http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:Dayelyte&section=today deviantART RSS for by:Dayelyte en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:17:55 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/27146673/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/27146673/ Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:41:50 PDT
While Alienware is normally known for their gaming systems, I am actually using it for everything but. All of my standard 3D apps are loaded on it now and the hardware really makes a difference in their performance.

The laptop is configured with:

Intel Quad-Core Q9000 Processor
Six GB DDR3 Memory
Nvidia GTX 260M gfx board

This represents a semi-decent buildout without going completely crazy on the price.

The only drawbacks would probably be $$$$, weight and battery life. Though, considering the power draw of the hardware, the battery life is expected to be short. Plug it in to see the full potential of this thing. The laptop weighs thirteen pounds and when it is in the bag with my tablet and other assorted goodies, the entire package comes to twenty one pounds. Pretty hefty for a laptop. . . .

I'll eventually update the processor and memory as the prices drop ( right now they are ridiculously high ) and drop in a second 260M board for SLI capability once I can confirm my applications can deal with that setup.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/26875442/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/26875442/ Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:32:12 PDT
I looked long at several laptop makers and the biggest problem with most laptops were the native screen resolution ( I MUST have at least 1280 x 1024 for XSI ) and the graphics card that comes with it. Few of them actually met the requirements.

Then I went completely overkill and ordered an Alienware system. The M17x to be
more specific about it. . .

Yeah they're pricey but, it's:

A quad core
1900 x 1200 resolution
Blu-Ray drive
Nvidia GTX 260m gfx card ( 1GB vid memory )
6gb Memory ( Vista 64 bit )

I tossed around the idea of a faster dual core, but all of my applications ( Rhino, Softimage, ZBrush, etc ) started drooling when they saw the quad, so I went with it instead.

The drawbacks to the Alienware systems ( especially laptops ) are the price, size and weight. Make no mistake about it, I could build one HELL of a desktop for the same price and they would probably weigh about the same lol. . . .

But the thought of having 6GB of Ram available to the aforementioned apps, not to mention four rendering cores, should put some motivation back in me to go model something

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/25022052/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/25022052/ Fri, 29 May 2009 19:57:32 PDT
Was perusing my firewall logs earlier and noted a high percentage of the incoming hits are all focused on the same socket / port. ( Socket 13102 ) Can't seem to find anything on the net that tells me what lovely variant of trojan / virus / what-have-you this one seems to be, but it is coming from a multitude of address ranges so it is pretty widespread.

Sixty five percent of all the packets dropped at the router are this one targeted socket. Curious as to what it is. . . .


This is a reminder to either have a hardware firewall ( router ) or some sort of software firewall active on your system at all times. If you think your system isn't being scanned, think again. I have over seven hundred ( 727 actually ) unique hits against the router in the past thirty six hours alone and my system is just another random system out there on the net. . . .

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/24451735/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/24451735/ Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:44:33 PDT
Tonight, I was reminded of this fact in that it took a few HOURS to get the buttons on my seven button trackball remapped to the layout I prefer to use. HOURS to simply swap two damn buttons.
Most probably wouldn't bother, but it's a personal issue

Seriously. If you want to twist your brain into knots, just Google "remap mouse buttons Ubuntu" and wade through the countless pages of code and config files for what should be the one of the most simple things to do.

It's exactly this little issue that is going to keep Linux off the computers for most of the folks out there. It's an outstanding operating system as long as the defaults work for you. If you are one of those who tread off the beaten path a bit, Linux can still be a bit daunting. My personal opinion is that the majority of folks will not have the patience nor the mindset to sit and work at trying to get a simple tweak in place. While a great idea, you have to give Bill Gates credit where it is due. He took the geekiness out of the Operating System and gave it big colorful icons to 'click' and make magic happen.

For those who care, this single command is what it took to swap the buttons around on my trackball:

/usr/bin/xinput set-button-map "Microsoft Microsoft Trackball Explorer?" 1 2 8 4 5 6 7 3 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 10

I simply had to add that command to a startup program. Simple as that. . . .

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/24255261/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/24255261/ Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:30:25 PDT
However, I pulled the post up from a different computer ( work ) and took a look at it and I can see what they were referring to. It looks like someone took a hand grenade to my post as the line breaks ended up in random positions on each line. It makes for a very odd looking post indeed.

Typically, I'll edit the posts in an external text editor ( in my case gedit since I'm running a Linux based system here at home ) then copy / paste them over into the input box.

I'm running a combo of Firefox / Ubuntu here at home so I'll have to dig a bit to see what might be causing this. Until then, my apologies for making your eyes bleed

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23940818/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23940818/ Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:17:55 PDT some reference material for an upcoming attempt at doing
Fifi LaFume ( ala Tiny Toons ) in ZBrush. I was seeing all
the usual model sheets and whatnot when I came across a
Russian page and nearly fell out of my chair.

On the page was a very old picture I did of Fifi and Hampton.
Very old being circa 1996. ( Thirteen years ago lol ) It even
has my old email address still on it.

