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About this blog

Yes, that guy.

Entries in this blog

Look At Me. I Am The World's Worst Recipient of Leaked Information.

I have two computers. The first is my brand new PC that I built this year and am continuing to fine tune. The other is a netbook I picked up a couple of years ago. I have it for those occasions when the missus hijacks my desktop because she wants to do something 'graphics intensive' like harvest in Farmville. *sigh* Anyway.... The netbook came with WinXP, which I immediately removed and replaced with Ubuntu. I don't really store anything on it. It is solely for the purpose of connecting to the

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

School Daze

Oh the first day of school. Truly it is something every parent enjoys, as it brings eight or nine weeks of having to entertain the kids every damn day to a close. For ten wonderful months, they're someone else's problem for six hours a day, Monday to Friday. Ahhhhhhhhhh....just feel that stress going away. Of course, a return to school also means that one is subjected to well-meaning stupidity on the part of one's Board of Education, school principal or teacher. Sometimes it's hard to figure

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

How did *that* happen?

OK, so I've mentioned before that I'm an admin on a Raven Shield server. In all the time I've been doing this, only once have I taken a screencap of mid-game conversations. To this day I still have no idea how this is possible.

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

!@#$ You Can't Make Up

So, tonight was one of those rare nights when the missus and I actually went out without children in tow. We went to a movie (Fright Night -- don't bother) and then off to a local pub for some karaoke. When we got to the pub, the karaoke host seemed rather excited by our arrival. He rushed over and told us that, as per our request, he had recently acquired several Jonathan Coulton songs. And so of course that's what we sang. At one point while the missus was off visiting with friends, the larg

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

I Hate Computers

A while back I made a few posts about building a new PC for myself for the first time in about eight years. I got some great advice and ended up building a computer far better than I had initially intended. And then the nightmare began. Within weeks, the memory modules on my motherboard started failing. No reason. They just died. So I sent the mobo back to the manufacturer and bought a second motherboard (different brand) of somewhat better quality. SATA3 instead of SATA2, Crossfire enabled an

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

I've Never Done a 'Callout' Before. Am I Doing It Right?

When I posted my musings on having torn my rotator cuff, I didn't expect someone to wander in and call me a liar over something completely unrelated. Behold Jaiar, proud member of the New Pacific Order: Wait, what? I post a story about my idiotic stunt that injured my shoulder and my previous experiences with Canada's appalling healthcare system and someone I've never heard of wanders in, calls me a liar about something that I posted in the picture thread some time ago and expects me not to r

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Smashed Bottles Redux

Recently, I reported on my little Goped adventure; the one that ended with my picking bits of the road out of my shredded flesh. At the time I said: My concern was that I couldn't raise my right arm more than ninety degrees relative to the rest of my body. A few days later and I still couldn't. This wasn't owing to any pain -- although there was still plenty of that -- but rather because I simply couldn't do it. My arm would go up, and yes it would hurt while doing so, but it would abruptly s

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Gene Simmons vs. Shannon Tweed

If you have a television you've no doubt heard about the nonsense going on between Gene Simmons and his long-time live-in mannequin, Shannon Tweed. If not, here's a reasonably short clip that will bring you up to speed. I'm not buying it. Not for a second. Let me tell you what I think of Gene Simmons. The more I learn about him, the less I like him. He is a complete scumbag. His marketing skills are legendary, but this is more than offset by the fact of his being a really lousy human being. I

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Smashed Bottles

Last weekend, emboldened by White Sambuca, I attempted a daring maneuver while riding a friend's Goped. I attempted a jump of sorts. I will not describe it, lest someone else copy it and then try to sue me for encouraging them. By the way, did anyone know that Goped's aren't built for jumping? Long story short....I ended up going over the handlebars and landing quite roughly on asphalt. Of course I was wearing a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and gloves? OK, I lie. My protection consisted of a

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Would You Do This?

Alright.....I need a bit of a run-up for this. I'm from Toronto, Canada's largest city. This is what our skyline looks like: That huge needle is the CN Tower. Now, I could give you the numbers as to its height and so on, but raw numbers mean nothing. Instead, I ask you to think in relative terms. See that white office tower just right of center? That's the Bank of Montreal building. It is seventy-two stories tall. Knowing this should help you appreciate the "holy-crap-that's-big" nature of

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Useless Phraseology

I've signed a lot of treaties in my time. And yes, I've written a few as well. Lately, however, I've come to realize that nearly every treaty contains the same nonsense, namely: The 'Sovereignty Clause' Is this really necessary? Does a formal agreement between two or more alliances not carry within itself the implicit recognition of all signatories' sovereignty? If not, then what's the point of all those signatures at the bottom? Decoration? Is there some sort of problem with alliances anno

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Lateral Surfing

You know what I mean. One minute you're looking at the Wikipedia's 'Recent Deaths' list -- I check this at least one each day, btw -- and the next thing you know you're reading about nearly-extinct flora and fauna that exist only in the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Or something. This happens to me all the time, and usually results in my wife sitting down at our computer, seeing the browser window I've left open, and asking why I'm reading about pink river dolphins, varieties of potato pancakes o

