Yep.

Essentially it’s my dumping place for random code, text, notes and such. It’s not password-locked, so feel free to use it yourself – just don’t put private information in there; it’s a publicly-readable thing.

One thing I find pastebins good for is quickly throwing up some text and getting a nice short-ish link for it. Like so: http://paste.psquid.net/f49e8eb67 (the first paragraph of this post, don’tcha know).

So anyway, enjoy. Or don’t. Whatever floats your boat.

Yep, it’s true. As of late yesterday, all three of the GFC “cult” have their own blogs. This is a most auspicious day.

In honour of the new links between the sites, I shall be making the two themes I was responsible for (Nautiloid and Canaderp, mine and kceee’s respectively) available to download, sans logos, within a week or so, along with a readme.html specifiying any tweaks necessary to place a new logo into them.

Enjoy!

EDIT: I will not be releasing the themes just yet, as I haven’t done the necessary tidying and tweaking. They’re still coming at some point, but there’s no longer a concrete date.

Now, if you’ve known me a while, you’ll know that I’m not a huge advocate of most Microsoft programs, so this means a lot coming out of my mouth;

If you have a blog, and you have Windows, get Windows Live Writer. Do it right now. I’ll wait.

Got it? Now run it. And prepare for the WOW factor to kick in.

Congratulations, Microsoft. You’ve made a piece of software I simply cannot find an alternative to that even comes close. And it’s free (in the free beer sense, not free speech, but that’s a different matter entirely). Nice job.

Suffice to say, I’ll be making all my posts with it now.

(Now, if you could just do the same with Windows… I kid, I kid.)

…. it’s the final countdown! (da-da-dah-dah. da-da-dah-da-da…)

The last post of the challenge. The final 500 words to bring me to my goal of 7000. Hooray!

And so, in honour of Toadeh, who commented faithfully on every post (except Day Four, but that wasn’t a proper post)… this post will be comprised of 35 Completely True™ Toadeh Facts:

1. Toadeh is not a viable alternative to conventional medical procedures.
2. Toadeh is effective on 99.99% of common household stains.
3. 8 out of 10 cats prefer Toadeh.
4. Toadeh’s eyebrows can cure cancer in the over-50s.
5. Toadeh is comprised of 50% carbon, 50% steel, and 50% oxygen.
6. Toadeh does what Ninten-don’t.
7. Toadeh is not suitable for children under 12 years.
8. Toadeh won’t blend, even with the “smoothie” button.
9. Toadeh is not FDA-approved for human consumption.
10. Toadeh’s eyebrows can cause cancer in the over-50s.
11. Studies show that Toadeh is twice as effective as the leading brand.
12. There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s Toadeh.
13. Toadeh could take Chuck Norris in a fight, as long as Chuck was blindfolded.
14. Toadeh is here to kick ass and chew bubblegum… and he’s all out of gum.
15. Toadeh will always face magnetic north when allowed to rotate freely.
16. Toadeh knows the secret to efficient cold fusion.
17. Toadeh can beat Battletoads. Twice.
18. Toadeh has a heightened sense of hearing, and can hear a pin drop from two planets away.
19. Toadeh knows what happens to a toad when it’s struck by lightning.
20. Toadeh could run a marathon, but he can’t be bothered.
21. Prolonged exposure to Toadeh may cause nausea, vomiting, and occasional bouts of insanity.
22. Toadeh is the real Stig.
23. Toadeh once travelled back in time, but forgot what he went there to do.
24. Toadeh was sent back from the future to kill John Connor.
25. Toadeh can build a functional spaceship with nothing more than cardboard tubes, plastic crates and superglue.
26. Toadeh is a 5-dimensional shape.
27. Toadeh can jump rope with 10-dimensional superstrings.
28. Toadeh invented Mario then gifted the idea to Shigeru Miyamoto.
29. Toadeh can achieve faster-than-light travel.
30. Toadeh can split the atom. With his bare hands.
31. Toadeh is not the real Stig.
32. Toadeh can count to infinity in 314 seconds.
33. Toadeh is structurally unsound, and may have to be demolished.
34. Toadeh can recite pi to 5 billion places.
35. Toadeh had already read all these facts before you even reached 2.

