Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Xpovos' LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
8:44 pm	Election I haven't posted for a while, but I'm sitting watching the election results on the computer--TV is showing sitcoms. Really? Seinfeld reruns? I'm so glad I don't pay for this. So, election results on the computer. Not enough time to play video games, but lots of downtime between precinct reports. Here in VA it's about as expected--GOP sweep, though my local delegate race is deliciously close. (49% to 50% with 50% reporting) That was a fun election cycle to sit through. New Jersey looks to be an entertaining night as well. It's close enough that Corzine could still win it, but it looks solid for Christi from this angle. Though I'll be excited to see how many votes Daggett can pull out. It's sad that he has no chance just because he's missing that crucial letter after his name. Which is why I'm so enthralled by the NY-23 race. Polls haven't even closed there, but that'll be the story of the night for me, I think. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
8:28 am	Quiz! It's been a long time since I posted a quiz, and this one was fun. I Am A: Chaotic Good Human Cleric/Sorcerer (2nd/2nd Level) Ability Scores: Strength-10 Dexterity-15 Constitution-16 Intelligence-17 Wisdom-13 Charisma-11 Alignment: Chaotic Good A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he's kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society. Chaotic good is the best alignment you can be because it combines a good heart with a free spirit. However, chaotic good can be a dangerous alignment because it disrupts the order of society and punishes those who do well for themselves. Race: Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like. Primary Class: Clerics act as intermediaries between the earthly and the divine (or infernal) worlds. A good cleric helps those in need, while an evil cleric seeks to spread his patron's vision of evil across the world. All clerics can heal wounds and bring people back from the brink of death, and powerful clerics can even raise the dead. Likewise, all clerics have authority over undead creatures, and they can turn away or even destroy these creatures. Clerics are trained in the use of simple weapons, and can use all forms of armor and shields without penalty, since armor does not interfere with the casting of divine spells. In addition to his normal complement of spells, every cleric chooses to focus on two of his deity's domains. These domains grants the cleric special powers, and give him access to spells that he might otherwise never learn. A cleric's Wisdom score should be high, since this determines the maximum spell level that he can cast. Secondary Class: Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast. Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail) If you're going to take it, be warned, it's lengthy. The results therefore are pretty detailed. I'm pleased with the results. Though you can craft your own image easily enough I, as always, tried to answer the questions accurately. I'm not surprised I came out Cleric. I've been noticing a tendency towards that in my life over the past few years. I'm just frustrated that my primary stats are so low. I've got good Constitution and Intelligence and a solid Dexterity. I should be a Mage/Thief! But no. I'm a Cleric/Sorcerer and I've got crap stats. Maybe there's some extra meaning there. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 18th, 2009
8:36 am	More completion So, last I posted I mentioned completing a video game. Yay! Over the last week since then I've finished off the last few percentage points on Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga as well. That makes two games complete in two weeks! Of course, they were both a long time in the making. The system clock says I spent 28 hours all-in beating Indy. Star Wars took 83 hours 45 minutes. That's disgusting. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 11th, 2009
2:48 pm	Supplemental Materials I did something this weekend that I haven’t done in a long, long time. I finished a video game. ( Read more... ) (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 23rd, 2009
12:14 pm	It's springtime A recent conversation with my wife as we are standing outside of a pizza parlor in Lynchburg: Me: Mmm. I smell sardines. Her: No, that's the tree. *pointing at a nearby tree in full bloom*. Me: Why would a tree smell like sardines?! Her: It's spring. ( Read more... ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
10:28 am	Political Quiz My Political Views I am a right social libertarian Right: 6.22, Libertarian: 5.66 Political Spectrum Quiz My Foreign Policy Views Score: -4.15 Political Spectrum Quiz My Culture War Stance Score: -1.01 Political Spectrum Quiz 1) I think the results are pretty accurate. I consider myself a conservative libertarian, non-interventionalist, and liberally permissive. That said, I am not an anarchist, nor a neo-con. Nor am I opposed to foreign policies that require intervention. And while I'm permissive, there are certain lines that cannot be crossed. So, it matched up pretty well for me. 2) The questions were nigh-on atrocious. If they used political scientists in the creation of this quiz they need to have their degrees revoked. An example: "The state should deny women the legal right to an abortion." 