Maybe It Was a Titmouse

Posted on September 15, 2008

Me: Any way, for some reason, our IT provider is our DNS instead of Verio, which is our host and domain registrar.
DB: Ahhhhh.
Me: So while Verio’s shit is pointing to the new IP address (which I still don’t know why they changed it), dns.bizco is pointing at the old address.
word
Me: So I have to call Bizco tomorrow, ask them to kabooble their DNS kerjigger, or whatever they do, and i’m sure we’ll get charged $200 for them to do it.
Me: Pretty sure that’s an O’Reilly’s book.
DB: lol
Me: “Kaboobling DNS Kerjiggers”
Me: It’s got an owl on teh cover.

The eMac Project

Posted on July 31, 2008

It all started a couple of months ago, when I found an eMac on Craigslist for $60. Neat! I thought, a project computer. Little did I know…

It arrived in good condition, just a sharpie wound on the top edge that I tastefully covered with a sticker. Once that project was completed, I decided to start in on installing Ubuntu. Unfortunately, the LiveCD wouldn’t work. It would boot up and then end with a black screen. Cock. Fortunately, the alternate-installer cd is text based, so I could use that. Ubuntu installed, let’s start up. Boot screen, and… Blackness. After spending several hours on the Google, I figure out, it’s a problem with the X windowing system’s configuration file. It has no way of working with the eMac’s built-in display. No windowing system, no UI. I had no experience editing an xorg.conf file, I don’t know what most of the settings mean. I’m barely able to edit a text file from the command line. After some more googling, I found a copy of somebody else’s xorg.conf file for an eMac, for another version of Linux. But I somehow managed to figure out which settings I need, saved the changes, and rebooted. And result! I managed to solve that problem.

But it was so slow in Ubuntu. Running Panther, the machine’s paltry 256 Mb of RAM didn’t offer much but it was able to run decently. Not so in Ubuntu. It was slooooow. The time from clicking on a menu to the menu actually being drawn was measurable in seconds. Ok, I’ll get some RAM then. 2×512 Mb sticks from OWC, $60 shipped. Not a bad deal at all. Amazingly, replacing memory in the machine is quite simple, only one screw involved. And speed was much improved. Hurray.

But after spending a few days with Ubuntu, I realized that I don’t really care for it. Despite three days effort, sound wasn’t working. There was no plausible workaround for the fact that there’s no Flash support for a PowerPC Linux machine. And that’s not all. A lot of the big selling points of Ubuntu simply haven’t caught up with PowerPC support, and might never, since it’s such a tiny sliver of an already small segment. It was time to switch back.

There was just one small problem. It didn’t come with any CDs. And since it only has a CD-ROM drive, any DVDs I had lying around wouldn’t work. I did some web searching, as there are places online where you can still buy old OSes, including Jaguar and Puma. Only problem is, they’re very price. And I’m not willing to pay $75-$130 for a dated system. Unfortunately, eBay auctions for CDs were few and far between, and frequently had bids pushing to the retail prices. Finally I found an auction for a set of eMac restore CDs. I asked the seller if they were CDs, just to be sure, and he said yes. So I bid, and won for the amazingly low cost of $35 shipped. A few days later the CDs arrived, so I eagerly put them into the plucky little eMac.

And nothing happened. The eMac refused to boot from the CD drive. Ubuntu wouldn’t even recognize that there was a CD in the drive. Did some more googling, even posted on the PPC section of the Ubuntu support forums. I put the CD in my iMac to make sure it wasn’t a bad disk. It was fine. I ejected the disk and that’s when I noticed something. On the disk it said “DVD”. Even though I had asked specifically if it was a CD and was told yes. Shit.

At this point, I made an executive decision. It would be cheaper to buy a DVD drive for the eMac than it would be to drop more money on disks. I popped down to the shops and found an ok DVD drive for $49. And it even has Lightscribe. Whatever that is. I tear apart the eMac using Wilko’s eMac teardown guide. It’s a pretty machine inside, all shiny chrome and neat parts, so I took some pictures, which will go up on the Flickr soon. Continue taking it apart… Still taking it apart. 45 screws later, I pop the new DVD drive in. 45 screws. That’s bad. Then there’s putting the whole thing together, remembering which screws go where, and so forth. When I finally put it together, I only had four screws left over, and no guarantee that the drive or machine was even going to work when I hit the power button.

Plug it in, nice spark from inside the translucent power cord, hit the power button, and it works! Put the DVD in the drive, reboot, and even that works! Amazing! So now I’ve got Panther running on the machine, a 700 Mhz G4 eMac that only cost me $205 altogether.

