May 29, 2004
Radio Blog
I added a radio blog thing at the bottom of the page. Watcha think?
This is just Weird
Internet boy convicted of grooming his own killer.
May 24, 2004
Wordpress installed
I managed to get a copy of Wordpress installed, finally. The first install was taking between 20 - 45 seconds to respond to my mouse-clicks on the admin panel. So I reinstalled it, same thing. After installing it a third time and seeing no improvement, I downloaded the latest build and tried that one. And it seems to work. Woohoo. I'm not going to switch over just yet, too much work and I'm really lazy. ;) Just going to play around with it for awhile, see if I can get the hang of it.
Rounded Corners
These rounded corners aren't working! :(
Been trying to get these rounded corners working from this place. Took longer than I thought, but seems to be working ok now. I hope!
Nope apparently not. :(
Got it semi-working now, there's just that one pixel in the lower right hand corner I can't seem to fix. If you resize your browser, the box should resize itself as well. Seamlessly, even.
May 23, 2004
Brachypelma emilia molt
Took a look at my Brachypelma emilia yesterday and was shocked to find strips of skin torn off her abdomen! I think what happened was that she was about to molt and tried flicking some hairs for some reason. And ended up flicking off some of her skin! At first I panicked a little as there was a couple drops of liquid on the ground near her, making me think she might be bleeding. But it's usually best to leave them alone whenever possible, so I did. For awhile.
Checking in on her later, I saw her carapace had popped off, but she was still upright! She had laid down a mat of webbing and kind of half rolled onto it, but never made it all the way onto her back. I watched her for awhile, seeing if she could do the molt upright. After watching her struggle for awhile, I decided to roll her over myself to make her molt go a little easier. She could probably have managed the molt upright, but I didn't want to take any chances.
Her molt went well, she shed her old skin completely.
She looks good, like a brand new spider. I was watching her clean herself this morning and her fangs are like this weird pink-red colour. I guess it takes awhile for their fangs to completely darken and turn black. In a couple weeks I'll start feeding her again. And I'm sure my male emilia will mature sometime this year, then I can try breeding them. :D
I just realized why she was flicking hairs just before her molt. From here:
Just prior to ecdysis, the tarantula usually spins a sort of cradle to lie in while removing its skin. Species with urticating hair will line this cradle with the irritating barbs to prevent predators from having easy access to the spider during a very weakened moment. This webbing is embedded with urticating hair.
Doh, of course, I forgot all about that.
May 22, 2004
Shaw speed test
Just did a speed test at Shaw's [my isp] web page. Not bad, and I'm not even paying the extra $10 for their 5 meg service. Although I would get 1 meg upload speeds and more consistent speeds with that package. Oh well, this ain't so bad for now. I just bought my modem a few months ago. It would be kind of a drag to have to get a new one and dump this one right away.
Flames Girls Gone Wild
I really must run down to 17th Ave. the next time the Flames play. ;)
Toiling in the salt mines
Got a new account this week, it seems to be working out well. Wasn't sure if I would be able to handle their bank deposit as I already do a bunch of deposits every day and they all go out at about the same time, right before the banks close. But I managed to get them all done on time, yea for me.
The movie people called me on Wednesday, trying to get me to do background on some TV movie about Michael Jackson. They called me at 11:30am and wanted me for 1:30pm, just two hours notice! I had to decline, as I just got this new account and I didn't want to bail on them the very first week out. The talent agent chick was saying they had been doing a lot of westerns and period movies that my 'look' just wasn't suited for, but I'd be perfect for this 1980's era Michael Jackson flick! Eeek! Thanks, I guess. At least they still have my name in their files, maybe they'll give me a little more notice next time.
It rained cats and dogs on Thursday, I got soaked. Came home drained, slept many hours. It was supposed to rain even more yesterday, but it didn't and I was so happy. Though, my shoes were still soggy so I tramped around with wet feet all day. Ugh. Today it's raining again, but I don't have to go outside, haha. Not sure what I'm going to do, play some Tropico perhaps.
May 18, 2004
Flames/Sharks
Funny article about the Calgary/San jose playoff series. I have no idea what the next game is going to be like, they've both played great at times, and like total crap at other times. It's been a very strange series, with no team able to win at home through five games. The good news is that San Jose has home ice [dis]advantage. So we should win this one if it goes to game 7, but I hope that isn't necessary.
May 17, 2004
Virtual Worlds and Economies
Pretty interesting article on online worlds, like Everquest, and their economies. I especially like the homeless person passionately building her virtual mansion. She kept her dreams alive, if only virtually.
May 16, 2004
Brutal
I got around to checking out these brutally honest personals this morning. Funny, more variety than the usual personals where everybody is beautiful, rich and martial arts experts.
New Yorker article on Iraq prison abuses
Rather interesting article in The New Yorker detailing what led up to the Abu Ghraib debacle. Will this be enough to make heads roll further up the food chain? Err, probably not.
May 15, 2004
May 14, 2004
Movable Type 3.0: It's the New Coke baby!!!
I just had to contribute to the trackback floodage concerning MT 3.0's new pay model and licensing terms. The reaction has been overwhelmingly negative, to say the least. I'm a little irked, but the whole spectacle of a company making such ass of themselves has provided endless hours of entertainment. From hero to zero in one post. Not that I don't think they should be paid for their all their hard work on MT, it's just that their pricing and restrictions are totally out to lunch. I won't repeat all that's been said, just check out all the trackbacks for the sordid details.
May 10, 2004
Smile
It's Monday and I don't want to smile. [It's a Flash movie. I had to right click on it and choose 'play' to get it to work.]
May 08, 2004
Is Ralph Klein Losing His Mind?
A few days ago, our premier lost it because somebody dared asked him for a receipt. Never mind that this was before the all-party public accounts committee, where it's kind of their job to ask these kinds of questions. He ranted five times "Are you calling me a liar?" when all she did was ask if he'd be willing to provide a receipt.
And now he's saying Chile's Pinochet was 'forced' to mount coup because the former elected president of Chile nationalized the copper mines. This was in response to the opposition's suggestion that we consider a public auto insurance plan. Considering how badly the private auto insurance companies are gouging consumers, this isn't exactly a radical idea. He doesn't want to be like Fidel Castro, apparently. I think Ralph is in desperate need of some vacation time.
May 01, 2004
Aphonopelma seemanni molted
She molted while I was busy doing my taxes. Looks like she came through the experience just fine though.