Everyone has things that get on their nerves. Things that really bug them.  Here's a list of some of mine:

1. People not taking responsibility for their actions or behavior
2. People who use arrogance as a debate tactic
3. People who think they have leverage when they do not
4. People lacking self control
5. Passive/aggressive people.
6. People who let the slightest obstacle stimey them.
7. People who think other people should take care of them.
8. People who worry too much about what other people make
9. People who resent or feel excessive envy towards those who are materially wealthier
10. People who think that anyone who has done better than them are just "luckier"
11. People who think those that disagree with them are automatically either ignorant or stupid
12. People who are unable to recognize that there are often multiple, legitimate points of view
13. People who think that multiple points of view are always equally legitimate
14. People who think they are more sophisticated because they make no value judgements due to seeing "shades of gray"
15. People who never see shades of gray
16. People who are stymied into inaction due to shades of gray
17. People who regularly use moral equivalence arguments
18. People who think it is always up to "someone else" to fix something.
19. People who think arguing passionately or loudly is the same as arguing effectively.
20. People who advocate a position without having any real knowledge of history or of human nature.

Those are real general things.  The quickest way to get on my nerves is to argue on a site like JoeUser.com (because it's a free site we provide) that my opinions (whatever they are on whatever issue) are costing  "me" sales.  As if my day job is the sum of my life and that my company is just me as opposed to being dozens of people.    That annoys me because the argument essentially implies that I should have no opinions, especially controversal ones, because my only point to exist is to make stuff not to express myself. OTHER people can express themselves but not me.  Which is hogwash and something I find deeply offensive.  But that's for a different article.

For reference, this is where your tax dollars go (at of year 2000 anyway, not much has changed since then since all parts have grown except interest on the debt which has shrunk and military which has grown slightly).

Our friends at Shrapnel Games have announced that Dominions 3, the latest incarnation of the cult-hit Dominions fantasy strategy game has gone gold.

Dominions 3: The Awakening puts players in the role of leader of a fantasy-based realm -- one of over 50 realms in an epic world where men, monsters and gods struggle for dominion.

Lead one of over fifty nations in three different Ages, against up to twenty other players (AI or human), in the ultimate struggle of sword and steel for the right to claim dominion over all.  Simultaneous turn structuring keeps the massive number of players thoroughly involved in the game, without downtime, and with the incredible number of options available to players each turn, gameplay is always tense and exciting.

Just as NetHack, with its seemingly endless catalog of creatures and items is considered  by many to be the ultimate Rogue experience, Dominions 3: The Awakening strives to achieve the same status in the world of 4X strategy gaming.  Featuring more than 1500 troop types, 600+ spells, and 300+ magic items, it will take players an epoch to merely see everything Dominions 3 has to offer.  Yet, that day never has to come.  Dominions 3 has been built with the mod-maker in mind, allowing players to easily add new items into the game.  Mod-making can be as simple as you like, such as easily importing new maps
into the game, or more complex, such as creating new items. 

While for many the true thrill of Dominions comes with playing against others, the single-player experience has been enhanced in Dominions 3: The Awakening with the oft-requested random map feature.  An endless supply of maps to wage celestial war on at the click of the mouse!  Other improvements over previous titles in the series includes
less micromanagement, transparent mechanics, overhauled graphics, a streamlined interface, rebalanced gameplay elements, map filters, an autotax ability, a thick tome of a manual by Bruce Geryk, and much more.  Fans of the series will find the core gameplay that is so addictive hasn't been changed, but the entire experience has been made cleaner, and less threatening to newcomers. 

Dominions 3: The Awakening is available through the Shrapnel Games' online-store, the Gamers Front at www.gamersfront.com/xcart/home.php for only $54.95. 

(note: we're not affiliated with Shrapnel, we just like their games and their company and think there's a good chance that many players of GalCiv II may also like Dominions 3).