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

A Canadian Election Story

But no, it's not about this election. Grab some cocoa and sit down. The story's not a terribly long one, but for astute followers of either Canadian politics or the American media this may provide a smile or two. Our story begins in my home town of Toronto, a few days after the September 4, 1984 General Election. I was sitting at home watching TV when the phone rang. It was John Oostrom, newly-elected MP from the Riding of Willowdale. He said that on election night he had spoken with all of h

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

The Issue of Land Claims

In Canada, the question of Native land claims is one that continues to vex politicians and activists alike. On the one side are the Natives themselves, who want to maintain their culture while breaking free of paternalistic governments that treat them as unfit to govern themselves. At the extreme one may find those who want to abolish the Indian Act, make Natives into 'full' citizens (who have to pay taxes just like the rest of us) and grant them control/ownership of lands while cutting them of

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Ignorance is Rarely Bliss

Like many other people, I've been following the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake. I've watched as the Japanese government hedged on the number of victims. They still seem to be holding back. And then there's the nuclear reactors and the risk they may pose to people in Japan and elsewhere. So far all that has impressed me is how little real information has been given out. This is probably the first time in my life where I've had a gut feeling that something big is being hidden from us ordin

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Dear GR: Thank you!

So I opened up my e-mail today and saw the following message that was (obviously) automatically generated by the Greenland Republic's forum software: Nice touch, guys. Almost makes me want to forgive you for not choosing me to be your Minister of Trains. Almost.

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

It....is....alive!

OK, so remember a while back when I asked for opinions about a new computer? I was basically thinking of updating to an AM2+ system with a modest amount of memory, a reasonably small hard drive and all that. So....ummm....it didn't quite work out that way. My computer is now nearly finished. I just need to go out and buy a copy of Win 7 and, apart from a couple of minor modifications, it will be all done. Earlier today I installed Linux on it, simply to ensure that everything was connected, wo

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Hail the Heroes of Pacifica!

Let me begin by explaining the circumstances surrounding the agreement Nordreich signed with World Federation. Many have commented on its strange wording and how, upon examination, it leaves Nordreich with 'interesting' options. First, it is true that we never really considered that conflict to be 'our' war. While we did not show any hesitation with respect to supporting Nueva Vida through activation of the 'oA' portion of our treaty, from almost the beginning of our intervention it was clear

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

In the Kitchen with Zoggy Baby

Anyone who knows me well also knows that I enjoy most kinds of cooking, whether it's baking, broiling, BBQ'ing or what have you. My wife recently found a recipe on the Web that instantly got her attention. I am hopeful that this particular dish will become the official dessert of Nordreich. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you.... Schadenfreude Pie 1 cup dark brown sugar 1 cup dark corn syrup 1/2 cup molasses 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks 3 large eggs

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

My 'New Computer Update'

Sorry to interrupt various war-related musings, but I thought I would provide an update on my computer. Why should you care? An excellent question. My current PC, an 8-year-old P4 2.66, is going through menopause. Seriously....it gets hot flashes. Even though the CPU fan is spinning nicely and is dust free, the CPU heats up which in turn causes the computer to do an auto-shutdown before components start cooking. This happens about five times a day, and whether or not the computer is running pa

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Somehow It Just Seems....Well....Appropriate

I was perusing Nordreich's forum a few minutes ago when I came across a notice that a certain 'Prince Albert' is now Chancellor of The German Empire. First person to guess why this is hilarious wins a cookie.* ------ * - There is no cookie.

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Will That Be One War or Two?

A very simple question. Is this one big war or are there two very distinct conflicts going on? (Namely, the VE-NpO War and the Doomhouse-NPO War.) I tend to see them as two separate global conflicts, making this a unique situation in CN history. I can't think of two global wars occurring simultaneously. Doesn't mean it hasn't happened, of course, but I tend not to pay attention to world affairs unless my alliance is involved or at risk of becoming involved. Others, however, see the wars as int

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

So, the other night....

....I was having a chat with Electron Sponge. Yes, that Electron Sponge. It was a very pleasant conversation, actually. In it he made some rather flattering comments about Nordreich. (I wish I had saved logs in order to present them exactly as he said them, but alas....I almost never save logs. I did copy and paste some of the highlights in a private NoR military channel, so perhaps they exist somewhere out there in the ether.) First, Sponge said that Nordreich was always a dependable ally. Of

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

Things We've Learned From This War

I must admit, I much prefer posting 'topics' in my blog as opposed to somewhere on the OWF. It's not a matter of vanity, but rather that OWF topics (in wartime, especially) tend to devolve into a "U/NoU" exchange that gets a bit boring and repetitive. Also, blog posts have a shorter shelf life than OWF posts, owing to their being bumped off the main screen every couple of days. I'm not especially vain, so seeing these 'topics' die off after a couple of days suits me just fine. Anyway.... Thing

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great

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