Google Alerts

If you're like me, keeping your blog with up to date with timely news is of the utmost importance (see my rant about bad DQ commercials only about half a year after they were released).  The problem is, without my own reporters I have a tough time staying on top of things and making this blog the go to place for all your Science, Sports, and Lifestyle news.

As a Google nerd I am embarrassed that I did not know about the featured product in this article earlier.  In fact, I was told about this from an entomologist who used it to stay on top of all things insects.  But better late than never I always say, so without further ado I give you:

Google Alerts allows people with G-Mail accounts to get a Daily, Weekly, or even "As-it-happens" digest of news from across the internet on different topics you are interested in.  You simply enter the search terms you would normally put in Google to find your news on a topic and voila! E-mails of all new hits on that search sent to your inbox.

I have only just gotten started with this but I see real value in this for anyone who actually needs to stay on top of things.  The afore mentioned entomologist gets alerts for bed bugs and dutch elm disease.  Not my cup of tea, but you understand how that could be valuable for someone who makes a living being an expert on such things.

For me, it is how I get my news on my favorite Doctor:

-"David Tennant"

News on upcoming games:

-"Dust 514"
-"Rome 2 Total War"
-Steam Valve

and upcoming TV Shows:

-"Arrested Development"

Since it is a Google search, you can have quotes to search for a phrase, or just enter in all terms you want covered.  My initial digest for Steam was a little much, but I've thrown in Valve and so far I don't get many results dealing with water pressure.

There are more options and I would encourage you all to experiment with this.  My only concern is that if I don't check my e-mail for a few days I am going to come back to an inbox filled with these, so far though I've kept it under control.

Got anything you think I should add to alerts or are you already using this?  Feel free to comment below!

Remember, Remember the 6th of November, and Vote No

If you're like me, you never read the comic book but loved the movie V for Vendetta.  Having Elrond dawn a mask and kick a bunch of guys with guns using only knives was pretty bad ass.  It is interesting that this year a day noted as a day of bucking the government (November 5th), falls on the eve the United States Election.

As a Minnesota resident, there is something that, to me, seems more important than the vote for president.  Don't get me wrong, the presidential choice is a big one, possibly the biggest in our nation's history, but I am not going to change your mind about that, there are TV and YouTube advertisements to tell you who to vote for (all sarcasm aside I hope you are smart enough to think about the issues and make an informed decision).    Anyway, there are two amendments to Minnesota's constitution on this year's ballot and I urge any Minnesotan reading this to Vote No on both.  I'll quote myself here from another site where I posted about this:


I generally prefer people make their own decisions and avoid using social media to express my political views. However, with tomorrow's election there are two amendments to the Minnesota constitution on the ballot that I would regret having not done what I could to prevent if they were to pass. 

Regardless of who you are voting for, President, Senate, or House I urge you to put politics aside and Vote No on both of these amendments. This is not a matter of political affiliation, this is a matter of human rights. I cannot endorse passing a voter ID law that targets a specific demographic and creates barriers to citizens trying to exercise one of their human rights in this country. A barrier that would cost local and state governments millions. I also cannot endorse passing what amounts to a government repressing basic human rights for some of its citizens. 

For those who say marriage between two individuals of the same sex should be called a "Civil Union," sure, as long as they are for all forms of union, including man and woman. "Separate but equal" has not worked in the past and it will not work now. If you say Marriage is a matter of the Church, that's fine. There is a separation of Church and State in this country and until we have a civil institution that covers traditional marriage for couples of the same sex, we have no right to limit it. No one is making your church allow gay couples to get married and voting No on this still does not allow gay couples the same rights as heterosexual ones. A vote yes is a vote to ban same sex marriage, a refusal to have a discussion about the rights of a significant portion of our State's citizens. 

