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Michael "Oddtail" Sporzynski
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| As you have probably noticed... |
[Oct. 24th, 2010|05:15 pm] |
...I do not really post in LJ anymore. Heck, it's been so long since I last even *read* Livejournal that my browser forgot the URL (it probably did quite a while ago, actually).
I am not really sure why, to be honest.
It could be that I can't really be bothered to write about stuff in LJ, as there is little to write *about*.
It could be that I have relatively few people Friended on LJ.
It could be that my other blog - which used to be mostly gaming-oriented - has more people read my entries and comment on them, as the blog is part of a large fantasy-, science fiction-, gaming- and books-oriented web portal and new blog posts show up on the main page, so even people who don't really know me will sometimes go to my post, read and comment.
It could be that people comment on this blog fairly rarely, and it feels kinda silly to write in public when I'm not sure whether anyone is reading. I certainly started posting here, back in the day, for my own sake, but I guess nowadays I don't need this particular way to vent about what's going on in my mind.
It could be that I started this blog as a teenager, and I may be subconsciously associating it with the person I was. I was not a bad dude, but I was a kid. Not so much today.
It could be that many people whose LJs I read - which was my original reason for creating an account in the first place - are people I know from IRC and thereabouts, and I'm not exactly a frequent guest there. As opposed to being there daily for a good few years, which was my original default mode.
It could be that I'm just too lazy to write even about things that I want to write about.
But all in all, I don't think I'll be using this blog a lot. I guess it makes me a little sad, and I'll try posting here some more, but I'm just not sure if it's worth it. Again, I don't even know if what I write would be read by anyone.
If you want to keep in some kind of contact, there's Facebook for shorter thoughts and the like (yes, I joined Facebook. Yes, I write micro-rants there, even though it seems to be far from the service's usual purpose). I always make it a point to write on Facebook both in English and in Polish. Plus, if you speak Polish, there's my blog at polter.pl. It used to be mainly about my thoughts regarding RPGs and boardgames, but I think my rants and thoughts belong there. That blog is definitely unfit for the more personal stuff, but let's face it - I have less of that personal stuff to share. There's less angst in my life regarding, dunno, the whole crossdressing business and I'm no longer a permanently heartbroken guy.
...come to think of it, I don't think I've ever even *mentioned* in this blog that I'm not single anymore. I met a girl almost two years ago, and we've been an official couple for over a year now. I even moved in with her in July, moving the 300 km from Warsaw to Cracow.
I think the fact that the biggest development of my life has gone undocumented is the best evidence that this blog hasn't been of much use to me. Oh well.
Anyway - I'm "oddtail" on polter.pl (not surprisingly), and if you want to find me on Facebook, my real name is Michael Sporzynski. If that doesn't work, try Michał Sporzyński or Michal Sporzynski, I don't remember which I actually used to register.
EDIT: I stand corrected. I did mention moving in with Margaret in my last post. Still, the rest of my point remains valid. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 5th, 2010|03:01 pm] |
Yesterday was kind of a special day in three ways.
First, it was Independence Day for Americans.
Second, it was the day of the presidential election in Poland. A rather important election, at that (for those of you who don't know, the previous president died in a plane crash, and one of the candidates for the new president was his twin brother. It made this election a very delicate matter for the other main party that had a shot at presidency, and made the whole election unusual - heck, *more* unusual, what with the south of Poland having been flooded, which doesn't exactly aid the democratic process). So, this year, the 4th of July was a celebration of democracy and stuff in Poland, not only in the US. Also, the guy I voted for won, which makes me happy. I doubt he will be a very good president, but I'm convinced he will be a much better president than his opponent.
Thirdly, I moved out of my parents' place and moved in with Margaret, my girlfriend. Also, I moved from Warsaw to Cracow. So, in a way, it was Independence Day for me ;). Granted, it's just a reluctant first step towards establishing my own adult life (I still get a little money from my parents in July and August, and my own savings should be enough for me to last until October or so, so I have enough time to find a job... I think), but it's a step all the same. I don't know whether I'll stay in Cracow (or decide to live with Margaret permanently, for that matter), but it's possible. Also, in the meantime, I have to complete my Master's thesis.
So, this is gonna be an interesting two months =). |
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| I only seem to link YouTube videos recently... |
[Jun. 24th, 2010|10:55 pm] |
...but this one, I'm sure you will agree, really looks very cool. A different kinda cool than the previous one, but cool nonetheless.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkbICDE_agw&feature=player_embedded |
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| Vikings! |
[Jun. 15th, 2010|09:57 pm] |
This, seriously, is the most awesome thing ever.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3fa-sjsvno |
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| Google Wave! |
[May. 26th, 2010|01:09 am] |
As you may or may not know, I've been waiting for GW to FINALLY be released for a long, long time. Since I had to wait forever, over time I got all "meh" and lost my initial interest.
Still, since it went public recently, I decided to check it out. And I'm definitely using it. At first, it was really confusing, not very interesting and didn't really promise a lot of options. Now I can see that for some things (like, the file of the RPG campaign I'm running) it's gonna be awesome. And even for regular chatting, it's at least as good as e-mail.
