Darkscribes Blog for Dartz+IRL

After the last.

April 27, 2010 | No Comments Posted

I aiten't dead...

 

I've just moved some of my later projects to http://dartzirl.110mb.com.

 

200k words on one fic in 1 year is a lot. Big fat sonofabitch of a thing

The last...

April 9, 2008 | No Comments Posted

Where there's a first, there has to be a last. Simple as that. Not that anyone actually read this thing anyway.

_________________________

 

I started work a week or so ago, and I just got my first paycheck there yesterday. Kudos to Progressive Placements limited for sorting out the Tax situation beforehand. At least...I think they did.

Work is proving interesting in a way I hadn't expected. It might be because I seem to gel well with my colleagues. I've actually got a good supervisor who knows what he's doing, and knows how to get the best from those around him. He's sort of the anti-PHB in many ways.

Whod've thought.

There's such a good atmosphere in the place...not like a certain other cubicle farm out in Leixlip, Co. Kildare where the corporate culture is so rigid and imagineered, you'll either end up as another drone, or running riot with a machine gun. In my case probably the second...

Lets hope I still feel the same way in September.

Anyway, you wouldn't believe the amount of work that actually goes into making the lightbulb above your head turn on each time you flick the switch. The grid is vast and infinite...

------------------------------------------

I'm actually getting stuff done. I've found my spirit coming back recently...it might show when you see the next thing I'm working on. Keep yous're eyes peeled.

Well, if anybody is actually reading this thing. Thanks for reading so far. So long.
-Dartz

____________________________

Politics

April 5, 2008 | No Comments Posted

There's too much of gouing on in the back-end here... that I can't see and it's unsettling. This place is easily going to end up with to many chiefs, and not enough braves. Which while funny, won't exactly be very healthy. I cn't help but feel that the whole lot will end up in a 'nice boat' ending at some stage....

Trying to develope a seperate identity for  EFO and recover the site. Problem is...how in the hell can we have a seperate identity, when both sites share pretty much the exact same administration...

I hate what's going on...I really do. I feel like it's going to blow up in everyones faces.
 

-Dartz 

Work is...okay...

April 1, 2008 | No Comments Posted

So, I'm settling in here, right? Sit down at my own desk, with my own PC, and a restrictive web policy. I work with good people, friendly and willing to answer questions.

Even if the only work I've done so far is sit at my desk and read books, trying to understand what's going on.

Either way, this is beginning to seem like something I can do...

With luck, guts and effort and all that. And they gave me a cool hardhat, hi-viz and work boots. Well moar like loaned actually...Now, if anybody knows anything about fault protection on grid systems, please let me know.

-Dartz

Work tomorrow...

March 30, 2008 | No Comments Posted

Well, it's my first day of work tomorrow on my paid internship. First Day of First job. Fucking hell I hope I don't bollick it up. The lights go out in half of cork if I do..

 

-Dartz 

Group Work !==Fun.

March 18, 2008 | No Comments Posted

I officially HATE my goddamned mobots group. They come to me this morning, complaining that the code I spent two weeks writing doesn't work... I shrug, and ask them what happened when they tested it. It'd never been run before in it's entirety, so I knew there were glitches.


The robot goes crazy when we try to start it, they said.

How so? I ask. Bit more information would be helpful.
 

Well, it didn't make the first turn right the first time we ran it, the say. Just spinned around. It went wild the second time we ran it, and only got worse each time we tried to fix it.

I get worried...really worried. Fix it, they'd said. These people who know as much about coding as I know about interpersonal relationships...i.e. fuck all. I'm no genius programmer meself, but I got the bloody thing done, and had put a hell of a lot of effort into doing so.

 
 Well, can I see the code then? I say., a quiver of nervousness rising up my throat.


It appears on screen... a grotesque mishmashed sea of random characters, and even randomer randoms. I read it, taking a few seconds to try and make heads or tails of it, sigh a little, then take a deep breath....

 

WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!!?? I scream

There was a load of useless stuff, so we deleted it, they answer nonchalantly. A lot of stuff you just repeated.

Repeated?

Yeah, repeated. Like asking for functions and stuff you've already written earlier. We deleted all that excess crap. It's much smaller and faster now.
 

I blink. Did you backup? I ask


Why? the ask in return. This is better. Why bother saving the old version?

The sound I made, was something like a lemming getting squashed. A sort tooth-gritting of Grrrrkkk


How??!! How the fuck is this better? You deleted the MAIN function! I yell. And tha'ts not all I yelled. I point the muppets to the whole readme I'd done up, explaining just *why* I did everything the way I did it, *how* it all works together and how goddamned fucking stupid they were for not reading it before chaging things at random. No wonder it wouldn't make the turns if you deleted the bloody turning function. No wonder it wouldn't read the passenger if you removed thefunction call for that. It shouldn't have even run at all without the main function, but through some unknown sorcery, some 'wizard did it' magick it did. 


