Keywords to get to this site for the month ...

HI GOOGLE USER! IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR NAKED PICTURES OF TECHTV PEOPLE, THERE ARE NONE. PLEASE CHECK OUR MAIN PAGE FOR ACTUAL COMIC STRIPS CONTAINING NON-NUDE PICTURES OF TECHTV PEOPLE.

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Where we last left off ...

I was going insane. Between the computer doing strange things, work being a PITA and everything else, I finally started channeling into new strips. Last week had to be the worst week of my life. I'll just give you highlights:

* No matter what I did, I couldn't fix the problem with Ulead Videostudio going nuts on things recorded with the ATI software. It's not on single things -- like movies are fine -- it's when it has to view 3 files in a row from the same batch of captures, file #3 will always end up being 2k (no matter what size it is) and file #4 will crash Ulead.

* Ended up putting the old video card back in (again). Didn't change things.

* I tried Pinnacle Studio 8 and that seemed to work for a handful of captures. Unfortunately, after a while it started to kill the capture's sound tracking. Not sure why it didn't do it in the early ones, but it sure as hell started doing it when I thought I had everything fixed. No more Pinnacle, had to reformat to get rid of it.

* Lost two weeks worth of captures essentially. 48khz (might be MHz, I'm not awake) sound was crashing my sonic dvd software. So I flipped it to 44khz. That was okay, until I went to burn to dvd and it took forever to recompile and then the sound didn't match the movements on screen. Why? Oh yah, because it has to convert back to 48khz to put it on DVD.

* Also noticed that everything I put on MPEG plays fine on the machine downstairs and the machine in my mom's computer room. Won't play fine on these upstairs machines because I had installed the latest full version of Nero with the video editing software. Somewhere in the codecs for that software it makes it incompatible with some formats. MAKES SENSE TO ME. Yah right. Reformatted the TV Machine to get it off of there and will eventually have to reformat this machine as well.

* Works as long as you put the basic NERO 6 on -- not the "full" version with the media studio crap.

* If this wasn't enough to turn my hair white ... I got my first speeding ticket in years. My mind? It was on getting home to check in on work. I swear my speedometer didn't get over 40. The cop said I was doing 48. No way I could be doing that, but he's the chief of police in a very small down where 30% of the town's revenue came from that road and speed traps. He's going to win the appeal because it's so Deliverance out here it's not funny.

* Work sucks. Work put even more stress on me last week. Everyone is PMS'ing. I've had more hate mail about things and spent a good 30 of my 40 hours last week answering it over message board pulls. I need a break. I seriously do.

So there are brief highlights.

Saturday night I started writing strips. I had been writing one a day for most of the last half of last week to try to get back into the flow of things. Saturday I started writing and when I was finished (well after 1 AM), I had broken the record with 10 strips completed. I haven't had time to try that again, but I'm plugging along. I'm now 11 days ahead in the story and I'll probably be writing our 400th strip either today or tomorrow and (hopefully anyway) keep on going for sometime.

I'm filling in plot holes, I'm getting rid of people who don't want to be in the strip, and I'm going to blow your minds with this season. Well, hopefully anyway.

Oh, it snowed last night. Enough to make the ground slippery. Not enough to make a snowball, but getting stuck shoveling (on top of getting stucky hauling wood every day) is on my mind as I go take a shower and start the day.

k9
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Ugg

It's morning now and I'm in the middle of the last of the windows updates. I think I just stuck the ultra scary windows media player 9 on. Going to start putting Pinnacle Studio 8 on then go take a shower since it takes so long to update. I feel hung over and my stomach is a mess. I really love having weekends like this.

Someone shoot me.

k9
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Tired

Worked 10 hours on a Sunday, which is a remarkable feat. I'm bitchy right now so hey, see that paragraph about me being a jerk, moron and asshole? It covers everything. Blanket statement. Consider the source before you go off.

I've had a weekend. Quite a weekend at that. First, my folks went away and I'm here alone. It would have been a good thing if it weren't for the fact that the car they took to the airport (the airport, mind you is 5 hours away) didn't contain my wallet. Yes, the front seat of the car, my dad probably sat on it the whole time ... sits my wallet. Well, hopefully anyway. It certainly isn't HERE where I need it.

