Sleeping Through Reality

Chat Roulette Drinking Game:

2010-03-01T16:18:00.000-08:00

How to play:

Go to your friends house with the largest TV/Computer w/webcam set up. Have case or two of lighter beer or several bottles of liquor on hand.

Rules:
1. Each time you are clicked past take a drink.

2. Each time you see a naked man's chest take a drink.

3. If you see a man's genitalia finish your drink.

4. If you see female genitalia chug a fresh beer or take a full shot.

5. If more than one set of genitalia multiply drink by that number.
(Note: one male genitalia defined as one penis and scrotum. One female genetalia defined as vagina and/or breasts.)

6. ?

Leave your rule number 6 in the comments below.

2009-09-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

Questionable Content: New comics every Monday through Friday

2009-04-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

This is brilliant, I wonder how long Jeph can keep this up? When I go
home for lunch I'm subscribing to them all!!

http://www.questionablecontent.net/twitter.php

Tom Dineen

To Wi-Fi or not to Wi-fi: Why the iPhone fails at Wireless networks

2009-04-05T18:26:00.001-07:00

Ok, so my title ma be a bit over dramatic, but maybe it will be dramatic enough to entice a few reads off of the interwebs. If so, my hope would be that whether or not its something Apple could fix, maybe its a issue some clever developer might.
While I'm sure there are many other things that others have gripes about, something that piquese me is the process of turning on and off Wi-Fi on the iPhone handset. It isn't all that difficult, but it just does not seem Apple-rific to me. It is an extremely important item as it directly a effects the usability and battery life of the handheld that to it's owners is an extension of their own being. Again, a bit over dramatic, but if your out and about and realize your phone is dead (or well on it's way there) because for the past several hours it's been tirelessly burning away battery life searching for the nearest available network, then you too know exactly what I am talking about.
In other mobile devices, there is often a physical switch on the unit that solves just this issue. In one position the internal wireless hardware is powered and the unit is using that extra power when you want it, and when in the off position it is dutifully saving that juice for when you do.
I really respect the hardware design for the iPhone and it's simplified lack of external buttons and toggles (save the lock/power, silent/ringer, volume and "Home Screen"). While I do accept that there is no hardware switch to power the Wi-Fi hardware on or off, the need to dig into one screen to access another screen and then swipe to power on/off your Wi-Fi just dosen't seem right for a product from Apple.
Well I don't want to be just another ranter out there complaining about something then not presenting a solution or two. I think one answer would be to code the Wi-Fi/Edge/3G icon in the top left corner as a button to switch on/off the Wi-Fi transmitter. Or, more likely, a clever app developer could look through the SDK (current and 3.0) and see if there is a way to write an application that would work like a one touch AppleScript in OS Xwould; to toggle between an On/off state. Then the iPhone OS can do it's magic in the background to connect to a known network or prompt to join a new one.
What do you think? Am I being to finiky? Am I knit picking about a non-issue or is this a valid complaint about an otherwise superior device when it comes to user operability? Maybe there is an answer out there I just haven't seen yet? Please comment below to let me know.

Tom Dineen

Yummy!!!!

2009-04-01T20:27:00.001-07:00

Mmmmm, that's some good pancake!

Mobile Test

2009-04-01T20:04:00.001-07:00

This is a test of mobile blogging.

Tom Dineen

Money Money MONEY!!!!

2006-07-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't follow the life of Thomas P. Dineen to closely (which of course is the majority of anyone), lately I have been temping at a financial institution. Today, I received a Fed Ex to my department, and in it, was a handfull of Euros. Now I had not seen in person or handled a Euro since they have come out, (my last and only truip thus faar to ireland was pre Euro, about 13 years ago) and I was rather surprised. I see where people get the whole "Monopoly Money" initial reaction to these colorful sheets of paper, but upon closer inspection, they were really rather beautiful peices of coin.
I'm also surprised by the foil strip, which I imagine is a higher tech version of the plastic thread in american denominations above $10, but what surprised me the most was the varying size the notes had depending on the monetary value, increasing with that value. I wonder how my user experiance would be withh such a varying array of colors and sizes. Would it be simpler or more difficult. I admit, the standardized green-backs that we American's cling to can be confusing, especially with the more alcohol one consumes, and though not often, I have wondered, did I give that guy a $20 and tell him to keep the change... or was it a $50?!?! I do imagine having not only a size differential as well as color (or colour if reading on the other side of the pond) could be beneficial in that situation, but considering how dark bars can be, and how desensatized one can become from that much imbibing, it's rather mute. Don't they also say everything looks bigger when your drunk? or is that when your a child?
Irregardless, it was an interesting chance to break the mundane today by experiancing something out of the norm, at least in my sheltered life, and I think I may go to the main branch tellers and do a withdrawl in Euros, in varying denominations, just so I can keep soething exotic in my poket. Howevr useless it may be in this town.

