dont read Twisted Bits, or any semblance of professionalism (unquote) will be lost!
The Y2K Support itself is... ok. Its not great, yahoo, best experience on the face of the planet, because that would be me doing something else. :). Oh, that would be me going to and being in Canada.. what were you thinking?
As it has been said, no Y2K problems have actually been found, which is really good. I didnt think there would be any problems, but it restores my faith in the fact that, despite all of the cynicism of recent times, we as a company are producing quality code and that we care enough to make sure that it actually works. I mean, Shares 5.1 scares my silly, but from what I've heard from the NZ testing and from what is being tested at the moment, I think Shares 5.1 Australia testing will go better than I expect. Also, Deutsche actually used a beta of Shares 4.2 as their Y2K testing environment and the only real problem that had was because their environment did not have the latest patch release of the code.. How good is that?
Another plus with the testing is the people at the broking offices. They are really easy to get along with and listen to what I have to say, instead of entering a stubborn "want it done yesterday" attitude, that is occasionally adopted from some of our other brokers. I'd like to thank Jennifer Maclean, Matt, Cosmo and Serge of Deutsche, Glen Harper and Geoff Lamb of Merrills, Mark Garrett, Albert Wong and Andrew Martin of BTs and Kelly Smeltzer, Anne Finney and Peter of WDR for making Y2K Support a pleasant experience. (I think it was Peter.. or was that another Matt)
So, disregarding whatever I have said earlier, I do like doing the Y2K Support. Support was the first job I did went I join Star almost 4 years ago. (18 April 1995. Whenever I hear about the printer setup at Burrells it still makes be shiver, or even prorata problems with trust)
Institutional RetributionWhat does this mean? No, not the title.. this next sentence. I've forgotten about casual clothes day twice in a row. Does this mean I no longer care what I wear to work? Is my will sapped and my spirit broken? Am I numb to the daily events and social occurances that happen around me? Perhaps I'm become autistic.
Michael Stallard: Why do Business Consultants talk so loud?
Craig Apps: ?
Michael Stallard: So they can be heard over their shirts.
Maybe I've been institutionalised. I've been at Star for just short of four years now. I'm about to take my third real holiday ever (since I left high school), my second real holiday overseas and my first real holiday overseas by myself. I'm moving out of my unit next weekend to move back in with my folks until I go on holidays. I havent organised movers, travel insurance or who is going to transfer the cash between my accounts whilst I'm gone. I'm just thinking about too many things at once. Plus at work, I've got Systematisation, Star Interactive, Y2K Support and the possibility of SR analysis coming up. Well, its not that much, but its keeping me busy... Busy enough to not break the morning routine of shave, shower, put on pants and shoes, iron shirt, clean teeth, put on shirt, leave house.
Please.. somebody.. remind me the day before the next casual day so I dont forget or I'll go INSANE!
| Tuesday, March 16, 1999 |
Tee hee hee. Tee hee ho ho. (*giggle*) (*smurk*) 8b. Woohoo.. ha ha!
ahem.. ahhh hh hem
Sorry.. just had to get that out. Oh, stuff to talk about today.. Canada, Y2K, music, ineffectual rant pages, boggers. Actually.. no. No boogers.. I just wanted to say boggers. Well not that either. I wanted you to say boggers. I wanted you to say boggers. Now say boogers. Maybe even booggers. How about I just say boogers, except you say it in your head in my voice. Now you say boogers in your head in your voice. Now in a really bad accent. Arent you gad you didnt call a 0055 for this rubbish.
I dont really want to talk about ineffectual rant pages, either. I just wanted to say ineffectual, and possibly spell it incorrectly.
But Canada.. oh, Canada, here I come. I'm sure you'll be sick of hearing about this soon. I'll get sick of writing about it. Lastest developments are as follows... I picked up my ticket on Saturday, I picked up my gear (pack, sleeping bag, shoes and all the other crap) yesterday. Tomorrow, I'm going to buy the camera.. possibly a Canon EOS 500 SLR. Apparently it does the trick and is fairly bog stock, as far as SLR cameras go. Once that is done, I can arrange for travel insurance.
I saw "Meet Joe Black" on the weekend. Deceptively long, but I did enjoy it. Some people didnt like it because they thought it was all lovey-dovey and whatever. I thought it was a great movie about Death living a little. Yes, it was a little coupley, but it was still good. It even had a really sad bit in it.. but anyway, see it. Just make sure you see it in a comfortable seat. It would make a good video flick, since there wasnt anything in it that required a huge screen.
Speaking of video flicks, I saw Small Soldiers, Snake Eyes and Bordello of Blood on video on the weekend. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
Music music music. I've been a naughtly boy and have being buying CDs when I should be saving for Canada.. but bugger it, I like music (well, some kinds). I'll do my best to update the CDs page, but its way out of whack now. My fav. tunes of the moment are the whole Radiohead - OK Computer CD, plus the Live On Two Legs - Pearl Jam CD. I've been hunting for the Life Less Ordinary soundtrack, but I'm not having too much luck. Tropicalia - Beck is pretty good. I picked up a couple of Aphex Twin CDs but I couldnt find the one with Come To Daddy on it. I've also recently picked up the new Silverchair CD, and couple of Beck CDs.. There's got to be more in there, but I cant remember at the moment.
