Kris Browne's Thoughts

Anyone who doesn't want to play can take their ball and go home

2010-03-09T06:17:00.000-06:00

I'd like to just make a quick note to Cory D and other FSF, EFF, GPL, etc zealots who don't seem to understand how the market really works.

Apple is succeeding with the App Store and the hardware that carries it, not in spite of the controls, but because of them. The overall quality of software on the App Store rises for those controls, and there has been far fewer cases of malware slipping past the approval process than the Android Marketplace (Android users, at least feel better that any malware written for that platform probably won't run on every device anyways). Both Android and Palm marketplaces have had to block or pull apps to make their partner networks happy too, for the record, so don't feel like Apple is somehow alone in saying no to certain things. That the others have ways to install apps outside their respective marketplaces is not really relevant: Most users don't know how to, and they take their devices operation into their own hands when they do.

Any developer who doesn't want to follow the EULA still has options. They can always just, you know, not develop for the iPhone – If the marketplace just isn't right for your special needs, find another one, let me know how that works out.... I'm sure the Palm and Android markets will be happy to have you. You can still develop as a web application, without any checks to the content you're offering. Hey, then you can get all the Palm and Android users too.

Last item. Don't tell the tech journalists out there, but you can still get porn on the iPhone.... There's this amazing app called Safari! Seriously.... We all know Apple was going to be tar-and-feathered the first time Fred Thompson or some other "save our children" lawyer got wind of a nipple on the app store. By preempting the discussion Apple is just protecting themselves from the media storm from that, for it would be worse. Ask the folks who make GTA about such things.... If you want to pick on anyone, pick on the folks who attack platform providers for their content, not the platform providers who are just trying to stay in business.

iPhone developer EULA turns programmers into serfs: "The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published the Apple iPhone Developer Program License Agreement, a secretive document that requires its signatories to agree to a gag order on the terms of the deal. EFF got the agreement by submitting a Freedom of Information Act request to NASA, who had signed onto it in order to release its app. EFF Senior IP Attorney Fred von Lohmann has some pithy analysis of just how awful this agreement is for the programmers who gets sucked into it:

Overall, the Agreement is a very one-sided contract, favoring Apple at every turn. That's not unusual where end-user license agreements are concerned (and not all the terms may ultimately be enforceable), but it's a bit of a surprise as applied to the more than 100,000 developers for the iPhone, including many large public companies. How can Apple get away with it? Because it is the sole gateway to the more than 40 million iPhones that have been sold. In other words, it's only because Apple still 'owns' the customer, long after each iPhone (and soon, iPad) is sold, that it is able to push these contractual terms on the entire universe of software developers for the platform.

In short, no competition among app stores means no competition for the license terms that apply to iPhone developers.

If Apple's mobile devices are the future of computing, you can expect that future to be one with more limits on innovation and competition (or 'generativity,' in the words of Prof. Jonathan Zittrain) than the PC era that came before. It's frustrating to see Apple, the original pioneer in generative computing, putting shackles on the market it (for now) leads. If Apple wants to be a real leader, it should be fostering innovation and competition, rather than acting as a jealous and arbitrary feudal lord. Developers should demand better terms and customers who love their iPhones should back them.

It's amazing all the ways that the iPhone manages to screw the people that love it: saddling iPhone owners with crappy contracts with abusive mobile companies, limiting their access to programs and forcing them into one-sided EULAs, then screwing the developers with equally abusive agreements. I guess that's one way to think different.

Sidewiki as part of the old vision of the Web

2010-01-05T10:41:00.001-06:00

Annotation has always been part of what I'd like to see, extending the metadata and relevance of every nook and crannie of the Web.

Now that Chrome has Sidewiki support via Extensions, I'll be trying to use it more and reporting on what other people seem to be adding....

in reference to: http://www.google.com/profiles/kris.browne (view on Google Sidewiki)

Playing with iPod touch after months of palm pre

2009-11-18T01:53:00.000-06:00

We got our Palm Pres from Sprint a few months ago now. On their own, solid interface on toy-quality hardware.

However, before using Sprint I had been using a prepay iPhone (1st gen). I gave it up because AT&T here has horrible reception, and the deposit to get us on a family plan was rediculous.

After dabbling in WebOS on the pre, I wanted to see how the iPod Touch/iPhone OS held up, and borrowed an iPod Touch.