Presidential Dialects

2006-07-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

Well, So here I am again, reading MSNBC at work today, and I'm checking out a story on Bush and Merkel's response to the current shellings and attacks between Israel and Lebanon. at the end of the first of two pages there is a quote by Bush regarding a slight that Putin had made against the Vice President, and in this response, bush says: "It was quite humorous, not to diss my friend the Vice President." "Dis", yes it is in Websters Dictionary defined as:
v : treat, mention, or speak to rudely; "He insulted her with his rude remarks"; "the student who had betrayed his classmate was dissed by everyone" [syn: insult, affront](
Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University)

But how Stately is it of a President to use such a term when regarding a verbal assult from our Former Cold War enemy?

I don't know, I know I shouldn't expect much from the guy, but dangit, he is th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!!!!!!!!

(So was Bush the Child we Left Behind?)

"Imperial Courts"

2006-07-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

I read this Quote in a Newsweek article: ""It shows that the imperial judiciary thinks that, in addition to abortion, affirmative action and religion, war should be within its grasp," says John Yoo" and I had to take a double take. This John Yoo, A Berkeley law professor said the courts are becomming to "Imperial"? This in regards to a decision that the Supremem court made regarding how our president has overreached his power in the use of Military Tribunals in the name of fighting terrorism. The irony is causing me to make a scene at work!

Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk

2006-05-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the first of my books from Aunties Bookstore written by Chuck Palahniuk, and wow, what a read. This man's works are definitely over the edge, but in a way that forces you to not stop reading. The characters of this book, whom all are sinners in life but saints in their minds are quite engaging. This book is set up as a collection of stories, each told by their respective characters, and they twist your mind in such pleasantly tortureous ways, it's sheer delight mixed with complete repulsion. What I am taking away, ghost stories aren't just about the dead.

I rate this a must read.

Long time since last post, but received this and had to put it up...

2006-03-08T14:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, so for those of you who know, and for those who don't, I'm currently serving as the chair of the Spokane County Young Democrats. As such I am Also a member of the Executive Board of the Spokane County Democratic Central Committee. So, what does this mean? Well I aside form a lot of time out of my schedule, it also includes receiving a few interesting emails here and there from fellow members of the SCDCC Exec board. One regarding same sex equal rights just had to be posted, and as such, here it is... and for those of you who don't know me very well, I post this very much in the vein of sarcasm.

"From: Ian Graham

The subject of "biblical marriage" came up recently at home - and my
Father in law ( the presbiterian minister) sent me this to "clirify"
the true biblical position. He collected it a long time ago. It's an
oldie, but still worth reminding folks of.

Ian
-------------------------

Subject: Draft of a Constitutional Amendment to Defend Biblical Marriage

As certain politicians work diligently to prevent marriage between two
people of the same sex, others of us have been busy drafting a
Constitutional Amendment codifying all marriages entirely on biblical
principles. After all, God wouldn't want us to "pick and choose" which
of the Scriptures we elevate to civil law and which we choose to
ignore:

Draft of a Constitutional Amendment to Defend Biblical Marriage:

* Marriage in the United States of America shall consist of a union
between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5.)

* Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in
addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron
11:21)

* A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If
the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)

* Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen
24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30, 2Cor 6:14)

* Since marriage is for life, neither the US Constitution nor any state
law shall permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9-12)

* If a married man dies without children, his brother must marry the
widow. If the brother refuses to marry the widow, or deliberately does
not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise
punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen. 38:6-10; Deut
25:5-10)

* In lieu of marriage (if there are no acceptable men to be found), a
woman shall get her father drunk and have sex with him. (Gen 19:31-36)

I hope this helps to clarify the finer details of the Government's
righteous struggle against the infidels and heathens among us."

