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        <title>deviantART: by:aesteval</title>
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        <pubDate>Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:09:21 PST</pubDate>        
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                  <item>
                <title>New Camera</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/19790133/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/19790133/</guid>
                <pubDate>Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:32:18 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <b>A Word on Distorted Imagery</b><br /><br />Distortions are about perception, creating reality.  It's about the discrepancies between a still image, that image while in motion, how that image changes through that motion, and how that image's movement is captured within another still image.  It's separating what something is into what it appears to be and how everyone can see something different or everyone can be fooled into seeing something which isn't.  It is a view of the perception of time as it affects reality.  Time marches as the consciousness picks up bits and impressions of what is happening.  Sometimes the perceptions are fairly clear, sometimes they are horribly muddled, and sometimes what you think you saw never really happened.<br /><br /><b>The Actual Entry:</b><br /><br />It appears that sometime in the last few months some newer models of DSLRs came out which really nicely suit my needs (read that as I didn't really want to get one with anything less than around a 12 megapixel sensor) with a not so exorbitant price (I'm looking at you Hasselblad...I love the idea of a medium format digital camera, but $20k - $40k for the camera...holy crap we could use some competition from other manufacturers.)  And having noticed my older camera having a few occasional technical glitches, and having really quite wanted a DSLR for a while now, I finally went and got one.  It's just a natural fit/attachment for my hands and leaves me wondering how I managed to do without one for so long now.  So many new features to play with and I'm beside myself with being able to store away custom white balances for use whenever I want to input one.  It's also about time I got myself a digital camera that has a rechargable lithium ion battery pack (as opposed to horrible usage of AA batteries that are limited to lousy NiMH rechargable batteries...good for some things, but not everything.)  And speaking of the battery pack, it lasts for a very impressive length of time (200+ photos, many using the LCD instead of the viewfinder and the battery is metering at around half charged still.)<br /><br />So now I'm just waiting for a couple more accesories to arrive.  I've popped in a 512 mb memory card that I had laying around, and of course that's inadequate.  So I'm waiting on a 4 GB high speed card, an extra battery, and a remote shutter switch.  I was considering picking up an AC adapter for the camera, but between the wonderful battery life on the camera and the seemingly excessive cost of an AC adapter, it really didn't seem worth it or necessary.<br /><br /><b>Here ye be footer.</b><br /><br /><a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt=":iconlong-exposure-club:" title="long-exposure-club"/></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Aging Camera, Old Sword</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/18181447/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/18181447/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 05 May 2008 13:53:11 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <b>A Word on Distorted Imagery</b><br /><br />Distortions are about perception, creating reality.  It's about the discrepancies between a still image, that image while in motion, how that image changes through that motion, and how that image's movement is captured within another still image.  It's separating what something is into what it appears to be and how everyone can see something different or everyone can be fooled into seeing something which isn't.  It is a view of the perception of time as it affects reality.  Time marches as the consciousness picks up bits and impressions of what is happening.  Sometimes the perceptions are fairly clear, sometimes they are horribly muddled, and sometimes what you think you saw never really happened.<br /><br /><b>The Actual Entry:</b><br /><br />My camera's getting old.  How old?  I'm not really sure...several years...can't really place a specific number.  All I know is that I've had a few oddities occur while using it now.  There are have been a few times in which the camera has shut down when the auto focus attempts to focus (how fortunate that I tend to not use auto focus.)  And then there have been a couple of instances on one day in which the CCD appeared to have only capture half of the image (an interlaced appearance) while the other half of the image was blank.  Well, actually it just so happens that the biggest issue with the loss of image data was also centered in a less than normal shoot for me in which I was utilizing lighting and subject matter (photos as a bit of a study) that I do not normally utilize:<br /><br /><span class="shadow-holder"><span class="shadow"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/84833435/"><img src="http://tn1-2.pv.deviantart.com/fs27/150/f/2008/126/c/0/c07d3df3d1f56d010d3aefced883e35a.jpg" width="150" height="113" /></a></span></span> <span class="shadow-holder"><span class="shadow"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/84833794/"><img src="http://tn1-3.pv.deviantart.com/fs25/150/f/2008/126/e/c/ecc262c656ab9b31e03138f3bf039aa8.jpg" width="150" height="113" /></a></span></span> <span class="shadow-holder"><span class="shadow"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/84834062/"><img src="http://tn1-5.pv.deviantart.com/fs30/150/f/2008/126/7/c/Tsuba_by_aesteval.jpg" width="150" height="113" /></a></span></span> <span class="shadow-holder"><span class="shadow"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/84835633/"><img src="http://tn1-5.pv.deviantart.com/fs25/150/f/2008/126/2/1/Details_by_aesteval.jpg" width="150" height="113" /></a></span></span> <span class="shadow-holder"><span class="shadow"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/84835840/"><img src="http://tn1-1.pv.deviantart.com/fs29/150/f/2008/126/6/4/64cdbbe1a54bf734c03234f4c94f7682.jpg" width="150" height="113" /></a></span></span><br /><br />I made pizza sauce this morning.  It's been quite a while since I've made pizza sauce and the last time I made it I attempted to use puree instead of fresh tomatoes for it (it didn't come out well...ingredients are measured out per specific amount of fresh tomatoes.)  Making sauce made me realize something...I'd like a pressure canner.  So that's another device to be added onto my list of things that I want to get at some point.  It keeps good company with things such as a paper shredder, a deli slicer, and a griddle.  I think I may just take a look around and get a pressure canner in the near future though.<br /><br /><b>Here ye be footer.</b><br /><br /><a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt=":iconlong-exposure-club:" title="long-exposure-club"/></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Busy</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/13649767/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/13649767/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 07 Jul 2007 18:04:50 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <b>A Word on Distorted Imagery</b><br />
<br />
Distortions are about perception, creating reality.  It's about the discrepancies between a still image, that image while in motion, how that image changes through that motion, and how that image's movement is captured within another still image.  It's separating what something is into what it appears to be and how everyone can see something different or everyone can be fooled into seeing something which isn't.  It is a view of the perception of time as it affects reality.  Time marches as the consciousness picks up bits and impressions of what is happening.  Sometimes the perceptions are fairly clear, sometimes they are horribly muddled, and sometimes what you think you saw never really happened.<br />
<br />
<b>The Actual Entry:</b><br /><br />There's work, there's the upgrading of the laptop, and there's the helping someone move.  Haven't had much time to myself over the past week or so.  The laptop upgrades...yeah, it's only a few months old.  But there are some things that I would have liked to upgrade when I had gotten it except the price for the inborn upgrade seemed excessive.  2GB RAM and 160 GB hard drive would have cost upwards of another $400 and I've done that on my own for well under half that and it was definitely worth doing and gave me a wonderful excuse to figure out how to take just about everything on my laptop apart.  ...I like taking things apart.<br /><br /><b>Here ye be footer.</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt=":iconlong-exposure-club:" title="long-exposure-club"/></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>New</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/13197874/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/13197874/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sun, 03 Jun 2007 04:53:02 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <b>A Word on Distorted Imagery</b><br />
<br />
Distortions are about perception, creating reality.  It's about the discrepancies between a still image, that image while in motion, how that image changes through that motion, and how that image's movement is captured within another still image.  It's separating what something is into what it appears to be and how everyone can see something different or everyone can be fooled into seeing something which isn't.  It is a view of the perception of time as it affects reality.  Time marches as the consciousness picks up bits and impressions of what is happening.  Sometimes the perceptions are fairly clear, sometimes they are horribly muddled, and sometimes what you think you saw never really happened.<br />
<br />
<b>The Actual Entry:</b><br /><br />129 new deviations to look through<br />
<br />
...this might take a while...<br /><br /><b>Here ye be footer.</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt=":iconlong-exposure-club:" title="long-exposure-club"/></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Durgs...or something like that...</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12543174/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12543174/</guid>
                <pubDate>Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:33:15 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <b>A Word on Distorted Imagery</b><br />
<br />
Distortions are about perception, creating reality.  It's about the discrepancies between a still image, that image while in motion, how that image changes through that motion, and how that image's movement is captured within another still image.  It's separating what something is into what it appears to be and how everyone can see something different or everyone can be fooled into seeing something which isn't.  It is a view of the perception of time as it affects reality.  Time marches as the consciousness picks up bits and impressions of what is happening.  Sometimes the perceptions are fairly clear, sometimes they are horribly muddled, and sometimes what you think you saw never really happened.<br />
<br />
<b>The Actual Entry:</b><br /><br />Online pharmacies really are something else.  Nevermind those shady ones that offer "cheap super viagra" in endless streams of spam.  Seems like every sixth or seventh day I get a new email from a legit one.  "Our records show that you no longer have any refills left on your prescription, would you like for us to contact your doctor for you and get more?"  What the fuck.  If I really wanted you to keep filling my scripts, I would have likely kept sending in new slips with refills.  Or if nothing else, I would have responded "yes, please contact my doctor" to one of the first several emails asking.  There's a certain point in which "customer retention" becomes "fucking obnoxious."  But let's also consider what my script is for.  There are essentially two (maybe a third) possibilities which would keep me from having you refill them.  One, the sensible one here, I've been getting my refills taken care of else where.  As the case would be, a small local pharmacy that I started going to again after picking up new medical insurance.  Two, I'm no longer taking my meds and likely have already had a heart attack or stroke from it because I ran out of medication purchased from you two months ago now.  In which, I'm not gonna be around to click little linkies in emails people.  And the third choice is actually the same as the second.  Only I didn't necessarily have a heart attack but I became damned tired of seeing llamas  while driving.  But this prescription hasn't been making me hallucinate.  That was one from several years ago that made me see llamas and other animals that are not native to my habitat, and so I stopped taking it.  Which probably worked out quite well as this stuff seems to work better and causes me to experience fewer side effects.<br /><br /><b>Here ye be footer.</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Tonight's Menu</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12526484/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12526484/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:50:00 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <b>A Word on Distorted Imagery</b><br />
