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In lieu of commenting on the ever-disappointment of the Seahawks, here is an article on a coke can without paint.  I dub thee shiny coke and I wish saving the world was always so aesthetically pleasing.  The brand managers at coke would flip, but that’s a sharp looking product right there.  Lazy Monday post…

Sunday means cooking.  A few weekends ago I made this Apple Pear Cranberry pie and it actually turned out quite well.

Instead of making the crust, we just bought a premade crust and then mixed up enough batter for the top.  We also craisons instead of actual cranberries.  …also we put in significantly much cinnamon.  Still turned out excellent.  Enjoy!

I finally got around to reading Fahrenheit 451.  Year after year it’s made my list of books to read and year after year I never quite manage it.  There’s a certain small irony in never-reading a book that’s fundamentally about a culture that no longer reads, but there’s only so much time and far too many books.

It’s a scary book.  It’s taken its rightful place as one of the cultural dystopias in the public consciousness along with Brave New World and 1984.  Fahrenheit 451 is a well-known and famous classic so I hardly have any place discussing whether it is a ‘good’ book or a ‘bad’ book, but I do have a place in discussing whether it is proving true.

As mentioned repeatedly before, I work for a Library System.  I do not work at or for any one library, but I manage, in part, the technology behind seventy different libraries.  As part of my job I respond to the technical needs and questions of the member libraries and I periodically attend library conferences where the future of libraries is discussed.

In Fahrenheit 451 book burning is not really the great evil.  It is a natural response to a cultural anomie towards knowledge.  Having a book isn’t a grand crime against the state as much as it is a grand crime against the society.  Pursuit of knowledge is frivolous and dangerous for everyone and so book-burning is a honorable and necessary response.

It is easy to dismiss any dystopian novel if one only attends to the specific evils.  Our culture is hardly going down the road of Alpha and Beta people or Room 101s.  The motivations and causes of the dystopian settings must be analyzed outside of the  fictional results.  Fahrenheit 451 has a number of foundation motivations, media distraction and anti-intellectualism among them, both of which are present concerns in contemporary society.  But is there any basis for this?  As much as we might fear the coming ‘idiocracy’  that doesn’t make it a looming threat.

From the standpoint of libraries, things are not so terribly bad at all.  Library circulation is almost universally up.  The rate, by percentage, has fallen off to an extent, but libraries are hardly flailing.  They are getting more patrons than ever before, more books are checked out than in any time in history, and the number of library resources is growing as fast as our culture itself.

Books, well, physical books are living on borrowed time.  E-books will someday become more convenient, cheaper, and more accessible than any physical book, but is that such a bad thing?  Books themselves were an improvement on fragile papyrus, expensive velium, and immovable stone.  E-books and other digital distribution methods will not destroy books, they will improve books.  Even in this future world, the libraries that Ray Bradbury loved so much, have a place.  Already our library system is setting up methods of e-book distribution.  Our libraries provide public wireless, printing capability, and power for a casual read.  Our current catalog allows for searches of our system to be made anywhere in the world and holds can be placed for later pickup.  Combine the search with a digital distribution method and libraries will transcend any fire that Guy Montag might light.

True enough, libraries are on a point of change and they do not always respond so optimistically, but neither books nor libraries no intellectualism seem to be slowing in anyway.  If anything, the great battles fought over such a nebulous concept are signs of its triumphant success.  The digital age has become both a near infinite source of and a tremendous inspiration to knowledge and any backlash, no matter how loud or vigorous, is little more than dying screams.

I enjoyed Farhenheit 451 immensely.  It is a tremendous work and expertly written, but reading it I could not help but feel that it’s power is lost on me.  Perhaps in the Cold War, when it was written, the sense of doom was greater, but sitting here at a computer, connected to more ‘books’ than anyone ever has been in history, the fear is lost.  Farhenheit 451 was successful.  What it set out to do has already been done.  Every book has been fireproofed and rendered immune.  The ashes that are left mean not a thing.

I’ve been terribly remiss in not reviewing Dragon Age: Origins, but I’ve been giving it some time to develop. I haven’t finished yet, but I’ve gotten through most of the story line. I feel content that I’ve seen enough to review it properly.

Is it Baldur’s Gate? No. Is it close? Yeah.