Then my editing program decided to go insane. I had been using started spitting out mpegs I was trying to edit. For whatever reason it made them like 2k when they should have been half a gig. Thought it was something I installed screwing up the system. Reformatted my tv computer only to have the same problem. I then bought (thank god I still had one of my credit cards here) Sonic My DVD 5.0. Trouble is, it doesn't let you save trimmed video unless you're going to burn it. Went and bought Roxio's new program ... oh, that's boxed, it's coming tomorrow or the next day fedex. GREAT.

Meanwhile my TIVO is quickly filling up with stuff to edit (plus my hard drive is full), so I tried Pinnacle Studio 8. An old copy I had on file. They released a great new patch for it. I was actually making progress today too! Until ... well about 4 PM it crashed during a HUGE movie. After it crashed any smaller file would immediately lose synch between sounds and movement. All the previous files had been great, so I tried to uninstall ... huge mess. Huge mess.

Currently in the closing part of reinstalling windows AGAIN. I'm not even going to try to get Pinnacle back until the morning. I just want to finish with windows update, watch Malcolm in the Middle on the west coast FOX and go to bed. Seriously. I might just TIVO it at this point since I'm dead on my feet ... oh yah, tv software needs to be hooked up so I can see the TIVO on my computer.

It's times like these I wonder about the world.

And myself.

And my inner ewok.

Be afraid.

k9
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Quick Updates

In my last blog I made some off the cuff comments about the state of the the Screen Savers and folks on the show. Someone named in those remarks called me on those remarks and pointed out that the site has been pretty mean in recent coverage. Instead of the "Bloom County" of the TechTV world, we've increasingly become more and more like the "South Park" of the TechTV world. It's sad that I'm even referring to TechTV as having a "world" but hey, that's life.

Contrary to reports, this site isn't dead. I still have stories to write and things to say about the world of TechTV. Finding spare time to write said strips while keeping the coverage as fair as we have in the past has proven to be difficult. I haven't had new strips up in a while mainly because I felt like the story line was getting a big unbalanced and I haven't had time to come up with something to replace it. You all know that I don't have a life but I'm extremely busy none the less, and there's just been no time to write.

I've always been fair in my coverage. Even when I can't stand to look at someone's picture, I've always tried to balance the ups and the downs of their character. Why? Because frankly, I don't want to get sued. These are public figures and public images, even if the site itself is covered under the rights of parody (and is always labeled as such), the last thing I want to do is cause hurt or damage to someone's career or have them cause hurt or damage to me. Do I feel that we've gone too far in the strips lately? Not really, but it's been far enough off our course that I've put the strip on hold for the last month until I can correct things.

Now as far as my blog goes, I've always been a jerk, an asshole and an idiot. I've always said what I feel and will continue to do so in my blog. If I think you're an idiot and a detriment to the show I'm watching, I'm going to say so. Likewise, if I think you're the top of the charts and make my heartstrings pitter patter every time I see you, I'm going to say it. In either case, if I have time I'm going to give constructive criticism, but I make no pledge to do so on a regular basis. There's just no time these days. So for those I've offended in the past, am presently offending, or intend to offend in the future, I apologize.

My blog is not a reflection of the site as a whole. While I do link the two, the blog is more for me to rant and rave about my own personal feelings than anything. I can put my feelings aside and I can write fair stories. I've done so in the past and intend to do so in the future, but you should never think that because I don't like someone and have said so in this blog that the site is going to turn into a "I hate so and so" site. Not that I wouldn't if I really was bored, but come on, I don't think I'll ever be that bored ... :)

As always, if you have a question, comment or concern about the site the e-mail address is listed below. If it's an emergency, drop me an e-mail to turn IM on and I'll send you my IM name. Otherwise, thank you for your continued support and I'll keep cranking out blogs and strips at least until I find that elusive life to explore.

k9
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Tuesday.

Watched part of TSS last night and there was no Leo. Honestly, Leo has no business on the set any more. Let's face it, they've packaged the Patrick-Sarah-Jessica-Kevin group as their version of "Friends." They're so "young and hip" that Leo just doesn't fit. I'm sure he can be an asset here and there, but if they really are going the direction I think they are, there's no place for Leo on TSS. He's just not young, hip or beautiful enough for their current failed attempt at revamping the show.

I honestly think they should get rid of the whole star trek set. If you're aiming for "early-90's cool" then you have to get rid of all the computers, home base, and everything else and focus on two couches. Boys on one, girls on the other. The "Sarah reads the news" segment would be a little less obnoxious (I mean COME ON! She doesn't have a brain in her head, it's pathetic to see her give these stories like she has any clue. Ego anyone?) if she's sitting on a couch presented as "the smart, yet cool" girl and it wouldn't seem like Kevin and Patrick are required to kiss her ass in the segment.

