Cerberus Starraiser

Don’t Trust Me – 3OH!3

God, I love this song.  It’s just perfect.

Black dress with the tights underneath,
I got the breath of the last cigarette on my teeth,
And she’s an actress (actress),
But she ain’t got no need.
She’s got money from her parents in a trust fund back east.

T-t-t-tongues always pressed to your cheeks,
While my tongue is on the inside of some other girls teeth,
T-tell your boyfriend if he says he’s got beef,
That I’m a vegetarian and I ain’t fucking scared of him.

She wants to touch me (Woah),
She wants to love me (Woah),
She’ll never leave me (Woah, woah, oh, oh),
Don’t trust a ho,
Never trust a ho,
Won’t trust a ho,
’Cause the ho won’t trust me.

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My Wedding Ring

This is a piece I wrote over a year ago.  I found it, and realized it is not posted publicly.  So, here it is, just as I wrote it back then.

When I was growing up, I was subjected to the usually comical routine of the Wedding Ring Dropped Down the Drain. The ring would be dropped or put or misplaced somewhere ridiculously difficult to get to, and the rest of the show/episode/story would play out the mishappenings of whoever was supposed to retrieve it, usually before Significant Other found out it was lost.

I was never understanding of why the wedding ring was a big deal. Then I learned how much they can cost… and “realized” that losing a wedding ring was the equivalent of accidentally dropping thousands of dollars into the sewer, never to be seen again. And that, to me, was the justification for said attempts at retrieval of said item.

I had been thinking recently, looking at the wedding ring on my left hand, thinking of my wife, gone thousands of miles away. I find it interesting to note that until now, I never ever considered the emotional attachment of a wedding ring.

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Affixa: Integrate Windows With Webmail

–Notably Good Ltd

Email for the common user is increasingly web-based.  Gone are the days where a mail ISP just dropped your mail in a box somewhere, and the preferred (only?) method of doing anything nice with it was to have a client installed on your machine.  Gone are the days where web-based email was a horrible thing to have to navigate, used only in the emergency where you had no choice but to check it online.

But, Windows has yet to truly acknowledge this.  Send To | Mail Recipient is limited to the client you have installed on your computer.  Every one of us has done it: right click a file, choose Send To | Mail Recipient, and then moan in displeasure as some client we never use (read: Outlook Express) would pop up and declare that you need to set up your account!

This has been driving me crazy.  I use Google Apps for my email, and I was trying to find some solution around this.  There are some odd registry hacks out there that can jimmy-rig it for sending emails and handling some mailto links, but then you run into the problem of sending attachments (read: having to do it manually).  I found relief in the form of Affixa.

Relief, at least, for Gmail and Yahoo! Mail users.  As Affixa’s website puts it: “It’s 2009, and email is web-based.  So why is Windows still partying like it’s 1999?” Read the rest of this entry »

The Adventures of Edwin and Daniel, Vol. 4: And When All Was Done, Left 4 Dead Was Played

My weekend was a lot of fun.  I went over to Edwin’s house on Friday night, and he watched the Battlestar Galactica finale with friends (Andrew, Deanna, Kervin, and some other guy who I only see hanging with Deanna.  I forget his name.)  while I worked on the We’ve Been Framed comics, adding our website to all of the images and cleaning them up a bit.  I kept talking at the wrong points though, so I felt bad as Deanna kept shushing me all night.  I eventually gave up and shut up for an hour   After the finale, there was much debate over the whole “They said they were gonna answer ALL the questions!” topic.  Then everyone cleared out, except for me and Kervin (who were spending the night), and we stayed up all night long playing Guitar Hero.

And there was much Left 4 Dead played.

Saturday we got up and went to the Amish smorgasbord, Shady Maple, in Lancaster.  This is like, my favorite place for breakfast, ever.  Usually, if there is any doubt on whether I can come out to Edwin’s place on the weekend, he usually just says “Shady Maple” and I’m always like “I’m there.”  The place is gynormus, and they have a whole lot more there than the smorgasbord, though that’s the only reason why I go.  Gift shops and a farmer’s market, and the such.  Standard Amish faire.  I always get the handmade Eggs Benedict, and then whatever else I feel like.  They have the best made-to-order pancakes, which I didn’t get this time, but they’re the best.  I did take part of Edwin’s sweet potato pancake though.  MMMMMM.

