Yellowstone, the picturesque and ever popular vacation spot, is a volcano. It isn't like Hawaii where it has huge mountains from lava running and solidifying. It is what is considered a supervolcano. This indicates that when it blows it is so big that there's literally nothing left to solidify.
And it is about to blow. I really believe this.
After reading about such things in the must have book A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson I started watching Yellowstone and for that matter all earthquakes. Have a look for yourself:
Yellowstone area Earthquake list
That list shows, as of the time of this writing, 177 earthquakes. How long would that take? 4 days. 2 hours ago there was a magnitude 3.5 quake. There have been 10 quakes greater than magnitude 3.0 in the past 4 days.
Something down there is awake and is not happy.
So what's the history? Well from what Bryson penned, Yellowstone erupts about every 600,000 years. Its last real eruption? Just over 640,000 years ago. As he said, "We are overdue."
What will happen if it does blow? Reports are grim. Extinctions. A blanket of soot and ash across the earth to cool her down again. Is it related to global warming? Who knows. But if it does blow again we will all need to take cover. Life, as we know it, will cease.
What can be done? Nothing. We must ride the waves on this ocean of life. We can only watch out for the rocks beneath the surface. Have an action plan. Where will you go if something cataclysmic occurs? Short of taking up residence underwater I'm not sure if any plan is good enough. Historically it seems that most aquatic life fares better in times of global upheaval but we are ill equipped for such choices. It seems to me life underwater would have been more studied up to this point. Instead we seek life outside our own atmosphere. Personally I plan to go underground if such an event occurs. Perhaps it will not work. Perhaps the bears, bobcats, and other vermin will have the same plan and simply have me for a midnight snack. But it's a plan.
What's yours?
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Green for the sake of?
Green. Like energy conscious. Yeah, I can dig that. But me? I'm green for the effort of saving money. Everyone has their reasons for stuff. Most people believe in God out of fear, not faith. I shit you not, dear reader. Ask around. Probe.
Anyway, we have an energy suck in my house and I hope to find it. We have already converted over to the small fluorescent bulbs but not to save money. We do not receive 100 or 100 volts. We get 130 out of our plugs. Why? Well we are rural and they say they have to boost the power so the people on the ends of the lines get the right amount. Again, I shit you not. So in the hopes of saving changing each bulb about once a month we opted for the more expensive but hopefully longer lasting bulbs.
Our dryer, a Kenmore 90 series, consumes 4kwh per hour on Permanent Press.
So at this rate it costs less than 40 cents per hour to run our dryer (along with a computer and two laptops and several lights. No heat or anything though. No televisions or hot water usage. Actual cost would work out to be: $0.3906 per hour.
I'm suspecting the water heater. Could be the heat pump. Maybe it is the washer? I'll edit this post with further findings.
Here's what I've found today:
Item Cost per hour
Dryer $0.40
H2O tank $0.30
Oven/Stove $0.40
Heat Pump $1.00
I don't think any of that is out of line. Still not turned the heat on and we've found that within the general vicinity of a computer the temperature is measurably higher, unsurprisingly. Maybe the short answer is that with 4 people in a house things add up. More studying to come. It really isn't that cool to work the heat pump that much in here, average of about 66F and the weather is to be increasing in temperature so we may not need the heat for a while. So no conclusion as of yet. Back to edit when I have more information.
Added heat pump. Started at 60F ambient temp. Allowed to run for 30 minutes. Brought ambient temp to 66F. 5Kwh used. $1 per hour. hmm.
Anyway, we have an energy suck in my house and I hope to find it. We have already converted over to the small fluorescent bulbs but not to save money. We do not receive 100 or 100 volts. We get 130 out of our plugs. Why? Well we are rural and they say they have to boost the power so the people on the ends of the lines get the right amount. Again, I shit you not. So in the hopes of saving changing each bulb about once a month we opted for the more expensive but hopefully longer lasting bulbs.
Our dryer, a Kenmore 90 series, consumes 4kwh per hour on Permanent Press.
So at this rate it costs less than 40 cents per hour to run our dryer (along with a computer and two laptops and several lights. No heat or anything though. No televisions or hot water usage. Actual cost would work out to be: $0.3906 per hour.
I'm suspecting the water heater. Could be the heat pump. Maybe it is the washer? I'll edit this post with further findings.
Here's what I've found today:
Item Cost per hour
Dryer $0.40
H2O tank $0.30
Oven/Stove $0.40
Heat Pump $1.00
I don't think any of that is out of line. Still not turned the heat on and we've found that within the general vicinity of a computer the temperature is measurably higher, unsurprisingly. Maybe the short answer is that with 4 people in a house things add up. More studying to come. It really isn't that cool to work the heat pump that much in here, average of about 66F and the weather is to be increasing in temperature so we may not need the heat for a while. So no conclusion as of yet. Back to edit when I have more information.
Added heat pump. Started at 60F ambient temp. Allowed to run for 30 minutes. Brought ambient temp to 66F. 5Kwh used. $1 per hour. hmm.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
String Shootout
Mused into action by the great work of Brandon Drury at http://www.RecordingReview.com/ I created a shootout of my own. My mixing or recording skills are not a part of this shootout however. Mine is about strings. Old strings versus new strings. Nothing changed other than the strings and the eq on the guitar to different, but reproducible levels. The equipment:
Guitar: Fender CD-60CSE
Pickup: Piezo direct to computer input. Volume at 100%, eq as shown below.
Computer recording device: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS platinum pro jimmie jack this doesn't have a long enough name. Used line-in / mic in 2, front panel. Hardware mixer set at 12 o' clock. Internal jumper has been changed from factory condenser setting to dynamic (not sure if this plays any part in this but there it is.)
Strings: (Both Sets)
D'Addario EJ16 Light (.012-.053) Phosphor Bronze
Used Set: Approximately 25-50 hours of play time on them
New Set: uhhh, new.
So the breakdown: I have the eq on the guitar flat, volume maxed. I have the line in 2 volume knob at 12 o'clock, straight up. I have the line in 2 mixer setting at 100% and the record level of line 2 at 100% into audacity with no effects. The cord used is a planet waves and there is nothing between the guitar and the computer at any point. The signal should, in essence, never change in any of the recordings, other than the noted eq settings which are reproducible since +12/-12 is that slider's all up or all down position.
First I recorded a little piece of Leyenda, or at least how I think of that song, with the eq flat. Then I started a new recording with the highs on the 3 band eq on the fender all the way up (+12). After recording that I moved it back to zero and then dropped the bass all the way (-12) and recorded another version like that. Then for reference purposes I put the eq at zero and recorded another flat version.
With all that done I saved my audacity project. Now I changed strings on the Fender to the new set of D'Addario EJ16's. Interesting note, the packaging has a tension guide on them which I find fascinating.
After polishing the guitar, which I hope wouldn't make any difference, but it did happen so I can't leave it out, I tuned the guitar's new strings a couple times hoping to get them up to snuff for staying in tune, and started the process over. First flat, then treble +12, then bass -12, then another reference track.
Can I hear a difference? Indeed. There is a slight signal boost in the new strings and I suspect that is coming from the overtones / harmonics that are missing in the old strings. Therefore if your "tubes" don't sound like they used to? Maybe you need new strings.
Here are links to the sound files for your own perusal.
Next up, my bass needs new strings. I use fender Nylon Tapewound 9120s strings on a squire jazz bass. The only musical thing I'd rather do than play on new bass strings would be to crawl into a grand piano with ball pean hammers. Now the question is, what do I mean by that?!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
I welcome our omnipotent government
American Community Survey (ACS)
First thing's first. This is now part of the census. And unlike voting and going to church, this one is mandatory.
The American Community Survey is conducted under the authority of Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141 and 193, and response is mandatory. According to Section 221, persons who do not respond shall be fined not more than $100. Title 18 U.S.C. Section 3571 and Section 3559, in effect amends Title 13 U.S.C. Section 221 by changing the fine for anyone over 18 years old who refuses or willfully neglects to complete the questionnaire or answer questions posed by census takers from a fine of not more than $100 to not more than $5,000. The U.S. Census Bureau may use this information only for statistical purposes. We can assure you that your confidentiality is protected. Title 13 requires the Census Bureau to keep all information about you and all other respondents strictly confidential. Any Census Bureau employee who violates these provisions is subject to a fine of up to $250,000 or a prison sentence of up to five years, or both.