All of a sudden I'm feeling really old lol. . . .

I lost that image many years ago and only have a thumbnail
sized one to remember it with. Well actually, that's not true.
I still have the line art I did for it in an old scrapbook.
Will have to upload it if I can find it. . .

Strange how I stumbled across it so many years later. . . . .

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23681638/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23681638/ Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:03:08 PDT

On Wednesday, the high for where I live was in the realm of
82-84F ( ~28C ). Right now, it is a lovely 45F ( 7C ) outside.

Couple that with every friggin tree and flower shooting pollen out
and my sinus / allergies are currently on a roller coaster ride from
hell.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23614321/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23614321/ Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:30:27 PDT
We are pretty much a 24/7 society anymore so changing the
damn time around is really quite unnecessary unless we enjoy
watching folks walk around like zombies for a couple of days

A comet could have taken out the moon last night and I doubt I would
have given it a second thought. . . . I'm THAT tired. . . .



Another damn day like today and I'm going to need a Dr. Pepper
IV drip started. . . .

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23564628/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23564628/ Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:03:36 PST urge to model, sculpt or draw anything in particular. In fact, I've been
toying around with learning Perl and, just today, I built a SATA power
selector switch that allows me to boot multiple operating systems without
resorting to software boot selections.

Simply turn the knob to the OS you wish to run in for the session and hit
the power button. Allows you to 'experiment' with an OS if you wish without
the potential of corrupting yourexisting setup.

The other drives remain powered down thus cutting down on power consumption
overall as well as minimizing wear and tear on the drives.


I've been trying to decide what to try and do next and the mind just keeps
coming up blank. I'm toying around with Fifi from Tiny Toons, but question
my ability to even get close to keeping her on model within a 3D environment
without pulling my hair out. . .

I've often wondered if those with right brain dominance ever wish for the
opposite ? I know I do. . .

My next life I'm going to allocate forty points of intelligence into artistic
ability. While a Mensa member I will not be, I'll be far happier overall I
think. I am of the opinion I would be far more satisfied with creating a
decent sculpture than I would with creating a decent Unix script

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23163295/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23163295/ Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:32:02 PST full of Windows Vista discs. . . . Todays adventure just reinforces why I
use Linux for 95% of my computing needs.


I have an old copy of Windows XP. Very old. Pre-service pack anything old.
It works and I paid for it and I'll be damned if I shell out another $300
for an up to date version.

The problem is computers have evolved since XP's debut. We no longer really
have floppy drives and the original XP disc has no idea what a SATA drive even
is. Therein my headache began this morning at 6:30 am.

Have a new 500GB drive that I'm going to migrate over to in the near future.
Dropped it in the system, got the partitions set the way I wanted them and put
the XP install disc in. It can't see the drive. . .

It dawns on me a bit later WHY ( no SATA drivers on the original XP release )
but it DOES give you the option to load third party drivers if need be. Just
insert the floppy in drive A: and off you go. . . .

Except this is 2009 and floppy drives are pretty rare to see anymore. So the
question now is how in the hell do I load SATA drivers so XP can see the drive
to begin with ? XP will only allow drivers to load via floppy. . . .

A conundrum for sure. . . .

Enter the amazing little application known as ' Nlite '.

This will take your windows install disc and allow you to create a new install
disc complete with custom drivers, service packs,etc. etc. Just get all your
drivers together, do whatever tweaks you need and burn the new ISO image to a CD.
As part of the ISO package, you can even load programs you know you'll need,
device drivers ( Sound Card, Video Card, 3D Mice or tablet drivers, etc ) so
they'll be on the disc ready to go once you get the OS up and running.

Voila !

Works perfectly. I was quite elated to see it work as well as it did.
HIGHLY recommend this program. ( it's free )

[link]

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23145727/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23145727/ Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:21:49 PST
Sometimes it works the way we expect it to, sometimes it does not.

Here lately, I get into moods for lack of a better word to describe
it with. While in this state, everything seems to fall into place when
I try to model something. The points go where they should, the tools
have the effect I'm looking for and I can burn out a sculpt in short
order and be semi-happy with it. It's almost an auto-pilot mode where
I can barely recall doing the work until it's finished.

When I'm NOT in one of these moods, nothing goes right. I can barely
get base geometry created and I will model for an hour or so before
deciding it's not working ultimately trashing the entire model and
starting from scratch. Sometimes I can find the groove and sometimes
it just doesn't happen.

It's extremely frustrating and can lead to extended periods of non
interest in artwork at all. What will then happen is I'll see some
work someone else has done or a piece of music that will trigger
something in the brain and the interest rekindles itself.

I wish I knew the reasoning behind this.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23037685/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/23037685/ Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:56:32 PST
Ever consider one ?

I decided to write this as his majesty is currently yelling
at the top of his lungs in the living room letting anyone and
anything know he's awake.

Allow me to give you some insight on one of the tougher
birds you can possibly live with: The Cockatoo.

