With WindowBlinds 6 out, users have been looking for skins that make full use of the new features of WindowBlinds 6.

Stardock Design has been hard at work on lots of new skins and themes for various projects (which you'll hear more about soon).  But some of the new WindowBlinds 6 skins are starting to come out.

The first in the series is Elegance.

This is one of the best skins I have ever seen and used. It's incredibly light and useful. Click on the thumbnail above to get a closer look.

Beyond that, there's Aero Executive which will be out soon and Aero Graphite which will both be out fairly soon. Stay tuned!

A new WindowBlinds skin from Stardock Design will soon be publicly available in time for Christmas...

  In the beginning they were one race. And they really are still one race. But the seeds for the discord between the two factions of the Arnor came in their creation.  One group of the Arnor were created with the ability to perceive time. Their creator considered them superior in believing that the perception of time passing is a key to self-awareness and thus full sentience.  The other group was created without a sense of time perception. It was thought that this group would eventually be the servant class of the other group.

The ability to perceive time is something that mortals take for granted. Creatures that live a span of a century or so have no concept of eternity. What would it be like to live 1,000 years? What about 10,000 years? What about 100,000 years?  It is believed that what twisted the creator of the Arnor was that alone of the Mithrilar, the Arnorian creator did indeed perceive time and that perception ultimately ruined his spirit. 

For a long while, the Arnorians worked together and indeed, the pre-Dread Lord Arnor were the masters and the base-Arnor were the servants. Those who feel the touch of time are more driven to achievement than those who recognize eternity for what it is.  But in time, those who became Dread Lords became cruel and malevolent. When new species began to evolve the Dread Lords considered them worthless. What value is a creature that dies in the relative blink of an eye? What level of awareness of sentience can a being achieve in such a short amount of time?

And so ultimately, the only real difference between the Arnor and Dread Lords is the perception of time and its effect on immortal beings.

The Precursors were the first sentient species. They didn't call themselves Precursors naturally. They called themselves Arnor. They didn't evolve. They were made. Religion and myth have clouded the specifics of the very beginning. What we have learned (i.e. according to Precursor artifacts that have been found and translated) is that there were once 5 "guardians of the universe" who were sent to ensure that life would come to exist in the universe when the proper time came. Where they came is unknown. But what is known to the Precursors is that the object the Guardians were to take care of was known as the Telenanth. It was a crystal of some kind (as best we can tell) that when unleashed into the universe would allow inorganic matter to become organic. The line between the two is apparently a lot thinner than previously believed (or more exactly, what the Mithrilar consider living is probably a lot looser than what we today would consider living). The Mithrilar would probably even consider proteins to be life as apparently they did not exist prior to the unleashing of the Telenanth.

According to what we have learned of the Precursors, the Mithrilar used the Telenanth to actually change the laws of physics as we know them in the universe in such a way to allow for certain types of molecular bonds to be able to form. We cannot see how this is possible as the laws of physics are absolute and any change to them would make the universe as we know it impossible.  But the Precursors certainly believe that the laws of physics are fluid.

Meanwhile, one of the Mithrilar was different from the others. Known as the "Dark Mithrilar" he/it became known as Draginol. Where he originated is unknown even to the Precursors. What is known is that Draginol created the Precursors in his own image. The Arnor, in their natural form, resemble Altarians (and humans) -- this was the Altarian prophecy that came to be seen to be true once actual contact with the Dread Lords occurred.   We do not know why Draginol's natural form resembles an Altarian/human. We do know that the other Mithrilar had no specific natural form at all.

The Arnor quickly built a great civilization that eventually spanned the stars across the known universe.  The universe was empty with no life on it other than the Arnor and other specific forms of life created by Draginol for their planet. In time, the Telenanth was unleashed and nearly all of the guardians of the universe were no more. With the Mithrilar gone, the Precursors began to observe the rise of new sentient beings evolving across the galaxies.

