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June 20th, 2009
02:12 pm - Awesome New iPhone Game
My friend, Greg Seidman, has released his first game for the iPhone. Circuits, is a cool game where you rotate parts on the board trying to form a circuit before time runs out. I've been testing the game for months and I really love it. You can find out more about Circuits here.
The game is addictive. I've played it for hours and that's saying something for Mr. A.D.D. Usually I put iPhone games down after a short time. But not Circuits. Give it a try, I'm sure you'll love it.
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Silence wonderful silence
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February 17th, 2009
03:39 pm - Baby's First Laugh [updated 2/18]
This is one of the coolest things ever. Eliza is just 4 1/2 months old now, and this is her first real belly laugh. I get choked up just thinking about it.
I made three files so you can download the one that's right for your net connect.
Eliza's First Laugh: Large (50 MB) / Medium (21 MB) / Mobile (11 MB - great for iPhone/iPod)
[Updated 2/18] - I've added a like to YouTube. Some people were having problems downloading the files and playing them. Most notably my Dad. What's the point of posting baby videos if our parents can't see them? Click here for the YouTube version of Eliza's First Laugh.
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Current Location: Home
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif) happy
Current Music: FAR - by George Hrab
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December 4th, 2008
09:38 am - Flickr Photo Meme
I usually don't respond when I'm tagged for a meme's. Time is scarce these days, but this one is pretty neat, so I'm making the time. Andy from the Andycast tagged Dani Cutler from the Truth Seekers podcast and Dani tagged me. The meme is you have to go to your 6th page of flickr photos, and blog about the 6th picture. Here's Andy's post. Here's Dani's post from her personal blog.
I have a ton of family only and friend only pictures on my Flickr feed. I chose to use the 6th picture on the 6th page that a non-friend/family person would see. If you go to the 6th photo on the 6th page and don't see this picture, then you're a friend or family member on Flickr, so you see pictures of mine that most people don't see.
Balticon has been an anchor in my life almost immediately from the time I moved to the D.C. area. I has been my favorite con for over 15 years and about a decade ago I started volunteering my time to help run the it. I started out helping CZ run computer gaming, and eventually took over the reigns as his personal life got more complex. When my interest in computer gaming waned I started the podcasting track and the Balticon Podcast.
This turns out to be one of the best things I've ever done. The podcasting track morphed into the new media track and now includes blogs, podcasts, and web comics. I've met and become friends with a huge creative community which enriches my life on a daily basis. I can't remember a time when I've had so many friends all over the world with whom I've been able to create new and better things.
The first year we had the podcasting track at Balticon, someone wanted to have blue crabs. I think it might be Mur Lafferty who made the initial suggestion. Since then a blue crab feast has become a regular event for the podcasters at Balticon.
For Balticon 42, Earl Newton is the one who really made it happen. He got everyone together, placed the order, wrangled the crabs, and found us a place to eat. The large paper bag is full of steamed spiced Maryland goodness.
Where do you ear blue crab? First you go to Maryland because they make the best. Ideally, blue crabs are eaten outside and with beer. A good crowd of friends always makes the meal that much sweeter.
How do you eat a blue crab? Then you get some plain brown paper for a table cloth and a big wooden mallet. You open up the body of the crab like a pop top soda can and get the mustard and good body meat. Then you take the mallet and smash the claws to get the delicious claw meat. If you're a pro, you can get a little meat from the legs. I am not, so I skip them.
Don't bother washing up until you've had your fill. Maryland blue crabs, eaten this way, are messy. Downright delectable, but very very messy.
Our yearly crab feast is always one of the high points for me. I expend so much energy getting the track coordinated and getting recordings for the Balticon Podcast, that it really matters to me that I get to sit down with my friends and peers and just enjoy the company and the meal.