Now that's Retro SEXY!

2005-12-13T14:22:00.000-08:00

Alright, so this is one to file under geek factor, but interesting none the less.

This last weekend I was invited out to dinner with some good friends, and well the topic always at some point or another comes to techno speak. So blah blah blah, interesting fact here, interesting fact there, but here's where it gets pretty interesting.

One of my friends, Emily, is studying English for a Masters, and one of her classes relates to speech pathology, and the change in phonetics over time, or at least that's what I gathered from our conversation.

For those who are familiar with the geeky side, my buddy Kristopher brought up the term SCSI. It's an old data transfer interface, and back in the day (like 8-10 years ago) it was still one of the fastest connections for data transfer available. Nowadays though, it's gone mostly to the wayside, in most PC's of home and business use. Well today, SCSI is pronounced "scuzzy," but apparently, when the technology was new it was originally pronounced "sexy." oh how times have changed, and thus names of technology. To go from sexy to scuzzy in just so few years, is this the geriatric phase of SCSI's life?( No offense to those who have fetishes for those over 70 years old... But EWWW! And yeah, sexy does seem to actually turn to scuzzy unfortunately, even I one day will make the progression :()

Well, today at work, we received two Fujitsu multi-page scanners for taking all the hardcopy files in the office to digital (however I doubt the predictions of offices being paperless in any near future scenario).

Crazy thing is, the scanners, which must be relics, have only one interface. SCSI! Not one computer in the office has that old relic. So, here we are, tow scanners, rented at $1000 a pop, and useless! Here are some pics of the scanners and there "sexy" single (and unidirectional in design.. I think) ports.

The back of Scanner.
And the front.
And the Lonely SCSI ("sexy") ports.

Now Imagine Black Light Bubbles at a club!!!!

2005-11-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

OK, so if you ask me this, though extremely geeky, is DAMN COOL!!!! So, imagine, you go into a club, and when the lights are on, you walk through a plethora of multi colored bubbles blown from bubble machines, and as you get further in, where different blacklights color them differently as they move from one area to another... INSANE I TELL YOU!!!! Also, for educational purposes, in the class room or at home they would be great for teaching the colors of the rainbow, or just color wheels in general. Can you mix and match the colors? Create your own? Imagine the possibilities! learn more here!

The Difference between here and there...

2005-11-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

This is more an interesting observation to me than anything else, and it does make sense considering the regional business cultures, but when I was recently on my trip to San Francisco for a weekend with a friend, I was actually blown away by the overwhelming percentage of coffee shop internet surfers that were on Macs. I was just about the only one in the shop with a PC laptop. Conversely when I was in Seattle this last Wednesday for the Depeche Mode concert... that by the way rocked so hard I couldn't feel my legs afterwards... or maybe that is what all the alcohol I consumed. Back on subject, In the coffee shops I walked past in Seattle it was a clearly all PC laptop environment.
Considering the Businesses of each respective area, the Bay area having the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, and Redmond based Microsoft being in the northwest.
I guess I'm just more surprised at myself for being surprised by the largely regional differences in computer culture, but I'm not surprised at my jealousy that arose as I sat in a coffee shop across the street from the San Francisco Trolley Museum and saw a cute couple sit down at a table near me, and both pulled out thier respective Powerbook and started typing, sipping and talking away with each other... DAMN COUPLES!! :P

Conundrum...

