Sorta

Date: Sat, Oct 4, 2008

Killing time, sorta.

Hitting up a turbo SnG on FTP. What am I killing time in anticipation of? Nothing really. There's probably something good I could watch on the TiVo. I plan to play some Ultima Online at some point today. I need to do bills. Maybe I'm procrastinating that.

Really, I'm just looking to engage my mind in something distracting from what is otherwise known as "real life."

Speaking of UO - if there are any UO players out there, I'll be in Chicago at the UO Town Hall Meeting at Dave & Busters on Oct 18th. Come out and meet up! I'll be wearing a t-shirt advertising my UO web site, UOCraft.com. Look for me!

Folded 62o and K6s. Wheee!

I've got one single-tabler going, and am registered in a turbo deep stack knockout 90 player SnG... waiting for that one to fill.

I reluctantly turned my furnace on today. It's 61 degrees in here, and while I sleep very well under such conditions, i don't do well during the waking hours. My hands were so cold it was getting hard to type, and that's all snuggled up in my trademark of 3 seasons clothing staple, the hoodie, and my fuzzy duck slippers on. So I endured the grungy smell of that first run of the furnace about an hour ago and am feeling much better now, as are the cats, who were following the sun around the house in various windows to keep warm earlier today. I need to buy a new filter for my furnace. I'm currently running without one, thus contributing to that funky odor (which has since burned away).

Quack quack. Limped in EP with ducks. No raisers. Let's see a flop! Sweet, set on a K82 board. La la la results to follow, as I must concentrate now.

WOW. Set over set over set. And I'm out. Set of 8's, set of 6's, set of 2's. (The 6 came on the turn). Holy hell. Only online, baby! Out in 8th.

Would you believe it actually occurred to me that maybe I should fold when the guy after me immediately called my pot bet, and the button raised me way too big? There were 2 flush draws out there on the turn. Sorry guys - I'm just not good enough to lay down a set on an otherwise uncoordinated board. I'm taking that river card versus a draw most days.

Oh well. 90 player game is still filling up. Time for a beverage break.

And, we're off!

So how about that VP debate the other night! Hmm, yeah, I don't do politics on this here blog, or pretty much on any of these here blogs I ramble on. Not that I didn't watch it... or that I don't have opinions. It seems to me that unless you're debating politics with a friend, colleague, or otherwise with a decent bit of knowledge on the subject, most peoples' opinions are rooted in things they've heard other people say as opposed to actual personal conclusions they've drawn. As such, it's really hard to have an educated debate on politics with most people. Maybe it's just the people I encounter and spend time with. I enlightened a friend of mine recently that your singular vote for president doesn't actually "count" in terms of literally affecting the outcome - one person's vote doesn't really decide the presidency, and that a president can actually lose the "popular" vote (the hand-by-hand vote count) and still win the presidency. (Ahem). He hadn't paid attention in government class and didn't know what the electoral college is. He does now. He now deems our whole voting system "unfair." LOL! Yeah, sometimes it feels that way....

I'm no expert on politics by any stretch, but I am proud to say that in every election (I vote in most every election I'm eligible for, local, state, and federal), I do my own fact-finding, read up on the issues and the candidates at hand, and come to my own conclusions. I generally don't vote straight-party, and I'm comfortable with my contributions to the processes that make this country great.

Ugly rag cards so far in this SnG.

Well that was more political yammering than I can handle in one blog post. Moving on...

I could really use one of those back scratching sticks. I have awfully dry skin pretty much all seasons except summer (worst in the winter), and it has begun... itchy back!!! Bah.

Seems that I can't hit a draw to save my life...

So I installed VMWare Fusion, as mentioned in my last post. It works a lot more smoothly for me than Parallels (which makes me a little unhappy, since I paid for Parallels without testing it, and really don't want to fork out more money). I can't play UO very well on it, though - it seems to handle the graphics fine (unlike Parallels), but the ping times are just awful. I guess running through a virtual network card is just ugly for online gaming. I can't find any sort of support documents about improving the performance of the network card through virtualization, so if anybody has any advice, please holler! I will buy VMWare if I can get its network performance up a bit.

