Woof!

So, I just have to post about this movie. I had read about it months ago after accidentally stumbling across the site. If you get a chance to buy it, check out A Dog’s Breakfast [imdb]. Written and directed by David Hewlett, and starring a few people that have appeared on Stargate, it is a wonderful comedy that isn’t crude or vulgar like many comedies are today.

This was also my first Amazon.com purchase. Yay for me. Check out the movie!

The premise is rather simple (as quoted from the back of the DVD box):

When Marilyn (Kate Hewlett), a successful make-up artist for a hit TV series, brings home the show’s star, Ryan (Paul McGillion), to announce their engagement, it catapults her already obsessive brother Patrick (David Hewlett) over the edge. And when Patrick learns that Ryan is out to murder his sister, he plots to give the actor the axe - or something sharper. But Patrick bungles the perfect crime, things spin out of control, and soon, the family’s sanity has gone to the dogs.

Check out the movie when you can!

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My Return…

…to the blogging world! It has been far too long. Instead of playing catch up right away, I think I’ll just comment on this wonderful story:

A married couple who didn’t realise they were chatting each other up on the internet are divorcing.

Sana Klaric and husband Adnan, who used the names “Sweetie” and “Prince of Joy” in an online chatroom, spent hours telling each other about their marriage troubles, Metro.co.uk reported.

The truth emerged when the two turned up for a date. Now the pair, from Zenica in central Bosnia, are divorcing after accusing each other of being unfaithful.

Now, how do you get yourself into that? I mean, granted, marriages are getting more and more difficult to keep together. However, if you end up cheating with each other, how do you even classify that? I think it’s just plain crazy.

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February at Last!

So what is there to be happy about? Simple. Graduation comes March 2nd, which means February marks my last month as a student. Finally! At last! Joy!

I’ve still got some papers and projects to finish up, so I will be busy with them until the end of the month. These include a presentation on nuclear weapons, operation of a game show for a leadership course, and the building of a wireless operated robot.

At least, with all of these projects coming up, it also means that they are almost over. And there will be some fun this month. Ashley Garland is having a private CD release party and, thankfully, I’ve been invited. It’ll be a chance to meet more of her fans and possibly pick up another web job or two.

I know I was going to post a new JSotM during the last week of January, but I didn’t get to it. So, I’ll post it this time.

Jeren’s Site of the Month for February is… drumroll please… Thank you!

WebHostingTalk.com! The forums there are my first stop when I’m looking to either recommend or purchase from a new web host. Just click on search, put in a company name, and look at all of the threads regarding a particular host, whether they have good reviews or bad reviews.

And before I close this, I’m thinking of recording some more music videos to upload to YouTube. Any song suggestions can be sent to me, too.

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Its been a while…

So here I am, actually posting a blog.  Its been a while, I know, but I thought I’d just say something so I actually have a post before the end of the year.

I’m working on a couple of websites that I want mostly completed by the end of the year.  Of course, thats nothing new, as that has been said before.  One of these projects is going to remain anonymous until I have it completed.

Projects I can talk about:

• Josh’s Padd -  Obviously, I have parts of my personal site that aren’t complete yet.  I had planned a few improvements a few months ago, but those were never completed.  They’ll be worked on over winter break, though I don’t know if they’ll be done or not.  Improvements include some custom scripts to add dynamic functionality to my personal site, some rework on this blogging area, and more ways of advertising my site.  These services are free for people to use… lets use them!
• Star Wars Unleashed - Star Wars Unleashed has had its current site for just about two years.  The site needs updating, a new look, and an interface for its members.  This will also be worked on during the winter, as some of its code will be coming from what I do on my private site.
• AshleyGarland.com - This website is going to get a new look to go with the release of Ashley’s new album.  I have yet to see the cover or hear it, but when I do, I’ll start planning improvements for her site.

And, as mentioned earlier, I have a private site that I’m working on and won’t disclose until its complete.

The host of that site, though, is going to get mentioned here.  KnownHost has done a great job is setting me up.  In fact, they did something that I haven’t experienced with a hosting company before.  Last week, I received a Christmas card from them.  Now, I don’t celebrate Christmas, but the reception of the card tells me alot about their customer service.

All in all, I am thinking that KnownHost is a good host.  Though they specialize with VPS systems, I’ve been happy with their hosting.  Go ahead and check them out.  They get my vote.

And I think I’ll take this time to introduce a new feature:  Jeren’s Site of the Month.  KnownHost wins the JSotM for December 2006 and January 2007.  The next site will be mentioned during the last week of January.

Have a good end of the year, folks.

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Clapton Concert - 2006

So the time has come and past… September 20th is behind me, so now I can talk about it.

At the United Center in Chicago was someone known as Slowhand by some, God to others.  Eric Clapton.  And what a show he put on.  All of it was lots better than the last time I saw him there.

