Author Archives: brad

Seems that REAL Software has invited the illustrious Ladd of Perversion Tracker fame to give a session on good software design techniques at REAL World 2004. Beautiful. Whoever came up with this idea is a genius.

I’ll be at the conference, by the way. I can’t wait. There are many people I’m anxious to meet face-to-face that I’ve only ever known over the Internet.

bradrhine.com is open for business.

Literally.

Of particular note is the news section. It’s powered by a very rough, very early, very not-even-alpha version of tangelo.

Here’s my favorite part, though: the HTML, CSS, and RSS feed all validate. And the RSS feed validates with Mark Pilgrim’s validator and Userland’s validator, so I know it’s right. An Atom 0.3 feed is next, but probably not this week.

Validation is very important to me for tangelo. I think it’s vital that tangelo writes out only valid HTML, CSS, and RSS (and soon Atom). Of course, people could always enter invalid stuff into a post, but I love that the app is writing code in accordance with web standards. This is a big deal.

Go ahead and subscribe to that feed if you want to stay updated on tangelo and Frequency developments.

Possessing a rare combination of wisdom and humility, and while serenely dominating your environment you selflessly use your powers to care for others.

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

I rarely, if ever, read Kuro5hin, because it’s annoying, but Gadgetopia had a link to this post, and it’s just too funny not to link to: In the past, blogging was an interesting pastime. Now, with the advent of the ridiculously popular weblog package Movable Type, the Web is in risk of drowning under a tidal wave of morons who throttle search engines with writing that has no purpose and such PageRank-destroying features as “TrackBack”.

Sums it up pretty well, don’t you think?

In the interest of full disclosure, I do, of course, run this weblog on Movable Type, although I am migrating it to Tangelo within the next few months.

According to MacCentral, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is coming to the Mac.

I can barely contain my excitement.

I played the first Myst for, like, ten minutes before I became hopelessly bored and annoyed with it.

This would be part four, I believe, in the series. First, there was Myst, which sucked. Then there was Riven, which I never played, but I can state with certainty that it also sucked. And then, after a long and peaceful slumber, the series was refreshed with Myst III: Exile. Myst III: Exile sucked.

So, what’s my prediction for Uru: Ages Beyond Myst?

I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict a suckitude level of 13.

Out of 10.

My M-Audio MobilePre arrived today. This could be my biggest productivity killer since Oni.

Here’s a quick sample I did tonight. It’s very rough, and is not intended to be a showcase of my guitar skills by any stretch of the imagination, so take it for what it’s worth. It’s part of a song called “Sorry” which I wrote many moons ago. The original recorded version of “Sorry” can be found on Anonymous Joe’s album Strange Days, which is no longer in print, but of which I personally possess about 300 copies.

If you were wondering about the snowball I mentioned last week…

Someday I hope to have some peace about this.

Today is not that day.

Dean Takahashi: Microsoft’s emissaries have told industry developers and publishers that the next Xbox will be ready to launch in fall 2005 with the following specifications:

- Three IBM-designed 64-bit microprocessors. The combined power of these chips means the Xbox Next will have more computing power than most personal computers. The chips are used in Apple Computer’s high-end G5 PowerMac machines now.

Well, if that don’t beat all.

Yay! More racist and gender nonsense about The Lord of the Rings! This time, for extra fun, we throw in some comparisons to The Matrix trilogy! The article is entitled: A ‘Return’ of the White Patriarchy? Catchy.

By comparison in “The Lord of the Rings,” three women play minor roles: the powerful elf Galadriel (Cate Blanchett); the selfless Arwen (Liv Tyler), who is willing to give up immortality for the man she loves; and Eowyn (Miranda Otto), the niece of the king who must disguise herself as a man to go into battle.

Well, let’s start here. I would submit that none of these roles, at least as portrayed in the films, are minor. In fact, each plays a major part in the destruction of the ring. Arwen takes Frodo to Rivendell to save his life, Galadriel provides the light that defeats Shelob (or at least pisses her off long enough for Frodo to get away), and Eowyn kills the Witch King. To top it off, as Eowyn is about to slay him, she pulls off her helmet and announces: “I am no man!”

“The Return of the King” is a fantastic finish to a memorable film trilogy, but on a personal level, I was much more satisfied with the conclusion of “The Matrix” series.

I have never, ever heard anyone say that before. How on earth could the ending of the Matrix series, which wrapped up pretty much nothing, even be compared to The Lord of the Rings? I mean, I loved all three Matrix flicks, but I’m honest enough to admit that Revolutions left me feeling rather flat and in dire need of closure. Anyone who says otherwise is lying or pushing an agenda.

One of the most ironic parts, to me, at least, is how much LOTR is about harmony between those who have differences. What about the entire subplot about Legolas and Gimli overcoming their stereotypical views of each other’s races? Besides, one of the main themes is how all the free people of Middle Earth have to overcome their differences and unite to defeat evil.

If you want to complain about Lord of the Rings, fine, but complain about Jackson’s treatment of Faramir, fer cryin’ out loud.