&$*#&($# I'm having one of those days where I make the right plays at the right times and luck is just F'ing me royally. Got a scooby all in, JJ vs his top pair 10's with 1 card to come, and he hits the third 10. Waaa. <10BB left.

I miss live poker.

And, I'm out with top pair 10's (AT suited) when I pushed on the flop (pot was 210 and I had 410 left). Got caught by a guy who slow-played KK preflop. Wheee!

Ahh well. At least I was distracted for an hour or so... sorta.

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Hello, Again

Date: Sat, Sep 27, 2008

Hello, again, my pretties!

I'm here waiting for a 90-player SnG to fill up, and in the meantime (and beyond), I will hang out and ramble with you all.

It's likely the 2nd to last beautiful day of 2008 in Chicagoland. Tomorrow will be nice, and after that, we drop into the 60's and below, probably for the rest of the year. We've had 2 of the most gorgeous weeks of weather I've ever experienced - so you'll all have to remind me of this when I'm bitching in a couple months that Chicago weather sucks, and that we never get any moderate temperatures - just freezing cold into boiling hot, skipping over anything resembling spring or fall.

Ahh, we're full. Let the games begin!

I've been catching up on the WSOP on the TiVo. There was a segment where Ray Romano was saying that it's nice to have something that makes your heart pump. I still get that feeling when playing poker. I just don't have as much time to play as I used to. However, I'm glad it still makes my heart pump, so to speak.

I love Ray Romano. I never watched "Everybody Loves Raymond" when it was on, I think because it was on in first-runs before I had a TiVo (and thus, pretty much before I watched TV on a regular basis). Now, I watch it whenever I catch it, and every episode cracks me up. He looks good with a little gray :)

Ouch, set over set, FTP classic - good thing it wasn't me.

Joy, I've got the every-hand-min-raiser at my table.

I had my first hummingbird ever come to my back yard bird feeders yesterday. Totally stoked. Yeah, I like birds. What of it?

I don't necessarily like 3-9 suited.

I do like the smell of exhaust from a dryer drying clean laundry.

I've been back in Ultima Online again. It'll be 11 years this November that I've been playing that game... effectively, a third of my life. Crazy. There's a new expansion coming out in 2009 that I'm totally looking forward to. They really have a brilliant business model. There's no end-game, so it's a subscription based cash cow, for all intents and purposes. Many players have multiple accounts (including myself). And so it goes, cha-ching, month after month. Compared to the big guys like World of Warcraft, the subscription base of UO is minuscule, around 100,000 subscribers - but I've never found a MMORPG that is anywhere near as flexible in terms of making it whatever you want it to be. WOW is built on the "kill stuff" premise. You can kill stuff in UO, but you can also build a life for yourself crafting or gardening or working as a merchant. There's a vibrant PvP community, a respected roleplay community, and just a great variety of things to do. As long as UO exists, I will play it.

Hovering right around average in chips...

I bought Parallels, the virtual machine software, so that I could run Windows within OS X on my Mac. I had hoped to be able to play UO on it, but it's just not quite fast enough in video rendering (even though it says it can play games - UO isn't one of the listed "official" games that it supports. I thought it might work anyway, as UO's video demands are much lower than some of the games on the list). I've heard that VMWare Fusion works better, and I probably should have tried them both out before I spent $50 on Parallels. I will get use out of Parallels anyway, as it makes it much easier for me to test web sites in IE (barf-a-roni), and it gives me easier access to MS Office (they use it at work, so sometimes I must play nice and be compatible). I had been running Vista with Bootcamp on my Mac, but it's a bit of a pain to have to reboot and boot into Windows for the few things I use it for, because then I don't have my web bookmarks, or access to my documents or my iTunes or anything that lives on the Mac side. I may try VMWare Fusion. We'll see.

I'm getting tired of folding decent hands to raises, but I'm out of position and too likely dominated. Still, it's annoying.

