I'm cleaning out my house, and I came across a rare Samuel F. Hulbert bobblehead. This item was a limited release of 2520. I have #1404. It is still in the box, but the box is somewhat worn.
If you would like to have #1404, let me know. Make me an offer.
If you would like to see pictures, let me know.
If I don't get any bites before the end of the year, it will no longer be available for purchase.
Please e-mail me or leave a comment here (if you don't have my e-mail address), and if you know somebody who might want it, LET THEM KNOW! I'll ship it anywhere domestically.
All right?
Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Zombie (Literature) Outbreak
Twilight of the Living Dead by ~aethercowboy on deviantART
So, I got an e-mail today from Amazon, partly because I bought into the whole Pride and Prejudice and Zombies hype. They said that I might like the book, and I am NOT making this up, The Undead World of Oz, which further recommends Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim.
Now, where did this recent outbreak of remixed zombie literature start? Most would argue P&P&Z, but I think that the roots are much deeper. It's been show that a rise in zombie films is directly proportional to social unrest, but what of a rise in zombie literature? Is it simply the fact that it's essentially costless to rehash a public domain work. Will we get The King James Guide to Zombie Slaying? Maybe Gray's Zombie Anatomy? Alice in Zombieland? I could go on.
I won't.
I blame The Zombie Survival Guide, which has practical advice for wilderness survival, but is disguised as a deadpan comedy book. It gave rise to World War Z, which I suppose opened the floodgates for the shambling undead, arm in arm with your favorite Victorian literary characters.
Fortunately, the co-author of P&P&Z has moved away from zombies, and is venturing into the world
But, what will come next, now that zed is THE undead? Will we have a rise of zombie romances? I mean, we have books like Breathers: A Zombie's Lament, but how soon until we have teen romance, like Twilight of the Living Dead?
EDITED
1. Seth Grahme-Smith did not, in fact, pen the changes to S&S&S. It was Ben H. Winters. The publisher is the same, however.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
NOTICE
Notice: If you are following this feed on LiveJournal, you are not seeing my book reviews. Follow the FeedBurner feed in an alternate reader for those.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Beastly Melange!
The other day, I had a severe hard drive malfunction. My computer would start up, flash a BSOD, and then auto-reboot. I tried to diagnose the problem (software or hardware) through my PDA, but my best guess was that I needed a new hard drive.
So I got a Seagate 1TB SATA.
My old hard drive was an IBM Deskstar 120GB PATA. It was seven+ years old. Once I get my Ubuntu live CD, I'll see if I can better diagnose the problem. Though, suggestions are very, very welcome.
A funny thing, though, is that with the purchase of a new hard drive, my computer's original parts are now as follows:
But, again, any pointers on what went wrong with the HD, or suggestions on how to fix it (at least enough to get some files moved over) would be greatly appreciated.
So I got a Seagate 1TB SATA.
My old hard drive was an IBM Deskstar 120GB PATA. It was seven+ years old. Once I get my Ubuntu live CD, I'll see if I can better diagnose the problem. Though, suggestions are very, very welcome.
A funny thing, though, is that with the purchase of a new hard drive, my computer's original parts are now as follows:
- One optical mouse (originally from RHIT laptop, which is older than the MONOLITH that is my desktop)
- One case fan (it hasn't annoyed me enough to replace with a more quiet version)
- The case (If you've seen it, you know why. I can use it as an apartment if I ever lose my home.)
But, again, any pointers on what went wrong with the HD, or suggestions on how to fix it (at least enough to get some files moved over) would be greatly appreciated.
Friday, September 4, 2009
New Toy!
My wonderful wife got me a nice, yet belated birthday gift, and I'm writing this post on it :)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Book Reviews
I decided to try to enter the business of book reviews, or at least flesh it out already.
Here's the deal: if you are an author who wants someone to read your book and then review it, and make said review available for the public to read, particularly on Amazon.com and LibraryThing, and quite possibly my blog, I'm your guy.
If you're interested in honest reviews (and I will tear you a new one if your book sucks), please contact me by e-mailing me. Currently, I will only do print books.
Well, I'll do eBooks, but under very, very limited circumstances. If you can convince me that I owe you a favor, I will read and review your eBook. If you print out your eBook and mail it to me, I will read and review your eBook. If you, or someone else, procures me a portable eBook reading device, I will read your eBook.
Also, please, please, please don't send me multiple copies of your book. Since I have no friends, there is nobody for me to share the book with.
