Stupid Stuff, Part I of III

Hey look, it's the personification of fallaciously justified vanity.




Oh, and

Vothol

I installed the Gehn Shard yesterday evening.

Shard of what? Well you see, Cyan recently allowed users to host their own servers of MO:ULa, called shards. The Gehn shard is designed to be a showcase for bugfixes, new ages, and stuff before it's implemented into the main thing.

Anyway, in the Nexus, I noticed a thing called "Vothol Gallery". I linked there, and this is the first thing I saw:

A new age? Could it possibly be?

That's right. Seeing is believing.

Hmm, reminds me of D'ni...

I wish I could have some lights like that...

Anyway, go experience it for yourself here.


Oh, and

Cursors!

You may remember that in this post, I talked about the cursor set I'd made, but that's I couldn't figure out how to let you download it. Well, I'm using a file sharing service known as OpenDrive, so you can download the cursors here.

Oh, and

ONE THOUSAND VIEWS!

If you haven't guessed by the title, I've reached the huge milestone of 1,000 pageviews. This is pretty cool, because I got my first hundred in october or something. Anyway, it's actually 1020, so since I last checked, I got 24 views, from whatever source. Here's the ultimate screenshot:

Here's a little history lesson:

I started this blog out in June 2011. Back then, I didn't post much. I sort of think of it as the "prologue" to what I do now, while I was getting used to the idea of having a blog. The theme looked a lot like it does now, but with different fonts and a way different background picture. It was a screenshot of Todelmer, an age from Myst 5.

Later, I changed it to a long, panel-like version of my frog profile picture. I think it was around here that the "new" era began. I think it was around my Myst Online: Uru Live again on Mac post that I started to post more. And, in retrospect, I think it's when my views began to skyrocket. After a while, I changed the theme to a rather interesting picture I took of glow sticks while I was listening to Vale Decem. I don't even know why I included that. Oh well. After that came the most recent theme. I'll probably make an updated, better looking version of it as soon as I can get my hands on Photoshop Elements. I wish I could post something incredible and shocking as a goodie or something, but I can't. Thanks to everyone who's seen my blog, and even better checked back, and I'm looking forward to another 1000 in the future!

Oh, and

Minkata Sparklie!

Good news from the world of Myst! Cyan recently launched build 905 of MO:ULa, with several bug fixes and features, but the spotlight is certainly that the Minkata Sparklie works!
If you're not familiar with what the Sparklies (or Sparks) do, they're basically these floating, buzzing sparks that you find throughout URU. There are twelve in total, but until recently, you could only collect eleven of them. I wasn't actually sure what happens when you get all of them, but now I do:


SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT 
This basically means that if you want to find out for yourself, you should go here. That's what I'd do.

Fireworks! Hooray for Cyan and open source people! But seriously, it is really great. It's like a reminder that Cyan really is still alive, and that they don't just spend their time resetting their servers every monday. Like a "server monkey". I can just imagine a little monkey sitting there in front of a server, unplugging and plugging it back in every 30 seconds.

Anyway, this is all made possible by URU users/fans making donations, since the game is completely free (technically known as donationware).
It's measured in the CAVCON scale, and, as laid out by RAWA:

CAVCON 5: Unlike some movies, which get the DEFCON levels backwards, CAVCON 5 is the best state. It means that donations are exceeding MO:ULagain expenses, there are a couple of months of MO:ULagain expenses in reserve, and extra money can be put toward server upgrades, bug fixes, new content, incorporating fan created content, etc. 

CAVCON 4: This level means that donations are exceeding MO:ULagain expenses, and we are building a small reserve fund for future slow periods. 

CAVCON 3: Donations are roughly equal to MO:ULagain expenses. 

CAVCON 2: Donations are less than MO:ULagain expenses, and we're currently using the reserve fund to help pay for MO:ULagain expenses. 

CAVCON 1: Donations are less than MO:ULagain expenses, and the reserve fund is empty. This would be A Bad Thing (tm).

(Watson, Richard A. "CAVCON Meter." Myst Online: Uru Live. Cyan Worlds, 26 Feb. 2010. Web. <http://mystonline.com/en/>.)

And right now, I think the CAVCON is at 4. You can find out for yourself here, but since we haven't hit 5 yet, go ahead and ! Let's get those server upgrades, bug fixes, new content, fan created content, etc, coming!

Oh, and

What?

This is really weird. It's a hierarchal view of which operating systems have viewed this site. What's weird is there are two windowses. What does lowercase windows have to do with anything?

Stupid Spam

Sometimes I like to read through my spam folder just to think about how stupid people are. Sometimes I even reply. Check out this document I created all about my spam and the humorous replies I made to them.

Stupid Spam

1. Lottery

Ref No: BCL/1001A/2012

Batch No: 0417/CA1/2012.

        BRITISH CANADIAN WEEKLY DRAW.