Wow - I'm watching a video tour of VMWare Fusion, and already I see a feature that makes me want it: it can run my existing Bootcamp installation right within OS X! I won't have to reinstall Windows! (again!!) They've got an academic discount, $39.99. TYVM, career! Hmmm this is intriguing. Still, I will download the free trial and test it before buying - but this looks quite promising. Kudos to VMWare's download site too - I'm pulling over 1,000 KB/sec down. Nice.

Card dead...

Might as well install VMWare while I fold... Down to 11xBB... Gotta move soon...

So, Dave Matthews had joined Twitter.com, and holy cow does he post some funny stuff! He's @DaveJMatthews - lots of funny pictures, and nuggets of wisdom like only Dave can do... lovin it.

My hair is getting long. Not long, relative to people with long hair, but long relative to the length I've had it for like the last 8 years. It's longer than it's been in a long time. I wish it would grow faster!! I need a dye job, too. Oy.

Big time push of fold mode. Nothing to push with. Oooh, A3s. Here we go. Damn it, 2 people all in in front of me. FOLD.

Owie antes hurt!!

So I finally got sick of the spicy Italian sandwich at Subway. Trouble is, nothing else is really calling my name there. i've given the chicken bacon ranch sandwich a few days in court, and it hasn't really sold me. I feel lost without a signature sandwich. *sniffle*

AQo, I'm pushing regardless...

2 callers. Nada on the flop. And... I'm out, in 34th place.

Time to go play with VMWare!

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What Will People Think?

Date: Thu, Sep 4, 2008

A poster I made for my friend and photog professor's upcoming photo exhibit. See the photography of Carol Thorner at her show: "What Will People Think? (and other concerns)" at The Center for Visual & Performing Arts in Munster, Indiana. Sept 12 to Oct 19.

Come out and meet Carol at the artist reception on Sept 19, 6-9pm.

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Fired Up

Date: Mon, Sep 1, 2008

I have just fired up a lil' 27 person SnG on Full Tilt, baby size. Five buckeroos.

I'm also fired up over the infiltration of damn ragweed that is occurring. I cannot breathe and it is driving me insane. This wicked congestion has foiled every allergy med I've got, and it is so bad that is is messing with my inner ear and giving me vertigo and just making me overall miserable. Mold spores can kiss my ass, too. Man, I am miserable!

In happier news, I've got 49 prints so far up on my eBay store, and had a good first week. Check it out if you're into art prints - http://stores.ebay.com/Purple-Penguins-Studio. Right now, I've only got 8 1/2 x 11" max, but that will change once I get around to buying some larger format paper. I can do up to 13x19" prints.

Rest assured that anything you purchase helps to keep this single gal in a roof over her head!

My starting hands are decent so far, but the flops are missing me.

OESD, called it down with odds, didn't hit. Way to become the short stack, Shel!

It must be the dramamine.

So, I'm taking an art class this semester - ART101, to be exact. 2D design. Typically, I don't do art, but it's part of the photography program, and one of my photography classes canceled, so this was all I could pick up. It has me a bit terrified. The only saving grace is that about half of the projects can be completed on the computer (which is my only hope, because I *really* cannot draw). Any advice from creative types for a non-artsy-type trying to survive a 2D design class?

Has everybody heard by now that Google is launching a new web browser tomorrow? Google Chrome - I'm mildly curious. I'm still a bit peeved at Google, as traffic to this here blog has dwindled to less than 25% of what it was before they implemented their Big Brother twist on terms of service. Thank heavens for all of you RSS peeps!

Wow, I sure exited that tourney in joker-iffic fashion. Well, my AK vs K8 looked good, until the flop.

Sadly, I had to suck out my meager bankroll to pay bills (again), so this next tourney will be even more Scooby-tastic: a $1+.25 90 player sit n go. Bring it on!!

You see, I'm trying to keep myself awake until a respectable bedtime hour. These meds that keep me from spinning are also trying to knock me unconscious.

Maybe iTunes will help.

Nice, I'm sitting next to the hot pirate avatar!!

Here's a little something I posted to my personal blog the other day...