Current Location: Virginia
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/tired.gif) tired
Current Music: Uncrowned
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December 3rd, 2008
10:58 am - Baby Announcement: More for Less
Martha and I had our first child, Eliza Rose, on Oct 1. Since then we've been sleep deprived and are suffering from Mommy Brain and Daddy Brain respectively. We both took extensive time off from work to be with baby, and are now back at work. And during that time we tried to keep up with things we would normally do around the house as well as baby specific etiquette things.
The most notable etiquette item that stuck in my mind was Thank You notes. The outpouring of kindness and generosity at the baby shower really blew me away. I am still in awe regarding the overwhelming turn out and things people sent to help little Eliza's get a good start on life. I spent weeks writing Thank You notes, signing them, and sending them out. Natalie Morris did a big batch for us, which really blew me away. She's been such a great help.
But after the Thank You notes went out, I got a letter from my Aunt Lenny. You need to know some things about my relationship with her. Where my mom was ADD, my aunt is OCD and as a child I could mess things up or break them the second my aunt's back was turned. Lenny and I have never really communicated directly, most of our conversation goes through third parties. So I was a little surprised and delighted to get a letter from her. Among the other things in the letter there was a simple note written on a post-it sized piece of paper. It said, "When you send out Birth Announcements make sure you include the people on this list..."
Up until this point I hadn't really considered the need to send out birth announcements. I sent out invites to the baby shower, posted the birth on Twitter, and emailed 1/2 the known universe. As you might expect, I'm now consumed with the idea of getting the baby announcements sent out. And so, having learned to avoid anything requiring extensive amounts of time to assemble I set about looking for printable birth announcements on the web.
Most of my original findings were in two classes, neither of which interested me. The first was online printing services which would pre-print your custom announcements. The second was large kits which included ribbons, bows, multiple pieces, colors, and types of papers, and therefore required a minute or two per announcement to assemble. Both of these choices were terribly expensive, ranging from $1.25 all the way up to $4 or $5 each. Since I have about 50 names on my list, and Martha probably has about the same, we were looking at a minimum of $125 for 100 invites which we still had to address. Then we had to add shipping to get them to us and postage to send them out. That would round the total to about $175 minimum.
After much searching and modifying my google search terms, I finally found a site that offers blank cards and envelopes in bulk. My Expression offers a small but nice selection of cards which can be ordered blank in bulk for less. We purchased 100 cards and envelopes for less than $60. That includes shipping. I'll try to post more when they arrive, but they look very nice. Hopefully the picture on the web will meet my expectations.
Once we have the cards we'll be able to print our own announcement text and then print the envelopes. I plan to include a photo of Eliza Rose in the announcement. Once Martha and I select a photo, I plan on using some of the "50 free photos" trial offers that you see from certain shutterbug websites. If I can find 2 such offers I can get 100 5x7 prints to put in with my 5.5 x 7.75 announcements.
I'd rather not pay someone $0.25 per envelope and $0.50 per card to have them print on blank stock, when I have printers at home which can do the same job. I'd rather take that money and put it in an IRA or 529 Education Savings Plan.
Even thought I'm going to be doing some of the work at home, I've limited myself to printing the cards, addressing the envelopes, stuffing the envelopes, and affixing stamps. As much as that sounds like a ton of work, most of it will be done by the old Epson printer I just picked up off FreeCycle. The end result will be a nice birth announcement at less than half the cost with very little assembly work. That's a win-win situation to me.
Current Location: Virginia
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif) cold
Current Music: MoShang
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September 4th, 2008
03:55 pm - Protect Medical Services from Religious Objectors
I thought you may be interested in this Action Alert from the Secular Coalition for America: http://action.secular.org/t/5484/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25413
The Department of Health and Human Services have submitted proposed regulations that would allow anyone working or volunteering in any medical or research facility which receives any federal funding to refuse to serve patients or conduct research.
The current proposal leaves out any provision to protect patients (e.g. requiring that someone else serve them – even in emergency situations.) The proposal is so broad that it could allow individuals to interfere with medical services in a number of areas.