I like books that are of a speculative nature that don't involve teenage vampire romances.
If you'd like to read a sampling of my reviews, check out the following link:
http://www.librarything.com/rss/reviews/aethercowboy
jacob.silvia@gmail.com
Here's the deal: if you are an author who wants someone to read your book and then review it, and make said review available for the public to read, particularly on Amazon.com and LibraryThing, and quite possibly my blog, I'm your guy.
If you're interested in honest reviews (and I will tear you a new one if your book sucks), please contact me by e-mailing me. Currently, I will only do print books.
Well, I'll do eBooks, but under very, very limited circumstances. If you can convince me that I owe you a favor, I will read and review your eBook. If you print out your eBook and mail it to me, I will read and review your eBook. If you, or someone else, procures me a portable eBook reading device, I will read your eBook.
Also, please, please, please don't send me multiple copies of your book. Since I have no friends, there is nobody for me to share the book with.
I like books that are of a speculative nature that don't involve teenage vampire romances.
If you'd like to read a sampling of my reviews, check out the following link:
http://www.librarything.com/rss/reviews/aethercowboy
jacob.silvia@gmail.com
Monday, March 30, 2009
On Save States
Knowing absolutely nothing about how video game save states work, I came up with a rudimentary theory.
Basically, with respect to save states, there are a variety of data points, such as level, score, inventory, etc. When it comes to accomplishments, though, these cannot as easily be represented as a score (or can it!?).
So that got me thinking: there are effectively three levels of accomplishments in games: linear, tiered, and free.
Representing linear accomplishments is easy. You assign a number to each accomplishment such that each successive accomplishment follows its predecessor numerically. Hence, if you record "3" as the accomplishment value, it assumes that 2 and 1 have thus been completed. Boring.
Tiered are a little like linear, except that there are more. Now, I'm not suggesting my methodology as being the best (it's more for a conveyance of ideas than anything else), but you would have a set of accomplishment series, A, B, C, etc., and then each series would have a set of linear accomplishments. Thus, B-4 assumes B-3, but does not assume A-anything. So forth.
Free, though, are a bit trickier. They are totally unrelated. 2 does not presuppose 1, and so forth. Well, in my methodology, there is no one, or it doesn't mean anything. For free, you keep an accomplishment number, and for no accomplishments, you have a value of 1. Each accomplishment has some prime number associated with it, and with each accomplishment, the accomplishment number becomes itself multiplied by the new accomplishment. Thus, to figure out the accomplishments, one merely needs to do a prime factorization. Or in instances that ask "Is accomplishment x fulfilled?" it's simply a modulus operation.
I'd be interested in other save state insight, if anybody would care to provide their own. Also, please feel free to give critique to my ideas.
Basically, with respect to save states, there are a variety of data points, such as level, score, inventory, etc. When it comes to accomplishments, though, these cannot as easily be represented as a score (or can it!?).
So that got me thinking: there are effectively three levels of accomplishments in games: linear, tiered, and free.
Representing linear accomplishments is easy. You assign a number to each accomplishment such that each successive accomplishment follows its predecessor numerically. Hence, if you record "3" as the accomplishment value, it assumes that 2 and 1 have thus been completed. Boring.
Tiered are a little like linear, except that there are more. Now, I'm not suggesting my methodology as being the best (it's more for a conveyance of ideas than anything else), but you would have a set of accomplishment series, A, B, C, etc., and then each series would have a set of linear accomplishments. Thus, B-4 assumes B-3, but does not assume A-anything. So forth.
Free, though, are a bit trickier. They are totally unrelated. 2 does not presuppose 1, and so forth. Well, in my methodology, there is no one, or it doesn't mean anything. For free, you keep an accomplishment number, and for no accomplishments, you have a value of 1. Each accomplishment has some prime number associated with it, and with each accomplishment, the accomplishment number becomes itself multiplied by the new accomplishment. Thus, to figure out the accomplishments, one merely needs to do a prime factorization. Or in instances that ask "Is accomplishment x fulfilled?" it's simply a modulus operation.
I'd be interested in other save state insight, if anybody would care to provide their own. Also, please feel free to give critique to my ideas.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Zombies in Austin (And Zombies in Austen?)
But first...
In case you didn't know, Amber's sister, who was once living with us, is now back in Ohio. This caused some hurt to Amber, but we're making the best of the situation and spending a whole lot more time together.