From the eulogy of the late LeRoi Moore of DMB:

Edna St.Vincent Millay:
“I burn my candle at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light."

---
If I should happen to expire before my time, I wouldn't mind if one of you considered eulogizing me with this.

Something to keep in mind, you know, if ever...

Chatter has begun about the Winter Classic in Vegas... I know I'll shock you all by saying it's unlikely I'll make it out. I've come to accept my lot in life - I teach for a living, and teachers don't make squat for pay - particularly when they have expensive hobbies and the philosophy that she who dies with the most toys, wins. If lots of peeps go buy my photos, then maybe you'll see me in Sin City - but artists don't make squat for pay either, so squat + squat = .... not a whole lot. Such is life!

Finally, a hand I can call with. 33. No flopped set. Boo.

I should really be working on a couple articles, but my mind is too foggy to write.

Playing da hammer, yeah doggie.

Folding da hammer, indeed.

Wow, AA vs KK and a JT came along for the ride (???) and outflopped us both. Ugly. (I had the pointy ones).

Looking through photos for a suitable one to make a September desktop calendar out of. Searching for "symbolize September" doesn't work very well, due to a particularly unsavory event in recent US past.

See, I can be productive while folding. Get your free September desktop calendar here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phlyersphan/2820256482/

I'm severely short-stacked... you might need to get that eulogy ready...

Now, I'm going to attempt an upgrade on my WordPress site... I am brave. Actually, WordPress has always been good to me. If my URL wasn't established here, I'd switch this blog to WordPress, but... I'm not that brave.

Doubled up. 13xBB.

And... out! Ahh well. At least it's a decent hour to go to bed now.

And I finished the WordPress update... Purple Penguins shall live on!

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LeRoi Moore Tribute Poster

Date: Sun, Aug 24, 2008

LJMSArt.com has a gorgeous tribute poster to LeRoi Moore available. Limited edition, 500 prints numbered and signed, with ALL profits going to the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation for the LeRoi Moore Memorial Fund (the official memorial fund as specified by davematthewsband.com).

$20 plus shipping. Go get one.

http://www.ljmsart.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=119

(Note - there's music on the page, in case you're at work or something... adjust speakers as appropriate).

DMB love always...

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Godspeed, LeRoi

Date: Tue, Aug 19, 2008

LEROI MOORE 1961-2008

08/19/2008

We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.

http://www.davematthewsband.com/

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eBay Store Open

Date: Tue, Aug 19, 2008

I've finally gotten around to opening my eBay store. You can now find Purple Penguins Studio fine art prints on eBay.

And now, I must sleep! :)

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A taste of the good life

Date: Fri, Aug 15, 2008

DMB Alpine was absolutely fantastic. I've been on a DMB high all week (while chasing away the cold I caught), but oh my my, was it good!

I'm doing that limit thing again. I can't really explain it, but limit really is my game - though I've been doing strictly NL SnG's for what seems like forever now, and I do well at those - but I guess that's the thing. After all these years, it's NL tourneys and limit cash games. Yup, that's me. I'd love to make it out to check out the new Horseshoe poker room in Hammond one of these days...

I came across the most amazing looking recipe for chocolate peanut butter cake on the PLANET today. Seriously. It's like food porn. Go see: Smitten Kitchen - Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. The pictures are ridiculous. Thanks to Kevin Rose for posting it. It is on my Must Make list.

One thing I did forget over time about these micro limit games: how many insane chasers there are. Yowza. I've hit 2 straights and flopped a set so far, and lost all 3! I know, I know... these are the people I WANT at my table... yada yada yada.

I still haven't changed to the penguin avatar. Thinking about it.

I spent a good chunk of time last night working in Photoshop on a logo header for what may become my ebay store. I sold photography prints on there for a couple months before I left on vacation, and am thinking of doing the whole store thing. I sell prints through Zenfolio as well, but I think eBay has much better exposure.

Ha I just flopped a straight, but with the wrong hole cards on the wrong table. LOL!

Is there any good reason to sit down at a .25/.50 limit game with $50? Oh right - to give it all to ME!