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New Comic on Office Offline

Office Offline is an Microsoft Developer blog belonging to David Salaguinto.  Being that my company’s main focus is supporting Microsoft software, reading his comics that humorously point out situations surrounding their software, sometimes even poking a small bit of fun at them, are a great past time for us.

Recently I had a great idea for a comic, but one that really would not fit online at the other site I post comics on (We’ve Been Framed).  Then, as I was browsing Office Offline, which I do all the time, I remembered that David accepted submissions.  I chalked it up, sent it in, and voila!  He accepted, then, COMIC.

Check out his site:  Office Offline.

Direct Link to my comic:  Click here. 

Have I Not Changed Since High School?

Through sheer coincidence, I received an email (completely on accident, intended for another Dan) from a friend’s mother I have not seen since I was 14 or 15.  Have not talked to her since then at all, and my friend hasn’t had a lot of positive contact since then either.  But through a couple innocent exchanges, she sent an email that completely rocked my world and made me think. was it all my fault?  Do I not know how to choose them?  Am I wrong to look for a stable, loyal relationship?

Take a look, and give me your thoughts. 

Let me set the context.

Her:

You sound like you are doing ok.  I know things were a little whacky for you growing up, I guess for everyone in one way or another.

Me:

Thank you, things are doing okay, for the most part.  I am getting over a nasty breakup and divorce that I’m still processing through, but other than that, I have good friends and a great job in as a consultant and instructor for a tech firm.  I live and work in Philadelphia.

Her:

A divorce??? You are so young!  I didn’t even know you were married.  I remember you used to plan marriage very early but something always went wrong with the girls as I recall.  That’s really too bad.  You seemed to me like someone who just wanted to have a family.  You have a lot of years ahead of you to find the right woman. 

Me:

Yeah, that’s exactly what happened, just to a more adult end than it did in high school.  I guess I really have not changed much.

Then, that prompted this response, which, I’m not even sure how to respond to, it’s caused a lot of thinking.  It was uncanny, how she found this much insight into my situation based on what she knew of me when I visited my friend at her house one summer back in high school.  Notice the part I underlined, i thought it interesting to point that part out.

Her:

Dan, it’s NONE of my business, but have you ever thought about how MAYBE the desire to have a happy family of your own might be coming from some unresolved stuff from your own family that you grew up in, and that you might be attracted to, or attracting, the wrong sorts of girls?  Maybe, in order to have a better outcome, instead of looking for another girl, you might want to look at your life and yourself… not necessarily in therapy unless you are into that, but just self examination for example.  maybe think about what felt good and what felt bad in your family, try to see if you are doing any of the less than positive things in your own life that happened in your family home, just look at the whole thing.  Ask yourself did those girls have anything in common, ie do you have a type you are attracted to?  What did you like about them, what did you dislike?  I bet they all cheated, I get the feeling that at the least they all let you down in some way.  Maybe they are lacking loyalty, dedication, maturity???  Maybe you might be moving fast and might be intense for girls of such an age?  If you really want to get married for good reasons, and that’s who you are, have you considered looking in churches etc for girls who were raised to believe that after high school they should look to settle down and become wives, not necessarily go out and be free and run around, or even go to college?  These days, girls more and more are taught that they don’t have to depend on men and get married, that they can take care of themselves and not get married, they can go have fun like men have fun.  The statistics for females cheating is rivaling male cheating now.  I’m not saying that I’m for or against early marriage and any one type of mindset, but I was wondering how you might wind up finding someone that it would work with and be happy.  of course, you could put the whole serious relationship thing on the back burner yourself and realize you are really very young and you do have so much time.  A lot of men don’t even think of marriage these days until they are in their late 30’s, early 40’s, then they marry a woman young enough to still give birth without difficulty which is the way it was done a couple of centuries ago right up to the 1950’s!  It’s just some thoughts.  I always hated to see/ hear that you were heart broken, again.  You struck me as a good kid.

Gives You Hell – The All-American Rejects

Here’s hoping to start Music Monday, where I post a song’s lyrics that have been especially helpful the previous week.

This past week I got a chance to hear “Gives You Hell” by the All-American Rejects.  It fits in rather well with my life.  I like the feeling it gives, but possibly not for the same reasons.  My ex-wife has no idea what she has put me through, and the worst hell you could wish on her will not ever make up for what she did over and over.  It’s one of those songs you can scream to the top of your lungs.

