Garvey to Freeside

McMonagle Interphase

2009-04-02T22:06:00.000-07:00

So I've just bought myself a nice little plot of internet from Host Gator. I'm not sure that they're the best web host available, but I got a decent price for it. Their going rates for the "hatchling" package that I got are $4.95 a month if purchase for 3 years, $5.95/m for 2 years, or $6.95/m for 1 year. They also tack on an extra $15 for domain name registry. It didn't seem like a great deal at first, but I got 20% off with a "spring" coupon code, so I ended up paying $4.78 a month for 2 years, plus $15 for the domain name. The total was about $130, which doesnt seem all that bad. Of course, that's $130 US, which is $160 Canadian, but I won't get into my contempt for exchange rates.

I'll be using this webspace to host my portfolio and my thesis website. I also plan on starting up another blog, hosted by myself using wordpress. I've considered just migrating Garvey to Freeside to my new webspace, but I'm thinking I'd prefer to keep this blog for my own personal interests and NSFW stuff, while my new blog will only contain entries relevant to my design thesis.

The domain name I chose is www.mcmonagle-interphase.com
As of right now, the DNS isn't set up yet, because I just bought it, but I'd suggest giving it a few weeks anyways since I still have a lot of HTML left to do. I'll probably make another blog post when everything is up and running.

In case you're curious, I chose "McMonagle Interphase" because I needed something that included my name, but was a little more exciting than "McMonagle Design" or "Design by Paul McMonagle" or even "McMonagle Creative". Interphase is considered to be the "living" phase of a cell before it enters mitosis. I chose it to keep with the idea of my website being a single cell in a network of billions, coming together to form a whole. It's also phonetically similar to "Interface". There's a whole sort of technology mimicing biology theme I'm trying to go with, and I think "McMonagle Interphase" suits that well.

Black Sheep Wall

2009-03-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here's thanks to my pal Matt Ritchie for showing me the coolest screen-saver ever.

... the screen saver comes on and the computers communicate with each other by the internet to share the work of creating morphing abstract animations known as "sheep". The result is a collective "android dream"

I've been claiming for years that the first true artificial intelligence would come into creation through the internet, and now we get to watch it dream! Neat!

Nerdcore Hip-Hop

2009-03-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

So, inspired by a certain *ahem* internet giveaway, and because I just love talking about myself, I've decided to show you all what my room looks like.

Of course, the only person who actually reads my blog so far is my lovely girlfriend, and she already knows what my room looks like, but I'll be sure to point out the intricacies and fine details of the decor, and maybe she'll learn something new. d(^_^)b

The above picture shows the key point of my room, which would be my desk. At first glance, it's pretty messy, but if you look closely you can pick out quite a few interesting objects. Think of it kind of like those "where's waldo" books, except instead of "waldo" it's "Wing Zero"

See if you can pick out the following:
DVD of "The Shaolin Drunk Monkey"
Ocarina of Time Master Quest re-release for GCN
Transformer desguised as a PlayStation controller
My first ever gundam model kit (Wing Zero)
A telegraph key (my thanks to Dustin)
The Red Baron's tri-plane

and here's a few detail shots of my figures and such

On the bottom you can see some of my favorite figures, namely my Haruhi Figmas, Revoltech Rei Ayanami, and a couple of older EVA00 and EVA04(even though it never existed in the series :p) figures from Kaiyodo. On the top we've got a bunch of blind-box kid-robot figures (I always get stuck with the pink, girly ones -_-), a couple gundam toys, Sephiroth and Aeries from FFVII, a really cool Diablo II figure, and *cough* Trunks from Dragonball Z.

Here we see some boxes I've kept in my closet, along with a Darth Vader 3D Puzzle, and Risk!

Finally, we have the dusty nether-regions of my desk with some old controllers, a jar of pennies, some power cables, my old PS2, Katamari Damacy, and some recently played Lucky Star DVDs.

I think I'm learning Japanese!

2009-03-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

A big part of what I get up to on the interwebs involves learning, and one of the biggest tasks I've undertaken as of late would be attempting to learn a new language. Specifically, I'm learning Japanese.

I do a lot of my learning at a site called smart.fm (previously known as iKnow). It was recommended by Dannychoo.com, and it's a great learning tool for symbols and vocabulary. Unfortunately, it doesn't mention grammar in the least.

For grammar, Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese Grammar seems to be a pretty solid source of information. It's not as much fun, nor as interactive as the flash-based iKnow program, but it seems to cover quite a lot.

While these two sites are where I learn most of my Japanese, The Japanese Page deserves some mention. It doesn't cover grammar or vocabulary quite as in-depthly as the afore-mentioned sites, but it does provide lessons on common Japanese phrases, phrases for tourists, and Japanese culture that the other two sites miss.

While these websites might not match up to a live teacher and one-on-one interaction with a fluent human being, they're great learning-aids and can be accessed anywhere for free. That said, if anyone feels like volunteering their time to help teach me Japanese, you're more than welcome. d(^_^)b

I'm also going to take this time to test out the keyboard and language settings of Vista. I remember MacOS had a system where romanji would be converted to Hiragana etc. as you type. I'm not sure if this is common among all OS's, or if that's the way Japanese people actual type, but I suppose I'm about to find out. If you can't see the characters, you probably don't have the extra language packs installed for your OS, or maybe you're using Vista Home Basic or something. :p

わたし　の　なめあ　わ　パウル　ミカモナゴ　です

Unfortunately, I don't know any Kanji, so the above was written with all the skill and ingenuity of a first-grader. For those of you who can't read Hiragana either, it says "Watashi no namea wa Pauru Mikamonago desu" meaning "My name is Pauru Mikamonago". For those of you wondering why I'm claiming my name to be "Pauru Mikamonago", it's a rough approximation of my real name spelled out in Japanese characters.

P.S. Vote in my poll! --->

Entering the Sphere

2009-03-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

For many who know me, it may come as a surprise that I have yet to publish a blog. However, my activities on the internet have been that of a lurker for a long time. This will be my first blog, and will serve as a general outlet for my musings and interests. I'll try to keep it SFW, but I can't make any promises. I've named it "Garvey to Freeside," based on one of my favorite novels. I find that my experiences on the web are not unlike a disheveled tug docking babylon, often accompanied by dub.

A little about myself:
I am a graphic design student, set to finish my program in this April of 2009. My studies include a strong focus on the web and multimedia. I am in the process of completing a design thesis entitled "The Internet as a Conscious Entity".
I am fascinated by computers and technology. I spend a lot of my free time lurking the web, watching anime and listening to electronic music.
I have an awesome computer, Corei7 920, 6gb RAM, Geforce 260, whom I've named wintermute. It's claimed to be self-aware, but I'm pretty sure it's just someone fucking with me.

Check out my profile for more info / lists of my favorite stuff etc