If there are any problems with the comic or website, or if you have any questions, comments, or complaints you would like to address directly to Randy, please email him at choochoobear@gmail.com.
Write.
Walk the dog. (Seen here being walked by me half an hour ago. I was not wearing special protective warm clothing. It was remarkable.)
Not go onto the internet except occasionally to email people things they are waiting for.
Sleep.
Posted via email from Neil's posterous
However, thanks to a freeware utility called AutoHotkey, I've discovered a workaround. I've compiled a small script and made it available for download at http://tinyurl.com/cohwindowhelper (source is at http://tinyurl.com/cohwindowhelperscript, if you feel like tinkering further). When you run this file, it will start up a background process (which only uses about 2 MB of memory), which in turn will set up the following hotkeys:
WindowsKey + ]
Sets the Windows Taskbar to auto-hide, and hides the COH window's title bar (if COH is running).
WindowsKey + [
Sets the Windows Taskbar to always visible, and unhides the COH window's title bar (if COH is running).
(NOTE: Be sure to maximize your COH window first. If you don't, there isn't much point. :)
As an unintended (but entirely welcome, to me) side effect, this also causes the auto-hide taskbar to NOT appear when the mouse is placed at the edge of the screen and the COH window is active. Yay, no accidental taskbar clicks while playing! (You can easily get the taskbar back by pressing the Windows Key, and auto-hide will still work while any non-COH window is active.)
Put the EXE file in your startup folder, hit the hotkey when you're at the login screen (doing it while in-game will cause the in-game windows to shift around), and enjoy the use of every bit of screen real estate.
(The program icon is one of Liz's, and is used with permission.)
---
DISCLAIMER: This is something I slapped together this evening, with a tool I'd never used previously -- there may be quirks. I have no idea how well this will work in a dual-monitor setup, or really any configuration other than the one I have. But, hey, it's free. :)
As a matter of fact, I just found one quirk. Once in a while, if I tab (or Windows key) out of the game, do some stuff in other windows, and go back, my overlay window (HeroStats) will get pushed behind the COH window until I manually select it from the taskbar again. Pretty minor, though -- it doesn't happen all that often (never when I'm just playing the game), and it's quick to fix.
I didn't have to look at the weather forecast to know that a storm is on the way; I could feel it with the first step I took outside this morning with my dog.
As I stood on my patio and watched the steam rise off my coffee and swirl up through golden shafts of golden morning sunlight shot through a cloud-filled sky, I remembered a day like this one fifteen or sixteen years ago.
I'd just gotten home from Nice, where I'd lived and worked on a film called Mister Stitch for a few months. It wasn't the most pleasant movie in the world to work on (the other lead actor was an unprofessional nightmare) but the time I spent there working on it remains some of the best time in my life. I'd been acting since I was a child, but it wasn't until I lived in Nice and worked on Mister Stitch that I truly felt like an artist. I was fundamentally changed by the experience, seeing the world - especially entertainment - differently than I ever had before.
The day I got back from location, sometime in mid-January of that year, my friend Dave picked me up from LAX, and we went directly down the road to Manhattan Beach, to wait out the terrible rush hour traffic which stood between the airport and my house. After ten hours on an airplane, another 120 minutes to crawl 40 miles up the freeway wasn't exactly an appealing notion.
We parked in a mostly-empty lot and walked down toward the water. There was a winter storm on its way, driving powerful waves ahead of it that were so huge, they crashed up against the bottom of the pier and occasionally broke over the end of it. Wrapped up in the irrational immortality that's endemic to 22 year-olds, we walked dangerously close to the end of the shuddering pier, angry waves boiling beneath, and dared the Pacific Ocean to reach up and touch us.
I don't recall specifically what we talked about - I'm sure I regaled him with slightly-exaggerated tales of glamor and excess and artistic awakening along the French Riviera - but even now I can I clearly recall the terror and exhilaration I felt whenever foamy, freezing sea water splashed up through the spaces between the planks and soaked into the tops of our shoes.
Since I grew up and became a husband and a father, I've gone out of my way to avoid anything more dangerous than driving on the Los Angeles freeway system, so I can't imagine defying a Pacific winter storm like I did when I was in my early twenties ... but standing on my patio in my late thirties, not really defying as much as tolerating the morning chill, I was grateful for the memory.
I'm testing http://posterous.com out, as a way of posting to Blogger from my phone, using email. So this is a test posting...
I'm attaching the "mass market" paperback cover for Fragile Things, which will be released in the US in February. It shows someone who looks like me with jam, or dreams, or ideas, squidging out of a book and all over him.
