Yeah, it has been a while since I have posted an update on the site.

Recently, I decided to learn how to write documentation using the LaTeX typesetting system in order to avoid the hassles of word processing systems or dealing with minute styles and formatting. Instead, I get to focus on writing and structuring documents.

Even though I have not used LaTeX to typeset technical documents yet, I decided to use it to typeset a short, introspective story that I am writing about the enigma that has been my life. So far, LaTeX has been quite simple to use and has given me a chance to think more of what to write and remember (or not want to remember in some cases).

As far as the story, it is a long-term project which I will post portions and/or drafts regularly. The resultant story will be released under an appropriate Creative Commons license (I have yet to decide on which one to use).

More updates to follow.

Having been blue over the past several days, it gave me a chance to expand the list of depressing songs and why I find them depressing. The new additions include:

• Matchbox Twenty: Unwell and Bed of Lies
• Lifehouse: Everything

As well as a couple of songs by Barenaked Ladies.

Now that I have a Squeezebox in the living room, it is much easier to queue up depressing songs on-demand. At this point, I do not know if that is a blessing or a curse. (by the way, a brief review of the device is coming up in the next week or two.)

Ever since I was a kid, I love watching PBS on the local station, OPB. I can remember watching everything from Square One, 3-2-1 Contact, Hometime, various high-school and college math courses (which would explain my elementary school years), and Doctor Who.

But, if there was one thing that would always spook me out was at the end of several shows. It all starts off with a black screen, then came a flash of orange and some odd, loud and electric sound that fluctuated... it was the WGBH identification and stinger. Not only that, but the next thing I would see is a picture of some forest with the words "Portland Nursery". For a long time, I would immediately switch channels when either would come up, mostly when it lead to the introduction sequence for "Mystery!"

Back to the present, I now am anxious and sometimes excited to see and hear the WGBH identification and stinger, mostly after watching "Frontline". The experience is even better on a large screen with the speakers turned up.

Tonight, I went to my ten year high school reunion primarily to get out for an evening and to see if I would remember some of my classmates.

I was somewhat surprised that I could recognize a fair number of people, while others I do not remember or could not recognize at all. For many, they looked like and had the same personality from ten years ago; others the faces were familiar but the demeanor changed dramatically... at least from my perspective. Someone who had routinely picked on me for a while back then seemed to be a lot more friendly.

I came to the reunion knowing that I would mostly likely leave depressed and disappointed with myself; obviously, that's how I felt driving home.

I also knew that I wouldn't see a certain person at the reunion, I still left with a heavy heart when she didn't attend the reunion.

Even after ten years, the reunion just felt like almost any other day in high school: felt lonely, distant, shy and overall, a mixed bag.

As reported by GameSpot and Ars Technica, the Wii Virtual Console will soon get three games released on the NeoGeo console! The three games are World Heroes, Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting, which I fondly remember playing and wasting unknown number of quarters on Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting.

Over the past two weeks, I have finished entering panelist and guest scores for all of the 2005 "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" shows. Also, bar graphs have been added in the "Panelist Statistics" section to show the distribution of scores for each panelist. The updates are available at the WWDTM: Show Details and Statistics page.

I am now in the process of filling out show breakdown and notes for the 2005 shows. Once that I have finished with that, I will start to add information about the 2004 shows.

[2007-09-12] Update: show descriptions have been entered for all but a few of the 2005 shows and I am now moving on to 2004. The basic data structures for 2003 has already been put into place, with 2000-2002 to follow in the next couple of weeks.

As previously noted, I am an avid fan of NPR's weekly quiz show Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me! (although some may call it a mini-obsession).

With that mini-obsession, I have built a database of various information and statistics about the each show, panelists and guests, and built a web page that presents the collected information and generated statistics.

So far, I have entered in some information for shows since the beginning of 2005 and am continually adding more panelist and guest scores as time allows. I am also including quick summaries and notes for each show and my rating of each show (on a scale of 10, 1 being meh, not my thing and 10 being freaking rocks!!!).

While I was waiting for my HD-DVD add-on drive to arrive, I did some research on getting full 1080p from my XBOX 360 to my television (since the television seemingly only allowed 1080p over HDMI, not component or the PC input port, the latter would only support more standard 4:3 resolutions according to the manual). After shifting through several, long threads over at AVS Forum, I ran across several posts about using the VGA cable for the XBOX 360 and getting 1080p that way.

So I picked up the VGA cable, which was a bit spendy at around $40 but it is the price for wanting 1080p, wired up the console and, lo and behold, it worked! Well, the console reset the resolution back to 480p/widescreen but I was able to switch it to 1920x1080. After a couple of minutes of messing around with the settings on the television, I got to the point where the picture quality was as optimal (to me) as possible.

As you may have read in one of my previous blog posts, I have already taken two steps into the world of HDTV: purchasing a 1080p television and a Playstation 3 console. I am continually awed at the quality of HD broadcasts in 720p or 1080i as well as Blu-Ray content in either 1080i or 1080p.

With the release of more content that interests me on the HD-DVD format, I decided to order an HD-DVD add-on drive for the XBOX 360.

This post is several days late, but...

I have been an avid fan of NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! for several years, I had a chance to go to a recording session when they visited Portland, Oregon last Thursday. All I can say is that you miss out on a lot of the antics of the panelists and the interaction with the audience. Much of this is due to the fact that they can only squeeze in so much into about 50 minutes when they broadcast the show.

I am a self-professed gadget freak and love messing around with hardware. Those who know me know that I have a nice collection of video game consoles, the collection includes:

Nintendo

• Original NES
• Super Nintendo
• Nintendo 64, gold
• Nintendo Gamecube, black
• Nintendo Wii
• Original Game Boy
• Game Boy Color
• Game Boy Advance
• Game Boy Advance SP
• Original Nintendo DS

Sony

• Playstation, 2nd revision
• Original Playstation 2
• Playstation 3, 60GB
• Playstation Portable, a.k.a. PSP

Sega

• Dreamcast

Microsoft

• XBOX 360, 20GB

I also have a Turbo Express, a portable version of the NEC Turbo Grafx 16. Almost all of my consoles I purchased new or was given as a present; the only somewhat exception is the original NES. I originally was given an NES as a child but later grew tired of it after getting a Super Nintendo, so I gave it to one of my-then relatives. A couple of years ago, my hankering for the original Mario and Mega Man games grew and grew and I wanted to play the unadulterated versions, so I picked up a used original NES with a bunch of games online.

I can't believe it has been a bit over ten years since I graduated from high school. Every time I think about that, the more I ponder what I have or have not done since then, people that I have met, lost contact with and missed (sometimes dearly miss), and wonder how much I have grown as a person.

Since graduation, I have switched jobs three times, become more of a gadget freak, become a bit more bitter and jaded with life, and seem to have become more withdrawn from the world.