(the J is for): July 2006

Monday, July 31, 2006

i bleed quick

I registered myself as a potential bone marrow donor. When I handed in my completed 'I've never tested positive' form, the helpful tannie directed me to the "vampires over there", I thought, "Cool, vampires".

# posted by j @ 9:58 PM 19 comments links to this post

Sunday, July 30, 2006

I made my girlfriend cry.

losing dice: pain and suffering

I am a big meanie.

# posted by j @ 6:33 PM 4 comments links to this post

Friday, July 28, 2006

WebCT Vista 4

Stellenbosch University employs the e-learning product WebCT Vista 4 and, as part of the teaching staff, I attended a training/orientation course about Vista 4. And I am disappointed in the software. Don't get me wrong; there are some brilliant things about Vista, but there are just too many negatives for me, personally, in my opinion and other disclaimers. I'm not too sure if the problem lies in Vista, itself, or in the limitations forced down upon us from the IT above, but here are my thoughts on Vista at SU.

My problems with Vista:

Unsupported in Firefox. It's IE time, folks. Yay!
Poorly integrated with browser. It's great that you can't use the browser navigation with Vista, because nobody ever uses the 'back' function of thier browser anyway.
Pop-ups! Vista uses roughly about an infinitely large number of pop-ups. Thus, when using Vista, pop-up blockers must be turned off, then turned on again when surfing the rest of the web, then turned back on when using Vista again. Not cool.

What I think is missing from Vista:

No plugins or third party extensions. This is why I love open source - you can create your own functionality or, for about 99% of the time, somebody else has created or is busy creating the functionality you need. Vista, where are my wikis, my blogs?
An undo button. Wikis have allowed user tracking and reverting to previous versions for years. Sometimes deleting and redoing is not good enough, Vista.

For those of you looking for an e-learning platform, here are some open source alternatives. I like Plone the best (which is more of a pure CMS until customized), as I have the most experience with it, but I have heard good things about the others. If you look at thier features lists, you might see some stuff you'd like missing, but remember that these are open source products and you can create your own products, or somebody in the greater community has already created what you need. There are, of course, problems with open source, namely steep learning curves and a lot less support that expensive licenses bring, but it's at least worth checking out.

Oh, and if you visit the Vista homepage, you'll be greeted by this:

An Error Has Occured

There is a problem accessing the page: software_vista

Reason: Page does not exist.

WebCT.com home

# posted by j @ 10:18 AM 0 comments links to this post

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Poker and Magic; It's Early

I play Magic. And now it seems that I play poker too. It's not uncommon for pro Magic players to take a crack at the pro poker tournaments and pull in some cash. It's not uncommon for Magic to be likened to a poker/chess hybrid. So I guess it's not strange that I win at both of them.

I played Texas Hold'em last night. I had never played poker at this level, even though it was just amongst friends. Most of us were newbies and the rest were merely half a foot less newbie. Thus, I thought to myself: My years of playing Magic will see me to ultimate victory.

I'm a very restrained Magic player, if you could call it that. I play for the long game, slowly gaining control over the game, picking away at my opponent, slowly, until they surrender dishonourably or die a death of 23 stings. You could say that I'm sort of a defensive/reactive player. Now that I've had some time to think about it, I have realised that I play poker in a completely opposite manner: aggressively. I don't think that it was a conscious decision to play poker like I did. I just find it, right now, a little bit strange that I played such 'similar' games in such different ways.

# posted by j @ 6:11 AM 2 comments links to this post

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

so it was suggested and so it came to be

Losing Dice

# posted by j @ 3:59 PM 0 comments links to this post

the dark tendrils of t3h g33k

I was thinking... what if I started a blog/wiki to document some of my role playing experiences. Why? I've often jacked story ideas, villains, treasures and inspiration from others who have shared their experiences. So why not do the same? I'll get around to it soonish.

# posted by j @ 2:46 PM 0 comments links to this post

Monday, July 24, 2006

Copernic Desktop Search 2 Pre-Release

For those of you who don't know, desktop search software indexes and searches your own hard drive and documents, just as internet search engines search the web. It's very useful for finding old documents, sifting through emails and images etc very quickly.