2005-11-21T22:42:00.000-08:00

I've become a little confused in my own head lately, as with the recent events in Spokane involving the tragic murder/assault of a family on the south hill here in Spokane raises the question of what punishment is appropriate for the degree of the crime committed. What makes this more personal to me is the fact that I know someone closely involved in the issue, and for concern of privacy of the party, I wont go further down that road. Considering where my formidable years bear on this,I was raised in a catholic family, and yes I was even an alter boy (please no dirty priest jokes), and well, the Christian thing to do is not take the life of another, but to forgive, and find a punishment that is more along the lines of life imprisonment, despite the perps age. What troubles me though is the fact that I don't feel we should impose the death penalty for criminals, I am pro choice.
The only connection I can see in this is that I guess I don't feel that we as a society can impose our wills upon others, I respect life, and I respect the need of the state not to rule over the physical being of it's people. So Do I actually oppose abortion? I can't go as far as saying I am pro life to the extent of not allowing an abortion, but I guess I feel it is morally incorrect. I find that those who take the pro life cause to the extreme of threatening the lives at clinics such as Planned Parent to be the most hypocritical of all, and I understand that these individuals are a minority of that movement, but I also know that those employees whom work in clinics such as these do not promote the use of abortion, and instead work to council those with unexpected pregnancies to alternatives to that choice, and also work to promote means of preventing such situations.
I know, in and of myself, let alone anyone out there in general, can come anywhere near ending this debate. At this time, I feel that I am just as big of a hypocrite for feeling one way and acting another, but what I do know is it is not my place to inflict my will upon other people's lives/well being.

1 am and the mind spins with sobriety...

2005-11-19T01:00:00.000-08:00

Life is confounding, it's almost condemnable, but I can't quite go that far. We are all searching for something, but how do we really know when we have found it? I marvel at my friends who have found love, and I have yet to know what it truly is to have real love. To be completely honest, I have never had a relationship with anyone over three months. I find it rather pathetic, but that's my own little pity party. Some friends say its a blessing, some agree with how frustrating it is. I guess that's the real world for you, cynics and romantics. I hope to remain more the romantic. Well, as this is one of my first entries here, I'll try and leave it short, I don't want to give away to much of the story so soon.

Large, Medium, and Hey! Where's the Small?

2005-11-14T20:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, so Like any lonely bachelor lounging in his apartment, I wonder to myself just what should I do for dinner tonight, and damnit, well I feel like being a lazy bum, so I surf on over to the dominos web site to see the menu. Now first off, I have been eating pretty lousy lately, being broke and working on night shoots for a film lends to a not so healthy diet, but being back on a day schedule, so I want something a little healthy, and well damn, they have salads!, ok, so I'm getting a salad, and so I shouldn't get a large, I'm no pig or anything, so a small would probably work great... WTF! ONLY MEDIUM AND LARGE!?!?!?! talk about American Supersizing everything. What kind of gluttonous schmucks Have we become... Damn, Guess I'll just get the large.

Per Diem, the Daily Joke

2005-11-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

So, for those of you who don't know me, which I would assume would be most anyone who's reading this page, I am a aspiring mogul in the motion picture industry. On the way there, I'm starting at the beginning, a very sad place to start, but like any other industry, one must pay their dues. And at the bottom that means the "Do(s) this and Do(s)" that for very little if anything at all. Now many of my friends ask me why I'm staying in my home town, and not head to Seattle, or Portland, or more confusing to most L.A. Well as I have said to them, I'll say here, Sure I want to work there, but I WILL NEVER LIVE THERE!!! I lived there briefly as a child, and when my family moved away, it was so much for the better.

Now, as to relating this to the title of this post, working at the bottom, specifically as a PA(Production Assistant), and most recently as a trial by fire Key PA on the reshoot of a major motion picture that came to town, I learned the hard way just how badly per diem can burn. Contractually, as a PA, or Key PA, or any other kind of contract worker on a picture, you work until the day is done as dictated in a contract. Well, in my case I work until the work is done, not the day. Here's the punch line, this day can be anywhere from just a couple of hours, to, oh say, up to 18 or more.
With this the case, one can often find themselves technically working for much less than minimum wage when on the bottom of the rung. And for those interns working for free, well, school work and shooting, I have the utmost respect for them. As the Key PA, I am in charge of to other PA's, either paid or interned, and wow, what hard workers both are. I guess this post is more of a thanks to those that helped me out by working so hard on this project, and less of a rant about how rough it can be at the bottom, but all those I am working for now, and all those I hope to work with in the future, will have been through the same ordeal many times over, and as such I guess we all form a type of solidarity, whether we admit it or not. If we didn't love it, we wouldn't be together doing it.
So here's to the PA's, who I'm sure I'll be talking about in the near future, venting my frustrations, my pondering's, and my adulations, for this is truly like a dream, especially when you've been working more than 76 hours in 4 days.