<br />
Distortions are about perception, creating reality.  It's about the discrepancies between a still image, that image while in motion, how that image changes through that motion, and how that image's movement is captured within another still image.  It's separating what something is into what it appears to be and how everyone can see something different or everyone can be fooled into seeing something which isn't.  It is a view of the perception of time as it affects reality.  Time marches as the consciousness picks up bits and impressions of what is happening.  Sometimes the perceptions are fairly clear, sometimes they are horribly muddled, and sometimes what you think you saw never really happened.<br />
<br />
<b>The Actual Entry:</b><br /><br />Tonight's Menu:<br />
<br />
3 lb Angus shoulder roast soaked overnight in Merlot, a little bit of olive oil, just enough water to cover the roast, a little bit of salt, rosemary, and pepper, and now coated with a little bit of salt on the fat, pepper all over the roast, a bit of rosemary on the upper surfaces, chopped garlic anywhere I can make it stick, and a little bit more oil.  Sides:  italian bread, corn, and mashed red potatoes with garlic.<br /><br /><b>Here ye be footer.</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Some things are meant to be kept on the front page</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12494409/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12494409/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 07 Apr 2007 09:41:09 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <b>A Word on Distorted Imagery</b><br />
<br />
Distortions are about perception, creating reality.  It's about the discrepancies between a still image, that image while in motion, how that image changes through that motion, and how that image's movement is captured within another still image.  It's separating what something is into what it appears to be and how everyone can see something different or everyone can be fooled into seeing something which isn't.  It is a view of the perception of time as it affects reality.  Time marches as the consciousness picks up bits and impressions of what is happening.  Sometimes the perceptions are fairly clear, sometimes they are horribly muddled, and sometimes what you think you saw never really happened.<br />
<br />
<b>The Actual Entry:</b><br /><br />In little bits and pieces, I've been hammering out what it is in which I am doing.  At times, I come up with little blurbs explaining what's going on.  And sometimes that changes.  So I've now placed a little blurb as a header for journal entries to explain a little bit about my work.<br /><br /><b>Here ye be footer.</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Substitutiary Locomotion</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12454381/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12454381/</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 04 Apr 2007 08:43:35 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Sounds like it's pouring rain outside.  I was thinking about running out today, but I'm not sure if I feel like it.  If anything, sitting around and cleaning while continuing to work on computers might be a good idea.  Hmm, cleaning's a very good idea.  And computer work...well, I've got two computers in a bare functionality state.  Although to be fair, I'm planning on repartitioning drives in one.  It takes a little while to repartition 420GB of space...  I'm thinking that the sluggish hard drive seek times were from either too lengthy directory structures (program files folder when there's a lot of junk installed), some little quirk to Windows, or a combination of both.  Oh, and then there's the thing where the one drive was a bit antiquated by current standards.  Anyway, I'll just figure out how to minimalize the directory structure while limiting how much junk I have installed now.  And then when this is all done, I'll be starting back up with my photo stuff again.<br /><br />Here ye be footer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Trying to break my computer</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12437226/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12437226/</guid>
                <pubDate>Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:17:42 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Well, one of them anyway.  One of my big box ones.  I selectively use it now, mostly for working on my photo stuff as the LCD monitor is more consistent than the LCD on my laptop.  So it turns out that overclocking the processor by 50% only yields a slight benefit to a benchmark or two.  Actually, I question whether the overclocking truly makes any difference as the CPU temperature hasn't noticably increased either.  But at least I cleared up the little mishap when the clock speed for the RAM got fudged...  But I'm not happy with how the machine is running.  It's not running bad, but what really gets to me is a few long seek instances for the hard drive.  And I'm also trying to figure out what I'm doing using up a significant portion of 260 GB of space and just what I was thinking that I would be happy to have 10 GB dedicated for photo work.  Yeah right, that's like 5 shoots right there.  And all of this computer junk gets even more complicated with pieces put together for two machines.  I want to keep using my traditional case, but the motherboard in there doesn't have onboard SATA, and if I were to move a hard drive, I would need SATA in the machine.  I could swap motherboards and have onboard SATA in the case, but I don't really want to move motherboards between cases and I would also need a mounting kit to mount a 3.5" drive in a 5.25" bay (though I may have something laying around.)  And if I were to leave the motherboards and move the parts to the other case, then I would also have to move the power supply as well as I want the better power supply to go with the main components.  But I could also get a PCI card SATA controller and add SATA onto the one motherboard.  And no matter what, I get the feeling that I'm going to end up picking up another chip of RAM as well.  ...I should be sleeping, not messing around with computers...<br />
<br />
Updates...<br />
<br />
Initial operations are done and over with.  Appears to be successful.  Of course, Windows did not react well to having a motherboard swapped out from underneath it and replaced with another one and really doesn't like having a new hard drive which is connected through a different interface.  Linux boots no problem, changes and all.  And after some though, I decided I really don't need a floppy drive in the computer.  Better off having another hard drive.<br /><br />Here ye be footer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>I smell consumer backlash</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12357891/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12357891/</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 28 Mar 2007 02:23:35 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <a href="http://kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-360-elite/feature-microsoft-gets-elite-247496.php">But don't have time to go into it right now...</a><br /><br />Here ye be footer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Events that are interesting</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12259610/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12259610/</guid>
                <pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:41:27 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ 1)  Everything that is going on with all this talk of a hostile shareholder takeover of Take Two.<br />
<br />
Summarized by a couple of quotes at <a href="http://gamepolitics.com/2007/03/20/analysts-skeptical-of-t2-sale-critical-of-topdown-party-attitude/">Gamepolitics</a>.<br />
<br />
<i>Given their studios and franchises, Take-Two should be able to be a far more profitable company than it currently is.</i><br />
<br />
<i>The stock surges when shareholders even hint that theyll replace the board - thats pretty damning. Id like to see people who understand how to account transparently. Id like to see a solid CFO and CEO of a financial mind, both of whom have high ethics backed up by people surrounding them on the board.</i><br />
<br />
In the gaming world, you have shareholders wanting to out the board of Take Two and management changes at Sony (Kutaragi booted off to the sidelines.)  I can't help but think that the massive changes such as those can only have a good effect on the individual companies.<br />
<br />
2)  The housing market and the implosion of mortgages.<br />
<br />
There's only one reason why this is funny.  Anyone that has spent any time on the internet over the past few years has been bombarded by advertisements, either paid on sites or through spam, about mortgage rates being rock bottom and how they can't last forever.  Well, it turns out that they really couldn't last forever.  It turns out that when you loan money out to as many people as you possibly can, you end up with a few more deadbeats than you would find using standard means of exclusion.  It's very nice that so many more people were able to buy a house of their own, or refinance a mortgage to get more money, but there really wasn't any control over it.  All they saw was money, and they overextended their investments.  And now it's all over.  The housing market will now crumble since not only is there a decreasing demand for houses at current prices, but the means in which some people have to finance those purchases are now drying up.  And all I can think about is how all that god-awful advertising over the years has gone and bitten them in the ass in a way.  Although come to think of it, I think you can still find some examples of Abe Lincoln and George Washington dancing for mortgage lenders somewhere online.  Maybe it's not all over yet.<br /><br />Here ye be footer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Yup, it snowed</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12214500/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12214500/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 17 Mar 2007 03:04:16 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Going to be a while before I can actually go anywhere today...<br />
<br />
<span class="shadow-holder"><span class="shadow"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/51047437/"><img src="http://tn1-3.deviantart.com/fs14/150/f/2007/076/d/a/Newest_storm_by_aesteval.jpg" width="150" height="113" /></a></span></span><br /><br />Here ye be footer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Snowing again</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12204436/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12204436/</guid>
                <pubDate>Fri, 16 Mar 2007 09:54:39 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ And I was just getting fond of the 60 degree and rain weather...<br />
<br />
I went out to buy food and had to make two approaches to the supermarket.  The first approach had to  be aborted because there was a very long line of traffic waiting to turn and I was under the distinct impression that I was going to be unable to stop before careening into someone.  I then went off to the shoulder of the road to skid to an eventual stop.  So I kept driving down until I could turn around and approach from the other direction.  Well on the way back, at least there wasn't a line of cars.  But I did have to make use of a curb to aid in stopping and steering while entering the supermarket.  I get the impression that I won't be driving into work tomorrow.  Maybe I'll be able to find someone that is going in anyway and get them to pick me up.<br /><br />Here ye be footer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Bobbing and Weaving</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12196696/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12196696/</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 15 Mar 2007 16:59:23 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ So, that's number three.  Number three in recently avoided accidents.  A diagram:<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.kharagas.org/pic/traffic.png"><br />
<br />
Cars 'a' and 'b' are waiting to turn onto the main road towards the red light.  Car 'b' sits there waiting.  Car 'a' sees oncoming car coming slowly and gets the idea that they're going to let them pull in front of them.  Car 'a' begins to pull onto the road and must not have realized that there's FUCKING TRAFFIC COMING FROM THE OTHER DIRECTION.  Look before you pull out?  What sort of crazy and far fetched idea is that.  I wail on my horn.  Car 'a' goes HOLY SHIT SOMEONE'S ABOUT TO HIT ME and stops at least half way into my lane, quite possibly more than half way.  As an extremely last minute and impulse resort, I somehow manage to swerve out into the middle of the road, fully dodging car 'a' and then swerving back around car 'a' and back into my lane before hitting the oncoming car, effectively somehow bobbing and weaving between cars 'a' and 'oncoming' and the tail end of the cars that were stopped for the red light.  Dunno how, but it seemed pretty tight, fortunately the oncoming car had stopped, and the stupid soccer mom* in car 'a' stopped at a point in which I was able to pull off getting around.  All I remember is driving, car 'a' moving out, horn blaring, car 'a' being immediately in front of me, and swinging around with probably inches to spare.  Meanwhile everyone in all of the other vehicles were probably going "holy shit".<br />