Ah, the joys of having only one job.
Amber's really excited about the Coraline movie. We went out and got the book (the PS edition), which Amber will promptly read after we see the film. It comes out a week from tomorrow, and to be honest, we're both kinda excited about seeing it. Amber got excited about it after seeing the making-of videos in the internets. She showed me some of them, and let me say: they were pretty cool.
I'm very glad that Amber's found something to be happy about, as she's had a rough start of the year, and it makes me happy when she's happy.
...
As part of my sworn duty to keep our southern borders safe from zombies (I hope there's someone up north sharing my job desc. The stocking caps of the Canadian zombies give them special protection from headshots), I have the following news to report w.r.t. our undead adversaries.
Apparently, there was a brief zombie scare in Austin, TX. DOT signs warned motorists of "Zombies Ahead". Some motorists failed to pay heed to these signs. Their cars are now currently available at the Austin police auction, slightly torn, scratched, and stained, but otherwise in perfect working condition. (Full Story)
Additionally, Jane Austen scholars have unearthed missing works from the author. Turns out Pride and Prejudice had several passages dealing with zombies that T. Edgerton, publisher, did not consider appropriate for the end reader. Some 200 years later, we may read it in it's unabridged form, entitled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. (Full Story)
Last on the zombie front is the documentary based on the nonfiction chronicle of the Zombie Wars. The footage from the wars has been edited together by director Marc Forster, whose previous work includes more fictional accounts of British spies and the like. Once a few sequences are professional reenacted (with dialogue touchups by comic/space soap author J. Michael Staczynski), the film should be gracing our movie theaters some time next year. Keep a lookout! (Full Story)
Well, that's it on the zombie front. Keep those downstairs doors locked and those shotguns loaded!
Oh, and on a more serious note, I'll probably be focusing my attention more on my Blogger account (http://jacobsilvia.blogspot.com) than my LJ. If you have an LJ or any other OpenID provider, you may leave comments there.
I'll still crosspost to my LJ (http://aethercowboy.livejournal.com) for the time being, but may eventually phase it out. This has been your deprecation notice!
In case you didn't know, Amber's sister, who was once living with us, is now back in Ohio. This caused some hurt to Amber, but we're making the best of the situation and spending a whole lot more time together.
Ah, the joys of having only one job.
Amber's really excited about the Coraline movie. We went out and got the book (the PS edition), which Amber will promptly read after we see the film. It comes out a week from tomorrow, and to be honest, we're both kinda excited about seeing it. Amber got excited about it after seeing the making-of videos in the internets. She showed me some of them, and let me say: they were pretty cool.
I'm very glad that Amber's found something to be happy about, as she's had a rough start of the year, and it makes me happy when she's happy.
...
As part of my sworn duty to keep our southern borders safe from zombies (I hope there's someone up north sharing my job desc. The stocking caps of the Canadian zombies give them special protection from headshots), I have the following news to report w.r.t. our undead adversaries.
Apparently, there was a brief zombie scare in Austin, TX. DOT signs warned motorists of "Zombies Ahead". Some motorists failed to pay heed to these signs. Their cars are now currently available at the Austin police auction, slightly torn, scratched, and stained, but otherwise in perfect working condition. (Full Story)
Additionally, Jane Austen scholars have unearthed missing works from the author. Turns out Pride and Prejudice had several passages dealing with zombies that T. Edgerton, publisher, did not consider appropriate for the end reader. Some 200 years later, we may read it in it's unabridged form, entitled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. (Full Story)
Last on the zombie front is the documentary based on the nonfiction chronicle of the Zombie Wars. The footage from the wars has been edited together by director Marc Forster, whose previous work includes more fictional accounts of British spies and the like. Once a few sequences are professional reenacted (with dialogue touchups by comic/space soap author J. Michael Staczynski), the film should be gracing our movie theaters some time next year. Keep a lookout! (Full Story)
Well, that's it on the zombie front. Keep those downstairs doors locked and those shotguns loaded!
Oh, and on a more serious note, I'll probably be focusing my attention more on my Blogger account (http://jacobsilvia.blogspot.com) than my LJ. If you have an LJ or any other OpenID provider, you may leave comments there.
I'll still crosspost to my LJ (http://aethercowboy.livejournal.com) for the time being, but may eventually phase it out. This has been your deprecation notice!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Stuff, stuff-stuff, stuff!
Wow, another round of updates?