So that project is all finished, I sit down to see what I’ve missed in the RSS feeds, and I see this.

Cock.

I’m a Tard

Posted on July 11, 2008

So since I didn’t buy an iPhone today, I thought I would treat myself and get a Pinnacle HD Stick. It’s a handy little device with a USB doodle on one end and a coax doodle on the other end. With the included EyeTV software I can connect it to analog cable and watch and record tv on my Mac, much like a Tivo. Hella cool. Once I upgrade the EyeTV software I’ll be able to schedule recordings, edit clips and cut out commercials, and convert to iPod video. All very awesome, except for one thing.

I forgot to buy a coax cable. My cable input is on the opposite side of the room from my computer, a good thirty feet of distance. So I need to buy an extra long cable. Until then, I’m stuck using the included antenna, which only picks up 3ABN, a very Jesus-y channel. So I don’t have much to watch on my new tv-computer for now. Oh well.

New Tech at Home

Posted on July 10, 2008

Since USPaul had to go all high and mighty and brag about the cool new stuff he got, I figure I’d do the same. Gotta show off the goods, y’all.

• A Navigon GPS unit – Not technically here yet, but it should be by next Monday. Woot had these on sale the other day for 80 bucks. I’ve been wanting a GPS unit for a while, but was a little leery of the price point. Not that a good GPS unit isn’t worth $300-$400, but I’m not sure if I’d get $400 worth of use out of one. However, at a sub-$100 price point, that’s well worth it to me. And it’s even a talky kind, which is more than I was expecting at that price. I’m pretty ‘cited.
• New RAM for the eMac – I got the eMac a couple months back, and while neat and a great deal, it was kinda light on the RAM. Only 256 MB. So I finally put down a little money and got a gigabyte’s worth from OWC. And I’ll be damned, but the thing is hecka zippy after the upgrade. By the way, the upgrade was super easy, only one phillips-head screw to deal with. Now I just have to find some OSX install CDs for it (I’m watching you eBay), because my experience with Linux on it has been, shall we say, sub-par. (Seriously, no sound on it, and no chance of getting Flash working, ever. F that.)
• Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii – I f’ing love this game. I’ve already sunk several hours into it and I’m only a tiny bit through. It’s the same basic premise as the past couple of Mario games, collecting stars. But this game has the best graphics yet, a great soundtrack, and is trippy as hell. You play on little planets, and so half the time you’re hanging upside down. When I first started I was afraid of jumping because I didn’t know if I’d fall off or not. Still, this game is fun. I’d say the best installment since Super Mario RPG for the SNES.
• No New iPhone – Which is strange I know, because it’s pretty much expected of me. Hell I do want one, I really do. Even though my current iPhone will get the version 2 software. Even though it would represent an extra $15-$20 a month on my phone bill. Even though it’s the same kind of crappy camera, and the same processor. I still want one. Faster internet is one thing, but I’m most excited at the prospect of having 16 gigs of flash memory versus my current four, and having better battery life. But, here’s the dealbreaker. There’s no 3G in Nebraska. Whatsoever. In fact, a huge majority of the country lacks AT&T’s 3G coverage. And I’m just not at all willing to pay an extra $20 per month that I’m simply not getting. F that.

  But then again, at least it’s not Rogers Wireless.

Nintendo DS

Posted on April 7, 2008

I picked this up last week because I didn’t have much to do. It’s a neat little device. I got an iPod White model and a copy of Super Mario 64 DS. A repackaging of the Nintendo64 game, it’s pretty much consumed my free-time for the past few days. In the game you play as Yoshi, Mario, Luigi, and Wario, and the goal is to collect 150 gold stars by solving puzzles and defeating enemies. To put some scale to this task, after playing for nearly a week I’ve collected 24 of those stars. I’ve already had to check GameFAQs’ walkthrough to figure some stuff out.

On top of that, I picked up Brain Age 2 and Assassin’s Creed today. I haven’t tried Assassin’s Creed yet; it’s a spinoff of the very cool looking console game designed for the DS as a prequel. I look forward to trying it. Brain Age is a massively popular game in Japan that is catching on here in the states. Designed by a Japanese neuroscientist to improve mental acumen, the game measures your brain’s ability to think and response using a quotient described as your “brain age”. I’ve already done my first day of Brainaging, and my brain age is a sad 44. However, through the games daily training programs (you start with three and are able to unlock more as you progress) you are supposed to improve that ability. It seems to have some affect at least, after a little bit I did become quicker at the exercises. Maybe it’ll make me smarter or something, we’ll see.

