The Organization

del.icio.us

Online book marks. With a dash of social software. And a web-service, with a simple API and RSS feeds. For instance, if you want to keep track of any new links that i add, just use this feed in your news aggregator, or you can also see the web version. I thought it was kind-of-cool, till i stared to use the subscribe button, then i thought "holy shit, this thing is awesome". Check it out.

In the Park

We were out at the park with Con this weekend. He was in the swings, and running around in the playground. Got sand in his mouth after a wipeout. Also, first time, got muddy pants! Here are some shots.

Conor and Me
Con on the Fence at the park
Ciara and Conor on the grass
In the garden with Con
"let it be..."

What the heck is going on?

First, some photos:

Conor and cousin Liam in the kitchen
Conor and Liam playing the piano together
Conor eating some stew
Felix the cat in the sun

Bloglines

If you are reading this, you know a little about Blogs. Maybe you read a couple of blogs. Perhaps you've noticed that it can be hard to keep up with all the new posts. Well, there is a tool that could help you out. You might have heard of RSS or RSS Aggregators, tools that pull all the posts from blogs, and other sites, into one simple to digest format. The problem with most aggregators is that they are a whole separate tool that you need to download and run. If you have held off trying out an aggregator, you should try Bloglines. Its an online, free, RSS aggregator. You can add my rss feed and Tony's ClickableCulture feed as a start, to see what you think. There is the danger that you might start reading far too many blogs...

Cairo

Permadeath in Online Games

Was reading a post at Terra Nova about an article at the New York Times about Permadeath in Online Games. The discussion at TN is interesting, people taking the different sides in the argument. One particular post really struck me as perhaps the most insightfull.

... However, unless you boot people from using the service after dying, perma death of a character merely means that people will start rerolling characters. This ensures that friendships will be pushed outside the character - I don't care what shell you are inhabitating, I want to know your RL nick so we can meet again in our next shells. - Brask Mumei

Ever the frustrated game designer, i thought i'd chime in with my two cents. I was thinking that if you could have avatars which allow for the continuation of these relationships, as mentioned above, but also for some kind of earthly mortality, you might be able to get the best of both worlds. Some kind of mix of the stories of gods taking the form of a human, or along the lines of Dr. Who - There is a core, which can not be killed, but the shell is ever changing. The game could take place on two different levels, and some actions are only available to each level. Lets call the levels Realms, so you have a Realm where you have a physical avatar and can do all the typical game stuff. There is also a Realm where you go when your physical avatar is destroyed. Perhaps you could come back with the same shell, but it would be more expensive then "reincarnating" in a new shell. As it is still "you", you'd be able to maintain your relationships, but have new challenges to face as you'd have a new avatar with different skills, abilities etc. What do you think? I'm just brainstorming, so i'm sure i've not thought of many issues with this scheme...

Something you always wanted to know

But were too little of a freak to ask. "What is sex with a realdoll like?". Well, here is the answer. I almost didn't link to this because its just that close to being over the edge for me, but the bit "They're so realistic-looking, in fact, that the company produced a spinoff site showing the dolls getting it on with each other. People are paying to jerk off to inanimate objects that have been posed to look like they're fucking. If that isn't brilliant, I don't know what is. " hooked me in.

Gahhhhhh!

Damn it! Mozilla/Windows has eaten my bookmarks file! The only backup i have is something like 3 or 4 months old. Sigh. I've got to get some kind of frequent backup working, rsync or something... Poo.

Game Economies

Interesting post at Terra Nova about how most in-game economies are "broken". There are quite a few comments to go with the post, and makes for some interesting reading.

Child Bike Trailers

So far the 2 makers that we are most interested in are Chariot and Wike. Both are Canadian, and Wike is located in Guelph, so its very local. The Chariot model of most interest to us is the Corsair (previously known as the Chauffeur). For Wike, it would be the Moonlite Double. So both are double occupancy trailers.

A Day in the Life

Hauke asked me "what do you do now that you are home all day"? Well my friends, here is an example time line of how a "typical" day might go:

Midnight - Conor is crying. Wake Ciara up to go feed him or be woken up by Ciara going to feed him.