Let's see... I no longer work for Apple (and apparently, neither does Mr. Jobs, te-hee). Did anybody see that hilarious XKCD (http://www.xkcd.com/527/)? Of course it cost me a pound of flesh, or at least, a pretty nasty scar, as the Micromanaging Hobbit had me get something down from a top shelf while I was suffering from a head cold, and I lost my balance and met a nice, sharp, metal corner. Yeah! Unfortunately, it didn't scar in the form of the Apple logo, so I can't have that as a conversation piece. Oh well.
It's a new year, and I work for a new NASA contractor under a new contract. We're waiting on all the connections to be fully established, and until then, we have to find ways to be busy. Yay.
I've been roped into doing early reviews of books for LibraryThing.com (Check me out, I'm aethercowboy!). If you would like me to do an early review (or even a review) of your book, contact me, and I'll tell you where to send it. I'll even post it to my blog!
I recently read Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry. It's like Tom Clancy and Max Brooks wrote a book together, or something. Here's my review: http://www.librarything.com/review/39779688.
Coming up next is Rich Like Them by Ryan D'Agostino.
And next? Who knows!
Also, I decided that now I have loads of free time, I'm starting a local writing group that will be infinite times better than BAWL (Bay Area Writers League) or The Word Factory, because (A) it pertains to writers critiquing each other's writings distributed to them the previous week, (B) it's free, and (C) there will be talks, readings, and activities to help writers. Woot woot.
The official blog is http://clearlakeareawriters.blogspot.com. It's called "Clear Lake Area Writers" (CLAW). Sweet.
Hopefully the other writers will not be just Romance/Memoir writers as was BAWL, which was the main reason I gave that up (also, four hours of boring non-writing activity). I needed a group that was more specific to me, and since I can't find one, I'll go out and make one. I just hope our local art center will let me meet there. Otherwise, I suppose the library's the next best thing. And if all else fails, maybe Borders will host me. But I'm going Indie first, yo. I'll find out next week. In the meantime, if you're in the Clear Lake area, feel free to subscribe to the blog, or leave a comment (once I post something). There's also a public calendar, but it has nothing on it. Watch the CLAW blog for updates!
Well, that's really all I had in my buffer.
Until next time.
Let's see... I no longer work for Apple (and apparently, neither does Mr. Jobs, te-hee). Did anybody see that hilarious XKCD (http://www.xkcd.com/527/)? Of course it cost me a pound of flesh, or at least, a pretty nasty scar, as the Micromanaging Hobbit had me get something down from a top shelf while I was suffering from a head cold, and I lost my balance and met a nice, sharp, metal corner. Yeah! Unfortunately, it didn't scar in the form of the Apple logo, so I can't have that as a conversation piece. Oh well.
It's a new year, and I work for a new NASA contractor under a new contract. We're waiting on all the connections to be fully established, and until then, we have to find ways to be busy. Yay.
I've been roped into doing early reviews of books for LibraryThing.com (Check me out, I'm aethercowboy!). If you would like me to do an early review (or even a review) of your book, contact me, and I'll tell you where to send it. I'll even post it to my blog!
I recently read Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry. It's like Tom Clancy and Max Brooks wrote a book together, or something. Here's my review: http://www.librarything.com/review/39779688.
Coming up next is Rich Like Them by Ryan D'Agostino.
And next? Who knows!
Also, I decided that now I have loads of free time, I'm starting a local writing group that will be infinite times better than BAWL (Bay Area Writers League) or The Word Factory, because (A) it pertains to writers critiquing each other's writings distributed to them the previous week, (B) it's free, and (C) there will be talks, readings, and activities to help writers. Woot woot.
The official blog is http://clearlakeareawriters.blogspot.com. It's called "Clear Lake Area Writers" (CLAW). Sweet.
Hopefully the other writers will not be just Romance/Memoir writers as was BAWL, which was the main reason I gave that up (also, four hours of boring non-writing activity). I needed a group that was more specific to me, and since I can't find one, I'll go out and make one. I just hope our local art center will let me meet there. Otherwise, I suppose the library's the next best thing. And if all else fails, maybe Borders will host me. But I'm going Indie first, yo. I'll find out next week. In the meantime, if you're in the Clear Lake area, feel free to subscribe to the blog, or leave a comment (once I post something). There's also a public calendar, but it has nothing on it. Watch the CLAW blog for updates!
Well, that's really all I had in my buffer.
Until next time.
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