Deep down, a part of me wishes she will one day experience what I did, to feel so crushed because someone’s love was never true.  I wish she is reminded constantly of her actions, and exactly how horrible a person she was to me, both before with her constant cheating, and after by lying to everyone after her constant infidelity tore us apart as if it was my fault.

Here’s this song.  I hope it gives you hell. 

I wake up every evening, with a big smile on my face
And it never feels out of place
And your still probably working at a 9 to 5 pace
I wonder how bad that tastes

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell

Now where’s your picket fence love
And where’s that shiny car,
And did it ever get you far
You’ve never seem so tense love
I’ve never seen you fall so hard,
Do you know where you are?

And truth be told I miss you
And truth be told I’m lying

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell

If you find a man that’s worth a damn and treats you well
Then he’s a fool, you’re just as well, hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell

Tomorrow you’ll be thinking to yourself
Where’d it all go wrong, the list goes on and on

And truth be told I miss you
And truth be told I’m lying

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell

If you find a man that’s worth a damn and treats you well
Then he’s a fool, you’re just as well, hope it gives you hell

Now you’ll never see, what you’ve done to me
You can take back your memories they’re no good to me
And here’s all your lies,
You can look me in the eyes
With that sad sad look that you wear so well

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
If you find a man that’s worth a damn and treats you well
Then he’s a fool, you’re just as well, hope it gives you hell
When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you hear this song and sing along, oh you’ll never tell
Then you’re the fool, I’m just as well
Hope it gives you hell
When you hear this song I hope that it will give you hell
And when you sing along I hope that it puts you through hell

The Maw – Twisted Pixel Games

I saw the preview of this delightful, colorful, and fun game, and had to download the demo.  The Maw follows the escape of two small prisoners from an alien ship.  The story is straightforward, with no dialogue.  Our hero, Frank, a blue alien life-form, escapes from captivity with a small purple blob, the game’s namesake, the Maw.  Containing the ability to eat nearly anything it comes into contact with, but not all that bright, the Maw is kept at Frank’s side with a handy plasma leash. After playing the first level, I was so addicted that I needed to purchase the rest of the game and keep playing.

The player plays as Frank, guiding the Maw around the beautifully created surroundings, letting the Maw eat various creatures to his heart’s content.  Every so often, the Maw grows just a touch bigger, and it happens so slightly, that you sometimes can’t tell if he really grew bigger from the last time it happens.  But he does get larger and larger, until towards the end of the game where he takes up nearly the whole screen.

Each level is a puzzle.  The main purpose is to simply devour as many creatures as you can which unlocks the exit.  In this manner, you can play through simply just  eating whatever you wish.  If, however, you explore the game fully, you find hidden secrets and monsters waiting for you to eat.  (Remember, the more you eat, the bigger the Maw gets!)

As the game progresses, you begin to learn some more advanced tactics.  You can use your leash for other things than leading the Maw around: Grabbing creatures, tossing around enemies, or throwing a creature that the Maw can’t reach (considering you can jump, and he can’t: my roommate’s kid said “Why can’t you just drag him up there?”) down to him for him to munch on.

The best part of the game is in the Maw’s transformations.  Certain creatures have special abilities, and when the Maw ingests them, his purplish blobby  self gathers some part of that power.   A lot of levels depend on this mechanic, as you work your way through the puzzles using different skills.  Skills vary from flame-throwing, laser-shooting, flying, shocking, and good ol’ fashioned run-you-down.

The game is graphically breathtaking.  Bright creatures look good against vivid backdrops of land and sky.  The amount of detail in its design puts it on a level with a full release Xbox game, not a simple Arcade download.  What really needs a strong kudos is the personality they worked into the Maw.  Capable only of varied grunting, they shaped his blobule and one eyeball into so many great emotions.   Imagine if a pet dog could smile, or be sad, or be frightened, and show it on their face, and that’s kind of the idea.  My favorite moment was when I tossed a creature down off a cliff to the Maw, waiting below.  He munched it up, ran in a little circle, and then glanced back up, waiting for more!  I really enjoyed interacting with this character!