First and foremost, they are LOUD. Extremely loud. In
fact, a Moluccan Cockatoo holds the world record at 135
decibels. They can get so loud it just hurts. As a comparison,
a commercial airliner checks in at 140 db. When they're mad
or excited for whatever reason, you'll know. I can hear mine
about a quarter mile away ( about 400 meters ).

Messy. Expect to find food, toys and feathers a considerable
distance from the cage. Cockatoos in particular have a dust
coating on their feathers so expect your entire home to be
covered in it 24/7. The cleaning service will probably quit
It's impossible to keep the house clean of it, so just keeping
up with it will be a daily ritual.

Lifespan. A large bird is a major commitment as they will likely
outlive you. Sixty years or more is not uncommon in the larger
parrot species.

Clingy. The Cockatoo is THE de-facto poster child for being clingy.
If it were up to them, they would spend twenty four hours a day,
every day outside of the cage with you.

Destructive. One of their favorite hobbies is trying to see just
how much of your stuff they can destroy. Nothing is safe unless it's
made of solid concrete or metal. The amount of pressure that beak can
generate can easily punch through just about everything. A few seconds
out of your sight can be an expensive lesson to learn. To them, it's
fun. To you, it's horrifying to find your keyboard devoid of all of
its keys. All nicely piled up on the floor in front of the chair.

Intelligent. Very intelligent actually. The cage better have some
locking mechanism that cannot be manipulated from the inside because
if they can reach it, they can probably open it. They have to have toys
and puzzles to keep them occupied otherwise they get bored. Bored = loud.


Space. The cages for the larger birds tend to be a bit massive. Ours
takes up a corner of the living room and is four feet in length, width
and depth and stands nearly seven feet tall. He has his own lighting
system and a draw curtain to isolate him at night for sleeping purposes.


Few folks have the patience to live with these guys for very long. While
a lot of fun if you can handle the stresses of living with one, the amount
of work required is beyond many folks ability to deal with. As a result,
I would highly suggest doing extensive research on them before you ever
make a final decision to allow one in your home.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/22902331/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/22902331/ Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:04:59 PST you have handy, but let em go. Why ?

If you hold them in, your blood pressure will spike during the event. Normally
this isn't all that big a deal. . . but not always.

Case in point.

About two weeks ago it was the wee hours of the morning and I woke up to a
mega-sneeze warning. Not wanting to wake anyone else up, I held it in and
quietly felt my head nearly pop. lol

No worries.

The next morning, I find that little event put a little too much pressure on
the blood vessels at the back of my right eye. They leaked as a result of it
and now there is a tiny amount of blood floating in my right eye.

That tiny amount causes HUGE sight issues let me tell you. As the light tries
to pass through this spot, it is darkened a bit due to the fluid not being
clear. As a result, there is now a lovely dark spot in my vision which creates
a major eye strain issue as well as a totally fubar depth of field.

The best way to describe the sensation is this:

Go find a camera with a flash or another equally suitable bright light.
Close your left eye.
Hold said flash / light about six inches from right eye and fire.
Now open your left eye and enjoy.
Should go away in a few moments.

Only my version hangs around a bit longer.

Eye doctor says it takes about a month for it to clear.

Imagine my excitement on hearing that statement. . .



The moral of this story is to let them sneezes rip. Don't try to hold em in
as you might find the consequences a bit further reaching than you think.


I managed to model out a version of Cynder ( from the Spyro series ) in Zbrush
today, but it's quite difficult to do so with one eye covered. .

So my apologies in advance if the model looks odd.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/22788980/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/22788980/ Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:55:41 PST
Apparently, there was a shooting in Miami where the shooter used some
sort of semi-auto rifle to gun down several people. Yeah I know, what
a SHOCKER huh? A shooting in Miami? Say it isn't so !

The news is calling it an AK-47 ( since it generates a lot of hysteria )
but the fact is, they're not entirely sure WHAT kind of weapon it actually
is since they haven't recovered it nor the shooter as of this writing.

Of course the Mayor and Police Chief are all up in a tissy about banning
everything under the sun so we will all be that much safer. Why not
just hand out free Valium to the populace? I would imagine crime would drop
through the floor if everyone stayed borderline comatose 24/7.

Once again, they're simply taking the easy way out. They want the government
to do the job for them. Ban it all because less than one percent of folks who
have guns of this nature use them in a criminal act. Maybe we should fire the
entire police force every time one of their officers goes overboard and breaks
a law. . . or dismiss all of Congress because one or two of them are corrupt.

Silly right ? Exactly what I think about banning firearms based on the actions
of a select few with double digit IQ's. . . .

This will be a touchy topic for the new administration I think. While they would
love to act tough and get a gun ban in place, I think they will tread lightly for
the first term so as not to jeopardize any re-election possibilities. Since the
Supreme Court shot down the DC ban on handguns, they also realize that any legislation
would be far from a sure thing. If Miami is so concerned with these types of weapons
why don't they push for a ban at the State level? After all, look at how well it works
for Kalifornia . . . . .



]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/21903409/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/21903409/ Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:50:38 PST Fortunately, it was my work laptop so they'll have to
deal with it.

