Angus Young Would Be Proud

I'm glad that I don't have to wear a tie to work. I never understood the reasoning behind it anyway--sure, it might be good for lawyers and power brokers, but for a programmer or a DBA? What's the point?

Anyway, seems like times, they are a-changin'...wearing shorts to work? With a coat and tie to boot? Wha? Heck, the last time I wore a tie and shorts to work, it was for Halloween.

Sure, it looks good on some guys, but it would be horrifying to look at on others.

Please, no!

Earthquake!

Experienced a pretty big (5.4) earthquake here at work, with the epicenter around 15 miles from where I live (!). Whole building was shaking, and I could see the glass windows appear to be bowing outwards. Scary sight.

Had to do the duck and cover thing (heh) underneath my desk. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, and the kids are okay. Unfortunately, my Marvel Super Squad figures fell off the bookshelf, but they're PVC anyway.

Bad news is that we've had around 35 aftershocks in and around the original epicenter. Hopefully there's not a bigger one coming around...

Incredible Machines

Remember The Incredible Machine? This was a PC game way back when where you had to use different objects (cannons, gears, what-have-you) to guide a ball to its goal. Fascinating game, but one I haven't really kept up with too much.

Now there's a new web game called Fantastic Contraption (*winkwinknudge*) which is pretty much the same concept: guide an object to its goal. A slight variation to the concept is that you really only have a set of three gears and two connectors to accomplish your task--build a contraption (be it a catapult, a series of levers, or a tank) to get an object to its goal. Having a good grasp of physics is a BIG plus.

Unfortunately, I nearly failed physics, so I solved most of the levels using brute force. If you're a bit better at it than I am, though, you'll probably have an easier time of it. The game's quite addicting, but can get frustrating at times.