And that’s the other wonderful part of the game:  although there is no spoken dialogue, and no written storyline, the game makes you care what happens to these two fugitives.  They work together, running from their enemies, exploring the unknown land they find themselves thrust upon.  In many games, this could turn very boring, very quick.  But in The Maw, the closeness you develop with these two carries you the whole way, all of your moments filled with the kinship of Frank and the Maw.  You work as a team, supporting one another, protecting one another.  Twisted Pixel did a wonderful job.

The music was wonderfully scored. Winifred Phillips, known for her work on God of War, composed the music for The Maw.  The music is unique, catchy, and stays in the background, as much of the environment as the vivid landscape.  I never found myself bored or tired of the music.  I sometimes forgot it was there, it was so integrated into the gameplay.

All in all, it is a fantastic game for all ages to enjoy.  It’s simple enough that the youngest players could get into it, but fun and enjoyable enough for even the older gamers.  The only gripe I had is that the game was disappointingly short, but for only 800 Microsoft Points ($10.00), it earned its value and then some.  I look forward to any expansions or DLC that may come in the future.

Please visit www.mawgame.com for more information.

Google Chrome: The Novelty is Wearing Off

I love Google.  They’re a great company.  I have Google Apps on my website, Google everything on my BlackBerry, and I hopped onto Google Chrome as soon as it came out. 

Knowing it was in the introductory phase, I dealt with certain facts of Chrome, such as the inability to use plug-ins or extensions.  Chrome is a fast little beast, and I enjoy it immensely.

But recently, I have had need to open Firefox once or twice during my work, and I see some of the extensions that I used to use that I no longer do.  I started getting frustrated with the lack of synchronization of bookmarks (Delicious), the inability to check out advanced details of CSS when working with web design (CSSViewer), and my popups. notifications and other various tweaks (FaviconizeTab, Google Reader Watcher, to name a couple.)

Google Chrome is nice and clean, but the bottom line is starting to dawn on me:  It is less functional, in its current form, than Firefox, and even Internet Explorer.  The amount of time I’m spending on bookmarks and dealing with CSS in Chrome is far outweighing the time I’m saving in the fast streamlined browsing experience I get from it. 

My opinion:  Google Chrome can’t compete unless it gets with the program.

And getting with the program it seems to be.  The net is abound with rumors and such that Chrome is getting extensions eventually.  According to Chromeplugins.org, and confirmed by Google, there seems to be a session dedicated to the development of extensions for the upcoming Google I/O Developer Conference, scheduled for May.

It’s just a few months away, but my patience is wearing thin.  I’m tempted to jump back to Firefox for now, and come revisit Chrome after the conference.  If extensions start getting coded.

The Last Remnant – Square Enix

I had heard quite a few mixed reviews concerning this game.  They seemed pretty good on the gameplay side of things (and, in my book, the opportunity to control up to 25 characters in battle, even if indirectly, simultaneously in an RPG is just astounding).   They were pretty bad on the graphics side of things.  And let me tell you, the graphics are awesome.  Awesome as hell.  Hellishly awesome.  They are so awesome. the Xbox can’t even handle them.  That’s how awesome they are.

Literally.  It’s a gripe of mine: the game uses the Unreal engine, which, is a great idea, but apparently Squeenix didn’t take enough time to work out the kinks.  It freezes and skips often, and so much is going on in battle that the character the screen is focusing on is not always drawn in time.  (Nothing is more annoying than when the engine cannot even draw the character on the screen so it can say it is “poisoned” and lose a few hit points.  Or rather, it says “poisoned”, shows the hit point damage, shows the location where the character SHOULD be, and then cuts away.)  Battles move very quickly and fluidly, but only stopped by characters who magically appear nearby when its their turn, but some characters further out are drawn who have nothing to do with the encounter.  Drives me nuts.

But, enough of that.  If you are a hardcore RPGer, like me, you get through the graphical glitches to play the game, which, is solid.  Like I said, you end up with the opportunity to indirectly control up to 25 characters at a time in battle.  The way it works is thus:

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D&D Adventures III

As the day continued, the crew of the Fortune had to stop their boat as they came to a large steel gate that crossed the length of the Black River.  Unable to get around it, the party had no choice but to set out to the two large towers on either side that would contain the mechanisms for drawing the gate open.

