Why?

So I got back from programming camp yesterday (which is just like regular summer camp, but more fun), plugged my shiny new thumb-drive into my computer (which runs Ubuntu), spent a few minutes trying to figure out how G++ works, and attempted to compile the game I had written at camp.
It told me that conio.h was most definitely not a real thing. "Oh," I thought "conio.h must be Windows only. A quick Google search and I'll have my game working in no time."
Several hours later, the game wasn't working.

Various sites that my Google search turned up suggested I use curses.h for getch() and though I didn't find nearly as much material regarding system("cls"), one site did suggest cstdlib, so having #included these things, commented out conio.h, and replaced my system("cls")s with system("clear")s, I tried once more to compile my game.
"Success!" I thought, since there were no errors that I could see.
Then I tried running the thing

It printed the the maze and both characters (the player-controlled @ and the random-number-controlled W), but when I attempted to move my character, the letters I use for movement keys appeared to the right of the maze and nothing else happened.

So, long story slightly less long, my questions are these:
How do I make getch() and system("cls") work with g++?
Alternatively, short of just running WiNE, is there another compiler I can use for this?

Just finished A Game Of Thrones (though I still haven't seen the last couple episodes of the show).
A few of my favourite bits from the show weren't in it (the scenes with the Lannisters, the conversation between Petyr and Varys, Syrio's line about Death being the only god, etc.), but the book was altogether a way more coherent (and thus more enjoyable) story.

One thing about the ending though, there wasn't one; the book just stopped. I don't expect GRRM to tie up all the loose ends (with his plans for sequels and all), but in 800 pages, I'd think he'd be able to fit in a little bit of resolution.

Other than that, great book, I highly recommend it.

I am occasionally taken by an urge to post some quote or another, not because it's particularly relevant to anything, but because I really like the quote. This is one of those occasions.

"There are only two ways of becoming a historian of the future: scientific deduction and divination or fortune-telling. But scientific deduction would disqualify itself for cognition of the future by the process of scientific deduction. For science must always be careful not to make a fool of itself. Science would scarcely go further than a computation of probabilities.
Divination and fortune-telling, on the other hand, have the inestimable advantage of looking back on a long and venerable practice which, according to incontrovertible tradition, has produced remarkably successful results. In order to be genuine, the prophetic forms of cognition must only know how to wear the veil of parable and to cast the shadow of mystery."
-- Franz Werfel

What follows are episode-by-episode reactions to the show named in the title of this post.
They're not particularly well-written or even entirely coherent and they're a little shorter than I wanted (Facebook's word limit and all), but here they are because I want to be able to read them without scrolling through a month's worth of Facebook posts.

( Cut for length, minor spoilers, and also because I'm not sure if anyone else cares )

"I have been entrusted with the formidable task of series composition and script for all episodes. Although having director Akiyuki Shinbo and Ume Aoki-sensei as teammates puts a great deal of pressure on me, I will do my best to deliver a heartwarming, happy story to our viewers!"
-- Gen Urobuchi

I have no patience for 30 day memes, but here's a bunch of songs, presented with occasional commentary.

Day 01 - Your favorite song (I actually prefer the studio version, but it's not on YouTube)
Day 02 - Your least favorite song
Day 03 - A song that makes you happy
Day 04 - A song that makes you sad
Day 05 - A song that reminds you of someone (my sister)
Day 06 - A song that reminds of you of somewhere (my computer room, oddly enough)
Day 07 - A song that reminds you of a certain event
Day 08 - A song that you know all the words to
Day 09 - A song that you can dance to
Day 10 - A song that makes you fall asleep
Day 11 - A song from your favorite band
Day 12 - A song from a band you hate
Day 13 - A song that is a guilty pleasure
Day 14 - A song that no one would expect you to love (I have no clue what I, personally, am expected to enjoy, so I went with something that I'm statistically not expected to enjoy)
Day 15 - A song that describes you
Day 16 - A song that you used to love but now hate
Day 17 - A song that you hear often on the radio (back when I still listened to the radio, at least)
Day 18 - A song that you wish you heard on the radio
Day 19 - A song from your favorite album (I actually have a few different favourite albums, but the others are already represented on this list, so yeah)
Day 20 - A song that you listen to when you’re angry
Day 21 - A song that you listen to when you’re happy
Day 22 - A song that you listen to when you’re sad
Day 23 - A song that you want to play at your wedding
Day 24 - A song that you want to play at your funeral
Day 25 - A song that makes you laugh
Day 26 - A song that you can play on an instrument
Day 27 - A song that you wish you could play
Day 28 - A song that makes you feel guilty (none come to mind, I might edit this later if I think of one)
Day 29 - A song from your childhood
Day 30 - Your favorite song at this time last year (my favourite song this time last year was Gethsemane, so I went with the song that was my favourite before that)

This guy!

That's right guys, it's a review that's longer than 5 words! "Why?" I pretend to hear you ask. Well, solarbird is having a "review raffle", which means that I review an album and possibly win a free copy of it. I rather like the album in question, so yeah, review.