Well, you can fix it there easy enough, can't you? they ask, calm as anything.


Yes! I snap, but it'll take a bloody long time to do...


Well, you'd better get working, we'll be in the pub if you need us, they say.


I want them all dead. I want them shot. I want them hung. I want them roasted alive in a Brazen Bull. I want them to suffer for an enternity in  hell for it. I want to stab them in the back with the pencil on the desk. I want to smash the mobot  over their  fucking heads for messing and meddling with things I put so much effort into. I want to rape their fucking mothers and murder their fathers for it.


But I'm too bloody hungover to give a shit and actually *do* anything... I just sigh, and get to work.  Thank fuck for having my own backup, I tell myself. Even if it is out of date by a bit.


I hope the bastard's pints are flat.

My hair is falling out now. University Group work is so much fun

-Dartz 

Galway....

March 8, 2008 | No Comments Posted

As I type this, I'm sitting on an Intercity train, somewhere between Dublin and Galway. In fact, I think I just crossed the Shannon. Irish Railways are that unique thing. Shite, but you still love 'em all the same. So what if the train was deleayed for a half hour or so? So what if the carriages squeak and rattle over the bumps, or the toilet smells weird? So what if everything is older than I am? It's a good journey.

It's fast, and more comfortable than a bus. The foodcart is usually pretty good, and you'll get were you've paid to go...eventually. There's certainly more legroom than your average car/bus/plane anyway. I can go for a stroll over the length of the train if I feel like.

The one deal breaker is the seat armrests. Fucking solid steel things they are that don't move or fold away. Nearly castrated meself sitting on one of them.

28 Euro return Ticket, it's pretty good. If you come to Ireland, take the train if you get the chance. It's very...real.

The two Japanese railfans I'm having to share the carriage with regard the thundering, clagging diesel monster hauling this roaring, snaking orange behemoth through rolling green countryside with the same mixture of awe and quaintness as we would see an old steam engine.

I only sat in the coach behind the Loco because it's nearest the platform exit..

------------------------

Been having a go at amateur robotics, as part of a project at college. The whole idea is to build an automated taxi, which can follow a white line on a dark board, pick up a passenger, read information from that passenger, and then navigate around a course to a specific destination. I got lumped in with three electronics guys, so I was the only person on the team with any mechanical or coding experience. The Important thing mentioned there is coding. So, the electronics guys wire up a few sensors, then bash together a robot out of lego, while I'm sitting on some shitbox writing code for three weeks.

It may be shit, it may be inefficient and suck up more resources, and any decent coder, programmer or 'skiddie' might be able to do better, but begorrah it does what it's supposed to. Even if the electrical guy's sensors are shite. I might be able to improve on it, if I can work out how to switch out the While loops for For's, and maybe remove one of three processes.

Interactive-C... C variant that runs on the MIT Handy Board. Can do a few things regular C can't (Without Library's anyway), like call processes, activate motors, or receive sensor inputs. It can't do Switch, which I would've found handy.

Anyway, I'll add the code as a file to the end of this...or find a way to link to it. If you're doing a similar project, you're free to use and modify it with no restrictions. Just be sure to put my name on it.

-------------------------

Fanfiction...

Been far to busy writing code, and with generally project work, to actually do anything fic-related. If you're coming here looking for news on updates from myself then, sorry bud, but you're going to be disappointed. I might have a wekk or so off, but I'm not going to get much finished in that week.

-------------------------

Work..

I start my first job on March 31st!... Woo!. 410 Euro a week. What sucks about that is it's ten Euro inside the bottom income tax bracket. All together now...BUGGER. But anyway, it promises to be interesting work involving transformers the size of Double Decker buses. And, it's a State Job, so it won't suddenly dissapear like a few of the other internship placements that have gone missing lately. Guy got a job out of the airport, one of the first jobs available. Just got told his position got cancelled, because the company is about to go tits-up. Lol.

Oh well.

------------------------

Itzacon...

The reason I'm on the train......And the reason I'm heading home. It's now nearly eight o'clock, yeah, time break while typing.. and we're about an hour out of Dublin now.

It seems weird... to travel for a total of six hours, to attend a con for four, but I enjoyed it. Never actually been to Galway before, so it was interesting in that respective.

Picked up an RPG while I was down there too. Call of Cthulhu. Seems interesting... Must run a game of it some time. Maybe a forum based game?

Also, whatever you do, if you do come to Ireland...don't fucking go to Supermacs. It is shite. The chips maybe nice, but the burger's are bleeding mouldy, and they're stingy as fuck with the portions. Go to a decent chipper and order a Snack box instead...

-------------------------

Finally... Good luck to Tenoko with his recovery.