The rest of the show? A mess. They have no clue what they're doing. It's probably the worst it's ever been and it gets harder to watch each time I attempt to tune in.

Techlive? Hey Michaela is showing cleavage. But the idiot is in the other chair. He has the most obnoxious voice on TechTV. I swear it's almost toxic. As much as I'll sit through the show for uber-cool Becky Worley, there ain't no swing when the idiot opens his mouth to sing.

Running off to work ...

k9
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Home

I made it home in about 10 hours, a new record. It may have been 9 hours and 55 minutes or so but I don't know. I'm home, I'm safe, I'm half awake.

I'm currently watching the Harry Potter double feature on HBO. I really didn't like the gross out CGI at the end of the first one so I shut it off and I'm starting to do some quick transfers from my Tivo to PC until the 2nd one starts.

My best friend is a huge Harry Potter fan, so are my niece and nephew. I'm getting my niece the Quidditch World Cup game for gameboy and gamecube for xmas. I was half thinking about getting a gamecube myself but I realized that I had enough obsolete video game systems. Even with the price drop, the only thing I'd play on it would be the Star Wars games. The Wrestling games suck on it and I just don't see point of spending money on another Nintendo system.

NES = I bought it and the original "X-Men" game with a paycheck. Regretted it immediately. IT SUCKED. The Sega Master System had totally better graphics and gameplay, though I'm the only fool on the planet to buy one ...

Super Nintendo = Skipped buying it. I wasn't into the whole Mario thing. Yes, I just don't get Zelda or Mario or the whole series of Nintendo mascots. They scream "boring" to me. Castlevania? YAWN. All the wrestling games were better on Genesis anyway.

Playstation 1 (developed for Nintendo as a Super Nintendo CD expansion) = I bought it and it sucked. The only thing I enjoyed on it was WCW vs. the World and Final Fantasy Tactics. Scrapped it as soon as I got a working copy of BLEEM!

N64 = I bought it for said wrestling games. No Mercy and Wrestlemania were two of the finest pro wrestling games ever released. Otherwise, popups and fog. Lots of fog. I hated the fact that you also had to buy an add-in card just to "expand" the graphics to play @##ing Rogue Squadron. Plus the controller just plain sucked. I would have scrapped the whole system had I not tracked down this controller that got rid of the middle "U" stick and was designed like a "traditional" video game controller.

So after being burned 3 of 4 times on Nintendo related systems, I look at the Gamecube and I'm passing. Super Monkey Ball and the Star Wars games will eventually go to the other systems. So sorry, Nintendo.

Also passing on the playstation 2 until two things happen: 1) price comes down and 2) the hard drive comes out. Yes, they have the current "best" pro wrestling game out there for this generation of systems in the WWE Smackdown series BUT for create a wrestler you can't rip your own songs to it. Even if RAW 2 sucks beans (I kinda like it), one of the bonuses is that if I want Leo Laporte to come to the ring to a funkadellic DISCO version of the "theme from 2001" then dammit, he's gonna come out and be funky. Since Leo IS funky like a monkey.

Watching the eclipse of the moon. Well kinda. Running in and out of the house since it's freezing out there. I go out, check on it, run back in. Looks to be pretty much past full now ... and on that note I'm off.

k9
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On the Road Again

I'm on a working vacation this week. To demonstrate what an idiot I am, let's go over the day.

11 hour drive and I left at 6 am.

Got here and I forgot my power cord to my computer.

Went to Radio Shack then to Walmart, rushed back here.

Put the computer together ... and I forgot the little cord to connect my speakers to my computer.

Oh, the modem started freaking out again. I couldn't log in ...

Do you KNOW how hard it is to find a USB modem at 6 PM on a Sunday night?

Thankfully, Best Buy had extended hours. I literally flew there (with a side stop at the wortheless Staples), and made it back here in time for work.

Oh yes, did I mention I had to work 3 hours last night?

I was so zonked. I looked in the mirror near the end of my shift and my eyes were so bloodshot that I scared myself.

This morning I rescheduled (I'm doing 17 hours this week) so I could work on a project that they dumped on me. I'm going to have to go back tonight to finish. I worked a half hour off the clock and that was that.

Now I'm waiting to see what we have planned for the day.

I love vacation.

k9
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