I finished a short story - technically, I suppose, a novelette, as it's 10,000 words - that I've been working on for much of the year. For most of that time, even through to the end of the first draft, a couple of weeks ago, I was convinced it was never going to work, would be a stunted, crippled little thing that was doomed to disappoint me. I knew it was missing something. What that something was occurred to me last week, exhausted after a yoga session in Boston, as my mind blanked, and later I wrote two short paragraphs in my notebook. Those paragraphs percolated and began to breathe, and I put them in and the story shifted, subtly, around them. The second draft took wing, and I found I was clear enough in my mind about what the story was that taking out things that weren't part of the story and putting in things that were was now easy, and the more I did it the better the story got, and now I'm happier with it than I've been with anything I've written for well over a year. It's called "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains..." and it is not exactly a happy story.
Right...
Dear Neil,
Patrick Rothfuss is making the world a better place in a very tangible way with his charity run Worldbuilders 2009. (http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/blog/2009/1
a fan of Wonderful People,
Gaetan Verhegge
Consider it plugged enthusiastically. I sent Patrick a signed copy of the incredibly beautiful STARDUST Advanced Reader's Copy when he did this last year, and it got to him a little late, so he has that along with many other amazing and beautiful books to give to people who donate. Check it out.
Hi Neil,
Consider it spread.
Hmm. Okay. I'll email this in, now. Not sure how I can do the blogger labels, though. Let's see if it works.
Posted via email from Neil's posterous
(This is slightly different than the info in the previous post on the matter.)
The holidays are approaching, and I wanted to tell you about a special Christmas gift offer for Dungeonaday.com. Now you can give a subscription to your gaming friends. What's a better gift to a gamer than new content every weekday for a year? This would be a great idea for a game group to give their DM (you know the one, the guy or girl who works so hard to provide you with fun each session).
Throughout the month of December, you can purchase a membership for your friend. You’ll not only get them a year’s membership at a nice discount, you’ll get a few special things as well. No matter when you do this in December, I’ll make sure that the gift subscription lasts until Dec 25, 2010. So even if you don’t want to reveal the gift until Christmas, the recipient will get a full year. Second, I’ll send the recipient a personalized email on Dec. 24th announcing that they’ve got a subscription, who it’s from, and wishing them a Merry Christmas. This offer is only good throughout December.
Make sure that you include the recipient's name and email, and the sender's name if different than it appears on your PayPal account. Also, be aware that this isn't a normal, recurring subscription like a normal Dungeonaday.com membership. It's just good for one year. If your friend wants to continue the subscription after that, they'll be able to on their own (or you can give the gift again next year!).
(And hey Europeans, with the current exchange rates, a year's worth of Dungeonaday.com is only about 56 Euros or 51 British pounds right now, so it's a great time to give this gift or use the CHRISTMAS code to get a Dungeonaday.com membership for yourself.)
- Music:Death Cab for Cutie: Narrow Stairs
There's snow falling in Houston and there's talk of the same in Austin.
There's pictures of the snow sticking just outside of Houston posted to a mailing list of friends.
I am reminded of this time two years ago. I had little money for electricity and my heater in the house was broken anyhow. I was dealing with do I eat or pay a bill this week. I was counting change to find $5 to make sure that Nox would eat even if I couldn't.
Now I wrap myself in velvet clothes. I curl up on my boyfriend's couch with a fuzzy blanket, a warm Nox, and my trusty laptop while said boyfriend is at class. My husband is sending me love notes and telling me how much he is looking forward to seeing me again tomorrow.
Life is good, and so much the sweeter for the bitter that's gone before.
- Location:Austin - Brigid
- Mood:
content
If there are any problems with the comic or website, or if you have any questions, comments, or complaints you would like to address directly to Randy, please email him at choochoobear@gmail.com.
Other than some aches and a few sharper twinges, it has been pretty painless the last two days. Things are looking up.
From BABs, on the official forums:
Good news everyone, I think I have figured out a way to bypass weapon redraw in combat. I've tested it with with various non-weapon powers or weapon powers from completely different sets, and it seems to work out. This means that you will be able to use any power in a chain with a weapon power, and not have to redraw the weapon...even completely different weapon powers. It will just instantly appear in your hand and play the attack animation. If you're not in combat, out of range, or have no target selected...then it will play a non-rooted, interruptible version of the weapon draw animations.
Some minor issues with consistently playing a weapon draw animation outside of combat, or the weapon draw animation playing when it really does need to...but that shouldn't interfere with combat.
Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to get to every powerset at once, but I was able to get the following powersets done.