 

I came across an election year 2004 poll by Rasmussen which asked whether the person thought the United States was a fair and decent country.

3 out of 4 Bush voters said Yes. Only 15% said no.

By contrast, Less than half of Kery voters think so. Again, I repeat: Is America a fair and decent country.

I may not be happy with Republicans these days but I am not about to vote for people who basically think our country sucks.

 

Anyone have a universal remote control that they like?

My ancient 35 inch standard TV finally gave up the ghost and it was time to go out and find a new TV.  Over the past several years, I've been keeping up with how HDTV has been progressing.

Presently, there's 3 technologies used to create HDTVs worth mentioning:

Plasma screens. DLP. And LCD.

Plasmas generally look the best when fairly large but are also very expensive.  LCDs tend to look the best when smaller but lose out at higher resolutions due to being a fixed resolution (especially if you're considering 1080p).  DLPs start to shine at higher resolutions but older ones tended to give a rainbow effect and have non-optimal contrast.

My living room is fairly large. As a result, I decided to go wtih the largest HDTV I could afford and that was a 71 inch one.  The new Samsung HL-S7178W was the one I decided to go with.

I chose it because of the size, its gaming features, it was a true 1080p (i.e. its inputs accept 1080p inputs) and it could handle 1080i and even standard definition and look fantastic.  It even has a game mode for people who have an XBOX 360 or whatever who want to get the best gaming experience.

The performance has been phenomenal.  I couldn't be happier with the TV.  The newer projectors eliminate for essentially everyone any sort of side effects of having a color wheel (though LED based lights are coming out next year but I doubt they'll show any noticealbe improvement).  Having looked at HDTVs for a few years now, it's amazing how far they've come in just the past 2 years. The quality of the picture is just much better.

Moreover, the TV's have gotten a lot smarter about their displays. Gone are the artifiacts one used to see and other noise elements that people with large screen HDTVs had to deal with. The newer sets such as this eliminate noise on the fly.  This really comes in handy when dealing with standard TV where the images look pretty good.

The feature I didn't know about but have found very useful is the USB connector on the side.  Just plug in your USB key and it'll play music and photos right on screen.  This is a very nice surprise because I can show slides of our new daughter at 1080p which look fantastic and conveniently play music through our surround sound home theater system in the room.

If I have any criticism of the set it is only that I wish it had more outputs on the back. I realize that my receiver should do more work but more outputs is always nice.  My other minor complaint is that it would be nice if more inputs were accessible. It does have some inputs on the side but an HDMI connector that was easily accessible fron the side would have been nice.

Overall, I would give the set a 9 out of 10. I really couldn't be more happy with it. It's obviously a huge step up from the ancient 35 inch TV we had.

Our friends at deviantART have done a full-blown make over.  We're not just talking a cosmetic change here, but a complete re-envisioning of how deviantART should look, feel, and interact with users.

I recently spoke on the phone at length with co-founder Angelo Sotira about some of the plans they have to take deviantART to the next level.

deviantART started out as a skin site much like WinCustomize.com is but branched out into being a general art site. Today, it is one of the largest art sites in the world.  They have some very impressive features in the works.

The new deviantART has been designed to be even faster than before and provide users with more information with less clutter.  The site has always tried to balance community with function and the new deviantART has some innovative features designed to help achieve that balance.

We're currently working on our own re-design in the form of WinCustomize 2K7. It's taking a different direction than deviantART has since we deal with a very different kind of audience.  But the new features on deviantART are impressive combined with, IMO, an excellent overall site design I think will take deviantART to new levels of popularity.

While no longer focused on skinning, the site still contains a lot of good skins and themes and continues to receive good support from the skinning community.

Feel free to share what you like, what you think should be improved and where you think community content sites are going next.

 

The Reluctant

 A Graphic Novel Outline

Brad Wardell, August 2006

Chapter 8: Destinations

See Previous Chapters..