And now, like the end of an era… the final plug.

The Whiteboard Framework
While I have yet to actually use the framework itself directly (unlike Toadeh, who is awesome, and whose blog you should definitely visit), its hyper-simplicity allows me to very easily see how various neat features are done, and implement them in my own custom theme.

And that’s it… as of the end of this sentence, the challenge is complete, though I do hope you’ll stay around for my normal (albeit not necessarily daily) posting.

Well, well. This blog is… rather tame. Can’t be having that.

Sorry, what’s that? “Where’s PSquid?”. Seriously? You’ve got me and you want PSquid? Well, tough. I’m staying here and you can’t make me go. Nuh-uh,

Now I’ve been hearing some of you are scared of me. Really? Really?

Spineless cowards.

I mean, what’s wrong with a not-quite-visible squid with no eyelids, staring at you. Never faltering, never fading, not even blinking. Never blinking.

Nothing, that’s what. I’m perfectly natural, nothing strange. Sure I might follow you everywhere, but that’s just because I like you.

By the way, fancy some tea? My own special blend.

No? Well, suit yourself.

gur ornfg funyy evfr gur ornfg funyy evfr gur ornfg funyy evfr gur ornfg funyy evfr gur ornfg funyy evfr gur ornfg funyy evfr gur ornfg funyy evfr gur ornfg funyy evfr

Uh, sorry, I’m not sure what came over me there. It’s probably nothing. Just forget it, not an issue.

Well, let’s see, I guess I should introduce myself. I am Silhouette Squid: lurker of closets, devourer of souls, petter of kittens. I spend most of my time up in the site banner, though I roam around Twitter and various IM services too.

I’m not PSquid, as such, though he never seems to be about if I am. Personally, I think he’s scared of me.

A lot of people say I’m evil, but I don’t think so. I mean, I donate to charity, I teach useful work skills to prisoners, and much more. Heck, I even like animals, especially the crunchy ones. Though altogether too many of them taste like chicken.

… sure you don’t want that tea? I’ve got plenty enough for you and me, and enough to spare.

Still no? I swear, some people have no taste. Well, not “no taste” as such. Few things are truly tasteless, just not… tasty. But I think you get the idea.

Hm. What else can I say…? Well, I’m an avid supporter of equal rights, votes for everyone (even murderous psychopaths. Especially murderous psychopaths), and free kittens for orphaned children.

lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq lbh jvyy fheeraqre lbhefrys gb gur fdhvq

Oh my. I do apologise. I suppose I’ll get on to the plug and send you on your way before anything… untoward… happens.

Newgrounds
Newgrounds is my flash animation and “new media” site of choice. Much better than watching imbeciles falling over and farting on that pile of filth that is YouTube. Certainly I’d recommend it, and maybe even PSquid would. Visit it. Or else.

Part two subject: I dunno. Whatever PSquid thinks of, I can’t be bothered to come up with anything.

Adios.

Hello again. Nearly the end now, just one day left (two posts tomorrow, though, and I can state categorically that my blogging won’t stop there, even though the challenge will). And at least the moon won’t drop at the end of tomorrow’s post.

So, let’s get the penultimate day rolling. With Science!

Now, you might’ve noticed by now, that I’m writing Science! rather than “science”. And there is a reason for that – because I don’t mean “science”, I mean Science!

Allow me to explain. While science is… well, science. Cold, factual, precise, and realistic. Science! is something else entirely. Essentially, it’s everything science is exaggerated to mean, and is a large chunk of the less serious attempts at portraying future science. And it’s fun, quirky, and totally unrealistic.

For example, 1950s Science! is comprised of such ideas as radiation always resulting in mutation, and said mutation often resulting in either new abilities or death. Every 1950s Scientist is a mad scientist, and 1950s Science! machinery is invariably something big and complicated with lots of polished chrome and mysterious dials. It’s also what most of the leftover pre-war technology, and general science, of the Fallout universe is based in.

