Lowly dogs, bow your heads

Pay attention denizens of Los Angeles, I have news that affects you! Spread the news!
Last May I went to see GWAR perform. I had a great time and afterward had several people say, “If I would have known, I would have gone with you.”
I am giving all you fair warning that GWAR is coming to Los Angeles on December 3rd, at the Key Club in Hollywood.
Hear me now, you WILL go see GWAR when they come to town “to play heavy metal and split some fucking skulls!” Bowing down to GWAR as our masters is an experience not to be missed.
You cannot resist the call of Oderous Urungus, Flattus Maximus, and Beefcake the Mighty! Buy your tickets TODAY. Do not delay or hem and haw over this. You simply must attend the GWAR concert.
I do not want to hear any bullshit about your plans to watch TV or snuggle with the missus. Reserve December 3rd as a night of mayhem, skull splitting, and getting covered in strange colored fluids in a mosh pit.

Just a Geek

I finished up my latest book, Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton tonight. Since I’m still waiting for Halflife 2 to finish downloading, I thought I’d take some time to write up a review.
Just a Geek – Wil Wheaton
This is the first book I’ve read, where I actually know the author and about him outside of what’s in the book. I’ve met Wil several times but wouldn’t consider him a friend, more of a casual acquaintance. We’ve had some beers, chatted, and bumped into each other several times at various events in LA, but not much more than that. He’s a good guy but from our emails back & forth and insanely busy guy as well.
Most of what Wil wrote in his book was not a surprise or relevation to me since I’d been reading his blog for a long time. Wil’s writing on the blog can be a bit scattered and loose when he gets excited and I wasn’t sure what to expect from his book.
Pleasantly, I was happy to find a fairly tightly written book about what was going on with Wil for the last several years, showing both his public face and his private turmoil. Much more than a simple rehash of blog entries that some other ‘famous bloggers’ have foisted on the public.
The book deals with his coming to grips with life and becoming comfortable in his own skin. He give names to his inner voices like ‘Prove To Everyone’ that had him second guessing himself constantly. This was a little hard to for me to empathize with, since my self-confidence level is high. (Remember, I’m that ENTJ guy) But I know that lots of people have real trouble dealing with concerns over what other people think about them. I’m sure Wil’s story hits home for a lots of people.
He never launches into ‘poor me’ mode when looking at the past in the book. He looks back as a man that is finally free of the demons of the past and ready for pretty much anything.
The one thing I’ve was expecting him to discuss in his book was noticably lacking, his relationship with his fans.
Wil is a celebrity and most of the times I’ve seen him, he is dealing with fans trying to get his attention. The net makes it even easier for people to try to connect to celebrities and Wil has left himself wide open. I can’t imagine the onslaught of email and requests he gets from people constantly looking for his attention.
He had an entire community going on his site forums (bka The Soapbox) that grew beyond what he could realistically control. The community was so tight, that it now survives outside of Wil’s direct supervision. Several of the people he thanks in the book are people that he met in his Soapbox forums.
Following his schedule, I can see him getting busier and busier and sweeping more and more people in as his fans. To me the interesting story would be how he deals with the adoration, the requests, and the stalking that most celebs deal with. It’s a side of life that we civilians rarely hear about other than after a famous person gets into an embarassing situation. Wil’s in the unique position to pull back the curtain a little and show people what a celebrity has to deal with.
Now that would be a book.

Computer Fair

Today I went the Pomona Computer Fair with James and his friend Mark. Mark had been there before and directed the way.
The computer fair was packed with every imaginable computer part, cable, or device you could want and then some.


I didn’t really have anything I need for our computers, so I was just browsing. The prices were as good as anything you might find on the net. Some places didn’t charge sales tax if you paid cash, saving a bit of dough here and there.
If you are building a new computer or need a specific part, it’s a great place to pick up exactly what you need.

This was the coolest computer case I saw. Completely impractical, but many points for style.

Everydaycarry



everydaycarry, originally uploaded by Argyle.

On Flickr, there is a great tag to watch called whatsinmybag where people with purses dump them out, snap a photo, and use notes to describe what’s everything is.

I would love to participate, but I don’t carry a bag or purse. I do have a set of things I would call my ‘Every day carry’ items.

So I propose a new flickr tag called everydaycarry where those without bags or purses can post and describe what they wear or keep in their pockets during the day.

Don’t be jealous

Last week the signs went up on my street that said “No Parking” “Tow-away” “We’re fargin’ serious and we got backhoes“.
I had known that something was going to be dug up since the USA guys had been out writing on the street, identifying the underground lines.
Sure enough, they came and this was the scene in front of the house next door.


Yep, they are running fiber optic cable to my street. And the main junction box is about 50 feet from my front door!
Fiber to the home baby!
I talked to the guys doing the work and they says it’s a telco, probably Verizon that has contracted them to do the install. I’m guessing that within 6 months or so, it will be lit up.
For those not so tech saavy, fiber to the home is a new kind of data connection like a cable modem or DSL, except the speeds are much higher. The expected minimums for fiber are 15 Mb/s download and 2 Mb/s upload. That’s TEN times faster than the typical DSL line.