Thursday, 20 December 2012
Vital information
If you get bitten by a wild animal or a dog while abroad you should get to a doctor asap and have a rabies vaccination program started. If you don't start treating rabies before the symptoms set in you're dead.
Saturday, 15 December 2012
Saturday, 28 July 2012
Top Movies
I realized I never listed my favorite movies of all time (as far as I can remember). I made a list and ended up with 21 movies, which is a nice enough number, so I'm just gonna post them. It is very hard to order them, but the top 6 are clearly set apart from the rest.
Anyway, the bottom 16 are:
Finding Neverland
White Oleander
Casino Royale
Pan’s Labyrinth
Pay it forward
V for Vendetta
Kingdom of Heaven
Ocean’s Eleven
The Fast and the Furious
Lucky number Slevin
The Hangover
Cast Away
The Holiday
Saving Private Ryan
The Green Mile
And the top 6 are:
The Dark Knight
Sherlock – A scandal in Belgravia
(the top two are tied, and both had a mind-blowing effect on me when I first saw them)
The Avengers
The Lion King
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Shipping News
I view the BBC Sherlock episodes as TV movies.
Anyway, the bottom 16 are:
Finding Neverland
White Oleander
Casino Royale
Pan’s Labyrinth
Pay it forward
V for Vendetta
Kingdom of Heaven
Ocean’s Eleven
The Fast and the Furious
Lucky number Slevin
The Hangover
Cast Away
The Holiday
Saving Private Ryan
The Green Mile
And the top 6 are:
The Dark Knight
Sherlock – A scandal in Belgravia
(the top two are tied, and both had a mind-blowing effect on me when I first saw them)
The Avengers
The Lion King
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Shipping News
I view the BBC Sherlock episodes as TV movies.
Friday, 6 April 2012
Oldness
Age (henceforth referred to as Oldness) can be measured in years, but it can be hard to tie concepts like "old" and "young" to a certain number of years. I like to measure age in the ratio between the number of presents you receive on your birthday and the number of years you've lived.
Most people will start out with a ludicrous 15-20:1 ratio, which then drops sharply until it reaches a 1:1 ratio (usually somewhere between 10 and 20). After 20 there is a sharp drop in the number of presents received, leading to a high increase in Oldness. This seems to coincide with the age when the government has decided it is OK for you to enjoy a glass of wine at home, which is generally seen as a sign of Oldness.
At this point the presents will remain static, while the years lived will steadily increase. On your 30th birthday there will be a sharp increase in the number of presents received, accentuated by the sharp drop back to normal levels one year later.
By my calculations you should reach a presents to years ratio of 1:5 between 25 and 30. And that's when you're "old". You won't realize this until you're 31 though :P
Ps. My current ratio is 1:4 - still young, in other words :D Ds.
Most people will start out with a ludicrous 15-20:1 ratio, which then drops sharply until it reaches a 1:1 ratio (usually somewhere between 10 and 20). After 20 there is a sharp drop in the number of presents received, leading to a high increase in Oldness. This seems to coincide with the age when the government has decided it is OK for you to enjoy a glass of wine at home, which is generally seen as a sign of Oldness.
At this point the presents will remain static, while the years lived will steadily increase. On your 30th birthday there will be a sharp increase in the number of presents received, accentuated by the sharp drop back to normal levels one year later.
By my calculations you should reach a presents to years ratio of 1:5 between 25 and 30. And that's when you're "old". You won't realize this until you're 31 though :P
Ps. My current ratio is 1:4 - still young, in other words :D Ds.
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Sir Isaac Newton
In the words of the instructor in Mass Effect, Sir Isaac Newton is the deadliest son of a bitch in space!
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Our defining moments
I saw a short collage on TV about the day when Nelson Mandela was released from prison and I got to thinking about the defining moments of history that we have experienced. Though technically we were alive both when Mandela was released, but it doesn't really count unless you were old enough to realize what was going on.