Or not. These are some butt ugly cards.

Not much else going on around here. I go back to work next week. Summer went by WAY too fast. I'm not ready to get back in the grind. I've got a busy schedule for fall, teaching 4 classes and taking 3 photography classes. It's all good - I'll just be a bit chicken-sans-head. But what else is new, right?!

Debating shutting this thing down to go eat a bowl of Lucky Charms and watch the Olympics...

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Twitter Tools and a Little Bit of Photog

Date: Thu, Aug 14, 2008

I've got a couple new articles up on Suite101 -

Twitter Tools: TweetDeck - Organize and Search Twitter Tweets Quickly and Easily

and

Point n Shoot Digital Infrared Photography: Get Creative with Invisible Light

and

Inexpensive Macro Photography: Close-Up Lenses - Magnify the World Around You and Take Amazing Photos

So, what are you waiting for? Go read! :)

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Brain Exercise

Date: Fri, Aug 8, 2008

I'm not sure what prompted me to play a little limit holdem the other day, but I did... Limit to me is kind of like auto-pilot poker. It's all math. It's not very situational. The rules are pretty much the rules, all the time. Kind of like doing brain teaser puzzles.

My brain likes limit. Multi-tabling limit is like brain exercise.

Limit really makes me want to go hit up the boats. The new Horseshoe poker room opened up in Hammond, and I hear it is MIGHTY nice...

I'm heading to Milwaukee tomorrow for DMB at Alpine Valley. It should be sick!! Can't wait!!

K4o, on the other hand, is not sick. Or it is, in the literal sense.

I much prefer full ring games to 6-handed, for the record.

I've been thinking about making a change. I'm usually the goldfish avatar on Full Tilt Poker, but they now have a penguin avatar - and I love penguins! I collect them, and I sponsor one at the local zoo. But, the goldfish is... sort of... part of me. Maybe I'll try the penguin on for size. But is that disrespecting the goldfish? I don't want to diss the fish.

I hate when I call someone down with second pair thinking they're weak as all hades, to see that they turned the straight.

Ahh well, lunch beckons me...

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Creative Film Photography with Holga Cameras

Date: Tue, Aug 5, 2008

I've got a new article up on Suite101.com: Creative Film Photography with Holga Cameras.

Enjoy!

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Haven't done this in a while

Date: Tue, Aug 5, 2008

I haven't played a MTT in a while... OK, so 2 tables isn't exactly breaking the "multi" bank, but hey. I want to get to sleep at some point tonight (cuz we all know THIS IS MY TIME! I'm gonna ROCK THIS THING!) ha!

I've got a 20" monitor and a 24" monitor, and I can't seem to get comfortable. Bah. Windows feel disorganized. My head is twisted the wrong way. Man, I've got problems!!!

iTunes is on shuffle...

We had some wicked storms roll through here tonight. The tornadoes missed me (that's always a good thing, and it was too dark to take pictures anyway, so I don't mind). I was hoping to get some cool lightning photos, but no such luck. It was all flashy, not streaky. I see some lightning on the horizon now - maybe I'll get lucky tonight.

Loose table so far... 4 or 5 to each flop. One guy out already. (It's the 4th hand).

I've been trying out the hand-coloring technique (photography) using these photo markers I got at the craft store. It was one of the techniques we covered in the experimental photography class I took this summer. I want to give it a fair shake before I write it off completely (no pun intended). I generally suck at coloring, but hand-coloring can be an imprecise, which bodes well for my suckage. I colored a photo tonight that I took in Boston. Not sure what I think of it. I colored it, scanned it, then applied the Holga simulator in Photoshop. (I'm in love with the Holga simulator. More to follow).