The DS is a neat device, and I think it’s proof that Nintendo remains an innovator in gaming. Sony and Microsoft may have the advantage in pure processing power, but Nintendo is able to explore what’s fun and different in gaming.

Review: Flip Video Ultra

Posted on February 4, 2008

DB sent me an IM last week about the Flip Video camera, saying that he was thinking about getting one. I had seen it before, and had some questions about its video quality (I’ve seen some cheap video cameras before and they put out some really shitty video), but after some searching around Youtube, we found that quality isn’t actually all that bad. I figured what’s the worse that could happen so I ordered one from Amazon. And even better, I managed to sell my old camcorder in less than 24 hours to make up for part of the hole in my checking account.

I ordered the orange 60 minute Ultra series model. It set me back $170 shipped. Amazon took its sweet time getting the camera out of the warehouse, but once it shipped it arrived swiftly. It’s a neat little device. Very compact, very simple. Just a few buttons, and no gew-gaws. In the box you get the camera, a soft pouch, a TV cable, some batteries, a wrist strap, and the documentation.

Read more

Leopard Some More, A Response.

Posted on October 28, 2007

Over at Wind the Frog DB asked some questions about Leopard. I was going to post answers to his and others’ questions in the comments section, but some how it turned into a whole fucking essay, so instead I’ll just post the thing up here.

The dock on the right or left…works ok?
Yes the look of the dock changes when you’re side dockin’. It reverts to a transparent dark bar similar to the previous dock. Check my Skitch for a screenshot. There’s a hidden preference if you want the dock in the bottom but prefer the new-old transparent dark bar. Oh, and when you’re side dockin’ stacks doesn’t fan out in the cool manner. But that’s livable.

Anyone test the audio/video quality with iChat?
Haven’t done video/audio chat yet, I’d have to do my hair first. I am tempted though because I want to test the new chat recording feature. iChat still disconnects randomly but at least now it automatically reconnects.

Coverflow/Preview work ok? Or is it real dodgy?
I haven’t used Coverflow either, because the only use I really see in it is browsing porn/random images folders. For seeing what documents are I hit space bar and that brings up QuickView right away. Which is another awesome feature. Works like a charm. Preview.app has gotten a lot better at loading quickly and handling multiple documents/images at once. And you can resize images within the app now. About f’ing time.

On the Intel machines, can you tell it is faster?
The OS on the whole does run faster, though that’s always been the case with OSX. The newest version always runs a li’l zippier than the previous. Also: Me and my MacBook Pro are rockin’ 64-bit I was just impressed how fast the installation was compared to installing Tiger and Panther.

Anything else you would like to add?
Safari resizes images to fit the window and zooms to full size with a double click. That is a feature that I rather missed from Firefox. Now if somebody would make proper adblocking for Safari so I don’t have to look at NSFW ads on FaceBook (which I’ve already complained to them about). And I totally love resizable text input boxes. Perfect for when WP gives you a small space to type in and I have to write up a big post like this.

Last.fm’s client needs to be updated because you can’t switch off showing it in the dock, and it hangs when you quit the program fifty percent of the time which annoys me, but I’ll get by ’til they update it. Also, InDesign was totally borked thanks to the upgrade, although I’m hopefully going to be finding a workaround for that next week.

Paul said: I read that the iLife was a backwards step for iMovie and/or iDVD in terms of functionality, otherwise I might be upgrading too.
Yes you can still get the previous version of iMovie after the upgrade, or if it’s already installed, ‘08 leaves it on the system. I would say that it’s not so much a step down for iMovie as it is a step left. They completely rewrote it so that it’s a different program. I think they’re trying to push iMovie as the program for the unwashed non-tech saavy masses who know nothing of video editing, and want to push the more experienced people (i.e., the people complaining about iMovie ‘08) to upgrading to Final Cut Express. iDVD isn’t so much worse as it is that Apple hasn’t really upgraded iDVD in the past two revisions. They just pack in a couple new themes and call it good. I’ve only used iDVD once in the past three and a half years of owning a Mac.

I think that’s all I got for now. I might have more later, or possibly a video of a monkey washing a cat. Who knows!

HAY GUYZ! iPHONE!

Posted on September 14, 2007

Well. You all knew it was going to happen. Everybody’s been asking where’s mine. Doing the finances in Numbers Wednesday night, I noticed that after making car payments for this month and the next two, after paying off some of my credit card debt, putting money into savings for school, and paying off the rest of my bills for the month, I have a little money left over. So I decided to venture up to Omaha and get an iPhone, being as they recently knocked the price down a couple hundy.