2 AM - Conor is crying. Get up to try to settle him.

2:30 AM - Get back to bed after settling Conor

4 AM - Conor is crying. Wake Ciara up to go feed him or be woken up by Ciara going to feed him.

5 AM - Conor is crying. Get Conor and bring him into bed with us.

7 AM - Time to get up! Play with Conor while Ciara has shower and gets ready for work. When Ciara is done shower, trade Conor off and take quick shower. Ciara feeds Conor some breakfast.

8 AM - Ciara leaves for work. Conor and I play, read, etc..

9 AM - Start thinking about getting Conor to have a nap.

10 AM - Pray that Conor has gone down for a nap by now.

11 AM - Conor is up from nap (if he even had one), and has a snack. Play.

Noon - Lunch for Conor. Play

1 PM - Play, maybe go for walk around the 'hood.

2 PM - Nap time again, tho if we have gone for a walk, he has probably slept in the stroller. Snack.

3 PM - Go to trinity-bellwoods drop-in center. Play. Snack.

4 PM - Still at drop-in center. Getting ready to come home.

5 PM - Waiting for Ciara to get home, last stretch. Put on Baby Einstein DVD and watch with Conor while waiting for Ciara to come home.

6 PM - Feed Conor dinner. Get ready for bath, bed-time.

7 PM - Conor is in the crib. Starting to sleep.

8 PM - Diner for parents!

9 PM - Vegging out, watching TV or futzing on Computer.

10 PM - Late! Bed time!

11 PM - Conor crying. Get up to settle him.

Midnight - return to start...

There you go!

New Music

Picked up the latest Dead Meadow album "shivering king and others". Here is what allmusic.com has to say about this album:

"Dead Meadow seems to have found their own voice and pared their music down until it reflects nothing but their essence. The stunning opener, "I Love You Too," proves this immediately: based on a riff that's equally heavy and haunting, it unfolds over seven minutes, ebbing and flowing with squalling solos and Jason Simon's moody, reverb-cloaked vocals."

I've also recently discovered a great online radio show - Acts of Volition Radio. The guy is in PEI, and puts together an hour long MP3 with him talking about the different bands and songs he plays. Quite good for finding new stuff that you've probably never heard before. Worth checking out.

Coins, Events and a Hat

I finally cashed in a bunch of coins i've had for over 6 years. Most recently, they had been rusting out in the garage, in several different containers including a plant pot. I used one of those automatic coin counters you see in some supermarkets - very handy, and i didn't mind paying the 10% premium, seeing as how i'd never end up cashing the coins in if i had to roll them up myself. Anyway, it came to just under $160. Here is the break-down:

10 cents x 1041
5 cents x 940
1 cent x 2493

Not bad, eh? Thats a lot of coins...

As for the events, one in the near term is the "2nd Annual Icycle Race at Dufferin Grove Park", happening this Saturday. You can get more info over at the Community Bicycle Network website. A bit farther off is the March 20th "Global Day of Protest on the One-Year Anniversary of the Iraq War". Its happening at Nathan Phillips Square at 1pm. More info at nowar.ca.

Lastly, i was at "the mall" today, both the Eaton Center and the Bay. While shopping in the Bay i found a great hat. I've been trying to find a good hat for some time, so i was very excited to find one that A) fit, and B) didn't look too dorky. Unfortunately the only people there to tell me if it was dorky or not was myself and Conor. Neither of which could give me really good advice. Now i have to get Ciara to come with me to scope out the look of this hat. Its going to be spring soon and i need a hat to keep the sun off my face and neck, especially since i've had my hair cut and there is nothing protecting the back of my neck anymore!

Friend of a Friend

Over on ClickableCulture, Tony has a post where he talks about the current glut of "Social Software" and how none of them are interoperable. There is a bit of a discussion going on about FOAF and other ways of making a non-sucking bit of Social Software.

Some photos

I've given up on the photoblog for now. I'm going to use a slightly less interesting method to get the photos up here - i'm not going to do thumbnails, just links with descriptions from here.

Big cheeks!
Under the chair
Conor on Dad's shoulders
Making a mess eating