 

 

DL and Agent Gerard sit around a conference table along with 5 other men. In front of the conference table is General Dyson, who is in charge of covert operations for the United States air force.

Dyson: Gentlemen, one of our agents in Beijing has captures one of the henchmen of the Intruders.

As you know, the Intruders abruptly disappeared following the death of their leader at the hands of Mr. Bradley here.

According to the henchmen, the intruders have returned to their home world.

One of the men at the table, Captain Peters, looks up at that.

Captain Peters: How is that possible? Our satellites remain intact. It is one of the few things that we have been able to do while the Intruders have run amok on Earth – launch satellites. They have no ships.

Dyson: They apparently open a portal between our world and their own world.  In fact, this portal remains open at all times and is located in Beijing. During..interrogation, the henchman gave us the location of the portal.

He also told us that the Intruders now consider Earth a threat and will be returning in force soon to ‘sterilize’ the planet.

There are murmurs at the table.

Dyson: DL Bradley, who has somehow managed to kill four of these Intruders, including their leader on this planet, has agreed to help us but a stop to this.

Peters: How can we stop them?

Dyson: We are going to go to Beijing and close the portal, failing that, we will send a team through the portal to discover how they come and go and make them stop one way or the other.

I would like to introduce Colonel Riley, who will be leading the team to Beijing.

A tall man of around 45 years of age stands up. He is in a blue dress uniform and his lapel is full of the trappings of combat experience.  He has brown hair that is just starting to gray at the sides. He is a man of action, a man born to lead.

Colonel Riley: Thank you, General.  I will be leading a small team into Beijing. Myself, Major Anderson, and 4 support members will comprise the military component.  Agent Gerard will act as my intelligence liaison and DL Bradley will be with us…to do what he does.

Captain Peters: Sir, if I may ask, what’s the point? We can’t even hurt them. Only this..man, Mr. Bradley has shown any ability to harm them at all. Why not just send him alone?

Colonel Riley: Because, Captain, Mr. Bradley doesn’t know the area and because it is our world too. If we are going to free it, we should have some hand in that even if our hand is..shell we say, a bit feeble.

Besides, DL has to sleep sometimes right? Someone needs to watch his back. Right?

DL smiles and nods.

Cut to night fall. It’s Beijing and the city is still somewhat chaotic as the vacuum left behind by the Intruders has allowed the domestic government to start reasserting its authority. But the thugs and henchmen of the Intruders are not giving up too easily and there is strife and ivil war looming. 

Beijing is not by day and certainly not by night, especially for Westerners who are conspicuous in their appearance, especially when armed to the teeth as the 6 men who are cautiously walking down the street.

Well, at least, 5 of them are being cautious, the sixth, a blond-haired man with flecks of silver in his hair is not but rather walks as if he is merely part of an audience looking on from safety. Because for DL, very few things represent a threat to his safety.

The six men eventually make it to a large building. Outside the building are two armed guards.

Colonel Riley: (whispering) Okay, here’s what we should do…

DL Bradley: If you don’t mind, I’d like to finish this quickly so let’s take the easy way.

DL looks over at the men, moves his hand slightly and both men fall to the ground unconscious.

Colonel Riley: So what else can you do?

DL: Quite a bit, but I’m out of practice, been trying to not be noticed for the past 15 years.

They enter the building and what they see amazes them.  It’s a hive of activity in a giant hollowed out hall. In the center of the hall is a glowing green ring of energy. Through the energy one can almost make out what looks like a forest.

Agent Gerard: There doesn’t seem to be any mechanism. It’s just there.

Riley: Fan out, let’s see if there is some sort of machine here. Be on the look out for anything..well funky looking.

Major Anderson: Got it, now scanning for funky…

The team breaks up into units of 2 with DL and Gerard together.

As they walk, they enter an area where there is no one around.

Gerard: DL, I have to ask you…did you break my daughter’s leg?

DL: No, the rock she fell on broke her leg.

Gerard: Did you cause her to fall?

