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WIL WHEATON dot NET: 1.5

Not quite WWdN 2: Electric Boogaloo, but rebuilt and restored from the old WWdN files. Current blog entries are at wilwheaton.typepad.com

WIL WHEATON dot NET: Version 1.5June 1 2006

If you'd like to read my most recent blog posts, head over to WIL WHEATON dot NET: In Exile, my backup blog at Typepad.

Hi there. WWdN is currently undergoing a redesign and some maintenance. If you'd like to know what the status of the redesign is, or see some of the older WWdN files, read this entry.

What in the wide world of sports is going on here?

Way back in September of last year, I attempted to upgrade Movable Type, the blogging software that powers WWdN. I also attempted to move a few thousand entries and hundreds of thousands of comments into a newly-created (and faster) MySQL database.

And, uh, I broke it.

Actually, I didn't break it. Someone who left a comment broke it when they used a seemingly random string of characters to indicate a break in their comment. Unbeknownst to me and them, it was the same string of characters MT used to indicate the end of an entry and its associated comments. When MT was moving all the data into its new (d

West Coast - I'm on WPT tonightMay 31 2006

I just found out that I'm on the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel tonight. It's the WPT Invitational from Commerce Casino, where I outlasted all the other celebrity players and finished 23rd to land $10,000 for City of Hope. I doubt I'll get much screen time, but my friend Burns! just called Anne to tell her that he saw me.

So . . . now you know! If anyone gets an mpeg or something, let me know and I'll link it up.

Update: WWdN:iX reader Andrew sent me the following captures:

XviD (9 MB)

mpeg2 (30MB)

It 's a great segment. I got a lot more camera time than I expected, and so did Darwin!  If anyone wants to seed .torrents, let me know and I'll update again. Thanks, Andrew!

(image via Dr. Pauly)

broke the bonds and loosed the chainsMay 31 2006

Pauly:

If more Americans read books every night instead of watching TV, we'd live in a more productive society. If more Americans watched the news and read real newspapers and magazines, instead of crappy programs like American Idol, then I'm confident that George Bush would not be our president. But heck, that's what our leaders really want deep down... a mindless, uneducated populous that will work 40 hours a week so they can earn enough money to buy things to keep them distracted from the evil deeds that our leaders and suits in Fortune 500 companies are conducting everyday under your noses.

Amen. It's interesting to think of turning off the television and being less of a consumer as an act of rebellion, but I think Pauly has a valid point, at the very least worthy of consideration if not action. I know how happy and free I feel after cleaning a bunch of needless stuff out my house (and life) recently, and since I'm not completely overwhelmed by stuff that is ultimately not that important, I feel like I can address various mental and spiritual aspects of my life that need attention, now that I'm not constantly battling with a huge pile of material bullshit on a daily basis.

I've been making an effort to turn off the TV, walk away from the Internets, turn on the radio, and read lots of books. It's nothing heady -- I just fi

two burning questions, answeredMay 30 2006

Question the first: What if comic geeks re-enacted comic book battles the same way history geeks re-enact Civil War battles? Answer: Re-Enacting Marvel Secret Wars. (via Wired)

Question the second: What would happen if the Enterprise D battled with the original Enterprise? Answer: Sci-Fi Battles: Kirk vs. Picard (Thanks, Columbo!)

i meant every word i saidMay 29 2006

Dinner is finished, and Anne is helping Nolan with some homework at the dining room table. I'm sitting outside by the fire pit, enjoying the fruits of our weekend of patio labor. I am surrounded by freshly-planted wildflowers, two types of tomatoes, and the sweet smell of lavender, roses, and just-turned dirt.

I was listening to Big Tracks on XM, through DirecTV, on our home stereo. I sang REO Speedwagon's Keep On Lovin' You a little too loudly while I sipped a Stone Pale Ale and digested the most amazing chicken soft tacos (marinated in tequila, lime, salsa and Tapatio) I think I've ever cooked, when Ryan came out to the patio from the kitchen.

"Can I turn off XM and put on Live Aid?" He said.

"No, you can't," I said, a little perturbed that my REO Speedwagon rocking had been interrupted.

"But you've been monopolizing the TV, and you're not even inside," he said. Very reasonable.

" . . . I meant that I loved you foreverrrrr, and I'm gonna ke--" I sang. "Dude. I'm trying to get my rock on, and you're totally harshing my mellow."

"You're trying to get your rock on . . . to REO Speedwagon?" He said, incredulous. Tough to argue with that. "You're the only one listening to this, so isn't it fair to consider the rest of the family?"

Dammit. I raised him to think like this. I'm so proud of him, but . . . Big Tracks