Here's what happened.

I happened to run an ipconfig /all checking what IP
was checked out via DHCP when I noted the DNS addresses
looked strange. They definitely were not my normal
addresses issued from MY ISP. So, I changed them back
to what they were supposed to be, re-enabled the connection
and did a double take as they reset themselves back to
the oddball ones.

Instant red flags go off in my head.

I kill the connection and instantly fire up a virus
scan. . . . one file triggers. A hidden autorun.inf
file in the C drive. Great. Where is that on access
scan when the @#$! thing came in ? *grumble*

I run a root kit detection utility against it and lo
and behold it comes back with several registry entries
that are hidden from Windows. Pretty obvious they are
the culprit here so I start thinking about how to delete
these things when Windows can't spot em.

Normally, I would fire up ( pick a Linux boot disc ) and
go edit the damn things out of existence. However, our
corporate laptops are secured by whole disc encryption
so that route is quite out of the question.

Recovery Console is no good due to the drive encryption.
Have to log into Windows before the decrypt happens.
System Restore wouldn't work at all even though there are
a bazillion restore points available to use.

After toying with it for several hours, I ultimately
managed to somehow corrupt an important file ( System )
and the whole thing decided it was done. From that
point forward it just quit booting. No safe mode, no
last known good configuration, no nothing. lol

So the Desktop folks will have something fun to do
tomorrow. Lesson learned here. I will never use full
disk encryption on my own systems since I would at least
like the ability to fix them if the damn things go down !

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/21271483/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/21271483/ Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:31:25 PDT
No warning, nothing.

We spent most of today at the Texas Renaissance Festival. We try
to go every year if we can. It's a two hour drive to get there
and another two hour trip home. In between, we get to see what
happens when you mix alcohol, costumes, and a reason to act silly.
Overall it's a fun time and we usually are beyond tired by the time
we get home.

This year, however, I ran into something I didn't expect to see.

While walking around, I ran into a small store / booth selling
Fantasy artwork. What caught my attention is I recognized this
work immediately. The walls were covered in lithographs and even
original paintings ( which were professionally priced ) and the
small sign next to the one person sitting in the booth stated that
he was, in fact, the artist responsible for everything in the store.

This somewhat shocked me as I realized I was looking at none other
than the VERY well known fantasy artist, Jeff Easley.

I didn't know what to say. If you've ever perused through any
Fantasy artwork ( especially D&D artwork ) you've seen this mans
work. His painting style is unique to him and his work is almost
instantly recognizable.

While I couldn't quite part with the $3000.00 price tag on the
painting I would really liked to have, ( original ) I did at least
pick up an original line drawing from him

Made my whole day. . .

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/21125285/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/21125285/ Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:50:43 PDT total honesty:

I'LL BE GLAD WHEN IT'S OVER WITH.

I tire of all the backstabbing / mudslinging that goes
on during these things. At this point I don't CARE who
wins the damn thing, just put us out of our misery please.

Negative campaign ads should be banned completely.

Why ?

Because I want to know why YOU think you're the best
candidate for the job. Why YOU think the other candidate
is a poor choice isn't relevant to me.

I'll judge that side of it thanks

The message they end up putting out is:

" Look how terrible he / she is ! I'm not AS bad as they are. "

" So vote for me, the lesser of two evils ! "



]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/20906573/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/20906573/ Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:02:13 PDT
I have spent WAY too much time in this thing
since it launched and am having quite a good
time in the process.

Something about blasting dwarves or their
High Elf goody two shoe allies into little
pieces makes life all good again

Dark Elf Sorceress are just plain mean at
long range. . . . . *evil laugh*

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/20518955/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/20518955/ Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:45:16 PDT
As some of you may / may not know, I live twenty miles
north of Galveston, TX. Power went out about 7:30pm Fri
( CST ) and came back on about an hour ago. Cable head
reset and internet access came back online about forty
five minutes later.

That was a rough ride for sure.

Initial eye-wall winds were from the NE whereas the end
pass ( bottom side of the eyewall ) switched to due west.
Second pass was far stronger than the primary one without
a doubt. I can't begin to calculate the wind speeds but
the second pass was nearly impossible to stand up in.
I stayed under cover as shingles were flying around
embedding themselves in trees, fences and whatnot.

I was outside trying to keep minor issues from becoming
major ones for most of the storm. The street flooded very
quickly. I started placing bricks on the driveway as
marker points once the water was high enough. My estimates
would put the water rise level to 3-5 feet in under two
hours. It made it 1/2 way up my driveway before it started
to recede.

No major damage to the house other than a few missing
shingles ( about a dozen ). Fence held as we built it with
high winds in mind. It is the ONLY fence standing in one
piece. Every other fence in the area was obliterated.
Limbs and trees everywhere. Power lines all over the place.
Many, many houses missing most of their shingles and even
parts of roofs and awnings. Garage doors that faced N or W
were bowed in from the wind force.