I've been playing alot of Rage Against The Machine on the bass. I'm trying to learn the Cake version of I Will Survive, but it has some tricky fingering that I cant handle yet at the pace they play it. Linds suggested (They Long To Be) Close To You, as a joke more than anything (the joke was on me actually.. but I'm not going to say anything about that). Its the first song I've seen that actually has the bass playing multi stringed chords, all the way though. How baazar.
Oh.. Y2K, Year 2000. I really really dislike it. At the moment I'm doing frontline support for the Australian brokers ASX testing. The one thing I am happy with is that Shares hasnt had any problems so far. Mind you, its all about talking to the ASX, and nothing to do with all the tricky stuff in Shares like commission management, house trading, treasury, telex, etc. I dont mind the support for the Y2K stuff because there is a plan for that and the product is relatively stable. I'm not too keen on the Y2K testing happening in May with the clients. This will be using Shares 5.1, and I really dont want to be dabbling with r5.1 problems. Plus there will be about 4 different brokers using the same environment, which will be very fun NOT! Nevermind. At the end of May, I'm outta here! Hopefully, by the time I get back Shares will be declared Y2K compliant and stable and all the rest of it.
Well, this has been quite an update. I think I'll leave writing more stuff until another day
| Tuesday, February 23, 1999 |
Thats just a little tune running through my head at the moment. It's also playing on my mp3 player.. Its actually call "Come To Daddy", and it has an interesting video that freaks me out every time I see it. It features alot of little children, all with the exact same face, an old granny pushing a shopping trolley through a housing project and an unplugged TV with a dudes face screaming "I will eat your soul" and "Come to Daddy". He then gets "birthed" out of the TV and grows into this thing.. he/it proceeds to scream at the granny and then he also ends up with the same face as the children. And this face aint pretty, folks. Its like a bad characteture (spelling?) of the artist of Aphex Twin, Richard D. James. If you want a listen, just ask for the .mp3 file. If I still have it, I'll send it through.
Well, I'm over my 25 pshychosis / neurosis / complex. I've accepted the fact that I'm 25, and seen as an adult my some. Now that I'm (apparently) mature, I get along with my folks alot better, and I see my siblings in a different light. My own mortality no longer bothers me, and I intent to live the next 50 years having fun and doing what I want (without stepping on too many toes.. somethings never change).
I dont think I've posted it here yet, but last year at about October or November, I decided to take a trip to Canada.. at least the seed was planted. I mentioned it to a couple of people, and one of them said, I'll believe it when I see it. Well, bugger that, says I. I'll definitely going now, I says. So I did the stuff you do when you're going to take trips like this.. book the time off, make a few cursory plans and get YHA membership and get the ticket. To date, I have the time off, I have the YHA membership and just today, I purchased the ticket.
Details for anyone who cares in a flight from Brisbane (0900) to Tokyo (1655) on the 30 May 1999. I then sleep over in Tokyo, the fly out to Vancouver (leave 1750 31 May 1999, arrive 1020 31 May 1999). Spooky, huh? I get to relive about 10 hours of my life. I'm then gonna bum around as much of Canada as I can until I leave Vancouver (1505 31 July 1999) for Tokyo (arrive 1650 01 August 1999), sit around for a bit and leave (2145 01 August 1999) and arrive in Brisbane (0720 02 August 1999).
In the middle I plan to go from Vancouver to Quebec (keb'ec) City, as see as much stuff as I can in between. I was going to bus back to Vancouver, but someone who I just met form Canada suggested that I fly back from Montreal or something... The tickets can be quite cheap, and that would allow be to see more of the east side of Canada (Cartman : west siii-eeed). He also suggested I buy a tent over there and go bush in the Rockies... Sounds like fun, so I probably will, along with a 3 to 4 day white water rafting trip.. I might even do a couple of those if I really enjoy it.
Anyway, I'll tell more as the time draws nearer. But for now, there is a 15% at K2 Base Camp this Thursday (25/02/1999) for YHA members who applied in Feb. I'm gonna get my pack and all the little items that are needed like locks, travels towels and stuff.
| Friday, January 08, 1999 |
Welcome into the new year. This is the year where IT folks cash in on older IT folks bugs (aka Y2K), people search there souls and decide to travel OS or become survivalists and everyone is one year older than they were the year before.
I've just spotted by birthday announcement on the News. Yippee. (I was being sarcastic). Most birthdays are non events for me. Just another year older and because of the closeness to christmas, b'day presents are fairly subdued. Almost most of my friends would be on holidays. But this year different. I'm 25. Arrrggghhhh!!!
Turning 21 is ok but only really means you can buy alcohol in the US. In Australia, that would have been happening since 18 (or younger :)). But 25 has social and psychological impact. Socially you are now a bona fide adult of the species. There are no special excepts with regard to insurance, puchases etc until to hit 35, 40 and then retire.
Psychologically most people think "Hey, I've been on the planet for 25 years.. a quarter of a century". But for me its "Damn.. thats a third of my life over". Its a morbid year.. or at least a morbid birthday. A gentle game of golf and a few quite drinks down at the RE, methinks.