Dragonfly

I came across a picture that I drew last summer today.
I found a recently deceased dragonfly, and it was in such good condition that I took it home, and took all of its measurements, and drew it. As a result, its proportions are very exact. Take a look:

I had to make the image a bit smaller in order for it to be able to upload to blogger, so I'll put up a download of the full image.
UPDATE (25/03/2012): I now have the download up, you can get it here.

Stupid Stuff, Part III Of III

Before you read this, read my last two posts, to make this make a bit more sense.

Anyway, so trying to look like everyone else even if you don't like it isn't a good way to be, because it's just supporting the things you don't like. So if you decide not to wear lipstick, or earrings, or have hair that's two feet long, I would approve because it indicates that you think like me. Plus, I think it looks better anyway, but then again that's just my opinion. But even if you do want to do all the stuff I just told you not to do, just please.

Please.

Please.

Don't go around telling me about how I'm wrong, because I'm not.

So I just made a post in multiple parts. It's not something I've ever really done before, and it's not something I've seen anyone else do before, but I think it's a good method, because it makes people want to come back to read the conclusion, and also it allows me to say everything that I want to say, but in short sections, so that casual readers aren't detracted by long sections of text. I know I don't get a lot of views, but if you're reading this (which you probably are), I'd love to know; what you think? Is it a good format? Should I do lots of this, or just use the usual kind? Just shoot me an email at mactavish.alex@gmail.com, or leave a comment below.


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

Random Chemistry Facts Daily

So one of my friends is doing this thing where he posts random facts and stuff about chemistry on facebook. It's a page called Random Chemistry Facts Daily. Anyway, I just thought I'd put it on here because it's kind of cool, and since my blog is starting to get a noticeable amount of views each day, I'd promote it here. Anyway, yeah.
Also, I made a windows cursor set, and I tried to post it here, but I can't figure out exactly how to do downloads. At least, not on blogspot. If anyone knows how to do this, I would very much like that, and it's really quite good.
Also, between the time that I started writing this post and wrote the above sentence, I became an administrator of Random Chemistry Facts Daily, simply so that my friend may refer to his self as 'we'.

EDIT: I suppose I should include a link...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Random-Chemistry-Facts-Daily/172700132831873

EDIT (27/02/2012): The page has now been deleted. It wasn't me!

A huge increase in stuff

Remember how I've been starting to talk about how many pageviews I'm getting? Well, it's not just that I'm all proud of myself for getting nearly 500 views* (which I am, by the way), but it's mostly because there's been a huge, huge, huge huge huge, kinda big increase in the amount of views I'm getting. Let me show you what I mean:

In August. Three views. Notice the large increase in the following months.

Now, in January. 3 views. The difference is, that's one day. Today, January first, I have gotten the same number of views I did in the entire month of August.

So, yeah. I just wanted to share that, because I think that's kind of neat. And the Bible is still in production. Although I haven't been working on it as much as I would have liked. But I have a good reason!

I didn't want to.

No, I was busy.

No I wasn't.

Yes I was.

Okay, whatever.

~FIN~

*EDIT: 500? I have no idea what I was talking about. 400 is obviously what I meant.

How To Play Riven On Mac OSX

I apologize in advance if I've accidentally already made a post like this one.

If you're a Myst-loving Mac user like me, you'll be very frustrated that you can't play most of the Myst games on modern Macs. When it comes to Riven, unless you're willing to wait for realRiven (StarryExpanse.com), there's only one option:

Thanks to the work of a few dedicated individuals, there is now a simple application which allows you to insert your Riven disc(s), and it then installs it so you can play it any time. It's very good, it works with Lion, Snow Leopard, Things, Stuff.
Anyway. So I tried installing it a few months ago, but, much to my dismay, when it finished processing all the discs, the files would self-destruct without warning. So I thought, well, I'll just copy the files over manually. It can't be that hard. I did so, and it was able to play. However, I hit yet another roadblock. Whenever it got to the point where my five-disc version would ask you to insert disc 1, the game crashed. So I decided, arr, the loot belongs to us, matey! In other words, I gave up and pirated the DVD version. It was so much easier. I have no idea why I didn't just do that in the first place. From there, I did the automatic install, and it worked perfectly. Summary: don't use CDs. Use the internet.
Anyway, I'd recommend this method for anyone who doesn't want to spend time looking for their disc(s), trying to get the formatting right or whatever you might have to do. Or, if you have a MacBook Air like me, or any other computer lacking an optical drive, do it as well! So, here are the necessary links:

Riven X:

Click me!

Riven DVD Edition Torrent:

Download!

And, if you've been in a coma for the past 10 years:

Shame on you! (just kidding)

Hovenbeet Strikes Again!

