A new post. I mean, another new new post.

Right, so, haven’t been here in a while. But, I just mentioned this blog on my facebook profile, so I have to put something relevant and current in here.

So, WHAM. Here it fuckin’ is.

Holy hell, what happened.

So, it appears as though I’ve been missing since my fist post about twitter. Why? Well, as it turns out, twitter is fantastic. It works simply (most of the time) and provides a vast tapestry of info on virtually any subject you choose in real time. It allows an intricate networking, and affords many interesting conversations. I could go on and on about it, but the point is this:

I have been distracted.

I will make an attempt at posting interesting things to this blog again soon, as interesting things become apparent and I’m not too lazy to come here and type them up.

So, for now, I’ll see you all in a few.

Tweeting – My forray into the World of Twitter

I started tweeting not but a day or two ago, and since Ed McMahon has been gracing the front of my blog for weeks now, i figured i may as well write this bite-sized first impression.

Ok, the basics:

What is Twitter?

Twitter is sort of like a social networking site on cocaine. Websites like Facebook and Myspace allow many people to communicate, but Twitter narrows down all communications to a 140 character limit. The point? Add people you like to your twitter, and get moment-by-moment tweets they send out about their lives and whats happening right now.

Subsequently, you can also tweet all you like. I tweet rather excessively, a common symptom of early tweeters I imagine.

You can tweet from your computer, or you can use a mobile device to send your tweets via text-message or application.

So, does it work?

In a word.. Yes. Signup is simple, and finding ways to embed your tweets is easy using their pre-designed flash and HTML tweet widgets.  Some websites include twitter widgets, like WordPress and Facebook. A twitter account might be the one thing missing from your blog, since not everything you notice or have to say is worth a multi-paragraph article.  Sometimes just a tweet is enough.

I am a little annoyed with some of Twitter.com’s flaws, however.  None are crippling, but they do seem trivial for such a popular website. Things like spam-followers who follow your account just so you will check their page and have a typical spam ad thrown at you in the form of a tweet. Now, none of the Spam followers have an impact on your main page or updates, but they do appear in your follower list and gunk it up. Also, the Following (who i’m following) list still has Weird Al Yankovic as my only subscription. Which, of course, is not true. Twitter claims they will be fixing this issue with page updates, i guess we’ll have to see.

Long story short:

Twitter is a great way to kill time, read interesting material from friends and figures you enjoy (i got some great advice from Trent Reznor the other day) and its simple. I highly recommend the experience.

I’ve reached 100 tweets, i’ll get back to you when i hit a higher value. We’ll see then what i think of twitter.

If you’d like to follow me on twitter, just click here -> Joe Schell on Twitter

Ed McMahon is Reported Dead Early Morning June 23rd

Ed McMahon has been reported as dead by MSNBC as of around 7am this morning. 

McMahon died just past midnight at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, according to agent Howard Bragman.

Health issues began in 2002 for the star when a water pipe burst in his home, causing a dangerous mold infestation. Ed’s dog was killed by the infection, and complications of that incident may have contributed to his admission to the hospital and his subsequent deterioration of health. A 2008 accident left him with a broken neck and a lawsuit with the hospital involved. His condition had been listed as serious for several months now.

Live Video Feed from NASA’s LCROSS Satellite Orbiting the Moon

The LCROSS launch (LCROSS and LRO launched Thursday, June 18 @ 5:32pm Eastern Time.) went without a hitch, and now the satellite is orbiting the moon. The final objective of this mission is to crash a rocket into the surface of the moon which will raise a debris cloud intended to be studied by a satellite trailing four minutes behind. (Projected Impact at the lunar South Pole: Oct 9, 11:30 UT, 7:30 EDT, 4:30 PDT) For now, you can check out the live steaming video from orbit, along with the telemetry animation.

Check out the live NASA streams here. You can also check out the official LCROSS Fact Sheet here.

There is no doubt that this represents a new generation of space exploration which is now accessible to the public in a very intimate way. I can’t wait for the Mars webcam or the live satellite feed from any number of flying missions.

In the mean time, enjoy the live video from the moon.

Details about LCROSS from its website:

Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS)

The Mission Objectives of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) include confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the Moon’s South Pole. The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon. LCROSS will excavate the permanently dark floor of one of the Moon’s polar craters with two heavy impactors in 2009 to test the theory that ancient ice lies buried there. The impact will eject material from the crater’s surface to create a plume that specialized instruments will be able to analyze for the presence of water (ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated materials.

LCROSS will also provide technologies and modular, reconfigurable subsystems that can be used to support future mission architectures.

Ames Research Center (ARC) is managing the mission, conducting mission operations, and has developed the payload instruments, while Northrop Grumman designed and built the spacecraft for this innovative mission. Ames mission scientists will spearhead the data analysis. This is a fast-paced, low-cost, mission that will leverage some existing NASA systems, Northrop-Grumman spacecraft expertise, and Ames’ Lunar Prospector experience.

Nazi Zombies Map 3 – Basic Shi No Numa Strategy

Shi No Numa represents a brand new style of Zombies strategy. With the random perk machines spawning at each hut, there is no guarantee that your favorite perk will be there when you arrive. So how do you develop a strategy that works for you? How can you start improving your score?

