Geek-Speak

0100001101101111011011010111000001110101011101000110010
1011100100010000001000111011001010110010101101011001111
1100100000001000000101011101101000011011110010011101110
0110010000001100001001000000110001101101111011011010111
0000011101010111010001100101011100100010000011001110110
0101011001010110101100111111

The above statement has been translated into binary code--anybody know what it says?

This site translates ordinary ascii code (that's letters & numbers & such for you non-geeks) into ones & zeros which is what computers do with all the data (text, graphics, sound ,etc.) that's input into them. It's really pretty amazing when you realize that all those pretty graphics and everything is just a bunch of ones and zeroes on the most basic level.

I happened upon this site and decided to put it here for for no reason at other than I am bored and waiting for my frozen pizza to cook.

Oh by the way, here's what that binary code says:

Computer geek? Who's a computer geek?

10/10

10/10...that's how many books I've read and movies I've seen so far this summer. I guess not having cable TV to stare at all day has given me more time to do other things. Had my cable turned off to save money--thought I'd miss it a lot but really haven't all that much. With cable, the internet, movies, books, dvds, computer/video games, sometimes there's just TOO many things to take up your time. I remember when I was a kid (long, long ago in a neighborhood a few blocks away) we had an old 21" black and white TV which could pick up only the 3 local channels, if you managed to get the "rabbit ears" antenna positioned at just the right angle. Also if a tube blew out--yeah those old sets had vacuum tubes, my Mom would check in the back of the set to see which ones were not lighting up, remove the dead tube, then go to a local store that sold them to buy a replacement. No need to call an expensive TV repairman. My Mom did know a guy who repaired TV's so she could get a specail price if something really required more work than just a tube replacement.

Times were rough back in the Dark Ages...
That's right...NO Cable TV (we couldn't have afforded it anyway)
NO Computers (the government had a few, I guess)
NO Internet (which means NO web porn *sniff* how sad is that?)
NO Compact discs (had these vinyl things called records)
NO DVD's (did have drive-in theaters--pretty cool)
NO Video games (just board games,including one my Mom made on a piece
of linoleum, based on her memory of a game she played
as a kid herself)
And I'm sure there are other things I haven't thought of...

Anyway, I've gotten a bit off-topic. First off the movies I've seen are as follows:
1- Star Wars III: Revenge Of The Sith
2- Batman Begins
3- Fantastic Four
4- Howl's Moving Castle
5- War Of The Worlds
6- Land Of The Dead
7- Dark Water
8- Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
9- March Of The Penguins
10- The Island

What's really strange about me seeing all those movies is the fact that last year I saw only ONE movie at a theater ALL year! And that was I, Robot last July. Even odder is that I hadn't been to a movie theater for over 3 years before that. I've said here before I don't get out much--guess I'm making up for it this year!

Well I think I'll save the titles of the books I've read for my next post because this is getting kinda long, plus I have been sitting here at this silly computer for a couple of hours, after having watched the "Batman" and "OnePiece" cartoons this morning. I haven't even taken time to eat, except for a little coffee and 2 bite-size Hesrhey bars. Some healthy diet, huh? And I should be packing up some stuff 'cause I think I'll be moving next week (more on that later too). And it wouldn't hurt for me to at least get dressed--that's right--I'm in my underwear...kinda sexy...huh...or kinda scary...be thankful this isn't on webcam :)
Also I shouldn't be sitting inside on such a beautiful day--all too soon it will be cold and snowy out. I know its been too hot for some people this summer, but I would rather sweat a little than get frostbite waiting in the cold for a bus that doesn't show up, as has happened to me many times in past winters.

OK...I'll shut up now and go put some pants on; thanks for reading this nonsense of mine.
Have a good weekend everyone!! :)

Mobile blog: sitting in park-trying to decide what to do tonight-feeling bored & restless :( need to get a life i guess! Martin

Virtual Reality...Almost

Check out this cool site! And I never use the word 'cool' ('cause I sound really lame saying it, I think) but this site is really cool!

It has panaramic views from around the world. You can move in all directions and zoom in or out using the 'shift' & 'control' keys.

This is about as close as I'll probably ever get to visiting some of these places. This would be even better if I had some VR goggles to wear while viewing it.

Thanks again to StumbleUpon.com for finding this for me. No, they're NOT paying me to mention their site--I just happen to like it.