I'm on a weekend trip to Toronto right now. Tonight, I went to a restaurant known as "Alice Fazooli's". They had a piece of artwork on display called "Simple Twist Of Fate". They had a little comment book thing, so see if you can figure out which one I wrote:

Anyway, yeah. Silly me. And if you're so interested, here's the actual picture. If you look at the label, it's going for $600, which is quite the bargain in my opinion, so I wonder how she even makes a living, unless she makes one painting every two weeks, right? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Um, anyway. Here's the picture:

So, moving on to other stuff. In a few of my posts, I've mentioned, SOPA, or, the Stop Online Piracy Act.  Anyway, as I've said, I do not feel like explaining why it's so bad (it's not because I'm cheap. 'cause I'm not.), so just read their latest email newsletter madoo:

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

Alexander,
Holy moly.  We did it -- at least for now.  The House Judiciary Committee looked certain to vote for the Stop Online Piracy Act today.
Instead, because of the work of so many rank-and-file Internet users, the bill's lead sponsor acknowledged that our concerns are legitimate, and adjourned the committee without holding a vote!
Of course, there's always more to be done.  Will you shoot a quick email to Harry Reid to tell him to stop pushing the Senate version of the bill?  He's threatening to call a vote in January.
Here's Wired's take on what went down:

The House Judiciary Committee considering whether to send the Stop Online Piracy Act to the House floor abruptly adjourned Friday with no new vote date set – a surprise given that the bill looked certain to pass out of committee today.

It's amazing work: Politicians are, for the first time, having to contend with the Internet as a political force -- and we might actually win.  
But now we need to focus attention back on the Senate, where Marjority Leader Harry Reid says the PROTECT IP Act will be the first bill he calls for a vote next year.
Will you let him and your Senators know that they need to stop pushing this legislation?  It's an election year, and they don't want to do any heavy lifting.  Pushing hard now could get them to back down altogether.
Keep up the great work.
-Demand Progress
P.S. This week has been incredibly inspriring to all of us, and it'll probably inspire your friends too.  Will you let them know what just went down?  Just use these links:

	If you're already on Facebook, click here to share with your friends.
	If you're already on Twitter, click here to tweet about the campaign: Tweet

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One last thing -- Demand Progress's small, dedicated, under-paid staff relies exclusively on the generosity of members like you to support our work. Will you click here to chip in $5 or $10? Or you can become a Demand Progress monthly sustainer by clicking here. Thank you!

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

THE END (not really)

Also, I want a ferrofluid. So much.

~FIN~

D'ni Font

So as many of you people who may or may not be reading this on a regular basis or just happened to stumble upon my blog...
Um, anyway.
I am a large fan of the Myst series of video games, and also the culture they revolve around known as the D'ni.
The D'ni were a very sophisticated race, and Cyan Worlds has done a very good job at making that sophistication show through. They've thought through every aspect of their race. In fact, one amazing person known as Richard A. Watson, employed at Cyan, has made a language and unique lettering system. As a result, it is inevitable that a fancy font would arise, and therefore it is inevitable that I would have have that font. Here's a sample of it:

As you can see, if you looked at the large version, the detail is very high, and I wasn't anywhere near being zoomed in all the way. Anyway, that being said, you can download the font here:

http://linguists.bahro.com/essentials/Dn______.TTF

You can search pi here:
http://www.angio.net/pi/piquery

Um, yeah, that's just a random thing. I don't have a good reason for including it.

Now, if you haven't noticed, I've altered the look of my blog slightly. It now uses Times New Roman as a font in some places, because I believe it is serious looking enough to make it look like things should be taken seriously, or at at least important, but not so intimidating that it gives my blog that scary, high-tech internet look, which abides by my philosophy of the internet which is that it should be for everyone and not just technology people who don't feel intimidated by this whole "internet" thing. [ALERT ALERT MELODRAMATIC SENTENCE AHEAD] As a technology person who doesn't feel intimidated by this whole "internet" thing, and, as it probably evident by now, is obsessed with detail, I feel that this change of font is a good deed for humanity.

Did you know that the internet was originally developed by a team led by some guy called Tim Berners-Lee? Queen Elizabeth II decided to knight him for some reason. But really, Tim's just this guy, you know? Anyway, I feel way more comfortable with the internet (not that I ever wasn't) now that I know who the people were behind it. And actually, something cool, there was an original webpage for the internet, explaining what the project was about.

http://www.w3.org/History/19921103-hypertext/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html

What the heck?!

So I've been looking through a lot of my traffic sources lately. The top one is this:
http://www.massprofitsites.com/?hop=diamondium
And I've had another top one that is like that, but it's called "mobile money machines" and uses a "backdoor" of the internet to get you money. I'm pretty sure these things are just a stupid scam, but why SO MANY WEBSITES?! And how did people get redirected here anyway? RRRGH! I hate when I can't figure stuff out.

Anyway, another thing I wanted to talk to talk about is that THE COVER FOR THE BEETHOVENIST BIBLE MIGHT BE DIFFERENT THAN I POSTED! OH MY HOVENBEET! Anyway, so yeah, it's probably just going to say "MIG", or be like the one now, but have something completely irrelevant in the background. So, yes, that's all for today. The Beethovenist Bible is still in progress, and might be coming out sooner, but probably later.
MIG

Infinite Screen Sharing

You know when you have two mirrors directly opposite each other, making an infinite display of whatever's around the edges? Well, today I did just that, but the technology way.
First, I went on to my computer, and shared the screen of another computer. I then shared the screen of My computer with THAT computer. Since each computer is staring at the other's screen, over and over and over, you get an infinite loop. I now present, infinite screen sharing, from the other computer's perspective:

So, yes. If you have two compatible computers with screen sharing enabled, you can try this any time. It won't harm your computer in any way; it's just a cool trick you can do.