Blabberbox:Random blog-like posts from pftq.Share on Twitter

Moon

August 28th, 2014 | Posted by pftq in Stuck in My Head | #
Moon by SleepingAtLast
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You Light Up The Sky

June 22nd, 2014 | Posted by pftq in Stuck in My Head | #
You Light Up The Sky by Denny Schneidemesser
405 unique view(s)

Lack of Ambition in the Bay Area

May 29th, 2014 | Posted by pftq in Society | #
A year ago, I wrote of my frustrations in finding others who were hungry or wanting to take over the world.  I couldn't put my finger on why I was stuck in the situation (and still am).  I thought perhaps it was a generational gap, since my social circles mainly consisted of people who were often more than 8 years older than me when I was in middle and high school.  At other times, I thought it was perhaps society degrading overall and becoming more flakey, passive.

I'm starting to wonder if perhaps I just don't belong on the west coast though, or at least in the bay area.  I've been reading more about the east coast (and just other places in general); this article, for example, mentions how ambition is often shunned in the bay and that really hit home for me as that is the treatment I get from most my peers:
http://www.therejectionist.com/2011/09/all-things.html

Likewise the herd mentality to do what's cool or trendy rather than find something...[More]
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The Flow of Water

May 11th, 2014 | Posted by pftq in Stuck in My Head | #
The Flow of Water by Denny Schneidemesser
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My First Mycestro

May 11th, 2014 | Posted by pftq in Blabberbox | #
Just got my Mycestro this week and have to say it's very impressive.  The first questions I had when I read about it was its comparison to Leap Motion.  They're very different devices.

For Leap Motion, you must remain near the device and there's a learning curve to pointing and "clicking" efficiently.

For Mycestro, you can be anywhere in the room and control the mouse.  There's no pointing needed.  It's actually easier to just rotate your wrist or tilt your hand to move the mouse as opposed to doing any waving.  Clicking is done by just actually pressing the tactile buttons with your thumb.

I'm really...[More]
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Pocket Drones

March 16th, 2014 | Posted by pftq in Blabberbox | #
Pocket drones are finally here.  Bahaha Grin

Unfortunately I missed the pre-order deadline, so I'll have to wait until summer probably to get one.

1423 unique view(s)

Founder of Bitcoin

March 6th, 2014 | Posted by pftq in Blabberbox | #
Most interesting piece to read in a while.  They pretty much ruined Satoshi's life now though, if the article is accurate about how much he values his privacy (and assuming it's actually him).  Absolutely no shame in the media these days.
http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto.html
1348 unique view(s)

The Train

February 15th, 2014 | Posted by pftq in Thought of the Day | #
The problem with many people is they're waiting for a train but when some old bus comes along, and they see the train so far away in the distance, they go ahead and take that bus, even when it's going the wrong way.
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Skills Resume

February 2nd, 2014 | Posted by pftq in Random Stuff | #
A short summary of the skills I've accumulated throughout my life, almost all of which are self-taught (school only confused me and made up names for things I was already doing <_< ).  Much thanks for the support from online gaming communities I was active with in 2003-2007 back when the internet was much smaller.  I have been programming and making games since I was 12, creating short films and composing music since I was 14, and trading stocks since I was 18.  My latest projects and activities can be found at my creations page.

Technology and Multimedia
• Programming: HTML/CSS, PHP, (My)SQL, Java(Script), AS3, C++/#, Hadoop, Ruby, Python
• Video/Photo: After Effects, Premiere, Encore, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator.
   - Post,...[More]
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To the Moon

January 25th, 2014 | Posted by pftq in Stuck in My Head | #
To the Moon by Kan Gao
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Happy New Year's Day 2014

January 1st, 2014 | Posted by pftq in Blabberbox | #
Found the best view for New Year's Eve fireworks on top of my apartment in SF, which overlooks the Bay Bridge and Ferry Building.  Now I got to get my camera skills back up to par.



1469 unique view(s)

String of Surprises

November 30th, 2013 | Posted by pftq in Thought of the Day | #
Before I even speak, they walk away... A string of unthrown surprises, never to see the light of day.
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Lack of Real Ambition

November 28th, 2013 | Posted by pftq in Society | #
I totally agree with a recent article here about many "ambitious" ventures nowadays being rather small in vision (or not really world changing as the author describes it):
http://www.mercurynews.com/michelle-quinn/ci_24582668/quinn-startups-lack-ambition-but-may-save-world

The article nails what has been bugging me ever since I moved to the bay area. The hard part about describing this is that technically these projects are ambitious since they're already going outside the set career path and all, but it's like doing the bare minimal community service hours to claim you volunteer actively.

It's hard to tell if it's a Bay Area thing or something trending amongst society as a whole. My hope is that it's just a regional thing, or else my moving away to start over will be in vain. Yet where do you move to find people who actually want to take over the world (as opposed to just making some app to help you find a taxi -_-)?
1611 unique view(s)

Battle for Immortality

November 21st, 2013 | Posted by pftq in Stuck in My Head | #
Battle for Immortality (for Houdini SFX Reel 2012) by VideoHelper
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Watson Cloud

November 14th, 2013 | Posted by pftq in Blabberbox | #
Can't wait to use this.  Sounds just like "Multivac" from The Last Question if you've read it.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2063500/ibm-to-offer-watson-supercomputer-as-cloud-development-platform.html

Anyone want to partner up and code for it when it becomes available? Grin
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Polymath

October 20th, 2013 | Posted by pftq in Thought of the Day | #
Jack of all trades? Maybe if I were a master of none and each of my trades alone were not better than your mastery of one.
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Childhood's End

October 12th, 2013 | Posted by pftq in Recently Read | #
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
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Origins

September 24th, 2013 | Posted by pftq in Stories | #
We started on a planet once located in the Asteroid Belt, but that exploded.  We came to Mars, but the atmosphere blew away.  Finally, we came here but hit our heads and called ourselves Earthlings.
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Last of Us Cover

September 21st, 2013 | Posted by pftq in Stuck in My Head | #
Last of Us Cover by Elspeth Eastman
451 unique view(s)

Stopping Link Spam in Coppermine Galleries

August 3rd, 2013 | Posted by pftq in Blabberbox | #
Something I noticed lately is that most spam comments in Coppermine Galleries contain links.  An easy way to block this type of spam (when they get past CAPTCHA which you should also have) is to add the following code in your db_input.php file:

After:
[code]
    check_comment($msg_body);
   ...[More]
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