If you have a Google Wave account and you know my e-mail address, feel free to add me. It seems I'll be using Wave and trying to promote it among my friends. And I have at least one friend who's already very excited about it, too =). |
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| Gave in to peer pressure, or something. |
[May. 5th, 2010|10:13 pm] |
So, I done joined Facebook, earlier today (as "Michał Sporzyński", rather than "Michael Sporzynski", in case you want to look me up at some point).
There is no telling whether I will be using this evil contraption, but I might. Time will tell. |
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| So... biological machines? |
[May. 4th, 2010|05:30 pm] |
The idea that certain tasks, mechanical or otherwise, could be performed by biological machines rather than mechanical ones has been around for a while. There are, apparently, some potential upsides to basing machines on living tissue rather than mechanical and/or electronic parts.
One that I was never aware of, however, is energy efficiency.
Apparently, an average human is roughly a 100 Watt machine, under normal circumstances. About 25% of that is used to power the brain. There are things that the human muscles and brain can't easily do, so I'm not saying computers could (or should) be replaced by brains in jars and all mechanical devices should be replaced by artificial muscle.
But, in some cases, couldn't they? I'm sure the technical limitations could be overcome, and ethical considerations addressed (and those would apply only to neuron-based data processing machines. After all, an artificial muscle is just a squishy piston).
I'm sure reality is much more complicated, but I'm still wondering if such machines wouldn't be cheaper to run.
Then again, maybe the world isn't sufficiently concerned with lowering global energy consumption. Which makes me wonder whether it *should* be, perhaps. |
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| Bah. |
[Apr. 21st, 2010|09:18 pm] |
So... the same day I made the boasting/optimistic post, I got in a minor, but unlucky accident at training (*) and mildly pulled a leg muscle. I can walk fine, nothing hurts and nothing is damaged, but today's training made it clear that the muscle would not be very happy with me putting too much strain on it.
So, for the rest of the week, I will be only training one hour a day (even today I skipped the second hour of aikido and, of course, the karate). Running is right out.
Pity, but I should have seen this coming.
(*) Not my fault, though. My leg got trapped when I was taking a breakfall and, actually, I think my falling skills are quite decent, as I didn't hurt myself in any serious way. Go me. |
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| Running (yet) again. |
[Apr. 20th, 2010|12:06 pm] |
Spring. It's this time of year again. Time of picnics in the warm outdoors, of blooming flowers, of young lovers.
Time when Oddtail attempts running daily, again, and starts bragging about it!
As you might remember, three years ago, after a I broke my collarbone and it sort-of healed, I tried running to get back in shape. It lasted over a month, but I eventually stopped running. I tried to return to it, later, but without much success.
For a few months now, I've been pondering giving it another go. For the past half-year or so, my aikido/karate training has been... less than systematic. I've only averaged about 5 hours a week (yes, I do keep exact score, thanks for asking). It's changed for the better in recent weeks, though, and I intend to keep it that way. And while I'm at it, I figured I might also take up running, right?
The problem is, of course, that running in the evening sounded unappealing, as it collides with two (sometimes three) hours of training.
And yet, yesterday, I figured I would try and see how much I could run right after three hours of training (two hours aikido, one hour karate). My goal was to reach my former running route within two weeks (like I initially did when I first took up running). Which, as I recently checked, is a bit over 10,5 km.
The results made me pleased. I expected to have the stamina to run for perhaps 15 minutes, at most, on the first day. I managed to run 5,86 km (according to MapMyRun.com) within 32 minutes (which is almost exactly 11 km/h). I then walked home, without pausing to rest, at a rather brisk pace (4,34 km in 45 minutes, so about 5,8 km/h - I was actually surprised that I walk so fast when tired).
I figure it's a good start. I'm gonna continue, and hope to run the entire 10 kilometres-and-something by Monday, and run it in 50 minutes or less in two weeks or so. It's an ambitious plan (again, running right after martial arts training means I'm already pretty tired), but I think I can pull it off.
We will see, though.
Oh, and also: I'm still not done losing weight, which was interrupted for several weeks (damn Easter!). Haven't weighed myself recently, though, so I don't know how much longer I will have to limit my food intake. Not much longer, though, I think. I hope to be back to eating reasonably, but not dieting in a month, maybe month and a half.
But, as I said, we will see. |
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| Oh, what the heck. I'll write about it here. |
[Mar. 31st, 2010|06:15 pm] |
So anyway...
...I've owned Civilization 4, with both expansions, for a while now, but haven't had many (read: any) opportunities to play it in multiplayer. And the game blatantly cheats even on Noble difficulty. I recently talked to a friend who's a fellow Civilization fan (and we played many a game together in previous incarnations of the game, namely Civilization 2, Civilization: Test of Time, Civilization 2 Gold, Civilization 3), and we figured we might as well try and play a game or two.
But, with only two players it's not as much fun. After all, the fewer computer-controlled players there are, the better.
So, anyone out there who'd be willing to play the game? Ideally, someone from Europe, to avoid time zone madness. But a person who's from the US/Canada and 1) has some free time on weekends, or 2) has some free time in the afternoon (which to us would be evening) would be OK as well.
If you're interested, drop me a line via e-mail, or via comment (comments screened). Thanks! |
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oddtail's journal
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