Or maybe it’s steampunk Science!, where almost anything can be built out of clockwork, from an engine up to and including fully sentient (but slightly clanky and gear-y) androids. Or even an entire spaceship. Like any kind of Science!, it’s pretty much unlimited in its possibilities, as long as the writer of its story can imagine it.

Or then again, maybe it’s the computer Science! of such shows as CSI, with it’s “zoom, rotate, enhance” routine, where computers can do anything, passwords are always in big, flashing, probably green letters, and everything is big, flashy, and completely visualised. The kind that has any real and relatively knowledgeable computer user immediately saying “no, no, you can’t do that”.

It could even be the future Science! of many advanced civilizations in countless sci-fi worlds, where modern Earth science has been stretched to massive scale, and can do so much more. Translator implants, replacement bodies, digital brains, complete appearance changes by hyper-advanced cosmetic surgery, direct-to-brain information downloads – all possible with future Science!, and possibly the most believable of the various Science!s, given how fast scientific progress has already gone, and continues to go even now.

Basically, Science! is fun, awesome, and more than a little dangerous at times.

And now, today’s rather related plug:

Girl Genius
A webcomic heavily seated in medieval-European-style steampunk, with most of the Science! being carried out by genius inventors known as Sparks. With mystery, intrigue, adventure, Jagermonsters, and even medieval robots (or rather “clanks”), it’s a fun read. The art style is unique and really fits the storytelling, the humor is extremely witty, and more than a little dry at times. Basically, like Science!, it’s fun, awesome, and dangerous, usually all at the same time, and absolutely worth a read, no matter what you normally prefer to read.

Tomorrow’s subject: Silhouette Squid
(That’s the little fella up in the page banner, by the way.)

Whew. Yesterday was a bit much, but it really felt good to catch up on my posting target after letting it slip so much. In fact, regardless of what I said earlier (Day Four, I think), I’ll be keeping the days to 14 by doing a double post for the final day. Both before midnight, even.

Anyway, fiction. “Fiction” is, of course, anything non-factual, but I’m using it here in the specific sense of “stories”.

Now, as I’ve said – I like reading. An awful lot. And I particularly like fiction, though I’ve definitely got a fair number of either type of book.

But what is it that draws me to them? Same as a good number of people, I reckon – escapism. Not that real life is boring as such, more that experiencing multiple worlds (in a way) is more interesting than experiencing only one.

Now, that’s not the only reason, though it’s a big one – there is of course also the fact that many authors write stories that are very good at gripping you and engrossing you, or showing you their point of view. In fact, this particular point applies to some non-fiction too, and in my opinion improves it, since keeping you reading about things that are fact is bound to help you remember them better. After all, what would be the point of reading something factual if you didn’t intend to remember at least some of it.

And then again, there’s a third reason that’s responsible for another chunk of my personal collection – comedy value. In other words, whether the story (or book in general, again this can apply to non-fiction, though again rather rarely) makes you laugh.

One author that fulflls all three (that being, unsurprisingly, my favourite type of author) is Terry Pratchett, or more specifically his Discworld series. With over 30 books exploring various corners, characters and creatures (sometimes the last two can be the same exact thing, too) of the Disc, not even counting some of the side-series (notably the Tiffany Aching books, which explore a lot more of the various things the Lancre Witches books often skimmed past), it’s bound to be a pretty detailed world. And that, combined with Pratchett’s amazing, quirky sense of humour is why I love the series so much.

And now, the plug:

Cowbirds In Love
While it has already been in my Comicroll (much like a blogroll, only with webcomics, if you were wondering) for a little while, I think it deserves a full plug. Cowbirds In Love is the varying-quality comics (some in MS Paint, some not) of Sanjay Kulkarni (and sometimes guest authors). They definitely have a unique feel to them, though if I had to relate them to any other comic, I’d say they’re most like xkcd, though they’ve definitely got a distinct feel. And with over 800 updates so far, you’ll probably find at least one you find funny. Go on, go read some!