Dick Tracy Must Die by Crime and the Forces of Evil is one of the most unique things I've heard. The band's website describes it as "rage-driven acoustic elfmetal" and indeed, it sounds like a couple of elven bards decided to take their frustrations out on their instruments and it is awesome!

Other than that, I could say a lot of things about this album, I could talk about how awesome the drums sound, I could talk about how cool the very idea of mandolin thrash metal is, I could talk about how beautiful Let Me Help is or how creepy Artefacts You'll Never See is (even though I still don't know what it's about), but I'm not going to do any of that. Instead, I'm just going to say this: Dick Tracy Must Die rocks like some sort of big rocking thing that rocks. So stop reading this review and go listen to the album.

So I just started the Vampire: The Masquerade game I'm running for my gaming group. That was certainly an interesting experience.

First off, we played at Dylan's house. Dylan has cats; I'm allergic to cats. I ended up rushing through the first two scenes (The Prince's office and the Anarch club), not consciously, but I definitely began and ended them faster (and made the NPCs grumpier) than I would have if I hadn't been sneezing hard enough to make my throat hurt.

Second off, my players were quite easily distracted and, when they were focused on the game, they argued a lot. Like a lot. I'm not sure why I'm surprised by this, we were that way with D&D too, but it seems different when I'm the GM.

However, in spite of the above points, the game went quite well and was quite entertaining. I honestly kind of wish I'd been taking notes. Without direct quotes it's kind of difficult to convey just how amusing things like the 30 minute argument over whether or not (and, if so, how) to enter an abandoned bomb shelter (and what to do once in) were.

So I guess the gist of this is, there were a couple issues, but I think everyone had fun.

The appointed time and place is here and now. Do not run away from fate.

I'm playing D&D (or maybe I'm not, my character is a Malkavian and I'm rolling mostly d10s, but everyone else seems to be playing Eladrin and rolling d20s, so I think it's supposed to be D&D) with Dylan (Who is DMing), JKitteh, and SJ Tucker. This goes on for a little while and then suddenly I'm in a car.

I apparently got in the wrong vehicle and am now the unwitting getaway driver for a couple of criminals. The cops start chasing us down the crowded city street, but as the chase begins, I find that my surroundings have changed. I'm no longer a getaway driver, I'm in the same car, but now it's racing down a slightly different looking crowded city street and I'm in the passenger seat (also, Dream!Me now looks oddly like the Malkavian PC from V:tM Bloodlines).

The man driving the car is a fellow who looks an awful lot like Nick Cave, but is named Johnny (his full name, incidentally, is Johnny Gay Guitar; I have a vague memory of some people calling him "gay" and him stating that it's his middle name and pulling out an ID card to prove it). We're on some sort of reality show where the goal is to win so that you don't get kicked out of your house and fed to angry wolves (how you win was never really explained). Johnny and I aren't actually on the same team, but we've allied temporarily to beat another team that was really close to winning. We drive for a little bit and the dream then cuts back to D&D for a while before getting bored and cutting back to the car chase.

The almost-winning team has now left their car (which is still going even though nobody's driving it) and is walking over the other cars towards us. Johnny and I get out of the car (which, again, keeps going) to fight the other team Matrix Revolutions style. Then I wake up.


So that was weird.

It's a new song! http://thefump.com/side.php?id=920

I am planning to go as the internet for Halloween, so I asked my classmates what components such a costume might require.
They suggested that in addition to the Guy Fawkes mask, lab coat, dollar sign button, and glasses that I was already planning to wear, I should carry a stuffed pink poodle, a cane, and a troll doll, tape a credit card to my torso, and wear (simultaneously, no less) red high heels, a pimp suit, an afro, a bowtie, a tophat, and a monocle, all while making sure I don't lose the cat, rat, goat, pig, and bowl of ice cream that I'm supposed to have on a leash.

I can offer no further comment.

Earlier today, I was discussing with my Mother what sort of job I might wish to do for a living.
I was thinking that when I grow up, I should be a professor, or a lawyer, or a rabbi, or something fun like that.
My Mom thinks I should be a computational linguist.
I don't understand my parents at all.

• 20:59 California, ho!/ Onward now, to WesterCon!/ First thing's first, though. Sleep. #fb #

Follow my crap!

Cross-posted to filk.

The Complete History of Filk (Abridged)
To the tune of Mary Mack (That is, the chorus (or verse depending on which version you've heard) of the Scottish folk song.)

There once was a girl, she was the horse-tamer’s daughter
She had some psychic powers and she had a magic mirror
Some wizards came to town, they were looking for a slaughter
So she kicked their wizard asses and lived happily ever after

The crew of the Enterprise has been banned from argo
For doing all sorts of inappropriate things
And bringing all sorts of inappropriate cargo
Now they’ve added lots of verses that nobody wants to sing

Captain Jack was a sailor who ditched his girl
And with her, any chance he could ever get laid
He jumped out of his boat into a watery swirl
‘Cause he thought he could hook up with a mermaid

• 11:10 Volume Two by She & Him: Is it the seventies again? #

Follow my crap!

• 22:35 Pretty On The Inside by Hole: Noise that silences the world. #
• 22:43 Tiger Trap by Tiger Trap: Catchy, poppy, fun. #

Follow my crap!