<br />
(*soccer mom assumption based upon the area in which this occurred and type of vehicle in use)</img><br /><br />Here ye be footer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Mail Call</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12158871/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12158871/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:04:50 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Junk, junk, and more junk.  Yup, spam generally is annoying.  But something about spam on MySpace is funny.  Several times a day, I get new "friend requests" now from plenty of "sultry women".  Although a lot of them look amazingly similar to each  other.  And by amazingly similar of course I mean a lot of the pictures get reused whether it's by "Phoebe" or "Julie".  But then again, <a href="http://crtv.mate1.com/crtv/1446/geolocation=Albany">it's</a> <a href="http://crtv.mate1.com/crtv/1446/geolocation=Onett">not</a> <a href="http://crtv.mate1.com/crtv/1446/geolocation=Burmingham">as if</a> <a href="http://crtv.mate1.com/crtv/1446/geolocation=Vancouver">paid</a> <a href="http://crtv.mate1.com/crtv/1446/geolocation=my%20ass">advertisers</a> don't do the same thing.  But seriously, check that last link.  I now have a new toy to play with for the entire five minutes that it will keep me occupied for.<br />
<br />
Oh boy, but back to actual mail.  Got some sort of packet from my health insurance provider.  I have no idea what it's actually about, but they do claim to be an affordable provider meanwhile the CEO sends out mass letters to all members using 20 gauge fiber paper.  I mean seriously, use regular old copy paper and charge me a quarter less per year if you can.  And then there are the school related things...  Consolidate your student loans before you enter repayment!  Yeah, uhm, I kind of want to reply and point out that they're about five years too late to send me that garbage.  And then there's the letter from a "school" advertising their existance.  They included a survey.  The upper limit of the respondent's age is "27+" while you also have the option to check a box saying that you already have a degree.  But I don't see a box to ask them "why the fuck are you sending me this shit now?"  And I got my social security statement for the year.  They seem to have become confused in that I actually had three employers last year.  Wonderful how they project my future income to be around $5,000 a year for the rest of my life.  And they still have my DOB incorrect.  I should probably do something to fix that...  That's the exact reason why I can't submit my taxes online.  For me to submit my taxes online, I would have to lie and agree with the SSA's record of my DOB.  Which, incidentally, would technically be illegal to do.  Go figure.<br /><br />Here ye be footer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Digging</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12156029/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12156029/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:17:08 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Digging through some old shots.  Looks like I had one all set and ready to upload that I never uploaded.  Otherwise, I'm looking to take a secondary look at a couple of previous shoots and see if I have any new inspiration for the shots that came out of them.<br />
<br />
Also testing out a footer.<br /><br /><a href="http://long-exposure-club.deviantart.com/"><img class="avatar" src="http://a.deviantart.com/avatars/l/o/long-exposure-club.png" width="50" height="50" alt="" title="long-exposure-club" /></a> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>There will be blood tonight!</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12093035/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12093035/</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:59:04 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Top round blood.  Good stuff.  I mean, vengeance on the six fingered man blood is good too, it's just not eatin' blood is all.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Meh</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12074583/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12074583/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 05 Mar 2007 22:15:17 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ I really need to stop staying up so late when I'm not working the next day...  Being up for 21+ hours isn't really conducive to much of anything...<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Should have stayed home today</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12042698/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/12042698/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 03 Mar 2007 16:22:49 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Crazy fuckers on the roads.  I could have sworn I saw someone change into the left lane this morning to pass two cars that were sitting at a red light.  So that car then proceeded to drive through the red light while on the wrong side of the road.  And then there's the wonderful genius that decided to back out onto a highway this evening right into oncoming traffic.  And I must not forget the retard that thought nothing wrong of changing lanes when there was already a car in the lane that he was changing into, right along side him.  So yeah, I avoided a few accidents today, just barely.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Owie</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/11974016/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/11974016/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:20:20 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Finished playing through the third Xenosaga game.  You know what, I enjoy the convoluted plot.  But at the same time, it's too friggan convoluted.  Sheesh.  Guess I'll just have to play Xenogears again to see which convolution I like better.  I'm leaning towards the one that's contained essentially within one game.  Although I'm willing to give the third Xenosaga game credit for the ingame database.  It's a really good way to store all that convoluted data and be able to sort through it while having a few bits and pieces of added information.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>The Weather</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/11815792/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/11815792/</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 14 Feb 2007 13:49:51 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <img src="http://www.kharagas.org/pic/snow.jpg"><br />
<br />
I guess I can't really complain.  It's really not all that much or bad, and it's taken most of the winter just to have one storm come in.</img><br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Seriously</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/11485212/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/11485212/</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:21:09 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <a href="http://kotaku.com/gaming/child-crime-wave/carthief-kid-busted-lazy-mum-blames-driving-on-playstation-229553.php">How many nine year olds have already stolen three cars?</a>  Yeah...that's what I thought.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>1 GB and 79 Images to Sift Through</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/11323730/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/11323730/</guid>
                <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jan 2007 11:24:07 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ One GB copied from memory card to hard drive.  47/79 images converted into TIFF so far.  I've been planning towards a project for a few weeks now and I should have an initial image up for it this evening.  The final image may be finished sometime next week, and the finished piece should be done who knows when.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>The Holiday Knife Fight</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/11188996/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/11188996/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 25 Dec 2006 12:50:24 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Last night was <a href="http://www.kharagas.org/pic/ham.jpg">the night.</a>  It was a good ham.  And then there was the after dinner knife fight, but at least they were butter knives.  I'm not sure why certain members of my family had a knife (and occasional fork) fight at the dinner table, but they did.  I don't think anyone got hurt.  Though there was one butter knife that went spinning out of control.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Connecting.  Please wait...</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/10815865/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/10815865/</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 22 Nov 2006 20:03:54 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Dear Nintendo,<br />
<br />
For the Wii, how about setting a button up to be able to "cancel" a connection attempt while attempting to connect to say ... the Shop Channel.  I mean really now, it's a bit annoying to watch the Wii try to attempt to connect for a good fifteen minutes, not get anywhere, and not be able to stop the attempt in any way short of pulling the plug.  Hitting a button, being able to press "reset", pressing the power button...all possible alternatives.  Being stuck watching the Wii endlessly attempt to connect?  No.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Salted Bacon</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/10633596/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/10633596/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 06 Nov 2006 07:25:14 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <a href="http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/ps3-vs-panini-iron-212573.php">Hah</a><br />
<br />
One day last week I had gotten some bacon to try out.  I like trying different types of bacon and trying to find what's really good.  This bacon, upon opening, actually smelled really good.  When it was cooked, it tasted rather bland.  There was no saltiness to it.  I was disappointed.  Yesterday afternoon I decided to cook the rest of the bacon and I added some salt of my own to the bacon.  It made all of the difference.  The underlying salt taste to bacon adds depth to it's flavor, seems to bring out the smoked flavoring more, and may even help crisp the bacon when cooking.  So, the bacon was very good, but I may have added just a little bit too much salt to it.<br />
<br />
Perception is a funny thing.  There are some things that are only a problem if you perceive them to be a problem.  In a way, the problem is entirely in your head.  And on the other hand, perception can go a long way to fixing those problems.  Perhaps it is a mode of perception.  An empty gesture may not change anything of any practicality, but may alleviate some perceived conflict with committment.  In a way, nothing changes except for that one little brain cell that perceives problems occuring through committment.  Why does that perception change?  Because of a possibly empty gesture.  Instead of changing the way you perceive something, you change a technical understanding of a situation and perceive something as being different.  Unfortunately even if that gesture is entirely empty and nothing is actually different, it still hurts.  But maybe I don't know what I'm talking about anyway.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>You learn something new every day...</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/10581227/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/10581227/</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 01 Nov 2006 11:05:35 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <a href="http://ds.gamedaily.com/game/review/?gameid=5048&id=1389">The "expert" review of Children of Mana at Game Daily.</a>  With phrases such as "Unlike other Final Fantasy games", and "The move from turn-based combat to real-time sword fighting sounds like a good idea on the surface",  I can't help but wonder what sort of "expert" wrote this review as they certainly could not have been an expert in the Seiken Densetsu series of games.  Yes, Seiken Densetsu and not Final Fantasy.  Lumping Children of Mana as being part of Final Fantasy is a gross mischaracterization and simply wrong.  Which is an absolute shame because the reviewer did have some valid and well expressed concerns relating to some gameplay aspects.  The same reviewer also has written a fairly informative review of <a href="http://ds.gamedaily.com/game/review/?gameid=5222">Dragon Quest Heroes:  Rocket Slime</a>.  The big difference between the two reviews?  The Rocket Slime review doesn't contain false statements.<br />