See yous all next time
-Dartz

Wow....

February 22, 2008 | No Comments Posted

Where the fuck did all that shit come from? Jesus Christ I've been tired lately. Don't mind that. Just my own latent depressions and insecurity's coming to the fore once more. Sleep depreivation fucks with my head.

Anybody know a good rope-shope... I'm gonna need about 6-8 feet of it.

-Dartz

 

End of the line

February 3, 2008 | No Comments Posted

So, Im start back at college at 9am tomorrow.

Joy....

Well, it's only five weeks until I start outright work, for money and stuff.

And the taxman takes a nice juicy bite out of my ass.

Is it just me, or do good things always have a downside. I mean, you get something, but there's always a catch. Like, I just bought a PS3, but it's gotten hijacked by my brother, who's acting like a fucking bear over it. He's a bloody zombie now. I only bought the thing because it'll play BlueRay movies, and Gran Turismo5/GTA4/MGS4

Well, okay, a few games too, 

 That said, Motorstorm is fucking awesome, with a full High definition telly, and a proper surround sound system hooked up. It is astonishing, and this from one of the launch title. I've seen screens of GTA and GT, and frankly, I can't wait for either.

Blue Ray films are crystal clear. This is to DvD, what DvD was to VHS, it's that much better. Of course, I could've chosen a better film to show it with. Ah well 

 If I can get that olittle bollox away from the thing....

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Had my 21st Birthday party a few days ago...

Remind me to turn 21 more often, since I got about a thousand euro out of it. There was also four full kegs of beer, of which two and a half are empty, a few crates of bottles, shitloads of soft drink, and a free bar set up in the house. There were about thirty peoiple here, and it lasted all fucking night. 6Pm-6am drinking session, a proper Irish party like.

good fucking Christ I'm still hungover from it.

And if I ever see any more whipped cream, I'll puke.

Well, at least the bar's still there, for a few days at least, so I can still get free pints at leisure.

 The hair of the dog that bit me, eh?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Until whenever..

-Dartz 

 

Snivelling Shirker

January 3, 2008 | No Comments Posted

I did it!.. I did it!... I got out of jury duty.

As a college student, I'm officially exempt, whahey!

Now all I have to do is concentrate on my upcoming exams, and my Twenty-first Birthday... and get my Provisional Drivers license... and...

Some shitload of other stuff.

Well, meet 2008, same shit as 2007...only with added terrorists and expensive petrol.

----------------------------- 

Might buy an old, Iron blocked american V8...preferable in the 7 litre capacity range, the kind with the Carburretor on top, and the loud noise out the back. Import it, and pay no road tax, as I can claim it will run on alcohol based biofuels. I will receive Vehicle registration tax rebate, because I can run it, with zero modification, on E85. Hell, even the E85 fuel will be cheaper, as it's not taxed as much as regular petrol or diesel.

Best of all, I can gun it past a Prius and know, my planet-raping V8 monster machine is technically greener than that leaf kissing fag-mobile, when production CO2, and overall cycles are accounted for.

That's not mentioning the cheap insurance, due to it being a classic car, and the general allround coolness of it. Add to the fact, it'll still butrap a Subaru off the line, even it it'll hate corners like cats hate water.

Now, I just need about thirty grand for the Plymouth Roadrunner I had my eye on...

Therein, lies the problem.

Could I pick up a 1980's Camaro IROC-style for about five grand, and import it perhaps?

------------------------

I made the smallest of starts on my original story... It's going under the working titel of Oro, which comes from the title of a traditional song Oro se do Bheatha Abhaile. In Irish, this means 'you are welcome home'. I think..something to do with coming home anyway.

It fits the central idea, which is a journey back to Earth, a century after a mysterious disaster decimated humanity and forced mankind to live on a set of half finished colonies scattered through the solar system.

Of course, we have the traditional motley crew of privateers, who through a rather unfortunate act of kindness, get roped into things bigger than they could possibly imagine. 

Actually started life as an NGE fanfic....

Of course, somebody mentioned a link with Firefly, and the suggestion that I don't watch it until I've finished... of course, what do I do but hop out and buy Serenity to see what the fuss is about. Talk about 'Don't think about a Blue horse'... which I can guarantee you just thought about.

Well, it's not entirely the same....

For one thing, the Icarus is a big, old ship, with a lot of empty space. A legacy of the Golden Age, she, and her class, were built to establish and supply the first Colonies on Mars and Venus, so they have a massive heavy lift and/or passenger capacity. Think 'flying Tramp steamer' with a self defence armament. Of course, with only eight crew, and a lot of automation, there's going to be a lot of lonely spaces aboard....

Also, it may be clear I've been watching a lot of Deadliest Catch lately...