You may view Title 13 at the U. S. House of Representatives website at the following address: http://uscode.house.gov/download/title_13.shtml
--http://www.census.gov/acs/www/SBasics/What/What1.htm
So let's recap: Census. New. Mandatory. There is at least one of those 3 that you will not believe. I assure you, they are all three mostly true. The new thing isn't exact, it's been going on for a few years, but it only hits a certain percentage of the population, and this year I'm the unlucky target.
Unlucky he says, how come?
Let's look at their faq for the answer (faq location is here.)
I've never seen anything this intrusive. Why do you ask such detailed questions?
The ACS questionnaire asks very detailed questions because we are required to collect specific information for federal and state government programs. For example, long-term care providers and community planners use information about disability to help them decide where to locate services and facilities. Federal and state government transportation planning agencies use journey-to-work information for roads and public transit development. You can find Fact Sheets on the ACS Web site that explain why we ask these questions.
No shit. This bastard is an evil form. They start with my address. Then they get my name. Now every name of everyone else that lives at the address. Dates of birth, physical problems, mental capacities, mortgage amount, phone number...
OH and then there's this gem of racial profiling (page 2, 3, and 4):
NOTE: Please answer BOTH Question 5 about Hispanic origin and Question 6 about race. For this survey, Hispanic origins are not races.Then they go on to make the person say where their heritage stems. Funny, I'm just "caucasian." Maybe I should fill that question out with "From caucasia."
Anyway, you can look at the forms online or just wait until your turn. Don't be surprised when you read the questions and find that you do not wish to provide any answers.
I checked the fines and was considering just letting them get me for felony refusal or something. I simply do NOT want to provide anyone with this level of detailed information. As it turns out if I don't get on to filling the form out they will start calling me. Odd how they'd know my phone number from an "anonymous" survey. And I guess if that doesn't work they send out a "field rep." I shit you not -- read the faq above.
So like the all the king's horses and all the king's men will be coming to the forest of peasants to find out how they are living. I wish I was on the brute squad.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Relating horspower and torque to real life
Much of what I've accomplished in my life has been in the way of analogies. See, I have developed something of an ability to explain computers in ways that people understand.
If I'm talking to a car guy I tell it like it's a car. See, this is your motherboard. It is like the frame of the vehicle. The case is like the body. Everything plugs into the frame, right, so that's the motherboard and we'll put our engine on that. Cpu is the motor, blah blah blah.
I just try to figure out some system the user understands and relate computering to that. Anyway, it makes sense to the person and they often thank me for the insight and its nice.
So today I came up with the solution to a problem.
Here's the problem:
How do you explain the difference in horsepower and torque to someone who isn't a gearhead? Well I came up with a workable solution. Sure, it isn't entirely accurate, but it seems to be a good way to get the overall point across in a manner most will understand.
Here's the solution:
The difference between horsepower and torque for Everyman:
First of all forget about horsepower and torque, we're not going to start with those. Let's think of your favorite bicycle. I've had a bunch and I would have to say all of us have ridden down a hill. Well let's do that. Imagine yourself on this bike and you are riding down a hill. It's a hot day and there isn't much breeze so you pick up the pace to get some of the wind whipping through your helmet (you ARE wearing your helmet, aren't you?!) The wind feels good so you pick up the pace a bit more to get more of a good thing and then get drunk with pleasure and are pumping full speed down this hill with the wind whipping your hair and bugs in your teeth and freedom in your soul. This is horsepower.
Now, you've made it to the bottom of the hill, had a nice little dip in the stream in the valley and you're all hydrated and ready to head back up. I'm afraid the imagery isn't as poetic this time around. Your muscles ache, you grind the pedals in a circular rotation and the hill is as such that you are easily able to count the rotations to keep your mind off the fact that your upper thigh is burning like a rash you had back in college, you're sweating like something from another world, and you generally just hate having to trudge back up the hill. This is torque.
You use a little bit of each (horsepower / torque ) depending on your terrain and load. The numbers you see shown on websites and literature are their peak numbers. Actual performance in either a real engine or a person would be a gradual graph of values up to their peak and then falling off again. These numbers are not, of course, meaningless. But you can take it on face value that if you want more get up and go right off the bat without revving all the way up you'll want something with torque in the low end. This means you want your torque numbers to be high at low revolutions of the engine. This is what tugs you up the hill on your bike, your pedaling the crank is the torque.
Anyway, it makes sense to me. :P
If I'm talking to a car guy I tell it like it's a car. See, this is your motherboard. It is like the frame of the vehicle. The case is like the body. Everything plugs into the frame, right, so that's the motherboard and we'll put our engine on that. Cpu is the motor, blah blah blah.
I just try to figure out some system the user understands and relate computering to that. Anyway, it makes sense to the person and they often thank me for the insight and its nice.
So today I came up with the solution to a problem.
Here's the problem:
How do you explain the difference in horsepower and torque to someone who isn't a gearhead? Well I came up with a workable solution. Sure, it isn't entirely accurate, but it seems to be a good way to get the overall point across in a manner most will understand.
Here's the solution:
The difference between horsepower and torque for Everyman:
First of all forget about horsepower and torque, we're not going to start with those. Let's think of your favorite bicycle. I've had a bunch and I would have to say all of us have ridden down a hill. Well let's do that. Imagine yourself on this bike and you are riding down a hill. It's a hot day and there isn't much breeze so you pick up the pace to get some of the wind whipping through your helmet (you ARE wearing your helmet, aren't you?!) The wind feels good so you pick up the pace a bit more to get more of a good thing and then get drunk with pleasure and are pumping full speed down this hill with the wind whipping your hair and bugs in your teeth and freedom in your soul. This is horsepower.
Now, you've made it to the bottom of the hill, had a nice little dip in the stream in the valley and you're all hydrated and ready to head back up. I'm afraid the imagery isn't as poetic this time around. Your muscles ache, you grind the pedals in a circular rotation and the hill is as such that you are easily able to count the rotations to keep your mind off the fact that your upper thigh is burning like a rash you had back in college, you're sweating like something from another world, and you generally just hate having to trudge back up the hill. This is torque.
You use a little bit of each (horsepower / torque ) depending on your terrain and load. The numbers you see shown on websites and literature are their peak numbers. Actual performance in either a real engine or a person would be a gradual graph of values up to their peak and then falling off again. These numbers are not, of course, meaningless. But you can take it on face value that if you want more get up and go right off the bat without revving all the way up you'll want something with torque in the low end. This means you want your torque numbers to be high at low revolutions of the engine. This is what tugs you up the hill on your bike, your pedaling the crank is the torque.
Anyway, it makes sense to me. :P
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Turn off your tv
Recently read an article detailing the manner in which companies attempt to market to the general public, ie you and me. Some of the main points were tivo type devices, spyware and search engine history, and a couple other topics. Mostly it dealt with visual media which begs the question:
I think in much the same way that our society has eating problems we have an addiction to the television. I don't see people outside anymore. The number of people I know that sew for a hobby is diminishing. The number of "Rock Band/Guitar Hero" musicians now seems to outnumber the real deal.
People often ask me, "hey, did you see the ad about such and such?"
No, I don't watch tv.
They continue to tell me how great and clever an ad is and quite honestly I don't care. I guess for the most part I've shut off the switch for tv loving in my brain and I think its to my own advantage. Do still have a soft spot for Love Boat and Fantasy Island though.
Why not turn it off?
I think in much the same way that our society has eating problems we have an addiction to the television. I don't see people outside anymore. The number of people I know that sew for a hobby is diminishing. The number of "Rock Band/Guitar Hero" musicians now seems to outnumber the real deal.
People often ask me, "hey, did you see the ad about such and such?"
No, I don't watch tv.
They continue to tell me how great and clever an ad is and quite honestly I don't care. I guess for the most part I've shut off the switch for tv loving in my brain and I think its to my own advantage. Do still have a soft spot for Love Boat and Fantasy Island though.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
music, a lover.
