Hey, just a quick message to tell everybody that I am here and I love you.
I am also insanely busy this week. I’ve got two deadlines one after another on Thursday and Friday. I get to fit in a day or two of work in there.
As I’ve said, the day of gaming isn’t happening. A year of gaming, sure.
I’m also waiting for the new iPad Air. It’s still in China. It should be here next Friday or something.
That is all. See you later! I think…
Hey! Just a quick update on the going-ons of my little website, podcast, and other projects.
I’ve decided against doing it on a dedicated day because I don’t have my streaming assets created yet and well, honestly, I don’t have much time to myself past working and studying.
It will just be an ongoing thing and I won’t dedicate a date to it. I don’t feel bad doing this because I’ve got 0 donations to send them. You can check out the upcoming events that include Extra Life on my streaming schedule.
It looks like that I didn’t update my feed last Friday until Saturday afternoon. Shouldn’t make a difference. I was going to re-record it, but… yeah, too busy.
I’m also thinking about quitting my personal journal podcast. I’m pretty bored with it so I’m assuming you are too. My numbers are abysmal, but at the same time, I don’t do much to grow my numbers. I never have. I guess I could, but my life in a rural area plus COVID is not very exciting.
It feels a bit weird (and sad too) making something that has no audience.
Aiming for an upload in the next few months. It’ll be available to the people who have an account at Complicated Noise first.
I’m happy-ish how things are going with it, but I’m still a perfectionist when it comes to my music stuff.
I’m just getting a bit tired. I’ve always said that I don’t care about my numbers, but well, there’s always that lingering feeling where you’re putting something out and having no audience. It’s a bit disheartening but I guess it might be a little nudge telling me to quit while I’m ahead. I don’t know. These things are just a thought. I do like being creative and I do like having the extra outlet(s) to rant, complain, whine, and create.
Anyway, I hope all is well with you.
Hi!
Yes, I post here every so often, believe it or not. This time is to let you know that I have begun creating music again. When I was younger, I used to dabble in mixing and remixing music. I used to remix music in my early days but stopped after my partner at the time kept reminding me that creativity = wasting time.
Again, it’s more of a therapy than anything. This time, it is a lot more computer-generated and created with algorithms. It has a very synthetic sound to it, but I like it.
I am planning to make something available by the end of the year. I hope you’ll like what I make. I’m not planning on selling it or anything right now, but making exclusive mixes available for account holders here.
My first project is called “Visible Form” so if you see something about that, please take a look and listen.
It’s not like I have all this free time, so it’s just a side project. I’ve composed four songs so far, 2 are tracks I am happy with (and listen to in the background as I do things). More information is coming soon!
Once upon a time, I used to use Opera as my main web browser. One day, it seemed to lose its way and the web browser was sold off to a Chinese company. I stopped using it because I found a new web browser that was started by Opera’s founder called Vivaldi. That’s my main browser now.
Every so often, Opera comes out with an interesting product that I try out. First was their concept browser called Opera Neon, then came Opera GX, a web browser targeting gamers.
I have to admit that it’s pretty cool.
The latest update adds adaptive background music which means that it plays music while you use it. You can change the sound by surfing the web, typing in text boxes, or opening new tabs. It’s pretty cool. It feels really space age and got me thinking about revisiting music creation. How’s that for inspiration?
It also lets me chat, watch other gamers, and stuff at the same time. It’s a pretty handy product if I am feeling social.
Sometimes, I have it open in the background just to listen to the calming sounds it makes. 
It’s nice. If you’re a gamer or want to use a browser that’s not Chrome (but it’s similar), you should download Opera GX.
Download Opera GX for Windows or Mac
(PS: This post isn’t something that I get paid for. It’s just a cool little thing I found. Also, if you’re hardcore-nerdy, you can try out the Beaker browser, which is a P2P browser for web hackers. It’s pretty cool too.)
I’ve been planning to stream gameplay for a long time, then get to the date that it happens and realise that I’ve either scheduled it on a work day, scheduled it on a day where I have a lot of stuff to do, or scheduled it on a day that I am not going to be ready.
My Extra Life event has been moved to the next Saturday it was originally scheduled. Instead of doing it on the 7 November, I will be doing it on 14 November. The times have not changed. If you’d like to take a look at the time equivalents in the USA, you can check out my page on Extra Life.
