When law enforcement isn’t —
There’s never an excuse for a member of law enforcement using physical violence against an unarmed, unresisting child.
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MinecraftEdu and Minechem —
I’m pleased to announce that Minechem has been selected for inclusion in MinecraftEdu! It’s a huge honor, and I look forward to working with the MinecraftEdu team to promote interactive learning!
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Speaking out against abuse: Fifty Shades of Grey —
As a general rule, I avoid discussing controversial subjects, because I’m content to just keep my head down and write code. I’m choosing to speak up on this, because abuse of this sort is wrong, and when society is uplifting it as desirable, it makes me sick.
This is a statement written by my best friend and life partner, which I’ve re-posted here with permission.
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A prayer to St. Murpy —
Hail St. Murphy, king of lies,
make my work confound the wise.
Hear my prayer in time of fear,
respond in ways both fickle and queer.
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128 days later —
As of this morning, I’ve made a commit to github every day for 128 days.
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Authentication, Encryption, and Acixs Hosting —
“The purpose of encryption is to prevent third parties from recovering the original information” ~wikipedia
Last night, an email from Acixs Hosting was posted on Twitter by Minalien (saved version). The conversation that followed that upsets me, both as a person and as an IT professional. The email was just a jumping off point, but I want to address a couple of things, some very nit-picky, some not so much, before I move on.
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Farewell to th3j35t3r (or…maybe not so much) —
Apparently, th3j35t3r is leaving us. I say “apparently”, because I’m still not 100% convinced that this isn’t some elaborate opsec that he’s running. In the past, we’ve had instances of th3j35t3r going dark for various and sundry purposes.
UPDATE: Well, it looks like he’s back. I’ll feel safer knowing that the “Internet Batman” is still out there, doing what he does best.
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Accidents Happen —
Death is but a whisper
teasing in the dark
beckoning with peace and rest
’till it finds its mark
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Multi Icon .desktop Fix —
When running a dock bar on Linux, I’ve had problems with applications I pin to the dock showing up a second time when they’re running.
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Grandpa Marvin —
Last Thursday night, my grandfather died. Today was his funeral.
I regret that just when I was starting to learn the most from him, I left for college. I regret that by the time I came home, he was no longer able to teach me like he used to. I regret that I ran out of time.
My grandpa was the one who taught me how to use many of the metalworking tools that I’ve come to love using. The lathe, the forge, the welder, the plasma cutter, the drill press and grinder. He taught me about engines and structural integrity and material fatigue. He taught me that sometimes, you have to beat your head against a problem until it gives in, and you solve it.
This post is a dedication to all the things he taught me.
This post is grief mixed with joy.
This post cannot begin to describe the hole he’s left in my life.
Minecraft, Microsoft, and Modding —
Update (15 September): So, looks like it’s official. Microsoft owns Mojang, or will as soon as the contracts are signed.
That said, I’d like to point out that my reasoning for “wait and see” is still valid. We don’t know what Microsoft will do with Minecraft. So, for now…I’m going to keep modding, and keep playing. And maybe, just maybe, Microsoft will treat the community in a mature and understanding way.
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Minechem Element Discovery —
I’ve added a new set of perks to my Patreon page. The perk I’m specifically talking about here is one called “Element Discovery”. How’s it work? Pretty simple.
In the next few days, I’ll be adding a “Discovered By:” line to the tooltip of some elements. Anyone who has donated any amount up to the date of posting will get one, and moving forward anyone who pledges more than $17 via Patreon will get their name added to an element. I’ll start randomly assigning them from a pool containing the most basic elements (hydrogen, oxygen, argon, iron, etc).
For Patreons who pledge $23 or more, I’ll be offering the opportunity to select which element you’d like to “discover”. Want to be the mad scientist who discovered Uranium? Or what about the genius who discovered Penicillin? Care to have your name associated with Caffeine? Or how about Carbon?
Interested? Go check out the new goals and pledge rewards on my Patreon, and your name could be on the Caffeine molecule!
Note: I’ll put your username, or the name of your choice on the element or compound, but I’ll veto any vulgar or insulting names.
Modpacks, permissions, and the Real World —
I’ve got a very simple stance on modpacks using my mods: Go ahead. Use my mods in any modpack, public or private, however you want. I’d love to hear from you about your modpack, but that’s a suggestion, not a requirement.
That’s the simple, easy, and quotable-for-permissions-requirements version of it.
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