Personally, I do not want to forever be from a state marred in a history of limiting human rights. I want to be proud of a state that took a stand and was willing to have a discussion about human rights before we ignorantly snuffed out something that maybe... we just did not completely understand. Minnesota, please Vote No, on the amendments to the constitution tomorrow. A constitution should be about civil liberties and what we stand for as a State. I do not want to stand for intolerance and injustice against those who might happen to be just a little bit different than me, but are human beings trying to gain life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Just like myself.

Now, I do not want this to become a political blog and other than this post and maybe one once the results are in, I am 99% sure you will not have to read another for 4 years.  I just think this country is in transition and I am afraid of becoming known as the equivalent of one of the deep south states and slavery in terms of gay rights.  There are more important things than building an economy at a time like this.  I will not trade civil injustice for a bigger paycheck.

Until these two days have passed and we can move onto lighter things, have a good night.

NaNoWriMo

If you're like me, you've always had a little writing bug in you.  You read profusely as a child and you got lost in worlds much more fascinating than the one in which you lived.  But it did not end there.  You wanted to not only experience but create those worlds.  Hours were spent day dreaming about magic, intrigue, and even romance if you are honest with yourself.  However, your dreams of being an author are just that: day dreams.

In a day and age where self-publishing can be a legitimate way to get your work out there, it is becoming harder and harder to have excuses as to why you haven't wrote that novel you've been working on.  I feel the biggest block to most people is starting.  Even if you don't think you have the time, you really do.

I once was at a banquet where Jim Lehrer (which by the way Google wants me to spell check to Fuehrer) was the speaker and someone asked him "How do you have time to write so many books?"  He said that he gets that question a lot and that he makes a point to write every single day.  He might not have time to sit down and just write a book every day, but he makes a point that whether it be 10 pages or some notes on a napkin, he write every single day.  "Could you write one page a day?" he then asked.  Many people in the audience nodded or made some noise that indicated he should continue with his point.  "What do you have when you do that every day for a year?"

Photo taken from Wired.com

This idea has really stuck with me, and although I enjoy writing, I have to admit I have not actually taken this advice.  This blog is about the best manifestation I've come up with, but if YOU want to get going on your novel there is no better time than now.  November is Nation Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  That means starting today you have one month to write, write, write.  The goal is to write an entire (if imperfect) novel from beginning to end during the month of November.  I feel this is a good alternative November activity for those who can't grow epic beards.  Even if you can't write a whole novel, it's a hell of a start.

If this idea intrigues you, I would encourage you to visit the official website for this event at: http://www.nanowrimo.org/.  You can track your progress and join a community that is there to support you and help you get that novel done.  So go out there! Do it! You can be an author!  Just think, you write just one and you can always introduce yourself that way.  The name's Bond.  James Bond.... author.

1000 Views!

If you're like me, that little counter at the bottom of your webpage gives you seconds of amusement every day.  For some reason in our base 10 world we celebrate numbers with zeroes after it.  In according with this social convention I am here to say thank you 3 times over for each zero you have put after that little 1.  It is you, the fans for whom I write.  Well that, and my sanity.  Hope you have had a laugh or two.  Here's hoping I can give you up to 2 more laughs over the next 1000 views.

Have a good day!

The Un-Convenience of Paychecks

If you're like me, you've been getting your paycheck sent directly to your bank via direct deposit since you got out of high school.  Over time it is easy to just have payday come and go, note that it's time to pay your bills, and have a net gain of $0 once a month.

Now, I'll try to keep personal gripes about my life out of this blog and make this about things that are actually interesting, but this thing has been bugging me since I found out about it on Monday.  For some reason payroll had "issues" processing my check this week so I am receiving a hard copy instead.  I have mixed feelings about this.  Since the bank branch that was literally up the stairs from my work has since converted, this means I have to walk out of my way to deposit this check.  This is rather annoying considering I have bills to pay.  It's October 31st, I have rent and utilities due tomorrow!