* Broadsword
* Claws
* Dual Blades
* Archery
* Battleaxe
* War Mace
* Trick Arrow
* Thugs Mastermind Dual Pistols
* Robotics Mastermind Pulse Rifle
* Arachnos Widows
* Arachnos Soldiers
* Patron "mace" powers
* Munitions Ancillary Pool
The rest will have to wait until sometime after GR:
Visually, this may take some getting used to, but I think my new /TA controller just got even more enjoyable.
---
EDIT: It was too good to last. The change has been cancelled. BABs again:
Head's up, I've had to retract my previous statement. I've run into a complete roadblock related to shields and weapons that makes this method I was using un-workable. So it's back to the drawing board with the whole thing.
LiveJournal: The First Decade
Just in time for holiday shopping, we're thrilled to announce the release of our ten-year anniversary anthology. Published by Blurb.com, the book showcases a decade of extraordinary talent drawn from LiveJournal users around the world. This must-read compilation features stories, memes, photos, comics, editorials, graphic content, and more, including:
-
Excerpts from Oh No They Didn't (a/k/a
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
ohnotheydidnt), the largest community on LiveJournal, covering celebrity gossip, entertainment news, and pop culture - A look at post-Katrina New Orleans from the journal of Poppy Z. Brite
- Gripping narratives, including a poignant reverie on a blind date
- Photography that spans the globe, ranging from old-fashioned Polaroids to underwater photography
- Mouthwatering dishes from food_porn
What began as a late-night inspiration back in Brad Fitzpatrick's college dorm in 1999 has grown to encompass nearly 25 million users worldwide, with journals and communities covering every conceivable hobby, passion, and topic. To get your copy, please visit the Blurb Bookstore. For updates and entries from book contributors, please join lj_turns10.
Tweaks and enhancements
- You can now ban a user from all of your communities and journals at once. To access this feature, hover over the person's userpic and choose Ban user everywhere from the drop-down menu.
- Follow LiveJournal on Twitter!
Give a little to help a lot!
In honor of National AIDS Awareness month, we've added a new charitable vgift. For each red ribbon you purchase for $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine (we'll cover credit card fees). You can read more about IAVI at lj_cares. While we're on the subject, we raised $740 from our November fundraiser for Love Without Boundaries, which supports emergency healthcare and adoption of Chinese orphans. We thank you for helping us help others.
Photos of the week
We're back with more incredible pictures from our super-talented LiveJournal photographers. Congratulations to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
ilya_gorokhov, who is the winner of our very first lj_photophile poll.
Curtains
Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay safe and snug out there!
- Make a post (public, friends locked, filtered...whatever you're comfortable with) to your LJ. The post should contain your list of 10 holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fun ("I'd love a [fandom] icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.") The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.
- If you wish for real possible things, make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.
- Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ, or link to this post (it'll be public) so that the holiday joy will spread.
Step Two
- Surf around your friends list (or friends friends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:
- If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use--or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free (I'm now taking reservations for the next litter)--do it.
You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf--to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not--it's your call.
There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just...wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.
My Wishes:
1. External Hard Drive. There's the link to the one that is on my wishlist. Do I require new? No. I need an external to restart my music collection as currently I have no where to store it and it's very frustrating to go from having 80 gig of music to nothing. I would like at least a 250gig drive but I'd be good with anything to start with.
2. Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and / or Lego Batman. I've nearly completed Lego Star Wars and I've loved the heck out of it. I love that there's so many little easter eggs and places to explore. I really want to play these two games as well since I've hears such great things about them.
3. Gaming Keyboard. I'd love to be able to have more buttons to control my character when I'm swooping through City of Heroes and setting the world to right again.
4. Jewelry. I've been eying this fortune cookie necklace, this key pendant, and this gorgeous creation for ages now. There are even more etsy pieces I've fallen in love with on my amazon wish list since they allow you to add things from any other site.
5.One Cup Coffee Maker. Lynn doesn't drink coffee and I'm not a coffee-holic. I'd like one cup now and again and while I can use a traditional coffee maker for that ... that's a lot of work for a single cup. I'd rather something that's designed for that.
6. Nintendo DS. I'd love to have something small to carry around and pass the time one once in a while plus I have this whole one of each console gaming system thing going on.
7. Cards. I love getting mail and it's always a treat to open cards from friends.
8. Terrariums! This just appeals to me in so many ways and there's so many to choose from! I think Desert Biodome, Dinosaur Park, Carnivorous Creations, and Gothic Graveyard are too awesome for words but I've also seen some for fairies, herbs, bonsais, and vegetables.