Government, is Fedaral based, with a Spaceguard acting as the General Policeforce. Think, Coastguard for that, aswell as the Irsh police force, which are informally known as the Guards  (Actually Garda Siochana= Guardians of Peace). Something like the US, with most colonies self governing to a certain degree.

I'm looking at Martian, Venusian, Moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and perhaps Mercury for the time being. Mars and Venus are partially terraformed, with the Mars project being almost complete, and the Venus project being abandoned after only a short beginning.

Actually got some cool ideas for this... though not all may be quite realiseable. 

I might have the world, but I'm still working on the characters to fill it... 

-------------------------------- 

Finally... It's snowing over here, and my sinuses feel like somebody parked a truck on them. Uniflu is the greatest single cold remedy though. I recommend it thouroughly. I don't recommend letting your dog out for a shite, and accidentally locking yourself out in the process.

 -Dartz

Jury Duty...

December 18, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Well, that sucks...

I get my college done for the year, all ready to relax for Christmas, when what drops through the door, but a letter from the registrar saying I have Jury duty...

 Arse.

It's not until the End of January, but it's still a fucking headache, easpecially since my birthday might fall right in the middle of it, if it's actually a trial. Given that it's a Circuit Criminal court one, it could well be.

Fuck Civic duty... I don't wanna GO!!

Though, if it turns out to be a nice juicy murder, expect to read the details here afterwards.... Fuck secrecy of the court and shit... 

---------------------------------------------

WAFFathon, second place for what was by far the most half assed of all the fics there. I wrote the majority of it three hours before the deadling... Wooooo

---------------------------------------------

Anyway, if I'm not on here before the 25th, Happy Xmas to ye all out there.

-Dartz 

 

 

Conventions

November 28, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Anybody go to them?

Anybody ever staff one?

Now, we have our own convention out here in Ireland. Eirtakon, which is held at my university and organised by our anime society, is what it's called. Now campared ot Otakon, or most glabal anime conventions, it's pretty small. Anime fanbase in Ireland is pretty small.

Anyway, there at the weekend we held Eirtakon 2007.

 I posted a bit about in the forums here while I was there.

 The important bit is, I volounteered as a staffer for it.

Well, staff = free con, doesn't it. You get all the benefits of a convention, with none of the associated cost. Okay, so you do have to clean up afterwards, and generally make sure nothing blows up, but it's isn't that hard to do. There's also a good group feeling from staffers, that we were a part of this thing, and we made it happen. My only real regret was that I wasn't able to go to the after-con staff party. 

Oh well..

It was a pleasure to staff the con. There's a real sense of satisfaction to be had, especially if it's a good succesful convention, that everyone enjoyed. I think there was only one person who asked for their money back, and that person was a YGO muppet anyway.

Okay, so on Saturday we starved a bit, because in the rush to get things ready, people forgot the staff needed feeding, but a fiver's worth of sandwiches solved that for the Sunday.

It was a beautifully succesful con, with nearly 400 attendee's, Double the last con's,  some brilliant Cosplay, especially from the Claymore girls, and some exciting and interesting traders. Cartoon Passion ftw...

Now if I can remeber the other two... One of them sold me a Unit 00...

Which reminds me... the second good reason to be a staffer...you get in earlier than everyone, so you get a quick first pick from the traders. :D

Well, in conclusion, I'd recommend staffing a con to anyone. It really is an enjoyable thing to do, if you're with the right group of people.

And finally, if you happen to be over here, in Ireland, next Novemeber, be sure to drop buy, we'll be glad to have ye. I'll probably be staffing that one too... so watch this space for details.

------------------------

WAFFathon...

Ain't going to get it finished in time... dumped off what I'd written on somebody who would. They'll make something worthwhile out of it. 

-Dartz 

 

Emplyoment

November 21, 2007 | 2 Comments

Yay!

After months of complaining about uncaring interviewers, hard slogs across town, interrupted coursework and general inconvinience I did it. I finally managed to secure a job.

 Even if it is only an internship.

Doesn't matter really. It's pretty close to home, and it pays pretty good also. It' got everything I want and it's fascinating to boot. I'll be working for the state'ss electricity grid operator (TSO) for six months from next April, making sure the power stays on in peoples homes.

Some elements are actually quite dangerous. 440kv supply line switches anyone?

Sweet.

At the end of it all, I'll have enough money to basically buy whatever the hell I think I want. Go wherever I want and do what I want with my money. I'll also have to pay tax.

Arse, 

-Dartz 

 

WAFFathon 2k7

November 13, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Yup...

 

Somehow, I've gotten involved in this too. Anyway, got an idea in my head,  a basic plot, and I'm running away quite happily with it. The intro that I planned to be 500 words, is nearly 1500 now, and Asuka's only just managed to take her bra off...

It's not a mindless lemon, there's more to it than that. Hell, I doubt it'll be ny more citrussy than a lemon flavoured pie. Mmm...pie.

