Several months ago, This Diminishing West (with Scott Hunter of Poor Old Lu ) announced they were calling it quits.

But apparently they wanted to leave us with something, so they have released a five song album entitled “Ninety-Seven Weeks” for download (mirror ), along with a PDF of lyrics and credits.

Today I have officially retired my old server. It’s been a long run, but it was time to let it go. It is for the best, after all. We all have to move on eventually. Get on with our lives. Let the past be the past. Greener pastures. Faster processors… (No, it has nothing to do with me botching a kernel update! Why would you even suggest that?)

So, here’s goodbye to the computer that has been my music, web, everything else server for the past however many years.

Here you can see the magnificent insides of this once great beast. (Which must have been well before I got any of these parts.) Notice the precarious positioning of the PSU and the full complement of RAM.

From this view you one can clearly see how snugly the PSU is placed within the case. You can also see that the case fan is not really screwed in at all, but is just hanging there.

And finally, the front shows how proud its makers were of having a Pentium II and how they designed it to work specifically with Windows 95. Of course, I don’t think much in the case was left over from whatever inhabited it previously, probably nothing…and yes, that is one of the hard drives peeking out there. You can also make out the power button, which worked occasionally.

Anyhow, goodbye good buddy. I’ll (sort of) miss you!

I guess it’s pretty much 2008 now. I’m comfortably in bed in Arizona, my girlfriend is in China. We’ve never spent New Year’s together. Each year I think the same things…plan the same plans…regret the same regrets. I was lazy again, I won’t be this year. I didn’t accomplish anything of significance, I will this year. I was a bum to my girlfriend, I’ll be better this year. I blew my money on silly things, I’ll save more this year. I didn’t study enough, I’ll study more this year. I didn’t do enough, I’ll do more this year. I procrastinated last year, I’ll be ahead this year.

Each year it’s the same, sadly. I always feel like I ought to do something spectacular, something new, something I can be proud of, something which makes a difference. To see something no one has seen before, or put two facts together and get a third no one has thought of before. Or just do something nifty and cool.

I guess it is good to take a little look back, though. Let’s see…Pi, No Forks put out a single new song, while Black Orange was formed and debuted something of an album. I bit the bullet and got a real web host and put up this site with yet-another-place-to-blather. We got the turtles, which has made my life more interesting…or at least gave me animate objects to say hello to when I get home. I finished my first and started my second year of graduate school, which included joining a lab I enjoy. I worked at PC Club for three months and then was able to escape, though it was cool working with the guys there (just not most of the customers). I’ve been to Seaworld, Los Vegas, Disneyland, and Knott’s Berry Farm and somehow gotten over my fear of (some) roller coasters. My first real software thing was released. I wrote my Written Qualifying Exam paper, but am behind on all the paperwork. Ummm….I guess that’s pretty much most of it.

So, what’s up for this year? I’ll be working on a paper to submit to MobiQuitous, working on new music for Black Orange, working hard at school (I hope), and trying to be all-around better. I still want to work on Kingdoms of Ahln but who knows. I think that’s pretty much it. A few nice scientific breakthroughs would be nice, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Anyhow, here’s to a nifty new year. I hope everyone is awesome and continues to grow in awesomeness as the year progresses.