For me that timeline started with the millennium shift, followed by 9/11. Then there's the invasion of Afghanistan and later Iraq. The tsunami in 2004, the earthquake on Haiti, Fukushima and Breivik. So what I'm wondering is; when does the good stuff happen?
My grandmother is old enough to remember World War II, and how much better everything got after it ended. She told me about the first time she ever saw a banana. Our teachers and parents like to talk about the Berlin wall, and what that day meant to them.
The Arab spring is the first good news that's happened in my lifetime, and it's still very uncertain whether anything good will come of it. But at least there's hope...
For me that timeline started with the millennium shift, followed by 9/11. Then there's the invasion of Afghanistan and later Iraq. The tsunami in 2004, the earthquake on Haiti, Fukushima and Breivik. So what I'm wondering is; when does the good stuff happen?
My grandmother is old enough to remember World War II, and how much better everything got after it ended. She told me about the first time she ever saw a banana. Our teachers and parents like to talk about the Berlin wall, and what that day meant to them.
The Arab spring is the first good news that's happened in my lifetime, and it's still very uncertain whether anything good will come of it. But at least there's hope...
Monday, 19 March 2012
Legion
I never did this before, but I decided to bring my friend Legion to the Citadel. Legion is a Geth, so I expected some kind of reaction from the security, considering the Citadel was attacked and nearly destroyed by the Geth 2 years ago. You spent most of the first game fighting Geth that were attacking colonies all over the galaxy, and everyone agrees that the Geth are evil incarnate.
But nothing happens. And this is all in the core game, no DLC or anything. Considering you can do your quests in pretty much whatever order you like this is a bit strange. I was expecting a cut scene where C-Sec comes charging through the doors and I have to use all my hard earned reputation to convince them Legion is friendly. Logically the captain would tell me that however that may be, I should leave him on the ship, so as to not cause panic. If I by some miracle managed to talk him into letting Legion in, people should react to his presence wherever I went.
Even if I lied and told people that Legion is just an AI in a very realistic Geth-like chassis, people should be appalled by my poor judgement and tasteless humor...
But nothing happens. And this is all in the core game, no DLC or anything. Considering you can do your quests in pretty much whatever order you like this is a bit strange. I was expecting a cut scene where C-Sec comes charging through the doors and I have to use all my hard earned reputation to convince them Legion is friendly. Logically the captain would tell me that however that may be, I should leave him on the ship, so as to not cause panic. If I by some miracle managed to talk him into letting Legion in, people should react to his presence wherever I went.
Even if I lied and told people that Legion is just an AI in a very realistic Geth-like chassis, people should be appalled by my poor judgement and tasteless humor...
Sunday, 4 March 2012
An offer you can't refuse
I got a newsletter from EA. Didn't read it, but the subject was "Spela kostnadsfria demo för kommande titlar" Wow. FREE DEMOS!
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Rusty Hearts
LFMAO at these character descriptions from within the game:
Frantz Kreuger:
A man with a past full of turmoil and suffering, his life turned for the worst when he became a vampire. Unabled to resist temptation, he bit one person and then sealed the blood inside his body in order to repress his vampiric urges. He no longer turns evil but continually suffers from chronic anemia.
After years of torture he has become a bitter and cranky man, but he has a good balance of physical skills and dark magic.
Angela Strraugend:
A young Witch Apprentice, she was sent from the Fog Forest to battle against Vlad. Before she left her village, she was forced to fuse her soul with Graestra, a sword possessed by an evil spirit, in order to gain special powers for the mission. Through this pact she is able to cast incredibly powerful magic spells, but the process turned her hair red and spiky. Still young, with spunk and attitude to spare, Angela may lack in strength but more than makes up for it with her devastating array of spells.
In the case of Frantz, the poor translation makes for hilarious results. This is the description from the game's homepage:
A gloomy man from the start, Frantz Kruger's life took a turn for the worse when he was bitten by a vampire.