While roaming about the yard during the storm, I came
across a dove floating in the rising water. It was still
alive so I picked it up and placed it in an outdoor aviary
I have for Goober ( my cockatoo ). It was protected from
the wind / rain by a storage building and the fence and it
was well up out of the water.

Over the next hour or so, I found six more and they all
ended up in the aviary. I came across three that I was
unable to get to in time.

All the survivors were let loose the next day once the
winds died down enough.

To top it all off, we have a magnolia tree in the front
yard which survived the storm as well. The day after the
storm passed two flowers bloomed at the very top of the
tree. Was quite cool. I like to think of it as the trees
way of saying " Screw you CNN and your Certain Death
Bullshit " lol

Tip: Fireants will cluster together and form a floating
island in any flood conditions. Thus, watching where the
hell you're walking is essential. Bumping into a floating
nest of fireants will make for an unpleasant day. Didn't
spot any snakes out and about ( surprised )

Managed to keep my fish-tank alive by parallel chaining
a bunch of old 12-volt ups batteries together and wiring
them into an inverter. Worked damn well for running a small
fan to boot. . .

The only real casualty here would be the contents of the
fridge / freezer. With no generator ( folks were getting
into fist fights over them at Home Depot ) everything in
the fridge went bad. You can bet one of my next purchases
will be a whole house / auto-start 10Kw generator. Will
not go without power again.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/20434896/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/20434896/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:35:06 PDT
OH NOES !

lol

Thus would the news have you believe the end of the world as we
know it is upon us. It's amazing how much panic and hysteria the
news is actually responsible for.

I'm sitting here watching the track line slowly edge it's way
East and I really have no intentions of leaving. Yeah, I'll go
out and secure all items that might fly around and will even secure
the windows with plywood when it becomes necessary.

I refuse, however, to join in the hysteria that everyone seems to
have been infected with. It's all thanks to our local news folks
blowing everything way out of whack as they usually do. If the
storm is so damn dangerous, why do you have junior reporter umpty
scrunch standing on the beach with a camera crew ? Goofy bastages.

Stores are a complete madhouse right now. Folks are buying enough
bottled water to turn Ethiopia into an oasis overnight. Folks are
standing in lines for HOURS for plywood and batteries. Absolute chaos
is the atmosphere in any grocery or hardware store around here.

I am far more wary of what the sheeple will do in a panic than I am
of the storm itself.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/20048877/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/20048877/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:09:05 PDT artist and, of course, browsing their gallery.

But what I find even more interesting is finding those artists
who fit into the ' amazing ' category, then looking at THEIR
favorites list.

It's interesting to see what the talented ones enjoy looking at.

Sometimes it falls in line with their own artwork, but many
times it does not.

It makes for interesting speculation on their personality

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/19865493/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/19865493/ Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:31:09 PDT
The only issue I had with the show, had nothing to do with the show.
Rather, it was the lady behind me ( mid 40's maybe early 50's ) that
decided about 2/3 of the way into the movie was an outstanding moment
to fire up her cell phone and start yapping away.

When I turned around and stared at her, I think she came to the realization
that if a Cell Phone Serial Killer were ever to exist, she was about to
witness the birth of one.

Is it simply sheer stupidity or sheer arrogance ( or a mixture of the two )
that exist within people today ? I mean, seriously, what part of the multiple
requests prior to the movie that state:

1) Please turn off your cellphones
2) Remain quiet during the movie

Did this woman not understand ?

I personally think these things happen because society as a whole has been
programmed to be nice or patient. Somewhere some rule states I'm not
supposed to get up and do anything unpleasant to this woman. Rather, I'm
supposed to notify the proper authorities and let them handle the situation.

You know what though ?

I'm a firm believer that, for some folks, nothing short of a severe beating
can ensure the person retains the knowledge gained for further use. Reducing
the phone to smaller pieces would also help seal that knowledge in where it's
supposed to be.

Somewhat like poking a bear with a stick. People don't do it because waaaaay
back in time some neanderthal tried it out. It went like this:

Man sees bear -> Man pokes bear with stick -> Bear eats man.

Period. End of story.

To this day, we refrain from poking bears with sticks.

From the bears point of view, mission accomplished.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/19559565/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/19559565/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:18:38 PDT on the game in general.

The story and the artwork / music were fine. The gameplay
is typical of the usual run around and kill anything that
moves type of game.

However !

Like all console based systems, I absolutely loathe the
camera system. I cannot count the number of times I died
due to incorrect perception of a cliff / floating rock /
whatever edge. If the camera isn't angled right, it's damn
near impossible to judge the distance to your landing point.

Which leads me to the second hated item in the game. Jumping
puzzles. Couple this with the aforementioned camera issue
and it makes for some damn maddening moments. Nothing like
overshooting your landing point only to plummet to your death
for the Nth time.

The final issue I had with the game would probably be some
of the boss fights. ( especially the last one ) It seems the
developers enjoy killing you over and over again before you
spot any potential weaknesses in the enemy your fighting. I
don't think dying should be the way to teach imo, but then
again I'm not a game developer.