 But we have:

Drunken Shinji
Words of power:
Soul searching:
Snuggling:

End...

Simple, traditional WAFF...just needs to be preread.

 

 

Strike Two...

November 12, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Well,

Now it's Dublin Bus' turn to go on strike, nobbling everyone's attempts to get anywhere in the city. Citie's choked with traffic, walking people and more traffic. It's a mess.

Except if you're a Taxi driver that is. They're charging extra.

Supply and Demand me arse.

Them Unions, they're a bleedin' Cartel. I suppose it could be worse though, could've had to have walked the ten miles.

 -----------------------------------------------------

 College work, thanks to the Work fairy, seems to be getting done somehow. I can't exactly explain how. But it's all getting don e. Reports, labs, assignments, all are slotting oddly into place.

T'is handy.

Though, perhaps not consistent.

 

------------------------------------------------------

 

Another Internship interview Today. This time with Honeywell...wish me luck.

 

-Dartz 

 

Lab Work

November 8, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Well,

Two lab sessions, of equal importance, at the same time. I have to pick one to attend. Oh dear. I hate this shit sometimes, I really do.

In reference to my last entry...step Forward Honeywell Ireland and take a bow. They have notified me of an interview over a week beforehand, and gone to the trouble of actually organising it within the college. What nice people. Please buy their stuff.

Only problem is, If I get the job, I have to move to Waterford... Not that big a deal really, since I'm relatively familiar with that part of the country,

 -------------------------

 Fanfiction.

 I do still do this. Somehow I manage to find the time. Working on that SI fic of mine, and developing some sort of plan for it. I've got the following so far

The, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th Angels will be somewhat different. Different choices lead to different outcomes.

It won't all be in First Person.

There will be a Fifth and Sixth Child.

One main character will die in an utterly pointless manner.

The fic, Grandfather, is still trundling along, and I have a few words written for that, along with a chapter plan. It's only finding both that are proving the problem, since they are hidden somewhere deep within the Windows partition.

----------------------------

 Xubuntu....

 I think I've got the hang of this...sort of. It hasn't blown up in my face, even if it does mysteriously botch the occasional shutdown. I've got it doing everything I need.

 One thing bugs me though, and that's the massive power usage. I can't find any reason to explain it, but it's been like that from day one. Where XP reports two hours life, Xubuntu only reports just over 1. It gets around a minute per percent of battery.

That said, it hasn't escaped my notice, that the power estimates in XP are usually off by a good bit anyway.

So, couple of year old battery degrading then?

*Must find way to save power* 

Also, I installed Transmission, for torrenting, and, when I first tried it, it worked fine, but now, my ISP seems to be blocking any port it tries to access. I tried other torrent software, but, they could not get out either.

Even Foxtorrent, can't do it.

Damn You BTonline.

---------------------------

Frustration.

It never rains, it pours. And Ive been stuck in a deluge these last too weeks. Maybe I should do something about it, with Finnish efficiency.

Until next

-Dartz 

 

 

Convenience

October 30, 2007 | No Comments Posted

I wonder why it is a requirement of companies interviewing for internships, to make it as bloody inconvinient as possible to do so.  I'm missing, and have missed, important coursework deadlines over it, and it's seriously pissing me off.

I get the feeling were being treated a little like slave labour, or that annoying relative you have to deal with, even if you hate their guts. They never even bother to ask if it's convinient, they just do.

I'm missing Important Lab's on Thursday for an interview, that could easily be held within DCU itself.

Welcome to the world of Work, someone said. They can go to hell AFAIC...

 -Dartz

Shocking...

October 24, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Apologies for the Bad pun...

So, it's looking like workers at the ESB's Moneypoint power station could be going on strike. Moneypoint provides about a fifth of the country's entire supply of electricity. So, could be some blackouts coming, especially considering the grid is already running above capacity.

There's the redline...then there's where we're running it.

Anyway, what's causing it, is a bunch of about 200 polish workers, sub contracted out for a construction project, who haven't been paid. All fair and good...if you're not getting paid go on strike... but it's not the Poles going on strike, it's the Irish workers.

Also, it's not the ESB who pay the bloody Poles, it's their own Polish company that the ESB has contracted the work out to.

But, Irish workers are going on strike, for whatever reason, to 'support them'. I wonder if this isn't just some attempt at extorting more money, while using the Poles as a convenient excuse for a strike. They're going to bollox up the grid, piss a lot of good people off, fuck a stuttering economy over for their own benefit and probably get just what they want.

Unions are a fucking Cartel in this country sometimes, especially when you consider the Tallest building in Dublin, after the Stiffy by the Liffy, is a Union's headquarters. (Liberty Hall)

And...the Poles still won't get paid, just quietly sent home.

Speaking of Poles...

