Birthday party... sort of

2006-06-29 00:07:00

So today is my birthday and while discussing progress on the preparations for Anime 2006 online I was thrown an impromptu birthday party! :3 Thanks to the guys from #mangadvd at irc.infi.org for this.

23:59 MK> hey, het is 0.00 hier~ alvast happy b-day Thomas! :D
23:59 MK> knuf
Day changed to 29 Jun 2006
00:00 BaSt> aight
00:00 BaSt> gefeliciteerd Thomas :)
00:00 Peter> juh, hier ook
00:00 Peter> Thomas, gefeliciteerd! :)
00:00 Jake_R> same here
00:00 Wapiko> Gefeliciteerd OUDE MAN
00:00 Jake_R> gratz
00:00 Kaj|zubben-D_N_D> for he's a jolly good fellow
00:00 Peter> lol, zeg jij dat nou Niels? :P
00:00 WillemNTE> congrats alvast thomas
00:00 Kaj|zubben-D_N_D> tudududud
00:00 Cailin> w00t
00:00 Kaj|zubben-D_N_D> du
00:00 Jake_R> for he's a jolly good fellow
00:00 Jake_R> nu nog 1!
00:00 MK> Cailin; ook gefeliciteerd van Kim :)
00:00 Kaj|zubben-D_N_D> for he's a jolly good fellooooooow
00:00 Cailin> ah :)
00:00 Kaj|zubben-D_N_D> and so say all of us
00:01 VincentValentine> juh, gefeliciteerd :D
00:01 Cailin> via MSN MK?
00:01 Jake_R> =D
00:01 MK> yup :P
00:01 WillemNTE> that nobody can deny
00:01 Cailin> haha... geniaal dit :)
00:01 MK> :D
00:01 Cailin> dankjulliewel!
00:01 Wapiko> And so say all of us
00:01 MK> en Neodash ook ;P
00:01 Peter> Cailin got it
00:01 Atomsk> in de gloria
00:01 WillemNTE> en de rest van de wereld
00:01 Peter> thanks, dit is top
00:01 Wapiko> vrijdag iedereen : thomas thomas thomas
00:01 Cailin> NOEOEOEOES!
00:01 Wapiko> Peter: hoofdpijn
00:02 WillemNTE> heeft "Thomas" banner gemaakt :)
00:02 Jake_R> Cailin: ook gratz van kamira =)
00:02 Atomsk> Cailin: bestel maar voor 1100 persoon taart... :]

Also, would you believe that all of my preparations for the festival are -done-?! I hope I'm not jinxing things by breaking with tradition. Luckily Niels and Kaj will keep the flag flying. Niels actually won't be having any sleep the last three days before the con O_O Poor guy!

kilala.nl tags: friends, birthday, internet,

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Anime 2006 - checklist

2006-06-25 15:10:00

Wow! There's still so many loose ends to tie up before the festival! o_O Here's a checklist.

OK Design security card key sets for all staff and volunteer groups.
OK Purchase prize material for AMV competition.
OK Devise plan for projection screen outside Archonia Room, for cosplay compo.
OK Finalise all floor plans and maps for visitors.
CNCL Contact various sponsors regarding delivery of prizes.
OK Send full guest list to Dennis in order to reserve free tickets.
OK Make a list of all materials to print: how many of each and where do they go?
OK Buy binders for various manuals.
CNCL Buy materials to create gopher-recognition arm bands.
CNCL Write runbook for hotel.
OK Get colour printouts of the hotel surroundings map.
OK Make appointments for pickup of various game room materials and hardware.
OK Finalise event planning and gopher assignment.
OK Track down 25 to 30 liters of Calpico syrup.
PROG Make printouts of all manuals, floorplans and time tables. Put them in binders.
CNCL Re-distribute prizes across all competitions.

kilala.nl tags: anime 200x, anime 2006,

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Diesel Sweeties

2006-06-23 09:25:00

I -love- this quote from R. Stevens from today's Diesel Sweeties: If it weren't for Carbon-14, I wouldn't date at all. Awesome :3

kilala.nl tags: comics, fun,

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Anime 2006 - preparations

2006-06-22 09:46:00

Anime 2006: a lovely weekend!

Oh god... *yawn* I'm gutted... With less than seven days to go untill Anime 2006 we still have loads of things to take care of. Of course, almost everything has been taken care of already, but last-minute stuff always pops up at the most inopportune moments :( This year I want everything to be done -before- the festival, so I can spend Wednesday and Thursday driving around the country, gathering various pieces of hardware that are being "donated" to us by volunteers.

kilala.nl tags: anime 200x, anime 2006,

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Computer holy wars

2006-06-21 12:34:00

Apple good, Windows baahahaaad...