For the final fight, it would be nice if they gave a slightly
better visual indication of your rage level. After running
fully out of power more than once trying to kill the final
boss, I finally noted I had a full rage meter. . .

Which meant a simple flick of the wrist ( both controllers
flipped up ) pretty much completed the game. . . .


Quite frustrating

Oh well. . . . it's done. The final installment of the
series should be out this fall.

I've kicked around the idea of picking up a PS3, but if all
console games are built in a similar fashion, I may rethink
that idea. . . .

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/19357995/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/19357995/ Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:23:57 PDT
Probably the best argument against gun control I've ever come
across. Enjoy.

Why The Gun In Civilization?

By Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret)

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force.

If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.

The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single gay guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat--it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed.

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser. People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level.

The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force.

It removes force from the equation...and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/19099205/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/19099205/ Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:25:35 PDT
I've decided with all the games Microsoft is playing these days
I would go give Linux a try. While I am quite versed in the Unix
world ( HP-UX and Solaris are my specialities ) I never bothered
with it at home.

I finally decided on Ubuntu. This looks like something I can load
on my parents machine ( the next time they open that ' You WON '
attachment and their computer dies ) and never worry about it again.

I simply went out and bought another drive and dedicated it to the
Ubuntu OS. Works like a champ. So far the ONLY issue I have is the
trackball I use. It doesn't support the half dozen buttons in my
configuration that I like to use. I'll fix it eventually though.

If you haven't tried it, I whole-heartedly recommend giving it
a shot. It's not a half bad OS.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/18567921/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/18567921/ Thu, 29 May 2008 21:18:01 PDT
They've been around forever, but hey. . .

They crack me up.

Popcorn - [link]
( The synchronized dance scene always makes me laugh )

An Axel-F remake - [link]

For you soccer fans out there - [link]

And this is what happens when you enjoy cartoons and
can play the piano ! My goal is to eventually play the
entire medley from memory.

[link]

Then there is this guy. Would love to see the sheet music
for this even though it would probably make my head hurt

*To demonstrate how small a world it really is, I found out
he has a DA account here Go figure !*

Find him here: [link]

The Animaniacs Theme song on Piano-
[link]

This always cracks me up. Pachelbel's Canon in D Rant-
[link]

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/18501025/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/18501025/ Sun, 25 May 2008 20:20:28 PDT
That is some eye opening information to put it simply. Holy sh*t is the term
I would probably use to describe it.

For the unaware, the gist of the documentary is thus:

A perfectly healthy guy decides to see just how unhealthy McDonalds actually
can be. So, over a thirty day period, he eats nothing but McDonalds three times
a day.

All the while he is being tracked by several doctors. Over the course of the
month long study, they watch his previously healthy blood work numbers
go right off the scale. Even the doctors are surprised at how bad it became.

Normally, I find documentaries boring. This one however, is one I would
recommend EVERYONE should see. You'll never eat fast food again. . . . .

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/18326694/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/18326694/ Wed, 14 May 2008 19:17:17 PDT in particular really stands out. It is updated three times a week and is VERY
well done.

To read it from the beginning will take some time, but it's worth it.

Check out Girl Genius Online Comics

[link]

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/18137225/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/18137225/ Fri, 02 May 2008 17:35:36 PDT
I recently broke down and bought the new version of Rhino ( v4 ) as I get tired of
meshing things in Rhino for export over to XSI for rendering in Mental Ray. Since
Rhino supports V-Ray, I'm going to give it a shot for a while. So I might actually
model something in the near future lol

The bad news is:

While practicing tumbling exercises for Aikido, I managed to beat up a disc in my
neck. It will require surgery to fix and is scheduled for next week. . . *ugh*

At least I'll have plenty of time to get used to V-Ray

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15754267/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15754267/ Sat, 01 Dec 2007 18:44:10 PST
With Food Poisoning of course !

A great big bow and extreme amount of respect for the lovely bit of bacteria
known as Salmonella. It's amazing just how violent and how quickly that little
bug can absolutely floor you.

Thursday night, I down a few remaining Nutter Butter cookies I have ( two )
with a small glass of milk. About an hour later, I noted the stomach cramps.
Three hours after that, I was down for the count.

I know it wasn't the milk as I have been drinking it all week long. Didn't have
anything else to eat that day so. . . I can narrow it down to one of two cookies.

Uncontrollable shivering, nausea and intestinal issues like you wouldn't believe.
To make matters even more entertaining, any attempt to sit up and / or stand
would cause the room to spin so violently that I would simply pass out. More
than once I woke up in some random spot on the floor during my attempt to
make it to the bathroom.

Nothing like waking up in the doorway in the hall wondering how the hell you
got there and how long have you been there ? Or the computer room, or the
living room for that matter. . . .

Didn't even get out of bed on Friday. At all.

This brings to mind a saying I'm somewhat fond of. Never have I had more
faith in it than I do now. It goes something like this:

" Just because I'm small doesn't mean I'm weak. "

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15639458/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15639458/ Fri, 23 Nov 2007 18:05:51 PST I can use it to call up the security camera in the living room from
anywhere. VERY HANDY.