Tonight’s scheduled gameplay stream is moved up three weeks. I have a lot of stuff happening in the next two weeks. I am also really struggling with my seasonal allergies at the moment so I’ve been fueled on Benadryl which makes me very sleepy when I take it.
My next planned podcast episode hasn’t been changed [yet], but it’s scheduled for 16 October anyway. I’m planning to record over a few days of the next three weeks.
November will be a lot less busy for me. I’ll be in Australia in December this year and have told them that I am available for work, so I’m sure they’ll take advantage of that.
I’ll see you guys around. I hope everybody’s doing well. I will be honest that I am a bit more down lately because I don’t have much quality time for myself. I’m going to try to get myself back into a good mental space.
Thanks for being here, as always. I appreciate it.
Update: I’ve had to cancel a dedicated day to do this. Sorry!
I thought I’d try something out. Maybe it’ll be a way for me to finally motivate myself to get my streaming channel on Twitch off the ground. I’m going to try to raise money for The Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals by doing a streamed day of gameplay.
I think the official day is the 2nd of November, but I’m going to stream my gameplay on the 14th from 5 am until midnight. There’s still a chance that the date and time will change but I’ll still stream for 18 or so hours. I’ll be streaming on my slightly-unloved Twitch channel. Sorry, I’m way too old to stay up a full 24 hours. Haha.
Update: I’m no longer doing a dedicated day because my work and study schedule is just too cramped at the moment. I’ve always said that the date can’t be set in stone. Take a look at the streaming schedule on Complicated Noise for any planned events. Thanks!
My goal is to raise a minimum $100 USD for them. I think that’s a nice goal. If you’d like to help me reach that goal, go see me on Extra Life. As an incentive, I’m also attaching a promise to instill some bonuses to you on my website. If you donate, please let me know and I’ll get you set up with a few account goodies!
This fundraising opportunity is largely USA-based and know that sometimes the currency exchange to United States dollars isn’t that great (and attracts exchange fees, etc). If this is the case, please donate to a reputable charity in your country and in your own currency.
Thanks for supporting me (if you choose to). I am hoping to do some good in this world. I have always avoided fundraisers because I have this belief (or fear, really) that I won’t raise a single dollar.
I’ll see you then! I talk a little bit about this fundraising opportunity in my next podcast episode (which is available to those with an account here).
I should really think about domains before I actually register them. I’m adding a new one to our little family: cnoi.se.
I’m not moving everything or starting over, but will be working on using that to make URLs a lot shorter. The only one that works at the moment is just by going to cnoi.se to go to the regular website.
It’s only been a few hours since I’ve registered it so it’s not going to work for everybody just yet. It will though, eventually.
That’s my short little announcement for now.
Oh, and it’s not a way to track anybody, it’s just to save time and I guess to experiment a bit.
Hope you’re well!
I’ve only got a few more days left here, then I can go back home. It’s a mixed bag of emotions because I like the little town I’m in and coming back isn’t going to be possible unless I want to work here permanently. I’ve talked to my husband about that possibility, but we’ll see what happens.
When I leave here, I get a bit sad. It’s a nice little town with nice views of mountains and it’s really leafy. It’s still considered rural, but it’s got supermarkets and a KFC, so it’s not so bad.
Did I mention that I ate 4 chicken burgers from KFC on Sunday? Yeah, I got really sick from it. I’m still feeling the effects from it today. (I ate them in a 4-5 hour period, but still…)
I just need to stop making a pig out of myself. While I’ve been here, I’ve noticed that I’ve got some really terrible habits. My latest is drinking a lot of soda. This is US-level soda drinking. It’s just one a day, but I haven’t been this crazy since I moved here. It’s terrible.
I guess I’m gonna have to make some changes to this so-called diet when I get back.
Chat soon. I have quite a bit to do before I leave.
I decided against going back home for the weekend so I can focus myself on a ton of stuff that I need to do. I haven’t actually started on that stuff yet. I had to go pick up some caffeine and sugar first. (I’ve got a lot of typing to do for studies. I’m almost done though.)
I kind of miss my husband though I admit. I saw the question below:
The quick and easy answer: yes.
The longer version is that I would love to stay with him because it means we could do a lot of good things for ourselves and other people. We’re both people who love to help others and I think we could do a lot of good. I think we could live a very nice life together, quit our stressful jobs, and do whatever we wanted.