In a bid to not have everything on my machine be Google, I have been using Copernic Desktop Search for awhile now and have become as much of a fan as one can become of a piece of software. That's why I don't know how I missed it, but Copernic has launched a pre-release of their Desktop Search 2. I've been using it for two days now and I'm very impressed. I recommend you check it out here.

# posted by j @ 11:57 AM 76 comments links to this post

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Some more on net neutrality

Stellenbosch University: Do some good

Campus Peer Education Training

Have you heard friends and fellow students talking about HIV and gender issues on campus without having their facts straight? Here is the ideal opportunity for you to become part of a fun training programme enabling you to communicate the true facts and become involved in the community. The 2006/2007 Stellenbosch University HIV & GENDER PEER EDUCATION TRAINING will start again in August and can accommodate 60 students.

WHEN?

11-13 August 2006 and 25-27 August 2006

HOW TO APPLY:

Secure your place by sending an application committing you to attend the full training programme. To qualify for selection students must attend BOTH training workshops in full. We can only accommodate 60 candidates for the initial training, so act fast to secure your place.

You will find application forms on our website www.sun.ac.za/fact. These application forms can be completed online or you can hand in your printed application at our offices in the Industrial Psychology Building upper level, room 3004.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS:

4 August 2006, 12:00

All peer educators that complete the 12 month programme will receive a letter of recognition and an outline of acquired skills for your Curriculum Vitae.

All training and related material will be provide free of charge provided that you make a full commitment to the programme.

For more information contact: Jaco G. Brink

Phone number: 021 808 3136

E-mail: peered@sun.ac.za

# posted by j @ 4:55 PM 0 comments links to this post

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Something for aspiring writers

Blurb.com : Free Book Publishing Software : Design & Publish Personalized Books

I just found this site. Haven't looked through it fully yet, but seems promising.

# posted by j @ 5:29 PM 0 comments links to this post

10 things I hate about people

I'm currently reading a lot about the oppression of humans by other humans from an educational context and I should be beyond petty hate. But sometimes, just sometimes, there are things which try even the most enlightened.

My pet peeve: Bad checkers at supermarket tills. Oh, I do dislike bad service in general, but I especially hate it when it comes from a supermarket till jockey. I used to work as a cashier. I underwent the training and thus, I have high expectations. I might not have been the friendliest of cashiers at all times, but I did my best never to break the sacred rules of the cashier, which include:

Greet the customer (in her language, if possible - as I am of Chinese descent, I sometimes got a tip for speaking Afrikaans).
Focus entirely on your customer (i.e. don't gossip to your packer or fellow cashier).
Scan each item individually.
Do not be a dumb ass.
Don't accept tips. Truth! People tip cashiers, and then we laugh at the fools in the stock room and the silly bakers.

Today, I had a bad cashier experience.

# posted by j @ 4:44 PM 0 comments links to this post

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

d10: half the variables, twice the fun

I've recently been playing in or story telling some World of Darkness games. The WoD system makes exclusive use of the 10-sided die (though you often need to pool everybody's d10s together). And from what I've experienced up until now, I can tell that I prefer this system to Wizards of the Coast's d20 system. Don't get me wrong, both systems are brilliant, but they just cater to different things. d20 focuses more on combat, maths and the size of your can o' whoop ass. d10, on the other hand, seems to focus more on the non-combat elements of the game. True, you can have a combat heavy game or intense roleplaying session in either system (it depends on the group of players), but WoD just seems to be better suited for RP and d20 for combat.

I'm long past the stage of my gaming life in which I focus predominantly on maximising combat efficiency and making more well-rounded characters. So, for now, the stories of WoD are more than suitable for my gaming fix.

# posted by j @ 5:40 PM 72 comments links to this post

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

yummy food

Apples and Bananas: yummy food

This is why I am hungry now.

# posted by j @ 3:17 PM 0 comments links to this post

Monday, July 10, 2006

Kiddie Movie Formula

Not-so-good guy is forced to live/work with good guys.
Not-so-good guy realises that this friends and family thing is a good thing.
Not-so-good guy ends up betraying good guys and going back to his old ways.
Good guys don't give up on not-so-good guy and help him overcome the trials and ordeals of his past.
Not-so-good guy becomes good guy and lives happily ever after with the other good guys.

# posted by j @ 2:13 PM 4 comments links to this post