n3wt0n!

I’ve been playing Lord of Ultima in my spare time. It’s a browser-based city-building strategy game. Being that it’s played in a web browser, it’s Linux friendly (much like Ikariam).

Did I mention it’s free? It’s currently in open beta, anyone can sign up so long as there is space.

The following is a mock-up of what I’m aiming for one of my cities to look like. The layout was created with the City Planer tool (yes, planer, not planner), created by LoU player Nova.

That was the original plan. Here’s the updated city, using the existing resources.

Where is that free entertainment I mentioned earlier? Oh… not just free entertainment, it’s also legal entertainment. Legally free.

Here are some resources for free and legal entertainment. You won’t find any pirated works here, because the authors give it away free.

Books

• MCM – A Canadian author with everything from children’s stories to adult humour and science fiction. He’s also insane.
• Cory Doctorow – Another Canadian author of science fiction with a focus on freedom.
• Many Books – Where you can find books by the likes of MCM and Cory Doctorow and many many more authors.

Video

• Waaay too many to list, seriously. Here are a few.
• Revision 3 – Internet television hub that offers tech shows, bar tricks, stand-up comedy… and more.
• Miro – An internet TV client, like satellite for your computer.
• Public Domain Torrents – Old movies and TV shows that have passed into the public domain.

Music

• Beefy – Nerdcore artist.
• Jonathan Coulton – Geek folk-singer. Songs about vampires and scary dolls and robot friends (and overlords).
• Brad Sucks – Canadian musician and one man band (with no fans).
• MC Frontalot – Nerdcore’s originator. May not give albums away but he’s got a bunch of singles for download.
• Rhyme Torrents – 8 volumes of music, in addition to multiple halloween albums. Yes, I like Nerdcore.
• Hipster Please – DJ of Radio Free Hipster.

Games

• Newgrounds – Could almost fit into all the above categories. Flash games.
• Puzzle Pirates – Is a subscription service, but you can play for free as well. Puzzles… with pirates.
• Runescape – It’s a role playing game, and like Puzzle Pirates, you can play for free.

Now you can be poor and keep entertained at the same time, just like me!

So what has been going on with me? A whole lot of not very much.

Not very much in the way of paying work. I’m unemployed, and I have been since June 30th. There’s not a whole lot of work around here for someone with my abilities. Erm… I mean, for someone who wants to limit his job search to those that use his abilities.

I’ve had one phone interview with Ogopogo Media, but that didn’t get very far. Tip: Do not offer honesty in an interview. Answer only what they ask.

Huh? That means don’t be too honest (like I was). When asked about my PHP skills, I said they were “hobbyist”. That I did not have “professional” experience with PHP… and that I have never finished any of my PHP projects. Come to think of it… why am I writing that here for the world to see?

So while I’m waiting for employers to find me (because I’ve got no luck finding them) I’m working on what I like to call my “Creative Juices“. That is, one haiku, one 50 word story, and one image, every day. All original.

By today that should total 18 of each. Every day means Monday through Friday, by the way. I don’t work weekends (at least not yet).

So what does a broke-ass guy do to keep entertained on the cheap? I use the internets. It’s an endless source of entertainment. Free entertainment… after you get past the $50 a month charge for broadband internet. Hey, there’s some things a geek just won’t give up.

Legal entertainment. Legally free. Have I made my point? Here are some resources for free and legal entertainment. You won’t find any pirated works here, because the authors give it away free.

Stay tuned for free entertainment. I’ll post what I have to say about it fairly soon.

This is funny on it’s own merit.

Follow the White Rabbit

The following is  letter I wrote this morning to Alex Gruzen, Senior VP, Dell Product Group. The Inspiron Mini 9 I ordered should not take a month to ship, or in one poor guy’s case 56 days and counting. I’m still waiting…

I ordered a Dell Mini 9 in December of 2008, as did many people. As of this writing, the product is still sitting in “in production” limbo. My expected delivery date has developed a personality of its own and, unfortunately, I expect it to pull a “fast one” on me again (http://consumerist.com/5133860/dell-no-longer-believes-in-compensation-for-the-purpose-of-customer-satisfaction). What I mean is that my expected delivery date is approaching again (January 22) and that means when the date comes it will most likely be pushed back by yet another week.

I only ask for an explanation. I understand that you may be protecting your business partners’ interests and for that I applaud you and understand it may make the situation difficult. However, we customers, or at least myself particularly, grow weary of waiting. There is rumor going around that the Mini 9 production is running a low supply of chassis, as per this article (http://www.liliputing.com/2008/09/dell-inspiron-mini-9-facing-shipping-delays.html) from September 2008.

I do not want to have to wait much longer to receive my purchase. Sorry, purchase isn’t the word. I understand it is Dell’s practice, and a good one at that, to only charge when the product has shipped. What I mean to say is that I grow anxious waiting for the product to ship and for the moment when my credit card will be charged.

Thank you for your consideration.

-Kyle Newton
Customer Number: xxxx
Order Number: xxxx

Update

I’ve since canceled the order. I did not hear back, either in email form or web, that Dell was going to solve the problem of Inspiron Mini 9 shipping delays. Call me impatient… I’ll call myself the new owner of a 42″ LCD Television. I’d have loved the Mini 9 but my wife would love the TV more.

Update #2

Dell Corporate just phoned me back. It wasn’t Alex Gruzen who I had addressed the email to, but a representative. As I wasn’t expecting a phone call, I was quite surprised (and happy). It was explained to me that there is a shortage of components (the LCD screen and the CPU) needed to build the Mini 9. My order would not have moved into the delivery stage for another 3 weeks. I asked about preference and delivery and was told Dell does not show preference over business or home orders but deliver on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Unfortunately, I was not talked into re-ordering a Mini 9, though I told the representative, “I am sad that I canceled the order but I just couldn’t wait any longer”. I suppose at that point I was secretly hoping to be given “incentive” to purchase a Mini 9 to endure the long wait for delivery. Edit: I take that back. The whole point is for Dell to help everybody, mainly in the form of alerting customers about delays and potential shortages. Public awareness, so you know what you’re getting yourself into.

When asked if Dell would be releasing any information to the general public regarding the manufacturing delay, I was pointed to the Dell Blog, Direct2Dell. I was told that information regarding the subject may be appearing there, and to make use of the search feature for the keyword “mini”.

I’ve left a comment on the Consumerist article with all that I’ve written here.