So this Holga thing... if you haven't heard of them, they're these cheap plastic cameras with plastic lenses. They have a bit of a cult following due to the unexpected results you can achieve with the crappy lens and the light leaks and whatnot. Yes, some people call this "art." I love what I've seen so far. There's a Photoshop action to simulate the misframing and weird vignetting and strange blur effects of a Holga (as seen above). I've just finished shooting my first roll of film with a Holga 120. It's 120 format black and white film. I haven't developed it yet. I'm not sure if I have a 120 reel for my film tank. I'll have to dig around in the box of stuff I inherited. I've got 2 things in mind to do with Holga stuff: 1) mod my Holga camera to take 35mm film, and 2) buy a Holga lens body cap for my Canon Digital Rebel XTi. I really love the look.

If you don't have Photoshop and would like to try out the Holga effect on a photo, there's a free online Holganizer!

One of my BIGGEST poker pet peeves: When someone's all in versus 2 opponents. Normally, the 2 opponents should check it down to increase the likelihood of knocking the 3rd person out. The exception is when one person actually has a hand and wants to try and make some money, or has a hand he/she would rather take on heads-up, but WHY would you min-bet the other person out of the pot when you have nothing but QUEEN HIGH?!?! I know why. BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE A CLUE WHAT YOU'RE DOING!

/end rant

I like to see cheap flops.

And now, it's attack of the clones who can't do anything but hit the "bet pot" button. Arg!!!

The donks are sucking me to a slow death.

But the iTunes is doing pretty well tonight with the shuffle. Soul Asylum on now. Nice.

What you beyotches don't know is, I'm going out on MY TERMS! Eat that, punks!

22 - here we go!

vs AJ

SET

BOAT

And I live to play another hand!

Reading on how to mod a Holga 120 into a 35mm Holga...

KK all in... one call... vs AK.... I win! Yay!

The mod doesn't look hard at all. I wonder if I have any foam pieces laying around somewhere. Looks like a non-permanent mod, too, in case I want to shoot medium format again. The thing is, I'd like to shoot color, and I don't have color processing equipment at home, so I'd have to rely on the local photo shops, and it's hard to get anything but 35mm processed around here anymore.

Hells yeah, Smoking Popes! I <3 my iTunes.

Final table... haha out of 18 :) Still on life support. But I have a whole orbit to pick a hand.

Fantastic! 66 vs KQ, doubled up!

So, I got Adobe Lightroom 2.0. I religiously used LR 1.0, and I'm already so impressed with version 2.0 that I wouldn't go back to version 1 if you paid me. (Well, MAYBE if you paid me). Thomas Hawk did a nice write-up on the 10 Best Things About the New Lightroom 2.0. It's good stuff.

Ahh, Billy Joel...

Sorry guys. I just folded a hammer. I feel like a hypocrite every time I do.

I'm just over 10xBB with 6 people left. 4 places pay.

1 more out, though I'm the bottom. Gotta double up and hope somebody else knocks out.

Faith No More is takin' me through!

I'm going to miss Pauly's blog-birthday game. I have no funds on PokerStars. Booo :(

There's my double up, against a scooby. People really surprise me. I'm 3rd of 5. Looks like somebody didn't click the "I'm Ready" button for break....

I tried out extension tubes for some macro photography yesterday. It's a nice way to get into macro cheaply, but there are some disadvantages to buying a dedicated macro lens. The cheapo tubes disable auto-focus and aperture control, though that didn't really bother me, as I probably shoot 30% of my work with manual focus anyway, and the depth of field is so tiny that aperture control doesn't help much. The most difficult thing was that with my 50mm lens, which has a short minimum focus distance of about 11 inches anyway, the minimum focus distance with the tubes was a couple inches, tops! I used my body to focus, moving forward and back as necessary to try and get sharp focus, but it was tough. I thought of getting out the tripod, but I was shooting a bee on a sunflower, and didn't want to miss the shot. Here's what I came up with:






Arg Full Tilt is throwing me all these juicy hands that I just can't play this short!!! And the short stack doubled up, booo. I'm still 3/5 but it's crowded here at the bottom.

U2... Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

Yeah baby, ITM! Time for a comeback, eh?

Doubled again. DMB. Bring me home, Dave baby!

Jake here is a crazy blind stealer. It seems to work for him but he also calls way too many all-in's with inferior hands. Bad habit.

Can't do much with Q7o and T3o.