<br />
Anyway, my DS collection seems to be growing faster than other consoles.  And I can think of a perfectly valid reason for this:  the games don't cost $60 each.  I picked up Trace Memory and Children of Mana this afternoon, and I think that I'm all set for break time at work for a while.  If all else fails, I'm only about a third of the way through Sudoku Gridmaster and I'm also fairly early on in Contact as well.  Contact is an incredibly odd game.  Well, the trip to Gamestop was a bit interesting to say the least and it was made very apparent to me that they have used copies of Trace Memory as well.  But I was quite set on getting a new copy instead, even after the clerk told me that Trace Memory is a very good game but short, and that if I were to beat it within a week then I could return it for a refund since it was used.  Oh, and I would not be able to do that with a new copy of the game...  Yeah, I said it's ok, I'll keep the game.  Gamestop also had a large and overflowing box of copies of Final Fantasy XII; so if you didn't preorder your copy, then you're probably out of luck.  :-p  Yeah, that was the other part of my trip to GameStop..."Would you like to preorder anything?"  Before I went in, I was tempted to ask how their preorders for the Wii and PS3 went, but by the time I left...I didn't really care anymore.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Note to self</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9826004/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9826004/</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 23 Aug 2006 10:08:47 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> In Search of Pie<br /><br />When printing an image formatted at 5"x7", don't load 4"x6" paper.  Thank you.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>If this is what it feels like to be "well res</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9724668/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9724668/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:06:33 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> In Search of Pie<br /><br />Title should say "well rested" at the end.<br />
<br />
Then I think that I will stick with sleep deprivation.  I feel very lethargic today.  It's the first day that I've had that has not been a "busy day" since the fourth.  And even then, the lazy days were fairly spaced out.  So for the past few weeks it's been a lot of working and a lot of other activities on days off.  Just as an example, I worked twelve hours each day from the fifth through the eleventh.  A nice 84 hours over seven days.  While it was a bit rough, the overtime pay is more than welcome and it let me put in all the hours that I wanted to be paid for while still keeping this past weekend open.  Come Friday afternoon, I was certainly looking forward to getting out for the weekend.  It was just unavoidable.<br />
<br />
This weekend can be briefly summarized as absolutely beautiful weather, activities to do outdoors, and <a href="http://kieriyn.deviantart.com/">Kendra</a> being in the area for them.<br />
<br />
Saturday morning I took a bag or two of garbage out to the big can outside.  A bit down further along the parking lot, a squirrel was crouched underneath a car as if it were ready to pounce while chittering at me.  I made a face at it, made some noises, and went back inside.  A few minutes later, Kendra arrives and calls me on her phone to let me know that she's out back.  I calmly tell her to watch out for the squirrel though it may not be around any longer and she asks "what squirrel"?  All of a sudden, she sees it and it charges at her and leaps onto the porch.  At which point she tells me to let her in before it attacks her.  So after who knows how long of doubting what I say about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel#Popular-culture_references">squirrels</a> (just ignore any positive comments about squirrels), my point has been proven.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the outdoor event for Saturday was a company picnic, which was rather pleasant.  The weather was fairly sunny and the temperature was in the upper 70's.  The picnic was in a nice recreation area with a small stream and a trail or two to wander on.  The food was good (not great, but not bad either) and the live entertainment played good music, as opposed to the vast majority of content on contemporary radio stations.  It was a nice and relaxed afternoon.  I also won some <a href="http://www.nam.lighting.philips.com/us/ssl/display.php?mode=1">LED candles</a> in a raffle.  While initially skeptical of LED candles, they turned out to be pretty cool.  I am fairly impressed with how realistically they flicker.  While they'll never carry all of the same benefits as sweet and wonderful <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire#Controlling_fire">fire</a>, they also don't come with the same risks and they could certainly have their uses for someone who won't be allowed to have real candles in their dorm room.<br />
<br />
Sunday involved a day trip to the <a href="http://www.renfair.com/NY/">Rummy Faire</a>, which was disappointing in that not much has changed at it since the first time I went quite a few years ago.  A bit more variety would be nice, but I get flavored snow from the stand that is in the same area every time I go and more or less end up seeing the same shows performed.  Although I never have seen a knife go astray during the knife throwing show as I did this year.  It's probably a good thing that no one was walking along that trail at that moment...  Anyway, after a day of wandering around, eating pickles, being referred to as the guy with the <a href="http://www.weaponmasters.com/index.html?ID=53ec207769d259b78a3ef50ad52cdd24&ITEM=KE-2042">big sword</a>, we ended up leaving the fair somewhat exhausted.  If you took what was best from this fair, and combined it with what was best from <a href="http://sterlingfestival.com/renfest/">another fair</a> that we attended earlier during the summer, you'd have something really quite nice.  The other fair had much better steak on a stake and had an apothecary that sold spices for fairly cheap prices.  An apothecary at this one would have been awesome.<br />
<br />
I eventually made it to bed around midnight last night.  I had been making some late night repairs/reinforcements to the leather strap on my odachi.  It came a bit loose during the day and I wanted to better secure it.  I slept heavily for quite a while, then woke up for a few minutes, then slept heavily again, then woke up again, and finally slept heavily again.  Eventually, I got up at around 10:30 and have been fairly lethargic since.  Though I am beginning to finally wake up some now.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~yaz/en/squirrel_fishing.html">And just because I feel like putting another squirrel link in...</a><br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Oblivion Yet Again</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9610608/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9610608/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 05 Aug 2006 18:31:18 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> In Search of Pie<br /><br />Over the past few months I have given a fair bit of thought to the situation regarding the re-rating of <i>Oblivion</i>.  Personally, I don't see how it could have possibly been rated Teen in the first place as the game is a violent game.  As far as the nudity goes, the supposed issue was that the texture existed on the game disc.  Which of course does not explain why the PC version of the game is the only one that received the "Nudity" desciptor.  The nudity is on both game discs, hence both games should have received the nudity descriptor.   This assumes that the "data on the game disc is relevant to the rating" policy that is supposed to be in effect is enforced.  Personally, I think that the ESRB dropped the ball as far as <i>Oblivion</i> went and all of the reactions were a farce.  But that's not my point.<br />
<br />
Yesterday I was digging through data files on a few Playstation games.  This stack of games included <i>Xenogears</i> and the data included browsing through the cut scenes on the game disc.  <i>Xenogears</i>:  rated Teen for "Animated Blood, Mild Language, and Suggestive Themes."  While viewing these cut scenes, particularly certain late game cut scenes, I remembered that <i>Xenogears</i> contained nudity of some form.  Should this nudity have played a role on the rating for <i>Xenogears</i>?  At the very least, should it have received a "Partial Nudity" descriptor?  How much of the <i>Oblivion</i> re-rating is based solely upon recent scrutiny of game ratings?  Scrutiny that didn't exist in the later 1990's?  On the same topic, <i>Chrono Cross</i> also contained partial nudity.  And neither of these games had the content hidden or made inaccessible in any way.  The content was contained within cut scenes that are present during standard play.  From one standpoint, it shows just how potentially inaccurate the ratings can be.  But from another standpoint, it also shows just how the focus has shifted over the years.  What can be done to make these ratings more accurate and how much face time should to given to satiate zealots?<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>A Brief Respite</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9596529/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9596529/</guid>
                <pubDate>Fri, 04 Aug 2006 10:00:35 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> In Search of Pie<br /><br />Been working 60 hour weeks for added income.  I have today off and then plan on working the next seven days.  Today looks to be laundry/dishes/other random chores/buying food/spending $35 on gas day.  Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll find some time in the evenings over the next week to pursue a few other tasks.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>A Few Projects</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9351930/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9351930/</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:11:29 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> In Search of Pie<br /><br />I've begun dabbling in a little bit of web design again.  What started it was a request to help one of my sisters make a web site for <a href="http://organdonation.kharagas.org/">Organ Donation</a>.  The site is in the process of being developed, but I am waiting on more content to arrive to place in the site along with more information about permission to use some images and other materials.  It's a simply designed site.<br />
<br />
Following that, I am also in the process of toying around with <a href="http://mods.kharagas.org">another site</a>.  Again, another simple site that was inspired by the Organ Donation site in small ways.  The site also provided for a good excuse to play around with bump mapping in GIMP.<br />
<br />
I thought that I had more to ramble on about, but I guess that I am done for now.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>Disproving Jack</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9162599/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9162599/</guid>
                <pubDate>Fri, 23 Jun 2006 19:10:40 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />Proof that people other than gamers and hitmen shoot for the head?  <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/23/guilty.geriatric.ap/index.html">[link]</a><br />
<br />
Related distortion:  <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/view/34230113/">[link]</a><br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>What a crock of empty promises</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9099868/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9099868/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 17 Jun 2006 20:47:36 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/17/dems.radio.ap/index.html">[link]</a><br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Paper</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9090677/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9090677/</guid>
                <pubDate>Fri, 16 Jun 2006 20:09:57 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />Overall, I would say that I have not been fully pleased with inkjet photo prints.  There are probably a variety of factors for this and while I can not really blame one single factor, I do believe that paper quality plays a semi important role.  I tried some Kodak inkjet paper this evening (free Kodak paper at that) and I am pleased with it.  With some of the other paper that I have used, the ink tends to stay sticky while the Kodak paper soaked the ink right up and dried fairly rapidly.  It is also glossy paper and has not picked up major fingerprints or other blemishes when I was purposefully pressing my thumb against it to check the ink.  The test print was fairly close in quality to a standard C-print and so I am happy with it.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>A Minefield of Pitfalls</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9054538/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9054538/</guid>