In our galaxy, the first civilization to become sentient was known as the Iconians. The Arnor became concerned of what the future might hold in a universe teeming with these younger sentient races.  One faction wanted to exterminate alien sentient life upon discovery. The other wanted to guide them. In time, this difference in philosophy grew into a civil war. The losing side became villainized and known as the "Dread Lords". The war was long and devastated the galaxies in which it was fought. The Arnor were on the brink of defeat but had constructed a trap to remove the Dread Lords from our dimension and place them in a pocket dimension. With that accomplished, the Precursors disappeared until the Drengin unwittingly released the Dread Lords from the pocket universe.  The location of the Arnor home world is still unknown and the Arnor disappeared from the known universe soon after the Dread Lords were banished.

Some other notes about the universe according to the Precursors:

According to what we have learned, as big as the universe is, nearly all of the galaxies are lifeless and that in time, even our galaxy will become lifeless until the end when everything breaks back down to sub-atomic particles again, the price of having a universe capable of the molecular bonds provided by the Telenanth.  The Mithrilar also considered all matter other than what we call hydrogen and helium to be miraculous and that all elements other than those two were created due to the Telenanth's initial effect on the singularity force of the universe.

The humans call is magic. But it's not magic. There are energies and forces in the universe that simply can't be explained.

But the Drath  know it. They have lived it.  On the planet Altaria they have seen it.  Long ago, the Drath were the supreme sentient species on the planet Altaria. They were self-aware on a world with no rivals.  Then, the skies became lit with a fire that lasted for years. It was just light but they knew it foretold of a doom. 

The world shook when the dark Mithrilar, one of the guardians of the universe, collided with the world and slept for long eons.  It was during this time that a new creature seemed to have evolved out of nowhere. An alien species evolved alongside the Drath. At first, the Drath paid little attention. These newcomers were tiny (an adult Drath stands 20 feet tall and can weigh nearly a ton) and they were weak.  But in time, the newcomers, who we now know as the Altarians, became numerous and seemed to be able to inherently manipulate invisible energies. 

Some Altarians could move objects, others could actually cast destructive energies. In time, the Drath themselves came to be able to manipulate this invisible energy but only at a much lesser level. The main capability they gained was to morph, over a period of many hours, into other forms (a non trivial effort for a being that is so massive).  This power inevitably attracted the attention of the Precursors who were already at war with one another. The Altarians chose sides and the world was laid waste.  The Drath never forgave the Altarians for the cataclysm. The Drath stayed largely out of the Precursor wars. But at the end, with their world ruined, most took the Arnorian (the victorious faction of the Precursors) to relocate to another world. A few stayed and became the subject of myth until at last, the few Drath that remain on Altaria remain safely disguised.

Even on their new world, the Drath remain interested in the ways of the ancient past. Unlike the humans and other races that consider these energies as being magic and superstition, the Drath recognize it as simply another form of energy and that all energy and matter is ultimately the result of sub-atomic vibrations, not all of which can be measured and not all of which are naturally present. The unknown quantity on the planet Altaria was the long presence of the Mithrilar whose being was fused with this powerful energy that eventually permeated the world of Altaria and forever changed it and those that lived on it. The Drath also recognize that the two Precursor factions -- the Dread Lords and the Arnor are powerful only because they are able to directly manipulate this energy. Their ability to do so is apparently inherent in their existence. If the Drath can learn to master this energy as well, they will never again be at the mercy of others and their relatively low population will not be such a hindrance.

The Korx home world was united long ago by a single corporate conglomerate. What humans might call libertarianism was the way of the Korx in its purest form. Its unregulated capitalistic system eventually allowed a single mega corporation to emerge that effectively owned all of the resources of the Korx world including the military.  As a result, technological and cultural progress stagnated for generations. Without competition, Korx society moved forward on inertia from its past achievements.

Everything is for sale in Korx society. Every resource, every service, everything one could possibly imagine -- and then some -- can be bought and sold. If there is a demand, the Korx will find a way to provide for it.  For this reason, the Korx tend to be found involved in every galactic war in some form as arms dealers and even mercenary soldiers on both sides.

Tragedy of the commons is a game theory that helps spell out why socialism always ultimately fails. It can be summed up with "nobody ever washes a rental car". Private ownership is the key to prosperity in a society. John Stossel has an excellent article that discusses this. For anyone who believes that the government should raise taxes so that it can "help people" more, this article will help show the error in such thinking.