9. Something you've made. Again ... I 'love' getting stuff in the mail and I have so many fantastically creative people on my list that I would love to have stuff from. Plus it's always fun to be asked where I got something and be able to reply that a friend made it.
10. Gift cards. Cards to craft stores or amazon are always wonderful!
Contact Info
- Location:Austin - Brigid
- Mood:
contemplative
We hung Christmas lights on our back deck this year, for the first time. At one point, we really needed to get a string of lights from one side of the deck to the other without going over the top. But I really didn't want to crawl under there--it's dark and cramped and filthy. So Sue had the idea of getting Marley to help. It's about time she started pulling her weight around here, we reasoned. So we tied the string of lights to Marley's collar while she was on one end of the deck, and I called her and waved a treat while on the other end. And it worked! She dragged the string of lights right where we needed them, and got a good treat for doing so.
Turns out, however, that apparently Marley's not the only little critter who goes under the deck. This morning I came outside and found that something had chewed right through the wires. Which, if you know Christmas lights, really means it chewed through three individual wires, twined together.
Having been the proud owner of a pet rabbit for 13 (!) years, I'm pretty sure I know what species of backyard creature we have that enjoys nibbling on power cords.
Darn it. Marley's first honest day's work in, well, ever, and some stupid rabbit undoes all of her grand accomplishments.
- Music:Toto/Brian Eno: Dune Soundtrack
The weather just got cold, and dog-walking tonight was less fun than it should have been; I wore gloves, and solitary crystalline flecks of snow spun into the light of my flashlight-beam and vanished again into the dark. I took Maddy and her friend Anna-Rose to violin tonight, and yesterday I carried the beautiful E. H. Shepard ink-drawing I got myself to celebrate the award in to the framers to be framed. I'm concerned that we should have insulated the beehives by now.
Dear Neil,
If you could choose a quote - either by you or another author - to be inscribed on the wall of a public library children's area, what would it be?
Thanks!
Lynn
I'm not sure I'd put a quote up, if it was me, and I had a library wall to deface. I think I'd just remind people of the power of stories, of why they exist in the first place. I'd put up the four words that anyone telling a story wants to hear. The ones that show that it's working, and that pages will be turned:
"...and then what happened?"
If there are any problems with the comic or website, or if you have any questions, comments, or complaints you would like to address directly to Randy, please email him at choochoobear@gmail.com.
I never quite managed to get started today, and haven't written a single word that wasn't part of an e-mail or something stupid on Twitter. Dammit.
So, in an effort to continue my daily-blog-o-phonic creative output, a very very short story:
The wind came down the canyon and blew ice and snow into Colin's face. He brushed it off his goggles, but had given up keeping it out of his beard days ago.
He looked up, but the summit was obscured by clouds. Still, he knew it was there, even if he could not see it, and so he continued to climb.
Well, it's more of a scene, (a very very short one, at that) but it's more than I've been able to muster all day, so ... that's something.
See you tomorrow, Internets.
Hey Everyone, we are about to run the last alter job that we need to on our database servers. This will effect userpics / scrapbook / vgift images for the next few hours. Have no fear, your images aren't lost, there is just a really intensive process running on the servers which store the information for mogilefs. Thank you for your understanding and all the LJ love...
Hey LJers,
I just wanted to let you all know that we are going to be performing some mogilefs maintenance over the next few days. We will be upgrading our current version to latest stable as well as changing some db config information to better handle the amount of files we are currently hosting. This shouldn't cause a big impact on site stability, but you may see some minor delays with userpic / scrapbook images appearing or other requests associated with our mogilefs. We would love to not have that happen, but unfortunately with some of the steps we need to take we have to cause a delay with images. I figured this was a better solution than taking down all of LiveJournal because well lets face it, we all need our daily LJ fix ;)
Thanks,
- Location:Jumping out of a perfectly good plane
- Mood:
dirty - Music:Bad Religion - Stranger Than Fiction
Profile
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someposifeed : [SP] You've Come Far [+7] - officialgaiman : What I plan to do this week [+6]
- city_of_heroes :: kviri : City in "windowed" mode at full resolution (no border, no titlebar, no taskbar). [+3]
- wilwheaton : ...remembering the irrational immortality of youth [+0]
- officialgaiman : In Which I Test Posterous [+9]
- dorktowerfeed : DORK TOWER, Friday, December 4, 2009 – Mayadamus [+0]
- montecook : Dungeonaday.com For the Holidays! (Take 2) [+0]
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- someposifeed : [SP] What Would He Say? [+12]
- pennyarcaderss : Comic: From The Desk of Robert Logitech [+19]
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