Apt142’s Blog

Years ago, a friend of mine asked me to take this personality test. He was and still is a strong believer in measuring and quantifying things. And I think he encouraged me to take this test so that he could firmly classify all of his friends in convenient camps. The test he […]

For a long time, my hobby was running a role playing game. I say ‘was’ only because I no longer have a group or time to run one. A result of this is that I came up with a lot of story ideas and plot devices. One of those never got to […]

I wrote earlier about Star Pirates. At the end of that blog post, I had a little doodle that showed what the Duct Tape with Rockets would look like. For a reminder, here it is:

I think I did a fairly good job of describing it on paper as a doodle. And I […]

I recently found out about Google’s Chart API. For those that don’t know what an API is, it’s an interface for programmers to pass information or request information from another application. It’s like a user interface, except for programs.
Anyways, this great tool will help me a lot around the office. […]

Every week or sometimes every other week, I go to Wal-Mart for the restocking of my above ground compound. I usually make a list before I go. You know the usual. Evil Lettuce. Malicious Pasta. Some cold hearted frozen pizzas. I then take this list to the store and […]

People are highly amusing to me. I include myself in that detached observation.
One of the things that amuses me is our ability to assume false conceptions about our environment. Or even to be completely and willingly ignorant of our environment. Our environment has become so safe and self regulating that we forget […]

This is a phrase I first saw in the book Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. The phrase refers to work that is devoid of creative thinking.
For example, a company is starting a new product line. In the beginning of that process, they need engineers to design the product. Artists and graphic […]

I look at a lot of problems. Problems that vary greatly in size and scope. I’ve got a bit of talent at learning to classify problems and their potential solutions. One thing I’ve learned is that for any problem there is a solution out there that is simple, easy to implement and […]

If you’ve ever had a job dealing with the public in any capacity then you’ve dealt with them. Or if you’ve ever had an office job, you’ve worked with them.
Dumb People.
They’re everwhere. They walk around just like everybody else and they don’t even know they’re dumb. You see them […]

The Creation Museum openned recently in Kentucky. If you haven’t heard about, you’ve been living under a rock. The general premise of the museum is that genesis should be taken literally. From there the museum proceeds to bring up all sorts of explanations and scenerios backing this concept up. They believe that the Earth is […]