Photo from FedUpUSA.org

At the same time this presents a unique opportunity.  It has been a while since I have had to deposit any check at a physical bank so I have the chance to take some cash out.  In the past I had to go to an ATM, but now that I'm at a bank I can withdraw whatever I want.  I can get $20 in quarters and then $17 in cash if I so choose. Ah, freedom!  Maybe I should take it in pennies.  I should also walk through the drive-through so I can use that cool tube system.

Still, very few pluses to offset the minuses.  I find this whole thing very in-convenient. Not only do I have to go out of my way, I "get" to look at everything that has been taken out of my checks.  I'm sort of a out-of-sight out-of-mind kind of person when it comes to money.  It is also the reason I keep little cash on me when possible.  What's a $1.25 for a soda when I've got $100 burning in my pocket?  I tell ya what it's a lot more when you've got 30 cents to get you to the next check.

Aaaaaaaaaaanyway.  I think direct deposit is a good thing and hopefully does not go away any time soon.  If it does, I'll have to gold to the old store and smash piggy-bank system.  Although this post may be about 10 year late to be relevant, I feel better and so should you!

Have any other modern conventions you'd be lost without (not including toilets), leave a comment below and feel grateful for the modern world in which you live.

Dust 514

If you're like me, the mere idea of space is mind-blowing.  The infinite vastness of the cosmos is often more than we can put into words.  Lacking words, several companies have made television shows, movies, and video games which take space as their stage.  The game that probably encompasses the scale of space best is the MMORPG (World of Warcraft type games) EVE Online.

Wikipedia calls it "...a player-driven, persistent-world MMORPG set in a science fiction space setting.  Characters pilot customizable ships through a galaxy of over 7,500 star systems.  Most star systems are connected to one or more other star systems by means of stargates.  The star systems can contain moons, planets, stations, wormholes, asteroid belts and complexes."

This game has been getting a lot of press lately, whether it be the US Diplomat recently killed in Benghazi or the player who aspired to be more like his avatar (in a good way).  It is rare for a game to make a splash in the news world that doesn't involve the breakdown of the civilized world as we know it, but it is also making advances in the gaming community as well.

Dust 514 is a Playstation 3 MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer First Person Shooter).  The gaming site, IGN, has an entire page dedicated to the game.  You can view videos there that explain an ambitious project that seeks to integrate mercenary combat with the goals of EVE Online's players.  Corporations will be able to hire mercenaries to take the fight from space-side to planet-side.  This brings together two typically polarized gamer types (MMO and FPS) to create what could potentially one of the most engaging gaming experiences in existence.

I would encourage anyone with a PS3 to check it out.  Currently it is in Beta, but websites seem to be giving these out left and right.  All I had to do to get my own was search "Dust 514 Beta Code" in Google and limit the search to results from the day and I had mine before I could even get home from work.  I haven't had much time to play it but this is the first time I have been excited for a shooter in .... well.... ever.  Check out CCP's (company which makes EVE) YouTube Video below and get very, very excited.

Music Mondays!

If you're like me, your music tastes ebb and flow with the tides of Saturn's moon system.  I tend to binge on a band for a few weeks to a couple months and then tone it down and fold them into my regular music interests.  My favorite band has been and continues to be Queens of the Stone Age.  Since they are recording a new album! I need something to distract me until then.

As much as I enjoy listening to music, I tend to know very little.  Music trivia is probably my biggest weakness in "pop culture" terms.  I can sing along with all sorts of music, but don't ask me to identify the singer or discuss who the greatest drummer of all time is.  Since I am so naive I rely on friends and/or happenstance to discover new music.  I randomly discovered Hot Hot Heat off a soundtrack from a video game, and Black Veil Brides was an opener to an Avenged Sevenfold concert.

The song that has been stuck in my head (besides Gangnam Style, damn that song), is "Like a Stone" by Audioslave.  Still, one song only lasts for so long. As such, I reach out to you, the masses that are the Internet.  If you know of any lesser-known bands that I should listen to this week, leave me something in the comments below.  I think I'm overdue for a new music phase and what better time to start than a Monday.