An actual screenshot from my desktop today, seen when I tired to empty my recycle bin…
Best deal ever?
Two double cheeseburgers at McDonalds, $2.19 after tax. Pretty sweet.
Working tonight, early class tomorrow… this is probally the last you’ll hear from me today.
My current web browser is Mozilla Supervulture. You’ve probably never heard of it, but it’s a great web browser based on Mozilla Firefox. Actually, Supervulture is Firefox, but with a plug-in. You see, Mozilla’s sleek browser project has undergone a name change in each of the last two versions. Firefox was formerly known as Firebird, and before that, Phoenix. Each of the previous names was objected to by other software groups, but regardless of the reason for the change, its kind of funny that the name has changed so much. So someone went ahead and used Firefox’s excellent extensible architecture to make a plug-in that randomly changes the name for each browser window you open. The plug-in is called Firesomething, and a Google search will find it for you. This never would have happened had Bernie Zimmerman’s not posted about Firesomething in his weblog. Google it, I’m too lazy to put the link in myself (I’m thinking of switching blogging software again — maybe to b2 or a modification thereof that makes links easier for me to put in.)
By the way, Firefox (or whatever its nom-de-jour is) is an excellent browser, and I would suggest changing to it from any other web browser.
As promised, my adventures with my computer from Friday… Working at accomplishing one of the items on my to-do list, I was turning oasis, my former desktop machine, into the replacement for the current silverfir.net server. I’m now giving the different incarnations of silverfir.net version numbers… wadi was v1, currently you are being served by v2 (named sf2) and soon you will be served by oasis (v3). Well, I wanted to test out the SCSI drives from the dead-by-power-supply as-of-yet unnamed dual P-II 300 machine. So took out the 13.6 gb hard drive that will still (theoretically) boot win2k with all sorts of useful utilities, and put in the two SCSI hard drives. I installed the PCI SCSI adapter in oasis and started the machine up. It froze in the middle of the boot-up screen. I rebooted, took the card out and rebooted. Things started up fine (with the exception of anything actually booting, since it had no bootable devices connected). I turned it off, put the card back in, and it froze in the same place as before. Resigned to the fact that the system wouldn’t accept the SCSI card, I took it out again and took out the SCSI drives as well, putting in the two 80 GB drives I got from Fry’s last year. Then I booted the machine again, with the Gentoo 1.4 LiveCD in the CD Drive… but this time, the machine froze in the same place as it has with the SCSI card. I rebooted, and then the CMOS setup screen came up, saying that the system had frozen last time because of an incorrect frequency configuration. So I set the proper settings and rebooted again, and then nothing showed up. I was beginning to get worried, and at the advice of Dan, I started stripping the computer down to find out where the problem was. I got to the point where all I had installed was the graphics card — and I even tried a PCI graphics card. Everything else was unplugged. And nothing showed up on the screen. I tried a new power supply, reseating the processor, memory, dusting, and everything else I could think of, and I was ready to declare oasis deceased. In frustration, I began doing things that make no sense to anyone but me — including a little prayer. Apparently that worked, since the next thing I tried was plugging the floppy drive back in — and on the next reboot, things started working again. It’s the most valuable floppy drive ever — the one that makes the computer work. Also, thanks god, if you’re up there, for giving life back to oasis. I proceeded to put cards and everything else back in. I even put the SCSI card back in and it worked without any problems. I do not, however, understand SCSI and how it works in Linux well enough to get those drives working under Linux right now.
So, that was the computer adventure of Friday. It continued today as I shutdown sf2 (silverfir.net server v2) to liberate a cd-writer from it to give to Virginia Tech’s division of Society of Women Engineers along with the ide zip drive already liberated from sf2. I took the chance to further liberate sf2 of wadi’s old hard drive, which had been piggybacking in sf2 while I switched everything over after the hack, or whatever that was.
I quickly had sf2 back up, with minimal downtime. Then I put the 30 gb drive into oasis and started setting up Gentoo Linux on it, with remote help from Bobby. We started from stage 1 and currently oasis is bootstrapping, released from any shell and redirecting its output for future reference. Tomorrow we’ll continue the process. Gentoo is fun, powerful, and cutting edge, but setup is lengthy due to all the compiling involved. Of course, that’s because we’re starting from stage 1, the most basic place to start, but since don’t plan on doing this again on this machine, I think its well worth the extra performance and customization we’ll be getting out of the system. Thanks for your help Bobby.
Also today, I helped Adam set up PHP-Nuke over at http://adam.silverfir.net/. Go check it out if you have time. Today was good, even though I missed robotics. I’ll make up for that on Monday.
Adobe Premiere Pro 7.0 Finally finished downloading (two different copies!) Between the two, I was able to get it installed. The first time I ran it, it took about two hours to load (ok, two minutes) before promptly crashing. I deleted the video that seems to cause the problems, and will encode to a more stable format until XviD figures itself out.
I read an explanation of the Telecine conversion that takes place to get movies (shot at 24 frames per second) to display properly in NTSC video (29.97 fps)� Its pretty crazy the steps they go though� also makes it a pain the butt to copy DVDs (I need to do this for a legitimate purpose too). If anyone wants to give me any tips, feel free.