Having said that, I wouldn’t leave anybody if I won a lot of money. I really love my relationship with my husband. I don’t tell him that a lot, but he’s been a really wonderful guy and takes care of me and others so well. People like that in their personal and professional lives need nice surprises.
Okay, that’s all I’ll say for now. I need to get this studying started. I hope everyone is well, especially those back home in Texas who are dealing with yet another hurricane.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that I am away from home for a few weeks. I’ve been incredibly busy but I’m taking a breather this weekend but let me tell you what I had to deal with when I arrived at my accommodation.
On day one, I arrived, I came in to the sound of a smoke detector with a low battery. If you’ve ever heard a chirp every minute and didn’t know where it came from, it’s a low battery. It wasn’t too loud, but it was there and it was chirping a little too regularly for my liking.
I thought to myself well it won’t be so bad. I can handle this.
I couldn’t handle it. I had somewhere to be in about 30 minutes. I had no time to investigate. Hours later, I came back and thought that I’d go grab some 9 volt batteries because there were 2 smoke detectors: one in the hall and one in the living room and the one in the hall was chirping too. (May I add that this was right next to my bedroom door…)
The next day, after an hour, I said I couldn’t handle it anymore. I went out to the store to buy the batteries. I came back. I replaced the batteries in the two smoke detectors. Then I heard it again:
Okay. I just replaced the battery. What the hell? I searched the whole house for smoke detectors and I couldn’t find any more of them. Again, CHIRP!!!!
The noise was coming from near my bedroom. There was a cabinet up near the ceiling where I thought the noise was coming from. It was then that I realised that the sound was coming in that general area. The cabinet was empty.
I think then I started going crazy because I could hear it, but couldn’t find an alarm anywhere. I then sent an email to the accommodation owners and simply said that the noise is driving me crazy and keeping me awake at night and I am not dealing with that for 3 weeks.
They sent a contractor who came by to check it out and then he realised what had happened. About a year ago, they did some renovating and covered up some kitchen cabinets and must have left a smoke detector in there. He asked how long I’d be there and I told him that it needed to be fixed. They tried to get it through the attic. Couldn’t do that. They ended up drilling a hole in the wall instead.
Anyway, it was fixed the day that I sent the email. Within hours actually. I am so thankful that it’s gone now.
But… how do you leave stuff on a shelf and cover it up with a wall?
Hey there everybody. This weblog hasn’t got the traffic that my other one had, but I just wanted to mention that I am going to be away for the next few weeks (starting this weekend) which means that I won’t be posting new podcast episodes until I am back home. That’ll be the second week of September.
I’m not traveling by plane or anything, but just have to be in another city to complete some regular training for my job.
I’ll try to post here, but have a few busy weeks ahead.
Update: A new podcast episode has been uploaded. No Great Shakes, is available now. Once I am back, I will get back to recording and posting!
As always, I hope everyone is well!
Hello!
I hope everyone reading this is doing well! Work’s been crazy, so I’ve had to take a little break. I’ve been having to wake up early and by the time I get home, I am so tired that I fall asleep, so I’ve been neglecting you fine people. But here I am at around 6:45 am (I’d just be leaving right about now on a work day). I am stuck in morning mode and probably will be for a while. About 95% of my shifts have been in the mornings instead of afternoons or nights.
I’m doing well though for the most part. Just perpetually tired and sore. My back is so sore lately. I bought a posture correcting back brace (not really a brace, but more like a little cloth thing to pull my shoulders back where they need to be). My back has been sore since I wore it. I think I am so slouched over now that it’s going to take some good old metal and screws to correct my terrible posture.
I guess being a computer nerd has that effect. I’ve always been that kind of person who looks down as they walk and since I’ve had a smart phone, it’s probably only gotten worse. I’m going to be studying through the pain today. I’ll deal with it somehow.
Other updates? Husband’s birthday is this weekend. He’s starting to show signs of agony because it’s the last year of his 30s. I reminded him, in my own little special way, that his husband has hit the 40 mark and he’s doing just fine.
I’m gonna do a bit of extra work on this website and record another new podcast episode this week since I won’t be able to record/edit/post after mid-August to mid-September.
I hope everybody’s doing well! Take care of yourself!