Everybody else has already done their iPhone reviews, so I won’t go on for too long about it. Here’s some highlights:

• Safari – It is incredibly handy to be able to take Safari with me everywhere. Now I can settle arguments over whether it was Johnathon Schaech or Balthazar Getty in Roadhouse 2, all right at my fingertips. And Facebook’s iPhone optimized page is pretty handy too.
• iCal – I like having my calendar with me. I’ll be able to use iCal again instead of relying on online solutions.
• Camera – Not fantastic, not bad either. As others have said, it would definitely benefit from a flash. But if you’re buying a phone for the camera, you may as well look for a more dedicated phone-camera.
• EDGE Speed – Not as bad as I was expecting, based on how much everybody was complaining. Then again, I don’t know what the EDGE coverage in service in Lincoln is, but so far I’ve had no complaints.
• Battery Life – Not as good as the Razr, but the Razer doesn’t compare. Turning off wi-fi helps quite a bit.

I don’t try to be a tool about it, but so far I haven’t been able to pull the phone out and not attract a bunch of people want to see it and play with it. Hurray! Popularity! Of course it’s hard not to look like a tool though when you have a crowd of people around your phone. That said, I totally love it and regret nothing.

Reading from the manual, I noticed that they are really protective of the phone. Not only do they warn against using the iPhone in a blasting area, I found this little tidbit:

Handling iPhone
Do not drop, disassemble, open, crush, bend, deform, puncture, shred, microwave, paint, or insert foreign objects into iPhone

Notice that it says nothing about blending.

The Comically Colossal Universal Remote

Posted on September 6, 2007

The remote control to my television decided to have a little stroke the other day. The buttons down the left-hand side no longer work, but most of the middle and all of the right-hand side buttons still function. Having a TV I can turn on, change to channel 68, and turn the volume up, but not turn the volume back down, tune to channel 24, or turn the closed captioning off, is to say the least a bit annoying. So, off to Walgreens I went to find a new, basic universal remote control. And that was when I saw it. A behemoth among remotes. The Colossal Universal Remote. That’s the actual product name, on the package. Only ten dollars, brought to you from the fine folks at Living Solutions.

Imagine it, a remote control so large you can add straps and Shaq can use it as a sandal. So large you can fend off home invaders with it. So large, you need two hands just to change the channel. Like the Black Monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, it towers above other remote controls, silently forewarning you that the future of the living room shall never be the same.

Sarah laughed when she first saw the remote, laughed in jest at what she assumed could only be a non-functioning novelty remote, or possibly an enormous chocolate bar packaged to look like a large remote control. She laughed until she held its heft in her hands, saw the battery compartment, then pointed it at the TV and realized that the future of entertainment is now, and it is the Colossal Universal Remote. Thank you Walgreens, for bringing the Colossal Universal Remote.

I’ve been told that I am supposed to comment on the new iPod lines. I, for one, am unexcited. Yes, they are all very nice, especially the iPod Classic. I’m glad that they brought back the curved bevel on the top, I miss that little touch on my 5.5G iPod. Also, 160 Gb is an enormous amount of space; I’ve heard plenty of talk about using the larger of the two as a backup drive for Time Machine when Leopard comes out. I hope that that is definitely an option.

The new Nano? Meh. I liked the tall slender form factor over the stout Nano we get now. Understandably, they needed to fatten it up for video, but I don’t see the need for video on a Nano. Are people clamoring to watch The Office Babylon 5 while jogging? If you’re so desperate for video, just cough up for the larger iPods? But that’s just my theory…

Finally, iPod Touch. Once again, I say “Meh.” I know that other people are clamoring for the iPhone-less iPhone. But I see it the other way. I’ve already got an iPod. I don’t need a phone that’s a music player as well. I need a phone that is a web browser and email client and an iCal. But I suppose those people that want the iPod Touch will be happy. I’m personally more excited about another device. No, not the Great Big Remote Control. The Colossal Universal Remote Control.

UNL wins 3 million grant to expand robot-based curriculum

Posted on September 4, 2007

UNL wins 3 million grant to expand robot-based curriculum: “The idea of using small robots to help teach children the science and math at the core of engineering and technology has attracted a 3 million grant.”

At first I thought they were using robots to teach children, which would be awesome (and frightening to children) at the same time, but upon further reading, I see that they are using humans to teach children to build robots. Which I guess is even cooler. I suppose making children cry isn’t the best way to get them to learn (at least, the government won’t give me a grant to research my theory…) Come to think of it, I wish I could have built a robot in school. I guess as a side effect the kids learn math and science and engineering. But mostly I want to build a robot. Some day….

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