Polish ambassador, or something. suggested we should begin learning Polish, since they're the largest minority here, and find it difficult to do business in an English speaking country.... Em...

When in Rome lady...

And next...the Chinese will ask..
And the Russians...
The Germans...
The Philipino's...
The Nigerians...
The Muslims...
The Brazilians...

etc..

What about us? Just because we're the majority doesn't mean we don't have a right to our own culture and identity too. Or is that racist?

Are they being racist by ignoring our culture?

It's a fucking headache. Common sense would save us, but PC killed it.Got an interview for a Job Friday morning. Fucked If I'm not already bricking myself...but I'm going for it. It's with an aircraft maintenance company.

And I've a fear of flying.

---

I am offically breaking the Law.

Bought about a hundred quids worth of fireworks for Halloween (10 year sentence). Everybody does it anyway, it's like prohobition in the US. Anyway, currently living under an airliner flight path...

How many points for a loaded 747-400?



Seriously though... it's an Irish tradition to try shoot small aircraft out of the sky each October 31st. Be a shame to forget tradition now, would it... especially with a few doozy's that'd put your US M80's to shame.

---

Steve Staunton got fired as Team Ireland manager. Good riddence to bad rubbish, I say.

But, I wonder, if any of us had been utter shite at our jobs, would we have gotten a sweet €1million Golden Handshake?

Oh well...

That's my ranting and ravings over. Don't be afraid to comment. Till next time.

-Dartz

Xubuntu'd

October 22, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Anyways... I downloaded Xubuntu there during the week, and finally got around to installing it on my Laptop yesterday. I must say, for something that cost my university 500mb or so of bandwith, and nothing else, it's pretty good. It installed easily enough, detected everything it needed to....(thank God for common as muck Intel Centrino)... and ran quite happily from the getgo. Different from Windows, that goes without saying. But not so different that it's impossible to use. Okay, so it'll take me a while to feeler it out, and I still don't know haven't configured it for my university wireless network. Hopefully that will be as easy as Plug'n'Play, like the modem was. I know it was a bitch at times with Windows, because it'd keep shifting between servers, each one needing a slightly different setting. Still a few little irritating glitches, minor, almost insignificant things that drive me nuts. But, that'll pass. It works with my external drive, but only so long as I remember to properly mount and dismount it whenever I use it. The Terminal is...powerful... It surprised me to find that I knew some of the commands from a software engineering class I'd done a few years back, mostly simple directory commands, nothing special. Makes getting firefox plugins easy, once you know the code, aswell as entire applications. For a free operating system, it is good. I just need to learn how to use it fully. I'd recommend it to anyone with older hardware though. I have 256mb of RAM, minus a chunk for graphics, and it runs extremely quickly, installed happily, though I did need the alternate disk, since I didn't have enough memory for the standard graphical. Well, I guess that means my computer sucks, doesn't it? *Note to self...buy more RAM* _____________________________________________________________ Um college...sucks. It's snowing me under with work. I'm drowning in a lake of white paper powder. Work...work harder.. work until your fingers bleed and your brain bursts. Till next time If anybody actually reads this... -Dartz

More ficcage

October 18, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Well.. That's that. Secoind Chapter of my Fic, Grandfather, has gone out to prereading. It's possibly the most popular thing I've ever done, bar nothing. After one Chapter...based on FFN... it is: Alerted by 29 people: Favourited by 9: Reviewed 18 times: C2'd twice: Read 786 times: Is 4588 words long. For anything I've written, it's a massive amount more than anything I've written previously, and it makes me wonder what's so different about it. I mean, I've done nothing different, that I don't normally do. I've done nothing strange or remarkable, done nothing overly original or complicated. It's just a straightforward 'Shinii back in time fic', specifically to 2004... Okay, so I've never seen anything like it, But it can't truly be orginal, can it? Nothing that simple can be. Anyway, it's no better or worse than most of my other fics, no better written or developed, and yet it's massively more popular. Even the plot depth is pretty standard. But damn, now I'm terrified of updating the thing, incase I bollock it up and kill the love. Also, why don't they seem to read my other stuff? That said....some of those who've alerted it, aren't really the brightest bulbs, if you get my drift. Oh well... look for an update during teh week. -Dartz

Bad days...