                <pubDate>Tue, 13 Jun 2006 07:56:23 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />I have been collecting pitfall seeds in Animal Crossing and am now up to 17  of the nuisances.  I was going to plant them around doors and wait for exiting/entering residents, but that is too simple of a plot for 17 seeds.  So instead I have made a veritable minefield of pitfalls in a centrally public area in Spoony.  In the center of this minefield, myself.  Now whenever another resident wants to talk to me, they will run right into my trap.  It will be like:  "Hey Aesteval!  I have a new nickname for you!  AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH PITFALL!!!!111"<br />
<br />
Anyway, Uwe Boll is supposedly looking for boxing opponents:  <a href="http://sknr.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=565&Itemid=7">[link]</a>  Well, I haven't been exposed to a Uwe Boll movie yet, but something called In the Name of the King a Dungeon Siege Tale sounds so bad that it has to be entertaining.<br />
<br />
Two residents are already discovered 9 or 10 of the pitfalls.  They  wandered  around constantly falling in...<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>Quite Tired</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9049554/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9049554/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 17:48:21 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />Seven days...  Five worked for a total of 56.5 hours.  One day off involved doing laundry, a trip to Rennselaer County, and an award ceremony.  The other day off involved a prom.  Return trip home after the prom ended at 1:45 in the morning which was then followed by a 5:00 a.m. awakening for work.  Where's my bed again?  I think I need it.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>Whatever Happened to Innocent Until Proven Guilty</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9001779/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/9001779/</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:49:22 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/07/911.death.ap/index.html">[link]</a><br />
<br />
Let's just say what if the kid was pulling a prank.  Would it not make sense to response regardless in case he is not and deal with repercussions for a prank at a later time if it is indeed a prank?  Suitable precautions.  It should not be the place of a 911 operator the decide whether a call is a prank or not.  A 5/6 year old boy's mother is dead because someone did not do their job.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>Misleading and Poorly Written</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8939133/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8939133/</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 01 Jun 2006 10:21:11 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />Thank you Fox 9 of Minneapolis/St. Paul for your story on pornography on the Playstation Portable.  Not only is your story misleading in that it treats modern technology as a mystical or magical force, but it is poorly written as well.  <a href="http://www.fox9.com/news/investigators/story.asp?1653685">[link]</a>  <br />
<br />
The first sentence of the article:  <br />
<blockquote>Kids are using a gaming device to access porn out of thin air, even at school Kids like to keep secrets from adults, there's a kind of power that comes from knowing the adults are clueless.</blockquote><br />
<br />
Maybe I am incorrect, but I would define this very first sentence of the article to be a run-on sentence.  I have difficulty determining exactly what it is attempting to state as it appears to combine several independent subjects into one thought.  Otherwise, simply stating wireless ethernet as being 'thin air" is misleading.  If someone were to take their PSP out to the Arctic Circle, they certainly would not be able to utilize wireless networking features out of "thin air".  "Thin air" requires the presence of a wireless signal/capability for devices to wirelessly interact which is far from downloading magically from "thin air."<br />
<br />
Additionally, the entire sequence of first paragraphs is poorly constructed.  Typically, paragraphing is expected to be used to develop related thoughts among multiple sentences.  When paragraphs are made up of only single sentences, it does not promote the development of cohesive thoughts so much as it promotes a bombardment of assorted ideas.  Perhaps your first three paragraphs should be rewritten into a single paragraph as it would greatly help the flow of the subject.  Perhaps similar ideas could be further applied to the rest of the article since most of the article is written in a jagged and interrupted sort of manner.<br />
<br />
And I don't even want to get started on spelling or typo mishaps...  If this is the best that a "professional" news source has to offer...<br />
<br />
<blockquote> Sony, the maker of the PSP, told us that parents should be responsible for monitoring the content their children are viewing. But David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family, says game makers have a responsibility too. They should let parents know that their product could give a kid easy access to pornography. </blockquote><br />
<br />
But?  What but is there to it?  The two concepts are not mutually exclusive and both certainly are right in several ways.  Sony is correct in saying that parents should monitor the content being accessed by their children just as much as David Walsh is correct about saying that the makers should inform parents that there is a need to monitor.  The two ideas can go hand in hand, there is no "but" necessary.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>The Unthinkable has Happened</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8870870/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8870870/</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 25 May 2006 06:30:36 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />Bones has moved out of Spoony.  <a href="http://www.kharagas.org/bones/bones02.jpg">[link]</a>  Yes Bones, that lovable pup has up and moved on with his digitial existence.  Though traumatized by these events, the residents of Spoony have accepted his decision to abandon them and wish him the best in his future endeavors and hope that he someday has the opportunity to chase Purrl up a tree.<br />
<br />
Melba, a koala had the following to say:  It was a bit strange when he would talk about drinking milk with his hand on his hip and looking like a cowboy, toasty.  But I guess that it was something that we liked about him.<br />
<br />
Aurora, a penguin, had this to say:  Well yip yip, supposedly I once lived in Spoony and moved out.  But I came back.  Although I can not remember having lived here before, Sunshine insists that I did.  So, hopefully one day Bones can come back as well and maybe he will be lucky enough to not have amnesia.<br />
<br />
Friga, another penguin, said:  Hey!  I have a question!  How does my makeup look?<br />
<br />
Quite simply, Bones will be missed.  Why, it was only a week ago that Bones was discussing his dreams about the pie fairy.  <img src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/p/pie.gif" width="22" height="22" alt=":pie:" title="Yummy pie!" />  <a href="http://www.kharagas.org/bones/bones01.jpg">[link]</a>  And in that same week Bones would continually talk about how awesome fossils are.  But now Bones has left after such a long residency in the fields of Spoony.  Why did you have to move Bones?   <img src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/cries.gif" width="23" height="15" alt=":cries:" title="Waaaah!" />  <a href="http://www.kharagas.org/bones/bones03.jpg">[link]</a> <a href="http://www.kharagas.org/bones/bones04.jpg">[link]</a><br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>Coming Soon:  World War III</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8858704/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8858704/</guid>
                <pubDate>Tue, 23 May 2006 21:34:39 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br /><blockquote>"I told the prime minister what I've stated publicly before: Israel is a close friend and ally of the United States. And in the event of any attack on Israel, the United States will come to Israel's aid," Bush said.  <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/05/23/us.mideast/index.html">[link]</a></blockquote><blockquote>The United States has said it would defend Taiwan if it were attacked by China, and China has said it would invade if the country officially declared its independence.  <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/23/pentagon.china/index.html">[link]</a></blockquote><br />
<br />
Incidentally...  I seem to recall that this sort of "universal" support setup was a contributing factor to one of the bloodiest wars in history.  Something about countries X, Y, and Z forming a commitment towards each other for mutual defense while countries A, B, and C do the same in opposition allowed what could potentially have been a smaller scale conflict to escalate into a significant portion of Europe attempting to blow each other up.  This sort of blind loyalty will only further degrade negotiations whereas an impartial third party could find suitable compromises and common ground and not further conflict.  Diplomacy is more than just supporting your buddies, it is finding non-offensive ways to interact with those that you may not necessarily agree with.<br />
<br />
Instead of merely being dedicated to the defense in case of an attack, why not devote more resources to finding a way to avoid a conflict in the first place?  These statements are empty rhetoric and offer nothing to promote understanding and reconciliation or a reduction in hostilities.  And simply saying this is essentially pointless...but enough rambling for tonight.<br />
<br />
And just so that I have another topic present...  <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/05/23/crazy.cat.ap/index.html">[link]</a><br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>Here's to Some Proofreading</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8839528/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8839528/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sun, 21 May 2006 21:51:56 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />Courtesy of CNN.com:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>A man gunned down four of his in-laws during a morning church service Sunday, abducted his wife <b>and then shot her death</b> before he was captured nearby, authorities said.</blockquote><br />
<br />
I'll include the link but am hoping that someone picks out and fixes that little error before long...  <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/21/church.shooting.ap/index.html">[link]</a><br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>Whoops</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8807944/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8807944/</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 18 May 2006 13:30:25 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />So...fidgeting around with ordering a prescription online looks to have caused me to have placed two separate orders for the same medication.  I was kind of expecting that.  Oh well, I highly doubt that I will be able to stop taking medication for blood pressure in the next six months anyway.  So I'm all set for the next half of a year and the price makes me wonder what the point of having medical insurance cover previous prescriptions really was.  Let's see...used to be $10 for a one month supply WITH insurance.  Online it costs $10.99 per month WITHOUT insurance.  Makes you wonder just what the medical insurance covered for prescriptions in the first place.  Especially considering that half of the time they would refuse to cover what was prescribed anyway.  Typically when they would refuse to cover something, basically it meant that it was too expensive and that they did not want to pay for it.  I suppose that I should thank them though.  It was because of that policy that I was placed on something that ended up being very effective, cheap to pay for myself, and without noticable side effects.  Sure beats the hallucinations that I was having while on Toprol, which they covered.  Though there certainly was something entertaining about seeing llama's along the side of the road in New York.<br />
<br />
I put some scraps up.  Well, they are "finished" pieces dating back from high school days, but I did not want to inundate my front page with older work and push back the newer.  So, scraps it was... <br />
<a href="http://www.deviantart.com/view/33479645/">[link]</a> <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/view/33479738/">[link]</a>  <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/view/33479823/">[link]</a> <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/view/33479883/">[link]</a> <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/view/33479962/">[link]</a> <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/view/33480109/">[link]</a><br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>Sometimes Reality is More Absurd than Fiction</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8776783/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8776783/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 15 May 2006 09:42:40 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />So this cat...the cat that I think will take a nap on my 360...  I have watched that cat drink a few times now.  The cat will bend over to lap water all the while its right front paw is caressing the floor.  I do not think that it does that the entire time that it is drinking, but it does appear to do it at some point  everytime while drinking.<br />