Before he came out, Robert Cray opened up with his band.  They were on stage for about 40 minutes, enough time to show us what he had to offer.  When I think of good guitarists, Robert Cray is near the top of the list.  Although Robert Randolph had a good show last time (two years ago), I much rather preferred Cray’s band opening instead.  It seemed to compliment what was to come…

At around 8:30, it began.  The lights went down, the crowd started cheering, and the outlines of Doyle and Derek could be seen heading across the stage.  Now, I was sitting in the 300 level (section 301, to be precise), so I had a high vantage point (but not a close view, sadly).  The band seemed to be in position, and Eric could be clearly seen in the dark. (This wasn’t my first concert, so I knew how to tell him apart without the lights).  Eventually a light did come up, shining over Chris and the piano keyboard.  A few seconds of him playing and the concert was about to begin…

Pretending.  The opening moments of that song aren’t difficult to forget.  With Derek and Doyle playing along on guitar, I knew the night was going to be very entertaining.  The song played through (my first time hearing it live) and it just blew me away.  But I was about to get another shocker as the song came to an end…

Now, as a guitar player, I admire Clapton’s work.  And I have several concert DVDs that I review to try and pick up some guitar work.  One song that I have studied well was about to be played…and as Eric winded down from Pretending, I saw a familiar set of notes played that could only mean one song was about to come… and come it did, hitting like a ton of bricks (but in a good way).

I Shot the Sheriff.  WOW!  What a way to enter that song!  I had expected one song to open and Eric to slow it down…but he didn’t slow it at all.  In fact, that song just carried the same energy from the first and built on it.  Even the solo after the last verse just built and built.  And once again, as a guitar player, the solos are what do it for me.  Again, Eric pulled through with a great solo on that wonderful song.  Then an easy transition to ‘Got To Get Better In A Little While’ was good as well.  By then, I was starting to see how Derek was playing… and while I hadn’t noticed any big solos yet, I knew I would be hearing something good from everyone before the night was over.

Old Love is a song that I first came to enjoy on a DVD of Eric’s concert at Madison Square Garden (I believe).  I was highly anticipating this song, and having Robert Cray join the bunch on stage only made it better.  Yet again, another great song to have that night (though in the end, all of the songs were great).

Everybody Ought To Make A Change and Motherless Children rounded out the first set.  The quick transition between them seemed to reflect what I was seeing for the whole night.  Eric was keeping the energy rolling, and he did it very well.  And I also saw Derek and Doyle picking up more of the leads this time around.  I missed seeing Eric taking control as much as the last time he was in town, but at the same time, I appreciate how he let the other musicians get their time in as well.  Very professional.

I must make a confession: I don’t have Eric’s latest album.  But I still had heard Back Home and, while its not a very energetic song, it goes to show what Eric has to offer.  And of course, hearing it live was awesome.  I Am Yours was a song I wasn’t too familiar with, but I had a feeling some better songs were coming…and they did come.

‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out’ is another one of those songs that I have studied and can play on guitar, though not as well as ‘I Shot the Sheriff’.  It seemed to be a good crowd pleaser, and a me-pleaser, too.  And following it up with ‘Running On Faith’ made the middle set a joy to listen to.  Both of those songs were ones that I liked from Eric’s Unplugged concert, and having those played live last night was wonderful.

Well, Eric was quickly on his feet again.  At this point, I was noticing the guitar he had.  I was hoping to see his Crash guitars (if I am naming it properly).  But having straight black (I think it was black) was fine, too.  Its how he played it that matters, after all.

Just before Eric started playing, I heard someone in the row behind me say out loud something along the lines of: “He’s still got After Midnight.”  And thats just what started.  Another song that I had not heard live before.  I was blown away by this concert… and the solos that were being ripped out by the guitar players was just making this night worth more than the money I paid.

Little Queen of Spades started much like ‘Have You Ever Loved a Woman’, which threw me off at first.  But as I’ve come to expect from that song, this one would have loads of solo material.  And again, I was not disappointed.  I think almost everyone on stage had their chance to solo.  I could be mistaken, as some details have, sadly, faded since last night.

Wonderful Tonight started the closing set of songs.  Always sweet to listen to, it seems to be the song of every Clapton-listening couple.  During the song, they caught one or two women in the camera, which prompted a wolf-whistle from someone a section over.  The crowd cheered a bit, lifting the energy that came softly with that song.  The way it was played reminded me a bit of the album version.  The last verse wasn’t followed with a longer time of music playing.

Layla… Everyone knew it was coming.  I don’t think the guitar was as pronounced with Layla last night as I’ve heard it at other times, but it was still a great song that got the crowd on their feet.  Perhaps they knew, as I did, that the concert was coming to an end…soon.

I’ll note again that Wonderful Tonight, Layla, and Cocaine are three songs that are fun to play.  And as I heard last time Eric was in Chicago, the end of Layla and the quieting of the pianos only meant one thing…

The opening riff of Cocaine brought a loud cheer from the crowd.  Personally, I enjoy the ’silent’ transition to that song.  It catches people off guard (in a good way), and it just seems to carry the Layla energy to another level.  The solo work in that song, again, was phenomenal.  I will play that good some day… Especially like Derek.  He had such skill with that slide that I almost couldn’t believe it.  Eric found a good catch getting him to play with him this tour.