October 12, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Why is that, instead of bad stuff happening randomly, or occasionally, like good stuff, it has to happen all at once? Why is it, that when bad things happen, more seem to follow in their wake. So far today: I got on the wrong train, so had to hike halfway across Dubllin city. I stepped in Dog shit on the way.... I got a bus, which broke down. MY lecture timetable changed, and I needed to dowload the change. Supervisor in the computer room was a total bitch, and caused my login to bollock up. Can't login now. Was late for my first lecture. Noticed the funny smell in the lecture room was the same as on the bus.... noticed the dirt on my boot. And that's just until two O'clock. I sigh, and wonder why? _________________________________________________________ Met a friend of mine today though, and she was in good humour. I know I have feelings for her, but I also know she's seeing someone else, and quite happy with that person. I like her, and she likes me, but she doesn't like me. Get what I mean? I'm a little unsure whether to lump this in with the bad things above, or not. It's dissapointing for sure, but, I'm glad I know, and I'm glad it won't ruin our friendship or anything. Okay, so she's not that attractive, but she's got a wonderful personality, and we get on so well together. It's something....I can't quite pidgeonhole it. But... it didn't turn out bad. We still talk, we still joke, we still get on, were just not, y'know. Damn. Anyway, I like beer. -Dartz

Fanfiction...

October 8, 2007 | No Comments Posted

How? How did I find the the time to write it last year? I'm sitting here in college, working, labbing, compiling a CD, and general things... And I wonder where the time I had is gone? I wonder why I never seem to able to get down to the task of actually writing anything. what makes it stranger, is that the quality of my writing, by most estimations, has improved in the last year or two. It's gone from mediocre part of the herd, to a little bit above the rabbling hordes. Either that, or the rabbling hordes have decended further into their filth lined den of infinite inequity... And yet, I still write less. Is there a connection between quantity and quality? ________________________________________________________________________ Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan In an age of emo kids at the controls of mechs, steadily going crazier and crazier ina psychological death spiral... this marks a return to traditional burning passion fire in your belly hot blooded traditional mecha badassery. And just like NGE, it will spawn a hundred and one clones of varying ability until were all rather sick of it all. Not to mention the Gainax Merchandise Machine... Though, that said, a new age of animé mecha maybe premature... hell, honestly, there was very little new about it. What made it fresh was the way everyone else keeps trying to be new and different, and end up being the same, while this was the same, and ended up being different because of it.... Does that make sense? Probably not... but... meh.. have a dancing _________________________________________________________________________ Original writing... Why is it that I'm starting to get ideas for my own original story... It's a weird slippery slope progression. Started as a fanfic... Misato as a Dirty Harry type cop, and Shinji as her newb partner.... Misato hunting the boss of a gang called 'The Angels', who fifteen years earlier, murdered and raped her parents... Then... Hey! Why not set it in space, like Cowboy Bebop? It suddenly seemed cooler. Then, add some sci-fi elements, to do with space colonisation... a historical space war, and mankind cut off from earth for some reason... that all can be worked out. then, hang on...Mix in a Little Bit of STALKER?... Earth as a radioactive atom bombarded restricted zone, forbidden from entry and guarded by a space patrol, and some century old space weapons? Add some sci-fi references in ship/OC names...though hide them a bit Now, what if some people are trying to find a way to get to Earth... passcodes and such to deactivate the orbital weapons... Say, a crew on an interplanetary freighter... though starting as a side quest. They're part of the main characters. What if Misato's father had possessed such passcodes and was killed for them? now then, what if Misato, and the searching crew were to meet, saying halfway through...then set off to the destination. Opposing Interests try to stop them... beat them to the goal... Space Battles and gunfighting... One final battle and an epic kill em all but two crash landing... What if I came up with new names for Misato and Shinji? Would that be an original story then? I may have to develope some sort of outline for this.... _____________________________________________________________________ Doughnuts. Some bastard is cooking doughnuts...I can smell them. I'm hungry as hell now because of it. And have no money in my pocket. Arse... I'm going to the ATM -Dartz

Bureaucracy

October 1, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Aka...the art of Anyway, a week ago I put in a request to my uni registry for a transcript of results. I need it for some importrant coursework, and I need it quickly.... So, I went to the registry, stood in line an hour only to receive the form needed to request them. Spent ten minutes filling that out, stood in line for another hour to hand it in, then spent 15 quid for the priviledge. They don't make them available online, so they screw you over. Anyway, today, I went back only to discover the forms had been lost... I wonder if perhaps, my university isn't run by a bunch of old vogons. Sure, one of them bureaucrats even looked like a vogon... It would indeed explain a great many things. At least they didn't charge me this time for the pleasure of queuing. ------------------------------------------ Ubuntu... I have no idea what the hell I'm doing, but for some reasons, God only knows why, I've downloaded Ubuntu, and plan to stick it on my laptop. Poor thing will either explode, or work half assedly, or just pootle along nicely. Thing can partition drive space, can't it? 20gb should be enough. Either way, I'm going to back my stuff up as much as possible...just in case it all goes nuclear... And what about drivers? security? Oh lordy lordy fucking christ why did I think this was a good idea? ------------------------------------------- Captcha.. Fuck captcha, that is all. I can barely read the bloody things, let alone the bots. ------------------------------------------- -Dartz