Strange Website

Found this site through StumbleUpon.com using my Stumble toolbar. Don't know what its purpose is but it is just very strange so I thought I would put a link to it.

Hint: If she gets stuck just click on her and drag her to get her going again.

You'll have to visit the site to understand that hint...

California...Here I Come....Well Someday, Maybe

A quick quiz--so, I should live in Californai...sounds good to me. And Hey!--I just read they're going to open a retirement community for GLBT people in L.A. Maybe I should submit my application now to avoid the rush :)

You scored as California. CALIFORNIA'S FOR YOU...HECK YES!!

California

59%

FLORIDA

33%

NEVADA

33%

NEW YORK

33%

WYOMING

25%

WASHINGTON

8%

UTAH

8%

LOUISIANA
8%

Tonight WAS NOT The Night After All !

Tonight was a total bust! Guess I'm not meant to be a social person after all!

Here's what happened...I left my apartment about 6:05 PM to go to the bus stop which is about a 10 minute walk away...bus was due at 6:35 but, of course was 10 minutes late, arriving at 6:45 instead (Albany's bus service sucks, by the way). I got off at the last stop before the theater but still had a 5-minute walk to get there; the bus doesn't pass the movie theater. I ended up arriving there at 6:55; yesterday I'd gotten an e-mail confirming we were to meet there at 7 PM, so I thought I had still just barely made it on time. No one from the group is in the lobby and I don't know what movie they were planning on seeing because we were going to vote on that( 2 movies had close votes). I even asked the ticket sellers if they knew if a group had come in, but of course they didn't because they had a large crowd of people arriving. So since I couldn't find the group I settled on seeing a movie on my own and ended up seeing a documentary on Emperor penguins who live in the Antartic at the South Pole. It was the only movie that hadn't started yet, but actually I enjoyed it.

When I got home and turned on my computer, I checked my e-mail...and guess what!...there's an e-mail from the group organizer sent at 5:54 PM saying that we should meet at 6:20 to pick the movie we want to see! Now I don't want to sound petty, but isn't that a bit late to change the meeting time? I had checked my e-mail at 5:30 and had no new messages and turned my computer off at about 5:45-5:50 so I could get ready to leave. Even if I HAD seen that message, I couldn't have made it by 6:20 because its a good 30-minute walk from my apartment and the bus wouldn't have gotten me there before 6:40 even if it had been on time. Now I realize most people have cars and could probably get there in 10 minutes, but it still seems like changing the meeting time an hour before the original time is a bit of a short notice! Not everyone checks their e-mail that often, so a lot of people could miss that late a change.

So after seeing my little penguin movie, I walked back towards home, disappointed that I'd missed the group; after seeing that e-mail I got a bit angry tho because I think the organizer should have sent notice sooner about the time change. I would have been even more angry, but judging by his picture on the Cinema site, he's really kinda cute. The baby penguins were cute too.

Today has been a extremely hot humid day (its like being in a steam bath). On my way back, I stopped at a grocery store to get a couple items. I was only in the store about 5 minutes, but when I went back outside my glasses completely fogged up due to the change in temperature and the humidity outside.

Next I stopped at the park where there's a production of the musical "South Pacific" being put on, so I thought I'd stop and watch some of that (even tho I saw it all last week). No more than 5 minutes after I got there, they announced they had to stop the performance 'cause the rain earlier had fouled up their sound equipment.

So all-in-all, tonight was not a lot of fun...maybe I'll move down to the South Pole & live with the penguins--they seemed really nice. And speaking of moving, that's another story I have to tell, but I'll do that tomorrow because this post is kinda long and I'm too tired to write anymore.

Tonight's The Night

Yes, tonight's the night I go to my first "movie meetup" with a local Meetup group. I'm a little nervous because this is not something I normally would do--go somewhere with people I don't know. I'm not a very social person and meeting new people is difficult for me but that's the main reason I decided to do this. To try to become a bit more sociable and comfortable around people.
Right now the weather is not being very cooperative--we have had a couple of torrential downpours (thunderstorms) within the past hour or so...I'm hoping it stops before I have to go out. I have to walk or catch a bus as I don't have a car, so hopefully the rain will take a break long enough for me to get to the theater. Last night I told a friend what I was doing tonight and he was surprised because he knows I don't go out.