5 options, along the scale of agreement with an option to enforce or mitigate an answer by saying it's more or less important. The style of question is quite popular in online quizes of this sort and the versatility is excellent, though it often confuses takers. To whit "If I agree, but then say it matters a lot, is that different or the same than if I strongly agree but only say it matters a little" The question in question is also an affront to political science. At all times, avoid biasing the subject. It's the societal version of the uncertainty principle and they just smacked you in the face. A right is something a government cannot infringe upon by nature. This is not some little qualm about a disagreement between the positive side of the question (allow abortion) vs. the negative side (deny access to abortion). The negative side is inherently seen as inferior. I'd live with that. I can't abide by them telling the subject it's a right, and then believing it doesn't affect their decision making process. "Oh, well if it's a right, then the government certainly shouldn't deny it." 3) Seriously, the questions were awful. "School science classes should teach intelligent design". As opposed to evolution? In addition to? How are we to agree with this statement without further information unless we believe evolution is fact (idiot) or believe intelligent design is a fact (also an idiot). Those are the only people who will have an understandable opinion on this statement. Evolutioners against, Designers for. In a quiz designed to pull the grey out, this is a failure. 4) One last time, these questions make me want to tear up my degree. "Government should ensure that all citizens meet a certain minimum standard of living". What minimum standard? By what measures? This is almost a meaningless question regardless of your politics. Everyone everywhere at some level believes in this, save those anarchists. For the anarcho-capitalist the minimum standard is a freely mobile society with opportunity. That is, his minimum standard is that the government stops other people from mugging him in the street. For a socialist, the standard might well be shelter, food, and a job. Even libertarians like me can fall further along the line to the 'left' than you might think. In addition to being relatively safe from mugging, I'd feel a lot better if there were a living wage, but not a minimum. How that would occur is a topic for a whole 'nother rant. But it works. So, in conclusion, while the results are accurate, the methodology is flawed, and I am forced to wonder if the results are accurate in spite of the methodology, or because I took the quiz knowing what the outcome should be. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
8:59 am	Icon? So... my next post was supposed to be on FOCA, but that'll have to wait. What the freak is up with my icon? I may need to change my password but it doesn't appear I was hacked. It's just that D has been replaced with some weird Japanese anime chick. And not the good kind. I wonder if livejournal's image database got wonked and I ended up with someone else's image with the same filename. If so, that person probably has my D. Wonder if they're as freaked as I am. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
7:57 am	More on the life front... I guess this means my next post should be on FOCA... In the meantime, God once again works a very strange form of good out of a bizarre and almost unclassifiable evil. The evil is of course classifiable. That one was greed. And it's never good for people to lose their jobs, and source of livelihood. But if anyone ever needed to lose their job it would be those working at Planned Parenthood, and across that industry. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, January 10th, 2009
2:28 pm	Brave New World I read Huxley's amazing book a short time ago, maybe a year and a half. I cannot recommend it strongly enough. The problem is that it is an adult book, and too often it's being forced upon minds that while intelligent enough to read and even understand the concepts, do not have the world view required to comprehend the issues. Now, about a week ago, johncwright posted in his livejournal some 20 predictions for the next 50 years, carrying on a tradition in the science fiction writer's world. On the whole, it made for an interesting read, and certainly sparked a lot of discussion. Three of his predictions in particular rubbed me the wrong way, and so I commented on them myself. One of those was his prediction on healthcare. Seeing as he is coming from a very conservative view-point, it's completely understandable that he would view nationalization of health care unfavorably. Seeing also as he's coming from a Christian, and Catholic to be specific, religious viewpoint, his life-morality issues with a number of health care choices are also understandably outside the 'mainstream' of modern medicine. He argued that healthcare over the next 50 years would be an on the whole detriment to human life, in that we would live shorter lives and be less happy in them. It is a bold statement, and he has some rationale for them, but I disagree because on the whole preventative care has decreased in price in nominal terms, making the cost in real terms even lower. While at the same time extraordinary measures of non-preventative care have become more commonplace, allowing people to live substantially longer at greater cost. Even if the extraordinary measures are removed from the equation, the preventative measures alone, along with a moderate increase in medical technology and practice will continue to reduce the costs of medicine and increase the lifespan of people. I went so far as to boldly predict that inside of the next 50 