<br />
For most people, at some point there is this voice in their head that should say "Hey, maybe that's not such a good idea"...  <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/15/teacher.apologizes.ap/index.html">[link]</a>  I don't know...  Assigning high school students to write a paper planning out a murder?  I wonder if there may have been an actual reason why that little voice was ignored.  Perhaps there was some super wonderful reason that would make the world understand WHY you would have your students write that sort of paper.  Perhaps the entire assignment was taken out of context.  Or perhaps the teacher would prefer to teach a creative writing class and that desire is sneaking into assignments.  I can see how the assignment could be a useful tool in a learning environment.  But I do not think that all students are capable of handling and accepting such an assignment and receiving that sort of benefit from it.  Practical benefits from an assignment such as that would be lost on the general high school population and society is currently very panicky about high school students writing about killing others.<br />
<br />
There is something horribly entertaining about the BBC accidentally interviewing a cabbie in the place of someone who is supposed to be an expert on a particular subject matter.  <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/15/bbc.mistakenidentity.ap/index.html">[link]</a>  Best thing to do?  Laugh at it, tell the world "whoops", and try not to do it again.  <img src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/s/smile.gif" width="15" height="15" alt=":)" title=":) (Smile)" /><br />
<br />
And then of course there is the debacle of proposed video game legislation...  <a href="http://gamepolitics.livejournal.com/286832.html">[link]</a>  I fully support the idea of parents playing a role in raising their children and controlling what media that they are exposed to...  But could a politician please take the time to come up with a practical, unbiased, level, and constitutional solution to this?  When lawmakers are creating law with the intention of finding way with which to circumvent the first amendment (<a href="http://gamepolitics.livejournal.com/283712.html">[link]</a>), we have another problem on our hands entirely.  And when lawmakers are using misleading information to further that legislation...<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>Timing</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8755379/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8755379/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 13 May 2006 02:45:59 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />One thing that I am prone to enjoying is listening to soundtracks from games.  Particularly from older games that I may not have played for a while.  The soundtracks cause me to reflect upon my memories of the games and can be quite insightful as to what has really stuck with me over the years about that game.  Last night Super Mario RPG was the subject of my listening and memories.<br />
<br />
What stood out to me the most about Super Mario RPG was the timing involved with the music.  Sure, the music in the game has a strong rhythm and beat to it, but in mini-games the rhythm and beat corresponded to what you needed to do within the game.  Instead of just giving a visual representation of the actions that you are supposed to perform, the game gave you an audial indication that you could use to help feel your way through.  What may be the best example of this is when Dodo is "polishing" the statues.  To me, the mini-game became more than just watching Dodo's actions.  I benefited much more from simply listening to the music and learning that pattern.  I knew when Dodo was going to peck, or when Dodo was only going to pretend to peck, based mainly upon the music.  This really says something for someone such as me, who can not follow a beat consciously for anything.<br />
<br />
It is a lot of little things, such as this, that help bring the pieces of a game together as a solid mesh and make the game more memorable and enjoyable.  Immersion that is accomplished with the help of music and sound make for a much fuller and whole experience.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Digging Through the Attic</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8748076/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8748076/</guid>
                <pubDate>Fri, 12 May 2006 09:22:43 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />I took a trip to the attic this morning in search of a three ring binder.  I had a very distinct impression that it was up there as I vaguely recall repackaging it for storage after recently moving.  I found it and I am happy.  My brother should remember this notebook because it contains an assortment of rules and other information of a game that we used to play.  And the most amazing aspect of this is that everything appears to have remained in exceptionally good shape.<br />
<br />
Of course I did not stop after finding the one notebook.  I continued to look and found other notebooks that I have a current interest in reviewing.  And then there are the things that I have stored away that I will not be reviewing at the moment.  But I am amazed at the number of notebooks that I have doodled upon, or downright decorated, over the years.  I have a three ring binder from AP Biology in High School that has a portrait of Crono on the back cover, a portrait of Queen Zeal on the inside of the back cover, the beginning of a moogle sketch on the inside of the front cover, and a design of Magus, Masa, and Mune on the front cover.  The front and back covers were also colored with colored pencil.<br />
<br />
And finally, it's time to sell the turnips.  Tom Nook is paying 455 Bells per turnip this afternoon in Spoony.  I have around 5600-6000 turnips...  <br />
<br />
In the meantime I think I will feel reassured that Sony at least has the sense not to rip off the name...  <a href="http://www.cad-comic.com/comic.php?d=20060512">[link]</a><br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Jack's New Press Release</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8715131/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8715131/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 08 May 2006 20:48:22 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />Just wanted to point out that in Jack Thompson's newest press release, he offers his services of being interviewed regarding the ESRB (and Oblivion.)  I am not too interested in picking apart his fallacies that are being presented as fact in the press release and I am not really too interesting in nit-picking every typo in it.  But I really just want to point one thing out...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://gamesfirst.com/?id=1280">[link]</a><br />
<blockquote>During your interview, Thompson also gives <b><i>antidotes</i></b> from his new book</blockquote><br />
<br />
ANTIDOTES?  ANTIDOTES?  That just isn't right...  Jack, I think that was supposed to be "anecdotes."<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>One more for Oblivion...  Nipples?</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8670315/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8670315/</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 04 May 2006 09:29:57 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />First off, I no longer have the biggest care for being able to enter the Arcane University...  "Frostcrag Spire" has suitable toys and perks to it...<br />
<br />
As for the real topic, Bethesda Softworks has released a statement regarding the re-rating of Oblivion.  <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=9171">[link]</a>   It's nice to see and certainly helps to clear up a few lingering questions.  There are two parts that I specifically want to comment on...<br />
<br />
<blockquote><i>With regard to violence, Bethesda advised the ESRB during the ratings process that violence and blood effects were "frequent" in the game - checking the box on the form that is the maximum warning. We further advised that the game contained occasional torture, vulgar acts, and gore. We gave accurate answers and descriptions about the type and frequency of violence that appears in the game. We submitted a 60-page document listing the explicit language, acts, and scenes in the game. Oblivion packaging already contains warnings for "Violence" and "Blood and Gore."</i></blockquote><br />
<br />
This helps clarify where the supposed violence oversight occured.  I do not have the greatest grasp on the full details of the ESRB review process, only some basic information, but you would think that the developer pointing out "frequent violence", "occasional torture", and considerable "blood and gore" might be an indication of the amount of in-game violence.  You could probably base an arguement around the context and main purpose of the game and say that maybe it would be alright for children under 17 play the game...  But then you have things like the assassin's and the thieve's guilds.  And ultimately, when compared to other ratings that the ESRB has given over the years, rating Oblivion Teen did not fit.  Does that mean that no one under the age of 17 should be allowed to play the game?  No, as that is not the actual purpose of a Mature rating.  What a Mature rating is an attempt to prevent children from purchasing the game on their own and parents the choice of whether or not their children should play that game.<br />
<br />
<blockquote><i>There is no nudity in Oblivion without a third party modification. In the PC version of the game only - this doesn't apply to the Xbox 360 version - some modders have used a third party tool to hack into and modify an art archive file to make it possible to create a mesh for a partially nude (topless) female that they add into the game. Bethesda didn't create a game with nudity and does not intend that nudity appear in Oblivion. There is no nude female character in a section of the game that can be "unlocked." Bethesda can not control tampering with Oblivion by third parties. Bethesda is taking steps to ensure that modders can not continue to hack into Oblivion's art archives to create partially nude figures.</i></blockquote><br />
<br />
This splits some hairs just a tiny bit, but I would not outright call Bethesda "liars" as some people have for that statement.  While digging up some information about the nudity mods, two pieces of information appeared very relevant.  The first is that the nudity mods include reworked textures to create realistic nipples.  The second is that the original female topless body textures are similar to that of the males.  Thus far, there is not much in the way of images online to be able to get a good grasp as to what was going on here and seeing as I am on the XBox version, it's not as if I can see the female top texture myself.  But I can view the male's.  Here's a normal view of the male upper texture:  <a href="http://www.kharagas.org/oblivion/nipple_reg.jpg">[link]</a>  Here's a close up of the so called "nipple":  <a href="http://www.kharagas.org/oblivion/nipple_zoom.jpg">[link]</a>  That appears to be about as nude as a skin tight flesh colored leotard.  You can even see more of a "nipple texture" in some scenes in PG-13 movies such as Batman Begins or Spiderman.  And chances are, those movies are not rated PG-13 because you can see someone's nipples poking through their shirt.  So...point is, I am willing to give Bethesda some leniency when they say that the "objectionable" content was created by the modding community.  Yes, technically the character models are "nude" underneath their clothing.  But by that definition, Rebecca Romijn is more or less nude when she plays Mystique; only she appears to have several dozen potential "nipple textures" on her breasts.<br />
<br />
I feel the aspect of "nudity" is merely an excuse for the ESRB to cover up their mistake of rating Oblivion Teen instead of Mature in the first place.  If "nudity" was the only deciding factor, then only the PC version would have been re-rated.  It's just much easier to save face by blaming the re-r... ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>An Assortment</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8664020/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8664020/</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 03 May 2006 16:15:17 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />An away message that I created several weeks ago:<br />
<br />
