tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19586850707813343862012-12-11T13:16:09.650-08:00Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.comBlogger200125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-86004204650876698992012-05-22T16:54:00.001-07:002012-05-22T16:54:48.153-07:00

Capitalism works best when good wages are paid to individuals in exchange for tangible labor. I don't doubt the intangibility of my own labor. Robots and computer software interferes far too greatly with the means of production. Children raised primarily by at one or more competent parents have the best chance of success later in life. A parent doesn't need to be a biological mother or father.

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-74286877803993794812012-05-06T09:56:00.000-07:002012-05-06T09:56:10.411-07:00

First... recognition of something I think is awesome. A friend of mine who works here has created the new website design for Linux.org. Second... I have added to my life's experiences this week! On Tuesday morning slightly before 8am I fractured my triquetrium (which is one of the eight carpal bones in the wrist). Luckily, this happened in my non-dominant left wrist. Additionally, I got

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-23107720966265968602012-04-27T07:31:00.000-07:002012-04-27T07:31:00.702-07:00

How many people honestly call customer service and are satisfied with the automated directory assistant? If I thought that my question could be answered easily, I'd check a website. Otherwise, I'll play along with the automated directory until they inevitably give me a set of choices that don't sound anything like what I want and then I start pressing the '0' key... which puts me on hold for a

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-26077837968090996232012-04-10T17:01:00.002-07:002012-04-10T17:01:23.927-07:00

(I wrote this yesterday. It's still relevant.) PAX was great. I am pretty exhausted. The keynote speaker, Jordan Mechner who "invented" the original Prince of Persia, did not have as great of a stage presence as I've seen from other presenters. The Expo hall was a bit better organized than last year -- seems like they made more room in the aisles for people to walk. We ran into a few

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-75587501392845382002012-03-27T16:43:00.000-07:002012-03-27T16:43:27.623-07:00

I got tuned-up, new brakes, and a set of fenders for my bike about a month ago. I got a water-proof jacket, wind-proof gloves, and a balaclava for the elements. Approx. cost of upgrades: $500. Week 1: T'd to Landry's on Mon Mar 5, then biked home. Biked on Tues Mar 6. Biked to work on Thurs Mar 8. Biked home on Fri Mar 9. Approx. 45 miles Week 2 and 3: Biked Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri. Approx.

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-43055103683996784602012-01-22T15:57:00.000-08:002012-01-29T17:09:59.807-08:00

This post is to describe a variation of chess that can be played by two people. As you undoubtedly know, chess is a fun, turn-based game, but it's a perfect information game which means to win you absolutely need to best your opponent intellectually. Suffice it to say, this aspect of chess makes it a big turn-off for most people. Therefore, this might be considered an improvement because an

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-15681914468310335402012-01-21T14:52:00.000-08:002012-01-21T14:52:21.352-08:00

My wife and I picked up her brand new bike today. It's a 2012 Woman's Felt Cafe 7 in the "lemongrass" color. As a bonus, we ordered it with a basket on the front and sexy white fenders for riding in the rain. It turned out real nice. It also comes standard with a "coffee cup holder" which is pretty awesome. And it has a "kick-stand" which is incredibly plebeian and much less awesome than my

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-38491013260216396332011-12-13T19:31:00.000-08:002011-12-13T19:31:56.067-08:00

This post is a listing of games I have bought through a nifty program called Humble Bundle. The Humble Bundles are usually 5-7 small games that are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Humble Bundle #1 - Bought on 5/11/2010 World of Goo - 2D Boy Aquaria - Bit Blot Gish - Cryptic Sea Lugaru HD - Wolfire Games Penumbra - Frictional Games Samorost 2 - Amanita Design secret link Humble Bundle #

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-26913676661257914062011-11-27T16:41:00.001-08:002011-12-13T18:57:11.207-08:00

[written on 11/27, posted on 12/13, silly me] Jen and I have our Christmas tree! We will decorate it tomorrow. We also got pretty white snowflake stockings and a matching tree skirt. For the second year in a row we've selected a short five-foot-tall tree. It looks nice. In other news, Kitty joined us at mother's house for Thanksgiving. Strangely, he *never* left her living room... despite

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-60681178053146526662011-11-17T18:19:00.001-08:002011-11-17T18:19:40.556-08:00

Jen just left for a midnight showing of some werewolf movie. Weird. Right?

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-69191624251595122812011-11-03T13:58:00.000-07:002011-11-03T13:58:56.390-07:00

I think a fun activity with little ones would be to find an interesting Wikipedia article everyday and talk with them about it.  You could even constrain the search by only choosing articles that were linked from the article from the previous day.  I think this would be much more educational and intellectually stimulating than (for instance) reading the cover story on the daily paper.  As a child

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-9002550883576082152011-11-01T05:24:00.000-07:002011-11-01T07:37:58.559-07:00

Hundreds of thousands in the Northeastern US are powerless. No lights. No hot water. No heat. Just flashlights, cold showers, and blankets. I - however - am not one of them. I'm blessed by living in a new building where nature can't hold me to its wraith. I don't even shovel snow when it comes since we have somebody who handles that for us. In some ways, this is a charmed life. In other

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-58604727354639926302011-10-13T19:31:00.000-07:002011-10-13T19:32:28.323-07:00

Imageless Season 1 archive is complete. Season 2 is about to kick-off soon. Lots of inspiration has already been lined up.

