chrisdaniel.net

TONIGHT
MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 55. WEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

FRIDAY
MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS 65 TO 75. WEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH
INCREASING TO 10 TO 15 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.

Hooray, Portland!

As many of my friends already know, I will soon be relocating from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Portland, Oregon. Where “soon” == next week.

This has been a long time in coming; I have sold pretty much everything I own, except for those essentials that will fit into my car. I’ve allocated four days to drive there (Google Maps says it is 28 hours worth of driving). Any suggestions for things to see along the way are welcome!

Jun  3 11:11:45 ntpd[4292]: adjusting local clock by -0.163852s
Jun  3 11:55:57 ntpd[4292]: adjusting local clock by -0.182279s
Jun  3 13:02:25 ntpd[4292]: adjusting local clock by -0.184841s
Jun  3 13:08:11 ntpd[4292]: adjusting local clock by -0.244856s
Jun  3 18:08:11 ntpd[4293]: clock is now unsynced
Jun  3 13:14:24 ntpd[4292]: adjusting local clock by -0.226083s

If you’re seeing messages like the above in your logs, your clock might be drifting too much. Try turning off ntpd for a day, and just running ntpdate (or ntpd -q) every hour from a cron job. Check the log of the cron job output to see about how much your clock drifts per hour.

Mine ended up being about a half second per hour, according to the adjustments ntpdate made. Apparently, ntpd couldn’t compensate for the drift; it seems like that much shouldn’t be a problem, but oh well. I’m currently running ntpdate in a cron job every hour to sync my time, and so far, everything seems to stay within a second of the real time, which is good enough for me. If you have the demand for better accuracy, get a clock that doesn’t suck.

lulz. The AARP is younger than John McCain!

From Questionable Content #141:

I made the poster!

I’m 22, and I’ve heard all the normal rhetoric about exercising — not least among the advice, the daily run. You have probably heard exactly the same; but did you know running can be addictive?

[Running-addicts seen in their natural environment — marathon photo courtesy Steve Gregory; marijuana photo courtesy US government]

Last night at the coffee shop, a less-fit friend was experiencing a mild euphoric high after a long, fast walk involving a bit of climbing; another friend mentioned that it might be similar to the “runner’s high“. He added that “everyone runs to get it — otherwise only masochists would run”. Incredulous, I asked the barista, who runs regularly, why she ran. “For that feeling you get sometimes … it’s like having sex — except you’re running!” She also mentioned that sometimes her “head feels one with the sky”. Sounds similar to what is described by this trail runner.

Why hadn’t I heard this before? Maybe mine is an aberrant experience, but if not, maybe it’s because of the “anti-drug” societal pressure here in the United States, thanks to the “War on Drugs”. Anything using the prospect of addictive highs to promote even beneficial behaviour might be seen as encouraging “deviancy”. What a crock of shit. Well, now that I’ve heard about this runner’s high, I think I’ll follow through on my intention to start running regularly — yes, for the high, dammit!

This week, I drove out to my parents’ house to retrieve this:

It’s a Remington Quiet-Riter from around 1957. My grandmother gave it to me when I was twelve or thirteen, and I wrote some short Star Trek (TOS) parodies on it. It’s in great condition for the use it’s endured.

I’m considering taking it to the coffee shop to write some things, for old times’ sake, and to attract some attention.

Full set here.

Also note US ARMY sticker.

I made a new Halo 3 custom game yesterday, and tested it at work … it is called Sticky Stuck, and the objective is to kill opponents by sticking them with grenades. The idea was originally conceived by Steev, who is just awesome at sticking people.

Points can only be earned by sticking grenades; pure kills are not counted, only sticks. All weapons are unavailable except for the Magnum (pistol), with which everyone spawns. Grenade regeneration is on, so players don’t have to worry about running out of grenades — inventory regenerates automatically. Vehicles are off, except for Mongooses. This game works better on maps with fewer open spaces, like Guardian.

We tested it at work this afternoon with three people on Guardian; everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, and there were some intense moments.

“Get your Giant Pilot into her C0ckpit”