There's an interesting discussion going on over here: what would you do if you, as a Mac Freak, were forced to work with Windows PCs for a living? Many of the people in the discussion voice opinions like "I'd look for another job if they wouldn't allow me to work on a Mac!" or "The boss who doesn't buy proper equipment for his people is not a good boss!". While I agree with their sentiments (I really wouldn't want to work on anything but my iBook), I don't agree with their message and their choices. IMHO, if you're not flexible you're not being professional. This kind of prima donna behaviour is only tolerated if that really is what you are: the company's saviour, God and top money maker. In all other cases you'll just have to put up with it.

kilala.nl tags: apple, windows, internet, geeky,

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Stepford Wives

2006-06-20 11:56:00

Realdoll meets crazed animatronics!..

This morning I had some trouble waking up properly, so I thought I'd spend an hour or two watching the original Stepford Wives from 1975. I have to say that I like it a lot better than the 2004 remake with Kidman. It's more of a thriller and is much more moody and dark. It was well worth starting late ^_^ Also, I never realized there were so many spin-off movies and such on this film. Two or three spin-offs and one remake. I guess I'll need to get my hands on DVDs for the older stuff as well, just to see them in all their 70's horror glory :D

In other news I've been working on my Nagios check scripts recently. The existing scripts have been slightly reworked and the check_log* scripts have been heavily debugged. Also, thanks to a colleague of mine, my scripting style is changing a bit :) Instead of using the IF-TEST-THEN-command1-ELSE-command2-FI for running a simple command I'll simply use TEST&&command1||command2. Saves a lot of space and is still very readable.

kilala.nl tags: movies,

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Fixes to check_log2 and check_log3

2006-06-19 15:11:00

Both check_log2 and check_log3 have been thoroughly debugged today. Finally. Thanks to both Kyle Tucker and Ali Khan for pointing out the mistakes I'd made. I also finally learned the importance of proper testing tools, so I wrote test_log2 and test_log3 which run the respective check scripts through all the possible states they can encounter.

Oh... check_ram was also -finally- modified to take the WARN and CRIT percentages through the command line. Shame on me for not doing that earlier.

kilala.nl tags: work, unix, nagios, sysadmin,

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Broken iBooks will rise again!

2006-06-14 22:14:00

Phew... I can breathe again... Luckily our home insurance (which includes separate coverage for PC's) covers the damage I inflicted upon my iBook. So instead of coughing up 900 Euros or scrounging the web for a second hand LCD panel, I will now forward the bill for Apple's repairs (the aforementioned 900 euri) to my insurer. \o/ I knew I had a good reason for getting that insurance!

kilala.nl tags: ibook, apple, money,

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Broken iBooks don't cry

2006-06-14 10:06:00

I hurt my poor little baby ;_;

Sometimes I just really want to kick myself... Hard... In the nads... x_x I had a -very- bad night with only about an hour of sleep. Starting work at 0400 by my own volition and then dozing off around 0800 I was startled and woke again around 0830... What did I do then? I stood up... Right on top of my sweet, little iBook! So now the glass in the LCD's cracked, although the screen's still working. Hopefully Apple can fix the damage -quickly- since I rely on this laptop 100% for both my work and the Anime 2006 festival. ;_;

kilala.nl tags: ibook, apple, snafu,

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Coffee: the holy, brown bringer of caffeine

2006-06-13 08:16:00

[zombie]Coffee!... Cooooooffeeeee! Gruar![/zombie]

Yea verily, I have become a true Sys Admin! :3 This week marks the first week in my life that I can stomach normal coffee at the office. Over the years I've gone from tea and coca, to cocoa mixed with capuccino, to coffee with loads of milk, to end up where I am now: normal coffee with a bit of milk'n'sugar. At home I could drink this stuff much earlier, because over there we at least serve a decent cop of coffee... But apparently I've now grown up to be a man! A man who can drink even the most horrifying black sludge... Yay me! \o/

EDIT: Now a lot of you will immediately recognize that I blatently stole the coffee image from Think Geek. That's not the issue here... What I'm wondering about is why the heck their coffee looks like sewage! o_O Coffee is -not- supposed to be see-through! Freaks...

kilala.nl tags: coffee, drinks,

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Countdown 2004-2005

2006-06-09 08:14:00

Scan, courtesy of Jennie.

Ayumi Hamasaki never ceases to amaze me. Her singing's quite good, I like her music and her live performances are awesome. After watching the DVD at Niels' birthday two years ago, we decided to buy our own copy of "Count down live 2004-2005". This show was held on New Year's eve of 2004 and crosses the boundary between the two years. That fact alone makes it a noteworthy show.