What is it about music and me? Well unless you know me personally that's just a random question. Those that know me understand that question well but as of yet nobody has been able to offer any answers.
Here's how it broke down:
At age 8 I jumped off a barn. Told mom I broke my ankle running. Subsequently I was given a new guitar and showed some chords. I practiced my chords and enjoyed the guitar. I had to walk with crutches so I had plenty of time to sit on the couch and make little noises. It was all great fun.
One tragic evening.
The family requested I sing "Home on the Range" while I played it. I declined. They insisted. I declined. They made it an order. I complied. They laughed. I cried.
My 8 year old psyche changed that evening. I had always been the "class clown" type and was ok with some ridicule but I found out I was only ok with ridicule when I was asking for it.
I vowed never to sing again. I got over it.
I guess I came to a point in my psychological development where I realized I really wasn't too great of a singer, player, or songwriter and I really didn't care. I enjoyed making the music and I decided that was good enough for me.
I've recorded my own songs since I was about 15. They are all very distinct. I've yet to find a person that can tell me what style of music it is that comes out of me. There's a lot of country in there. Some 50's type stuff. Dissonance, sustained chords. Always a catchy hook. I'm addicted to them. But when its all brought together it's just, well, distinct. I don't want to sound all high and mighty but it's rather like when Metallica came out. You didn't have to know the song to know immediately it was Metallica. I'm kind of the same way in a whole other genre.
See, that's another thing. When you heard Metallica, not only did you know it was some form of Rock, you also knew it was Metallica. With my songs you won't be able to put a term on the genre but you'd be able to say, "Yup, that's JohnCub."
I guess I've had a musical bug lately that coincided with the opening of a local (to me) venue that has bands. I live in this odd place that doesn't have bars. With no bars comes no music so I've been being bled dry musically. Life on scan, no live music... gah.
But what gave me the bug? I think it was two main factors that told me to get off my ass and get to practicing.
1. Guitar hero. Here's my opinion of guitar hero: wtf. It costs nearly as much as a starter instrument when you have all the pieces. screw that, give me a real guitar. I'll never be a hero but I'll be great fun around a campfire.
2. Current popular music. I have no idea what the song was exactly. I was in the back seat on a work trip and the driver put the radio to some station with some song that I thought was a joke until it lasted for 5 minutes. It was so absolutely horrendous that I decided even I was better than that.
So maybe I'm not better than whoever it was. But it sounds better to me. I don't rap. I know I can't sing well but I try. I know I miss notes and entire chords but meh, it seems to flow well enough for my brain to smooth it over. I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to music, quite the opposite. I've often wondered if my genre should be "Lo-Fi" or something. AM Gold? heh.
Lately I've been riding a maelstrom of musicality. I've written two songs in the past week or so and I really believe they are of pretty good quality. They aren't recorded well but I'm not so worried about that sticky bit. I mainly record so I don't forget my own songs. I know that sounds impossible but I know from personal experience it is not only possible, it happens more often than not.
Anyway since I record my songs so I don't forget them and am ok with sounding as mediocre as I do I decided to put them online as I make them. The myspace band profile lets you put 6 songs up and they pay for the bandwidth. Seemed like a pretty decent deal to me so I hooked it up and did the whole friend list thing. Meh, I don't know. Over 500 plays now and I think only one actual comment on the music itself.
Maybe I'm wondering if it is better to be aware of people laughing and pointing or just to stay in the dark as I am?
Time will tell.
In the meantime, grab a lounge chair and a margarita and listen to my song Love Boat at my music page.
Here's how it broke down:
At age 8 I jumped off a barn. Told mom I broke my ankle running. Subsequently I was given a new guitar and showed some chords. I practiced my chords and enjoyed the guitar. I had to walk with crutches so I had plenty of time to sit on the couch and make little noises. It was all great fun.
One tragic evening.
The family requested I sing "Home on the Range" while I played it. I declined. They insisted. I declined. They made it an order. I complied. They laughed. I cried.
My 8 year old psyche changed that evening. I had always been the "class clown" type and was ok with some ridicule but I found out I was only ok with ridicule when I was asking for it.
I vowed never to sing again. I got over it.
I guess I came to a point in my psychological development where I realized I really wasn't too great of a singer, player, or songwriter and I really didn't care. I enjoyed making the music and I decided that was good enough for me.
I've recorded my own songs since I was about 15. They are all very distinct. I've yet to find a person that can tell me what style of music it is that comes out of me. There's a lot of country in there. Some 50's type stuff. Dissonance, sustained chords. Always a catchy hook. I'm addicted to them. But when its all brought together it's just, well, distinct. I don't want to sound all high and mighty but it's rather like when Metallica came out. You didn't have to know the song to know immediately it was Metallica. I'm kind of the same way in a whole other genre.
See, that's another thing. When you heard Metallica, not only did you know it was some form of Rock, you also knew it was Metallica. With my songs you won't be able to put a term on the genre but you'd be able to say, "Yup, that's JohnCub."
I guess I've had a musical bug lately that coincided with the opening of a local (to me) venue that has bands. I live in this odd place that doesn't have bars. With no bars comes no music so I've been being bled dry musically. Life on scan, no live music... gah.
But what gave me the bug? I think it was two main factors that told me to get off my ass and get to practicing.
1. Guitar hero. Here's my opinion of guitar hero: wtf. It costs nearly as much as a starter instrument when you have all the pieces. screw that, give me a real guitar. I'll never be a hero but I'll be great fun around a campfire.
2. Current popular music. I have no idea what the song was exactly. I was in the back seat on a work trip and the driver put the radio to some station with some song that I thought was a joke until it lasted for 5 minutes. It was so absolutely horrendous that I decided even I was better than that.
So maybe I'm not better than whoever it was. But it sounds better to me. I don't rap. I know I can't sing well but I try. I know I miss notes and entire chords but meh, it seems to flow well enough for my brain to smooth it over. I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to music, quite the opposite. I've often wondered if my genre should be "Lo-Fi" or something. AM Gold? heh.
Lately I've been riding a maelstrom of musicality. I've written two songs in the past week or so and I really believe they are of pretty good quality. They aren't recorded well but I'm not so worried about that sticky bit. I mainly record so I don't forget my own songs. I know that sounds impossible but I know from personal experience it is not only possible, it happens more often than not.
Anyway since I record my songs so I don't forget them and am ok with sounding as mediocre as I do I decided to put them online as I make them. The myspace band profile lets you put 6 songs up and they pay for the bandwidth. Seemed like a pretty decent deal to me so I hooked it up and did the whole friend list thing. Meh, I don't know. Over 500 plays now and I think only one actual comment on the music itself.
Maybe I'm wondering if it is better to be aware of people laughing and pointing or just to stay in the dark as I am?
Time will tell.
In the meantime, grab a lounge chair and a margarita and listen to my song Love Boat at my music page.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Life, on scan
So my cd player quit working in my 2 year old jeep. :-\
I don't have a favorite radio station primarily because the amount of talking far exceeds the amount of music any one of them play. I do occasionally listen to NPR but lately I've been in more of a music-ey way so I've lived the past couple months on "Scan."
"Scan" is a spot on your radio as much as it is a black hole in the entertainment matrix.
Living on scan gives you a wide variety of what is available. I've always been diverse in my listening pleasures so this isn't too bad for me, I like to shake things up. I've learned some new funny songs this way and for a while the ones I seemed to gravitate towards were country songs. I especially like songs with a story and very few non-country artists are able to do this. It seems there are two camps: Set up a scenario and Tell a story. I enjoy both camps but my bunk is in the tell a story one.
Recently I was in a large american city and I decided to try my scan tactic. I figured it would be mere moments before I found something so wonderful and enriching I'd never need to leave the station. As such was not the case. I found it to be a droll and quiet on the good music front as it is here in podunk. There was less static though, I'll admit that.
I don't have a favorite radio station primarily because the amount of talking far exceeds the amount of music any one of them play. I do occasionally listen to NPR but lately I've been in more of a music-ey way so I've lived the past couple months on "Scan."
"Scan" is a spot on your radio as much as it is a black hole in the entertainment matrix.