However, Apple doesn't want you to be able to make your own
ringtones without them charging you for it. Which I find extremely
annoying. Especially when I don't want music as a ringtone. So,
some playing around with it and I now have a ringtone I can't possibly mistake for anyone else's phone.

It's my parrot in a full blown yelling session

Anyhoo, this was done with I-Tunes 7.5 and IPhone firmware
1.1.2 ( both the current versions I believe ) The one other piece
of software I used was Quicktime Pro ( though you can likely use
any software that will convert to .aac files )

Steps as follows:

1) Open or import your soundbite into Quicktime Pro
( or other capable software )

2) Export it as an .mp4 file ( Movie to MPEG-4 in QT )

3) Select the options and select Audio.

4) Make sure your format is set to AAC-LC (Music)

5) Pick a data rate ( I used 192kbps )

6) Select ' Best ' encoding quality.

7) Save the file somewhere you can find it again. Desktop works.

8) Rename file from Whatever.mp4 to Whatever.m4r

9) Drag it into Itunes ( Iphone area ) A ringtones category
will show up under your phone if you got it where it needs
to be.

10) Select the ringtones tab. Drag your file here. It's the tab
along the top of the Itunes window.

11) Check it and sync your phone.

12) Voila, custom ringtone. Ready to rumble.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15454313/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15454313/ Sat, 10 Nov 2007 19:48:31 PST
1) Decisions we make.
2) Decisions others make.
3) Events that are beyond anyones ability to control.

Tonight, I was reminded of these.

I had made the decision to run to Subway for dinner. Simple hop in the car and
drive a few miles into town sort of thing. While sitting at the red light, the car coming
up behind me either decided to try and beat the cross traffic to his turn, or ( per his
story ) his foot slipped off the brake pedal and hit the gas instead.

Either way, his car hopped the curb and accelerated past mine on the right side.
He shot through the curve just as the cross traffic reached it and managed to hammer
the lead car coming across.

The driver who ran the light was driving a brand new car. Paper tags and all.
A hyundai I believe.

As if that weren't enough, the car he hit wasn't the average everyday car. Oh no,
tonight he chose to make this mistake in grand fashion. He ended up hitting a BMW
M5 Sedan. The baseline price of this car checks in around $80,000 ( and up depending
on options )

All things considered, I'm quite elated he didn't hit me though I'm sure the BMW
driver would disagree with me on that.

It does go to show you though that no matter how careful you are. No matter how
safe you are or how much you try to do the right things in life, there are some things
beyond our control.

Sometimes, life just reaches out and punches you in the gut.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15441726/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15441726/ Fri, 09 Nov 2007 22:39:48 PST to try next, I just need to make the time to do it.

Besides playing with the new Sibelius software, I just finished Half Life 2 all the way
through episode two. Kills me I gotta wait for episode three to see where the story
heads next.

Then I'm killing time tonight waiting for traffic to clear out a bit and I spotted Call of
Duty 4 sitting on the shelf at Best Buy.

Gotta say impressive game. It gets your blood pumping for sure

I highly recommend it.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15398956/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15398956/ Tue, 06 Nov 2007 21:41:23 PST
It's called Sibileus 5. It's basically notation software used for writing music.

After playing with it for a few days now, I can say I'm quite happy with it.
It's eye-opening ( ear opening ? ) to listen to the difference between software
based samples ( typical MIDI implementation ) and the Roland X-8 sitting on my
desk.

Long story short, I removed the software based samples

For those of you who are musically inclined, I would easily recommend it.

Eventually, I plan on returning to 3D modeling. I just needed a break from
it for a bit

-Daye

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15261217/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15261217/ Sun, 28 Oct 2007 16:31:08 PDT
First, the mosquitoes are out in full force here and I'm losing pints of blood
anytime I step foot outside the house. I'm tempted to gas the entire block
if it would mean the demise of all the cats, dogs, frogs, birds and every living
critter within half a mile. . . .

Texas might be cheaper to live in, but it still comes at a price believe me.

Had a slow leak in a bicycle tire earlier today so was messing with it. I pumped
it up to fifty psi ( tires rated for 30-80 ) and was carrying it to the bathtub to find
the leak when the thing basically detonated in my hands. In reality, the tire simply
decided to have a blowout about three inches from my left ear.

The force blew the glasses off my face and I can't hear @#% out of my left ear
at the moment. Well, that's not entirely true. I hear the RINGING perfectly fine. . .
just not much else. . .

Somedays, it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. . . . .

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15235929/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/15235929/ Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:42:56 PDT monster theme this time around. Critter in a closet, critter under the bed, etc. etc.

I have a zillion ideas for this one, but the time limit is killing most of them off.

While the time limit has been extended to 90 minutes, I'm not certain I can
pull off any ideas thus far within that timeframe. Well, not any that would
be viewable anyway

I realize it's a speed modeling competition but man, trying to get a decent
organic model in that timeframe is going to be rough.