DL: You said you would do anything to protect your country? Including harm my only son. Would you do anything to protect your daughter?

Gerard pauses and then responds…

Gerard: I understand. Forget I asked.

They reach a secure looking area with two guards posted outside a door. Above the door is writing in Mandarin.

DL: I don’t suppose you can read Chinese?

Gerard: Well they don’t have me on this trip just because of my charm. The door says ‘Restricted. Command Center.’

DL reaches out and the two men guarding the door fall to the ground.  They walk to the door and it is locked. There is a keycard slot next to the door.  DL pulls the handle of the locked door and the handle breaks off and alarms sound.

DL: Damn, in the movies, that always works, physics has always been out to get me.

Gerard: There’s no way to hide.

DL looks at the door and gives it a solid kick and it bursts in. Behind it are several armed guards who begin shooting.

DL moves in front of Gerard and the bullets bounce harmlessly off of DL.

DL: Those actually do sting a bit so let’s do this.

DL waves and the armed guards fall unconscious one by one.

Gerard: Can’t you go any faster, one of those shots just nicked my shoulder!

DL: That’s my limitation – I have to focus on the people I am doing stuff to. It’s not magic you know.

Gerard: Could have fooled me.

Eventually the last guard goes down leaving only a single unarmed Chinese man in uniform.  He speaks Mandarin.

Gerard: Amongst a lot of profanity, he demands to know why we are here.

DL: Well, ask him how to turn off that portal.

Gerard asks. The man laughs and responds in English.

Intruder Liaison:  You are wasting your time. The portal is powered by the crystal of the lords and is on their world.  They will soon return and when they do, you will all be destroyed.

Gerard: And what about you?

Intruder Liaison: Those of us who have proved themselves useful will be spared and allowed to rule this world in their steed.

Gerard: Can we shut this guy up?

DL: Done and done.

DL moves his hands lightly and the man drops to the floor into sleep like the others.

Gerard: You seem to be a lot less lethal than the Intruders.

DL: Well, these are people.  Vile, wretched people but people nevertheless.

The team reassembles a floor above the portal. The great hall is shaped like an oval with several balconies surrounding the hollowed out center.

Colonel Riley: It looks like we will need to go through the portal, find this crystal and take it out.

DL: Bear in mind, we’ve only dealt with a handful of these Intruders.  When we go over there, we’ll be the Intruders and there will probably be a lot more of them than us.

Riley: I am sure you can protect us.

DL: I don’t know.  The only weapon I have is one of their swords.  I can only fight one at a time.

Riley: Do we have any other choice?

Gerard: Not really. If we don’t stop them, they’ll return here and billions will die.

Gerard looks at DL.

Gerard: What is it?

DL: I’ve now been away from my son 3 days. That’s 3 days I’ll never get back. And it looks like we’ll be gone longer.

Gerard: I know how you feel, I’ve got a daughter back home.

DL: No, you don’t know how I feel. You won’t know how I feel for a long time. But someday you may indeed understand a bit better.  What matters is that we make sure that what we’re doing is worth it.

Major Anderson: Let me check…yep, right here in the “Is it Worth it manual” saving the world is rated very highly.

They laugh and prepare to head down stairs.

Riley: It is time to get lethal.

Riley and their men pull out a series of high explosive grenades. These special grenades were designed to be particularly effective against personnel in a wide area – such as the hollowed area of the main floor.

The men throw their grenades and take cover.

KABLAM! A huge explosion in the center hollowed area clears the area.

Riley: Make for the portal!

The team runs for the portal. There are no shots as those not taken out by the explosion are too stunned to react.

The men enter the portal and emerge into darkness..

 

Next: We’re not in Kansas anymore…

 

It is always at night when the darkness comes..

In case anyone's interested, we put up our first video podcast. So if you want to see myself, Kristin Hatcher (who did the voice over for the GalCiv II tutorials and Derek, head on over to the link below).