I know it's not nice to say that some people are losers. But that doesn't mean it isn't true. Awhile back I wrote an article on this topic. Now, I'd like to put together this simple test that if someone I know or work with blatantly shows these signs I can just print it out, highlight and hand it to them.

Are you a loser?

1. Do you leave a given situation worse than you found it? For instance, if you borrow something do you bring it back damaged? Loan a loser a car and it'll come back with a stain on it. Loan them a took and it'll come back damaged or broken. Let them stay at your place and they'll leave it a mess.
   
   
2. Do you exploit the good will of others? Do you find yourself betraying the trust others put in you? Do people describe you as inconsiderate? Are you the guy at the office who eats the majority of "community" food? Are you the guy who leaves dirty dishes for your roommates or coworkers to clean up after you?
    
3. Do you make pathetic excuses for routine failings? Nothing says loser than the guy who acts like they are the only person in the world that has a life to deal with. Are you the guy who is late for work regularly and uses excuses ranging from "train" to "traffic" to other lame things? What makes you a loser in this case is the obliviousness that everyone faces issues in life but still manages to get things done.
    
4. Do you have no sense of delayed gratification? A loser not only doesn't have any money, but will rationalize spending money they don't have because they gotta have stuff "now". Sure you're going to be a bonus or a raise at work? Then hey why not buy that new gadget right this second even though you haven't gotten the job, bonus or raise yet right? That's what losers do. Losers almost never save or invest because they need all kinds of shiny crap now.
    
5. Do you see yourself as just having bad luck or a victim of circumstance? A loser always sees themselves as a victim. All the bad things that happen to them are someone else's fault. Losers think their boss "has it out for them" or they couldn't have known their interest rate might go up on their adjustable rate mortgage or still can't believe that they got evicted for not paying their rent – didn't the landlord realize that they've been having a tough time?
    
6. Do you think people who are doing better than you are just lucky? Losers seem to assume that rich people just inherited it or stole their money. Losers are just "too damn principled" to "play dirty" to be successful or "just weren't born with silver spoons in their mouths". When a loser sees someone who is doing better they think those people are doing better either because of luck or because they were dishonest.
    
7. Do you worry about "Fairness"? Losers think there should be some sort of objective "fairness" in life. You can spot a loser because they will whine about something not being "fair". Life ain't fair.
    
8. Do you have a loser work ethic? A loser's work ethic functions as follows: If they think they are underpaid, they will simply work fewer hours and screw off more. They will rationalize that they should really be making X (where X is almost always 25% more than they already make – they've done studies on this). Therefore, they'll figure they really only should put in 30 hours of work and will mess around the other 10. Losers don't realize that they are simply sabotaging their futures with such a stupid, unproductive strategy.

There's something wrong with me. I know it. I can pretend otherwise but I just don't get excited about Christmas anymore. And the reason? I'm selfish. I like getting stuff.

I am not really big on personal consumption. I'm notoriously cheap. And thanks to my wife, we (as in she and I) tend to be quite generous on gift giving. And why not? We're blessed to be able to afford to give to our family and friends.

But I like getting presents. Not just any old presents, but presents that have thought put into them. I don't care if they cost nothing or cost a lot, I like presents that show that the person gave some thought to it.

For instance, a friend of mine at work gave me a gourmet hot chocolate kit. I love hot chocolate and that was really thoughtful. But that's the exception rather than the rule.

Do you know what I usually get? Gift cards to Best Buy, Amazon, or other places. I get lots of gift cards. Not to be ungrateful but gift cards are the worst present of all for me. I'd rather just get a card with a hand written note than a gift card.

When I say that I don't want gift cards since they're essentially just money transfers – except more restrictive – the response I get is "Well I don't know what to get you, you could just buy anything you want anyway." Which makes me wonder why they got me a gift card then. I guess what I'm looking for is thought. I guess I have it easy when it comes to presents, I can buy people nice things because I can afford it. It's easy to just buy something expensive because you know they'll probably like it. But a book that I didn't think of or some little gadget that I didn't know about or some little item that just shows that some thought was put into the gift is what I'm looking for.

But I suppose it doesn't matter, Christmas is really mostly for the kids anyway. Bah humbug. J