Happy Fourth of July, Americans. Good luck. You apparently need it. Lots of it. Don’t screw the country up next year, okay?
Now that’s out of the way, I just wanted to say a big hello to anybody who reads this.
I’ve had to fill in for missing staff at work, so I haven’t had much time to do anything considered “fun”. I don’t hate my job or anything like that, so to get paid for doing something I like doing is just a bonus.
My wedding anniversary is in a few days. We originally planned to go to Melbourne, but that’s been cancelled. I can’t risk going there and picking anything up, so we’re just going to do something around here tonight. I’m letting him sleep in today because the restaurant we’re heading to opens at 5 pm and I hate shopping. (He loves shopping and I find it incredibly boring.
This is two years of marriage for us. Amazing how time flies, right? Also, it’s just about the same when I was last in India. I was hoping to go this year, but I doubt that I’m going to do any international travel for a while. There are so many places I want to go since my income doesn’t suck anymore… but I can’t. My health is more important. I don’t want to risk getting myself and others sick. I depend on my husband to feed me. I’d starve without him.
That’s it. Just a simple little update. I hope everybody is doing well!
I didn’t finish the last post I made about what I’m doing to the website. I think I might have left midway to do something–probably to play No Man’s Sky. I’m handling my addiction quite well. I’m back to working like crazy (full-time right now) but I’m still making a few changes to the site:
Built-In Feedback: Before I started working full-time again (believe me, this is just temporary), I started working on a feedback system for podcast episodes. I’m just finishing it up and putting it through a few rounds of testing. Over the next few weeks, you may notice that the links to my old website are gone and replaced with another commenting system. I’m keeping the Recaptcha stuff for now just for an extra layer of protection.
Podcast Feed: Along with those changes, I’m going to start generating my own feed code for new podcast episodes. This is done more for me so I don’t have to use several softwares just to update the feed. That was the reason why the latest episode was delayed, because I have to manually change it and sometimes I am just too tired and lazy. Why not do it automatically if I can do it that way?
Left Menu: I’ve simplified the menu that can appear on the left of pages (or the whole screen if you’re using a mobile device). It’s still not perfect, but I’ve reduced the size of the artwork/cover. At some point, I am going to make it an option to pop out the player so you can get more space on the menu.
Reward System: I go back and forth with this, trying to decide whether to keep it or not. As I’ve said before in my other weblog, I’m not seeking to get rich from this but I think it’s important to reward those who help promote my totally unprofessional podcast, streaming, or websites. I want to keep this, but I want to simplify it. A lot of the work I am doing here is more of a “proof of concept” kind of thing. You know, to see whether I can do it and for it to be tested. At some point, I want to help other podcast producers. Whether that happens or not, I don’t know yet.
Contact Options: I’m going to reduce these simply because I don’t want to have 300 links to services that I don’t use. I’ve removed Skype a long time ago because I’ve switched to using it only for phone calls to the USA. I’ll keep Telegram, Discord, Mastodon, and the contact form on my website. No Instagram? I don’t really use it. I don’t use Snapchat. I reserve Facebook for people I know personally. A lot of this change has been done, but I want to further simplify it.
Conclusion: I hope this transparency helps you understand what I’m doing and I really hope you’ll help me test things out and let me know if you see anything funny. I do need your help with testing things on this website because it’s built from scratch. I am not borrowing any code from anywhere. I want to get it right.
Again, thank you for being here. I appreciate it! I hope you stick around.
I’ve always got an excuse why I don’t post new podcast episodes, stream, or update my weblog and of course, today is no different. Things have been really busy lately.
I could lie and tell you that I haven’t just discovered No Man’s Sky but I won’t do that. That’s why I’ve been so busy. It’s why I haven’t been able to do anything else.
I’m going to be trying a few new things with what you hear and what you see. Here is what I’m thinking:
Podcasting: I’ve basically been struggling to find any motivation to record new podcast episodes. One of the real struggles of living in a rural area is that nothing happens. COVID-19 has made that even worse. You’d think that I’d have more time to blow because of it, but I don’t. I am considered “essential”. I don’t have an option to work from home. Besides work, nothing exciting has been happening.
Streaming: My work hours have been very unpredictable. Basically, I am on call on weekends. That’s when I think streaming game play works best. My dates have to be moved around a lot. I’m going to try to get it started soon. If you’d like to follow me on Twitch, go here.