"Trying to figure out how Oblivion managed to pull off being rated teen.  I found a severed and bloody head that something had been eating the brains out of.  And then some things...when they die, they explode in blood and gore.  Fable was rated Mature...and it really isn't too far off from Oblivion.  Parasite Eve was rated Mature...and I can't see how Oblivion isn't more Mature themed than that.  Even Mortal Kombat 2 for the Gameboy was rated Mature.  You mean to tell me that the violence in an original version Gameboy game is harsher than the violence in Oblivion?  There seems to be a certain lack of consistency.  At least the descriptors for Oblivion are accurate.  But seriously, a game which is noted as to having 'Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence' is rated Teen?"<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=9159">[link]</a>  Well, that has been changed.  At least it was changed before a massive public outcry was started over it...  At least this way some initiative is being shown at making sure the ratings are accurate...  ...I suppose...  It would have been good if it were rated that way in the first place...  Though one interesting question comes up.  The more realistic games become, the more explicit and realistic the violent content is.  Could this eventually cause any realistic game that incorporates some sort of violence to have to be rated Mature?  If it is to be "realistic", then the violence would have to correspond to that realism.  Though the scale seems to keep changing as well.  Old fashioned Mortal Kombat has nothing on violence in modern games but was still the standard for violence in its age.<br />
<br />
And speaking of "public outcries"...  I couldn't help myself.  <a href="http://bold-claim.com/quote.php?quote_id=258">[link]</a>  I came up with this inane theory several months ago and recently uncovered my notes about it.  I then realized that it would have been a decent April Fool's Day comment but that it was now more than a bit too late for that this year.  This morning I came across that site.  It was a matter of opportunity.<br />
<br />
Oh, and as far as Oblivion goes...  I am upset with the game again.  I was making a few raids in some caves this afternoon and the game crashed while loading (again.)  It does not happen frequently enough to horribly frustrate me, but it still causes me to put the controller down for quite a while.  But, I am still holding out hope that soon I will be able to enter the Arcane University (finally.)  <a href="http://www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/updates_patchnotes5.htm">[link]</a><br />
<br />
-edit-<br />
Upon further review of the Oblivion patch notes, it looks like there could be a specific reason for the game to have crashed twice today while I was leaving a cave.  "Fixed crash when NPC with active light spell on them unloaded from memory."  Here's hoping.  Suppose I could test it...I did find a sword earlier that casts light as it strikes...<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>You know what concerns me?</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8643747/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8643747/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 01 May 2006 16:46:49 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />A cat taking a nap on an XBox 360.  I have my 360 set up near a window.  When this window is open, a cat has a tendancy to sit in that window.  I can see the following happening someday...<br />
<br />
*XBox 360 is running.<br />
<br />
*Cat goes towards the window to sit in it and discovers a fairly warm object in front of it<br />
<br />
*Cat proceeds to lay down upon said warm object and take a nap because that is what cats do<br />
<br />
As it is, the cat walks over the XBox to get to the window.  Maybe Microsoft could open a second product line by providing new fangled cat beds.  Though maybe the cat would be scared of the noises coming from the machine.  Hmm...<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Final Fantasy IV Advance</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8620513/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8620513/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 29 Apr 2006 11:03:14 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />There are a few things that I would like to talk about as far as Final Fantasy IV Advance goes.  The first is balance, the second is the ATB gauge, and the third is interface unfriendliness and unresponsive controls.  In some ways, these topics overlap some.<br />
<br />
Balance.   I have yet to find an adequate balance within the game by playing with the battle speed settings.  By utilizing the default speed settings, I found myself on the receiving end of monster's attacks before my party had a chance to attack during battles in which I had a preemptive strike advantage.  Seeing as that was on the default setting, it never occured to anyone that maybe there was something wrong with that?  In Final Fantasy VI for the Super Nintendo, when you had a preemptive strike, you could typically have all party members attack before the enemy was able to launch any sort of offensive.  It is the purpose and definition of it being a preemptive strike.  Having a preemptive strike and being unable to launch an attack before the enemy is ludicrous unless it is actually a harder than standard difficulty.<br />
<br />
The ATB gauge.  In a way, this contributes to the balance issues.  Put simply, the ATB gauge is bugged beyond all recognition.  Do not expect your characters to attack in the order in which they issued commands.  Do not expect to input commands for your party in the order in which the gauge fills.  You should not even expect to have to wait for the gauge to fill before being able to input another command.  And above all else, do not expect Kain's jump attack to be of any use.  A common occurance within the game is that sometimes after executing a command, the menu for that character will pop back up again.  And so you can immediately input another command before you are supposed to be able to.  The battle gauge is still empty, but you can tell them what to do anyway.  And then there is another problem.  What appears to be of a seemingly random nature, characters will interrupt each other's attacks.  Say I tell Cecil, Edge, and Yang all to attack in that order.  Typically, Yang would attack first.  It's as if a bastard combination of a queue and a stack is being used to process the input orders, and the game does not know how to process them.  It makes no sense.  And this leads to the problem with Kain.  Because of this inane interrupting attack pattern, EVERYONE tends to take precedence over Kain jumping.  I can feel confident that if I tell Kain to jump, Edge and Cecil will interrupt his move around five times each before he will finally jump.  When does Kain typically land the attack?  Sometime after the battle is already over.  This single issue has effectively made Kain useless for me compared to other characters in the game.<br />
<br />
The horribly nonresponsive controls.  The game does an incredibly poor job of handling interrupts.  Either that or maybe I just have unreasonable expectations that a form of interactive media will allow me to interact in a conducive manner.  There appears to be narrow interrupt windows in use within the game.  What I mean by this is that there are only certain times in which the game will register an interrupt from the controls.  There have been times in which I could press the "A" button and not have it register until the third press.  And of course by that time I am repeatedly pounding away on the button and I end up getting more "A"'s registered than I originally intended.  Additionally, while scrolling through menus, occasionally the game would stop scrolling as it hit a point in which it would no longer accept input from the controls.  Controls are supposed to function as an interrupt device and be able to process the information as it is input, not be interrupted by other things which are going on in the game.  The control scheme for the interface is ridiculously implemented and there is absolutely no excuse to release a game so poorly designed.<br />
<br />
As much as I try to enjoy the game and as much as I enjoy the little pieces of new content added to it, the game simply has ridiculously silly issues that have absolutely no place in a finished product.  Was is really so  difficult for Square-Enix to put forth a functioning port?  Maybe they should just focus on remakes if they are going to release the same game.  At least that way the game will be developed from the ground up with that particular console/handheld in mind and possibly be free of some of these problems.  Although I do admit that I am happy that Edge's dialogue has been rewritten some.  He is still a bit of a nuisance, but he has much less of an immature punk-ish attitude now.  He has grown to be more of a mature punk.  And at least with that, I can blame his intended character personality for what I dislike about him as opposed to h... ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Anticlimatic</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8489011/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8489011/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sun, 16 Apr 2006 12:27:23 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />Anticlimatic.  That is how I would describe the main quest for Oblivion.  Fortunately, what the game has to offer is not centered around the main quest.  They merely coexist side by side.  The main quest was fairly short while comprising only about a dozen and a half sub-quests.  Morrowind definitely seems to have had a lengthier main quest.  As for the "villian" that you chase throughout a good portion of the game?  He receives minimal development time through the journey and when I finally catch up to him and he begins his long winded "villian speech", I shoot him in the face with an Arrow of the North Winds as a sneak attack with 137% Chameleon and drop him like a sack of bricks.  I do not think that he was expecting the "hero" to shoot him in the face as he gave his villian speech.  The rest of the game involves surviving a few battles and knowing when to run to triggered events.  Simple really once you find out just what you have to do.<br />
<br />
Fortunately for Oblivion, there is much more that the game offers.  I find the mythos and general history background involved within the game setting to be much more involved and interesting than the main story arc and the exploration and character development aspects of the game are what makes it worth playing.  There is much more than just the main quest.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Oblivion</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8465841/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8465841/</guid>
                <pubDate>Fri, 14 Apr 2006 05:03:14 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />Oblivion supposedly features some semblance of randomly generated dungeons combined with creatures scaled to your level.  I can not personally verify the randomly generated dungeons, but I have returned to some dungeons at a later time and found them to be different than when I last visited.  Perhaps dungeons are not fully randomly generated but have several variations which can be selected by the game.  The layouts certainly do not appear to be random.<br />
<br />
Truly random dungeons create random rooms placed on a grid allowing for an almost infinite number of dungeon layouts that you  could possibly come across.  These truly randomly generated dungeons are about as hideous of a dungeon design as can be created.  Take Lufia:  The Legend Returns for example.  I absolutely could not stand dungeon crawling in it.  Moving between randomly generated square boxes connected by random tunnels is not lively in the least.  Lufia 2 had one randomly generated bonus dungeon and did well for itself.  A reason for this are that the generated dungeon was much more livelier than all of the dungeons I trudged through in The Legend Returns combined.  Lufia 2's storyline based dungeons were also not randomly generated, they were planned out stages with puzzles, very engaging.  The Legend Returns' dungeons were just degrading.  The further along in the game you get, the more floors there are in the dungeon.  Progress slightly far in the game and you find yourself trudging through 30 floor dungeons, each floor is a 3x3 grid.  It's not exactly challenging, but it is tedious.<br />
<br />
I say this because I have not been too fond of the dungeon crawler genre.   But Oblivion does a lot of dungeon crawling aspects vey well and in turn is part dungeon crawler.  It's something to consider when finding ways to improve the dungeon crawler genre. If nothing else, the variety in the gameplay is what makes it more enjoyable.  Personally, I'm fond of sneaking through dungeons with a chameleon and night-eye potion in effect as I snipe everything that moves.  Someone else may enjoy running head on as a warrior.  It is the role playing aspect of the game which leads the dungeon crawls to be enjoyable.  And it is the variety in the dungeons and the loot that aids in the role playing exprience.  To be able to loot random items and progressively build who your character is prolongs the game in an enjoyable fashion.  There is none of this you can only bring X items in with you and your level resets to 1 when you exit a dungeon as seen in some dungeon crawlers.<br />
<br />