I'll post here later to tell how it all went. Unless, of course, I get abducted into a sex slave ring operating under a fake "internet movie group" scam. Actually that might not be so bad either :)

Albany is a such a b-o-r-i-n-g place to live that i am sitting here sending posts to my blog from my phone... :( Martin

I want to go home-i am tired of being stuck here on earth-i want to return to my own planet far far away in space! Martin

Mid-Summer Update

Pheeew! Its really hot here today! Almost 90 degrees with high humidity, which according to the weather report, makes it 'feel' like its about 103 degrees. Actually, I like the hot weather but the humidity is hard to take. The weather is the main reason I haven't been posting much lately. I've been spending most of my days outside enjoying the nice weather because it won't be long before the cold winds are blowing again. And I hate winter! Summer seems to go by so fast while winter lingers forever.
Most days I've been leaving my apartment early in the morning, returning home in the afternoon to shower and change clothes and go back out for the evening. I don't have air-conditioning in my apartment, so its best to find a cool place outdoors to spend the day. Usually I'm down by the Hudson river or in a local park, or take a trip to a shopping mall to get out of the heat.
Had my cable TV turned off for the summer to save money so I have had more time to read and have finished 5 books so far. Also have seen 5 movies at the theater which is a record number for me. Last year I saw only one all year long! I plan to list the books I've read and the movies I've seen in a later post, maybe give a brief review of each. I will say that my favorite of the movies I've seen was "Howl's Moving Castle"--a Japanese anime film about a young woman who is cursed by a witch and turned into a 90-year-old woman. She then has to find the wizard "Howl" to help turn her back to normal. Howl lives in a castle that walks along on these chicken-like legs. There's a lot of funny scenes in the movie. I love Japanese anime because the stories are usually a bit weird and you never can be certain what strange twists the story might take.

Also I'm been catching up on my comic book reading--got quite a few I never got around to reading when I first bought them. So basically, I've just been goofing off all summer :) But work will return soon enough so I want to enjoy my time off.

I may be moving next month though so I've got to start getting ready, packing up stuff and getting rid of crap I don't want. The guys who own the building I live in plan to completely redo the place. The front of the building needs to be rebuilt and they want to redo the inside as well. But they also own the house next door to me and one of the tenants there is moving out, so they said I could look at that apartment August 1 and decide if I want to move in there. That will be a lot of work but at least if I take that apartment, I won't have far to go.

One last item--next Tuesday, I'm going to see a movie with a group of people I've never met. I found a site on the internet called Meetup Groups, which is different groups of people who share similiar interests, such as movies, books, politics,etc. I joined the Albany Cinema Group and we'll be meeting next week at the theater--don't know yet what film we are seeing--we vote on that to decide. Now for me this is an unusual thing to do as I spend my time alone mostly. But I felt I should try to make an effort to get out more and meet others, so this is a small step towards that goal.

Well, that's it for now...I'm going to get ready to go out...there's a play being put on in the park tonight, "South Pacific", and while I'm not crazy about musicals, I think I will go over to see it. It looks like it going to rain right now, but it will probably just be a quick thunderstorm that should move on before before the play starts at 8 PM.

Singing Horses

Strange, very strange...that's all I can say about this site.

Free Z Comic

Here's a comic created by Willie Hewes which is a sensitive and touching portrayal of the plight of Zach and others who are victims of "gay conversion" programs.

I originally found this comic through Peterson Toscano's blog A Musing, someone who has first-hand experience with such programs as he spent many years going through such so-called treatment. Peterson currently works as a performance artist doing pieces on the ex-gay movement based on his experiences. He has a site called Doing Time In The Homo No Mo Halfway House where you can see a short video of some of the characters he plays.

You Are Strawberry Ice Cream

A bit shy and sensitive, you are sweet to the core. You often find yourself on the outside looking in. Insightful and pensive, you really understand how the world works. You are most compatible with chocolate chip ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

Go Here Now!!

Ask no questions...just go here!!

Mythological God Test

As you can see from this and the following posts, I've spent my afternoon taking tests on the internet. So I thought I might as well put them here so at least then it doesn't seem like a "complete" waste of time. What can I say--I was 'that' one kid in class that actually enjoyed taking tests when I was in school.
At least I didn't spend all day browsing porn sites, ummm...porn...well, there's always torrow for that :)

Thoth Indeed, you are 79% erudite, 45% sensual, 29% martial, and 58% saturnine.

