Steampowered World

I've started a new blog project: Steampowered World. A frequently-updated compendium of notes on my travels through steampunk and Victorianism. if that's your kind of thing, stop on by.

An Open Letter to Nintendo

Dear Nintendo -

It's me, Alex. Congratulations on the release of the Nintendo DSi. I have been enjoying the product thoroughly, and am excited about the future of DSiWare, the downloadable applications.

If I may, please allow me to suggest an application -- DSNotes. A simple DSiWare app which allows the user to write text documents and save them to the SD card. These could then be transferred to the user's main computer for use in other applications.

I carry the DSi with me most places, and I also carry a pocket-sized notebook. DSNotes would allow me to ditch the paper and move another need to the DSi.

Yours, as always,
Alex

My Imram Continues

Still nomadic at work, borrowing offices where and when I can. The varying decor of people's workspaces continues to intrigue me. Take, for example, this high-tech piece of equipment.


Classic. My favorite part is this:
Was this really an issue at some point?

Blub blub

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Bubbles -- my first foray into custom vinyl toys.

Isn't he a handsome devil?

On The Enduring Relevance of Wizards

Oh, don't roll your eyes. You saw Harry Potter.

Greg sent me the story he submitted to Blizzard's creative writing contest. It A) was awesome and B) got me to thinking. What is it about wizards? Why do the children of the Geek Nation love them so? I have a theory, and it starts with a little boy named Alex.

Everyone is stimulated by intellectual activity. Everyone is stimulated by physical activity. But, when one falls to atrophy, the other increases.

As a kid, I never got into sports. I assume this is a learned trait, as I am the progeny of geeks. I spent my time doing geeky things. Video games. Computers. Reading. All this time spent in abstractions naturally led to me being pretty decent at my classes (with the glaring exceptions of phys ed and penmanship), which in turn made me the target of your standard schoolyard bullying.

Thus, physical people are bad, intellectual people are good, and there's no such thing as being both -- so said young Alex's mind. Anyone who played a sport was separate from my kind, and they certainly didn't want me around.

It took me a very long time to get past this mental division. "People can be smart AND jocks? Nonsense. One camp or the other."

So, when narrative comes into play, who is an incurable young geek going to tend towards? Rough-and-tumble heroes who punch they're way through problems (which are inevitably caused by evil geniuses)? Uh, no. Have you seen the way those guys treat the bookworms (who are only brought along to crack some code, anyway)?

Enter the wizards. People who possess the ability to interact with the physical world directly through their minds. A few mumbled phonemes from a dusty tome and BOOM -- problem solved. Ancient languages. Books. Knitted brows. These are the things I could get behind.

All of a sudden mental skills outweigh physical ones. Abused kid kept under the stairs? No longer. Now he's a wizard so powerful no one makes fun of his glasses.

But then there's the problem of Hermione Granger. So much of an egghead that other wizards make fun of her. You don't want to be like that, do you? Best get yourself on the quidditch green. Some air would do you good.

A bit much?

I'm temporarily nomadic at work. A new office is being cobbled together for me, so I'm camping out at a retiree's former workspace.

She likes cats. A lot. How much, you ask?

Enough to tape a picture of a cat to the paperclip holder.

Who uses sonic?

Garv and Lisa bought a house. Jess and I trundled over there to see what we could do to help during this, the first weekend of their ownership. In order to be prepared, I stuck a bunch of tools in my man-purse. Can you tell which one is mine?

Let me make it easy for you -- mine's the one with the sonic screwdriver.

P.S. Took this picture with the DSi, and I'm pretty satisfied with it.

The New Hotness

I'm posting this from the Opera browser in the Nintendo DSi. My experience with the device so far has been a positive one.

And yet, still no internal document storage. Alls I'm looking for is to be able to jot a note down and to email it later. Come on Nintendo -- hear my plea.