Charmer and Tiberius took it upon themselves to climb into one of the Fortune’s dinghies and row to the northern bank.  The self-proclaimed expert rogue carefully inspected the area for any traps laid by Alexia or her lunkies, but nothing was found.  Tiberius, however, found one that Charmer overlooked while opening the door.  Fortunately, Charmer had a potion to counteract the poison, so they ventured in.

The inside of the tower was covered in guano.  Looking up, razorbats were perched on the ceiling.  Tiberius and Charmer had to move quickly to fight them off.

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D&D Adventures II

The adventurers set off down the tributary of the Black River that no one travelled anymore, as it led to the gatormen’s lands.  The Fortune, a steamboat captained by the shifty Squint, and crewed by his companions, Anouar and Killian, brothers, made its way south under the employ of those selected by Dumas for this task.  Charmer and Arya continued on their initial journey, promising to help Dumas save the Cygnarian countryside from the threat the Witchfire brought, and, if possible, his niece Alexia as well.  A’ine, after learning the possibility of the Fey realm being threatened by the use of the Witchfire in conjunction with the machines at Cyriss’ temple, decided to accompany along.  Apart from Charmer’s attraction to danger (and the associated rewards) and Arya’s desire to do good for the people of Corvis, A’ine is determined to be the logical side of the group, forcing the party to think things through before jumping into action.  Her companion, Tiberius, the mysterious swordmage, still stands at her side, but for what purpose and reason, he has given none.

Rounding out the pish-posh collection of would-be heroes is the stowaway, Leto.  While technically a stowaway, Leto has essentially become part of the crew, due to Squint’s reluctance to toss the boy back to the streets.  Leto says he doesn’t get paid because he is a stowaway, but it is still a good life because he gets fed, clothed, and housed by the men on the boat.  Anouar said once he looks at the boy like a mascot.

During the first day of travel, Alexia sent the party a clear warning.  Knowing she would be followed, she set up a trap for passing boats.  When the Fortune tripped the trap, a number of undead were immediately summoned to the boat’s deck.  The party, together with the Fortune’s crew, fought the creatures off tooth and nail.  The danger so early reminded the adventurers that they were in for no easy picnic.  Knowing they had no choice but to protect the land, they plodded on.

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D&D Adventures I

It is a year later since Alexia ravaged the city with undead and took off with the Witchfire.  Neither her nor the evil wizard have been heard of since.  Alexia’s uncle, Father Dumas, prays day and night that she can be found and recovered safely.

At the end of the Battle of Longest Night, Alexia left the city with the Witchfire, and her mother’s body.  The heroes of that night had determined that her plan was to resurrect her mother, murdered ten years prior, but no one had heard from her since.  Certain that Alexia had no way to resurrect her herself without turning her into an undead monster, Dumas’ priests have kept their ears open for word of their travels.

Two of the Heroes of Longest Night stayed in Corvis, taking side jobs while assisting in the search for Alexia.  Charmer, an elvish rogue, never liked being too far away from the city and its money anyhow.  Arya, an eladrin witch, was more interested in the search for Alexia, but after the complete lack of clues, tended to stick with her companion Charmer, more often than not to keep him out of trouble.

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D&D Adventures: Prologue

So, I’ve started running a campaign again.  Actually, it is continued from one I ran about a year and a half ago.  I have a trilogy module I’m very fond of, “The Witchfire Trilogy,” that I use as the basis of all my adventures.  My idea is to go ahead and run the trilogy, modified for my purposes, and then allow everything to run from that city.

We’re starting on book two, since two of the players played the first one with me before.  Ogrecave.com says about the first book:

The adventure starts with the players getting sucked into the investigation of a series of grave robberies and eventually discovering a plot for revenge relating to nasty events of a decade earlier. The plot is nicely layered, with villains manipulating villains and NPCs driven by complex motivations. Most of these details will not be revealed until later in the trilogy, but it is clear from the start that players experiencing these adventures will be treated to some genuinely interesting twists and turns.

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My Very First Webcomic!

My very first webcomic, entitled “Guitar Hero Too Late,” has gone up on We’ve Been Framed.  I already have others in the works, and my fellow writers on the site are putting them up too.

This is a very big step for me, and we’re hoping to put some real effort into this new site to launch it!  So please, I beg you, go there, bookmark it, read the comics, and drop some comments that you were there!  (Not necessarily in that order.)

But of course, the *true* reason you’re going:  to see my webcomics!  Mwahaha.