It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool, crisp air but warm enough from the sunlight. It was the first day I needed to wear sunglasses in a long time. So I put on my sunglasses, only to find that one of the two screws holding the lens in had fallen out. No worries, I have another identical pair of sunglasses stored in another location, which I haven�t used in a while. I pulled them out to find that they had lost the exact same screw� How does this happen? And does anyone have some black very short #2 or so hardware I could use to fix the sunglasses?
It looks like Microsoft�s Automatic Windows security update installer just froze� wouldn�t it be great if someone hacked into that, and had it install viruses on every windows machine in the world� that�s world domination right there. Oh wait, Microsoft already does that�
I turned in my photos for assignment 2 today. I feel really good about it � I also learned about painting on developer today while I was helping Amanda in the darkroom and had some fun with those effects.
I also REALLY need to finish my UW Personal Statement and submit my app. And then get all the other materials sent to the UW. That has to happen within three days now. If you see me, bug me about it. Thanks.
I�m thinking of expanding my sourceforge project, photolog, to be basically what my site it now, but with greymatter replaced and with MySQL or filesystem-as-database support. And secure it all. It would be good html, css, mysql, and php practice. And it would make my site better. I�ll let you know how that project goes. Add it on to the to-do list.
I decided late last night or rather, early this morning, after having Windows Movie Maker 2.0 Crash on me about three times per minute over a course of ten minutes, that I needed to try out a real video editing solution. Since that usually costs money, I thought I�d take other look at the wonderful world of peer-to-peer file sharing. I have seen people have success recently with Edonkey, so I downloaded the open-source non-spyware version called (in the great tradition of free software such as YACC�s emulator �Bison�) �E-Mule� (see SourceForge.net).
After installation of E-Mule, I quickly found Avid�s Xpress DV 3.5 and Adobe�s Premiere Pro out there. But it takes a bloody long time to get anything at all. But things slowly and surely seem to get downloaded. Unfortunately I have it installed on my laptop, and now I can�t very well take it with me without interrupting the downloading. So I�m going to add something to my to-do list once sf2 is no longer serving SilverFir.net, I will convert in into a windows box that I run programs like this on, hook up my external Hard Drive to so I don�t have to worry about demounting when I move around, hook the printer up to, so I can print from anywhere in the house over wireless networking, etc�
An aside: wow, this �Eternal� song by Evanescence is pretty awesome. I never would have heard this song without file sharing. And because of this song, I will listen to more music from this older Evanescence album. And I might buy it, because that�s what I do with CDs like I like. Dumb record companies/recording academy/RIAA who thinks that file sharing is so bad. Sure, there are people who download music for free instead of buying it, but those are the same people who would have burned the cd, or copied it onto a tape, or taped it from the radio. And villainizing people like me who use peer to peer as a sort of radio-listening service doesn�t make you any friends. I�m all for free enterprise, but copyright laws these days are far from what could be construed as the results of free enterprise. Corporations have for years twisted copyright to their advantage; now they complain when consumers, the very people who support the corporations, twist copyright themselves.
The hypocrisy is appalling; but sadly true. As is, I suppose, my hypocrisy when I download expensive software to try out, yet promise that I�ll pay for when I use it in a matter where it might actually make sense to wield that kind of power. But then I have justification there too � my using the software in a non-commercial manner (as I do) only strengthens the position in an industry of the software that I use. And I really do plan on paying for the software were I to use it for commercial uses. I just can�t afford the ten-bazillion dollars of license fees and upgrade costs when I only use the software once a month for only a few things.
The absence of these moral dilemmas is one of the most attractive traits of free software for me � And for tools where free software is on par with proprietary software, that�s what I tend to use (Mozilla FoxFire [newly installed � it�s the new version of Firebird {a new name for a new version so as to not interfere with another project called Firebird
Third time though the Evanescence song� now on to Pearl Jam�
I think I�m going to try getting some actual sleep tonight, although I�m still itching to do a movie in windows movie maker with an updated XviD driver. And a million other things. Oh, I might as well tell you about today. After staying up till� 4, I woke up at 8:20 only to remember I had forgotten my math homework and there was ice over my windshield. So I skipped Tennis, went to Math, did a bunch of photography, ate lunch with Amanda, did more prints and darkroom activities, and then went off to robotics, where the design for the arm changed again, but it looks like it’ll come together this time. Then I can work on the winch to lift the robot at the end of the match. Meanwhile, Bob is working on a mechanism to positively control the goal. Once those things are done, the robot will be able to do everything in the game except for knocking the bonus ball. And I think the bonus ball is useless, so I�m ok ignoring that.
I was reflecting recently on my short-term plans, so I thought I’d enumerate a list:
1. SilverFir.net
a. Decommission oasis as my desktop machine (I haven’t actually turned it on in weeks).
b. Remove the S.B. Audigy II Platinum and CD-RW drive from oasis and store for next desktop machine.
c. Move the SCSI cards and drives from the dead-by-power-supply server machine to oasis.
d. Install Gentoo Linux with EVMS (?), Apache, PHP, Tomcat (?), MySQL, Exim, ProFTPd, and maybe a few other services — all secure as needed.
e. Move oasis back to a higher bandwidth location, switch SilverFir.net DNS resolution back over as well.
f. At some future point, set up VPN or otherwise secure file sharing on SilverFir.net so I can access my [mp3’s | documents | videos | other files] from anywhere in the world with my laptop and an internet connection.