Tomorrow’s subject: Science!

Right, got to write 500 words, and I’m not even typing accurately. Well, a little spelling mistake never killed anyone. Unless you count mistakes made in the programming of spacecraft or other high-risk vehicles. But blogs can’t go at several hundred miles an hour, so I think I should be okay. So, let’s see… how about ten subjects, 40-ish words each. Sounds good to me, I’ll do it. st.

1. Cheese. I like cheese, especially melted. But even cold cheese is nice. Three cheeses is better, and you can actually get 3-cheese sandwiches. Which is kinda cool, even if two of them are pretty similar (the 3rd is cottage cheese). so.

2. Writing. I really do like writing, which is why I started this challenge, because no matter how much I write, it’s not enough. Maybe I’ll write some fiction after I’ve finished this. I might even post it if it turns out good. pe.

3. Bacon. Everyone likes bacon. Except vegetarians, but I bet some of them would like it if it could somehow not be meat. Same goes for people whose religion forbids it, if it could somehow be a different food type. ru.

4. Twitter. Which I should probably update more often on, if only because it’s still writing, however limited. Like this, only not quite. Since this is a word limit, and that’s a character limit. But still, almost the same thing. tu.

5. Bacon and cheese. Because bacon is good, and cheese is good, but bacon with cheese is better. Especially if it goes in a butty, or roll, or similar, since I don’t really want burnt hands, even from delicious bacon. fn.

6. Reading. I like reading even more than I like writing. The two probably feed into each other or something. Like a big, never-ending cycle of positive feedback, eating itself, like a great big metaphorical ouroboros thing made of words. is.

7. Logic. I like logic, especially logic puzzles. In fact, I think I mentioned this in an earlier post. Several, even. Which really doesn’t give me that much to say, other than I really, really, like logic puzzles. A lot. ta.

8. Something. Which isn’t nothing, and could be anything, but probably isn’t everything. Though, really, all 10 subjects, I’m actually writing about something, so maybe this is giving it a little too much focus. And now I’m rambling. Well, whatever. cr.

9. Japanese. A language which I intend to learn, for the not very noble purpose of being able to understand all manner of Japanese things before they officially reach western audiences (if they ever do). I haven’t made much headway. of.

10. Blogging. Something I didn’t think I could do until I realised most of it’s just writing stuff. Doesn’t necessarily matter what the stuff is, though it helps if it’s coherent. Which this post probably isn’t the best example of. ko.

And now, the plug. ol.

StumbleUpon
Instant recipe for fun, wonder, and just about everything else the internet can confer: Go to StumbleUpon. Stumble. Become amazed/excited/disturbed, as appropriate.

Tomorrow’s subject: Fiction

Well, I kinda forgot to set a subject for part two, but thanks to Toadeh, I have one nonetheless:

Toasters. Yes, really.

Well, let’s start with what I know about toasters. The factual side, as it were.

I know, for a start, that they produce heat by passing electric current through elements (which are highly resistive, thus producing the heat), and that this is why you shouldn’t stick forks in them (or for that matter, knives, spoons, fingers, or anything else that allows the electricity to pass into you). I also know that until a few months ago, I still couldn’t make toast without burning it. Thankfully, I’ve finally got it down to a fine art, including the buttering. I feel like some kind of toast god (which, really, would be a pretty limited set of powers. Delicious, though).

I also know that oatmeal toast is just not as nice as processed-bread toast, probably because of all the little bits. This might be subjective, though.

I even know that there’s a flying-toasters screensaver, though I’m pretty sure the original one is no longer available. Still, it’s a pretty interesting screensaver – the toasters even fire pieces of toast, sometimes, in at least one version I’ve seen.

Of course, that’s only one kind of toaster.