Thoth, the Egyptian God of secret wisdom, intellect, geometry and other forms of higher mathematics, was also the God of books and learning, of writing and numbers. And above all, he was the God of Magic. Indeed, he was the first and greatest of all magicians, said to create miracles from nothing by the mere vibrations of his voice alone. Within his main temple were said to be stored his books of magic which were open for the edification of all, providing those absorbing this magic understood its sacred content. Over the centuries, these books were said to have been carefully translated by various priests of secret orders until finally, the Greeks compiled them as the works of Hermes Trismegistus. One book most everyone is familiar with which is attributed to the mysteries of the God Thoth is the Tarot, considered to be an unbound book of symbols that may be read in an endless variety of sequences imitating the random nature of existence itself. The Fifteen Gods These are the 15 categories of this test. If you score above average in � �all or none of the four variables: Dagda. � Erudite: Thoth. � Sensual: Frey. � Martial: Mars. � Saturnine: Mictlantecuhtli. � Erudite & Sensual: Amun. � Erudite & Martial: Odin. � Erudite & Saturnine: Anubis. � Sensual & Martial: Zeus. � Sensual & Saturnine: Cernunnos. � Martial & Saturnine: Loki. � Erudite, Sensual & Martial: Lug. � Erudite, Sensual & Saturnine: Coyote. � Erudite, Martial & Saturnine: Hades. � Sensual, Martial & Saturnine: Pan.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 35% on erudite You scored higher than 0% on sensual You scored higher than 6% on martial You scored higher than 74% on saturnine

Link: The Mythological God Test written by Nitsuki on Ok Cupid

Animal Totem Quiz

You scored as Ram. You are the Ram. You often live in reality but turn it into your imagination at every turn. New beginnings are a favorite for you. You rule the mountains as a mejestic being. Ram 100% Eagle 83% Salmon 83% Dragon 75% Deer 75% Fox 75% Horse

Computer Geek Test

See, I'm NOT that big of a geek, after all! Only 51% geeky...so there.

Oh...not another test!

Hey, I'm only 23% stupid--that's not so bad!

Personality Test

Extraversion || 10%
Stability |||||||||||||||| 70%
Orderliness |||||||||||||||| 63%
Altruism |||||||||||| 50%
Interdependence || 10%
Intellectual |||||||||||||||||||| 90%
Mystical |||||| 30%
Artistic |||| 16%
Religious || 10%
Hedonism || 10%
Materialism |||||| 30%
Narcissism |||||| 30%
Adventurousness || 10%
Work ethic |||||| 23%
Self absorbed |||||| 30%
Conflict seeking |||||||||| 36%
Need to dominate |||| 16%
Romantic |||||||||||||||| 63%
Avoidant |||||||||||||||||||| 83%
Anti-authority |||||||||||||||||| 76%
Wealth || 10%
Dependency || 10%
Change averse |||||||||||||||| 70%
Cautiousness |||||||||||||||||| 76%
Individuality |||||||||||||||| 63%
Sexuality |||||||||||| 43%
Peter pan complex |||||||||||||||| 63%
Physical security |||||||||||||||| 70%
Physical fitness |||||||||||||||| 64%
Histrionic |||| 16%
Paranoia |||||||||||||||||||| 83%
Vanity |||||| 30%
Hypersensitivity |||||||||||||||| 70%
Female cliche |||||| 23%

Stability results were high which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic..

Orderliness results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly organized, reliable, neat, and hard working at the expense of flexibility, efficiency, spontaneity, and fun.

Extraversion results were very low which suggests you are extremely reclusive, quiet, unassertive, and secretive.

trait snapshot:
secretive, organized, clean, rarely worries, solitary, high self control, dislikes large parties, prefers organized to unpredictable, prudent, observer, tough, self reliant, very good at saving money, introverted, perfectionist, mind over heart, not controlling of others, hard working, confident, resolute, solitary, does not make friends easily, finisher, does not like to stand out, very practical, intellectual, unsympathetic at times, honest, respects authority, follows the rules, cautious

These are the results of a personality test I took earlier and I have to say its a bit scary just how correct it seems to be. Give it a try--it only takes 10-15 minutes and if you give honest answers it seems remarkably accuarate.
I had to copy and paste the chart on top, though, as it was too wide to fit here without overlapping the sidebar.

Its at: SimiliarMinds.com