The schtick of WebOS is supposed to be multitasking, followed by Synergy. The problem is that all too often the pre gets so bogged down that even critical functions (phone calls, for example) become unusable. The iPod on the other hand has a few tasks which always run with priority, and all the other programs run one at a time. The startup of most programs, and the state saving built into most, makes switching programs usually feel like they never quit.

Synergy is, for now, the saving grace of webos. Enter google, facebook, exchange, and now yahoo accounts, and your contacts, calendars, email and chat are woven together like a single continuum. All this happens without changing the accounts or using a desktop computer, works well, and has a decent interface. Apple could learn a lot from that, and if I were Steve, looking at what to do with my big pile of cash, I would buy palm to get the intellectual properties of Synergy and improve the iPhone with it.

No matter how good Synergy is... The hardware and software quality of the Apple products blows the palm out of the water... And if Apple brought the iPhone to Sprint I'd toss the Pre in a heartbeat.

Warhammer Online Classes

2009-08-11T02:22:00.001-05:00

Since the Mac beta of Warhammer Online was released, I have been playing whenever I could sneak in a little time with it, trying to see how I liked it.

So far, I have found it to be far better for the sporadic gaming I can sneak in lately, and has some fun things they have learned to do better from watching World of Warcraft.

One of the things I like best is the mechanics around the different classes. Unlike other games, Warhammer Online has different classes for each race and faction, with each race having 4 class or roles filled. Mostly, those are a Tank, a physical DPS, a Utility class and a Caster of some sort. Each operates differently, so each is a new experience, though each faction, Order or Destruction, has roughly the same capabilities. Here is a breakdown of roles, classes, and mechanics, paired by similar styles rather than by opposing factions.

Tanks

Empire - Knight of the Burning Sun. This class has aura like effects mostly enhancing teammates.

Chaos - Chosen. Behemoths of armor who have debuff auras.

High Elves - Swordmaster. Each main attack builds from a previous, building and using balance to weave through fights.

Greenskins - Black Orc. A mishmash of armor protects these giants while they string attacks which build off each other.

Dwarves - Ironbreaker. These warriors build grudge points from each blow they receive, and can designate a friend who they can also receive grudges when they are attacked. These Grudges fuel their special attacks. Lower DPS but extremely hard to kill.

Dark Elves - Black Guard. Attacks from these weapon masters are fueled by Hate, which builds when they attack or are attacked.

Physical DPS

Empire - Witch Hunter. These are lightly armored, fast, high DPS characters, whose attacks build from 0 to 5 points, which can then be used to fuel high power special attacks. Adding to their powers, they can go stealthy to ambush their prey.

Dark Elves - Witch Elf. Wearing almost no armor, these female-only brawlers also build combo points, and can go stealthy, but focus more on debuff attacks to devastate their opponents.

High Elves - White Lions. This is the Pet class of the Order side, with a Lion pet who will provide a moderate tank or second damage source. Aside their pets, the White Lions themselves are balanced between melee and ranged DPS, using their pet to draw attention and then flank their opponent.

Greenskins - Squig Herder. The Goblins have pets named Squigs, which come in a variety depending on desired tactics. While only controlling one at a time, they can call melee, tank, ranged or debuff pets, complemented by their own ranged attacks.

Dwarves - Slayer. These self-sacrificing berserkers make up for their stature through fervor. As they attack and take damage, they build up power and get stronger, though over a certain amount they lose control and become easier to damage.

Greenskins - Choppa. Matching their Dwarven bretherin, the Choppa is a hulking goliath of destruction. Another berserker class, they get stronger but easier to hit as they enrage.

High Elves - Shadow Warrior. These ranger-like characters excel at either melee or ranged fighting, taking stances which elevate certain skills depending on situation.

Chaos - Marauders. These flexible and ferocious mutants change forms to adapt to a variety of playstyles, all close combat focused but choosing between defense, sustained DPS, or critical DPS

Dwarves - Engineers. These don't have another physical counterpart, their closest analogue being the Magus caster, but they are sentry, trap, and explosive fighters, a sort of utility DPS which provides long-range support and critical location defense.