Dragon Age: Origins could be described as Neverwinter Nights with a better story and unshackled from D&D rules. They’ve managed to continue Bioware’s high world-building standards in all the best ways. It has plenty of the usual fantasy tropes, but the world is expansive and fresh. There world is immensely creative and interest in its own right, and quite beautiful as well. The dungeons, in particular, are absolute gorgeous. Dwarven cities, forest ruins, and mountain temples are all portraits, as fun to explore for the architecture as they are for the beast slaying.

Dragon Age isn’t Baldur’s Gate because it’s not quite as large, the character’s not quite as numerous, the story not quite as good, and the lore not quite as deep. It’s close and it’s strong, but it’s not quite there. It’s not Elder Scrolls either. The world has a plotline and the character is obliged to follow it. The world lives as a story, not as a open-society. Still, it’s a damn good story, with interesting character, and a lot of fun opportunities for gameplay.

There’s the usual weak romance side quest. They’ve never been done very well, but they can be amusing. The character building, no longer stuck to D&D rules, is quite fun. I genuinely looked forward to leveling up to see what new skill I would get to play with. It seems a bit shallow at first, but there’s actually a strong depth to the whole system that was surprising. My Dwarven shield-wall works well as the gruff, tough bastard he’s tying to be.

There are six origin stories that start your character off in the world. I’ve played through one of them so far and it was excellent. It was a good length and made my character feel like he was a deeper part of the world. An excellent idea. I fully intend to at least jump into the others and see what the story is.

Also noteworthy is the ‘moral’ choices the game has you make. Almost each of the main quests results in the player being forced to make a decision between two or more ambiguously good options. In a few cases the ‘good’ and the ‘not as good’ options present themselves easily, but there were a few quests where I genuinely had to think about what I wanted to do. It’s rare that the distinction between good and evil has been so shadowed. I was immensely impressed.

My usual complaints remain. The number of areas is too few and they’re too small. I always want more cities and a larger world. My hero is, once again, the grand hero which gets a bit cliche. For once, I’d like the story to concentrate on me helping the big hero…and maybe only emerging late in the game as more than a 2nd stringer. My character’s growth arc is over pretty much by the middle of the story which is a story-telling flaw. Still, the sword bashing doesn’t get old.

I haven’t had a decent RPG to play since the Gothic world ran its course (maybe a new one coming out soon) or the excellent Elder Scrolls 4, which will inevitably have a sequel. Dragon Age is not perfect, but it’s very very solid. I’d call it an A+ effort with an A- execution. I’m not done with it yet, and with five more origin stories to play and a few separate plot decisions to make I’m not sure I will be very soon either.

SO I’m got the one plot line read. There are a handful of tweaks and I’m not one hundred percent happy with the last chapter, but otherwise it’s solid. A few artifacts seem out of place so I’m having those moved around. In general everything seemed to come together. It’s the shortest of the plotlines, really just a bookcase for the other larger one, but I felt entertained reading it. I explore some of the larger cultural issues of the world, which isn’t strictly necessary for the plot, but I feel like it opens the world up in a way that is useful as well as interesting.

Next up: the main plot. It’s the longest and so probably the most time-consuming. I expect another week or two. I have Veteran’s Day off so that’ll give me good time to work, but….I also purchased Dragon Age: Origins (review forthcoming), which is always in my mind begging me to play. Overall schedule is still to finish this whole damn thing this month. I feel like I’m going to miss it by a week.

I’m linking to a month old review of 9.10 from when it came out to use as a starting point.  Ubuntu has became one of a handful of key names within the Linux Community.  As a desktop Linux distribution it is in my opinion and that of many others, by far the most mature.  Fedora is maybe a close second and I still rely on Centos (a variation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux) for my servers, but Ubuntu has really ran out ahead of the pack for home use.

Normally, this would just be my opinion on Linux, which doesn’t necessarily stand for all that much.  I’m an infrequent Linux home user, who is not at all involved in development.  I’m an amateur blogger, with a nonexistent audience and no standing track record of popularizing products of technology.  In this case, however I have a unique angle in the Linux debate.

Without going into too many specifics, I manage indirectly the computers within almost seventy separate libraries.  I am in a position to directly install Linux operating systems in some cases and to recommend them in many others.  I may not have any grand audience or any huge commanding sway over the populace, but I am in a position where I can familiarize the general public with Linux.