Anyone who is truly a fan of what has become the dungeon crawling genre would probably say that I simple do not enjoy or appreciate the genre for what it is; what it offers is not my cup of tea.  And based upon what has been previously established in the genre, I have to fully agree with that.  I have received some enjoyment from some dungeon crawlers, but it has never been full enjoyment due to the limitations of the gameplay schematics involved.  However, Oblivion definitely shows some ways in which this can be changed.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Reason for the XBox 360 Shortage and Overheating</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8412782/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8412782/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 08 Apr 2006 22:43:17 PDT</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />Upon being questioned about the XBox 360 shortage and recent increase in supply, a homeless individual who claims to have been a spokesperson for Microsoft had the following to say:<br />
<br />
"Well you see, the reason is actually due to a Department of Defense contract.  The DoD was allowed a sneak peek at an early prototype and decided that they could use our wonderful little device in the war on terror.  The idea was that by specifically designing the 360 to generate excessive amounts of heat, it could be used as a homing beacon for their heat seeking missiles.  The only problem involved how to get XBox 360's into the hands of terrorists in the first place and was solved in a manner in which I am not at leave to speak on.  But needless to say, we managed to get the XBox 360's into the hands of terrorists.  The idea was that the terrorists would bring this hot new must have device home for family use.  Not only could we have blown up the terrorists, but we could have even had a preemptive strike against the terrorists children, the would be terrorists of tomorrow.  W sure is quite intent on his preemptive strike stance and this would have been the perfect implementation of it.  The plan didn't go so well though.  What actually happened is that instead of the terrorists bringing home the 360's, they took them to eBay instead.  Instead of the 360's acting as homing beacons for ballistic missiles, they turned into a veritable cash cow for the terrorist organizations.  And so the 'XBox for terrorists go kaboomy' project had to be scrapped and with it my job.  It really sucked."<br />
<br />
The above story was double checked and confirmed by a rat terrier by the name of "Spanky".  So, if a hobo and a rat terrier agree on it, then it must be true.  :-p<br />
<br />
--------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
I drove along the Taconic State Parkway tonight.  I had previously avoided driving along the Taconic at night because the road is essentially in the middle of a fair bit of wilderness.  I had every reason to believe that it was a veritable breeding ground for romping deer, especially at night.  After finally taking the trip I have discovered that they weren't quite romping, but I was otherwise correct.  It's not so bad if you don't mind seeing a considerable number of deer grazing along the side of the road.  Grazing along the road is certainly better than frolicking in the road.  But I haven't seen as many deer so far this year previously as I had tonight.  I'm just not thrilled of the idea of so many deer being in close proximity to a highway that I'm driving on.<br />
<br />
Speaking of deer and XBox 360's; I think that I'll go and play Oblivion, hurl some fireballs at some in-game deer, and pray that no one fires a heat seeking missile anywhere nearby me.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>Art Imitating Life?  Or Life Imitating Art?</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8312161/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8312161/</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 30 Mar 2006 07:54:42 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/c/confuse.gif" alt="Confused" title="Confused" /> Lost<br /><br />With all of the prevalent controversy over whether or not video games "train" killers, it is somewhat interesting to see and wonder if the armed forces are learning something from video games or taking a similar path as to where they walk.<br />
<br />
For a while now, VR training simulators have been used not only in the military but in NASA as well.  They offer safer and cheaper training compared to first hand experience.  They may not be up to the level of the real experience, but it is a point to start from and get a basic feel as to what would happen in a "real" situation.  Sitting behind a make-shift control panel with "windows" that show computer rendered images is more than a bit different from sitting in an actual space shuttle and watching the world fly around you, and pushing a button to cause an in game gun trigger to fire is different from actually pulling the trigger yourself.<br />
<br />
But what if this changed?  What if the button pushing becomes the reality of the situation?  <a href="http://gamepolitics.livejournal.com/244728.html">[link]</a>  <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/03/29/unmanned.war.ap/index.html">[link]</a>  Not only does the army's training directly relate to the skills that would be used in the field, but they have a cache of individuals who have already undertook some form of unofficial "training" by playing video games.  It is a very good means to play to potential strengths of your subordinates while also putting them in less danger.  Is it so far fetched to believe that it might become possible to begin utilizing remote controlled robots in the place of soldiers?<br />
<br />
What about the possible ethical ramifications for this?  Could society adopt interactive war "games" to fight wars?  Little training needed, no military enrollment required.  It could be one possible means of boosting the "active military" while not recruiting beyond regular means.  It  could also become a means in which to reach individuals who would be willing to take part in a war game but not willing to enlist in the military.  It would essentially make war a spectator's sport.  And what if this were to be taken one step further?  The military could develop a "game" made available to the public while failing to inform them that the only "game" aspect about it is the interface.  In reality, the player would unknowingly be controlling drones on the field of battle.  Highly unethical, but also very effective.  And while I would prefer to believe that man ultimately follows an ethical path, it would not take much for someone in a position of authority to justify just such a program, it would only take the "right" person.  It may only be a stretch and speculation, but still something to consider.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>A Day's Research</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8277332/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8277332/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sun, 26 Mar 2006 17:47:15 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ <strong>Mood</strong>: <img style="vertical-align: middle" src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/s/sleepy.gif" alt="Tired" title="Tired" /> Lost<br /><br />In an attempt to rework a writing assignment from around six years ago, I have taken it upon myself to further research my subject matter for it.  The paper was originally written for an introduction to philosophy class and utilized information gleamed from within class.  Upon recently rereading the paper, I am not satisfied with it and feel that I can do better.  I wanted to get a better feeling for the individuals present as far as the subject matter goes and improve the paper in every way that I could.  Holy crap does Karl Marx <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_marx">[link]</a> and Charles Darwin <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_darwin">[link]</a> have lengthy Wikipedia articles.  Although it was only Plato that left me feeling overwhelmed from information (thank you FORMS...)<br />
<br />
Incidentally, Charles Darwin is reported to have married his cousin.   A man well known for developing theories about evolution, natural selection, and hereditary traits married into his own gene pool.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
            </item>
          <item>
                <title>From the maker of Grand Theft Auto</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8230893/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8230893/</guid>
                <pubDate>Tue, 21 Mar 2006 19:48:15 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Rockstar Games is set to bring the world...Table Tennis!  <a href="http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=6141">[link]</a><br />
<br />
For some reason, the phrases "Grand Theft Auto" and "Table Tennis"are two phrases that I would not expect to be mentioned within the same sentence, much less in a sentence relating to how they come from the same developer.  There's definitely a bit of irony in that...  And something about it just tickles me.  I think it's great that Rockstar wants to delve into other genres and ideas.  It's just that I would not expect that a developer that helped provoke politicians into pushing game legislation would take up developing a game around table tennis.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>Finally played part of the Final Fantasy XII demo</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8219218/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8219218/</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 20 Mar 2006 16:44:00 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Yeah, I know, I've had Dragon Quest VIII since launch.  First impressions of the demo are that Final Fantasy has finally become fully mainstream.  The opening trailer on the demo...screams of mainstream movie-ism.  Following that...I'm not sure how I feel about how the game plays.  It really does not give you a chance to do much in the way of variety in the game, unless battle scenarios are all that there is to it.  What may have been nice is having a segment of the game with which to play through, to experience portions of the story and other parts of the gameplay.  As it stands from the demo, it only focused on dungeon crawling aspects of the game.<br />
<br />
The battle system...  I dread anything which mimics in any way the battle system from Final Fantasy XI.  It is one of the most disgusting excuses for removing player control and automating actions that I have seen.  With that said, even though there are similarities to the FFXI battle engine, it does appear to be improved in some way to make it somewhat more bearable.  Whether it will grow on players or if it will irritate them to no end will have to be seen.<br />
<br />
Other than that...there really was not much substance to the demo to really be able to comment on.  I'm curious to see what's being done with the game, as there are certainly some differences to it, but the demo really didn't leave me with a strong desire to rush out and get it.  It may very well be that the ideas that went into Final Fantasy XII may have been better suited to create a new game series instead of continuing to expand upon the name Final Fantasy.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>An announcement</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8104696/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8104696/</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:49:38 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ Thank you Republican Primary voters of Texas.  <a href="http://gamepolitics.livejournal.com/225698.html">[link]</a><br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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          <item>
                <title>Twenty-Seven Ring Tones Later</title>
                <link>http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8075625/</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://aesteval.deviantart.com/journal/8075625/</guid>
                <pubDate>Sun, 05 Mar 2006 15:12:43 PST</pubDate>
                
                <description><![CDATA[ After about a month's wait, I finally got my new phone this weekend.  It's not anything incredibly fancy, but it did wind up being a fairly large project when transferring anything over from my old phone.  Well that and deciding to program new ringtones for it.  For a good portion of more than the past day, I have been programming ringtones from sheet music into what is apparently iMelody notation.  And the only information that I have regarding any sort of format is from what I remember from my old cell phone.  It's very similar to the format that was used in that phone, just a few differences.  Of course the old phone wasn't polyphonic...so I don't have the slightest clue of how to go about changing instruments on the new phone.  So everything's pretty much basic.  Although "The Place I'll Return to Someday" from Final Fantasy IX actually came out sounding pretty good on the default instrument.  It's just ever so slightly abbreviated due to character limits.<br />
<br />
Anyway...the phone also supports MP3.  So it's probably easier and cheaper to buy software to transfer files from my computer to the phone instead of buying documentation for iMelody...which seems scarce but might be available for a "$185 administrative fee".<br />
<br />
...although I should admit that I'm fairly sick of ring tones for the time being anyway.<br /><br /> ]]></description>
                <author>*aesteval</author>
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