years we might even have a preventative measure cure for cancer! On the one hand, this is a bit of a pipe dream. Cancer is a very simple way of saying that the human body has microscopic limitations to life. And the more life happens, that is the more times our cells divide, die, slough away and are regenerated, the more likely cancer is to happen as well. Curing that is akin to curing old age, it likely won't ever happen, and certainly not within 50 years. But I'd be content with a prescriptive and specific cure for cancer. That is something that prevents cancer from starting until substantially later than it would have; or a wholesale cleanser that eradicates cancerous tissues while leaving non-cancerous ones intact, allowing life to continue--at least until the next batch. Obviously we have a number of those options, but one quantum leap in medical technology could make it much less traumatic an experience, and thus effect a 'cure' for cancer. This is certainly not what I had in mind when I made that prediction. Neither is it something that either I, nor Mr. Wright are content with. It makes me wonder if maybe he wasn't right. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
2:44 pm	Movies Since Katie got pregnant, I haven't had the opportunity to do many of the things we did when we were just dating. Um... wow. Let me try that again--nothing like a train of thought post getting totally derailed. I went out to the movies 6 times in 2008, that I recall. Twice to see each Wall-E and Iron Man, and once to go see Tropic Thunder, and once to see The Dark Knight. I may well be forgetting an instance or two. I also went to one concert, Apocalytpica at the 9:30 Club. That went poorly. And so, too, did going to the movies. These things have become harder because of the way my life has gone--not that I am complaining nor would trade, but having an unborn, and then later, born, daughter precludes some activities that I would normally enjoy partaking in. This can hardly be news to anyone. Those with children know the truth; those without must surely be able to imagine the situation. So 6 trips to the theater is for me low. In particular, since I didn't even pay for the ticket to go see Tropic Thunder, and the Dark Knight tickets were handled by a friend, but repaid those events did not feel expensive. Over the weekend Katie and I dropped Theresa off and went to a movie. We saw The Spirit. It'd been out for a little while so the audience was not huge, but neither was it tiny. It was a small but acceptable number. The movie itself lacked. It was mostly fun, hardly good, far from terrible. The art was not unique. If this had come out before Sin City it would have been eye-popping, as it is, there wasn't anything new here. The acting was stilted. I can't tell if that's poor acting, poor direction, or intentional or some combination. And the plot was mediocre. All in all, a very passable middle of the summer movie. The real pain, though, was the ticket prices. The local theater has upped them to $10.50 each! I was stunned, as I thought the $9 I recalled them charging during the summer was high, and here's a better than 10% increase less than a year later. With prices like that, and other more important factors, I think my movie theater going days are essentially over. The lure of the popcorn still exists, and I'll want to see big films on big screens... but with my 46" LCD in 1080p and an upconverting DVD player, and an HD-DVD player (shut up Blu-Ray fans) and a Netflix account the staple movies can come to me just as well. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
6:39 pm	Reformat! So, over the Christmas holiday I've spent some time and reformatted my computer and am in the process of reinstalling those applications I use and wanted to reinstall. Of course, this kind of thing becomes necessary in computing because applications I no longer use have gummed up the system, or applications I still use just don't play nicely for a wide variety of reasons. This is my first reformat/reinstall on this machine. I think I did about six on my last one, and it lasted me only about twice as long as I've had this one, so I was well overdue by my standards. One of the major problems had always been that this was something I'd planned, but never got around to. So as a result I was totally OK with the mindset, "Yeah, sure, I'll test out that program and see if it's any good--if I like it I'll keep it next time around and if I don't it's gone (completely) in the reformat. Obviously this led to some bad stuff, like ignoring the warning signs of various system instabilities, awful hack jobs and kludge fixes all because, "it'll be reformatted in a few weeks." It was an awesome display of procrastination. But it's reformatted now. It's pretty awesome actually. The final compelling reason was I'd gotten Spore for Christmas and with a minimal desire to run up against their DRM, I decided I really needed to reformat before I installed that! Two and a half years. That's a long time in the world of computers. Moore's law has gone off almost two full times. My hardware is still pretty spiff, but it's nowhere near as cutting edge as it was, and the relative price is way down. But it's been an even more interesting time in software apparently. Now, I know Windows has never been particularly nice about 'control' for the end user. Microsoft wants to control everything, and then give the user the illusion of control through a couple of minor choices. I can dig that as it does simplify some things. But--my God! So far all I have done is install