Living on scan gives you a wide variety of what is available. I've always been diverse in my listening pleasures so this isn't too bad for me, I like to shake things up. I've learned some new funny songs this way and for a while the ones I seemed to gravitate towards were country songs. I especially like songs with a story and very few non-country artists are able to do this. It seems there are two camps: Set up a scenario and Tell a story. I enjoy both camps but my bunk is in the tell a story one.
Recently I was in a large american city and I decided to try my scan tactic. I figured it would be mere moments before I found something so wonderful and enriching I'd never need to leave the station. As such was not the case. I found it to be a droll and quiet on the good music front as it is here in podunk. There was less static though, I'll admit that.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Live within your means
Having dealt with people with computer problems for many many years now taught me a valuable lesson: Live within your means. I'm not talking about monetary concerns. I'm talking about what programs and settings are turned on inside an individual computer. One of the most common complaints I hear when I get the "can you fix it" call is, "It doesn't run like it used to."
I think one of my strong suits is that I can "Bring something home" ie I think I make good analogies that people can relate to. Not in a Buddhism or Yoda kind of way, but one that simply "Makes sense."
Somebody gets a new computer, they love it. It zips zooms and flies to their expectations, like most new computers do. Within days it is loaded up with the software that the individual desires on there. We all have our favorites and it seems almost everyone has at least one "non-standard" favorite. I have several, unsurprisingly, since I deal mostly with computer programming. Nobody like paint or any of the usual graphical editors (hello? paint? gah!) So we all install our favorite image editor. I made my choice long ago on one that doesn't touch any of my file associations without asking. If I change a file association manually (as I sometimes do for animated gifs) the program doesn't give me a warning that I'm doing something potentially unsafe or whatever (at least nothing more than windows itself does.) Quicktime? It will never go on another one of my computers by my hand and my family is aware that quicktime is not to be installed on my machine. See that little Q down by your clock? You might have to click the double carat to open up that full gargantuan list of crap that starts at startup.
This is your first clue that you aren't living within your means.
1. Count the number of icons in the full list of what is commonly called (but much controversy surrounds the actual name) the system tray.
This is where you clock is and likely a little speaker icon of some fashion. I hope one of the icons down there indicates a real time virus scanner. AVG is free for personal usage and while it does a couple of things that annoy me (I don't like double-confirmation boxen) it IS free (money-wise, not source code) and works well. You may or may not have a double computer icon down there indicating your network connection status. You may have several actually: It all depends on how many network interfaces you have on your computer and how many are set to display. Some may have a red x over the computers. This indicates there is no connection on that interface and as long as you have some connection that red x can be ignored or turned off. If there are any requests I can look at how to do this and detail it.
If you have a full set of graphics drivers installed you may get some form of video icon in the system tray. If you keep a card reader or anything usb plugged in you'll see the "safely remove hardware" icon. Use this, won't you? Don't just pull your cards. Eject them first. Go to my computer, figure out which one is your card, right click and choose eject or unmount or whatever that item is. This tells windows, "Last chance, anything you want to write down on here before we go?" Do get in the habit. There's no recovering from half of a file on the camera card and half in windows memory that I know of. If you're like me you keep a lot more on a memory stick than pictures anyway.
So the rundown in your system menu: Clock, Antivirus, networking, sound, video, usb, and if absolutely necessary printer bloat.
I highly discourage printer bloat (anything that runs real time to interface with your printer/scanner/copier/faxer/toast maker. If it is necessary then so be it but if you can lose it you're much better off. Live within your means.
Now in all likelihood you have Quicktime, Bonus Miles, Yahoo, MSN Messenger, and half a dozen other items coming up down there. I've seen people with over 20 and it's almost unheard of to see less than 10. I have 5 on my windows startup at home. Networking, AVG, usb, sound, and video. Pare yours down. Uninstall the programs you don't actually use. The only suggestion I have about quicktime and itunes is to rid them of your system and live with the fact that .mov files are off limits without a lot of trouble. Get rid of weatherbug. Do it now. Uninstall. There are rss feeds for weather that do not tax your system like such items do. Same with bonus coupons and anything that claims to "give you a deal." It's a lie. Universally. Just get rid of the bloat.
Spyware is a big component of many slowdown issues I've dealt with. There's no easy answer here because of the complexity of the issue. Some people want complete and utter privacy until they realize that to obtain that they must not store their usernames and passwords anywhere and must log into each website on each visit. "Hmmm, that's not for me," says just about everyone. But there's a middle ground. It requires the user to think and to make a decision based on trust. For example, when you go to windows update it might ask if you want to install some software. There might be a box that says "Always trust content from Microsoft." Always is forever. It isn't forever yet so I'm not going to commit to trusting them all the time. And I feel the same way about almost everything else. Personally I give more faith to an open source software effort than any commercial venture. I trust mozilla and its products, but not always and forever. I don't commit to that. You shouldn't either if you want to keep tabs on who is doing what. If you are "Starting from zero got nothing to lose" (Tracy Chapman, ~1989) then your best bet is to get a reputable spyware scanner and let it start by cleaning everything out. BE WARNED: You will likely need to know your username and password on most of the websites you visit, if not all. This is the biggest, hardest part of the process but a necessary step. This won't take "A couple minutes." This is the beginning of a lifelong process. You are about to become aware that when you allow something on your computer you are allowing it into your home. Even if you're "okay" with something being able to access personal information is it within your computing means?
Computer hardware is what it is. It evolves fairly quickly but not by leaps and bounds. It seems to be more of a migratory process than anything revolutionary. We're all, for the most part, living on modest machines around an average of what I'll guess to be 2 gigahertz. My laptop is only 1 and my desktop is only about 1.6 but I think for the most part I'm on the low end of the spectrum.
Software continues to evolve and grow. More programs are created every day to help us be more productive, interest our minds, and to do whatever it is we do with computers. We want more. But is it within our means? Do we have the processor required, the hard drive space available, and are willing to fight with it in the event that it does something we don't like (for example, installs a secondary application that you do not desire or installs the Yahoo toolbar, dirge of the internet.) This is part of the process of keeping a clean system.
So go have a poke around in your add/remove programs. Get crazy with it. In addition, removing Microsoft Office does NOT remove your documents. And Openoffice is so much better and free-er (like thought and beer.)
I think one of my strong suits is that I can "Bring something home" ie I think I make good analogies that people can relate to. Not in a Buddhism or Yoda kind of way, but one that simply "Makes sense."
Somebody gets a new computer, they love it. It zips zooms and flies to their expectations, like most new computers do. Within days it is loaded up with the software that the individual desires on there. We all have our favorites and it seems almost everyone has at least one "non-standard" favorite. I have several, unsurprisingly, since I deal mostly with computer programming. Nobody like paint or any of the usual graphical editors (hello? paint? gah!) So we all install our favorite image editor. I made my choice long ago on one that doesn't touch any of my file associations without asking. If I change a file association manually (as I sometimes do for animated gifs) the program doesn't give me a warning that I'm doing something potentially unsafe or whatever (at least nothing more than windows itself does.) Quicktime? It will never go on another one of my computers by my hand and my family is aware that quicktime is not to be installed on my machine. See that little Q down by your clock? You might have to click the double carat to open up that full gargantuan list of crap that starts at startup.
This is your first clue that you aren't living within your means.
1. Count the number of icons in the full list of what is commonly called (but much controversy surrounds the actual name) the system tray.
This is where you clock is and likely a little speaker icon of some fashion. I hope one of the icons down there indicates a real time virus scanner. AVG is free for personal usage and while it does a couple of things that annoy me (I don't like double-confirmation boxen) it IS free (money-wise, not source code) and works well. You may or may not have a double computer icon down there indicating your network connection status. You may have several actually: It all depends on how many network interfaces you have on your computer and how many are set to display. Some may have a red x over the computers. This indicates there is no connection on that interface and as long as you have some connection that red x can be ignored or turned off. If there are any requests I can look at how to do this and detail it.
If you have a full set of graphics drivers installed you may get some form of video icon in the system tray. If you keep a card reader or anything usb plugged in you'll see the "safely remove hardware" icon. Use this, won't you? Don't just pull your cards. Eject them first. Go to my computer, figure out which one is your card, right click and choose eject or unmount or whatever that item is. This tells windows, "Last chance, anything you want to write down on here before we go?" Do get in the habit. There's no recovering from half of a file on the camera card and half in windows memory that I know of. If you're like me you keep a lot more on a memory stick than pictures anyway.