Before These Crowded Streets is my favorite Dave Matthews Band album of all times. I'm heading to Milwaukee to see them at Alpine Valley Music Theater this weekend. Can't wait! My summer revolves around DMB shows each year. Got a cheap hotel on Priceline - $55/night at a nice place in downtown Milwaukee. Noon Saturday can't come soon enough!

Top 3 baby...

Oh my, and now I'm chip leader. I love when the scoobies get cranky and tired and do stupid shit.

Boy, my cards are suckin' though! Folding lots.

Some new R.E.M. on the tune-age...

Passing chips around...

Heads UP!

And.... Green Day takes me into the Winner's Circle!

I should play these more often.

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Blogger Apologizes for Spam-Blocking Blogs

Date: Mon, Aug 4, 2008

A few notable poker bloggers got blocked over the weekend by Blogger and locked out of their blogs. All seems to be operating normal today, but in case you missed it, Blogger has apologized for spam-blocking blogs.

We have now restored all accounts that were mistakenly marked as spam yesterday. (See: Spam Fridays)

We want to offer our sincerest apologies to affected bloggers and their readers. We’ve tracked down the problem to a bug in our data processing code that locked blogs even when our algorithms concluded they were not spam. We are adding additional monitoring and process checks to ensure that bugs of this magnitude are caught before they can affect your data.

Kudos to Blogger for admitting the problem and apparently working quickly to clear it up. In a similar vein, it looks like they are working on some import/export tools that should make it easier to back up your blog's posts (should something similar ever happen again).

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Catching Up

Date: Thu, Jul 31, 2008

Catching up on Poker After Dark on the TiVo, and you know what that means... two days in a row of posts that, while maybe not poker related, at least had some poker going on during their creation. w00t for you! haha :) Firing up a SnG on FTP...

So I'm watching the Director's Cut of the "Nets vs Vets" week, and the players are all introducing themselves and whatnot. One thought I can't shake: these internet players are going on and on about how they've played just as many hands as Doyle has in his lifetime because they play 32 tables at a time. Yes, BUT... playing live has so many facets beyond the poker itself that these net players have NO experience with - and in a lot of cases, it shows and gives away a wealth of information. I'm just appalled that they can seriously feel justified in comparing themselves to the legends of poker. Hell, the one kid can't even figure out how to cut out his chips.

It's a new age, I guess.

I enjoy playing online - don't get me wrong. But I play online because I can't get to the casino as often as I'd like, or because I don't at this moment have an actual bankroll. The authentic poker experience, to me, occurs in the poker rooms of the world, and not on living room couches. I'm sure some of these zillion-multi-tablers would disagree.

How many computer monitors does it take to run 32 friggin tables simultaneously??

Is anybody watching HGTV's Design Star? I want Jennifer to win so bad!!! :)

Nothing doing in this SnG. I need some cards and soon, or else I will be making an early exit.

Did this guy just say, "Doyle is a tight player..." The net kids must define "tight" differently than I do.

Shocker, he went out first.

True multitasking: watching PAD while playing a SnG while giving myself a manicure.

Now up: the Poker After Dark heads-up challenge. I like this show, but I really miss High Stakes Poker.

At some point today, I actually have to get out of my PJ's and go to work...

Just got knocked out. I'm mildly irritated at the range of hands people will call an all-in re-raise with for 1/3 of their stack. K3 suited? Really?

Let's roll this one more time...

Ahhh, nice little double up on the first hand with the nut straight. 3rd pair bet it all the way and called my river all-in reraise. Okie dokie!

It's amazing how Chris Ferguson can look so friendly yet so menacing, all at the same time. I'd have a messy chair to deal with if I ever had to stare him down heads-up.

Yowza. Made my straight J9 with a 10-8-10-Q-4 board. Was up against 8-10. Ouch.

Still 2nd in chips but the chip lead felt much more comfortable.

Well, that did not go well. 10-10 and out, knocked out by a caller who chased me down with K-10 and hit a K on the river. A pair draw? Really?

Scoobies 3, Me 0

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