Unable to resist the temptation, he bit just one person. Instead of letting the blood complete his transformation, Frantz used the blood and the force of his own will to halt the process. He now exists as a creature trapped in limbo between human and monstrosity. As a side-effect of his condition, he suffers from chronic anemia and insomnia, giving him an ashen appearance and a sullen, sarcastic disposition.
Frantz Kreuger:
A man with a past full of turmoil and suffering, his life turned for the worst when he became a vampire. Unabled to resist temptation, he bit one person and then sealed the blood inside his body in order to repress his vampiric urges. He no longer turns evil but continually suffers from chronic anemia.
After years of torture he has become a bitter and cranky man, but he has a good balance of physical skills and dark magic.
Angela Strraugend:
A young Witch Apprentice, she was sent from the Fog Forest to battle against Vlad. Before she left her village, she was forced to fuse her soul with Graestra, a sword possessed by an evil spirit, in order to gain special powers for the mission. Through this pact she is able to cast incredibly powerful magic spells, but the process turned her hair red and spiky. Still young, with spunk and attitude to spare, Angela may lack in strength but more than makes up for it with her devastating array of spells.
In the case of Frantz, the poor translation makes for hilarious results. This is the description from the game's homepage:
A gloomy man from the start, Frantz Kruger's life took a turn for the worse when he was bitten by a vampire.
Unable to resist the temptation, he bit just one person. Instead of letting the blood complete his transformation, Frantz used the blood and the force of his own will to halt the process. He now exists as a creature trapped in limbo between human and monstrosity. As a side-effect of his condition, he suffers from chronic anemia and insomnia, giving him an ashen appearance and a sullen, sarcastic disposition.
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Pimp my Ride
This week Pimp my Ride visits the Vatican, to hitch up the Pope with a hot ride.
"Yo dawg, I heard you like praying, so I put a church in your car so you car pray while you drive!"
Unfortunately the Pope insisted on trying out the ride...
BREAKING NEWS: Pope dies in car crash in central Rome. Swiss guard is holding the Pimp my Ride crew hostage in the catacombs...
"Yo dawg, I heard you like praying, so I put a church in your car so you car pray while you drive!"
Unfortunately the Pope insisted on trying out the ride...
BREAKING NEWS: Pope dies in car crash in central Rome. Swiss guard is holding the Pimp my Ride crew hostage in the catacombs...
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Dogs are awesome!
Just started watching a documentary on SVT Play called "Hur blev de tama?". Apparently there are about 35.000 wild dogs on the streets of Moscow. This in itself is hardly remarkable, what is is that they ride the subway. Dogs are not allowed on the trains, but these wild ones have become so popular that they are tolerated and free to come and go as they please. So they spend their days in the city center, eating people's leftovers and whatever they are given, and then they ride the subway to the suburbs where they spend the night.
They seem to have learned to navigate the subway system by smell, looks and the names of the stations. They are wild, but not at all aggressive to people - don't bite the hand that feeds you style. They've also formed packs, and reverted to more wolf-like behaviors in that sense. This has led scientists to think that it was the wolves themselves that took the first steps towards domestication, not humans.
Well, in any case: Dog's that use the subway network to expand their territories - how cool is that?
They seem to have learned to navigate the subway system by smell, looks and the names of the stations. They are wild, but not at all aggressive to people - don't bite the hand that feeds you style. They've also formed packs, and reverted to more wolf-like behaviors in that sense. This has led scientists to think that it was the wolves themselves that took the first steps towards domestication, not humans.
Well, in any case: Dog's that use the subway network to expand their territories - how cool is that?
Saturday, 4 February 2012
In Time
Cool concept, but they didn't really consider the consequences of having lifetime as a currency. Prime example: If a man is pointing a gun at you and saying "let me steal all your lifetime or I will shoot you" I'm PRETTY sure most people would try to grab the gun, since it's the exact equivalent of saying "let me kill you or I will shoot you"
Monday, 30 January 2012
DON'T STAND IN THE FIRE!
No, it's not supposed to be that much fire, but you know how it is with pick-up groups...