But what is awe inspiring, are these facts:

* Ayu is singing and dancing for real, for over two hour straight. No silly playback show.
* Ayu seems to have more energy than a ferret on speed. She's running and dancing and entertaining the audience... Britney eat your fscking heart out!
* Ayu seems to have no problem whatsoever with entertaining over 10.000 people at the same time! At least, that's what the crowd looks like to me...

Lately I've also been looking into other Asian music and (some may find this odd) have found a real liking for Cantonese pop music :3 I guess the fact that I have no clue whatsoever what the people are singing about makes it easier for me to appreciate the music itself. This would also explain why I really like Morning Musume, while I can't stomach Dutch/belgian stuff like K3.

Anywho, if I may make some suggestions: the album "Two scalewings" by Pang Long is quite good. And you could also try music by Angela Chang and A-Mei Chang.

kilala.nl tags: japan, music,

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J-Pop and ska

2006-06-07 20:20:00

I'm so happy with the two CDs I recently purchased :) They're both quite rare and I have strong feelings for both. The first is the 2005 sample album by The Shenanigans, called "Loud & Clear". The band was kind enough to send me a copy of their CD, which is great since I've grown to -love- their ska.

The second album is the Animex 1200 re-release of the Arrow Emblem soundtrack album from 1977. I grew up listening to that music when watching the anime and it's been stuck in my head ever since. Imagine my joy now that I can listen to the music whereever I go! Now I also have a reliable enough source for the karaoke track needed for the Karaoke Cafe at Anime 2006!

kilala.nl tags: japan, music,

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Shure e2G mini-review

2006-06-07 08:03:00

After wearing those Shure e2G buds for a few hours I have to say a few things:

* Wearing in-ear buds might take some getting used to, but it's actually not that bad.
* These babies block out ass-loads of background noise! They're great if you want to work undisturbed. You may end up an incosiderate, a-social asshole, but at least you'll get your work done :p
* Due to the whole noise-cancelling deal I don't have to turn up my iPod so much anymore. I used to listen to it at 80%-90% of the maximum volume, but now I'm down to ~20% and I can still make out every exquisite detail in the music. Awesome!
* At ~100 euros they might be expensive (at least way more than what most people are willing to pay for headphones), but they sure as heck are worth their money!

kilala.nl tags: music, other tech,

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6/6/06: the end of the world

2006-06-06 15:32:00

Since today's already supposed to be the End of the World, or some other Satanic party day I thought I'd contribute :p Here's a quote from Session 23 of the Cowboy Bebop TV series. One that I actually agree with fully.

Londes: Why do you think people believe in God? It's because they want to. It's not easy living in this rotten world. There is nothing certain while living on in this world. Do you get it? God didn't create humans. Humans created God.

Now does this mean that I disagree with the concept of religion, based on the my assumption that it's all make-believe? Oddly enough: no I do not. Because having faith in something helps you through your days. Even if you made that something up yourself. "Freya" knows it's helped me through a few difficult years.

kilala.nl tags: cowboy bebop, geeky, japan, anime,

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We're going on a field trip!

2006-06-06 13:44:00

So today I went out and went out and splurged on some uber-headphones: the Shure e2G set. They're of the in-ear, background-noise-cancelling variety which comes in very handy at the office. I've worn in-ear buds before (the portophones at our festival use the same kind), but it's still something I need to get used to. For one they really -do- cancel out any background noise (don't wear these when taking part in traffic!!) and secondly they just feel very strange :3

This weekend was Snow's annual family outing. We visited the Molenheide bungalow park in Belgium to spend a few days relaxing. A whole bunch of my colleagues took flying lessons in Cessna and UltraLight airplanes, while me and Marli visited the Japanese gardens in Hasselt. All in all it was a short holiday, paid in full by my employer! How many other employers do stuff like this for their people?! Personally I see myself working for Snow in the years to come :)

Another positive thing about these weekends away is that you get to spend some time with colleagues you don't normally speak to. In this case we spent quite some time hanging around with Foobar and Willow and my new colleague Ben and his girlfriend.

kilala.nl tags: snow, work, holiday, relaxing,

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Check_log3 is born

2006-06-01 14:53:00

Today I made an improved version of the Nagios monitor "check_log2", which is now aptly called "check_log3". Version 3 of this script gives you the option to add a second query to the monitor. The previous two incarnations of the script only allowed you to search for one query and would return a Critical if it was found. Now you can also add a query which will return in a Warning message as well. Goody!

kilala.nl tags: work, unix, nagios, sysadmin,

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