The other kind being, of course, sandwich toasters, the ones where you basically put a sandwich in and it heats the whole thing. Those are amazing – you can put so many different fillings in, the possibilities are endless. Like, ketchup and cheese, for a pseudo-pizza toastie. Or cheese, for a basic cheese toastie. Or ham and cheese to mix it up a bit. (I like cheese.) Or many more interesting foods that I probably haven’t thought of (you could even use bread as the filling, but it might be a bit bland). You do have to be careful, though, since it heats the whole thing. Things like cheese and ketchup get pretty hot in there, so let your toastie cool a little before you eat it (safety first!).

Either way, anyone who doesn’t have a sandwich toaster, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. Well, you sort of do, since I just said. But either way, you should really look into getting one, or at least eating some toasties to see just how amazing they are.

And now, part 2′s plug:

Axe Cop
A comic. About a cop with an axe. Written by a 6-year-old (5 at the start of the comic’s run), and illustrated by his 29-year-old brother. And every bit as awesome as it sounds (if you don’t think it sounds awesome… shame on you). Featuring such characters as Axe Cop (of course), Sockarang, and Vampire Ninja Moon Warriors, is there any reason you’re still reading this (other than compulsion to read to the end of the post)? Go read it. Now. Well, finish this post first. But then go read it.

Part three’s subject: Whatever my sleep-deprived brain comes up with. At 4am in the morning. Should be fun.

Right, here we go!

Even with 3 posts in technically one day, I think I can do this (if not, I’ll have to spread the extra posts over the remaining days).

Alright, now, since it’s been a whole two days since I gave the subject, I’ll recap it: music.

Do you like music? I like music. In fact, I think most people like music in some way, but I know that I really like music. I can seriously sit for hours just taking in the nuances of a good track.

Part of that, of course, is videogame soundtracks. Now, since you can potentially not even hear some tracks, a lot of game developers will give the music customary attention, then leave it aalone to focus on other elements of the game. Which makes it all the sweeter when you run into a game that’s really had a lot of love and care put into its soundtrack.

And let me tell you, you can tell when that’s the case. For example, you often hear people rave about the quality of the various Zelda tracks – because their composer really put a lot of thought and effort into it. Likewise a good portion of Final Fantasy’s collective soundtrack.

Really, any truly good game will inevitably have a good soundtrack, as whether or not you consciously notice it, you will probably evaluate the quality of any given soundtrack.

This being taken for granted, even then, some games have truly amazing soundtracks, and one in particular is of a series very close to my heart – the Ace Attorney series. Now, when I started the very first game, I wasn’t amazed by the soundtrack, though it’s certainly good even at that point.

3 games later, I was hooked on every little thing about the soundtrack – it has that rare quality of really sticking in your head.

Beside that, the overall quality of the soundtrack gets noticeably better as the series progresses, culminating in the soundtrack I’m listening to as I write this:

Ace Attorney Investigations.

CAPCOM games have always been pretty amazing, soundtrack-wise, at least in my opinion, but there is, honestly, not a single track in this particular game that doesn’t work. The tense tracks feel genuinely tense, the sad tracks feel genuinely sad, the epic tracks feel hugely epic. And it draws on themes from throughout the series, pulls them together, and adds just that little extra bit of polish that elevates them to god tier.

Know this too, Ace Attorney Investigations is a spin-off. Not even a main-series game.

Which only has me more excited for the long-awaited appearance of the fifth main-series game. If they write such amazing music for a spin-off, I can’t wait to see what they’ll do for a new proper Ace Attorney.

And that brings me, I think, to the end of part one,

Realistically, probably my easiest post so far, partly thanks to the AAI soundtrack – some tracks are just excellent motivators, and this has plenty of them.

Don’t worry, though, two more posts still to go tonight, at 2am (local to me) and 4am (same). Though if they’re done early, you might see them before then, anyway. And now that really is all for this post.

So, right on to the plug!

Compiling, please wait
While not a particularly active blog, that is by no means the main purpose of CPW – that being its huge (though sadly, not fully available until reuploaded, thanks to a server crash) collection of Ace Attorney-series soundtracks and remix albums. All worth a good listen, though obviously the titles will some spoilers, so don’t listen to them first if you plan to play the games.