Thursday, 19 January 2012
The Witcher 2, again
After having played through the game again (to check out the other main story path) on Hard difficulty and a Mage talent build, I am considering trying the last talent tree: Alchemy, on yet a higher difficulty (the first time I played on Normal as a Swordsman).
The problem is that the Alchemy tree seems more difficult to play in itself, but I might be wrong. And the difficulties available are:
Insane: Enemies deal more damage than on Hard, and the game deletes your saves upon death. You die, you start over.
Dark: The enemies are harder than Insane, but you can load earlier saves.
I have a feeling I will never be able to play through Dark difficulty as an alchemist. On the other hand I am certain I won't be able to on Insane.
The problem is that the Alchemy tree seems more difficult to play in itself, but I might be wrong. And the difficulties available are:
Insane: Enemies deal more damage than on Hard, and the game deletes your saves upon death. You die, you start over.
Dark: The enemies are harder than Insane, but you can load earlier saves.
I have a feeling I will never be able to play through Dark difficulty as an alchemist. On the other hand I am certain I won't be able to on Insane.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
This was an awesome game, but the learning curve was a bit odd. In my opinion it went something like this:
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
LOL
*caugh*
*caugh*
Aheeem... Right. Wow. That was...
Was watching alpine skiing on Eurosport, and suddenly they cut for commercials and there's one of the skiers, Maria Hoefl-Reisch, cuddling a purple cow costume (Milka mascot/logo). Looked creepy as hell. Germans. *sigh*
*caugh*
Aheeem... Right. Wow. That was...
Was watching alpine skiing on Eurosport, and suddenly they cut for commercials and there's one of the skiers, Maria Hoefl-Reisch, cuddling a purple cow costume (Milka mascot/logo). Looked creepy as hell. Germans. *sigh*
Monday, 19 December 2011
Ubuntu and Me
As I told Rik earlier today, I always end up installing the latest version of Ubuntu on the nearest accessible laptop when left without any better activity for a few days.
This usually starts by a long and frustrating struggle to actually manage to install it at all. This time however, it was strangely compliant. I had a brief hickup when creating the bootable USB that was easily solved by just reformatting it from NTFS to FAT32.
The next thing that happens is that I get impressed by the built-in smartness like the all-inclusive instant messaging service. Why I continue to get surprised by it every time I encounter Ubuntu I do not know...
The next step is to get VLC and watch a movie from my Windows files - works like a charm, closely followed by a bitTorrent client...
By now I start realizing that the browser I'm using is Firefox, which prompts me to start looking for add-ons. After a few minutes trying to find an add-on that imitates one of Opera's standard features I somewhat sheepishly realize that there is indeed a Linux version of Opera.
This is when the fun begins. Downloading Opera is easy as pie. Installing it - not so much (for a Windows noob like myself). Double clicking the package actually does produce an attempt by the OS to install it, but it invariably fails.
I google "how to install a .deb file in ubuntu" and find an answer going somewhere along the lines "type X in command prompt". Easy enough...
..."how to open command prompt in Ubuntu" produces the following instructions: The easiest way to open the Terminal is to use the 'search' function on the dash. Or you can click on the 'More Apps' button, click on the 'See more results' by the installed section, and find it in that list of applications. A third way, available after you click on the 'More Apps' button, is to go to the search bar, and see that the far right end of it says 'All Applications'. You then click on that, and you'll see the full list. Then you can go to Accessories > Terminal after that. So, the methods in Unity are:
Dash -> Search for Terminal
Dash -> More Apps -> 'See More Results' -> Terminal
Dash -> More Apps -> Accessories -> Terminal
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctl + Alt + T
I decide to use the keyboard shortcut. It works. 'Nuff said.
Ps. The installation command failed though. Trying the other type of package that Opera provided. Ds.
This usually starts by a long and frustrating struggle to actually manage to install it at all. This time however, it was strangely compliant. I had a brief hickup when creating the bootable USB that was easily solved by just reformatting it from NTFS to FAT32.
The next thing that happens is that I get impressed by the built-in smartness like the all-inclusive instant messaging service. Why I continue to get surprised by it every time I encounter Ubuntu I do not know...