the operating system (XP, quickly upgraded to SP3), my anti-virus (AVG-Free Version) and some hardware drivers, and one utility (WinPatrol) to help me keep the system clean. As a result, we're almost right back where I started from! WinPatrol is telling me about all kinds of start-up crap that the drivers are trying to pull, Windows is going nuts with the Automatic Updates, AVG isn't playing nice with anything. It's a bit of a mess. And in the end, it's my own fault. If I would just give up that control I demand, this would all be over with. My computer would be a bit of a mess, sure. Wireless Zero would be fighting with the wireless card's drivers that I had to install in order to get Windows to even recognize that the card was installed this time. NVidia's stuff would gladly be chewing up my memory for no purpose. All sort of programs that I'm going to install would happily chug away and my computer would slow to an almost imperceptible crawl. All this despite being insanely faster than my previous computer. I really miss those days. I'd normally take this time to argue that Linux is the way to go in the future with it's control and stability and end-user orientation. But that too has gone away. Apparently it's me that's behind the curves. Even Linux wants software to be installed 'just so' and most major distros have installers to help with that. They'll even recommend programs for the most common utilities. Do you want iTunes, or WMP or WinAmp? Obviously not those three, but the point is there. Take your pick, and the distro's installer does the rest and helps you keep it updated. That's pretty awesome for the generic end user. "I want a program that will play MP3s, and I don't want to have to worry about keeping it updated." Done, says Linux. It has to be tremendously user-friendly. But me, I want that control still. I want to know that I'm the one who installed the program, that I controlled exactly which features of that program are permitted to operate, that I'm the one who'll decide when to update it. Linux is of course better about all of that. You don't have to use the installers. But Windows has neither the illusion of that user-friendliness, nor any actual control anymore. (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
2:00 pm	What to say? I don't think there's much more I could say. ( Read more... ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
2:02 pm	The joys of pregnancy I haven't posted on this topic yet. I wonder why that is. Certainly in the first bit it was intentional. We weren't telling people. Too much can go wrong, particularly with a first pregnancy. So Katie wanted it kept quiet, and I was more than happy to go along. Now, though, it's common knowledge. And yet I'm still not talking about it much. Part of it is probably that I'm apprehensive about the future of this. It's a new experience which I know will be incredibly huge. More complicated than anything I've ever done before, more tiring too. It's easier to just slink away and mostly forget it for a few hours at a time. But the time inevitably comes again when I recall it, or am forced to recall it. And don't get my tone wrong here, it's a wonderful thing, and I hope to demonstrate that by the end, but as to why I'm not writing about it... I'm also stressed by it. I still have secrets to hide. My father has made it known that he would prefer not to know the gender of the child until birth. However, at the sonogram we tried to obtain the most complete information we could, so we have a good idea, though these things are never certain. And then there are other factors as well. In many ways, the timing was good, in most ways the timing was terrible. We really did not expect it to happen this quickly. Inside the first year, certainly a possibility, but inside the first month? And as a result, I'm caught financially unprepared. I've been very fortunate that insurance has covered so much of our prenatal expenses. And medically, expenses will continue to be fairly minimal, but theres's about to be a host of new expenses I can't even fathom, even at this date. So, all my plans to get Katie and I into a better financial shape have been delayed. That also seems inaccurate. As much as they have been delayed, it is more that the impetus behind them has been accelerated. The actual progress is moving at the same rate as ever. Hurrah for the fiscal stiumuls package! But what of the actual experience? The joy of the event, the magic. Well... frankly, it's not there. Pregnancy means hormones. Hormones mean potential mood swings. My primary goal there is to keep Katie as happy as possible during the process because I'm primordially convinced that her mood during gestation will impact the baby's overal demenor substantially. Throw in the horrible physical difficulties. Aches and pains, nausea, sleepless nights... and when Katie has these, I have them. Even the nausea. I'm not sure how that works. We called it sympathetic morning sickness. There are other issues too, which I won't go into, but in short the actual process is a burden, not a joy. It could be a lot worse, certainly. Katie's morning sickness was mild, I am led to believe. Her mood has been quite excellent in most cases, and the few times she's snapped my head off, I probably deserved it. The household chaos is under control. But in the end, the pregnancy has not been 'fun'. But last night I lay my head upon Katie's belly to listen to the swooshing and gurgling--mostly from Katie's digestive system I'm sure, but in the hopes of catching a hint of my child's early life. Simi apparently didn't like being squished by my big fat head, so I got punched. That was amazing. So--the pregnancy is full of little bits like this. And I'm sure they'll become more numerous, and I'll recall them better months from now. And these growing pains will fade from memory... particularly once I can hold Simi in my arms. The joy of pregnancy for me is the birth. (Comment on this)