Casters

Empire - Bright Wizard. These fire-focused magic users kick out extremely high damage, but if they aren't careful the fire-magic they use can combust within them causing self-damage. While the risk of explosion is dangerous, as they risk more they get higher critical damage and chances.

Dark Elves - Sorceress. Flexible elemental and dark magic casters. As they use Dark magic, it builds up within them, the chaos potentially backfiring and causing massive injuries.

Dwarves - Rune Priest. A utility healer, these casters focus on mending and buffing their teammates, but also have some moderate offensive spells.

Chaos - Zealot. Another Utility healer, but balanced well with offensive capabilities. To offset those damage spells though, they are extremely squishy if the enemy gets too close.

Empire - Warrior Priest. A balance of DPS and healing, these clerics must fight close to combat to build the righteous fury which fuels their healing, and must balance the roles to play effectively.

Dark Elves - Desciple of Khaine. Another fighter/healer, they must fight to fuel their healing abilities, but offer some debuff type attacks to help in combat as well.

High Elves - Archmage. A balance of offense and defense makes these casters awfully fun to play and powerful. Damaging attacks buff later heals, and healing improves attack spells, so a good player can help in both roles well.

Greenskin - Shaman. These Goblins balance attack and healing spells, each type of spell benefitting the other when cast in succession.

Chaos - Magus. An offensive caster who can summon stationery demons to defend or assist in attacking. Needs some range to defend themselves, and summons take time, so need to pick your strategy from afar.

Conclusion

24 classes overall, with 12 distinct mechanics between them. Depending on your play preferences, one of them should fit nicely and let you play as you like.

For more information on each class, Ten Ton Hammer has a great summary and strategy page: Warhammer Online Class Guides

Privateer: Ascii Sector - The Official Website

2009-07-30T21:52:00.001-05:00

Really trying hard to finish homework so I can play this.

[From Privateer: Ascii Sector - The Official Website]

WOOO Google Reader + NetNewsWire = WIN

2009-07-30T20:44:00.001-05:00

I have loved NetNewsWire for many years now. I fully believe it is the best desktop newsreader that exists.

Today's announcement that NewsFire is plugging it into Google Reader instead of their own online newsreader as a backend brings together two products I love, and makes me a VERY happy camper.

NetNewsWire Beta (Now with more Google)

Listened to: Invisible Touch from the album "Invisible Touch" by Genesis

Trying new things with Skype: Public chat rooms

2009-07-28T00:54:00.001-05:00

Skype Features hosted by kris.browne.

Join now

Chat about what's on your mind. More about public chats.

James Bond: Casino Royale - 3 versions.

2009-06-02T19:53:00.002-05:00

Just watched the first incarnation of James Bond on screen - in this case the small screen. An episode of the TV show Climax! which centered entirely on the big game of Baccarat with La Chiffre, and rather ignored the center of the dramatic tension of the game, the last big bluff.

Having seen that, I have now viewed all three adaptations of the story, and the latest one really does capture the essence best.

The 1954 Climax! episode, like I said, took a lot of dramatic license with the story, fit it to only an hour, and in some ways missed the point of the character. On the other hand, Peter Lorre as La Chiffre was charming, and the black and white of the television enhanced a noir sentiment.

The Second version, 1967's Casino Royale, was a farce, a spoof, but with a fantastic cast, and while it too played loose with the details, the comedic essence is bold and schizophrenic, and it's worth seeing once.

The most recent in 2006, Daniel Craig's entry into the James Bond family, is mostly a straightforward adaptation of the novel, captures the original Fleming character better than any Bond before save possibly George Lazenby, and though the game is changed from Baccarat to Poker, it helps the audience embrace the tension at the table because so many are now familiar with Stud Poker through it's recent popularity - They understand what's going on better, and they can identify with the possibilities of how the game could resolve itself.

It's rare that I take a modern version of something over a classic, but in this case Hollywood has finally brought a definitive version of this classic to screen.

Caramel-Glazed Flan

2009-04-08T00:58:00.001-05:00

Caramel-Glazed Flan

This is a reduced-fat version of this delicious Spanish origin dessert. I made it this way and my family did not notice the difference with the original fatty version. Good point!

Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
6 egg whites
1 3/4 cups water
1 (14 ounce) can low-fat sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a heavy skillet over medium-low heat, cook and stir sugar until melted and light brown. Carefully pour into a 9-inch round baking dish, tilting the dish to coat the bottom completely.
In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and egg whites. Stir in water, condensed milk, vanilla and salt until smooth. Pour into prepared dish. Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel. Place baking dish on towel, inside roasting pan, and place roasting pan on oven rack. Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven 1 hour, until center is just set (still a bit jiggly). Remove dish to a wire rack to cool for one hour. Then refrigerate several hours or overnight.
To unmold, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a rimmed serving platter.

Search, share, and cook your recipes on Mac OS X with SousChef!

End of a very short era

2009-01-15T14:55:00.001-06:00

Have been let go from Apple. Sad. Being a Genuis was easily the best job I ever had.

-- Post From My iPhone

Mario Kart Wii will be out in the US on 4/27/08

2008-03-27T13:43:00.001-05:00

[From Mario Kart Wii will be out in the US on... (kottke.org)]

Save the date kids, Mario Kart Wii drops on 4/27/08, and will eat our souls as much or more than Brawl has (review on Brawl forthcoming)

Mars Attacks! and Dinosaurs Attack!

2007-10-18T00:42:00.001-05:00

When I was a wee lad in the 80's, I thought that Garbage Pail Kids were the coolest thing on the block, since they were goofy, dark, and edgy... Little did I know the depths collectable cards could reach.

Zelda's Mars Attacks Home Page

In 1962 These cards were debuted by “Bubbles, Inc”, a division of Topps. Most people will recognize the Mars Attacks moniker from the Tim Burton movie of the same name. I loved the movie, and didn't realize until some wikipedia rabbit-holing turned up the card series.

Bob Heffner's Dinosaurs Attack!

Later, in 1988, Topps gave the extreme card series another try with time traveling dinosaurs... These were released after the above-mentioned Garbage Pail Kids released in the US, but were a wee bit more edgy.

My parents thought to “protect” me from such gory, violent, or otherwise questionable (these cards, most comics, GI Joe)... And look how I ended up. Bear this in mind before blindly restricting your kids from things.

Brought to you by Ecto on a Mac.

Technorati Tags: retro

Continuing saga of the bsdgames port effort

2007-10-17T12:26:00.001-05:00

I think that I am going to wain until Leopard to continue working on the rest of the ports...

Leopard promises to bring the OSX libraries into the posix spec 100% and that may help the process for me.

Stay tuned until then.

Technorati Tags: games, programming, unix

Porting the “bsdgames” to Mac OSX - 31/47 complete!

2007-10-12T13:44:00.001-05:00

Individual opinions may differ, but to my mind the traditional BSD games package contains some of the most influential games of history, even if most people have never heard of them.

When I recently got my new Macbook Pro for work, I started collecting all the bits and pieces to make it my home. Fink and MacPorts got me most of the way, but neither had packages for those games, so I set to making them work.

Prerequisites: I am using Mac OS X 10.4.10, so that's what's tested, and this will require the developers tools.

First, I had to find sources that weren't mangled for Linux porting. I found them here and used Cyberduck to grab the entire tree.

Second, I created a happy environment for them... mkdir /usr/games /usr/share/games /var/games and a few straglers you'll see while compiling.

Most of the games needed nothing more than changing into their directory, and running:

# bsdmake; sudo bsdmake install

That took care of arithmatic, backgammon, banner, bcd, bs, caesar, countmail, cribbage, factor, fish, grdc, hangman, mille, morse, number, pig, pom, ppt, primes, rain, sail, wargames, worm, worms, wtf, and wump.

Rogue compiled perfectly, but complained of a missing file on install. A moment on Google turned up this file, which I gzipped and placed in the USD.doc folder, and then the install went fine.

The next batch of problems surrounded the setresgid function. This doesn't exist as such on Mac OS X, so another round of googling tuned up the following answer - replace:

setresgid(gid, gid, gid);

with:

setgid(gid);

setegid(gid);

That fixed: battlestar, canfield, robots, and snake.

I am still working on making a few work, ones that have more esoteric things going wrong so far... adventure, atc, boggle, dab, dm, fortune (though this has a working port in fink and MacPorts), gomoku, hack, hunt, monop, phantasia, quiz, random, tetris, and trek.

I will be working on those stragglers and then maybe building packages for Fink or MacPorts, stay tuned for updates.