I believe that medical professionals (whether they are doctors, pharmacists, technicians, or EMTs) are employed in the field of medicine, not spirituality. They have the right to consider their own religious beliefs in determining what medical decisions they make for their own care, but their personal religion should never infringe on the right of a patient to seek products or procedures that they have a legal right to obtain.
TAKE ACTION NOW
Please tell the HHS that these proposed regulations to allow a medical professional to object to performing tasks that they oppose for religious reasons will mean denying a patient the right to medically sound information, products, and procedures.
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September 3rd, 2008
12:27 pm - Mission Style Entertainment Center for Sale - $150 obo - Some Scuffs
I have a Bassett Mission Style entertainment center in good condition with some scuffs. The piece measures 62″ (H) x 48.5″ (W) x 25.25″ (D). We were able to get our 36″ tube TV in it but we had to take the doors off. That particular TV has built-in speakers on each side which add an extra 8″ of width to a normal 36″ TV. The TV that used to go in it measures 29″ (H) x 38″ (W) x 27″ (D).
It has a surge suppresser built-in with 3 outlets and protection for a cable TV cable. It has a cabinet below with two pull out drawers. The drawers had plastic inserts for VCR tapes which we removed and will include.
The unit is in good shape, but does have some scratches and scrapes. If you’re handy with furniture touch-up markers you can make it look like new. There is nothing wrong with it structurally. The original price on it was around $1000.
Pictures can be found on my blog: pfischer.com
Contact me through comments on this post, twitter, or email (see contacts page).
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August 25th, 2008
08:56 am - Playing for Keeps book launch today
Mur Lafferty's fantastic super hero novel, Playing for Keeps launched today.
Playing for Keeps on Amazon
Mur is an author, blogger, and podcaster who has provided thousands of hours of enjoyment to us all. Today she needs your help. She's making a run on Amazon.com and asks that you purchase the book now. So stop reading this blog post and click on the link and buy the book.
Now.
Please.
Do it for the Mur.
Give something back to she who has given so much for us.
Now.
I mean it.
Click on the link now. Buy the book. Help Mur show big publishing what we can do as a community.
-Paul
Current Location: home
Current Mood: artistic
Current Music: Playing for Keeps by Beatnick Turtle
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April 23rd, 2008
04:09 pm - Sekret Projekt Kingfish - We're Having A Baby!
Sometime in early October, Martha and I will be adding a very small person to our household. That's right--we're pregnant. Not quite in the traditional way, but pregnant none the less. We've been working on Sekret Projekt Kingfisher for a long time, and all our hard work is finally coming to fruition.
It's been a long journey of ups and downs filled with doctor's visits, medicine, surgery, grief, and hope. Suffice it to say that we got a lot of help along the way and are still receiving it daily. We'll post more about our surrogacy journey later. For now we present you with a very early portrait of our little human. We aren't even sure what sex he/she is but healthy is all that matters.
Current Location: A Series of Tubes
Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Music: Ask DNA - Yokko Kanno
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April 10th, 2008
09:11 pm - Little Blue Herons from St. John’s River Florida
I just posted the first pictures from our trip to the St. John's river in Florida.
You can see them at PFischer.com
I hope you enjoy it.
-Paul
Current Location: DeBary, FL
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February 25th, 2008
09:18 pm - Test from new XJournal
Testing
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: headdesk
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January 14th, 2008
09:24 pm - Buy a Piece of Us - Macs and Stuff for Sale on eBay
Greetings All,
We have a pile of stuff we just put on eBay. Please help us out by taking a look, maybe we have something you need, and you know it's coming from someone you can trust.
The items for sale are:
- Apple iMac 20" G5 1.8 GHz
- Apple iBook 14" G4 1.42 GHz
- Apple Powerbook15" G4 1.5 GHz
- Apple 1GB DDR2 SDRAM
- Apple 2x 1GB DDR2 SDRAM
- Apple 2x 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM
- Radio Systems TI-101 Telphone Audio Interface - great for podcast interview or a conferencing setup
Thanks for your interest. Email us through eBay if you have questions.
