I WANT A LIGHTSABER

I can’t seem to get these things out of my mind. I’m totally geeking out on this. It’s an elegant weapon with a blade of pure energy. It makes a cool humming noise when it’s on. It makes an even cooler noise when you swing it. It can deflect blaster bolts. It can cut through blast doors.

I’ve seen a lot of movies. I’ve seen a lot of movie fights. The best ever fights are lightsaber ones. Just take a look here. The flash of the blades, the voom sound as they cut through the air, and inherent deadliness of the weapon, it all makes for very good entertainment.

I had a meeting with my two supervising professors today. We were discussing possible projects that had haptic interface design ramifications. All I could think about was, “Can I make a lightsaber for my master’s degree?”.

Wow, I’m such a geek. 😉

Ok, someone has to tell me where to find one of these in the Lower Mainland.

N O T I C E

Because of my impending move, my ADSL is being disconnected sometime on June 1. I have a busy today (the 31st), so I wasn’t sure if I could get this post out on time. There’s also the chance they could pull the plug at 5pm today.

This means I’ll be without Internet access from the 1st probably to the 11th. That’s a long time without Internet. 🙁 Anyways, I’ll try to answer my e-mails somehow. Don’t expect my web page or my blog to be updated during this time. I’ll probably go through withdrawal, getting the shakes and sweats, but we’ll see how I do.

For those with a broadband connection and live close to me. Watch out, I’ll most likely be calling you for a taste of the sweet Internet.

I saw Attack of the Clones again tonight, this time in pure digital glory. This viewing was at the Silvercity Riverport complex in Richmond.

This was the very first film I saw using a digital projector. Was it better than a traditional projector? Yes, it was. Every frame was flawless. The images were bright and crisp. Things you usually see with a traditional print, like dust and dirt, were completely missing from the digital experience. Do you ever notice how a film stutters briefly when they change reels? This never happens with a digital projector. Also, have you noticed sometimes a weird oval appears in the upper right hand of the frame? This is an print identification oval. No such oval exists in the digital print.

I would say a traditional print could probably compete with the quality of a digital print on its’ very first showing. After that though, there’s no competition. Every time a strip of film goes through a projector, damage is caused to the print. A digital print will be just as flawless on the first showing as its’ 100th showing.

If you’re interested in learning more about digital projection technology take a look at this web site.

Thanks to Chris Dumaresq and to Chris Dellinger (thanks for the wings), for accompanying me to this most digital of experiences.

Tsk, tsk… still no takers on my most generous offer below. Either you are all not on Shaw Cable or no one is reading my posts. What a shame…

Come on, free Internet is still up for grabs!

UPDATE

Through a miracle of some sort, ADSL has become available at my new address. Crisis averted! I will no longer be moving over to cable modem service. That is all.

As some of you may already know, I’m moving at the beginning of June. There are many unfortunate things about this move, but one of them is that I’ll be forced to give up my beloved ADSL for the dreaded Shaw Cable Internet Service. I put that in italics as I’ve heard and read many horror stories over the years about the Lower Mainland cable internet scene.

Well, if I’m gonna go down in flames, I might as well make it benefit someone else. Shaw Cable has this refer a friend program where if you refer someone and they sign on, you get a free month of service.

So, if you’re reading this and you’re using Shaw Cable Internet, click here for details on this program.

If you’re interested in getting a free month of Internet, e-mail me here and I’ll give you all the info so you can fill out the referral form.

I’m thinking I’ll do this on a first come, first serve policy, but I’ll take extentuating circumstances into mind (such as dire financial circumstances or the guy ahead of you is an asshole).

This is a great opportunity! Don’t delay! Contact me ASAP!

Yes! Suck it down Toronto Maple Leafs! There will be some crying in the Center of the Universe tonight!

Tonight, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime to win the Eastern Conference finals. Am I glad it’s over. To hear for weeks on end, countless Toronto players bitching about this and that. I’m so glad there won’t be any more media coverage coming from Toronto now.

Poor, poor Toronto…

Several months ago, my web server had to be re-started due to the unfortunate hacker incident. At the time, I believed that I had lost the ability to view the log which kept track of who was visiting my web site. Yesterday, I was made aware that the logs were being stored in an obscure area of my server. Thanks Stephen.

So, I spent about 45 min. this afternoon pouring over the log of visitors to my site from early March to today. The log isn’t that detailed, but it does allow me to see which domains people are surfing in from and from what general geographical region. Not surprisingly, a large percentage of you are using Shaw Cable and Telus ADSL, revealing my large local audience.

What is suprisingly, however, are the obscure visitors that I get. Whether they find me through search engines or word of mouth, I’m amazed at the different places people visit. I’ve had visitors from every continent of the world, except for Antarctica. Now before you say it’s impossible to get the Internet on Antarctica, I assure you can. The Palmer Research Station on Antarctica is wired to go! Now if I can only get one of those scientists to visit while on duty.

Here’s a short list of interesting visitors I’ve had: a big law firm, a university I’ve never heard of, a prestigious, Ivy League school , a big tech firm, and even The Chief of a very important institution.

It’s fun having a web site!

I went on a hike today. On the way to the trail, I noticed two empty condom wrappers on the street at separate places. These were just right on the sidewalk… purely random.

Where is all this street action happening? Why are people having sex on sidewalks in my neighbourhood? Why can’t I ever see this happening?

I’ll go months at a time without seeing empty condom wrappers on the street. Today I saw two! Weird!

Yes, I’m kinda tooting my own horn in my update this week, but hey, sometimes, that’s what you gotta do. 🙂