Technorati Tags: games, programming, puppy, retro, unix

That time of year again: The Great Old Pumpkin, by John Aegard

2007-10-11T17:54:00.001-05:00

As Halloween fast approaches, it is time again for one of my favorite stories:

Strange Horizons Fiction: The Great Old Pumpkin, by John Aegard:

As you are no doubt aware, I am the issue of solid Dutch stock—the prosperous Van Pelt family of St. Paul. Mine was a comfortable and happy childhood, and I spent much of it in the devoted service of the Great Old Pumpkin. For him, I cultivated an annual pumpkin patch—mostly Autumn Gold and Big Max, as I thought he would find the Atlantic Giants tacky. I also evangelized him in the community, relating the tale of how, every year on Hallowmas Eve, the day when the spiritual most strongly encroaches on the substantial, this mightiest of gourds would rise to revel across the world with the most sincere of his adorers. My neighbors were understandably skeptical; after all, not once had this superbeing ever chosen to grace my pumpkin patch or any other place in our town. I vowed that I would coax him into my backyard, and I set out in the manner of a learned man to discover how I might do this.

This eldritch horror is the epic tale of one Linus Van Pelt, friend of Charlie Brown, admirer of security blankets, and once devotee to the Great Pumpkin... Beware, His tale may strike terror into the hearts of any who venture into the darkness on All Hallows Eve.

Brought to you by Ecto on a Mac.

Infinite OZ teaser for “Tin Man”

2007-10-09T12:24:00.001-05:00

Infinite OZ | Tin Man | SCIFI.COM:

SciFi's upcoming re-imagining of The Wizard of Oz looks really promising, I hope they do a Dune with it instead of an Earthsea.

The above linked Viral/teaser site gives hope for it working out, and I wesh I knew how Zooey Deschanel was getting involved with so many cool projects.

Thanks to Pop Candy for pointing out this teaser... I know what my DVR will be doing December 2.

Brought to you by Ecto on a Mac.

Technorati Tags: movie, scifi

The Ron Paul Revolution and the '08 election

2007-10-09T10:47:00.001-05:00

I keep seeing more and more interest in Ron Paul for the upcoming presidential election... Especially in the Blogosphere: his name is in the top tags over at Technorati for example.

Now, I respect what he stands for in conservative politics: a return to fiscal conservatism and respect for the Constitution that has been trumped in the last 3 republican administrations by pandering to the Evangelical Fundamentalist agenda. A return to small, unobtrusive governing, a lighter hand in foreign policy, less protectionism for big businesses... At least that's how I read his positions.

That's all well and good, Or at least it would have been in 2000. If we were starting with a balanced budget, before Enron, before we pissed in every friend we have in the world...

Now, we need someone who can undo the damage of the last 7 years. Someone who will be compassionate to those Bush has forgotten or outright screwed. Someone who has a good standing in the world theatre (and has a husband who is a natural diplomat.)

In a word, we need Hilary in '08... and Ron Paul (or someone like him) in '16 or so.

Now someone fit that on a bumper sticker for me.

Brought to you by Ecto on a Mac.

Technorati Tags: hilary, politics, ron paul

Weblogs + Twitter vs. MySpace/Facebook

2007-10-06T10:22:00.000-05:00

The reason we call it the Web is that it's supposed to be a system of sites, threaded together and interconnected so we can notice when disparate parts have something notable going on. Sadly, some of applications bringing the most attention to the internet are completely missing the point, and instead of stretching the web wider, actively try to concentrate it into their own little nests.

I have tried banging my head against MySpace, eventually deleting my account because it was annoying to have to go into their mess of a site to do anything with it. Facebook I hear is less obnoxious but maintains the same concept of going to their site to accomplish anything.

Both of those sites commit a cardinal sin: for being so called "social networks" they don't play well with others. Most modern blogging systems have a number of features that make cross site linking easy (Trackbacks, Technocrati tags, etc), use RSS or atom to allow aggregation by a client, and have well documented ways of posting via clients.

Twitter, a relatively new micro-blog system of sorts, even takes on the comment wall concept that seems to be a popular feature of myspace and extends it with IM/SMS gateways and RSS so that you need never touch their site to use it.

