So. First off, go buy “A Devil in the Details“, by one K.A. Stewart. Don’t ask, just do it. Good book.
Now here’s my little moment in the sun.

Yes, I am one among many. But it feels good to have helped someone get a book published, in a little way.

Let’s see…facebook seems to have to become an interesting form of spyware. It’s an ingenious idea, really – Convince people to reconnect with old friends, new friends, and play spiffy games. Then take all the information they give you and sell it. Ingenious, and if you see your users as “dumb fucks” who am I to argue with you? You’re the millionaire.

Jumping on the Habs bandwagon now. I admit it, I have a soft spot for the Canadiens. They gave us Roy.

Algebra is once again the most evil thing known to man. (Or me, but hey.) Seriously, I haven’t seen or dealt with this in 2 decades, and the last time I saw it, I asked myself “When am I going to use this in the real world?” – apparently, the answer is “When you go back to school, you silly bastard!”

So yes – The insanity of school continues. Sometimes I really wonder what the hell goes through the minds of these people. I don’t know that I could bomb any of these classes if I tried. I mean, honestly, I probably could if I just didn’t do any of the assignments, but sort of that? I seem to be pretty much coasting through with a B average.
Little insight into one of my classes of late. Basically, it was programming for people who’d never touched a computer before. They didn’t use a real programming language, just a fake-code that had all the expected structure, but absolutely no ability to compile or run on a computer.
It was like being handed Duplo blocks to play with because I wasn’t smart enough to not choke on a Lego.
Upcoming, I have a class on LAN setup/creation/maintenance, and Algebra. Algebra’s going to be a fun test of my long-term memory, since the last time I took Algebra was about 2 decades ago.

One of the more awesome things ever.
http://www.milehighhockey.com/2010/2/23/1322799/make-mine-duchene

I can’t really describe it, but it’s like…the word “class” comes to mind.

Okay, so I’m reading about the Johnson and Johnson heiress passing away – this in and of itself is a sad, somber moment. So how does the world find out about this?

A Twitter post from Tila Tequila. “Pray 4 my Wifey”? Really? This is how you tell people about a tragedy in your life. I know there’s a twitter character limit, but you can break this up into two posts. I suppose I should be thankful there wasn’t a LOL in there. While I can’t exactly blame Twitter for the fall of Western Civilization ™, shit like this doesn’t exactly fill me with hope. I mean, I spent a lot of time with my education. Maybe I’m aging, or maybe I just feel like some things should be treated with a little more gravitas than a twit on what you had for lunch.

Fine, I’m old.

So yes, we’re looking at a few things in Hockey World this week. Sweden
and Slovakia announced their olympic hockey teams, and I have to say
I’m a little surprised – Sweden went with Forsberg on the squad, which
may be a bit of an emotional choice. Admittedly, he’s one of the best
ever when he’s healthy, but the rub is he hasn’t been fully healthy for
years. I think the powers that be are banking on Foppa at 75% and
playing for pride. Admittedly, he’s going to be playing with a metric
ton of talent, which may be enough to get him another medal. Maybe.
They still have to go through Canada and Team USA. I can see Sweden
taking silver.
Meanwhile, Slovakia’s a little odder. I’m not sure what they did, but
the skipped over Marek Svatos for some “I never even heard of these
guys” players from the KHL, no current pro team, and just…what the
hell. Admittedly, Svatty’s not having the best year, but I’m thinking
Team Slovakia made an oops here.

And now I gaze into the crystal ball…
Gold: Canada. Home ice in the worlds’ biggest ice rink is not an easy thing to overcome.
Silver: USA / Sweden – Tough to choose here.
Bronze: Sweden / USA – Still tough.
4th: Russia
5th: Slovakia.

So it’s a bit of a slow day. Linus Torvalds’ birthday, and I’m working on a few other things today. Still, running through a bit of holiday madness. Christmas haul…good. Apparently I have a bit of “Must open NOW” when it comes to the awesome presents.  Awesome Presents were Awesome.

And, to make life even better, I’m going to the football game next Sunday.

Wow. It’s officially been a while since I hit this board up with
anything meaningful. A quick check of the sports shows that Denver’s
getting no respect in some places. (Yes, I’m looking at you Muir.)

Meanwhile, Slashdot went over the 100,000 story mark. Not sure how many
of those are dupes, but we’ll let them enjoy the moment.

And…yeah. Shopping. Gods help me, I’m getting ready to shop for the
Unshoppable Wonder Wife. I seriously wonder how I’ve managed it in the
past.

Okay, so…school keeps taking time away. Massively annoying, yes.

Football – pleasant surprise.
Hockey – pleasant surprise.
Work – Possible pleasant surprise.
School – slow start, but getting better.
Meanwhile, the rest of the universe could easily be described as cheerful.

You know…for people like me, hockey is one of the greatest sports in the world. It has to be in order to survive the people who run it. Click on this weapons-grade stupidity, and gaze upon what happens when you let a lawyer from the NBA run the NHL.

Yes, you read that right. You register. For a chance to win the ability to purchase tickets to the Winter Classic. How you get there is entirely up to you. Seriously. This is a goddamn league promotion. They’re apparently so deep into paying the bills for hockey teams in Arizona and Florida, they can’t spring for free tickets to a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Never mind airfare, hotel…seriously?

But wait, THAT’S NOT ALL! Even if you win the chance to purchase tickets, you’re still not guaranteed a ticket. That’s right, first come first served, and if you put in to purchase tickets after they’ve sold out…well, sucks to be you. But I’m sure you’ll feel better after realizing you won the chance to purchase tickets, which puts you…right in line with everyone else.

I want the genius who greenlighted this to explain what the fuck we’re actually getting out of this deal.