Daily Turbannation

September 24, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Okay, So firstly, I'm officially back at college. Wop-de-fucking hoo. And already, I feel the pattern has been set for the year. A last minute timetable change led to me missing a bunch of important lectures.... Registry charges for examination result statements... five minutes with a lazer printer = 15 euro please.. DCU is massively overpriced, a perfect metaphor for Ireland really. Dublin bus...actually decent today, except for that 'non national differentially white' bastard who insisted on playing Robert Mugabe's greatest hits and full volume for the entire bus to enjoy. N'goggin N'goggin N'goggin HooHay! for an hour will drive anyone nuts. I'm reasonably tolerant, leave each to their own sort of person, but Jesus Christ he was an annoying son of a bitch. ............................ Turban or not Turban... There's been a mess off a fuss recently over a Sikh who tried to join the Gardaí here. Mow, he wanted to wear his Turban, instead of the uniform cap. He wasn't alllowed. Half the country decried the Gards as a bunch of racist bogmonkeys, while the other half couldn't figure out what the hell all the fuss was about. It should also be noted that the majority of the first half, are those who would like, read a Ross O'carroll-Kelly book and think it their own autobiography, loike... How to tour South Dublin on 10,000 Euro a day sort of muppets... Anyway, most sensible people, and the guards themselves, took the opinion that a uniform is a uniform. It is called a uniform because everyone must wear the exact same thing, regardless of race, colour or creed. You wear the Garda uniform, you're a Garda, not a Sikh/Muslim/Jew/Christian/whatever. If we start changing the uniform for minority's, then what is the point of having it in the first place. A uniform places all comers on an equal footing. Of course, mention this to any of those Ross O'Carrol-Kelly types, and they'll just as quickly accuse you of Klan membership or something. An entire group of self important idiots and asshates eroding the foundations and common sense of society because it's cool to be politicalised... the terrifying thing is, they're actually winning. Well, you know what they say about winning the special Olympics. You may get a nice shiny gold medal but you're still a retard. Which brings me finally to Jeremey Clarkson, a soldier of political incorrectness... and a man all right thinking people can admire. And Top Gear, the single most awesome show on television....*bleat bleat* Okay, so, how did we get from towelheads to Top Gear again? Apologies for the ranting rambliness... I'm off to get a drink -Dartz

College...

September 23, 2007 | No Comments Posted

In twelve hours Ihave to return to college.. A return to droning lecturers. A return to diesel and sweat reeking trains A return to hash high buses stuck in traffic. A return to getting pissed in the student bar...Wooo! ::

Self fulfilling prophecies...

September 17, 2007 | No Comments Posted

I don't know... Watching the news about Northern Rock bank on Sky News there, and I can't help but think to myself, is this some sort of self fulfilling prophecy? I mean, the bank took out a temporary loan to cover some debt, which was no big deal. they wouldn't have even been given the loan if the bank wasn't stable. This causes the stupid people to fear the bank will break, so they move to withdraw their money, which causes the bank to approach the red. More and more sheep get wind of it and rush to withdraw more money, eventually crashing the whole bank down. Okay, so, that isn't an eloquent way of putting it, but, basically, the fear of a bust bank, will cause the bank to go bust. It's the same with the property markets, isn't it? People are afraid house prices will drop, so they stop buying houses...which causes the price drop everyone feared... I'm no financial wiz...but that seems to be what's happening. Of course, we all know who's really to blame for this... Poor people who don't bother to pay their mortgages. Or those who leant them money they couldn't afford... depending on your views of personal responsibilty. -Dartz

Okay...don't hit me...

September 16, 2007 | No Comments Posted

Wow... a blog... A place for insightful political insights, critiscisms, wordly knowledge, and general lording it over lesser peons of the internet. That is, if one has something to say, the intelligence to know how to say it, and the popularity to have hundreds of people read it and nod their heads like dashboard dogs. Yup...I'm screwed then Okay, so what goes in blogs then... 1: Iraq: All bloggers hate the war.... it's a requirement. I wonder if being largely apathetic to it counts. I can never really understand why people get so polarised over it, especially outside the US. The war doesn't involve us, why the hell should we get in a fuss over it? Worked for us in WW2... 2: News: See number one. The only news story I follow is Madeleine McCann... because, like any good murder mystery, I just want to see who offed the victim. My guess is Kate in the Dining room with the sleeping pills. 3: Formula 1: McLaren wuz screwed!! Well, not quite... Industrial espionage rules apply to the entire company, regardless as to whther the employee involved was acting on his own, or nobody in the company saw the files, the fact that an employee of McLaren had the documents is enough to constitute espionage. 4: College: 1 week to go, before back to 7 to 8 grinding days, diesel and fart reeking trains, hash high buses, and inane, dull lectures. At least I paid for bar membership this year. Em...anything else that usually goes in a blog.... there... One blog entry...simple enough... If about as insightful as a dead brick. -Dartz