The Canadian Government in collaboration with the British Government and the World Gaming Board are the sponsors of this on-line e-mail lottery program for compensation and grant for both past lottery winners and the entire world public for purpose of Infrastructural development as an

on-line compensation for all Internet users.

We happily announce to you the Special Global Promotional Draw held on Sat 02/11/2012, in Manchester in the United Kingdom and Ontario Canada. Your e-mail address attached to REF No; BCL/1001A/2012, with Batch No: 0417/CA1/2012 drew the Winning No: 07 12 15 23 30 33 with Bonus No: 09 for BC-49 ballot Draw under the choice of the lottery in the 1st category of bi-weekly six.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Website through computer draws system and extracted from over 10,000,000 companies and personal e-mail. So your e-mail is your on-line automatic ticket that qualified you for this draw. You have therefore been approved to claim a

total sum of 1,263,584.00 GBP (One Million Two Hundred and Sixty three Thousand, Five Hundred and Eighty four Pounds Sterling). In view of this, your 1,263,584.00 GBP (One Million Two Hundred and Sixty three Thousand,Five Hundred and Eighty four Pounds Sterling) would be released

to you by following the directives of the Royal Bank Of Scotland. Our London-UK Bank will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact their office. So you are required to forward the following details to our trusted Bank to help

facilitate the processing of your claims. You are to contact the Royal Bank Of Scotland for payment with details below.

Contact Person: Mr.George Williams.

Bank Name: Royal Bank Of Scotland

Email: fundsremittancedept_rbs@9.cn

Tel: +44-701-113-9353

FILL PAYMENT PROCESSING FORM:

1. Full Names:

2. Address:

3. Marital Status:

4. Occupation:

5. Age:

6. Gender:

7. Nationality:

8. Telephone Number:

Remember, you must contact the (Royal Bank Of Scotland), to claim your prize, send your reference and batch number and payment processing form to their email address (fundsremittancedept_rbs@9.cn) and call the office to

inform them that you have contacted them through email.

*Winners are advised to keep their winning details/information from the public to avoid fraudulent claim pending the prize been claimed by Winner.

Note: You are to send your reply to the Royal Bank Of Scotland immediately for the processing of your winning prize.

Congratulations!!!

Dr.Joe Mason.

Promotions Co-ordinator.

BC-49 Lottery.

2012

REPLY:

1. Sir Glark Of Islington.

2. 112358 Triangle Crescent

3. I married my dog.

4. I get paid $120,000 per year to sit here reading my email all day long.

5. 91

6. Other

7. Egypt

8. 911

I think if you want to send people a scam, you should try to make it a little less obvious. For example, here is my checklist for identifying if something is genuine:

a) The facts are correct

b) There are no grammatical errors

c) It looks crappy

First, a:

Apparently, I've already won. I know this isn't possible, because in Canada's Lottery License Terms And Conditions, 1.2 c. v., it states:

"...ensuring that these Terms And Conditions

of the License, the applicable Terms

prescribed by the Registrar, the Standards

and Directives prescribed by the Registrar

and any additional terms and conditions

imposed by the Licensing Authority are

complied with..."

Well, you can't carry any of those out, since neither of us  have imposed our terms and conditions, and therefore your "lottery" is null. Second:

There are many grammatical errors. Namely:

One Million Two Hundred and Sixty three Thousand, Five Hundred and Eighty four Pounds Sterling (Here, "four" ought to be capitalized.)

Contact Person: Mr.George Williams. (Wow. so many things wrong with this. (First of all, not a grammatical error, but I think "Contact Person" ought to be "Representative" or "Public Relations" or something. And secondly, I know this is kind of hard to grasp, but you can do it, yes you can! There should be a SPACE between "Mr." and "George". SPACE, understand? It's the button on your keyboard that's really big.)

And this isn't the only time you do that. You do it again here: "Dr.Joe Mason." Come now, just take english in night school or something. It's not that hard.

And finally, it doesn't look crappy. Any internet user knows that all government-run websites look like crap. I mean, awful fonts, terrible colour choice. If you were really dedicated to this, you might as well make the font this colour or something.

In conclusion: You aren't fooling anyone with this, so just sit back and enjoy your lack of money and the fake information which I so gladly provided you.

2. Dr.Vincent Cheng Hoi Chuen

I am Mr. Vincent Cheng Hoi Chuen, GBS, JP Chairman of the Hong Kong and

Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.i have a business proposal of Twenty

Two million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars only for you to

transact with me from my bank to your country.

All confirm-able documents to back up the claims will be made available to

you prior to your acceptance and as soon as I receive your return mail Via

my email address: mr.vincentcheng73@yahoo.com.hk and I will let you know

what is required of you.Your earliest response to this letter will be

appreciated.

Best Regards,

Mr.Vincent Cheng

REPLY:

Hey, Vincent!

