I have been invited to be a guest at MystiCon 2011. It’s this weekend. Here is my schedule, in the unlikely event anyone wants to seek me out and listen to me blather.
Avast has come out with a new version of their antivirus and security software. I use Avast antivirus, and I recommend it to everyone. CNet has a review.
I am not a terribly interesting person. At best I am “a character”, but I haven’t actually done much worth talking about. However, I have the good fortune to know some genuinely interesting people. For example, Tee Morris.
I know Tee through RavenCon, a science fiction convention in Virginia which he and I had a part in founding in 2006 (my part in that being a bit smaller than his). He is also the author of a number of books, the most well-known of which is probably MOREVI. He also happens to be one of the authors of Podcasting for Dummies. In this case, I am the eponymous dummy.
Here’s the deal: I wanted to record our Friday night superhero game, because I think it’s going really well. I tried using a PC microphone I have had rattling around in a drawer since 1995. The results were not satisfactory. I went to H. H. Gregg and Best Buy and looked for an omnidirectional microphone, but they didn’t have them. I searched online for “omnidirectional microphone”, and all I really found was a Blue Snowball. Was this microphone good? Bad? Indifferent? Hell if I knew. So I called Tee and asked for advice, and now I am passing that advice on to you.
First off, he said the best choice for microphones for what I was doing is the Rode Podcaster. The Rode Podcaster is $230, though, which is way more than I wanted to spend.
A decent second choice, according to Tee, is the Samson CO1U. It’s $100, which, while more than I would like to spend, is not out of the question. So that was a strong contender.
However, Tee asked if I ever planned on recording on the go — recording a panel at a convention (MystiCon, for example, where I am appearing as a guest). It really hadn’t occurred to me, but you know, that might actually be pretty cool. His suggestion, in that case, was the Zoom H2 portable stereo recorder. Tee himself has the Zoom H4, which he loves, but he said that the H2 was much easier to use, that it has great sound fidelity, and that it also doubles as a USB microphone.
I read up on all three of Tee’s suggestions, reading reviews online on various web sites. I dithered a bit, but eventually went with the Zoom H2. It should arrive in a couple of days, and I plan to take it with me to MystiCon.
Thanks, Tee! I hope I haven’t grievously misrepresented you.
A week or so after I mention that Adrianne Palicki is my new favorite, I hear that she is pegged to play Wonder Woman in the new TV reboot of the classic Linda Carter series.
Based on looks alone, I think Megan Fox would make a better Wonder Woman, but based on her comments about the character, I am glad that she wasn’t cast in the part.
I wish Ms. Palicki the best of luck. I hope her show does better than the Bionic Woman reboot (which I liked, but which suffered from producer interference that ultimately killed the show).
Something I overheard in a chat room recently:
Harrigan: Hmmm… I need to find out how to go through airport security these days. The last time I flew, I got stopped and was asked what was in the small pouch on my belt. The security guard waved me on when I said it was a Swiss army knife and told me he just wanted to make sure it wasn’t Mace. I think things have changed since then.
Berrianna: Yeah, knives are right out.
Berrianna: As are liquids and gels over five ounces, firearms, jackhammers, hacksaws, dental implants, transplanted kidneys, a sense of personal privacy, any bag over 10 pounds, jackets, underwear with natural fibers, broken glass, scarves, dental floss, dignity, the first and fourth Amendments, and dogs over fifteen pounds.
Heh. Heh heh.
Life is too short to obsess over pennies.
Life is too short to hold grudges.
Life is too short to pay to store things that you don’t use.
Life is too short to anguish over things you can’t change.
Life is too short to demand repayment for ancient debts.
Life is too short to spend it focused on that which is not important.
P.S. While looking for an image of an hourglass, I found this…
Caretake this Moment
Caretake this moment.
Immerse yourself in its particulars.
Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed.Quit the evasions.
Stop giving yourself needless trouble.
It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now.
You are not some disinterested bystander.
Exert yourself.Respect your partnership with providence.
Ask yourself often, How may I perform this particular deed
such that it would be consistent with and acceptable to the divine will?
Heed the answer and get to work.When your doors are shut and your room is dark you are not alone.
The will of nature is within you as your natural genius is within.
Listen to its importunings.
Follow its directives.As concerns the art of living, the material is your own life.
No great thing is created suddenly.
There must be time.Give your best and always be kind.
~ Epictetus
When I heard about the newest X-Men movie, my expectations were really low. Roger Corman low. However, although there are a few things I don’t like (I still think giving Emma Frost the ability to turn into diamond, which was done in 2003, is stupid and unnecessary), over all, the trailer looks pretty good. You can definitely see the influence of Watchmen on it.
I am putting this here in case someone else has the same problem. The network adapter in my laptop kept disconnecting (not all the time — once a day, generally). I could not figure out why. These links helped me solve the problem.
I hope this helps someone.
This is pretty huge news. The Egyptian government has shut off the Internet there, in response to civil unrest which may be reach civil war proportions. And Egypt isn’t the only Middle Eastern country having problems.
I am not going to make any pronouncements or try to draw any conclusions from any of this. I will point out a couple of things, though. First, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has been in power for 30 years. I am probably typical (among Amercians, anyway) in thinking that this is too long for one person to hold that much power. Second, although the average Egyptian is poor, the Egyptian economy is in better shape now, and is less centralized, than it was 30 years ago. So would an Egyptian civil war make that better, or worse?
A revolution is a dangerous thing. The revolution which resulted in the creation of the United States of America is almost unique in how little it cost us and in how well it turned out (and it certainly wasn’t bloodless). People in the USA who call for overthrowing or even substantially changing our form of government should keep that in mind.
Be careful what you wish for.
I am tired of people singing with robot voices. I am ready for that fad to go away.
The only time it’s cool to sing with a robot voice is when a machine is the singer. For example, “Still Alive”, sung by GlaDOS from Portal.
I’ve experiments to run.
There is research to be done.
On the people who are still alive.
Powered by WordPress
![[x]](/images/sigil_md.jpg)
Blackmoor Vituperative