2. Other stuff
a. Research and purchase a digital video camera before the FIRST Pacific Northwest Regional on March 5-6.
b. Get 2001 TRC thank you awards that are sitting in Tim’s house to proper people.
c. Research and purchase components to build a new desktop.
i. Better than P4 2.8 Ghz (Current laptop)
ii. High end graphics card
iii. Flippin’ fast disk arrays — perhaps software RAID 0 for video editing.
d. Help design of kitchen remodel at my house
e. Talk to International School principal about keeping portables around after this year for use by TRC.
f. Finish writing thank you letters to the rest of my hosts on the road trip (Better late than never).
g. Study for math, so I can ace my next midterm, so I can play CS again.
h. I keep thinking of more things, but I’ll stop there.
Notice the order. This is why I’m not doing so well in math.
One nice thing about this computer: While its DVD reader only gets about 2x on rips, I don’t even notice any latency anywhere else on the system. I actually rather prefer it this way — multitasking as it was meant to be.
Well, today was rather uneventful. Math didn’t have enough content, I studied with Amanda for the test; consequently, we both did well. I then finished my second roll for the assignment due Wednesday, then developed it after quick lunch and picking up the DVD I am currently ripping (TRC’s 2003 Pacific Northwest Regional Matches) and dropping that off to a waiting Chris and Tim at BCC. Then I went to my mom’s office and helped her with some Word Page layout, then it was off to Tim’s to check on progress of the TRC’s video for the assembly on Wednesday. I also bid on a ATI Radeon 9700 Pro — but he decided a 240% annualized rate of return wasn’t enough for him, so I didn’t get it. Yet. But it did get me to thinking about getting a new computer, thus (1) and (2c) above. After that it was a quick jaunt home for dinner (Corn tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, and chili) before heading to the Walt and Karen’s place to carpool to Benaroya Hall in Seattle to listen to the Archdiocese of Seattle’s Catholic School’s Choirs perform. It was mostly good — my favorite of the night was Sacred Names school’s “Three Ways to Vacuum a House” which featured a vacuum cleaner prop and no director. Then it was back home to blog. A good day.
Now I just hope the nice nested lists copy over to Greymatter alright.
CDex rules again. I used it long ago to rip my CDs to mp3s, and then I switched to EAC. Then EAC stopped working on my laptop, and I used nothing for a long time. Then I got the latest version of CDEx and it is even better than it was before and it seems to make wonderful rips. Straight to mp3 via lame. And its open source. What more could I want? check it out @ sf.net (sourceforge.net, not to be confused with silverfir.net, although both are worthy projects).
I have some really good friends. In fact, I am amazed by the quality of my friends. You know who you are.
So far I have kept my counterstrike commitment, but I’m not doing so well with the studying commitment. Not enough library time I suppose (none, to be exact). Other commitments are doing even worse. I blame it on my lack of diligence. In my life, when the going gets tough, I have tended to pack up and leave. I was good enough at enough things that I guess nobody noticed. Or if they did notice, they didn’t do anything about it. But that is the past, and whatever happened, I have to deal with it now. I’m getting significantly better at facing down irrational fears, although it still takes the active intervention my rational self. My big need right now is to find it within myself to stick to something hard even if the outcome looks less than optimal for me. These two things are related because — as far as I know — I have always done well in school courses where I tried. However, because I tend to back off from things that aren�t looking to end well for me, I’ve never really tried at a course in which I was doing badly. Since it goes both ways, and I’m not really sure which is the cause and which is the effect, or if its some combination — but the end result is that I have never really been at risk of putting it all out there and failing in a classroom setting — or any other setting for that matter really. I’ve been planning on having this Calculus test change that — the first test didn’t go so well, so there is a real chance I’ll do badly in the class. And I want to ace it, which is still very possible from a raw points perspective. But I�m having trouble getting into gear of this — I have only done homework once. While I am not required to turn the homework in, it is very necessary to do it to get the proficiency needed for tests, which require both accuracy and speed. So unless I actually try here, I will remain uncertain of my ability to excel at school when failure is a real possibility. I will keep you posted.
Otherwise, it was a typical Sunday — dropped off movies, went to church, lounged around at home after eating… getting nothing done. Until maybe now, if I’m good, I’ll do something useful after this. We’ll see. Well, this is useful, isn’t it? Or is it? Meh.
I’m out of my Lithium — have been for a couple of days now. I take it for combating tendencies toward depression — and it does seem to level my mood. So I should probably get that one refilled, even ifs it’s just the placebo effect, it’s a good effect. And sooner rather than later I’m going to have to have my pinky on my right hand looked at. An injury that went away after I ignored it years ago came back in December and it’s lingering this time, and its probably time that I got it fixed for good. My guess is that it’s a fracture — and if so, it would be the closest thing to a broken bone I’ve ever had.