Eric headed off stage as Cocaine ended… and I knew he’d be back.  I took a few moments to look at the people around me.  They were hyped up, clapping, waiting for Eric to come back out.  We waited… we knew a good encore was coming and, for me, it was the greatest encore I’ve had the pleasure of seeing from Eric, live or on DVD.

Sunshine Of Your Love is a good song, but his concerts needed a change…and he provided it.  Once again, my guitar playing self loves Crossroads, so I was in eager expectation of that song.  And it came… with Robert Cray yet again.  From the opening drums from Steve Jordan to the strumming from Eric, I was excited and ready for this great song.  And then the curve ball came… Robert took a quick stride up to the mic and began singing!  A pleasant surprise, to be sure!  And as is expected from that song, the solo work from the guitarists was excellent.  Including Willie on bass, there were five guitar players on stage.  Now that is what I call a concert.

Unfortunately, it came to an end.  But it was a great concert… And I look forward to the next time Eric is in town, hopefully with a much better concert (though, in reality, such a thing would be difficult to achieve).

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Guitar Playing

So I guess I like playing guitar. I don’t know why… but its fun. And relaxing (unless its some hard rock songs). I have video proof of my guitar playing at this point. I don’t know if I should be scared or not…
In any case, a couple weeks back I arrived at a graduation party just 45 minutes before it was to end. And I came at the right time… They seemed to need music, and the DJ was wanting to sing. So, that lead to the following clips…

Johnny B. Goode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFm3YXEqgEA

Sweet Home Chicago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90tDBl9AmXE

Of course, those aren’t the full songs we played. But its video proof… Perhaps I’ll do more sometime. You’ll just have to wait and see.

Oh, and feel free to comment about the guitar playing, whether on the blog you’re reading or on YouTube itself. Thank you.

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The Joys of C: Part 1: Twiddles

The FFT is such a beautiful thing. I mean, what could one expect from such a complex and useful function? Especially in C?!

I’m currently assisting with my senior project team in working with some C code. And we have just seen the greatest thing ever.
Twiddles.

Yes, we have Twiddles. Where would we be without twiddles? I don’t know. I bet we could never perform an FFT ever again if it were not for twiddles. Therefore, twiddles must be very important.

The FFT itself allows for complex handling of data. For our case, we’re using it to correlate our GPS code. So, without twiddles, you couldn’t use a GPS. Yes, twiddles help you find where you’re at and where you’re going.

What is a Twiddle?

Here are a few definitions I pulled from dictionary.com.

• Tilde (ASCII 1111110, `~’). Also called `squiggle’, `sqiggle’ (sic — pronounced /skig’l/), and `twaddle’, but twiddle is the most common term.
• To change something
  in a small way. Bits, for example, are often twiddled.

Interesting. I think the following one closer matches what I was using:

• A small and insignificant
  change to a program. Usually fixes one bug and generates several
  new ones

The Twiddle with the FFT ends up being a complex conjugate that is brought in to help generate the FFT. Without the twiddle, a good FFT wouldn’t exist.

At least, thats what the code documentation is telling me. In truth, I really just want a plain FFT, with no mustard or mayo.

Thats the joy of the Twiddle. ~

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Advertise!

Would you like to help out Josh’s Padd? Then please make use of the Blogs and Forums found on the server. All you have to do is post! And please… if you think you know some people that would be interested in using either service, invite them here!
For even more help, please visit our Google sponsers, whose links are found at the bottom of the main site ( www.joshspadd.com ). Not only do those advertisements change according to what content is on Josh’s Padd, but those ads help generate revenue for the server, which helps offset the costs of the network. All help is appreciated.

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Site Updates

Ok, there have been a few small updates that have been done to this server. These really are just new faces and people to the server, but I’ll note them here.
First off, I’ve added a site for Trade Wars, found at http://tw.joshspadd.com. As this site progresses, it’ll hold information regarding the Trade Wars server that I’ve been able to arrange to bring up again.

Second, there is a new Star Wars board that is using the webspace here. You can learn about them at http://keyan.joshspadd.com/forums/. The sim is called Star Wars: The Aftermath. Until they have a regular site up, you can find more about them there.
A few other projects are in the works. Hopefully they’ll add to the activity this server is slowly getting.

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Simming Sites

I haven’t done a sim website in a while, so maybe I’m losing my touch. I hope not! I’ve done some good sim sites in the past, some not so good ones. But I hope the one I’m working on now will be liked.
So far, the two sim sites I’ve done were my own. The USS Providence and the USS Noralus. The Providence site could use a facelift soon… If anything, I’ll keep its general design but just redo it with some better graphic techniques. The Noralus site, though, still looks good. My dad still speaks about it to other people, so it must be good.
The sim site I was asked to do was a new site for the USS Deliverance, who’s current site is at this link . Its… not the greatest site in the world. In contrast, here’s what I did last weekend: New Deliverance Site . I think its a big improvement. I have yet to finish one or two pages. Once done, I’ll submit it to the two GameMasters and see what they think.
Otherwise, I don’t have any other sim sites I’m working on. I have done a fleet website in the past. And I still think that Delta Fleet site is one of the nicest fleet sites out there.

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