For years and years, the cries have been ‘Linux has come.  It’s ready.”  It’s never been true, not really.  Even now it’s only questionably true.  Sure, Linux can do everything Windows does and often a little bit better, but that’s not enough to upset a market and, more importantly, the status quo.  No, Linux has to be above and beyond.  It’s still not there.

However, speaking as a network administrator, it’s close enough.  I fully intend to begin phasing Linux machines into the library system.  We already use freebsd and ipcop firewall boxes in many cases, but I intend to put a few OPAC linux machines out there this year.  OPAC machines are barely more than dumb terminals.  They’re computers that log directly into firefox and go straight to our OPAC website.  No other functionality is necessary.  It is hardly a cutting edge use of Linux development, but it is a good first step in familiarizing the library staff and eventually the public at large.

It is a side note and beyond the discussion I want to have here today, but what happens once Linux wins?  Just like any improved ideology that eventually triumphs (albeit only slowly and at great cost), Linux will have to come to terms with its success.  What will that world look like?  How hard will companies and governments fight to restrict the various freedoms currently associated with the Linux community?  Once proprietary development turns towards Linux, where will that leave the market?  The pessimist in me suspects that much of the community will come to regret their own success.  There are always consequences to these sorts of things and as long as Linux is a “hobby” development is largely unmolested by the innate stupidity of the market.  Then again, maybe I’ll be surprised.

At the moment, it’s a non issue.  Linux is the underdog, but I’ll be doing my part.  I have a personal goal to push through 10% Linux saturation throughout the libraries within two years.  It’s an ambitious goal only in that it requires the library staff (in my experience, notoriously close-minded towards technology) to embrace it in any measure.  I’ll be discussing this further as my work comes to fruition.

Happy Birthday, Dad!  Now that you’ve read this you can scratch ‘celebrate birthday’ off the to-do list!

Your season is over. Yesterday’s loss to the Cardinals drops you out of playoff contention. It was a hard fought game, but you let Warner throw all over the field. It’s been a rough season. Time to go back to the drawing board and try to have as good an offseason as we had last year.

Genesis Bar and Restaurant

As part of my continuing quest to eat at every restaurant in New Paltz, I finally hit up Genesis Restaurant and Bar, the newest establishment in tower. It’s a bit ambiguous overall. Tucked away from the read new the motel, it stands where an old chinese buffet used to be. After eating there, I think Genesis might last a bit longer than the previous establishment.

In a town that already has two diners, Genesis isn’t anything especially different. The food was mostly standard diner fare. I had a ‘Louisiana panini’, which as far as I could tell was grilled chicken on panini bread with barbecue sauce. Not exactly exciting, but it was solid and the steak fries were filling.

The decor is general that of an average family restaurant. It only opened last week so it is still quite crowded on novelty alone, but the service was decent and the decor is pleasant. They have a salad and soup bar, the usual bakery items for sale, and also butter cookies at the front register which was a nice touch. In a crowded field of restaurants I’m not Genesis offered anything exceptional, but it was a fair evening and the food was enjoyable. It is the sort of place that I can go when I’m tired of the other stops in town.

Paul’s Kitchen

The day after halloween I ate at Paul’s Kitchen in town. It’s a quaint little place across from the Episcopal church. Overall rating: I’m a fan.

It’s a small restaurant, maybe thirty seats at most. They seem mostly breakfast oriented although they do serve lunch. The service was a tad slow, but very friendly and the warm, inviting stressfree atmosphere is commendable.

I ordered the 1890’s Benedict, which was a standard Eggs Benedict with home fries. Both were somewhat bland. I prefer the hollandaise sauce to be a bit sharper and the homes fries to have be spicier, but neither was unpleasant. I seem to recall that the prices were slightly more than I would want to pay, but competitive with the other breakfast places in town. I rather doubt Paul’s kitchen will unseat the New Paltz Bistro as the most popular breakfast place in town, but I don’t want to wait two hours of for a seat Paul’s kitchen is a excellent alternative. On the atmosphere alone I would return for a second plate. I’m eager to try out some of the other items on the menu.

One of the best presentations I’ve watched ever.  Warning…it’s science.