So the rundown in your system menu: Clock, Antivirus, networking, sound, video, usb, and if absolutely necessary printer bloat.
I highly discourage printer bloat (anything that runs real time to interface with your printer/scanner/copier/faxer/toast maker. If it is necessary then so be it but if you can lose it you're much better off. Live within your means.
Now in all likelihood you have Quicktime, Bonus Miles, Yahoo, MSN Messenger, and half a dozen other items coming up down there. I've seen people with over 20 and it's almost unheard of to see less than 10. I have 5 on my windows startup at home. Networking, AVG, usb, sound, and video. Pare yours down. Uninstall the programs you don't actually use. The only suggestion I have about quicktime and itunes is to rid them of your system and live with the fact that .mov files are off limits without a lot of trouble. Get rid of weatherbug. Do it now. Uninstall. There are rss feeds for weather that do not tax your system like such items do. Same with bonus coupons and anything that claims to "give you a deal." It's a lie. Universally. Just get rid of the bloat.
Spyware is a big component of many slowdown issues I've dealt with. There's no easy answer here because of the complexity of the issue. Some people want complete and utter privacy until they realize that to obtain that they must not store their usernames and passwords anywhere and must log into each website on each visit. "Hmmm, that's not for me," says just about everyone. But there's a middle ground. It requires the user to think and to make a decision based on trust. For example, when you go to windows update it might ask if you want to install some software. There might be a box that says "Always trust content from Microsoft." Always is forever. It isn't forever yet so I'm not going to commit to trusting them all the time. And I feel the same way about almost everything else. Personally I give more faith to an open source software effort than any commercial venture. I trust mozilla and its products, but not always and forever. I don't commit to that. You shouldn't either if you want to keep tabs on who is doing what. If you are "Starting from zero got nothing to lose" (Tracy Chapman, ~1989) then your best bet is to get a reputable spyware scanner and let it start by cleaning everything out. BE WARNED: You will likely need to know your username and password on most of the websites you visit, if not all. This is the biggest, hardest part of the process but a necessary step. This won't take "A couple minutes." This is the beginning of a lifelong process. You are about to become aware that when you allow something on your computer you are allowing it into your home. Even if you're "okay" with something being able to access personal information is it within your computing means?
Computer hardware is what it is. It evolves fairly quickly but not by leaps and bounds. It seems to be more of a migratory process than anything revolutionary. We're all, for the most part, living on modest machines around an average of what I'll guess to be 2 gigahertz. My laptop is only 1 and my desktop is only about 1.6 but I think for the most part I'm on the low end of the spectrum.
Software continues to evolve and grow. More programs are created every day to help us be more productive, interest our minds, and to do whatever it is we do with computers. We want more. But is it within our means? Do we have the processor required, the hard drive space available, and are willing to fight with it in the event that it does something we don't like (for example, installs a secondary application that you do not desire or installs the Yahoo toolbar, dirge of the internet.) This is part of the process of keeping a clean system.
So go have a poke around in your add/remove programs. Get crazy with it. In addition, removing Microsoft Office does NOT remove your documents. And Openoffice is so much better and free-er (like thought and beer.)
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Dear bestofjoomla fireboards
I have encountered the absolute worst instructions on the planet and they are yours. I read the instructions several months ago and saw they were farked up. It wasn't until I had a problem with Fireboard that I decided to take the plunge. I tried to log into your forums to find out wtf was going on with these instructions but luckily I wasn't able to.
I will say this much: it's worth what I paid for it.
Below are their instructions with my notes (in red) inline.
I will say this much: it's worth what I paid for it.
Below are their instructions with my notes (in red) inline.
Upgrade from Fireboard 1.0.1 (Beta)
WTF IS THAT? I see a box that says F0DB or something. Double byte character says what? Backup your MySql tables and file structure as described above.
- Download the 1.0.4 Patch files zip file.
- Extract the “FireBoard_1.0.4_Stable_PatchFiles.zip” files on your local system. You will notice that it has the same structure as the files on your server
- Connect to your website via FTP and overwrite all the local files over the remote files. This way your server will have latest files of the stable version Keep in mind this is a total of 452 files and if you read ahead you'll find that you're going to have to move some of them. Move isn't such a big deal for me because I can log in through a terminal. I'll bet those on hosts that don't support such features or users that don't know how to use it got a bit miffed at uploading man of these no-longer-compressed files twice.
- Fireboard 1.0.2+ stores the common files, such as uploaded files, avatars, uploaded images,… under “Joomla_Root/images/” directory. Please make sure that your “Joomla_Root/images/” is writable. Also, you might want to CREATE that directory.
- Copy “components/com_fireboard/_fbfiles/” directory in the extracted package to “Joomla_Root/images/” directory and rename it to “fbfiles/” and ensure that it is writable (and also all its subdirectories). At the end you will have such a path: “Joomla_Root/images/fbfiles”. You can do this in Linux by applying the following command: Command: chmod –R 777 images/fbfiles/ Here's the one that pushed the donkey over the edge. I was told to download 1.0.4 patch files. I did. No such _fbfiles directory exists in this zip file. I downloaded the 1.0.4 stable complete package and I find only an _fbfiles_dist. Which do I use, the one that doesn't exist or the one that doesn't exist? Quite the choice you've left the end user with. I only know my images no longer work. swell.
- Move (old) directories and all contents of Remember when I said if you'd read ahead? “components/com_fireboard/avatars”, “components/com_fireboard/category_images”, “components/com_fireboard/uploaded/files”, “components/com_fireboard/uploaded/images” to the new “Joomla_Root/images/fbfiles”. The final structure should look like this: Yes, this is quite useful, this emptiness that says it should look like this.
- Open “Upgrades/Fireboard_101_to_1.0.3.Stable.sql” file. You can download it here: Fireboard_101_to_1.0.3.Stable.sql
- If necessary, rename all the “jos_” occurrences to your own database prefix. Hence, if your db prefix it “boj_” then you should rename all “jos_” to “boj_”.
- Execute the queries on your remote host; either inside phpmyadmin or your favourite database manager. If you don’t know how to do this, please read: http://community.mybboard.net/showthread.php?tid=4720 If you get any error during the execution, e.g. you had done some modifications to the database before, then you should execute the rest of the queries and not all of them. The queries are executed in the order as they are listed in the upgrade. First at the top and last at bottom.
- Now, head on to Fireboard Configuration and check if you have the latest version, by looking at the bottom of the page.
- Enter Fireboard configuration section and modify the settings to your need. See, I got this far and then something happened. I clicked save and all of a fucking sudden the root of my web site, you know public_html, is no longer readable. Ergo I get 403 forbidden on anything in my root. Hey, thanks! That made this upgrade something I'll never forget! Right about this time, about 2.5 hours into the install, I finally get the lost password request / reset password from the good folks at bestofjoomla. I use the new password to log in and guess what? I'm blocked because I didn't reply to my confirmation email. Where do I get another? Beats the living shit out of me. Not from them. I believe I'll go back to hand coding pages. I've had enough of this shit. I emailed my web host and asked them to look into what had happened with the permissions and to please reset them so I have web access again. Once that's done I'll be kicking this POS joomla and fireboard to the curb forever.
- Enter the control panel, and click on “Recount Categories Stats”. This will recount all the posts and update your frontend statistics. You should apply this action from time to time to ensure consistency in your forum statistics.
If you have any further questions or problems, please visit the BestofJoomla.com forums. Yeah well I'd fucking love to. Do I have to make a whole new account because I can't find the stupid email you sent at some random point, 2-6 hours after I request something? fuck it. Fireboard sucks.
Update:
My host fixed my problem. They said:
The root of the web directory was set as 770, when it should be 755. I made the needed change and all is working fine for me now. Now to make the final decision on kicking all the code to the curb and rolling my own again. Either way its a hassle.Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Moss, lichens, and water erosion? Oh my.