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: geeky
Current Music: MoShang - Chill Dynasty
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January 6th, 2008
02:00 pm - Wicked Cool Bird Picture
Ravyn sent me this one. I love it.
Link
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November 14th, 2007
04:39 pm - OLPC - G1G1
Watch the video! I got mine!
Just $400 buys you two, one to keep, one to give. Plus, you get a year of WiFi from TMobile!
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November 13th, 2007
02:30 pm - Canon EOS Digital Rebel SLR + Lens and Extras for Sale
I have just put my old Canon EOS Digital Rebel SLR camera up for sale on eBay. It works great. I have posted some pictures on Flickr that my sister-in-law took with it last weekend. If you're in the market for a digital SLR from someone you know and trust, look no further.
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Old Lady with a Hammer
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November 12th, 2007
08:06 pm - The Monster Under the Bed
Another great video from your friends at the ADD Cast.
When night falls, the monster under the bed comes out to eat your toes. But what could possibly cause that monster to want to change jobs? Who is the real monster under the bed?
Watch it on Lulu.tv!
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Silence
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November 5th, 2007
09:08 am - Martha and Paul Guest Host Popular Internet Video Show
Lulu TV's hit Internet show, This Day in Alternate History (TDAH pronounced Ta-Dah!), was guest hosted on Sunday Nov 4 by your favorite podcast hosts Paul Fischer and Martha Holloway.
In this episode of TDAH, we report from the World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama, Japan. If you're a Godzilla fan, you can't afford to miss this one. Great Godzilla questions will be answered, such as what kind of women he like, his favorite recreation, why he really stomps Tokyo, and who is true love is.
Watch it here!
TDAH is up for The Best Video Blog of 2007. Please vote to help our friends at TDAH continue their rise to fame and fortune.
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November 1st, 2007
01:38 pm - NaDruWriNi Podcast Nov 2 2007
In solidarity with our NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) peers, we will be podcasting at 9pm on Friday Nov 2, 2007. This is for the ADDCast.
We are twisted and incapable of being serious about it. We'll be bringing on people who are drunk and attempting to write anything. This pandemonium will take place over a Skype call, through the magic of the Interweb.
Contact Paul at addcast@gmail.com to sign up for the event. Put "NaDruWriNi" (National Drunk Writing Night) in the subject line.
Current Location: Work
Current Mood: artistic
Current Music: I Feel Fantastic, by Jonathan Coulton
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September 8th, 2007
10:34 pm - Saturday - Best Yet
Saturday was the best day yet. We logged a few new species, but more importantly the sun came out. The sun has been pissing me off, refusing to shine through the Typhoon. Today saw an end to that. The mountain top crater lake was still fogged in, but the rest of the day was bright and sunny. We got tons of bird pics and got a good long look at a Japanese fox.
This evening we had another monster dinner. Great food and lots of it. We've moved further north and we can see Russian territory from here. We're in Rausu, pronounced Rause, like Grouse. After dinner, Chris took Nikos and me to a Fish Owl watch and we saw three Fish Owls. Mom, Dad, and Baby.
The owls are pretty awesome, and I'm really glad I tore the house apart before leaving to find my 20 year old flash. It's completely manual and doesn't talk to my camera, but it did the job. I got some great owl pictures. I think we're going back tomorrow night for more. But tomorrow during the day we're taking an afternoon cruise up the coast to see brown bears. I begged off on a whale watching tour we found out about at the owl watch. They couldn't tell me what types of whales they were seeing, and photographing whale tales isn't as interesting as trying to catch a Humpback breach or Spinner Dolphins launch themselves out of the water.
Each day bring more treasures to remember. Our guide, Chris, has been working really hard to keep us motivated and moving to find new species. He's doing a great job. He's also making sure the hotels know about my food problems and they've been great at accommodating me.