Livejournal has been the mid-point between insular MySpace and completely open systems like Blogger or Wordpress, offering RSS feeds for posts (but not comments), and atom/blogger api posting, but still has some features that pull you back to their site on occasion, and some features limited to paid accounts.

I will be trying to keep up better with my Blogger and Twitter, using the wonderful blog editor Ecto for Blogger and Twitterific for Twitter, and setting up my Livejournal with syndication of those to keep my friends there in the loop.

infinite-sushi.com - ecto3 alpha

2007-08-13T17:36:00.001-05:00

The ever industrious Adriaan Tijsseling posted the first public alpha of Ecto3 today, much to my delight.

It’s definitely not ready for prime-time, but a solid introduction, and shows promise for it’s eventual release.

For those who haven’t yet, I highly recommend you either try the alpha (if brave) or release version of Ecto, and his other programs endo (RSS aggregator) and 1001 (Flickr Client)

[From infinite-sushi.com - ecto3 alpha]

Back in business

2007-06-28T13:44:00.001-05:00

I have finally gotten Blogger opened back up on my work network so I can post from here again... Halleluja.

Micro Persuasion: Bookmarklets Every Blogger Should Have

2007-03-06T14:12:00.000-06:00

Micro Persuasion: Bookmarklets Every Blogger Should Have

This post has some great bookmarklets that will make many people's lives easier...

3d and paper models of Disney's Haunted Mansions

2005-12-05T00:44:00.000-06:00

Haunted Dimensions by Ray Keim:

3d and paper models of Disney's Haunted Mansions

Boing Boing: "I'm a naughty girl" -- MP3 of 1890s bad-girl tune

2005-12-04T22:58:00.000-06:00

Boing Boing: “I'm a naughty girl” -- MP3 of 1890s bad-girl tune:

Technorati Tags: Audio

The Hidden In-N-Out Burger (aka In and Out Burger) - The Most Accurate Secret Menu

2005-11-25T14:04:00.000-06:00

The Hidden In-N-Out Burger (aka In and Out Burger) - The Most Accurate Secret Menu:
In-N-Out Burger has a secret unpublished menu for insiders who are In-The-Know. Next time you're at In-N-Out (i.e. tomorrow . . . or maybe tonight), order a bag of these off-the-menu specials:

1980 games - Old online video and arcade games for free

2005-11-25T00:04:00.000-06:00

1980 games - Old online video and arcade games for free:

Free online arcade games

The section "arcade" on this site offers you the
chance to play the great 80's classics.
These old arcade games are gaining a new lease
of life thanks to an emulator that restores them
to how they were upon their release.

Online Nintendo video games

The oldies section is getting bigger all the time!!
almost 800 nintendo video games are available
on 1980 games.

NYPL, Exhibitions at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library

2005-11-25T00:02:00.000-06:00

NYPL, Exhibitions at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library:

The Splendor of the Word: Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts at The New York Public Library
From October 21, 2005 through February 12, 2006
D. Samuel and Jeane H. Gottesman Exhibition Hall (First Floor)
Humanities and Social Sciences Library, 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788 (directions)
Hours: Click here for schedule

Historiated Initial B, depicting scenes from the Life of David. Psalter (The Tickhill Psalter), in Latin. England, Workshop Priory, Notts., after 1303-ca.1314. (NYPL SP 26)
Related Online Resources

The New York Public Library possesses one of the finest collections of medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts in North America, yet its manuscript holdings are scarcely known to scholars, much less to a wide public audience. Medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts are vehicles of the collective memory of western European culture, and provide a material connection between the scribes, illuminators, and patrons who produced these works and the audiences who view them today. The works represent diverse genres, from Bibles and missals to romance literature and science texts. Drawn entirely from the Library's Spencer Collection and the Manuscripts and Archives Division, the 100 medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the exhibition will focus on the 9th through the 16th centuries -- seven hundred years of profound political, ecclesiastical, social, and intellectual change in Western Europe and the world.

Welcome readers!

2005-11-08T14:32:00.000-06:00

This post is being sent from sunny and warm Las Vegas, Nevada. Bethany and I have lived here since January of '05, when we moved here to follow a job offer for me.

I work in a printing company here, part of the Mankato, MN company which I had worked for in the past. I am a Prepress System Administrator, which means that I maintain mostly Mac (with a few dirty Windows) systems which we use to prepare customer files for printing.