As I often do I went for a wander at lunch time. This is the norm for me. I have a tree out on wildcat cove I like to visit. I enjoy spending time down by the calf-killer river. I like to think about how many canoes have travelled that waterway. Someday I hope to get a canoe and ride a few miles on it. Today's journey was up towards Sunset Rock on Bon Aire mountain. I don't have a name for this route that I take that spans from the country club to some church to the bon aire highway but there I was tooling along at a brisk 10-15 miles per hour looking into the forest. There's no missing the rocks and boulders on this mountain and maybe it was due to everything being dead for winter or my eye just caught it right but I noticed many of the rocks and boulders on this mountain have very very obvious and very very pronounced erosion. It very much looks like these boulders have lived their lives in a tumultuous pool that can be envisioned on the shores of some harsh island with waves not lapping but attacking the land. I actually pulled over and decided to get a closer look. Perhaps my eyes were deceiving me. I walked around to several of them noting that there is moss and lichen on almost all rocks indicating they have been where they are for a very long time. At least this is what it indicates to my very simplistic understanding of all things geology. It doesn't make sense though. Here is an area that is about 350 meters above sea level with no water passing over the top of it other than possibly rainwater. These rocks have been here for hundreds of year (by my own reckoning, mind you) and they are waterworn. How odd is that.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Boys that play with cars
It likely won't come as any surprise to loyal fans that your humble narrator is and always has been a boy that plays with cars. On one of my favorite web forums they mentioned Stompers in passing. I knew they wouldn't want to hear me whine and pine over the fun I had with them so I dropped in here with you.
I think I was about 9 when they came out, or at least when I became aware of them. I lived on a muddy hillside; A perfect spot for such a rough and tumble machine. I recall marvelling at what I thought was complexity. I did pine for an active suspension but was placated by the dual sets of tires (medium density foam or hard plastic.) I recall setting up dozens of scenarios where the stomper would attempt to make it through a gully and then maybe over a bridge without falling in to the sudden death below.
In a way we never grow up. Or maybe it is that some of the things we start in childhood never end. Perhaps its that I haven't lost all of my boyhood wonder yet. I still love cars in some odd esoteric way. I have a fascination with all of the mechanics of them and how some have different ways of accomplishing similar goals. My own daily driver vehicle was purchased because it was one I think most little boys are fascinated with at some point, a Jeep. It's kind of "just like" an old CJ, only it does have padding in the seats and there's a few more inches tacked in there. There is no denying I purchased it more for the toy value than the getting groceries part. Sure, any other car would have sufficed my mechanical desires but the jeep allows one to open the hood and see everything. Open a minivan's hood. Not much to see. I can crawl under my jeep and lay in comfort while pondering what made that ding on my rear differential case. I have done this. I find it enjoyable. If I won the lottery and had nothing else to do I would certainly do this at least every couple of days (but likely I'd be looking under different cars most days.)
My eldest is now in 2nd grade and they were offered the opportunity to participate in the elementary school's science fair. They are not obligated to do a project but extra credit is granted for those that do. We all decided it would be fun to do one so we set upon the task of choosing a topic. The school had sent home a list of suggestions but those seemed so drab. We found a website on the topic and read through their offerings. None of them really grabbed his attention. He was stuck on one that made the wife and I cackle the first time we heard it:
With the knowing look we both realized: It has started.
Not having a go-kart at my disposal I suggested we could see how fast my radio controlled truck would go. This pleased him.
Plan A:
Saturday morning. Arrived at middle school parking lot to find not a car in sight. Set start line and began measuring until we had one tenth of a mile. Set markers at turns and had it ready to go. Fueled the radio controlled truck, started, warming up. Had it up to temperature and was warming the tires with some high speed runs to practice the course. Curb.
Parts run. $40.
The next day I had it back up and running again with the new parts. This was a broken lower A arm in case you're following along. I decided instead of just replacing that one I'd replace the upper and lowers on the front suspension with some better ones.
Plan B:
Since there are no curbs around my house and only traffic to worry about I decided I would measure out an area in front of my house to measure the speed. I did this Sunday and when all was set we brought the whole family out to participate in the activities. I drove the truck (It's a Tmaxx made by Traxxas in case you care,) the wife managed the stopwatch, eldest was the starter and data recorder. and little bit was a stark raving mad fan.
We managed to get 4 good runs before we ran it out of fuel and susequently decided to call it a day. We had our data and eldest and I sat at the computer with Open Office's Calc and set up a spreadsheet to calculate our miles per hour. Within moments we had our results and eldest felt it was a job well done. This was when the reality of it was only the beginning of the work was explained to him. Through much drudging we've put together a smashing presentation and even though some of it wasn't to his liking, adding in a radio controlled real-engine powered truck that eats gas and screams like a banshee, well that made it a little bit better.
As it turned out, somewhere in that long line of testings and whatnot, several other parts broke and I spent today disassembling it, cleaning it, and reassembling with non-broken parts. In the end I even found all of the screws. It was pretty hairy there for a while. :) And now I present you with a view of the truck in question, another of my horrible little boy toys. :)
I think I was about 9 when they came out, or at least when I became aware of them. I lived on a muddy hillside; A perfect spot for such a rough and tumble machine. I recall marvelling at what I thought was complexity. I did pine for an active suspension but was placated by the dual sets of tires (medium density foam or hard plastic.) I recall setting up dozens of scenarios where the stomper would attempt to make it through a gully and then maybe over a bridge without falling in to the sudden death below.
In a way we never grow up. Or maybe it is that some of the things we start in childhood never end. Perhaps its that I haven't lost all of my boyhood wonder yet. I still love cars in some odd esoteric way. I have a fascination with all of the mechanics of them and how some have different ways of accomplishing similar goals. My own daily driver vehicle was purchased because it was one I think most little boys are fascinated with at some point, a Jeep. It's kind of "just like" an old CJ, only it does have padding in the seats and there's a few more inches tacked in there. There is no denying I purchased it more for the toy value than the getting groceries part. Sure, any other car would have sufficed my mechanical desires but the jeep allows one to open the hood and see everything. Open a minivan's hood. Not much to see. I can crawl under my jeep and lay in comfort while pondering what made that ding on my rear differential case. I have done this. I find it enjoyable. If I won the lottery and had nothing else to do I would certainly do this at least every couple of days (but likely I'd be looking under different cars most days.)
My eldest is now in 2nd grade and they were offered the opportunity to participate in the elementary school's science fair. They are not obligated to do a project but extra credit is granted for those that do. We all decided it would be fun to do one so we set upon the task of choosing a topic. The school had sent home a list of suggestions but those seemed so drab. We found a website on the topic and read through their offerings. None of them really grabbed his attention. He was stuck on one that made the wife and I cackle the first time we heard it:
How fast does a go-kart go?
With the knowing look we both realized: It has started.
Not having a go-kart at my disposal I suggested we could see how fast my radio controlled truck would go. This pleased him.
Plan A:
Saturday morning. Arrived at middle school parking lot to find not a car in sight. Set start line and began measuring until we had one tenth of a mile. Set markers at turns and had it ready to go. Fueled the radio controlled truck, started, warming up. Had it up to temperature and was warming the tires with some high speed runs to practice the course. Curb.
Parts run. $40.
The next day I had it back up and running again with the new parts. This was a broken lower A arm in case you're following along. I decided instead of just replacing that one I'd replace the upper and lowers on the front suspension with some better ones.
Plan B:
Since there are no curbs around my house and only traffic to worry about I decided I would measure out an area in front of my house to measure the speed. I did this Sunday and when all was set we brought the whole family out to participate in the activities. I drove the truck (It's a Tmaxx made by Traxxas in case you care,) the wife managed the stopwatch, eldest was the starter and data recorder. and little bit was a stark raving mad fan.
We managed to get 4 good runs before we ran it out of fuel and susequently decided to call it a day. We had our data and eldest and I sat at the computer with Open Office's Calc and set up a spreadsheet to calculate our miles per hour. Within moments we had our results and eldest felt it was a job well done. This was when the reality of it was only the beginning of the work was explained to him. Through much drudging we've put together a smashing presentation and even though some of it wasn't to his liking, adding in a radio controlled real-engine powered truck that eats gas and screams like a banshee, well that made it a little bit better.
