From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Japan Has The Best Words

Mono No Aware. What’s that, you ask? Why, that is, of course, the Japanese philosophical concept wherein one feels a certain specific kind of sadness due to the transient nature of the human condition. I am currently suffering under a hefty dose of this particular flavour of sadness. I

Installing Linux (when you're old)

If you’re a certain type of nerd, of a certain age, you will have a pile of old servers in your garage. These are usually outdated and depreciated hardware, perhaps cast-off from employers who’ve upgraded to something more modern, or maybe equipment assigned to a project that was

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

If You Don't Know What Time It Is, Then It's Chow Time

Another fun subgenre of military procedural books is Special Forces procedural porn. These books are related to the kind of techno/spy thrillers that you used to find in airport bookstores (last century, when books were physical objects) but they’re not quite the same. Rather than super-spy thrillers, the

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

A Brief Hiatus

Okay, so, I finally got around to fixing the broken bootloader and kernel map and such on the server that hosts this blog. I think that my … [checks notes] … two years procrastination on this task is … [squints at notes] … perfectly reasonable.

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Why So Seriously?

The following is a list of things which are “edgier” than Jared Leto’s Joker: * The song “Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)” covered by a local ska band. * A pair of “Docker” pants, unironed. * Wearing a pair of very dark blue socks with a black suit. * A powerpoint presentation

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

I Hope I Spelt "Vignette" Correctly.

I saw a fascinating little vignette[1] take place outside the curry shop where I was buying dinner. It featured three participants. Let’s call them Bogan Dude, Well-Groomed Guy, and Friendly-Looking Girl. The three of them are on their way somewhere, in no hurry. They’re all obviously friends,

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

We Have Such Sights To Show You

For my breakfast, I put a leftover piece of KFC with some leftover tandoori sauce. I cannot describe the result.

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Inexplicable, also Delightful.

Annette found this in the lounge. “MORE OF A MYSTERY THAN ANYTHING” Willow refuses to explain. We’re baffled. And delighted.

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Ding!

Willow says: “This is my computer set. I’m going to play World of Warcraft!” [Note: She just up and made this on her own. No guidance from Annette or myself. And she put the dock in the correct place, on the right, where the Baby Jesus meant it to

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

The Time Is Nearly Upon Us.

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

South Korea To Be Nibbled To Death By Ducks.

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Lok'tar Ogar!

It seems that if you’ve been playing WoW solidly for ten years[1], Blizzard will FedEx an orc to your house. I know now this for a fact. [1] Solidly, in that you’ve had an active account for that time. Not, like, constantly for ten years. That’d

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Nomenclature

Sometimes I can really sense my personal input into Willow’s development… Willow: “This show is called ‘Dinosaur Train”!” Me: “Does it have dinosaurs in it?” Willow: “Yes!” Me: “Does it have trains in it?” Willow: “Yes!” Me: “So the name it has is …” Willow: “Apt!”

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Midshipman Bravey McNoblePeasant, Reporting For Duty.

I’ve been reading a lot of Science Fiction recently, which should come as no surprise to anyone that knows me at all. I’ve found myself reading quite a bit of a particular genre of military SF .. I’m sure this sub-genre has a name, but I’ve no

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

GENTRIFICIATE!

These days, I am very much a law-abiding and productive member of society. Having said that, those stupid Knightscape K5, pepper-pot, dumb-ass security guard trundlebots look like they would be really, really fun to steal, decorate, set on fire or otherwise destroy. Probably while blasting “Killing in the Name Of”

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Defending The Frontier

When you put your hands on the steering wheel of my new car, your thumbs fall naturally on two silver buttons on the top of the wheel, and your fingers do the same to two other silver buttons on the back. The actual purpose of these buttons is to change

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

IT'S GO TIME!

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Harp On About The Tiger

Hi. It’s been twenty years and I’m still kind of upset by Hobbes’ betrayal in Wing Commander III. I am, technically, an adult.

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Gibson Accomplished.

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

One Free Hill

Well, Apple, thanks for the digital watch and the U2 album. I also loved the 1980s.

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Oi! U2! NO!

Oh, piss off, Apple. Piss off forever. Make the U2 album free if you want, Apple, but don’t auto-buy it for me. I don’t want to see that in my Purchases List. Opt In vs Opt Out.

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Welp.

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Fly New Whip

My old car (A 1994 BMW 318i hatchback) has, recently, developed some issues. Issues such as “The inside of the door fell off” and “Many electrical things don’t work” and “The brakes sometimes don’t work on the left hand side of the car” and the most recent niggling

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

Moved from Tumblr

Okay, fine, yes, I should blog more. I’ve moved all these posts from tumblr to a self-hosted WordPress install. Let’s see how that goes.

From The Unfathomable Mind of JSR

The Greatest Name In The World

I just heard a song by a musician whose name turned out to be Maverick Sabre. And so naturally I was thinking “Oh MAN, he is LUCKY, he has THE COOLEST NAME!” except it turns out that he changed it from “Michael Stafford”. Can you DO that? Is that even