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-16424511651832431832011-09-14T17:29:00.000-07:002011-09-14T17:29:31.926-07:00

I want to get into the education field, though I fear the pay wouldn't sustain my costs of living.  I think I'd be a good educator.  I think I'd be really good at developing a curriculum and then iterating and improving upon it year after year.  I think there are several subjects ranging from Engineering to Writing that I could do (the secret to engineering is to always be looking for a better

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-75647057719741506402011-09-07T19:08:00.000-07:002011-09-07T19:10:02.493-07:00

My favorite season is here again. Football and cool breezes and colored leaves. Football means drinking beers. Cool breezes mean layered shirts. And colored leaves are just pretty. Good times. Imageless is going to come back in a month or two for "Season 2". I've got a bunch of images lined up, and just need to bang out a batch of stories. The main thing holding me up is that I'm

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-31056682194428333592011-08-10T18:19:00.000-07:002011-08-10T18:19:51.074-07:00

Jen and I recently got ourselves some shiny new furniture. One purchase was a nice, new coffee table. The key feature of this table is that it's open underneath (no extra shelf or drawers). This was important for us because we reasoned we could sit on the ground at the table and play Magic: The Gathering. It was actually Jen who pointed out this insight. I love my wife, and I really like our

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-48128997095672545782011-08-08T15:24:00.001-07:002011-08-10T18:40:06.126-07:00

There is a saying that goes something like, "Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler". This translates to many different mediums if you substitute specific things for "it" or various types of measurements with "simple". You could say, "Reduce government spending as much as possible, but not so much as to cause measurable harm". The thing is that much government spending is

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-21685193047527228652011-08-02T04:04:00.001-07:002011-08-10T18:20:53.262-07:00

Sometimes it's appropriate to think of Congress as a group of silly circus/zoo/aquarium performers. They do a trick and get a fish. In this case, though, the "trick" was pandering to their campaign contributors and the fish was the cash they need to get re-elected. Unfortunately, seals put on a more interesting show than the Congressmen. To make the analogy work better, seals would have to

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-20983733780601332562011-07-25T15:31:00.001-07:002011-08-10T19:05:45.639-07:00

I got unique presents for groomsmen, younger brothers, and dads at my wedding. These people helped out and generally serve as individuals who I can depend on in a crunch. Unique needs clarification. I didn't by cigar cases with their initials and a date engraved on it. I think that's closer to the opposite of unique to the point of being cliché. Actually, unique means 'not typical for the

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-67132609333687972302011-07-12T15:16:00.001-07:002011-07-12T15:16:07.302-07:00

Hypothetically, how different would it be for cars in urban areas if pedestrians could throw hammers at vehicles driven by obnoxious assholes. The analogy where cars are like stompy Mario and pedestrians are like poor Goombas is somewhat fitting. You bet your bottom dollar that Mario acts more safely around Hammer Bros. than when encountering a pack of harmless Goombas. If violence was

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-12360266214474844042011-07-11T15:20:00.001-07:002011-07-11T15:20:16.091-07:00

My wedding was a few days ago on Sunday, July 3rd. Things went very well. All of our planning paid off. I can't shake the quote from The Office where Andrew Bernard says, "Every little boy dreams of his fairytale wedding." In any case, it was a good time and now Jen's family is forever joined with mine. Woot!Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-44149438410788647932011-06-29T18:25:00.001-07:002011-06-29T18:25:01.182-07:00

And I think to myself, "That surface is portalable".Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-82120063420653892482011-06-18T10:20:00.001-07:002011-06-18T10:20:03.223-07:00

I'm writing this hear instead of somewhere more appropriate because I am on my phone and lazy. On a day in the future, there will be a practice session for my wedding. R, (2) J, M, (4) T, J, (6) S, B, (8) M, P, (10) B, G, (12) M, C, (14) Y, S, and (17) J (w/ R, S (19), A, A (21)). The current incarnation of the plan is to convene at something and a half o'clock and be done with the practice

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-80638587655100425442011-06-17T15:31:00.001-07:002011-06-17T15:31:04.126-07:00

I think repeatable patterns are a good thing. Benefits of specialization mixed with the ability to take any amount of creativity out of the equation (or at least minimize it). There is something to be said for having a small list of options that are dictated from things that are familar. An explosion of options, on the other hand, is suffocating. Too many choices of things that are foreign

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958685070781334386.post-2755579587447536322011-06-14T04:47:00.001-07:002011-06-14T04:47:50.399-07:00

The Massachusetts Bay Transit Association is actively trying to desencitize its passengers to the placement of gigantic packages with signs that says "It's never this obvious". This is the modern day equivalent of a Trojan Horse except with less effort for the attackers and a comforting announcement that amounts to "This is not a bomb". Word to the wise... a giant box with a sign that reads

Rob Van Dykhttps://plus.google.com/117160442474222001988noreply@blogger.com0