G3

Mark Woodman recently introduced me to a new online RSS reader called News Alloy and after a few days of using it (and finding the config settings), it’s really grown on me. The only problem that I had with it (and with NewsGator when I was using that) was that I had to manually open up a browser and check for new items. There really isn’t a quick/easy notifier of new items.

So after a bit of “Wouldn’t it be cool” discussion, I decided to write a quick Yahoo! Widget simply named News Alloy Checker to handle this situation. Thanks a bunch to Mark for the widget’s nifty look:

At work I’m doing some work on a revamp of the web side of our product. One of the first things that came to mind when I was given this task was trying to banish all of the old school ways of making web pages, and trying to go with a more standards compliant way. Well, XHTML was kinda shot down for the first pass of the revamp, but I did manage to get buy-in on CSS. Mostly because it’s obviously way better and more extensible for broadstroke changes and “skinning”. Consequently, over the past few months I’ve been asked to introduce some CSS nooblets to the whole big idea. Recently I threw together a quick list of starters for getting into the mindset. I decided to post these not only as a reminder of some solid starting points, but also for archiving purposes. Here they are.

Don’t wait. Download it today.

I recently came across a “Songs of Faith” show on CMT as I was flipping through the channels. Now, if you know me, you know that I lived in Montgomery, AL for four years. And if you knew me before then, you know that I despised country music. I mean like, plug-my-ears and yell “LALALALALALA” kind of dislike. But, it turns out there’s not much to do as a single guy in Montgomery other than go to the bars/clubs … or go to church. And since church wasn’t really on my mind back then I chose to hang out where the girls were. (incidentally, teaching Erin line dancing is how we got started). So yeah, the only clubs worth going to were country line dancing ones.

After enough time there, I opened my mind to country music. I don’t think I’ve listened to any country music since we left Alabama on purpose. But this show I saw reminded me that I did have a few favorites that still stick with me. It also introduced me to a song I’d never heard, but what immediately became one of my country favorites. The song is called “Long Black Train” by Josh Turner.

Aside from how well he sings it, the lyrics really stuck to me. I mean, in a believer’s walk we all struggle with sin from time to time. Check it out:

There’s a long black train
Coming down the line
Feeding off the souls that are lost and cryin’
Rails of sin only evil remains
Watch out brother for that long Black Train

Look to the heavens
You can look to the skies
You can find redemption
staring back into your eyes
There is protection and there is peace the same
burnin’ your ticket for that Long Black Train

‘Cause there’s victory in the lord i say
Victory in the lord
Cling to the father and his holy name
and don’t go riding on that long Black Train

There’s an engineer on that long black train
making you wonder if the ride is worth the pain
He’s just a waitin on your heart to say
“Let me ride on that long black train.”

But you know there’s victory in The Lord I say
victory in The Lord
Cling to the father and His holy name
and dont go riding on that long Black Train

Well I can hear the whistle from a mile away
it sounds so good
but I must stay away
that train is a beauty makin’ everybody stare
but its only destination is the middle of nowhere

But you know theres victory in The Lord I say
victory in The Lord
Cling to the father and His holy name
and dont go riding on that long Black Train
I said cling to the father and His holy name
and don’t go ridin on that long black train

Ya, watch out brother for that long black train
that devil’s a drivin’ that long black train.

So, I remember the days when I used to go hunting with my dad and my uncle. It was fun times. We kinda had the whole “Men being men” thing going on there. And I loved the times that I got to be the one to aim and fire on our dinner.

My dad was a surprisingly adept hunter. He knew how to mask human smells from the deer naturally, where to sit, etc etc. But at least we were using some level of hunting skill to get our meal that day.

I saw this article about how technology is pushing the envelope in the hunting world and I continue to be amazed at the things we’re doing with technology. I mean, as a technological concept, “hunting” from the comfort of your living room is pretty interesting. But seriously, what’s the next step? Dare I ask. Or when you think of it … is this just another one of those concepts derived from our military? I mean, this is basically what we’re doing with finding and eliminating enemies from afar, right?

Crazy world we live in, that’s for sure.

Fun with physics…for the full article click here.

It appears that Battlefield 2 is delayed from March 1 to May or June. *sigh*. Check out the full article here.

Not all monkeys are nifty.

These screenshots from Black & White II just crack me up.

B&W2 has a really crappy website layout… but the game looks pretty amusing.

One of the great things about classic DOOM was the ability to play with your friends at a LAN party instead of against them. It also let you have a smaller group of people playing together and still have decent gameplay. (2 v 2 tournaments get lame pretty fast.)

Word has it that the upcoming S.W.A.T. 4 will enable co-operative play for certain scenarios. If the post-game reviews look good, this might be a fun one.

That’s going to be really hard to fit in the bathroom. For the full article and pictures click here