• 11:06 Filigree and Shadow by This Mortal Coil: Awesome production. Gets old, though. #
• 11:07 Pink Moon by Nick Drake: Pretty and hypnotic. Nifty. #

Follow my crap!

• 18:59 @byron27 Whatever you do/ Please don't play anything from/ Dr. Horrible #

Follow my crap!

• 19:32 Yeah, I'm trying to/ Write a Cowboy Bebop song/ I'm drawing a blank #

Follow my crap!

• 13:19 If it drives you nuts/ Putting a song on repeat/ Just makes you more nuts #
• 13:21 It's simple logic/ And now "Run, Joey, Run" is/ Driving me crazy #
• 13:24 I suppose that/ It is mostly my fault, but/ I blame Glee for this #
• 13:31 Wait, something seems off/ Is today a holiday?/ Did I miss something? #
• 13:32 Also, why hasn't/ Anyone wished me a happy/ Discoflux, yet? Huh? #
• 13:36 It's been like a week/ Why don't people acknowledge/ My holy days? Huh? #
• 13:50 'Huh' is a lovely/ All-purpose type syllable/ Well, I think it is #

Follow my crap!

Just thought I'd share this, since I don't usually remember my dreams.

I'm walking down the street, minding my own business, when this crazy guy starts shouting at me from the local church. (It was either a Unitarian Universalist church or a Universal Life Church. I don't remember which, but it definitely had "Universal" in the name.) The guy sounds just like Steve Blum (which shouldn't have been that big of a surprise, given that this whole thing was done in an art style rather reminiscent of Cowboy Bebop) and he's doing his best to get my attention, shouting about how the end is near.

For some reason, I ask him what he's talking about instead of just walking past him like a normal person would and he starts telling his story, except he doesn't sound like Steve Blum anymore, he sounds like gamerchick. So he's telling his story (with accompanying animation, sort of like the Avatar opening sequence) about how some people accidently dropped their Cthulhu t-shirts down a well, I don't know how they did this, given that they walked away from the well wearing the shirts they supposedly lost, but in any case this somehow caused Cthulhu to fall through an inter-dimensional tear and land in another universe (which, disappointingly, was not inhabited by Inuyasha.)

The animation ends and the man tells me (still in gamerchick's voice, mind you) that I'm supposed to rescue Cthulhu from the dimension he's trapped in. Then I wake up before any of my questions (such as how all of this works or why I would want to rescue Cthulhu in the first place) can be answered.

So that was weird.

Um... yeah,
Gear

• 14:38 Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky by OK GO: Different. More Alternative-y. Not bad. #

Follow my crap!

One of the more memorable excerpts from a conversation that I recently had with my Mother regarding maypoles:

"If more Wiccans looked and/or sounded like s00j, I would be dancing skyclad 'round the heather in a heartbeat."

I won 'Best Duo' at karaoke night at the place where I have voice lessons. My sister helped.

I was recently discussing stoic philosophy with my Mom; I brought up Epictetus and She started giggling. Sometimes I wonder about Her.

Two weeks ago, I said that I was going to try and write a song a week. I still haven't finished a song, but I've written several, so I'm counting it as a success.

I have a podcast. I've been releasing episodes monthly since January, but keep forgetting to mention it. Well, here it is.

Um, yeah,
Stephen

• 18:47 Just need one more verse/ One more verse and then I'm done/ One more. Think, Gear, think! #
• 22:46 The time limit has/ Been extended to two weeks/ So sayeth the Gear #

Follow my crap!

• 23:20 Still need two verses/ Two verses and then I'm done/ I need a break, though #

Follow my crap!

• 16:27 I have a headache/ My lower lip is bleeding/ Today kind of sucks #
• 16:39 Patti Smith's Horses/ Makes decent headache music/ I'm kind of surprised #
• 16:44 Song almost finished/ 'Tragic Tale of Epic Love'/ I think I'll call it #

Follow my crap!

My Mother just informed me that She doesn't want me to be a cult leader. I don't know what to say to that.

I'm going to attempt to write a song every week from now until whenever. Check back on Wednesday for the results.

It's a month too late to be relevant, but here it is.

Short version: MarsCon was great, but it left me feeling like I'd been hit by a truck.

Long version:

( Thursday )

I had a dream that the Space Oddity room had acquired an extremely large vat of candy corn and everyone was swimming in it, that was weird.

( Friday )

Incidentally, Twilight Imperium has nothing to do with a grim dark future of sparkly vampires, in which there is only war.

( Saturday )

It was great getting to actually hear my concert this year, as opposed to the little fanboy that lives in my head shouting "Oh my God! I'm singing with Beth Kinderman and The Player Characters! This is so cool! SQUEE!!! SQUEE!!!", which is more or less what I heard last year.

( Sunday )

Leonard Cohen: Making headaches and dizziness go away since 1969.

( Monday )

That was MarsCon. It was incredibly exhausting, but also incredibly fun.

If you want to see the results of my attempts to get my picture taken with as many women as possible, they are here.

Gear