As it turned out, somewhere in that long line of testings and whatnot, several other parts broke and I spent today disassembling it, cleaning it, and reassembling with non-broken parts. In the end I even found all of the screws. It was pretty hairy there for a while. :) And now I present you with a view of the truck in question, another of my horrible little boy toys. :)
Friday, March 07, 2008
Taste has volume.
Taste has volume. This occurred to me whilst eating two pieces of lemon & pomegranate gum the other day. You see, aside from its odd sounding ingredients, it's quite tasty. I had a piece the day before and found it to be "A frothy mixture of fun and youth" although others may refer to it as "Pond Scum."
Back to the present: It occurred to me to try the recommended serving: two pieces. Thusly I chose and consumed two pieces.
This gum has a candy shellac over the gum and is in something of an engorged button shape. At first it is a bit crunchy and then becomes sort of crumbly in your mouth. At the point that you're sure you're about to swallow what is left of the crumbs they congeal into the gum that we all know and love; Proper texture and all.
As you might have guessed this gum has a particular flavor. It doesn't "muck in" well on the sports field. It was after my gum had come to the full gummy state that I realized the flavor was .... well, louder. It was brighter, it had more to it than a single piece alone.
This made me realize that the senses are in fact quite peculiar and under-appreciated. Now it seems taste has volume. I thought that was reserved for the ears but I was incorrect. It is a shared trait and always has been. Ever put 2 hot balls in your mouth at once? Well I was a little boy once so I did. The volume was unbearable.
It also seems to me that taste has something of a 3 dimensional quality. I'm having trouble understanding it enough to put into words so luckily this part of the post will sound just like the rest and you, my beloved reader, will never know. Oh wait! Moving on; I can't, right off, think of a one dimensional taste so I think they all have multiple dimensions. Not sure how many or what they are. Come to think of it they are everywhere too. Some foods burn the tip of your tongue while others burn more on the sides or rear. Some things aren't hot until they're well in your gullet and suddenly you have heat coming out of your ears and sweat rolling from your brow. Hot isn't the only general flavor that is effected I think. Salty can do the same. Regular salt on regular food, no big deal; Tastes like salt. Add too much soy to an already salty chinese stir fry and its a salt that consumes the senses with explosions of salt flavor throughout much more of your tasting apparatus. Sweet & Sour same way.
I believe there would be a limit as well. Curiously strong mints. Altoids. These are the volume leaders that I have encountered (with the only contender being whatever gum my brother chews) and I have found that multiple altoids at once produce very little in the way of increasing volume because it seems some magical ceiling has been reached.
I will continue my studies and report my findings. Unless you've already completed that part?
Back to the present: It occurred to me to try the recommended serving: two pieces. Thusly I chose and consumed two pieces.
This gum has a candy shellac over the gum and is in something of an engorged button shape. At first it is a bit crunchy and then becomes sort of crumbly in your mouth. At the point that you're sure you're about to swallow what is left of the crumbs they congeal into the gum that we all know and love; Proper texture and all.
As you might have guessed this gum has a particular flavor. It doesn't "muck in" well on the sports field. It was after my gum had come to the full gummy state that I realized the flavor was .... well, louder. It was brighter, it had more to it than a single piece alone.
This made me realize that the senses are in fact quite peculiar and under-appreciated. Now it seems taste has volume. I thought that was reserved for the ears but I was incorrect. It is a shared trait and always has been. Ever put 2 hot balls in your mouth at once? Well I was a little boy once so I did. The volume was unbearable.
It also seems to me that taste has something of a 3 dimensional quality. I'm having trouble understanding it enough to put into words so luckily this part of the post will sound just like the rest and you, my beloved reader, will never know. Oh wait! Moving on; I can't, right off, think of a one dimensional taste so I think they all have multiple dimensions. Not sure how many or what they are. Come to think of it they are everywhere too. Some foods burn the tip of your tongue while others burn more on the sides or rear. Some things aren't hot until they're well in your gullet and suddenly you have heat coming out of your ears and sweat rolling from your brow. Hot isn't the only general flavor that is effected I think. Salty can do the same. Regular salt on regular food, no big deal; Tastes like salt. Add too much soy to an already salty chinese stir fry and its a salt that consumes the senses with explosions of salt flavor throughout much more of your tasting apparatus. Sweet & Sour same way.
I believe there would be a limit as well. Curiously strong mints. Altoids. These are the volume leaders that I have encountered (with the only contender being whatever gum my brother chews) and I have found that multiple altoids at once produce very little in the way of increasing volume because it seems some magical ceiling has been reached.
I will continue my studies and report my findings. Unless you've already completed that part?
Sunday, February 24, 2008
WikiTravel.org as a source of humor
Since I enjoy travel and reading I matched them up at wikitravel.org. I've spent a good number of hours perusing the anecdotes and tips that they offer. Some of them elicit a response but it would be rude for me to add my notes inline so I will do it here.
In the spirit of quoting them and their Creative Commons Sharealike license I release this post under the same license. or whatever.
Here's the way this will work. I'll quote them. then I respond. Try to keep up and I want to remind you in advance: this is it folks, I don't dance.
*A common belief in Iceland is the hidden people, such as Elves or Dwarves who live in rocks and caves. Their road workers often avoid large rocks as to not upset the inhabitants. Approx 80-90% of Icelanders believe in the hidden people, and many have seen them. There is even a museum in Reykyavik devoted to the hidden people.
**Peggy Hill is collecting them. They have names like winklebottom. they have left your cold conditions and moved to more inhabitable continents. Perhaps you should consider following suit.
*However, low traffic in areas outside Reykjavik makes hitchhiking in Iceland an endurance sport.
**Just ha!
*Hitchhiking into the interior is tough, but everything works if you have enough time - calculating in days, not in hours. For longer distances or less touristic areas be prepared with some food, water and a tent or similar. The weather can be awful and sometimes spoils the fun of this way of traveling.
**Reminder: this is freaking ICEland. Ya think they brought that name out of a hat? No, Einstein. where we would marvel at the Mississippi river (ol' miss, deeeeeep river) they might enjoy staring at so and so glacier. Yes, GLACIER. camp on that, boy scout!
Did you know the Bahamas are just east of north carolina? According to my wall atlas the distance would be less than the drive from Memphis, TN to Pittsburgh, PA. But ya know what, that's a small bit of island to find. 20 square miles. Pretty much out in the middle of no freaking where. You run out of gas before you find it, you die. Ah paradise islands. We should equip more people with boats.
In the spirit of quoting them and their Creative Commons Sharealike license I release this post under the same license. or whatever.
Here's the way this will work. I'll quote them. then I respond. Try to keep up and I want to remind you in advance: this is it folks, I don't dance.
*A common belief in Iceland is the hidden people, such as Elves or Dwarves who live in rocks and caves. Their road workers often avoid large rocks as to not upset the inhabitants. Approx 80-90% of Icelanders believe in the hidden people, and many have seen them. There is even a museum in Reykyavik devoted to the hidden people.
**Peggy Hill is collecting them. They have names like winklebottom. they have left your cold conditions and moved to more inhabitable continents. Perhaps you should consider following suit.
*However, low traffic in areas outside Reykjavik makes hitchhiking in Iceland an endurance sport.
**Just ha!
*Hitchhiking into the interior is tough, but everything works if you have enough time - calculating in days, not in hours. For longer distances or less touristic areas be prepared with some food, water and a tent or similar. The weather can be awful and sometimes spoils the fun of this way of traveling.
**Reminder: this is freaking ICEland. Ya think they brought that name out of a hat? No, Einstein. where we would marvel at the Mississippi river (ol' miss, deeeeeep river) they might enjoy staring at so and so glacier. Yes, GLACIER. camp on that, boy scout!
Did you know the Bahamas are just east of north carolina? According to my wall atlas the distance would be less than the drive from Memphis, TN to Pittsburgh, PA. But ya know what, that's a small bit of island to find. 20 square miles. Pretty much out in the middle of no freaking where. You run out of gas before you find it, you die. Ah paradise islands. We should equip more people with boats.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
I'm a bastard like that
So I just finished up a pretty droll email to some coworkers regarding statistics to a website I kind of help keep up with. For some reason I was feeling all "USA Today!" and made some charts and very little text other than what was necessary to convey the main points.