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
10:44 am	Intolerable Impatience There is so much going on in life that I am utterly impatient to have... progress. It’s not even that I necessarily want it to end, or get to the proper teleological endpoint. It just has to get moving already! ( Read more... ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
11:11 am	The other woman So, I've started yet another blog. Why? I never really even post to this one, right? Well, I started the other because it's an experiment in writing, and dedicated to a single subject, whereas this is sporadic musings on anything with no deadline at all. The other blog will be posted to at least weekly. This one--maybe not even yearly. So, you can see the need for this. It's not that this blog is insufficient, it's that I think I can be so much more. But don't worry, we can still be friends. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
5:33 pm	Kaiser Soze! So I break the hiatus with one of these? It had better be awesome. Xpovos was the biggest gangster since Al Capone. ... afterward, Xpovos walked across the desert for no reason. 'How will you be remembered in history books?' at QuizGalaxy.com (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 13th, 2008
5:23 pm	It's been 10 months since you looked at me. Oops. To be fair to myself, it's not like I've not had good reason. It's been a busy time. Sure, I've had plenty of good stuff to talk about, but never any time to talk! So, you're left with the highlight reel version, and what fun is that? I mean, at least with sports highlights, they are highlights. This is just a list of things that has happened to me in the past almost year. Two vacations, though it doesn't feel like it. One to Florida, the other the honeymoon a cruise to the Bahamas. Got married without a hitch, except the one that was supposed to happen. Honeymooned abroad without a passport. It's not that I don't have a passport, it's just that something has to go horribly wrong on the honeymoon, so apparently I subconsciously decided it should be the passport. Worked out well, actually. Successfully integrated two independent finances into one and somewhat less successfully integrated two independent piles of modern shit into one. "Honey, where's my ---?" "Uhm? In a box?" Found out I'm going to be a father. That took far less time than I expected. Turned 27. I completely missed my anual birthday post. WTF! Got much better at Magic. Gave up video games for Lent. And watched the first two seasons of both Babylon 5 (again, as though for the first time) and Boston Legal. Got another raise at work. Huzzah! Keep on loving my performance. I only need to double my salary... again. Rough estimate. If you think that there's more to one of these, you'd be absolutely right. I could have, and in a lot of senses probably should have written an entry on pretty much all of these. But I didn't, and I'm sure not going to start now. But who knows, I may actually post on something new that happens to me when it happens, for a change. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007
9:09 pm	Gone and done bitten off more than I can chew? So, this isn't 'news' to most of you, I'm sure, because I've mentioned it to a number of you as in the works, but yesterday I made it all official-like and proposed to Katie. She said yes. We'll tentatively be getting married in December, more details to come as they become concrete. Of course, this means I'm now looking for groomsmen. So, gents. Start dodging my phone calls, etc. (16 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, March 1st, 2007
8:16 pm	Oops. Your Scholastic Strength Is Deep Thinking You aren't afraid to delve head first into a difficult subject, with mastery as your goal. You are talented at adapting, motivating others, managing resources, and analyzing risk. You should major in: Philosophy Music Theology Art History Foreign language What Should You Major In? The one philosophy class I took I did well in, but I got strange looks from pretty much everyone and was rather bored most of the time. Maybe I should have become a Jesuit. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
3:39 pm	Interview with a Xpovos THE RULES: 1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." 2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better! 3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. 4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post. 5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. As interviewed by nemomori. 1. What is your dream job and what steps are you doing to secure it? 2. Which of our freedoms (freedom of press, to assemble, of religion) do you feel is most important in modern society and which do you feel is most often taken for granted? 3. What is the biggest regret you've ever had? 4. At what moment in your life were you the proudest of yourself and why that moment above all the others? 5. Do you feel you are going to be remembered after you die, and if so what would you like your legacy to be? Answers are below the cut, as they're likely to be long. I do so like to listen to myself type. ( Read more... ) (7 Comments |Comment on this)