It's been a while

so I thought I'd make a post. This one isn't about anything in particular I suppose, just some interesting goodness!

I've been regularly (once a week) listening to a podcast called The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. I added a link on the menu to the right there. They've always got something interesting to talk about - news items, some kind of interview, and then at the end they have a challenge and a good skeptical quote. In my recent years I've grown a much more scientific and skeptical mind - no doubt because of people I've mentioned here before: Scott Adams, Penn and Teller, and Carl Sagan to name a few. The Skeptics's Guide is a great way to keep up with recent events and ideas related to that sort of thing.

On a completely different note, Blender 2.44 came out a few weeks ago and added a great new type of texture that does sub-surface scattering. It allows, among other things, the ability to make very realistic looking snow - an awesome notion because much of Omnivore takes place in Antarctica.

On a somewhat slightly different note, my macbook pro now triple boots! I have Mac OS, Windows, and now Ubuntu Studio all working. Ubuntu Studio is great - I've never had such an easy time getting into Linux, and I'm loving it. I can do nearly everything I do in Mac OS, and with free software! Speaking of free software, a great site for anyone to check out is osalt. This is exactly the kind of website I've looked for in past years. I've always wanted to know what open source software I can use instead of the commercial stuff, and now I don't have to do tons of searching google results to find it.

That's it for now, and I know I've said in the past that I'm going to post more often, but I'm going to say it again: I'm going to post more often! I'm getting used to it anyway, because I started a work blog. I read in a game development magazine about a guy who started a work blog, and it really makes sense. I take the last 10-15 minutes of every day to go over what I did, and I write it down in a private blog. Not only will it make me better at estimating time spent on projects, but it kind of gives me my own "watchdog," because I won't want to write down that I didn't do anything on a particular day. Also, I can finally answer questions like, "when did I do that?" or "did I do that?" So far it's worked beautifully - I recommend it to everyone.