The next step is to get VLC and watch a movie from my Windows files - works like a charm, closely followed by a bitTorrent client...
By now I start realizing that the browser I'm using is Firefox, which prompts me to start looking for add-ons. After a few minutes trying to find an add-on that imitates one of Opera's standard features I somewhat sheepishly realize that there is indeed a Linux version of Opera.
This is when the fun begins. Downloading Opera is easy as pie. Installing it - not so much (for a Windows noob like myself). Double clicking the package actually does produce an attempt by the OS to install it, but it invariably fails.
I google "how to install a .deb file in ubuntu" and find an answer going somewhere along the lines "type X in command prompt". Easy enough...
..."how to open command prompt in Ubuntu" produces the following instructions: The easiest way to open the Terminal is to use the 'search' function on the dash. Or you can click on the 'More Apps' button, click on the 'See more results' by the installed section, and find it in that list of applications. A third way, available after you click on the 'More Apps' button, is to go to the search bar, and see that the far right end of it says 'All Applications'. You then click on that, and you'll see the full list. Then you can go to Accessories > Terminal after that. So, the methods in Unity are:
Dash -> Search for Terminal
Dash -> More Apps -> 'See More Results' -> Terminal
Dash -> More Apps -> Accessories -> Terminal
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctl + Alt + T
I decide to use the keyboard shortcut. It works. 'Nuff said.
Ps. The installation command failed though. Trying the other type of package that Opera provided. Ds.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Holiday Special - How to keep yourself entertained in the company of your family for 2 weeks
Starting out by watching Bad Teacher yesterday might have been a fatal error on my behalf. As I started looking through my hoard of movies to see I suddenly realize they're all very dark and depressing. All of them excellent views (I hope, at least that's why I brought these specific ones) but nothing that is just lightweight and fun.
Other than that my holiday at home took a dark turn right away, with one man being beaten to death in the middle of the street and another one shot in the chest 12 hours later. Suddenly my quiet little home town is on par with the big bad city of Uppsala in crime rate.
I have also concluded once and for all that my computer is indeed not capable of running WoW. Or well, if I set all the graphics settings to minimum and make sure to avoid major cities I can chat with my guild. Always something I guess.
Now, if you excuse me I'm going to watch a movie about a man who died in a violent car crash.
Other than that my holiday at home took a dark turn right away, with one man being beaten to death in the middle of the street and another one shot in the chest 12 hours later. Suddenly my quiet little home town is on par with the big bad city of Uppsala in crime rate.
I have also concluded once and for all that my computer is indeed not capable of running WoW. Or well, if I set all the graphics settings to minimum and make sure to avoid major cities I can chat with my guild. Always something I guess.
Now, if you excuse me I'm going to watch a movie about a man who died in a violent car crash.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
OK, I am convinced
First of all, check out this xkcd if you haven't already.
The first thing that struck me was the sheer amount of time he's put into this thing! That is the most extensive Angry Letter I have ever seen. My interpretation of it is that it is an argument for the Occupy Wallstreet movement. And he's made a very good point. Unfortunately I'm not so sure the people on that top 10 list would give up their riches in the first place.
My brain lost the concept of scale after the thousands chart. After that it just gets ridiculous. After some contemplation I am now a communist. Market economy has got to be the most stupid invention in the history of mankind. We need to revert to plan economy, preferably yesterday, or we'll all end up like Greece.
The first thing that struck me was the sheer amount of time he's put into this thing! That is the most extensive Angry Letter I have ever seen. My interpretation of it is that it is an argument for the Occupy Wallstreet movement. And he's made a very good point. Unfortunately I'm not so sure the people on that top 10 list would give up their riches in the first place.
My brain lost the concept of scale after the thousands chart. After that it just gets ridiculous. After some contemplation I am now a communist. Market economy has got to be the most stupid invention in the history of mankind. We need to revert to plan economy, preferably yesterday, or we'll all end up like Greece.
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