Being a bit of a bastard, I included this gem:
Being a bit of a bastard, I included this gem:
Currently 33% of our users are using some version of Internet Explorer and 16% use firefox. The other 51% are chinese hackers decoding the ones and zeros in real time.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
The Golden Compass review from a bystander
I finally watched The Golden Compass. I still couldn't put it together with a god theory. I have my own version of what's going on inside my head (the grand scale) and it just doesn't jive with my figures to go replacing the magisterium with the church and whatever whatever. I just like the story the way I understand it.
The movie is excellent. The only problem I had is that when I bought and listened to the audio books, it was all in a row. I have no idea where one story stops and the other ends. So while I was expecting the story to take a very interesting turn credits rolled. no biggie, I'll just listen to the books again while I wait for the next movie.
I realized very quickly in the movie that while listening to the books I never put a face on Lyra. I guess she was just "nondescript little girl" since there was very little in the book that described her other than her hair during the brushing and some mentions of tomboyism. What interests me is that not only did I not put a face on the main character, I didn't even realize I did that. The only other novel I recall doing that with is Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Luckily I enjoyed The Golden Compass unlike the more dour counterpart, Crime and Punishment.
so in short...
Forget all that god nonsense about this movie and book. Just go by my original description of the book and you'll be fine.
The movie is excellent. The only problem I had is that when I bought and listened to the audio books, it was all in a row. I have no idea where one story stops and the other ends. So while I was expecting the story to take a very interesting turn credits rolled. no biggie, I'll just listen to the books again while I wait for the next movie.
I realized very quickly in the movie that while listening to the books I never put a face on Lyra. I guess she was just "nondescript little girl" since there was very little in the book that described her other than her hair during the brushing and some mentions of tomboyism. What interests me is that not only did I not put a face on the main character, I didn't even realize I did that. The only other novel I recall doing that with is Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Luckily I enjoyed The Golden Compass unlike the more dour counterpart, Crime and Punishment.
so in short...
Forget all that god nonsense about this movie and book. Just go by my original description of the book and you'll be fine.
It's Huck Finn, it's Harry Potter, it's Lord of the Rings. It's every little boy's adventure. But surprise, it's a girl!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Baiting scammers for fun and profit
So here's how a scammer begins their attack, in case you've been wondering. You'll note that I twart all efforts as I've grown rather jaded with baiting scammers. But this is what you can look for if you want to get into the hobby of baiting scammers for fun and profit.
This particular instance is brought to you by the good people at myspace and their myspace im but I've had similar conversations on Yahoo messenger as well. For some reason the scammers have left me alone on my icq, aim, and other messenger protocols. Yahoo messenger and chat is especially easy to find a scammer of one sort or another. Some offer multiple scams so you really get your money's worth.
Conversation with peggyarmstrong on 2/14/2008 11:27:57 AM:
(11:27:57 AM) peggyarmstrong: hi
(11:28:00 AM) peggyarmstrong:how are u today
(11:28:04 AM) peggyarmstrong:asl pls
(11:28:42 AM) johncub: I agree, asl. After Sex, Leave
(11:29:43 AM) peggyarmstrong:what do u mean
(11:30:12 AM) johncub: asl (After Sex Leave)
(11:30:16 AM) johncub: see, it's an old guy joke
(11:30:23 AM) johncub: and as I'm an old guy I think its funny
(11:30:36 AM) peggyarmstrong:]yes
(11:30:40 AM) peggyarmstrong:it is funny
(11:30:47 AM) peggyarmstrong:sdo how is family
(11:30:56 AM) johncub: good, how is the scamming business?
(11:31:26 AM) peggyarmstrong:what do u mean by scamming bussines
(11:31:45 AM) johncub: it's a theory I have.
(11:37:33 AM) peggyarmstrong: pls
(11:37:45 AM) peggyarmstrong: u can mail me at peggyarmstrong_22@uymail.com
(11:37:51 AM) peggyarmstrong: bye and take care
== end transmission
In case you care, this particular's myspace page is here. Anyone want to take bets on the sex being a male and him not looking nearly that pretty?
This particular instance is brought to you by the good people at myspace and their myspace im but I've had similar conversations on Yahoo messenger as well. For some reason the scammers have left me alone on my icq, aim, and other messenger protocols. Yahoo messenger and chat is especially easy to find a scammer of one sort or another. Some offer multiple scams so you really get your money's worth.
Conversation with peggyarmstrong on 2/14/2008 11:27:57 AM:
(11:27:57 AM) peggyarmstrong: hi
(11:28:00 AM) peggyarmstrong:how are u today
(11:28:04 AM) peggyarmstrong:asl pls
(11:28:42 AM) johncub: I agree, asl. After Sex, Leave
(11:29:43 AM) peggyarmstrong:what do u mean
(11:30:12 AM) johncub: asl (After Sex Leave)
(11:30:16 AM) johncub: see, it's an old guy joke
(11:30:23 AM) johncub: and as I'm an old guy I think its funny
(11:30:36 AM) peggyarmstrong:]yes
(11:30:40 AM) peggyarmstrong:it is funny
(11:30:47 AM) peggyarmstrong:sdo how is family
(11:30:56 AM) johncub: good, how is the scamming business?
(11:31:26 AM) peggyarmstrong:what do u mean by scamming bussines
(11:31:45 AM) johncub: it's a theory I have.
(11:37:33 AM) peggyarmstrong: pls
(11:37:45 AM) peggyarmstrong: u can mail me at peggyarmstrong_22@uymail.com
(11:37:51 AM) peggyarmstrong: bye and take care
== end transmission
In case you care, this particular's myspace page is here. Anyone want to take bets on the sex being a male and him not looking nearly that pretty?
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
The Myspace Chat hack
MySpace uses the userplane chat application. It is a flash based chat that works well when it isn't being abused. Unfortunately it is often abused and this is disruptive to anyone in that chat room.
It used to be the people who wished to stop the room from functioning would simply send a screenful of emoticons and it would slow everyone's computer to a crawl and many people simply left. For whatever reason (I can only hope it might have been a security update) that fell out of favor for this new exploit.
What happens now is someone says something only you don't see it. You see their name but nothing after that. Then it simply sits there with your network at 100% usage and cpu at 100%. Refresh the page and it is fine.
So I decided to give this a closer look. I suspected they were using packet editors and knew they weren't all that smart so I decided to ask my favorite guru what the appropriate program to use was and he pointed me to a very good packet logger. I found the packet our little friend sent and it looked a lot like this:
--update: That number is the user number of the chatter.
Don't know.
But there it is. So if your google search led you here because you wonder why the room is freezing, there's what I know. I'd bet they'll be changing that font number regularly.
Edit, I see I can't put the actual breakage in here and have it display, so for those of you paying attention at home it is font color=#<0ii6699>
It used to be the people who wished to stop the room from functioning would simply send a screenful of emoticons and it would slow everyone's computer to a crawl and many people simply left. For whatever reason (I can only hope it might have been a security update) that fell out of favor for this new exploit.
What happens now is someone says something only you don't see it. You see their name but nothing after that. Then it simply sits there with your network at 100% usage and cpu at 100%. Refresh the page and it is fine.
So I decided to give this a closer look. I suspected they were using packet editors and knew they weren't all that smart so I decided to ask my favorite guru what the appropriate program to use was and he pointed me to a very good packet logger. I found the packet our little friend sent and it looked a lot like this:
rooms/public/2/dispatch_sosendChatTextGoodbye Room. Soon To Be Destroyed. thank your imature lame fucks who have no life ed and kev have fun mind fucking somthing that can't see youSo it looks like he's sending a font with one too many characters to begin with. But is there more to it? Not sure yet. And what is the cure? to filter for a packet containing that string, 0ii6699? That seems a bit wasteful on the client end. I do wonder if that number near the end is the user's MySpace number. No confirmation on that just yet. More testing I guess.
312088735Bqup
--update: That number is the user number of the chatter.
Don't know.
But there it is. So if your google search led you here because you wonder why the room is freezing, there's what I know. I'd bet they'll be changing that font number regularly.
Edit, I see I can't put the actual breakage in here and have it display, so for those of you paying attention at home it is font color=#<0ii6699>
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