That's a pretty professional sounding name you've picked out! Because you know, all people from japan all technologically savvy! But wait, Hong Kong in China! Darn, we've missed the crucial fact. Oh well, I can just ignore that. But, to business. Unless it's my mere existence you're asking for, I don't think any of my services could compensate for that huge amount of money from your bank. Who are you getting it from again? Anyway, it seems a little suspicious that you couldn't just show me those "comfirm-able documents" right now. And furthermore, it also seems a little mysterious that you said "from my bank to your country (which I dare not name?)". But for me, the tip-off is that your email is at Yahoo.com.hk, and not, you know, HSBC.COM? As the "Chairman", you ought to at least be faithful to your company's domain.

3. Alter Egos

Annette (jory@northstate.net)

I've included the contact info because this is a crucial part of this.

Aloha, my friend

There is no remedy for love but to love more. My dear sweetheart, it is the middle of the day and I was thinking about you, as usual dreaming to find you one day. I want you to know that I will sincerely love the countless hours we spent together talking and holding hands. It means a lot to me. Mutual understanding, respect and love would be the main things that describe our relationship http://search-foraman.net.ua/ There would be looking back, no second thoughts and no regrets.

Our love will only grow stronger day after day. Sometimes life hits you

with unexpected things that take you totally by surprise. And I believe

you will be my best surprise and my capacity for love, caring and

understanding will never ceased to amaze you.

Bye for now

suzanne

REPLY:

Hi, person! You seem really nice, but I'm not exactly sure who you are. At the top it says that you're Annette. Hey, Annette.

But then you use the greeting "Aloha", which would indicate that you're Hawaiian. So, blah blah blah romance romance romance romance A URL! AWESOME!

I visited this url, and it looks a little like a russian dating site! But I thought you were Hawaiian! Odd…

But then you finish with "Bye for now. suzanne".

WHAT?! I can't even comprehend the stupidity of that remark! You can't get your nationality straight, but now your NAME is inconsistent!

SPAM

That's all. I'll post about it if I get any replies!

Chess Timelapse

This is a video I made about a game of chess (which I lost at). The music is Electric Counterpoint: 1. Fast, by Steve Reich.

Bibbl

I just finished another section of the Beethovenist Bibbl. According to how many sections there will be/are right now, I'm about 62.5 percent done. However, they really vary in length, so I don't even want to think about how far I am now. Probably something like 27 percent. Oh well.

Woof!

You see, this is why I shouldn't be allowed to use electronic devices late at night.

Part of this picture was forged. Can you figure out which part it was?

Elephant Bum

Things To Quote #2

I made this up during a text chat.

If you sneeze hard enough, anything is possible.

Actually, this is the 50th post. How can I possibly have so many things to talk about?

I'm Going To Delete My Blog

I was looking through iTunes' top albums list, and look what I found!

That's right, "classical music sucks blah" people. My favorite composer hit the top charts. (that's philip glass at no. 27, in case you don't know)

Anyway, that's rather impressive, since one, it's virtually unheard of for classical music to get that high. And two, it's just kind of impressive that he's all big and world renowned and stuff, especially since he started out with stuff like this:

Don't get me wrong, I love his old stuff, but isn't this impressive?

Well, I thought so.










PS: I'm not going to delete my blog. I just couldn't think of a good name for this post.

SGHS

At some point in the month of December, I noticed an increase in hormonal activity among my facebook friends. You know, like this:

"OMG did you hear that so-and-so likes so-and-so?"


"OMG your right also if u like this ill tell you if i like you"


"OMG thats epic"


Well, now you do know. Anyway, I decided to graph this using a scale I've invented known as the Specialized General Hormone Scale (or just SGHS). In this, I look at facebook posts, I decide if they are hormone-related. Well, not all hormones, just the ones which tend to be rather prominent during adolescence. Anyway, if I decide that that post is like that, it gets one point. And for each "like" it gets by the opposite gender, it gets one more point. I recorded these over the whole month on january, and here are the results:

This is the first graph I made. It shows the SGHS rating for every 2 days.

This is the same information, but at a higher resolution, in that it shows the SGHS rating for every day.

Anyway, that's that. Do you think that's a lot? I don't know. Anyway, talking of eroticism, I was trying to find a "gadget" for the sidebar of this blog yesterday. I never found what I was looking for, but I did find this:

Wow. I mean honestly, who is so desperate that they actually need that? I think it implies that all bloggers are lonely, which I can assure you is not true, since I know for certain that there is at least one blogger who is not lonely (hint: me).

Anyway, just because I'm bored, I'm going to answer all those dumb rhetorical questions.

1. No. I want to cook/bake. It's fun, and I'm not lazy.

2. Well, no, I think if everyone completely accepts you and everything you do, you'll end up like charlie sheen or something with nobody to tell you you're insane.

3. Doesn't she have somewhere she has to be?

4. I can take care of myself, thank you very much.

And, in response to the description that succeeds those questions:

5. Uh, I don't know. Squat and pixelated isn't really my type.

This is a most unusual post. With any luck, I'll go back to my usual things and stuff in the next post.

Happy February!

Today is my second post in a row to start with "happy". Maybe it's time for another "You Know What I Hate".