To top it all off, I'm killing WAY too much time with the latest version of
Half-Life. The motivation to model just isn't there at the moment. I know
what my next non-speed model subject is going to be, I just need to get
permission from the artist to do it

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14679961/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14679961/ Mon, 17 Sep 2007 20:34:09 PDT
The 3D thing used to be fun. It was interesting to ' build ' something
from the ground up. Now ? It's annoying. lol

At what point do you cut your hobbies free when they no longer interest you ?


I know better than getting rid of all my soft / hardware. I've been down
this road more than once. Play with something for a while, get bored with
it, then move on. I think I've bought / sold three keyboards ( the music
variety ) before I learned that lesson. . . .

Ultimately, I'll come back to it I guess. When I get bored of whatever
else I choose to take modelings place.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14609786/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14609786/ Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:51:00 PDT story. If you don't own a parrot, here's hoping you understand what you'll
be getting into if you ever decide to get one

I should have known something wasn't quite right. It was far too quiet in
the house. This is unheard of if you share your home with a Cockatoo. It's
one of those warning signs that you should probably go check on the parrot
when the noise ceases. . . . .

Anyhoo, I get up and walk into the living room where his cage is and I
instantly know why he's been so quiet.

Apparently he spent the last half hour reaching through the bars on his
cage in order to grab the power cord that runs his heated perch. The cord
is completely outside the cage and is wrapped with wire to prevent birds
from chewing on it.

Nay nay says Daye. . . .

Not only did he manage to grab it, but he managed to cut the cord in HALF.
Luckily, the power running the perch is only 12vdc so no harm done. Lucky.
A simple repair involving the soldering iron and rerouting the cable to ensure
he can't get an inquisitive talon on it. . . . .

Never underestimate the resourcefulness of a bored Parrot. Ever. They'll
surprise you every time.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14567030/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14567030/ Sun, 09 Sep 2007 19:34:42 PDT died. That just really sucks.


He was impressive as hell. Amazing intelligence for a bird. It would
be tough to lose your buddy after thirty years or so.

I feel for his owner

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14523171/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14523171/ Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:54:55 PDT
The way I see it, they fall into two categories.

Those with no fewer than one billion pieces that would take a week to model

or

Those with hardly anything that can be done in twenty minutes




Off on a search for some possibilities though I can't say I'm very excited
about the topic this time around. . . .

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14508709/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14508709/ Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:59:20 PDT
I figure I have a few minutes to type on this before his majesty starts yelling from the
living room about the attention he isn't getting. ( His majesty = large parrot )

Some more of my training DVD's have arrived in the mail and I'm keeping myself
somewhat busy watching them. There always seems to be one or two little tips that
I didn't know about in there. . . .

Ahh well. . they keep making em and I'll keep buying them I guess.

Air quality tech showed up in my office today. Seems when folks start talking about
getting OSHA involved over the mold growing on the chairs, people take notice.

Hope they get that mess straightened out. The cure for half a dozen diseases is likely
growing on the floor in the break room. ( Or a new disease is being born )

*ugh*

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14325349/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14325349/ Fri, 24 Aug 2007 20:40:29 PDT

My motivation is lacking.
My job is uninspiring.
My drive is annoying.

Another birthday is about to come and go and, at 36, I really could care less
about it.

I have a room full of toys that would make most geeks envious yet, I'm
bored out of my skull.

Just once, I would really appreciate something exciting happening in my life.

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14201882/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/14201882/ Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:44:34 PDT what happened today. If not, let me enlighten you.

It's been an unusually wet summer as it is. I think we have seen around 50+
inches of rain so far this year. Today we added another 6-10 inches. Tropical
system came ashore near Corpus Christi and the rain started and didn't quit.

Everything was underwater. Cars stranded everywhere, waterfalls where
it was pouring off of overpasses and whatnot.

Absolutely sucked to have to drive through it. . . . *ugh*

Now everyone is watching hurricane Dean coming this way. Just what we
need now that the ground is super saturated.



]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/13866214/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/13866214/ Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:10:50 PDT recently. Between work, my running schedule and the feathered wonder yelling for
attention, it's amazing I have any time for anything.

Spent most of Sat / Sun finishing the last Potter book off.

Thought she ended it quite well. Not sure how they're going to pull the movie off and
maintain the rating they want though. Whole lotta death happening in the last two
books. . . . .

]]> *Dayelyte http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/13460532/ http://Dayelyte.deviantart.com/journal/13460532/ Sat, 23 Jun 2007 13:51:52 PDT parrots. Buy stock in band aids if you happen to make this mistake in
front of one of the larger species of parrot.

While I can't confirm or deny flocks of wild stuffed animals roam the
plains as mortal enemies of parrots, I CAN say with some confidence
that my parrot ( rather large Cockatoo ) goes into ' Birdzilla ' mode the
instant he spots one and will do everything in his power to kill it.

God help you if you happen to be holding the aforementioned stuffed
critter when he spots it. . . . .

You would think he was a hawk by the way he behaves around this thing.

*Goes back to bandaging his arm*

]]> *Dayelyte