Broke radio silence today for a little while. Martha was doing the wash, and I got online to email the Worldcon folks about getting ahold of video from the Hugo Awards. We have no Internet and no cell coverage. Hopefully it will all work out before we leave. I also used the cell to call Marc, Dad, and Julie. Dad's OK. Marc told us about someone trying to break in to our house. They broke a window, but didn't get in. No more jokes about breaking into my house to podcast. Julie needed a steel pin in her foot. She's recovering at our house where she can have access to a bed, bath, and laundry all on one level. Hopefully this will dissuade anyone from trying to rob us again. Thanks to our neighbor our stuff is safe.
Monday we'll be in Tokyo and able to get online again. I hope wherever you are, you're enjoying life too.
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02:08 pm - Typhoon Too Soon
Looks like all the rain is a result of a Typhoon hitting Japan. We're catching the northern most part of it, and it's heading east, away from major population centers. Tomorrow looks like a rain day. Our plan is to find a cafe with bird feeders and try to get some pictures of some woodpeckers coming in for feeding. Failing that, we'll look for an Internet cafe bolted on to a coin-op laundry.
We're looking at 2-3 days of rain. That's most of the rest of our bird watching tour. I could get so many sympathy points if I could get this post online before it was all over. Such is my lot in life. I probably won't be able to post this until we're done bird watching and in Kyoto or Tokyo touring.
Poor me.
Current Music: Japanese Engineering Competition on TV
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02:06 pm - Any Day Birding is Better Than a Day at Work
Just got back from our first full day of bird watching in Hokkaido. We went out before dawn and walked around a small overlook. We're in the area of the east Hokkaido marshes and there are Japanese Red Crowned Cranes here. The pre-breakfast walk was overcast and grey with just a little bit of drizzle falling from the sky.
Breakfast at the "Woody Hotel & Restaurant" (the real name, I kid you not) was excellent as expected. Dinner set the pace last night with 6 courses that made me feel like a judge on Iron Chef. Each course was better than the next and they went out of their way to make certain nothing they were serving me would cause me problems. If you haven't been following my blog the only things I can eat are rice, raw fish, and cardboard. Just kidding, but I do have problems with dairy, wheat, soy, onions, and peppers. The first course was a sashimi of Halibut. We also had salad and oysters (raw for me, baked for everyone else). They even made a soup with a poached tomato and a minced chicken meatball for me. Martha grabbed that and I asked for raw oysters. Martha did eat her baked oyster, her first. I'm really proud of her. Then a grilled fish course, which was perfectly cooked. Then a beef stew which fell apart and tasted awesome. Finally dessert, home made soft serve ice cream made with local Hokkaido milk. I got a very nice fruit plate.
After breakfast we started our tour of the marshes in earnest. Chris is our driver, tour leader, and guide. He did an excellent job bringing us to where the birds were. This is major league cool, and much less stress than trying to drive and find our way like we did in Ireland. They drive on the "wrong" side of the road here, so we would have been dangerous to ourselves and others.
We drove from spot to spot and saw some great birds. The best part was actually finding some Cranes. The JRC Cranes are mostly gone now, or living in the marsh, which has 5 foot tall plants hiding them. Still we managed to see 8-10 JRCCs in various locations. For me, the pictures really tell the story. We saw lots of Carrion and Thick Billed Crows, Black Kites, and Stone Chats. We also saw lots of woodpeckers and various types of tits. Yes, tits, that's their name; get your mind out of the gutter.
The downer for me was the cloudy sky. The clouds were thick although they only occasionally dropped rain on us. The real problem was lack of light. The Beast eats light like a Hummer drinks gasoline. There was just never enough light, especially when I was trying to shoot woodpeckers or passerines in flight. Still, any day birding is better than a day at work. Hey, I wouldn't be me if I didn't kvetch a little.
My photos are sunk to my iPod. Now that I have backups it's time to see what I got and delete the ones I don't want.
Current Music: Jazz coming from the restaurant below
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