First, all of the basic Nazi Zombies strategies should be employed. The things to remember for any map:

1. Keep moving. Even a little bit of dancing around in place will keep you from dying when that first zombie swipe hits you. The second swipe will take you down, so keeping yourself mobile will more than likely avoid the second swipe.
2. Reload! Even if there is a zombie sauntering towards you, reload. Your gun only takes a few seconds to reload, and short of the heavy weapons you should be able to reload in less time than it takes for the undead to cross the room. With the trench gun, remember to reload after every shot if you can. The trench gun’s reload time gets longer the longer you wait, and simply popping in one shell after a shot will keep you alive for when you really need to unload all of your ammo quickly.
3. Communicate. Tell people what you’re up to, where you’re headed. While this held true in older maps, it is especially true in Shi No Numa; With four branches to explore, its very easy to end up far apart when you lose track of one another.
4. Save the last zombie. Every time you can, make sure you leave the last zombie and take a moment to look around. Now is also a good time to find or use the random weapons crate, open doors, and grab perks. In Shi No Numa, the last zombie(s) will become runners eventually, so this time period is not endless. Also, note that opening doors to the outside will spawn a few zombies into the swamp.
5. Go for headshots. It might seem difficult and frustrating if you aren’t used to going for the head, but later levels will require it as the zombies become stronger. Headshots also yield more points, faster kills, and hone your aim. I recommend using the bolt action rifle available in all of the starting rooms. It may seem tough, but they all pack a punch and may even kill a zombie with a shot to the neck or high chest. If you can master the bolt-action headshot, weapons like the Type 100 and the heavy machine guns will become headshot hoses. Always remember to shoot in short controlled bursts and not full-auto, 80% of your bullets will bury themselves in the wall.

Shi No Numa Specifics are not too different, but there are a few key things to remember and employ while surviving in the swamp.

Hell Hounds. They are the gate keepers, if you can’t survive them you’ll never get past round six. Here are two key tips for defending against the hounds.

1. Fire in short bursts like always, but adapt the technique for non-freakbag enemies. After a burst or two, the dog will be on you. Knife it, and keep on shooting. You’ll die quick if you start to reload while a dog is coming; they will get to you before you’re done.
2. Hunker down, then get moving. For the first few dogs, find a nice tight spot to defend your back. If you’re playing with people, make sure some of you are crouched or laying down. The dogs will have less erratic attacks when they have lower targets, and it makes for easier shooting. Once the dogs start to overwhelm your position, run! After a sprint, turn around and kill the dogs chasing you. You and the dogs move at a similar pace, so you should be able to take them out while backpedaling. The dogs are not so bad if you calmly and decisively deal with them. Make sure you and your buddies keep each other in your line of sight, saving a buddy from a dog will keep him alive to save you.

The next thing to deal with is deciding which hut to approach. All four huts have advantages and disadvantages, and you’ll need to explore each one to find the one that suits you best. Here is the time time to develop your strategy. I’ve seen a few different ones so far, and rather than explain a point-by-point strategy, i’m going to explain what you should consider while developing your own.

Check out each hut. You might not make it to all of them in a single session, but you should make a point to get to each one and scout it out. One of these huts will fit your playing style, and you should travel to it as your first destination in zombies. I recommend getting to the hut by level six or seven at the latest, but you can work with whatever time frame is good for you.

Learn a quick path to the next hut. Once you’re comfortable with your first hut, work on heading back to the center and opening a door to a new hut. Here, your strategy may shift. This hut may not be your favorite hut, but you’ve got to defend it for a single round most likely. Defend it, get your perk, and move back to the hut you want to defend, or on to the next hut. Its best to move to a new hut when the zombie stream is low but not down to just one zombie, you want to give yourself time to traverse the map. Repeat this step until you’ve developed a schedule and plan for moving

When the game gets tough, take risks. Every plan is great until the shit hits the fan. So, be prepared to improvise. This does not mean you should run around like a madman when you get overwhelmed, you need to cut a path and keep moving forward. If you find yourself close to surrounded, run and gun down zombies right in front of you. Once you get some distance, there will be a nice group of zombies behind you. Turn around, and lay into them. Or, head for a trap and activate it. The traps are extremely useful, and when used right they can make all the difference in later rounds.

One other thing i will mention briefly, but i don’t want to ruin the experience for anyone completely. Keep an eye out for radios, starting in the first room. You can turn them on by using the activation/action button, simply target the radio at close range and hold it down. Hint: There are a few in the first room, so keep an eye out. You’ll need to activate all of them.

Some say the radios hint at a full version of Nazi Zombies. Could treyarch pull that off? The 5th Blog explains how its possible.

Montanna – Bozeman City Application Requires Passwords and Logins for your Social Networking Accounts

“Please list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.,”

This excerpt is from the Bozeman City application for employment. The city requires you to hand over all of your passwords and login info for your social-networking websites, among other things. They reason that this info is necessary to “make sure the people that we hire have the highest moral character and are a good fit for the City” according to attorney Greg Sullivan.

Article 2, Section 10 of the Montana Constitution states “the right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest.”

Apparently, the state is interested in your moral fibre. I find it quite intriguing that the state apparently retains the knowledge of good and evil, and its poised to accurately judge your job application based on what you put in your “random things about me” note.

This application is absolutely ludicrous. There is no way on this earth i would hand out the passwords for my internet based endeavours. I may as well hand over my cell phone and house key while i’m at it. The details of my private life and relationships are the only things you’ll find in that set of data-sources, and unless you’re going to give me all of your passwords, there’s no way you’re getting in. Its bad enough that they cite judging your moral character as a legitimate reason to raid your life, but asking me to hand over info that gives access to sensitive “me” resources in order to do that is pushing it.

Just like the separation of church and state (which doesn’t exist, by the way) there should be a distinct separation between personal life and work. I do not work so that i can go to work. I don’t leave my job so i can continue to operate as though i were at work. And i certainly don’t have a Facebook account so that my job can monitor me, or even just so they can peek around and make sure they like the way i complete my “find out what kind of ____ you are” tests.

“I’m sorry Mr. Schell, but we must decline your application for employment. We are not currently hiring individuals who got “Unicorn” as their power animal”